Threshers Outhit Mighty Mussels but Fall in Home Opener

WP: Danny Moreno (1-0, 0.00)

LP: Drew Garrett (0-1, 9.;00)

SV: Kade Bragg (1)

CLEARWATER, FL – The Clearwater Threshers (2-2) mgot nine strikeouts from starter Luke Russo and outhit the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (3-1) 10-4, but lost their home opener 5-4 on Tuesday night at BayCare. Clearwater’s opening series continues Wednesday against Fort Myers.

Aidan Miller reached on a one out walk in the first and immediately stole second base. On a 3-1 count, Devin Saltiban took Mighty Mussels starter Cesar Lares the other way, scoring Miller from second for the game’s first run.

Fort Myers’ first two batters reached and scored to start the third, giving them the lead 2-1. Ricardo Rosario doubled on the first pitch he saw in the fourth before Avery Owusu-Asiedu singled him in to tie the game at two.

With one out in the fifth inning, Miller singled and stole second base. With two outs in the frame, Otto Kemp singled to right and Miller scored from second to give the Threshers the lead. The rally continued to the next at-bat, when Kehden Hettiger doubled to left to plate Kemp and double the Threshers lead to 4-2.

Fort Myers added two more runs on a Brandon Winokur triple in the sixth and took the lead on a sacrifice fly in the eighth at 5-4. The Threshers got the leadoff man on in the eighth but couldn’t put a runner on after, falling 5-4 in their home opener.

Russo struck out nine batters in 5.0 innings of work, walking one and allowing two runs on two hits in a no-decision. Braydon Tucker allowed two runs on two hits in 2.0 frames, walking one and striking out three. Drew Garrett (0-1) took the loss in 1.0 hitless inning, walking two and striking out two. Saul Teran finished the game with a 1-2-3 ninth and one strikeout.

Hettiger has an RBI and an extra base hit in each of his first two games...He leads the Threshers with four RBIs through the first four games...Avery Owusu-Asiedu recorded his second multi-hit game in three contests...Miller stole multiple bases for the first time as a Thresher...Russo became the second Thresher this season to record nine strikeouts in a game...He struck out the last seven batters in a row...Four Threshers starters have struck out nine over the last two seasons...Clearwater’s bats recorded ten hits for the third time in four games...The Threshers continue their series against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels on Wednesday, April Tenth...First pitch is at 6:30 PM on Wednesday...You can purchase tickets for the Threshers season at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457…The Box Office at BayCare Ballpark is also open daily to purchase Threshers tickets…The hours are 10 AM-5 PM Monday through Friday and 10 AM-3 PM on Saturdays.