Early Outburst Leads Tampa over Manatees

Rashad Crawford
Rashad Crawford
The Tampa Yankees put a five-spot up in the top of the first inning and went on to beat the Brevard County Manatees 8-3 on Sunday, completing the weekend sweep.

Cody Ponce started for Brevard County and things did not go well right from the get go. He hit Jorge Mateo leading off the game. Mateo stole second and took third after catcher Mitch Ghelfi threw the ball into center field. Ponce then committed an error on a ball hit by Thairo Estrada. Mateo came home and Estrada went to second. Gleyber Torres followed with an RBI single, making it 2-0.

Zack Zehner walked one out later and Rashad Crawford, who had two hits on Saturday, muscled up and hit one over the right field wall, giving the Yankees a 5-0 lead. Kevin Cornelius and Jeff Hendrix hit back-to-back singles, before Ponce got the final two outs.

Ponce threw 36 pitches in that first inning and did come out for the second inning, but after one pitch to Estrada, he was pulled from the game. Clint Terry was called on to take over for Ponce. He pitched 1+ innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on four hits. He walked one, struck out one and gave up the home run.

Word from Manatees public relations after the game, according to manager Joe Ayrault, there was no specific issue with Ponce, just a bad outing.

Terry got the first out in the third inning, but gave up a double to Cornelius, walked Hendrix and gave up an RBI ground-rule double to Wes Wilson, making it 6-0. Estrada’s high chopper to third, was good enough for a hit and an RBI, giving Tampa a 7-0 lead.

Brevard County got on the board in the third against Tampa starter Josh Rogers. thanks to back-to-back doubles from Malik Collymore and Brandon Diaz.

Mitch Ghelfi, who has been swinging a hot stick and drawn the praise of Ayrault over the last couple nights, singled home Diaz to make it 7-2. A wild pitch got Ghelfi to second and Elvis Rubio roped a ball to center, but Hendrix robbed him of a hit and an RBI with a sliding catch, ending the frame.

Corey Ray singled in the fifth with one out and went to second on a wild pick-off throw. He went to third on a ground out, but Allemand struck out, ending the inning. Rogers was done after six for Tampa. He allowed two runs on six hits and had six strikeouts. He did not walk a batter, throwing 76 pitches (55 strikes).

Jon Olczak took over for Terry in the top of the seventh. All things considered, Terry did a nice job, giving up two runs on five hits in five innings.  He walked one, struck out four and threw 65 pitches (43 strikes).

The Manatees (14-43, 37-88) scored in the bottom of the seventh, against Yankees’ reliever Eduardo Rivera. Wendell Rijo led off with a double and two outs later, Corey Ray’s single to center made it a 7-3 game. Tampa added a run in the ninth on an RBI single by Crawford. He finished the night 2-for-5 with four RBIs.

For more info: Tampa Yankees @ Brevard County boxscore

Wendell Rijo led the way for the Manatees at the plate, going 3-for-4, while Ray went 2-for-4.
After on off-day on Monday, the Manatees embark on their final road trip of the season on Tuesday. They start a three-game set against Clearwater at 7:00 p.m. Devin Williams is scheduled to get the start for Brevard County, who will be looking to snap a 12-game losing streak.


Jerry Durney contributed to this recap via his twitter.

This article originally appeared on 27OutsBaseball.com on 8/21/16

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