Saltiban Smacks Three Hits in Second Straight Loss

WP: Gage Stanifer (3-2, 4.50)

LP: Luke Russo (4-2, 4.86)

BOX SCORE

CLEARWATER, FL – Devin Saltiban recorded his most hits in a home game with three knocks, but the Clearwater Threshers (47-30, 4-7) fell 14-7 to the Dunedin Blue Jays (39-37, 4-6) on Tuesday night at BayCare Ballpark. The Threshers look to close out the home half of the series with a win on their Wednesday night Independence Day Extravaganza.

Dunedin opened the scoring in the third with five runs in the frame to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Saltiban beat out an infield single off Dunedin starter Kendry Rojas to lead off the bottom of the fourth. He moved to second on a walk drawn by Bryson Ware and scored on an RBI single from Dakota Kotowski that put the Threshers on the board. Kotowski stole second and scored on a two-run triple by Raylin Heredia, cutting the deficit to 5-3.

The Blue Jays plated two more runs in the fifth to bring their lead back to four at 7-3. They added another five in the seventh to take a 12-3 lead before the stretch. The Threshers got one back in the seventh after a triple by Avery Owusu-Asiedu. He scored on an RBI hit by Diego González to bring the deficit back to eight.

Dunedin came back with two more runs in the top of the eighth to run their lead into double digits. González and Saltiban each drew a walk with one out in the ninth before Ware drilled a three-run homer to left field. Ware plated the game's final three runs with the homer, finishing up a 14-7 loss for Clearwater.

Luke Russo (4-2) struck out ten with seven runs allowed on nine hits in 5.0 innings to take the loss. Jonathan Petit allowed five runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 0.2 innings. Josh Bortka allowed two unearned runs on two hits with one strikeout in 1.0 inning. Luis Avila finished the final 1.1 innings without a run allowed, surrendering one hit and two walks with one strikeout.

Russo became the second Thresher this season to strike out ten batters in a single game...He set a new career high in Ks...Heredia is now tied for fourth in the league with four triples...Saltiban had three hits in a game for the third time in his career...Thomas pinch-hit for Hettiger in the seventh...Ware and Saltiban combined for four of the Threshers seven runs scored...The Threshers conclude a three-game home series against the Dunedin Blue Jays on Wednesday, July Third...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.