Rain Ends Game Early as Threshers Fall to Tarpons

WP: Shane Gray (1.2, 3.77)

LP: Estibenzon Jiménez (1-3, 4.19)

BOX SCORE:

CLEARWATER, FL – All of the three hits for the Clearwater Threshers (42-18) went for extra bases but the Threshers dropped their second-straight game 7-2 against the Tampa Tarpons (29-33) in six completed innings on Saturday night at BayCare Ballpark. The Threshers look to secure a split in the Sunday series finale against the Tarpons.

Christopher Familia hit a solo home run in the second inning to put Tampa up 1-0. Bryan Rincon tied the game at one with a leadoff homer off Tarpons starter Justin Lange in the third. The Tarpons plated three more runs in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.

Ricardo Rosario led off the fifth inning by drawing a walk and advanced to third on a double by Justin Crawford. Shane Gray came in to replace Lange and threw a wild pitch that allowed Rosario to score from third. The Tarpons responded with three more runs in the sixth to extend their lead to 7-2.

A small rainstorm descended on the ballpark, suspending play with one out in the top of the seventh inning. With the game past the five-inning mark, the game was marked as completed after six full innings and nearly an hour of rain finishing a 7-2 loss for the Threshers.

Estibenzon Jiménez allowed four runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work. Eiberson Castellano allowed three runs on three hits in 2.0 innings, walking two and striking out three. Wen-Hui Pan struck out the only batter he faced before the rain delay.

Crawford extended his hit streak to ten games...It is the third time a Threshers batter has recorded a hit in ten-straight games...Crawford has now achieved this feat twice this season...He has recorded a hit in all seven games he’s played against the Tarpons... Rincon moved into a tie for seventh in the league with his seventh homer of the year...it was his second home run against the Tarpons...The Threshers conclude their series against the Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees, A) on Sunday, June 18th... First pitch is at 12:00 pm EST... You can purchase tickets for Threshers games at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457.