Matthew Ferrara scored all three times he reached base, but the Clearwater Threshers lost 7-4 to the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. The Threshers surrendered six runs in the middle innings and finished the game with a 69-54 overall record and a 29-28 record. Lakeland moved to 61-61 overall and 30-27 after the game.
Clearwater took the lead in the second inning when Cade Climie drove in Nolan Beltran with a two-out single. Beltran had reached on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Lakeland starter Kelvis Salcedo. Lakeland tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
Ferrara reached base and stole second in the fourth inning before Beltran singled him to third. Climie then added a sacrifice fly to put Clearwater ahead 2-1. Lakeland tied the game in the bottom of the fourth and scored twice in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.
Ferrara reached on an infield single against Owen Hall in the sixth inning, stole second and scored on Beltran’s RBI double. Lakeland answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend its lead to 7-3. Ferrara walked to begin the eighth inning and scored on Will Vierling’s two-out double, while Jack Hopko reached on a walk in the ninth before Clearwater’s comeback attempt ended.
Clearwater Threshers Pitching Notes
Yordanis Guerra allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts and one walk in 3.0 innings. Kobe Minchey walked two and allowed one run in 1.0 inning without giving up a hit in his professional debut. Tyler Bowen took the loss after allowing two runs on one hit with two walks and one strikeout in 0.2 innings.
Luis Avila recorded the final out of the bottom of the fifth inning, and Kyler Carmack allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 1.0 inning of relief. Richie Cortese struck out five batters in 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings. Cortese also set a career high with five swinging strikeouts in those two innings.
Matthew Ferrara Reaches 30 Steals
Ferrara recorded two hits, reached base three times and scored three runs. He became the first Clearwater Threshers player to reach 30 steals in 2026 and recorded his fourth multi-steal game of the season.
Climie has recorded nine of his 15 career RBIs during the week in Lakeland. Clearwater has Monday off before beginning its final homestand of the regular season against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels on Tuesday, September 1. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Source: Original report