Tampa’s Seven-Run Haymaker Buries Clearwater Threshers in 10-5 Rivalry Loss

A rivalry night with a very short fuse

The Clearwater Threshers gave their fans a reason to cheer Sunday at BayCare Ballpark. Unfortunately, they gave the Tampa Tarpons a considerable head start.

A three-run second inning was trouble. A seven-run fourth was the furniture going out the window. Tampa built a 10-0 lead, absorbed Clearwater’s late response and walked away with a 10-5 win that was more lopsided than the final score suggests.

Whether your baseball routine starts with a tailgate in Clearwater, watching in St Pete or Dunedin, or coming back from the beaches in time for the game, this was not the rivalry-night entertainment you ordered. Cross-bay bragging rights are irritating enough without gift wrapping.

Clearwater did keep swinging. That matters. So does the part where Tampa had already done most of the damage before the Threshers scored.

The fourth inning did the burying

Tampa’s Tyce Armstrong opened the trouble in the second with his first home run of the year, a shot to left. Ediel Rivera added an RBI single, and a bases-loaded walk helped push the Tarpons’ lead to 3-0.

Not ideal. Not fatal. Still a baseball game.

Then the fourth arrived and took that distinction personally.

Hans Montero hit a two-run homer, his 12th of the season. Diego Castellanos and Brando Mayea contributed singles. Rivera drove in two more with a single to left, continuing an evening in which Clearwater pitching could not find a comfortable way past him.

Tampa scored seven in the inning. When it finally stopped, the Threshers were looking at 10-0 and a very long climb.

The Tarpons finished with 14 hits, but Clearwater also issued seven walks. That combination will wreck an evening: plenty of contact, plenty of traffic and not nearly enough easy outs. Tampa brought the bats; the Threshers kept holding the door.

Winslow gave Clearwater something worth watching

Tarpons starter Wyatt Parliament kept Clearwater quiet through most of his work, finishing with 5.0 innings pitched, one earned run and three strikeouts. Matt Quintanar broke the shutout in the fifth with an RBI single, making it 10-1.

The bigger response came in the sixth. With two runners aboard, Macon Winslow drove his first home run of the season to left, cutting the deficit to 10-4.

At last, a reason to get out of the seat that didn’t involve taking a frustrated lap around the concourse.

Winslow finished 1-for-4, but that one hit supplied three of Clearwater’s five runs. On a night short of bright spots, his swing was the obvious choice for the highlight reel. It did not rescue the game. It did make the rest of it worth watching.

Giussepe Velasquez deserves his share of credit, too. The reliever delivered 2.1 scoreless innings and struck out three, giving Clearwater some badly needed stability after the early damage.

The Threshers added another run in the seventh. That was the end of the comeback, with the early deficit still well out of reach. The full MiLB box score has the particulars, if you have the stomach for them.

The tape

• Final: Tampa Tarpons 10, Clearwater Threshers 5.
• Tampa’s fourth inning: seven runs.
• Tampa hits: 14.
• Walks issued by Clearwater: seven.
• Macon Winslow: 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his first of the season.
• Giussepe Velasquez: 2.1 scoreless innings, three strikeouts.

Keep the fight. Lose the free passes.

There is a difference between quitting and getting beaten. Clearwater got beaten Sunday, but the late offense and Velasquez’s relief work kept this from being an entirely empty night.

Still, nobody should confuse a better-looking final score with a close game. The decisive stretch belonged to Tampa, and Clearwater’s lack of control helped make it possible.

Take Winslow’s swing. Take the scoreless relief. Leave the seven-walk habit at the curb. Pinellas fans can appreciate some late fight without pretending it cancels out the innings that buried their team.

Find more Threshers coverage and check the team schedule before planning your next trip to the park.

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