Threshers Thwarted in Loss to Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Clearwater Threshers fell in a rubber match against the St. Lucie Mets, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon at First Data Field. Clearwater wrapped up its five-game road trip with a 1-4 mark against St. Lucie and the Bradenton Marauders.

Andrew Brown did not factor into the decision, but left with a chance at his first win since May 9. The right-hander allowed a run in the first and had a run score in the fifth, but that was the only damage done against the 21-year-old.
The Alpine, Calif. native limited St. Lucie (53-46, 21-12) to the two runs on five hits, a walk and six strikeouts across five innings. The starter left the game with a 3-2 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Oscar Marcelino (2-1) gave up the advantage with two runs allowed in the bottom half of the sixth inning after walking Carlos Cortes to start the stanza. The hard-throwing reliever then surrendered back-to-back doubles from Jeremy Vasquez and Matt Winaker to slip into a 4-3 hole
The 22-year-old issued a free pass to Hansel Moreno to begin the seventh and saw the runner score three batters later on a sacrifice fly from Cortes to see the deficit grow to 5-3.
Michael Gomez made his Advanced-A debut in the ninth and allowed an RBI single from Manny Rodriguez to issues the final tally of the day.
Clearwater (51-47, 15-17) battled in the middle frames against Austin McGeorge with runs in the third and fifth. Luke Miller plated both runs against the opposing starter with a bases-loaded RBI single in the fourth to tie the game at a run apiece. The left fielder then lifted a sac fly in the fifth to push across Jhailyn Ortiz in the fifth for the 2-1 lead.
The visitors jumped out in front in the sixth on an errant throw by Rodriguez, allowing Dalton Guthrie to score from second on a grounder to short for the 3-2 edge.
The Threshers finished the day 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base in the loss.
Thomas McIlraith (2-3) earned the win for the Mets with an unearned run allowed across two innings. Yeizo Campos (SV, 3) picked up his third save in as many chances with a perfect ninth.
Clearwater heads back home to Spectrum Field to begin an eight-game, seven-day homestand with games one and two of a four-game series against Bradenton on Monday night. It has yet to be determined who will take the mound for either side in the twin bill. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., with coverage beginning at 5:15 p.m. with Threshers Live! The Pregame Show on threshersbaseball.com.