WP: Marty Gair (2-2, 4.94)
LP: Diego Domínguez (3-2, 6.17)
DUNEDIN, FL – Juan Villavicencio belted two home runs and Matthew Ferrara drove in four runs for the Clearwater Threshers (51-37, 11-11) to seal a 16-11 win over the Dunedin Blue Jays (41-46, 11-11) in ten innings on Friday night at TD Ballpark. The Threshers look to clinch the series when they return for a Saturday night showdown in Dunedin.
After a scoreless first inning, Jonathan Hogart and Juan Villavicencio both walked to lead off the top of the second against Giacomo Taschin. Matthew Ferrara plated the first run on a double, scoring Hogart and moving Villavicencio to third to open the scoring. Nolan Beltran drove in Villavicencio on a groundout to double Clearwater’s lead, and a sacrifice fly from Angel Mata made it 3-0. With the bases now empty, Victor Cardoza continued the rally with a two-out triple, later scoring on an infield hit by Robert Phelps that padded the lead to four runs.
The Blue Jays got one run back on an error in the bottom of the second, cutting Clearwater’s lead to three runs. Villavicencio responded with an opposite-field home run in the third inning to bring the Threshers’ advantage back to four. Dunedin added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit in half. After the first two outs in the top of the fifth, Villavicencio and Ferrara drew back-to-back walks against former Threshers’ pitcher Josbel Garcia. After Garcia hit Nolan Beltran with a pitch to load the bases, a wild pitch allowed Villavicencio to score from third to bring Clearwater’s lead back to three runs.
Before the first out in the sixth, the Blue Jays loaded the bases and scored three runs to tie the game on an error. A sacrifice fly gave Dunedin a 7-6 lead heading into the seventh. Dunedin quickly took the lead back, scoring on another sacrifice fly to grab another one-run lead after seven. Beltran led off the top of the eighth with a double to center field and moved to third on a grounder. After the first out, Victor Cardoza hit a grounder back to the pitcher, but Lluveres Severino overthrew the first baseman, allowing Cardoza to score from third and tie the game at eight.
Dunedin plated two more to take the lead after the bottom of the eighth. Hogart singled on the second pitch of the ninth inning, and an errant throw to first allowed him to take second base. Villavicencio reached on a four-pitch walk before Ferrara smacked a base hit to load the bases. Beltran followed with a single up the middle to plate both runners and tie the game at ten. Both teams had the go-ahead run on third in the ninth, but the game remained even at ten runs apiece to go into extra innings.
Griffin Burkholder began the tenth as the placed runner on second, and Nathan Humphreys started off the inning with a walk. Hogart laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Burkholder to third and Humphreys to second. Villavicencio was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Ferrara made Dunedin pay on the very next pitch with a double to left-centerfield to clear the bases and give the Threshers a three-run lead.
Beltran and Angel Mata each followed with RBI doubles to add two more runs to the Threshers’ lead. After the second out, Robert Phelps hit a slow-rolling grounder to short, and an errant throw by Blue Jays shortstop JoJo Parker allowed Mata to score from second to give the Threshers their largest lead of the night. Dunedin added a run in the bottom of the tenth, but the Threshers held off the final rally to seal a 16-11 win in ten innings.
Zuher Yousuf surrendered three runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 5.0 innings for a no-decision. Jacob Pruitt surrendered four runs (one earned) on one walk with one strikeout in 1.0 inning. Luis Avila allowed one run on two walks with two strikeouts in 1.0 inning. Wilmer Blanco gave up two runs on one hit with two walks and three strikeouts. Marty Gair (2-2) earned the win in 2.0 innings, allowing one hit and one unearned run with two strikeouts.
Cardoza tripled for the first time as a Thresher in the second inning...Villavicencio is the fourth Thresher in 2026 to hit ten home runs...Villavicencio recorded his first multi-home run game as a Thresher...He reached safely in all six plate appearances, the most in one game by a Thresher this season...Avila allowed his first run of the season in his eleventh inning with the Threshers in 2026...The Threshers continue a three-game road series against the Dunedin Blue Jays on Saturday, July 18...First pitch on Saturday evening will take place at 6:30 pm...You can purchase Threshers tickets at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457…The BayCare Ballpark Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 10 am – 5 pm...The box office will be open on Saturdays from 10 am - 3 pm...Visit our website at threshersbaseball.com for information on tickets and promotions for the Threshers season.