Beach Dogs Ride Three-Run First to Fifth-Straight Win

WP: Andrew Walling (2-0, 4.82)

LP: Felipe De La Cruz (0-1, 4.50)

BOX SCORE:

CLEARWATER, FL – Four pitchers combined for a season-best 16 strikeouts as the Clearwater Beach Dogs (13-6) cruised to a 7-2 victory over the St. Lucie Mets (5-14) on Friday night at BayCare Ballpark. Clearwater looks to extend their season-best win streak on Saturday night against the Mets.

The Beach Dogs came out hot, with Ricardo Rosario opening the game with a leadoff single off Mets starter Felipe De La Cruz in the first. He stole second and scored on an RBI single from Justin Crawford that put the Beach Dogs up by one. Crawford advanced to second on a balk and then stole third before Caleb Ricketts walked. Chad Castillo plated Crawford on an RBI single that moved Ricketts to third before he scored on an RBI groundout by Emaarion Boyd that gave Clearwater a 3-0 lead.

A two-out single by Adrian Hernandez in the second gave St. Lucie their first run of the game, cutting the Beach Dogs lead to 3-1. Jordan Viars got the run back with a solo home run down the right-field line to give the Beach Dogs a 4-1 lead.

St. Lucie got one back in the sixth off a two-out double by Blaine McIntosh to make it 4-2. The Beach Dogs got a one-out single from Boyd, who advanced to second after Viars was hit by a pitch. Both baserunners stole a base during Otto Kemp’s at-bat before Kemp drove Boyd in from third to grow the lead to 5-2.

Javier Atencio came on to pitch the seventh and struggled out of the gate, walking Rosario and Crawford to start off the frame. Castillo was hit by Atencio to load the bases before a balk and wild pitch plated two and extended the advantage to 7-2. Clearwater’s bullpen retired the side in the final three frames to secure a 7-2 victory.

Alex McFarlane tossed 4.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts in a no-decision. Danny Wilkinson allowed one run on one hit with two walks and four strikeouts in 2.0 innings. Andrew Walling (2-0) struck out four of the five batters he faced in 1.2 innings to earn the win. Orion Kerkering struck out three batters in the final 1.1 innings without allowing a hit or a run.

Clearwater retired the final ten batters in order... The Beach Dogs extended their win streak to five games, their longest streak of the season... Crawford recorded a hit in his seventh-straight game... Ricketts and Rosario have reached base safely in six straight... Viars’ home run was his second of the season... He is the third Thresher to hit multiple home runs this season... Clearwater’s pitching staff tied their season high with 16 strikeouts... Boyd stole a team-high four bases in four attempts... He leads the league with 13 stolen bases this season... Friday marked Clearwater’s first win as the Beach Dogs in 2023...The Threshers continue their six-game set against the St. Lucie Mets (Single-A, Mets) on Saturday, April 29th at BayCare Ballpark… First pitch is at 6:30 PM... You can purchase tickets for the Threshers season at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457.