CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Tampa Yankees (5-2, 44-33) lost, 3-2, to the Clearwater Threshers (4-3, 42-25) in the opener of a four-game series on Friday night at Spectrum Field. Tampa fell to 1-6 in games against Clearwater this season.Yankee starter Erik Swanson escaped a jam in the first. Mark Laird
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Tampa Yankees (5-2, 44-33) lost, 3-2, to the Clearwater Threshers (4-3, 42-25) in the opener of a four-game series on Friday night at Spectrum Field. Tampa fell to 1-6 in games against Clearwater this season.
Yankee starter Erik Swanson escaped a jam in the first. Mark Laird lined a leadoff single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Emmanuel Marrero. A base hit into left by Cornelius Randolph pushed Laird to third before Swanson got a 4-6-3 double play from Wilson Garcia, ending the threat.
Swanson kept rolling with a pair of groundouts to begin the bottom of the second, but Clearwater grabbed the lead on back-to-back, two-out hits. Jan Hernandez drilled a double to the left field wall and scored on a liner into right-center by Luis Encarnacion.
The T-Yanks promptly responded against RHP Edgar Garcia in the third. Austin Afenir and Jeff Hendrix both singled and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Tito Polo . A walk by Gosuke Katoh loaded the bases. One out later, Tim Lynch lined a two-run single into center, giving Tampa a 2-1 lead.
Garcia allowed two earned runs on six hits in five innings, walking three while striking out three in his seventh start of the season.
The lead vanished in the bottom of the third when Laird doubled and later scored on a one-out single by Wilson Garcia, knotting the game at 2-2. Swanson, again, limited the damage by getting a 6-3 double play.
Swanson worked into the fifth, leaving the inning with two outs and the bases empty. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on eight hits in four and two-third innings without a walk or a strikeout.
Harold Arauz (W, 2-0) entered for Clearwater in the sixth and Jhalan Jackson greeted the right-hander with a single into left. Catcher Deivi Grullon, later, threw out Jackson, trying to advance on a wild pitch. One out later, Austin Aune lined a base hit, but was caught stealing to end the inning.
The Threshers grabbed the lead for good when Cord Sandberg belted a leadoff home run off RHP Jose Mesa Jr. (L, 1-1) in the sixth. Mesa retired six of the next seven batters he faced while logging two and a third innings, striking out three.
Nick Solak drew a walk against Clearwater closer Jeff Singer to open the eighth. Singer had a 1-2 count on Lynch before heavy rain prompted home plate umpire Ricardo Estrada to call for the tarp.
After an hour and 15-minute rain delay, Luke Leftwich (SV, 6) entered and struck out the side while stranding a two-out walk. Polo drew a walk and stole second in the ninth, but Leftwich tallied three more strikeouts to shut the door.
Polo (1-for-3, 3B, BB, SB) extended his hitting streak to nine games with a triple in the seventh. Lynch (2-for-4, 2B, 2RBI) and Afenir (2-for-4, R) had multi-hit games.
The series continues on Saturday, with RHP Taylor Widener (5-6, 3.65 ERA) slated to face RHP Franklyn Kilomé (4-3, 2.71 ERA) at 6:15 p.m. Live audio will be available on the Tampa Yankees Radio Network beginning at 6:05 p.m.
