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Late-Inning Magic Thrusts Threshers to Win

8th Inning Rally Lifts Clearwater to 3-2 Victory
July 8, 2014

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Chris Serritella snuck an RBI single down the right-field line to put the Threshers ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, and Clearwater hung on in the ninth to take home the win in game one over the Tampa Yankees.

Clearwater (8-10) got on the board first off of Yankees starter Luis Severino in the bottom of the first after a two-out RBI triple by Brandon Short scored Everett Williams all the way from first base.

Williams has now reached safely in each of the seven games he's played in with the Threshers.

Colin Kleven got the start and for the 12th consecutive outing, went at least five innings. Kleven received a no-decision after tossing 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three and walking two.

Yankees centerfielder Jake Cave hit a home run to right off of Kleven to give Tampa (10-8) a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning, but the Threshers struck back in the bottom half of the frame.

Brian Pointer tripled down the first base line with one-out and crossed the plate on a Harold Martinez RBI single to tie the game at two apiece.

The score remained that way until the bottom of the eigth, thanks in part to Cody Forsythe's performance out of the bullpen. Forsythe (1-0) earned the victory after hurling 2.2 no-hit innings in relief of Kleven, picking up two strikeouts.

In the bottom of the eighth, Art Charles led off the frame with a single to left and was pinch-run for by Angelo Mora. After a sacrifice bunt by Pointer and a walk to Martinez, Gabriel Lino stepped in with runners at first and second with one down.

Lino pushed a single to right field off of Nick Rumbelow (5-1), but Aaron Judge was able to throw out Mora at the plate to take away the potential go-ahead run, leaving Serritella as Clearwater's last chance to take the lead.

The Threshers designated hitter pulled a grounder that barely stayed fair on the first-base line to put Clearwater on top, 3-2.

Lee Ridenhour entered in the ninth and shut the Yankees down in order to nail down his seventh save and give the Threshers their third win in a row.

The series resumes Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Cliff Lee is reportedly starting for Clearwater, while Miguel Sulbaran gets the call for Tampa. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on threshersbaseball.com