Hernandez reaches 50 steals, Mussels aswept in doubleheader
CLEARWATER – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were swept in their doubleheader against the Clearwater Threshers Thursday at BayCare Ballpark.
In game two, Merphy Hernandez swiped a pair of bases to reach 50 steals on the season. He became the second player in franchise history (since 1992) to steal 50 bases. Hernandez trails just Anthony Felston on the all-time list.
Felston stole 86 bases in 1998 while playing in 114 games. Hernandez has played in just 59 games this season. He leads all players on full-season affiliated rosters in steals since his Single-A debut on May 21.
Game One
Clearwater 9, Fort Myers, 3 7 innings
Following a 42-minute weather delay, Clearwater (72-54, 32-28) loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning against Mussels’ (67-58, 30-30) starter Cristian Hernandez (0-1). The Threshers struck for two runs in the opening frame.
C. Hernandez allowed a pair of hits to begin the second as the Threshers extended the lead to 3-0.
Threshers’ starter Sean Youngerman (4-7) retired the first six Mussels on just 15 pitches before Bryan Acuna singled to lead off the third inning. Jimmy Keenan followed with a single of his own. Two batters later, M. Hernandez singled to center to make it 3-1.
C. Hernandez stranded the bases loaded in the third, exiting after throwing 62 pitches across three innings of work.
Mevlin Rodriguez took over in the fourth. Clearwater scored four runs on four hits and sent nine men to the plate against Rodriguez, extending the margin to 7-1. Rainer Marin took over with two outs and the bases loaded. Marin issued a pair of walks, allowing two inherited runners to score before recording the final out.
The Mussels’ trailed 9-1 after four innings. The pitching staff combined to throw 109 pitches, while Youngerman needed just 39 pitches to cover his first four frames. Youngerman exited after five innings of one-run ball. He faced the minimum four times and threw 76% of his pitches for strikes.
Marin recorded three total outs before giving way to Nic McAuliffe who got the final out in the fifth.
The contest then entered a second delay in the top of the sixth. After one hour and 13 minutes, the game resumed. Fort Myers immediately loaded the bases against Jacob Pruitt. A wild pitch brought Charlie Scholvin home. Later in the frame, Quentin Young singled to make it 9-3.
Minnesota Twins 7th rounder Max Bayless made his professional debut on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, becoming the first pitcher from the draft class to appear in a game. Bayles picked up a strikeout before walking the bases loaded. He escaped the jam by inducing a weak groundout.
The two delays totaled one hour and 55 minutes, the longest for a road game this season. In total, the game took four hours and 11 minutes to complete.
Fort Myers’ streak of 18 consecutive games with a stolen base was snapped in the loss. That streak was a franchise record (tracked since 2005) and the longest active streak among full-season MiLB affiliates.
Game Two
Clearwater 6, Fort Myers 5, 7 innings
In the first, Matthew Dalquist worked around a double and struck out the side.
Leading off the second inning, Colby Turner blasted a homer (107.1 mph EV) over the bullpens in left to open the scoring. Bryce Fowler followed with an infield single. Two batters later, Jimmy Keenan crushed his first affiliated homer (104.1 mph EV) to left to make it 3-0. M. Hernandez later swiped his second bag of the game to reach 50 steals on the season.
Dalquist retired six consecutive Threshers after the first inning double and needed just 42 pitches to navigate the first three innings. The righty finished his outing with four shutout frames, allowing just one hit and one walk. Dalquist’s six punchouts were his second most in a game this season (eight on 4/30 in Daytona).
Fort Myers added two runs in the fifth off reliever Kyler Csarmack. The Mussels sent eight men to the plate and only had one ball put in play in the frame, extending the lead 5-0.
Undrafted free agent Tyler Bryan made his professional debut and worked 1.2 scoreless innings before giving way to Hendry Chivilli who got the final out of the sixth.
The Threshers exploded for six runs in the bottom of the seventh, handing Fort Myers its seventh walk-off loss of the season. The first five runs were charged to Chivilli, only two of which were earned. The final run went against Jake Covey (3-1). The last three runs scored with two outs. It was Clearwater’s sixth walk-off win of the campaign.
The doubleheader took seven hours and five minutes to complete.
The series continues today, Sept. 4. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:20 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.