PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Luke Williams and Gabriel Lino launched back-to-back home runs in the second inning on Saturday night, but Clearwater saw a two-run lead slip away with two outs in the ninth as Charlotte walked off, 6-5 at Charlotte Sports Park.Williams got Clearwater (27-33) on the board in
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Luke Williams and Gabriel Lino launched back-to-back home runs in the second inning on Saturday night, but Clearwater saw a two-run lead slip away with two outs in the ninth as Charlotte walked off, 6-5 at Charlotte Sports Park.
Williams got Clearwater (27-33) on the board in the second, cracking a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall and into the bullpen for a two-run home run, his second of the season.
Lino followed with a shot of his own, clubbing a solo shot well over the wall down the left field line for his first home run of the season, giving Clearwater a 3-0 lead.
Brian Mims followed with a grounder toward short that he beat out for an infield single, and Jose Gomez dribbled a swinging bunt up the third base line for an infield hit. Haseley then grounded one through the left side to load the bases.
Austin Listi lifted a fly to center that allowed Mims to tag and score from third, making it 4-0, before centerfielder Josh Lowe came up firing to third to nab Gomez for the final out of the frame.
McKenzie Mills struck out five through his first two innings, before the Stone Crabs cut the deficit in half in the third.
After two hit batters sandwiched around a single loaded the bases, Robbie Tenerowicz singled through the right side to score one, and with two down, Kevin Padlo was hit by a pitch to push home a second run and make it a 4-2 ballgame.
Mills would exit after 3.2 innings, permitting two runs on five hits while striking out a season-high seven.
Jakob Hernandez entered with runners at second and third and two outs, and after an eight-pitch battle, got Brendan McKay to pop out to right to end the threat. Hernandez has stranded 94% of his inherited runners on the season.
Charlotte crept closer by squeezing home a run in the fifth, after Kevin Padlo doubled with two outs. Padlo stole third, and scored on Josh Lowe's bunt single to make it 4-3.
Clearwater added some breathing room in the ninth, after Jose Gomez opened the inning with a double to left-center off reliever Brandon Koch. Haseley's grounder to the right side advanced Gomez to third, Listi delivered a sac fly against his former Dallas Baptist teammate, pushing the lead to 5-3.
Josh Tols tossed 2.2 innings of relief, but left with one on and two outs in the ninth. The Stone Crabs greeted Aaron Brown (1-4) with a walk and two singles before a pop up to shallow left-center fell in untouched, allowing Tenerowicz and Tristan Gray to score with the winning runs.
The seven-game road trip wraps up on Sunday when the Threshers battle the Stone Crabs in the series finale at 12:05 p.m. Felix Paulino will get the start against lefty Brock Burke, and the game will be broadcast live on threshersbaseball.com starting at 11:50 p.m.
