Mills Magnificent, Tarpons Walk Off

TAMPA, Fla. - McKenzie Mills dealt seven innings of one-run ball on Friday night, but the Tampa Tarpons flipped the script on the Threshers bullpen and walked off on Clearwater, 4-3 at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Clearwater (3-12) held the lead into the eighth inning, but the Tarpons (7-8) grabbed two runs in the bottom of the eighth before Brandon Wagner ended it with a lead-off home run in the ninth off reliever Blake Quinn (0-1). Quinn has previously not permitted a run across 10 innings of work this year.
Mills did not factor in the decision, but left with his team leading after he twirled a season-high seven innings of one-run ball. He permitted only three hits on the evening, did not issue a walk, and racked up six strikeouts.
The seven-inning outing was the longest for any Clearwater hurler this season. Over his last two starts, Mills has allowed only two runs across 13 innings.
Clearwater connected for four-straight two-out singles in the second to grab a 2-0 advantage against Jonathan Loaisiga.
Jose Pujols got it going with a flair to right for a base hit, and Raul Rivas followed with a grounder that kicked off the mound and caromed away from shortstop Thairo Estrada for a single. Jose Gomez followed with an infield hit to the hole at short to load the bases.
Mickey Moniak delivered, plunking an opposite-field single into left that scored both Pujols and Rivas to give the Threshers a 2-0 lead.
Mills retired the first nine he faced in order, and through his first four innings permitted only one baserunner on a Hoy Jun Park single. The lefty held the Tarpons off the board until the fifth, when Timmy Robinson lifted a solo homer over the left field wall to cut the lead to 2-1.
Felix Paulino entered in relief in the eighth, but was greeted by back-to-back doubles by Tim Lynch and Francisco Diaz, the latter of which tied the game at two. After a sacrifice bunt and a walk, Paulino struck out Angel Aguilar swinging for the second out, before Estrada lined a single just over the leap of second baseman Jose Gomez to give the Tarpons the 3-2 lead.
Down to their final three outs, the Threshers battled back in the ninth.
Gomez reached on a soft tapper to the left side, and advanced to second on an errant throw from the third baseman Wagner. With one down, Arquimedes Gamboa came through by roping a double to right, scoring Gomez with the tying run.
Quinn took over in the bottom half, and Wagner turned on a 2-1 pitch for his fifth homer of the year to end it.
The teams have a quick turnaround for game two, as the Threshers and Tarpons meet again on Saturday morning with first pitch at 10:30 a.m. Mauricio Llovera (1-0) takes the hill against Michael King (0-1), and the game will be broadcast live on threshersbaseball.com beginning at 10:15 a.m.