LAKELAND, Fla. - Adonis Medina hurled a season-high seven innings of one-run ball, and the Threshers rallied for a pair with two-outs in the eighth inning to even the series with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday morning at Publix Field.Down 1-0 in the eighth, Mickey Moniak singled and moved to
LAKELAND, Fla. - Adonis Medina hurled a season-high seven innings of one-run ball, and the Threshers rallied for a pair with two-outs in the eighth inning to even the series with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday morning at Publix Field.
Down 1-0 in the eighth, Mickey Moniak singled and moved to second on a grounder to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Raul Rivas delivered, pulling a double toward the right field corner to score Moniak and tie the game at one.
Jose Gomez followed with a slow grounder to the right side, which second baseman Anthony Pereira stopped with a slide to his left but could not get a throw off to first.
Rivas raced around third, and scored ahead of the throw to the plate from Pereira to bring home what would be the game-winning run.
Medina (3-2) earned the victory, after limiting the Flying Tigers (13-18) to just a run on four hits and two walks while striking out five. The seven-inning outing was his longest of the season.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh.
Cam Gibson drew a leadoff walk, and Daniel Pinero ripped a double to left-center, but Gibson was thrown out at the plate on the relay from second baseman Raul Rivas.
A wild pitch advanced Pinero to third, and Jose Azocar's infield hit up the third base line pushed home Pinero with the day's first run.
Lakeland starter Anthony Castro held Clearwater (13-19) off the board through the front six innings, before Clearwater overtook the Flying Tigers facing their closer Eduardo Jiménez (0-3) in the eighth.
Will Hibbs finished off the final two innings, earning his first save for Clearwater.
Hibbs permitted a leadoff single in the ninth, and Gibson bunted back toward the mound. Hibbs' throw to second was high and pulled Arquimedes Gamboa off the bag, putting two on and nobody out after the error.
With the tying run in scoring position, Hibbs went to work. The right-hander struck out Pinero looking on three pitches, then got Jose Azocar out looking on just three pitches to secure the second out.
Andres Sthormes hit a low roller toward third, but Gomez charged with a barehand pickup and fired to first in time to end the ballgame.
Austin Listi extended his on-base streak to 13 games, reaching four times on a pair of walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a ninth-inning single. The Threshers improved to 7-3 in day games, compared to 6-16 in night contests.
The series finale is set for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. as McKenzie Mills (0-1) will toe the rubber opposite Tom de Blok (1-3). The game will be broadcast live on threshersbaseball.com starting at 6:15 p.m.
