Clearwater Threshers Drop Tight One to Blue Jays, Fall 7-4

Clearwater brought the spark. Dunedin brought the answers.

The trouble with a cross-county rivalry is that the other side doesn’t have far to travel with the bragging rights.

Dunedin took those home Wednesday night, beating the Clearwater Threshers 7-4 after an evening of brief leads, stubborn resistance and just enough hope to make the finish irritating. Clearwater had its moments. The Blue Jays kept interrupting them.

For Pinellas fans talking baseball over a tailgate in Clearwater, watching in St Pete or winding down near the beaches, this one came with a familiar argument: encouraging swings or another game that got away? Both cases have evidence. Neither changes the score. Over in Dunedin, naturally, the discussion is considerably more cheerful.

The Threshers got an early lead courtesy of Brayden Bakes and a productive night from Nolan Beltran. What they didn’t get was enough offense to keep pace once Dunedin started answering back.

A lead with a short shelf life

Dunedin went straight to work with 2 runs in the first, including a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. double that scored Jake Cook. Clearwater answered in the bottom half when Beltran singled home Jonathan Hogart, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Then Bakes gave the home crowd something better than polite optimism.

With Beltran aboard in the third, Bakes sent a 2-run homer to right field and pushed Clearwater ahead 3-2. That’s the sort of swing that changes the conversation around the ballpark. Suddenly, the early deficit was somebody else’s problem.

Not for long.

Cook hit a solo homer in the fourth to tie it. Aldo Gaxiola followed with a solo shot in the fifth, moving Dunedin ahead 4-3. Different innings, same unpleasant sound for Clearwater: a lead leaving the yard.

The Blue Jays added on in the sixth when Owen Carapellotti singled home Ryan Franden to make it 5-3. Clearwater stayed within reach in the bottom half, with Beltran drawing a bases-loaded walk that brought Victor Cardoza home.

At 5-4, this was still very much an argument. But Dunedin scored twice in the seventh, stretching the advantage to 7-4. That score held, and the Threshers’ earlier lead became the evening’s most annoying souvenir.

Beltran did his part

Beltran was Clearwater’s standout at the plate: 2-for-3, a run scored and 2 RBIs. His first-inning single got the Threshers going. His bases-loaded walk in the sixth kept them close without requiring a heroic swing at something he didn’t need to hit.

There’s value in that. Not every useful plate appearance needs fireworks; sometimes refusing to help the pitcher is the whole job.

Bakes supplied the fireworks anyway. His homer put Clearwater in front, but the Threshers couldn’t make that advantage last. They finished with 9 hits, enough activity to keep the crowd invested but not enough scoring to finish the deal.

On the mound, Yordanis Guerra struck out 5 over 3.0 innings while allowing 5 hits and 2 earned runs. There were encouraging pieces in that outing, even on a night when Clearwater couldn’t quiet Dunedin’s offense for long enough.

Cook was the chief nuisance, going 4-for-5 with 3 runs, an RBI and a homer. If you were rooting for the Threshers, his name appeared in this story entirely too often.

The county gets the last word

No need to dress this up as a grand lesson. Clearwater briefly led, fought back within a run and still watched Dunedin pull away. The promising moments were real. So was the gap at the finish.

That leaves Threshers fans with a decent Bakes highlight, a strong Beltran performance and absolutely no interest in hearing a Dunedin fan recap the evening.

The next chance to change that conversation is on the Threshers schedule.

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