Threshers Battle Back for 9-8 Win Over Hammerheads

BOX SCORE

JUPITER, Fl - Despite trailing 7-6 in the seventh, the Clearwater Threshers rallied back to knock off the Jupiter Hammerheads 9-8 to even the six-game series on Wednesday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The Threshers (22-18) took advantage of two errors and got an RBI single from first baseman Anthony Quirion in the first inning to open the scoring and make it 2-0 early. Quirion finished the game 3-for-4 with three RBI and reached based a total of four times.

Left-hander Gabriel Cotto made his seventh start of the season for Clearwater, allowing five runs on three hits while walking five and striking out four in three innings. Cotto ran into trouble in the second, allowing back-to-back solo home runs to tie the game 2-2, and was later removed in the fourth after walking the bases loaded with no outs.

After a Quirion RBI double made it 3-2 in the third, the Threshers added three more in the fourth on a two-run RBI ground-rule double by Marcus Lee Sang and a bases loaded walk by Quirion to take a commanding 6-2 lead.

The Hammerheads (22-19) scored three runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth, before grabbing their first lead of the night in the sixth on an RBI double by Joey Wendle (MLB Rehab) off Clearwater right-hander Malik Binns to make it 7-6 Jupiter.

Trailing 7-6 in the seventh, the Threshers pushed across two runs on an RBI single by Yhoswar Garcia and a big RBI triple from Leandro Pineda to regain the lead, 8-7. Pineda finished the contest 2-for-5, securing his first two hits with the Threshers in 2022.

Right-hander Rodolfo Sanchez worked an impressive two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, allowing only one hit and striking out two to keep Clearwater in front.

Following an RBI sac-fly by the Florida State League's RBI leader Hao Yu Lee (34) in the eighth, the Threshers carried a 9-7 lead into the ninth.

Righty Alex Garbrick entered in the final frame for the Threshers, and despite allowing one run on two hits to make it a close 9-8 game, Garbrick struck out the side and worked out of a big jam to notch his first save of the season and preserve the victory.

Clearwater and Jupiter return to action on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. Lefty Jordi Martinez is scheduled to start for the Threshers, opposite fellow left-hander Justin Fall. Coverage on the Threshers Broadcasting Network begins at 6:20 p.m.