WP: Justin West (5-3, 4.83)
LP: Cade Obermueller (0-2, 3.80)
TAMPA, FL – The Clearwater Threshers (48-34, 8-8) managed one hit, a second-inning single, in a 7-0 loss to the Tampa Tarpons (47-35, 12-4) on Tuesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The Threshers look to bounce back and even the series when they return to Tampa on Wednesday afternoon.
After a 1-2-3 top of the first, Tarpons infielder Jackson Lovich started the scoring with a solo home run on the second pitch he saw. Another solo home run, this time by Luis Puello, led off the third inning to double the Tarpons’ advantage. The Tarpons added two more to their lead to make it 4-0 after the fourth inning.
A wild pitch with a man on third made it 5-0 Tampa after the bottom of the sixth inning. They added two more after the seventh-inning stretch to make it 7-0. The Threshers had their best chance offensively in the fourth inning, when Griffin Burkholder and Juan Villavicencio led off the inning with back-to-back walks, but no Thresher reached third base after the fourth inning, as they began their third series against Tampa with a 7-0 loss.
Cade Obermueller surrendered four runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Brian Walters allowed one unearned run with two walks, two hits, and three strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Juan Amarante gave up two runs on four hits with one strikeout in 0.1 inning, and Jacob Pruitt finished the final 1.2 frames without allowing a run or a hit, walking one and striking out one batter.
Obermueller has struck out ten batters in 4.2 innings against the Tarpons...Beltran has hit safely in four straight games...His second-inning single was the Threshers’ only hit...Cesar Mujica pinch hit for Humphreys in the ninth...The Threshers will continue a six-game road series against the Tampa Tarpons on Wednesday, July 8...First pitch on Wednesday evening will take place at 5:00 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.