Manatees Use Long Ball To Defeat Clearwater

By  //  April 19, 2013

Same Teams Meet On Friday Night

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA – For the second time in three nights, the Brevard County Manatees blasted a trio of home runs en route to a 5-2 victory over the Clearwater Threshers at Bright House Field on Thursday night.

Catcher Cameron Garfield ripped his fourth homer of the year in Brevard County's 5-2 win Thursday over Clearwater. (Image courtesy of Brevard County Manatees)
Catcher Cameron Garfield ripped his fourth homer of the year in Brevard County’s 5-2 win Thursday over Clearwater. (Image courtesy of Brevard County Manatees)

Cody Hawn repeated Tuesday night’s performance by leading off the second with a solo shot, then on Thursday he was followed by a Brandon Macias double and a Lance Roenicke RBI single as the Manatees (9-5) took a 2-0 lead.

In the third, Chadwin Stang got things going right away with a base hit and a stolen base and was able to score when Hawn brought him in with his second hit of the game to make it 3-0. Hawn went 3-for-4 on the night, which was his fourth multi-hit game in ten games this season.

A fifth-inning homer by Cameron Garfield, his team-leading fourth of the year, extended the ‘Tees lead to 4-0 before the Threshers (6-8) could get on the board.

‘Tees starter Jacob Barnes (2-0, 1.50) worked smoothly through the first four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth. He allowed a one-out walk and then Jose Mojica reached on a throwing error by Barnes to put runners on first and second. After striking out Jonathan Roof, Carlos Alonso’s two-out RBI single made it a 4-1 game.

Barnes would then walk Maikel Franco to load the bases but they would be left loaded as Chris Serritella grounded out to second to end the threat. On the night, Barnes was only charged with the one unearned run on three hits and walks with a pair of strikeouts in five innings of work.

MANATEESPITCH-180Yadiel Rivera got himself in the home run column as well, tearing one into the Threshers’ bullpen to tack on an insurance run in the eighth inning. Rivera is hitting .300 (6-for-20) in his last five games.

Clearwater (6-8) threatened in the final frame, but a leadoff single by Harold Martinez and another base knock by Jose Mojica brought in just one run to make it a three-run difference that ended up as the final margin.

Matt Miller made his season debut and allowed three hits in 2.2 innings, giving way to Kevin Shackelford who fanned the final batter of the seventh then mowed through the eighth before the mildly troublesome ninth. Shackelford became the fifth Manatee to pick up a save this season, while Barnes became the first to earn multiple wins.

For the Threshers, Colin Kleven (0-3, 14.29) lost his third of three decisions after being touched up for nine hits in 4.2 frames. The Manatees scored four runs against him, taking one walk and striking out six times.

Brevard County and Clearwater will continue their three-game series at Bright House Field on Friday night at 6:30 p.m., with live audio available on ManateesBaseball.com.

It will be a battle of southpaws as Jed Bradley (1-0, 3.00) will toe the rubber for the Manatees, while Nick Hernandez (1-0, 2.45) will get the call for the Threshers.