CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Clearwater Threshers and the Palm Beach Cardinals finished their suspended game from Wednesday afternoon on Thursday evening as Clearwater took down Palm Beach 7-2. In game two, Palm Beach took down Clearwater 12-8 in a seven-inning contest.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Clearwater Threshers and the Palm Beach Cardinals finished their suspended game from Wednesday afternoon on Thursday evening as Clearwater took down Palm Beach 7-2. In game two, Palm Beach took down Clearwater 12-8 in a seven-inning contest.
Connor Seabold took over on the mound when the game one resumed in the top of the fourth with the Threshers (50-39, 14-9) up 3-1. Seabold, who came to Clearwater from the Reading Injured List, struck out the side in the fourth to work around a double. The right-hander allowed just one run while striking out five Palm Beach (41-44, 7-14) batters.
Palm Beach scored their run against Seabold in the top of the sixth with a home run from Ramón Urías, the first of the year for the shortstop. Seabold struck out two to close out the frame and hold the St. Louis Cardinals' affiliate to just one run.
The Threshers offense built on their momentum from Wednesday in the fifth. Jhailyn Ortiz led off the frame with a towering home run to left for his 15th long-ball of 2019 to make it 4-1. In the sixth after a Daniel Brito walk, Ortiz lined a Ben Yokley pitch to right for an RBI single and a 5-2 lead for the Threshers.
Daniel Brito provided insurance for the Threshers in the seventh. After Dalton Guthrie walked and reached third, Brito lined a base-hit to right for his third knock of the game. Brito finished the suspended contest 3-4 with an RBI, walk and run scored. Another run came home in the eighth when Ortiz lined a pitch off the glove of Ynfante in center. Ortiz reached third on Ynfante's error, and Matt Vierling's sacrifice-fly to right brought Ortiz home for a 7-2 lead.
Right-hander Kyle Arjona pitched a scoreless eighth and entered in the ninth to attempt to close out the win for the Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate. After retiring the first two, rain poured down on Spectrum Field and the game went into another delay. After the 2:15 weather delay, Luis Carrasco got the final out the secure the win.
The Palm Beach Cardinals came back in game two to shock the Clearwater Threshers 12-8 in the seven-inning contest at Spectrum Field on Thursday night.
It was Clearwater (50-40, 14-10) who got the scoring started in the second. After Daniel Brito and Madison Stokes singled against Alvaro Seijas, Luke Miller's RBI hit up the middle put the Threshers ahead 1-0. Clearwater added to their lead in the third with a single from Matt Vierling to left that plated Matt Kroon to make it a 2-0 edge.
The Cardinals (42-44, 7-15) responded in the top of the fourth against right-hander Kyle Glogoski. A home run to left from Julio Rodriguez and a double from Imeldo Diaz to plate Nick Plummer knotted the score at two. Glogoski worked around further trouble with a strikeout to keep the game tied. In the bottom of the frame, Luke Miller drove a pitch from Seijas onto the berm in left for a solo shot. Miller connected for his third long-ball as a Thresher to put Clearwater ahead 3-2.
The Philadelphia Phillies affiliate leads the Florida State League in 2019 with 70 home runs. The next closest team is Bradenton with 68 home runs.
Clearwater put up a two spot in the fifth with RBIs from Matt Vierling and Rodolfo Duran. Vierling hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Jhailyn Ortiz after he walked two batters earlier. Rodolfo Duran followed a single from Nick Maton with a double to left for a 5-2 advantage.
Palm Beach again rallied from behind and put pressure on the Thresher bullpen in the sixth. Right-hander Oscar Marcelino battled the tough conditions and allowed four runs to score in a five-run frame, including RBIs from Imeldo Diaz and Juan Yepez. After Marcelino's exit, Zach Warren (1-1) entered to face Nolan Gorman. The No. 1 prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals hit a three-run triple to put Palm Beach ahead 7-5.
In the bottom of the frame Clearwater picked up their bullpen by putting up three runs on three hits against Zach Thompson. With two men on, Jhailyn Ortiz knocked a double of the wall in left to tie the game at seven. Nick Maton followed with a liner up the middle to plate the go-ahead run and made the score 8-7.
With the Cardinals down to their final three outs, the Threshers' bullpen again faced trouble. Zach Warren (1-1) allowed two walks and a single before recording an out a home plate for a fielder's choice. Warren struck out Yepez for the second out but exited with more than 50 pitches. Keylan Killgore tried to get the final out, but a two-run single from Nolan Gorman with the bases loaded put Palm Beach ahead 9-8. The Cardinals added three more in the frame to push the score to 12-8.
Patrick Dayton (2-0) set Clearwater down scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the win and hold of the Threshers in the series finale.
Clearwater settled for a series split with the St. Louis Cardinals affiliate. The Threshers fell to 22-23 at home overall and 5-6 in the second half.
Despite the loss in the finale the Threshers offense was not held to less than seven hits in any game of the four-game set. The Philadelphia Phillies affiliate hit at least one long-ball in every game against Palm Beach.
The Threshers begin a three-game series with the Florida Fire Frogs on Friday night at Spectrum Field. It is yet to be determined who will start in the series opener for either team. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:15 at threshersbaseball.com.
Friday night's contest features Pitch for Pink, the annual Breast Cancer awareness night and fundraiser for the Morton Plant Mease Foundation. There will also be a Ladies Sun Hat giveaway, as well as a post-game fireworks display!
