Manatees Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short in Tampa


Jose Cuas
Jose Cuas
The Brevard County Manatees pounded out 15 hits and sent nine men to the plate in the top of the ninth, scoring three runs, but falling just short in a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

The Manatees left the bases loaded in that ninth inning and left 12 men on base in all, but showed a lot of fight, despite losing their 91st game of the season and the 13th in a row to the Yankees this season. Tampa is now 14-2 against Brevard County this season, with two games remaining.

The Yankees (75-55, 33-28) scored a run in the top of the first, against Manatees starter Jon Perrin on a Gleyber Torres single. That plated Thairo Estrada, who had a hustle double earlier in the frame.

Malik Collymore led off the top of the third with a single against Tampa starter Josh Rogers. One out later, Mitch Ghelfi moved him to third on an infield hit. Collymore later scored on a fielder’s choice by Blake Allemand, tying things up at one.

Tampa struck quickly in the bottom of the inning. Estrada doubled with one out and Torres walked, bringing Trey Amburgey to the plate. He took Perrin deep and out, putting Tampa up 4-1. Perrin struck out the side in the inning, but Amburgey’s first homer in a Tampa uniform took away from that.

David Denson got the top of the fourth going with a single. Wendell Rijo followed with a single of his own and Denson attempted to go to third. The throw and tag beat him and he was called out. Denson stayed down after the tag, grabbing his knee. After trainer Tommy Craig and manager Joe Ayrault assessed the situation, Denson was helped off the field. He was replaced at first base by Ghelfi, who started the game behind the plate. Dustin Houle took over there in the top of the fifth.

Perrin (2-8) settled down after the homer and did not allow another hit, through five innings of work. He allowed four earned runs on six hits, walked two and struck out six, throwing 55 of 88 pitches for strikes. Freddy Peralta took over in the bottom of the sixth.

Brandon Diaz
Brandon Diaz
Brevard County (38-91, 15-46) closed the gap with two runs in the top of the seventh. Jose Cuas beat out an infield single and went to third on a Brandon Diaz double. Malik Collymore walked to load the bases and after Corey Ray struck out for the first out of the inning, Rogers got the hook.

Caleb Frare got Ghelfi to hit one on the ground, but he beat the wraparound throw to first, avoiding the double play and scoring Cuas, to cut the lead in half. Allemand’s single would make it a 4-3 game. Frare walked Rubio to load the bases for the second time, but he got Houle to fly out, avoiding further damage.

That closed the book on Rogers (10-5). He gave up three earned in 6.1 innings of work, walked one and struck out seven. He threw 64 of 87 pitches for strikes.

Peralta got the first out in the bottom of the seventh, but walked Jeff Hendrix, who went to third on a single by Estrada. They weren’t on base long, thanks to a no-doubt bomb off the bat of Torres, giving the Yanks a 7-3 lead. It was the second three run shot of the day for Tampa and they needed every bit of both.

Right-hander David Lucroy made his Brevard County debut in the bottom of the eighth and walked Kevin Cornelius. He then got Connor Spencer to fly to left and Wes Wilson to foul out. Hendrix hit a ball hard, but Diaz made a diving catch in center, to keep the Yankees from adding to their lead.

That set the stage for a very exciting, but ultimately disappointing ninth inning for the Manatees. Matt Marsh came on to pitch and gave up a one out single to Ghelfi. Allemand moved him to second with a single and after Elvis Rubio struck out, Houle walked to load the bases. A single by Rijo plated two and made it a 7-5 game. Houle took second and that spelled the end for Marsh.

Dillon McNamara came in and gave up a single to Cuas, loading the bases again. Diaz drew a walk, making it a 7-6. Collymore was the Manatees last hope, but McNamara got him swinging to end the game.

For more info: Brevard County @ Tampa boxscore

Ray and Rubio were the only Manatees starters without a hit. Ghelfi (3-for-5, RBI, run), Cuas (3-for-5, run) and Diaz (3-for-4, RBI, run) led the offense. Allemand and Rijo each had two hits.

Tampa finished the day with 11 hits led by Estrada (3-for-4, two doubles, three runs). Zack Zehner, who came in hitting over .400 against the Manatees this season, improved on that with a 3-for-4 day.

Cody Ponce will take the mound for the Manatees Saturday, against Sean Carley, who made his FSL debut on August 20 at Brevard County. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. EDT.



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