Sports
Rodriguez Impressive In Thresher Victory
Joseph Esposito fans all three batters he faces in the eighth and Friend gets his19th save.
The Clearwater Threshers road the arm of Julio Rodriguez in defeating the Tampa Yankees 2-0 Friday (June 10).
Rodriguez, 20, cruised through the first six innings allowing only two hits and retiring fifteen Yankees (31-30) in a row at one point.
Rodriguez showed his strong character in the eighth when he allowed the first three runners to get on board with two singles and a walk.
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Threshers manager, Dusty Wathan chose to leave the youngster in. Rodriguez retired the next batter with an infield pop fly and then got last nights hero, Taylor Grote to ground into a double play.
Joseph Esposito struck out the side in the eighth and Justin Friend survived the ninth after giving up three singles.
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As the case has been on too many evenings this season, the Thresher hitters mounted little of any offense against the Yankees pitching.
Friday, RBI singles by Darin Ruf and Jeremy Barnes proved to be enough.
Clearwater (38-23) travels to Daytona for a key three game series starting Saturday. This series should go a long way in determining the first half champion of the Florida State League's North Division. The Threshers trail the Cubs four games in the standings.
