CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 25, 2019) - Joe Ryan struck out eight in over six dominant innings Thursday, but the Clearwater Threshers battled back to beat the Charlotte Stone Crabs 5-3 at Spectrum Field. Ryan allowed just one run on four hits over six frames. He retired ten of the final
CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 25, 2019) - Joe Ryan struck out eight in over six dominant innings Thursday, but the Clearwater Threshers battled back to beat the Charlotte Stone Crabs 5-3 at Spectrum Field.
Ryan allowed just one run on four hits over six frames. He retired ten of the final 11 men he faced and pulled into a tie for the Minor League lead in strikeouts (142).
The Stone Crabs (62-40, 27-9) scored all three runs on home runs Thursday. Trailing 1-0 in the top of the third, Zach Rutherford cranked a solo shot to deep left to tie the game 1-1.
With the game still tied in the top of the fourth, Moises Gomez clobbered a towering two-run shot to left that went over the bleachers and on top of the tiki bar to give Charlotte a 3-1 lead.
However, Clearwater (53-50, 17-20) mounted a furious comeback in the bottom of the seventh to take control of the game. Matt Vierling led off with a double against Stone Crabs reliever Jack Labosky (2-5). Two batters later, Luke Miller lined a single to left to move Vierling to third. The next batter was Matt Kroon, who singled to left to score Vierling and make it 3-2.
Daniel Brito followed by grounding a ball to first. Charlotte first baseman Kaleo Johnson wielded a throw to second to try and get the force out. The throw hit Kroon's helmet and caromed into left field, allowing the tying run to score and make it 3-3. Two batters later, Nick Matera pulled a two-run double off the wall in left center to chase home a pair and make it 5-3 Clearwater.
The Stone Crabs will look to even the series at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Tobias Myers (5-1, 3.00) is scheduled to pitch for Charlotte, against Andrew Brown (2-5, 7.38) of the Threshers. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.
