Threshers Score Three in the Ninth for Eleventh-Straight Win

WP: Orion Kerkering (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

LP: Connor Holden (1-2, 7.88 ERA, BS, 2)

BOX SCORE:

CLEARWATER, FL – With last licks for the second-straight night, Bryan Rincon’s two-run double helped the Clearwater Threshers (19-6) walk off the Lakeland Flying Tigers (11-14) for the second-straight night in a 6-5 victory at BayCare Ballpark on Friday night. The Threshers look for their twelfth-straight win on Saturday night against the Flying Tigers in Clearwater.

Lazaro Benitez hit a solo homer with two outs in the first to give the Flying Tigers an early 1-0 lead. He drove in two more on a two-out single in the third to extend the lead to 3-0.

Erick Brito walked and Ricardo Rosario was hit by a pitch from Lakeland reliever Jake Miller to lead off the bottom of the third. After Brito was caught stealing third, Caleb Ricketts drove in Rosario for the Threshers first run with a two-out double. Ricketts scored on a single by Gabriel Rincones Jr. to cut the deficit to one at 3-2.

Lakeland added a run in the fourth and fifth innings to match their largest lead of the series at 5-2. The Threshers began to chip away at the lead in the seventh, which began with a leadoff base hit by Ricardo Rosario. He tagged and advanced to second on a flyout by Ricketts for the second out of the inning. Rosario scored on an RBI single by Rincones Jr. that bridged the gap to 5-3.

Clearwater came out swinging in the ninth, with the first two pitches thrown by reliever Connor Holden yielding back-to-back base hits by Ricketts and Rincones Jr. Both runners advanced on a groundout by Chad Castillo to put the tying run on second with one out.

Emaarion Boyd grounded a 1-1 pitch towards second base, in between the first and second baseman for Lakeland. With Ricketts scoring easily from third, Boyd slid in safely at first, beating the pitcher to the bag and keeping one out in the ninth inning. Otto Kemp was intentionally walked to load the bases before Rincon walked it off with a double to dead center, plating two and sealing the second-straight walkoff win at 6-5.

Griff McGarry tossed 1.0 inning, allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts in a no-decision. Andrew Bellatti struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning. Starlyn Castillo allowed four runs on five hits in 3.0 frames, walking two and striking out six. Andrew Walling spun 2.0 shutout innings with one walk and a strikeout. Orion Kerkering (1-0) earned the win with four strikeouts in the final 2.0 frames.

Kerkering earned his first win of the season... Castillo struck out a season-high six batters in his first relief outing of the year... Rincon’s walkoff double marked his fifth-straight game with a hit... Rincones Jr. tied his career high with three hits... It was the second time he achieved that feat this season... Kemp extended his on-base streak to 16 games... He leads the team with 19 walks... McGarry and Bellatti are the second and third Phillies pitchers to rehab for Clearwater this season... Clearwater has now won their last three consecutive series’... The Threshers resume their twelve-game homestand against the Lakeland Flying Tigers (Single-A, Tigers) on Sunday, May 6th at BayCare Ballpark… First pitch is at 6:30 PM... You can purchase tickets for the Threshers season at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457.