Aaron Altherr started for the Philadelphia Phillies in left field last night and collected his first major league hit, home run, and RBI.  He doubled in his first at bat and drove in his first run in the first inning off Mark Buehrle.  He lined a two-run home run to left in the fifth inning off reliever Bo Schultz .  He finished 2 for 3 with a walk, run scored, double, home run, and three RBI.

Clearwater (70-53) beat the Dunedin Blue Jays 6-2.  The Threshers gave Mark Leiter (5-1, 2.18) an early lead and he held the Jays to two runs on six hits in six innings.  He struck out five.  Alexis Rivero (3.15) earned his second save with three no-hit innings.  He walked one and struck out five, the fourth straight game that Threshers’ pitching reached double digit strike outs.

The Threshers amassed twelve hits on their way to their 70th victory.  The team managed to post a 49-89 record during the torturous 2014 campaign.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/19/2015 →

Clearwater (69-53) beat the Dunedin Blue Jays 9-4.  Matt Imhof (7-4, 3.72) gave up two runs in the first inning, but held the Blue Jays to four base runners over over the following four innings.  Overall, he conceded two runs on five hits and two walks.  Imhof struck out six batters.  Alberto Tirado (2.94) made his first appearance against his former team and tossed three no-hit, shutout innings.  Tirado struck out three but walked four.  Harold Guerrero (3.41) gave up a two-run home run in the ninth.

After falling behind 2-0, the Threshers began their comeback in the second inning and mounted a 14-hit attack.  Eight starters had hits, five had multi-hit games.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/18/2015 →

Clearwater (68-53) beat the Dunedin Blue Jays 6-3.  It was Pinto Night again for the Threshers.  Ricardo Pinto (7-2, 2.50) breezed through the Jays line up most of the night.  The Jays got their first two batters on in the first inning, but Pinto pitched out of the trouble.  He scattered four more base runners into the seventh inning.  He was relieved after a lead off walk and two strike outs.  His line – 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 6 K.  Jesen Therrien (1.80) recorded a strike out to retire the side and strand the base runner.  Therrien continued into the eighth where he had mixed results – a single, walk, and 2 doubles while striking out the side.  His line – 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.  Miguel Nunez (3.14) provided some excitement while notching his sixth save.  After two quick outs, he loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter.  He ended the game with his second strike out. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/17/2015 →

Clearwater (67-53) lost to the Dunedin Blue Jays 10-2.  Victor Arano (4-11, 4.95) retired six of seven batters through the first two innings.  Then he reverted to his early season form after a couple of ground ball singles to the bottom of the Blue Jays order.  As has happened in the past, the Jays batters teed off on Arano when they saw him for the second time.  After a couple hard hit balls, he further lost control firing a wild pitch, hitting a batter, and throwing another wild pitch.  One barely cleared the grass cutout of the infield ten feet in front of home plate.  Then came the extra base hits.  First a double, then a home run by Dickie Joe Thon (son of Dickie Thon).  And so, after seven runs Arano was mercifully relieved.  Cody Forsythe came in to get the final out on one pitch.  And the attention of a lot of fans in the suites turned to the Colts-Eagles game in anticipation of Tim Tebow’s return to a playing field. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/16/2015 →

After three innings in Clearwater, the monsoon that had encircled Bright House Field closed in and opened up on players and patrons.  Fans ran for cover and the grounds crew ran to the tarp.  While we had viewed lightning in the vicinity, mostly over the bay, the intensity of the downpour was Homeric.  I have seen this field take on a lot of water and drain well enough to continue play.  Not tonight.  We have had a lot of rain in recent days, and the “ponding” formed in places that would make continuation of tonight’s game unlikely. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/15/2015 →

So, after the Threshers’ game, I was talking to Charlie about Cornelius Randolph.  Yeah, I call him Charlie.  Charlie Manuel, that is.  So, where was I?  Oh, I was talking to Charlie about the Phillies’ first round pick Cornelius “C” Randolph.   Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/14/2015 →

Clearwater (67-51) beat the Tampa Yankees 6-4.  Mark Leiter (2.12) had an uneven start.  He threw 62 strikes among his 84 pitches (73.8%).  He pitched six innings.  He walked none and struck out seven.  But he gave up nine hits, some of them hit very hard.  He uncorked a couple wild pitches.  He gave up four runs.  But the Threshers outscored his mistakes and the bullpen kept the Yankees off the board down the stretch.  Jesen Therrien (5-0, 1.16) picked up the win and Miguel Nunez (3.18) earned his 5th save. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/13/2015 →

Clearwater (66-51) beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers 10-5.  Matt Imhof (3.73) turned in a poor outing.  He he gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks including two home runs.  He left with one out in the fifth inning, one run in, and the bases loaded.  Alexis Rivero (1-2, 4.30), who has had some difficulties of his own since his call-up from Lakewood, came in and induced a double play to strand the three base runners and end the inning.  He contributed two more scoreless innings and positioned himself for the win before turning the game over to Ethan Stewart (0.87) for the final two innings.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/12/2015 →

Clearwater (65-51) beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers 4-1. The Threshers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Dylan Cozens’ two-run triple in the first inning.  Ricardo Pinto made those runs hold up. Pinto gave back a run in the bottom of the first, but didn’t allow a hit or a walk after the first inning. The only runner to reach base during Pinto’s second through seventh innings did so on a fielding error. Still nursing a 2-1 lead, Alberto Tirado took the mound in the eighth. He allowed a single but ended the inning with a pick off. The Threshers provided some breathing room for Ulises Joaquin in the ninth, and he pitched around a one-out single to earn his 15th save. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/11/2015 →

GCL Phillies (26-13) beat the GCL Yankees1 9-7 in a very exciting ten inning game.  The game featured six comebacks and six lead changes.  The Yankees took the lead in three different innings, and the Phillies came back to tie or go ahead in the bottom halves of all three innings.  The last rally occured after the Phillies blew a 2-run lead in the top of the ninth.  They came back to tie and threatened to win in regulation before Tommy Joseph’s two-run bomb settled the issue for good in the tenth inning. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/10/2015 →