Early Runs and Late Strikeouts Seal Third Straight Win 

WP: Braydon Tucker (4-1, 3.09)

LP: Carlos Jimenez (2-3, 4.89)

SV: Drew Garrett (4)

BOX SCORE

CLEARWATER, FL – The Clearwater Threshers (47-28, 4-5) combined for 10 strikeouts and allowed one run to the Bradenton Marauders (34-41, 5-4) as the Threshers secured the split with their third-straight win, a 4-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark. The Threshers begin the first half of a six-game set at home against the Dunedin Blue Jays on Monday night.

Bryson Ware hit a one-out double to left to start the bottom of the first inning. Marauders starter Carlos Jimenez then walked Pierce Bennett and Raylin Heredia in back-to-back at bats to load the bases. With two outs in the inning Nikau Pouaka-Grego was hit by a pitch to open the scoring. Jared Thomas drove in Bennett from third on the next pitch, but Heredia was thrown out trying to score from second, ending the first inning with a 2-0 lead for Clearwater.

Pouaka-Grego led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk and moved to third on a double by Thomas. AJ Shaver reached on an error by Bradenton shortstop Keiner Delgado that allowed both runners to score, doubling the Threshers lead after four innings.

Bradenton picked up a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 4-1. The Marauders got two more hits but couldn’t score after the fifth, with the Threshers taking their third straight win 4-1.

Braydon Tucker (4-1) allowed one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings to earn the victory. Jose Peña struck out four in 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings. Luis Avila allowed one hit and struck out one in 1.0 shutout frame. Drew Garrett struck out one and allowed one hit in the ninth to earn the save.

Thomas recorded his third career multi-hit game...Viars played all six games of the series with at least one hit in every game...He has reached base safely in each of his last 15 games...Bennett walked twice for the second game in a row...Shaver finished the series with four RBIs, his most in a series this season...Peña had two or more strikeouts in all seven of his outings in June...The Threshers begin a three-game home series against the Dunedin Blue on Monday, July First...First pitch will be at 6:30 PM at BayCare Ballpark...You can purchase Threshers tickets at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457…The Box Office at BayCare Ballpark is also open daily to purchase Threshers tickets…The hours are 10 AM-5 PM Monday through Friday and 10 AM-3 PM on Saturdays.