Ortiz's Big Night Paces Victory Over Stone Crabs

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Jhailyn Oritz's torrid week continued on Saturday night, as the 20-year-old slugged his third home run since Wednesday and drove home four in the Clearwater Threshers' 7-4 victory over the Charlotte Stone Crabs at Spectrum Field.

Ortiz's first big hit came in the fourth inning with his team leading 1-0. After Madison Stokes and Nick Maton reached to lead off the inning, the right-handed batter dropped a broken bat double into left field, plating both runners to stretch the lead to three.
The Philadelphia Phillies' 11^th-ranked prospect (MLB.com) lasered a two-run shot into Frenchy's in left in the fifth inning to give Clearwater (20-21) a six-run cushion.
The Dominican native has collected nine RBIs since May 15, and has seen his slugging percentage jump from .278 to .343.
Charlotte (21-21) made things interesting against the home team's bullpen, striking for three runs against Jake Kinney in the sixth, and adding another tally against the right-handed reliever in the seventh.
Daniel Brito launched his first long ball since Aug. 1, 2018 with a solo blast onto the berm in right to extend the lead out to 7-4 in the eighth.
Grant Dyer (SV, 2) locked down his second save in as many chances with a perfect frame in the ninth.
Ethan Evanko (1-0) benefitted from the strong offensive performance from his teammates. The southpaw earned his first win at the Advanced-A level with five shutout innings, and only allowed three base runners on two walks and a double.
Paul Campbell (4-4) took the loss for the Stone Crabs, surrendering four runs on six hits, a walk and three strikeouts in just four innings of work.
Clearwater goes for the series victory in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon at Spectrum Field. LHP Damon Jones (1-2, 0.76) toes the slab for the Threshers against the Stone Crabs' LHP Michael Plassmeyer (0-0, 3.52). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., with coverage starting at 12:45 p.m. on threshersbaseball.com.
Sunday features the return of Brunch at the Ballpark. For $21, brunch tickets include a club level seat for the game and a buffet of eggs, breakfast meats, a carving station, potatoes, pastries, juice, coffee, and tea from 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.