Sports
Threshers Get Grand Slammed By Manatees McCraw
Julio Rodriguez was one pitch away from having his best outing of the year.
The Clearwater Threshers lost a heart breaker to the Brevard County Manatees, 4-2 on Wednesday (June 29).
Threshers starter Julio Rodriguez carried a 2-0 lead into the seventh, only to have light hitting catcher Sean McCraw hit his third home-run of the season with the bases loaded.
Unfortunately this ruined a brilliant outing for the 20 year old. Prior to McCraw's dinger, Rodriguez had allowed only four hits and struck out a season high 11.
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All-Star Nick Bucci was just as stingy on the Manatees mound. Back to back doubles by Brian Gump and Jiwan James, followed by a single from Jonathan Singleton plated the only runs for the Threshers. The 20 year old Bucci retired 14 of the next 15 batters he would face before leaving the game in eighth.
On deck: The Threshers (2-5) and Manatees (4-1) resume their three game series on Thursday (June 30). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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Notes: James Birmingham struck out five of the six GC Blue Jays batters he faced, in his professional baseball debut. Birmingham, who signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Phillies on June 24, entered the game in the ninth with the score tied at fours. After the GC Phillies pushed a run across in the tenth, Birmingham struck-out the 3-4-5 batters in the Blue Jays line-up.
