Ninth Inning Dooms Threshers In 11-8 Loss to Mets

BOX SCORE

_CLEARWATER, FL - _Despite holding an 8-7 lead in the ninth inning, the Clearwater Threshers dropped a back-and-forth affair 11-8 to the St. Lucie Mets on Friday night at BayCare Ballpark.

Left-hander Jordan Fowler made his third start of the season on the mound for Clearwater, allowing three runs on three hits including two homers with four strikeouts in four innings of work.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, the Threshers (14-26, 49-56) pushed home three runs on an RBI double by Leandro Pineda, an RBI single by Hao Yu Lee and a Chad Castillo solo home run, his first professional long ball, to grab a 3-1 lead. Pineda finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBI and two walks.

Following an RBI triple by Pineda in the second to make it 4-1, the Mets (22-18, 62-43) responded with two runs in the fourth to trim the Threshers lead to 4-3.

Clearwater used five relievers after Fowler including newcomer Daniel Harper, rehabber Keylan Killgore, right-handers Alex McKenny and Cam Wynne (appearing in his first game since May 20) and lefty Tristan Garnett.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Threshers tacked on two more on a two-run single by Lee to make it a 6-3 lead. Lee finished the contest 2-for-5 with three RBI, and continues to lead team in RBI with 48.

With the Threshers leading 6-3 in the seventh, the Mets stormed back with a four-run top half of the inning. A two-run single by Raul Beracierta, an RBI base knock by Carlos Dominguez and an RBI double by Tanner Murphy gave St. Lucie a 7-6 advantage. All four runs were charged to the left-hander Killgore.

Trailing 7-6, the Threshers rallied in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases and scratching across the tying run on an RBI single by Wilfredo Flores and the go-ahead run on an RBI groundout by Erick Brito to retake an 8-7 lead.

The lefty Garnett entered in the bottom of the ninth for the Threshers but was unable to secure the save, allowing a leadoff solo homer to Junior Tillien that evened the game before Eduardo Salazar launched a three-run home run out to left moments later to put the Mets ahead 11-8. Garnett allowed four runs on three hits, including two homers with one walk in the final frame.

Trailing 11-8 in the home half of the ninth, the Threshers put one runner aboard but Flores hit into a game-ending double play to finish off the night and give the Mets an 11-8 victory.

Clearwater and St. Lucie return to action in game five of the six-game series on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Right-hander Gunner Mayer (1-3, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Threshers, with coverage on the Threshers Broadcasting Network set to begin at 6:20 p.m.