Clearwater Shut Out, 2-0 in Lakeland

Threshers On Wrong End of Pitchers Duel on Friday

By Josh Appel

April 11, 2014

LAKELAND, Fl -- The Clearwater Threshers fell to the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 2-0 on Friday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.

With the loss, the Threshers (1-7) have dropped six games in a row.

Miguel Nunez (0-1) got the start for the the Threshers and was charged with the loss. Nunez tossed six innings and allowed just two runs on nine hits, striking out four without surrendering any walks.

Lakeland received a stellar start from former second round pick Jake Thompson. The second-year player went 6.2 shutout innings. Thompson (2-0) allowed four hits while striking out five and walking two batters.

Brennan Smith took over for Thompson with two outs in the seventh and finished the game to pick up his first save of the season.

The only scoring in the game came in the bottom of the third inning when the Flying Tigers strung together four consecutive base hits with one out. Chad Wright started the rally and later scored on an RBI single from Jeff McVaney to give Lakeland a 1-0 lead. One batter later, Lance Durham drove in Dixon Machado to make it 2-0.

Wright, who came into the game hitting .125, finished 3-for-4 to lead the charge for the Flying Tigers. McVaney capped off the night going 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Threshers continue to struggle with runners in scoring position, as they went 0-for-4 in those situations in game one of the series. In the last four games, Clearwater is 5-for-29 with runners at second or third.

Game two of the series is Saturday night with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. Cole Hamels is expected to make his second rehab start for the Threshers, while Endrys Briceno gets the call for the Flying Tigers. Coverage on the Threshers Broadcast Network begins at 5:45 with Threshers LIVE! the Pregame Show.