Tampa’s 15 Hits Overwhelm Manatees
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| Dustin Houle |
The Tampa Yankees had a big offensive day on Sunday,
knocking around Brevard County Manatees pitching for 15 hits in an 8-2 victory.
It was the 15th consecutive victory for Tampa this season over
the Manatees and they finished the season series with a 16-2 record.
The day got off to a tough start for Manatees manager Joe
Ayrault in the bottom of the first and was likely a sign of things to come.
With one out, Thairo Estrada and Gleyber Torres hit back-to-back singles against
starter Kodi Medeiros. Trey Amburgey was next to the plate and he checked
his swing early in the at bat on a ball in the dirt. Manatees catcher Mitch Ghelfi caught it, but both Yankees runners
moved up without a throw.
Ayrault came out to argue, likely saying that the ball was
foul-tipped, which is why there was no throw. He stated his case first to home
plate umpire Jose Navas and then to base umpire Reid Joyner. He then went back
to Navas and was tossed soon after. Medeiros eventually worked out of trouble,
thanks to a head first diving catch by Brandon Diaz and a strikeout of Zack Zehner to end the inning.
Newcomer Trey York got his first Manatees at bat in the
second inning against Tampa starter Justus Sheffield. York hit a grounder to second,
reaching on an error. York ended his day 0-for-4, after being robbed of a hit
in the ninth, on a diving catch by Amburgey.
Medeiros ran into trouble with one out in the third. After
walking Jorge Mateo on four pitches, he walked Estrada.
Torres followed with an RBI double, scoring Mateo and Amburgey made it 2-0 with
a single. Zehner then hit one back to the mound that was fielded by Medeiros,
but his throw to York at second, skipped into center field and it was 3-0.
After allowing five straight Yankees to reach, Medeiros was yanked in favor of Brad Kuntz.
Rashad Crawford greeted Kuntz with an RBI single,
but he was able to get out of the inning after that. Medeiros was charged with
the run on Crawford’s single and gave up four runs (three earned) in 2.1
innings. He allowed five hits, walked three and struck out one. He threw 54
pitches, 26 for strikes.
Elvis Rubio singled to start the fourth for the
Manatees, but Jose Cuas hit into an inning-ending double play,
to end the frame. Sheffield went on to pitch a clean fifth and his day was
done. He allowed just the one hit, walked three and struck out five. He threw
86 pitches, 53 for strikes.
The Manatees (38-93, 15-48) got on the board in the sixth
inning against Yankees’ reliever Jordan Foley. With one out, Blake Allemand singled. One out later, Wendell Rijo singled and with a 3-2 count and
runners on the move, Dustin Houle knocked a single into right, making
it 4-1.
That was as close as the Manatees would get, as Tampa tacked
on two more in the seventh against Devin Williams, who took over for Kuntz to start the
fourth. Crawford tagged him for a two-run single, making it 6-1. Crawford
finished the day 3-for-3 with a walk and three RBI’s and a walk.
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| Blake Allemand |
James Reeves started the eighth inning on the
mound for Tampa and was Greeted by a Ghelfi ground-rule double. Allemand
doubled him home, making it 6-2.
Tampa added on in the bottom of the eighth after the first
two batters were retired. Estrada, Torres, Amburgey and Zehner all singled.
Amburgey and Zehner got the RBIs, making it 8-2. Amburgey made the final out
trying to get to third on Zehner’s knock.
For more info: Brevard
County @ Tampa boxscore
Tampa (77-55, 35-28) not only got a big day from Crawford,
but Torres went 4-for-5, scored three runs and knocked one in. He was 7-for-11
in the three-game series. Estrada was 3-for-4 with a walk and three scored.
Allemand finished with a 2-for-5 day and was the only multi-hit guy for the
Manatees on Sunday.
Brevard County begins their final week of baseball on Monday,
when they return home to host Clearwater for three games. First pitch will be
at 6:35 p.m.
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