FSL1 Clearwater Threshers

Vierling Stays Hot in Sunday's Loss to Tarpons

Published on August 4, 2019 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release


CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Clearwater Threshers were swept in a three-game set to the Tampa Tarpons with a 3-2 loss at Spectrum Field on Sunday afternoon. Clearwater finished the season series with a 6-8 mark against the New York Yankees' affiliate in 2019.

For the third game in a row, the Tarpons (50-59, 22-21) got their offense going early against Kyle Glogoski. With one away in the first, Estevan Florial drilled a home run to deep center to put Tampa ahead 1-0. The No. 2 prospect for the Yankees drove in six runs in the three-game series.

Glogoski settled in and kept Tampa off the board after the home run, which included stranding the bases loaded in the fourth. The 20-year-old allowed six hits while striking out two over five frames. Clearwater's (56-56, 20-26) offense got going against right-hander Alexander Vizcaino in the bottom of the frame.

Matt Vierling led off the fourth with a walk and reached second after Madison Stokes singled. Daniel Brito followed with a sacrifice bunt to push the runners to second and third. Vizcaino then allowed Nick Matera to drive a ball deep to right that plated Vierling to tie the game at one. Vizcaino worked around further trouble but ran into more issues in the sixth.

Nick Maton drew a leadoff walk and Vierling's second hit moved runners to first and second with nobody out. The Tampa right-hander walked Stokes to load the bases and Brito followed with another sacrifice fly to right to give Clearwater a 2-1 advantage.

Zach Warren entered for his second frame of work in the seventh and kept Clearwater ahead despite loading the bases. Donny Sands struck out, but reached first on a wild pitch, and was followed by infield hits from Leonardo Molina and Omar Carrizales. Pablo Olivares grounded to third for a fielder's choice for the first out and Warren retired the next two batters to escape the jam.

Tyler Carr (3-2) was the next up out of the bullpen and finished off Tampa in a scoreless eighth and looked to lock down the save in the ninth.

Sands led off the last frame with a double to left and avoided a tag by Guthrie at second. Molina followed by taking a pitch from the right-hander down the left field line to score Sands and tie the game at two. Carrizales pushed a bunt to third to move Molina to third for the first out. Carr walked Olivares before giving Florial an intentional free pass to load the bases for a potential double play.

Cabrera made sure Tampa converted on its chance by lifting a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Molina and push Tampa ahead 3-2. Carr prevented further damage, but suffered his first blown save of 2019.

Anderson Severino (2-1), who already held the Threshers scoreless in the seventh and eighth, retired Clearwater in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the sweep for the Tarpons.

The Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate dropped their last five to the Tarpons and has seen their overall losing streak reach four games. Despite the loss, Vierling hit .320 against Tampa in 2019 by going 16-for-50 with seven RBI.

Clearwater welcomes the Dunedin Blue Jays to Spectrum Field for a three-game set beginning Monday night. The Threshers will be the road team for Monday and Wednesday's games. RHP Jack Perkins (0-0 0.00) gets the ball for the Threshers against the Blue Jays' RHP Maximo Castillo (7-5, 2.95). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday with coverage beginning at 6:15 p.m. on Threshers Live! The Pregame Show at threshersbaseball.com.

Check out the Clearwater Threshers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Florida State League Stories from August 4, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central