It was a rough night in Clearwater in a 2-1 loss to Brevard County that demonstrated the biggest problem with the Threshers this season. The Phillies High-A farm club has simply not received consistent hitting to this point.
Colin Kleven (RHP) started and went five innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs, while he also walked 3 and struckout 3 batters. However, he received very little help from the team’s bats, which produced just 6 hits on the afternoon.
Brevard County, the High-A affiliates of the Milwaukee Brewers, scored twice in the top of the 4th. Three of the first four batters reached against Kleven, including a pair of doubles, to give the Manatees a 2-0 lead.
The lone bright spot for the 3,770 fans who showed up at Bright House Field on a perfect evening for baseball came when the Threshers lone run was scored in the bottom of the sixth, with Drew Stankiewicz (2B) scoring on Andrew Knapp’s (DH) ground out to short.
Stankiewicz, who drew a pair of walks, and shortstop Angel Mora (single and walk) were the only Threshers hitters to reach base twice.
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Javier Salas gained the victory for the Manatees, going a solid 5.1 innings in which he allowed just 1 earned run on 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4 Threshers batters.
A glaring problem thus far for Clearwater in 2015 is the number of men left on base, which tonight stood at seven. The Threshers lineup were also only 1-8 with runners in scoring position, leaving an uphill battle for the pitching staff. Reinier Roibal followed Kleven with 3 shutout innings, scattering 3 hits, while Harold Guerrero pitched a perfect 9th for Clearwater.
Clearwater and Brevard County will go at it again at 1:00pm on Wednesday afternoon at Bright House Field, with David Whitehead taking the mound for the host Threshers.