Garcia Smashes 11th Homer, but Barbanegras Walk-Off, 2-1

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Tarpons received a strong spot-start by LHP Josh Maciejewski , and Dermis Garcia crushed a game-tying homer in the fifth, but Lucas Tancas drove in both Bradenton runs, including a walk-off homer in the ninth, as the Barbanegras celebrated with a 2-1 win on Saturday night at LECOM Park.
Filling in for scheduled starter Shawn Semple , who was needed for a spot-start with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Maciejewski joined the Tarpons (21-27) from Extended Spring Training prior to the game.
Bradenton (27-21) grabbed the lead when Robbie Glendinning lined a leaoff single in the second and scored on the ensuing double into the left field corner by Tancas.
Maciejewski retired the next six batters he faced before Chris Sharpe reached on a two-base throwing error by third-baseman Angel Aguilar . Glendinning followed with a deep drive to left-center, and Pablo Olivares made a sliding catch onto the warning track before throwing back into the infield to double-off Glendinning.
RHP Aaron Shortridge retired the first 12 batters he faced before Garcia crushed a leadoff homer off the boardwalk behind the left field wall, tying the game at 1-1. It was Garcia's league-leading 11^th home run of the season, tallying his league-leading 34^th RBI.
A leadoff walk, a sacrifice bunt and a base hit put runners on the corners with one out for the Barbanegras in the fifth. Daniel Amaral hit a ground ball towards the middle, but shortstop Didi Gregorius made a sliding stop, flipped the ball up to David Metzgar for the force at second, and Metzgar threw on to first for an inning-ending double play.
Gregorius played seven innings at shortstop in his first rehab game with Tampa, going 0-for-3 with two groundouts and a flyout. The 29-year-old is returning from having offseason "Tommy John" surgery.
Maciejewski held Bradenton to one earned run on three hits in five innings, walking two while striking out four on 60 pitches (38 strikes).
Shortridge logged his longest outing of the season, yielding one earned run on three hits in seven innings, tallying four strikeouts without issuing a walk on 89 pitches (59 strikes).
Bellatti followed Maciejewski, making his Tarpons debut in the sixth. The 27-year-old retired six-of-seven batters faced, walking one while striking out four in two scoreless frames. Formerly a Major League reliever with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015, Bellatti was signed by the Yankees out of the Atlantic League in late April in hopes of returning to the big leagues.
RHP Kyle Zurak relieved Bellatti in the eighth and worked around a base hit and a walk, notching a strikeout in a scoreless frame. Zurak (L, 0-3) got a fly out by Glendinning to begin the bottom of the ninth, but Tancas followed with a game-winning home run to left-center.
RHP Loken Stoelke picked up a strikeout while holding Tampa scoreless on one hit in the eighth. RHP Nick Mears (W, 3-0) struck out one in the a perfect ninth.
Metzgar (2-for-3) logged his first multi-hit game of the season. Steven Sensley (1-for-3, 2B) is batting .333 (10-for-30) over his last nine games.
Tampa will look to salvage a split of the series in the finale on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-2, 3.48) is scheduled to make the start against RHP Nicholas Economos (0-1, 3.60). Live play-by-play of the action will be available on the Tampa Tarpons Baseball Network.