Mighty Mussels break stolen base record, homer four times in 10-4 out of Threshers
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels set the franchise’s single-season stolen base record as they defeated the Clearwater Threshers 10-4 Thursday night at Lee Health Sports Complex.
The 2026 Mighty Mussels broke the single-season franchise record (since 1992) for stolen bases after Merphy Hernandez swiped his 35th bag of the season in the 4th inning for steal No. 237. This year’s team surpassed the 2025 team, who stole 236 bases, in 16 fewer games. The Mussels lead the Florida State League and are 4th in Single-A with 240 steals on the season. Prior to last year, the franchise had never stolen 200+ bases.
“I think it says a lot about the players,” manager Jordan Smith said postgame. “The mentality is we are going to force the opponent to play at our speed. We [coaches] really look for those opportunities, but hats off to the players for going out and taking advantage.”
The Mighty Mussels have broken several franchise records in 2026. The mix of power and speed has seen the team sit at the top of the franchise’s single-season records in home runs (114 as of today) and consecutive games with a home run (11).
Several individuals have also broken Mussel-era (since 2020) single-season records, including innings pitched (Merit Jones, 102), home runs (JP Smith II/Quentin Young, 15) and exit velocity (Quentin Young, 115.8 mph). Fort Myers also broke the all-time franchise record for runs in a game (24) in April.
Young hit his 15th home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, tying Smith for the most in a single season in the Mussel-era.
Luis Fragoza homered twice in a game for the second time this season, marking the sixth multi-homer game of the campaign for a Mussel batter. Just the night before, Carson Tinney hit two home runs in the Mussels’ walk-off effort. Fragoza drove in four runs with a three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the seventh.
Fort Myers (61-48, 24-20) sent Matt Barr to the mound to make his fourth start for the Mussels this season.
Barr allowed leadoff singles to Clearwater (63-46, 23-20) hitters in the first four innings of play. In the third, the Threshers broke through for two runs to make it 2-0.
The Mussels strung together a two-out rally with hits from Colby Turner and Carson Tinney in the bottom of the third against Sean Youngerman (2-6). The next batter was Fragoza, who rocketed a three-run home run to give Fort Myers the lead.
The Threshers tied the game on an RBI groundout from Victor Cardoza in the top of the fourth.
Fort Myers took the lead back in the bottom of the frame after Hernandez went into the record books. During his swipe of second, an errant throw from Clearwater catcher Macon Winslow allowed the speedy Hernandez to score, making the score 4-3.
Barr was done after 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits but limiting the damage. Matthew Becker (2-0) came on and worked 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
After loading the bases with walks in the fifth inning, Fort Myers grabbed two more runs on a two-out, two-run single from Isaiah Lane.
Hernandez’s big night continued in the bottom of the seventh inning, mashing a solo home run to right-center field to make the score 7-3.
Jake Covey took over for the Mussels in the seventh, working two scoreless innings.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Fragoza’s second bomb of the night made the score 8-3. Two batters later, Young slammed his 15th home run of the season to extend the lead to 9-3.
The Mussels added a run on an RBI groundout from Turner in the eighth.
Covey gave way to Hendry Chivilli in the ninth. Chivilli gave up one run but locked down the win.
Fort Myers hit four home runs tonight, matching a season high. Now at 114 for the season, they sit one off the FSL lead (Palm Beach/Tampa). The Mussels have won five consecutive games, their second-longest winning streak of the season. They keep pace with Tampa in the FSL West 2nd Half standings, sitting four games behind the Tarpons for first place.
The series continues today, August 14. Cristian Hernandez (0.00) starts for the Mussels, opposite left-hander Yordanis Guerra (4.70). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.