Eight-Run Eighth Vaults Threshers to Victory 

WP: Brandon Beckel (2-0, 4.24)

LP: Jack Wenninger (1-2, 5.30)

BOX SCORE

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – A pair of two-RBI hits from Raylin Heredia helped the Clearwater Threshers (29-13) overtake the St. Lucie Mets (14-28) 13-7 on Thursday night at Clover Park. The Threshers look to make it three straight wins when they return to face the Mets on Friday evening.

After a scoreless first inning, Devin Saltiban drew a leadoff walk off Mets starter Joel Díaz. Diaz’s throw to first on a pickoff attempt missed the first baseman and Saltiban advanced to second on the error. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on a ground ball to short by Kehden Hettiger to give the Threshers a 1-0 lead.

A two-run home run and a bases-loaded walk gave the Mets a 3-1 lead in the home half of the second. The score stayed 3-1 until the sixth, which began with an Aidan Miller leadoff single. Luis Caicuto reached on an error that moved Miller to second, and Dakota Kotowski walked to load the bases.

Mets reliever Jack Wenninger walked Saltiban on four pitches to bring Miller home from third and kept the bases loaded. Pierce Bennett then tied the game on a sacrifice fly to left. After a wild pitch with two outs in the inning, Heredia gave the Threshers a 5-3 lead with a two-RBI single to left.

St. Lucie got a run back in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-4. After a scoreless seventh, Kotowski started off the eighth inning with a leadoff single to right off Mets reliever Alan Perdomo. Bennett singled to move him to second before Hettiger walked to load the bases. Heredia added two more RBIs to his tally with a double to left that scored two and moved Hettiger to third. During the next at-bat, Hettiger scored on a passed ball by Mets catcher José Hernández that made it 8-4 Threshers.

Clearwater wasn’t done, as Avery Owusu-Asiedu kept the rally going with an RBI single. He moved to second on a groundout and scored on a ground-rule double by Aidan Miller that put the Threshers into double digits. He advanced to third on the second passed ball of the inning and scored on a single by Luis Caicuto. Two pitches later, Kotowski slammed a two-run home run that put the Threshers ahead 13-4.

St. Lucie added three runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull within six runs. Clearwater responded with a 1-2-3 ninth to seal a 13-7 victory.

Casey Steward allowed three runs on two hits with one walk and one strikeout in 1.0 inning of a no-decision. Jose Peña walked four and struck out three in 3.0 scoreless and hitless innings. Brandon Beckel (2-0) earned the win with one run allowed on two hits in 3.0 frames, striking out four and walking one. Paxton Thompson surrendered three runs on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Heredia earned his first multi-RBI game of the season with two go-ahead RBIs in the sixth...He finished with a career-high tying four RBIs...Peña threw 3.0 innings for the first time this season...Farquhar tied Caicuto for the longest on-base streak by a Thresher this season by reaching in his 15th-straight game...Clearwater’s eight-run eighth was the most productive inning in terms of runs and hits (7) in a game this season...Beckel’s 3.0-inning outing was the longest of his career...Kotowski has back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time this season...He is tied with Miller for the Threshers RBI lead with 19...The Threshers continue a six-game series against the St. Lucie Mets on Friday, May 24...First pitch will be at 6:10 PM at Clover Park...You can purchase tickets for the Threshers season 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.