Escobar Smacks Two Home Runs in Threshers Victory

WP: Sam Highfill (2-2, 5.74)

LP: Nate Dohm (2-3, 3.18)

SV: Titan Hayes (5)

BOX SCORE

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – Aroon Escobar smacked two long home runs and drove in four runs as the Clearwater Threshers (17-14) took down the St. Lucie Mets (17-14) by a 7-5 score on Friday night at Clover Park. Clearwater looks to take their first lead of the series in a Saturday showdown against St. Lucie.

The Threshers rallied with two outs in the opening frame, beginning with a single by Eduardo Tait off Mets starter Nate Dohm. On the next pitch, Griffin Burkholder doubled Tait over to third base, and both scored on a single by Brady Day as the Threshers took a 2-0 lead after the opening inning. St. Lucie got a run back in the second to cut Clearwater’s lead in half to one run.

Escobar got the lead back to two on the first pitch of the third inning, hitting a solo home run to left field. Dante Nori and Tait followed with a single, with Nori moving to third on Tait’s base hit. Burkholder followed with a deep fly ball to center, turning into a sacrifice fly as Nori came home to score the Threshers’ fourth run of the game.

Escobar struck again in the sixth inning, hitting his second homer of the night after Avery Owusu-Asiedu drew a one-out walk. The two-run blast gave the Threshers a five-run lead. After the Mets hit a leadoff home run to start the bottom of the seventh, they piled on two more runs to cut the deficit to two runs after seven innings.

Diego González drew a four-pitch walk against Mets reliever Hunter Hodges with one out in the top of the eighth inning. Owusu-Asiedu smacked a single to right that moved González to third. On the next pitch, Escobar hit a sharp line drive to right, deep enough to plate González and extend the Threshers’ lead to three runs. St. Lucie got one back in the home half of the eighth to cut Clearwater’s lead back to two. St. Lucie put two aboard in the ninth inning but couldn’t complete the comeback as the Threshers held on for a 7-5 victory.

Sam Highfill (2-2) picked up the win with one run on five hits, striking out four and walking one. Gabriel Barbosa walked one and surrendered three runs on three hits, walking one and striking out one. Saul Teran allowed one run on two hits and two strikeouts in 1.2 frames. Titan Hayes picked up the save with one hit and one walk allowed, striking out one in a scoreless ninth inning.

Brady Day recorded the fourth multi-RBI game of his pro career...Clearwater recorded double-digit hits on back-to-back nights...Their thirteen hits on Friday were the most in a game by the Threshers this season...The previous mark was eleven, set on Thursday night’s win against the Mets...Highfill is the fourth Threshers starter to go 5.0 innings in a game this year...Escobar recorded a career-high three hits for the fifth time this season...He is the first Thresher in 2025 to record multiple homers in one game...The Threshers return to Port St. Lucie on Saturday, May 10, to continue their road series against the St. Lucie Mets...First pitch on Saturday will be at 6:10 pm...You can purchase Threshers tickets at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457…The Box Office at BayCare Ballpark is also open daily to purchase tickets…The hours are 10 AM-5 PM Monday through Friday and 10 AM-3 PM on Saturdays.