Olivares, Baez Lead Mussels to Eighth Consecutive Victory

CLEARWATER, Fla. (September 2, 2023) – Jose Olivares tossed five innings of one-run ball and Nate Baez drove in four Saturday as the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels beat the Clearwater Threshers 6-1 at BayCare Ballpark for their season best eighth consecutive win.

Olivares (3-4) struck out six batters and allowed five hits over his five frames. In the process, he earned his first win since mid-May. Mussels’ (65-59, 31-27) relievers Ty Langenberg and Xander Hamilton combined to allow just three hits over for four scoreless innings of relief work.

Holding onto a slim 2-1 in the top of the sixth, Jay Harry doubled to left and Rubel Cespedes reached on an error to place runners at second and third for Baez, who crushed a three-run homer to left that gave the Mussels a 5-1 advantage. The dinger traveled 393 feet and marked Baez’s first of the season with Fort Myers.

In the top of the ninth, Ricardo Olivar was hit by a pitch before Cespedes singled to right. After a wild pitch placed runners at second and third, Baez lifted a sacrifice fly to left center that scored Olivar to cap scoring at 6-1.

With no score in the bottom of the first, Emaarion Boyd singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a ground out. With two outs in the frame, Zach Arnold notched an infield single to short that scored Boyd to give Clearwater (76-47, 31-27) a 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Maddux Houghton rolled a double down the right-field line and Jay Harry singled to right to place runners at the corners for Fort Myers. With one out in the frame, Olivar lined a ground-rule double to right that scored Houghton to knot the game at 1-1. The next hitter was Cespedes, who chopped an infield single to first that pushed across Harry to give the Mussels a 2-1 lead.

The Mussels will go for their ninth consecutive win on Sunday when they send Ben Ethridge (3-5, 2.82) to the mound against Ezequiel Ventura (0-1, 6.00) of the Threshers. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m. with coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.