Rodolfo Ruthless in Relief, Threshers Lose 7-1

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Rodolfo Sanchez tossed four hitless innings of relief, but the Threshers' defense was dominated by the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 7-1 on Tuesday night.

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Sanchez came in to relieve starter Fernando Lozano and did not surrender a hit in four innings on the mound. The Bani, Dominican Republic, native relinquished just one walk and tallied four strikeouts.

The Mighty Mussels (40-33) jumped on the scoreboard early with a three-run home run off the bat of Will Holland for a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Fort Myers added to the advantage in the second inning. Nick Anderson led off the inning with a single and Justin Washington drew a four-pitch walk that put two men on with no outs. Ruben Santana then singled on a line drive into right field. Santana was thrown out at second base which allowed Anderson to score and Washington to land safely on third. Washington crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from Misael Urbina and Keoni Cavaco capitalized the action-packed inning with a two-run home run to extend the Mighty Mussels lead to 6-0.

The Mighty Mussels continued their dominance in the fourth after a double, single, stolen base, and ground out saw their seventh run of the ballgame cross the plate.

Clearwater’s offense sparked in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jadiel Sanchez and Nicolas Torres knocked back-to-back singles and Sanchez later scored after Jose Tortolero reached on a fielding error that gave the Threshers their lone run of the 7-1 contest.

Fernando Lozano (3-2) was suffered the loss for the Threshers. He was charged with seven runs, four earned, on eight hits, issued three walks, and struck out two batters.

The Threshers and Mighty Mussels make a quick turnaround for game two of the six-game series tomorrow with the first pitch slated for 12:00 p.m. Samuel Aldedheri gets the nod against Mighty Mussels’ lefty Brent Headrick. TICKETS