Cubs fall in finale, take series in Clearwater

Clearwater, FL - The Clearwater Threshers scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to a 6-3 win over Daytona on Wednesday afternoon at Bright House Field.

The Threshers tallied the four in the fifth off of Rob Zastryzny (L, 1-1) with five straight two-out hits. SS Marquel Canleo started with a double and was driven in by CF Justin Parr. LF Pete Lavin roped a two-run triple down the left field line to make it a 4-1 game.

Daytona got on the board after 2B Gioskar Amaya singled in the first, and 1B Dan Vogelbach singled in Amaya for the first run of the ballgame. Amaya was 3-for-5 in the loss, and scored another two runs after scoring four times on Tuesday night. In just a handful of games, due to a trip to the DL, Amaya is hitting .500 on the year (12-for-24).

SS Marco Hernandez also picked up two hits on the afternoon for Daytona, both singles. Hernandez' 2-for-4 day bumped his average to .321 on the season.

Jeb Stefan (W, 1-1) got the start for the Threshers, lasting five innings, allowing just a run on three hits with a walk and strikeout. Lee Ridenhour (H, 1) came on in relief of Stefan and went two-plus innings, but ran into trouble in the eighth.

Daytona started the eight with four-straight hits, and scored two runs off of them on an RBI double by Amaya and an RBI single by RF Bijan Rademacher, but left the bases loaded. Rademacher's single extended his hitting streak to eight-straight games, and upped his average to .370. On the day, Rademacher was 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

Michael Jensen pitched in relief of Zastryzny and allowed a solo home run to C Jesus Posso, but retired every other batter faced in 2.1 innings on the hill. Zach Cates pitched the final inning for Daytona, and surrendered a run on two hits. The run he allowed was just his second in five appearances.

On the afternoon, Daytona was 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. C Willson Contreras threw out the first attempted base-stealer of the year for Cubs' catchers. Catchers had been a combined 0-for-17 coming in.

Daytona returns to action on Thursday night to start a split four-game series with Brevard County. First pitch in Viera is set for 6:35 p.m.