Tirado, Threshers Shut Out Tampa, 2-0

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Alberto Tirado held Tampa off the board through five innings, and four Threshers hurlers combined to shut out the Yankees, 2-0 in the series opener on Thursday night at Spectrum Field.
Tirado, Matt Hockenberry, Austin Davis, and Jeff Singer teamed up to toss the fourth shutout of the season for Clearwater (21-14).
Tirado (2-2) worked around four hits and a season-high five walks, but kept the Yankees scoreless through five innings in the start.
The right-hander induced three double play balls to wiggle out of several Tampa threats. The Yankees (15-20) loaded the bases in the fifth inning with just one out for Tito Polo, who entered the day tied for ninth in the FSL with a .321 average. On a 2-2 count, Tirado got Polo to bounce right back to the hill, and Tirado spun it into a twin killing that retired the side.
Clearwater broke out in front in the first inning against Taylor Widener (1-4).
Cornelius Randolph ripped a triple over the head of the center fielder Polo, and Damek Tomscha followed with a single up the middle to score Randolph and give the Threshers the 1-0 lead.
With two outs in the second inning, Grenny Cumana was hit by a pitch, and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Coppola came through with a single up the middle, bringing home Cumana with the Threshers second run.
Tirado exited after five, and the Clearwater bullpen combined to permit just three hits the rest of the way.
Hockenberry struck out three in two scoreless innings, and Davis worked around a leadoff double in the eighth, picking up a strikeout before inducing a double play to end the threat.
Singer finished it off, hurling a perfect ninth inning to lock down his eighth save in as many tries.
Clearwater will look to make it two in a row on Friday, when Blake Quinn (1-1) takes the hill against Zack Littell (2-1). Fans 21 and over receive a Silipint Cup giveaway, courtesy of Coors Light. First pitch is at 6:15 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on threshersbaseball.com starting at 6 p.m.