Threshers Belt Three Homers in Rain-Shortened Win 

WP: Luke Russo (3-1, 5.12)

LP: Gabriel Barbosa (1-7, 5.81)

BOX SCORE

CLEARWATER, FL – Three home runs helped the Clearwater Threshers (37-23) snap a four-game skid with a 7-3 win over the Tampa Tarpons (23-37) in six innings on Thursday night at BayCare Ballpark. The Threshers look to continue their momentum when the series resumes on Friday night.

The Tarpons struck first on a sacrifice fly in the opening inning, but the Threshers struck back in the home half. Keaton Anthony took a two-strike two-out pitch from Tampa starter Gabriel Barbosa over the left-center field wall to tie the game, and two pitches later Dakota Kotowski hit a solo shot to give the Threshers a 2-1 lead.

Tarpons right-fielder Willy Montero tied the game on the first pitch of the second with a solo home run, and the Tarpons added a second run to make it 3-2 after the top second. Kehden Hettiger drew a one-out walk to start a rally in the bottom of the fourth. Hettiger stole second and scored when AJ Shaver reached on an error by Tarpons shortstop George Lombard Jr. to tie the game. Bryson Ware moved Shaver to third with a single, and Shaver scored on a go-ahead RBI single by Diego González. Three pitches later, Jordan Viars hit a towering home run to right center to extend the Threshers advantage to 7-3.

Rain intensified in the top of the sixth inning to start the second rain delay of the evening. After a second delay of 45 minutes, the game was called in the sixth with a 7-3 win for the Threshers.

Luke Russo allowed three runs on five hits in 5.0 innings with nine strikeouts. Paxton Thompson walked two batters in the top of the sixth before the rain ended the game.

Anthony now owns the Threshers longest hit streak of the season with a hit in nine straight games...Kotowski’s first-inning homer was his first at BayCare Ballpark...Anthony and Kotowski became the first pair of Threshers to hit back-to-back home runs in 2024...Russo tied his career-high with nine strikeouts for the second time at home...Viars became the first Thresher to reach 30 RBIs in 2024...Clearwater has won three of five games in 24 that lasted fewer than nine innings...The Threshers continue a six-game series against the Tampa Tarpons on Friday, June 14...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.