Threshers Settle for Split at Daytona

After back-to-back games were pushed back due to rain, the Clearwater Threshers settled for a doubleheader split at Daytona, winning 3-2 in eight innings and falling 3-0 in game two at Daytona on Tuesday night.

Rhys Hoskins and Malquin Canelo each went yard in the opener, in a preview of the Florida State League North championship series. Clearwater (39-24) clinched the first half title, overtaking Daytona on the final day of first-half play, while the Tortugas (36-25) recently earned the second ticket into the FSL North playoffs next week.

It took extras in game one, but Clearwater emerged with the 3-2 win in eight innings.

Victor Arano delivered a solid outing in the start, giving Clearwater five innings. He limited the Tortugas to two runs on six hits and a pair of walks while striking out four.

The Threshers quickly grabbed the advantage with a run in the first. Jesmuel Valentin walked, and Carlos Tocci and Andrew Pullin each singled to load the bases. Hoskins grounded into a double play, but that allowed Valentin to cross the plate with the game's first run.

It was Hoskins who tacked on another for the Threshers in the fourth, unloading his eighth homer out to center to make it 2-0. The longball was Hoskins' 17th total between Clearwater and Lakewood, which is the most of any Phillies minor league player in 2015.

Daytona used the long ball as well to knot the game up in the fifth, with Brian O'Grady's two-run homer pulling the teams even at two apiece.

It remained that way until the eighth. Canelo led off the frame by pulling a home run out to left, his second in a Threshers uniform, putting Clearwater ahead 3-2.

Alberto Tirado (5-3) tossed two hitless innings to pick up the win, while Jesen Therrien worked a perfect eighth to notch his third save.

The teams combined for just six hits in game two, as Daytona's Seth Varner (3-4) held Clearwater scoreless on two hits in his five innings.

The Tortugas plated a pair in the first against Matt Imhof (7-5), when Daniel Pigott's two-run homer gave Daytona the early advantage. A wild pitch permitted the final run to score in the third inning, when Junior Arias crossed the plate to make it 3-0.

After a league-wide off day on Wednesday, Clearwater heads over to Dunedin for its final road game of the regular season on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The call can be heard live on the Threshers Broadcast Network starting at 6:15 p.m.

The Threshers open a three-game homestand to wrap up the regular season starting on Friday, with a Rufus bobblehead giveaway and a post-game concert by the Hunks of Funk.