Brevard County Manatees Defeat the Clearwater Threshers 3-2 and 5-2 Despite Great Pitching from Brett Myers

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – (Viera, FL)  Two solid outings from Alexandre Periard and Bobby Bramhall led to two wins for Brevard County Friday, as they defeated Clearwater in both games of their doubleheader, 3-2 and 5-2.  The Manatees overcame the strong pitching of Brett Myers, who has spent most of the year in the major leagues pitching for the Phillies, to win a thrilling opener.  The Manatees struck quickly in the first inning, when Darren Ford grinded out a 12-pitch at bat ending with a hard-earned single.  He later scored on Jonathan Lucroy’s sacrifice fly for an early 1-0 lead.  The Threshers answered with a two-run blast off the bat of Michael Taylor to take a 2-1 lead.  Jimmy Mojica scored a run in the third inning with some aggressive baserunning that led to a throwing error by Clearwater first baseman John Urick, tying the game at 2-2.   

Both pitchers put zeroes on the scoreboard until the bottom of the seventh inning.  Charlie Fermaint led off the final inning with a double to left, and moved to third on an error, immediately putting the pressure on the Clearwater defense.  Myers and the Threshers buckled down, forcing the Manatees into two outs sandwiched around an intentional walk.  With two outs and two men on base, Jimmy Mojica smashed a line drive to deep left field, bringing home Stephen Chapman for the win.  Periard (9-6) earned the complete game win, while Myers (0-1) also went the distance in taking the loss. 

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The short break between games did nothing to cool off the Brevard County bats.  In the first inning of the second game, Jimmy Mojica walked and Jonathan Lucroy doubled to bring up cleanup hitter Taylor Green with two men on base.  Green hit an opposite-field rocket to left field for a three-run homer, his 11^th of the year.  Threshers pitcher Carlos Monasterios settled down and held the Manatee offense in check long enough for Clearwater to cut the lead to 3-2.  Green struck again in fifth inning, however, blasting a double off the fence in right field, scoring Jonathan Lucroy when the cutoff throw was dropped.  Brevard County added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Chuck Caufield hit a towering solo home run to left field, his fourth of the season.   

Bobby Bramhall (3-3) pitched five quality innings to get the win for the Manatees, and Mike McClendon finished the last two innings to earn his eighth save.  Monasterios (2-6) took the loss despite pitching a complete game.  The doubleheader sweep brings Brevard County’s record to 10-17, 5.5 games behind St. Lucie.  Clearwater’s struggles continue, as they are now 8-17 in the second half, worst in the Florida State League.  Chris Cody (1-3, 2.70) looks to continue his recent hot streak, as he has held the opposition scoreless in his last two starts, but did not earn a decision. Head out to Space Coast Stadium at 4:00pm tomorrow to see the Miami Dolphins vs. Space Coast Firefighters softball game, and then stick around to see if the Manatees can earn the series win over Clearwater.

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