The Bradenton Marauders split a double-header with the St. Lucie Mets Tuesday night at McKechnie Field, picking up a comfortable 5-2 win in the early contest, but falling 3-2 in a grinder of a second game that ultimately turned in favor of the away squad.
In the top half of the double-header, Bradenton saw all five of its runs scored in the first three innings, with shortstop Greg Picart, center fielder Robbie Grossman, right fielder Austin McClune, and left fielder Quincy Latimore all crossing home plate. St Lucie shortstop Wilfredo Tovar and center Raul Reyes both scored a run in innings one and two (Reyes, thanks to a solo homerun to left in the second) to put the Mets on the board, but solid pitching from the combination of Nathan Adcock (5.1 innings, five hits, two runs, two walks, one strikeout) and closer Ramon Aguero (1.2 innings, one hit, two strikeouts) kept St. Lucie hitters at bay for the remainder of the contest. Picart finished the top batter for Bradenton in the win, going two-for-four with one run and one RBI, while Grossman netted an impressive two runs on one hit and two at-bats. Adcock, meanwhile, bumped his record to 7-2 on the year, while Aguero notched his first save. St. Lucie starter on the mound, Bradley Holt, fell to 0-1 for 2010.
Game Two saw a different St. Lucie team take the diamond at McKechnie, however, with the Mets this time taking a much more defensive approach against the Marauders – and one that ultimately paid off with a hard fought win, 3-2. The game remained scoreless through the first three innings, with opportunities for runners to be moved into scoring position few and far between. Bradenton finally broke things open in the bottom of the fourth, thanks in no small part to a pair of back-to-back doubles struck by Grossman and Latimore to open the inning (Grossman scored on the latter) and a matching double to left from McClune that ended up plating Latimore. Up 2-0, the Marauders suddenly appeared to have righted the ship and looked prepared to walk away from the day having earned a second-straight victory. St. Lucie had other plans, however, answering Bradenton in the top of the fifth as Reyes reached home on a ground out to first by catcher Michael Moras, and then posting a two-run seventh thanks to a homer hit to center field by third baseman Richard Lucas. The Marauders, reeling somewhat from the sudden turn of events, hoped to tie things back up in the bottom of the ninth and send the game into extra innings, but could not earn any additional hits off Mets’ closer Jose Bierd, who picked up his sixth save with the win. Starter on the mound for St. Lucie, Robert Carson, went 4.2 innings, allowing five hits and two runs, while striking out three and walking three, but it was reliever Elvin Ramirez that picked up his second win for 2010 with a 1.1 inning, one walk effort. For Bradenton, starter Casey Erickson went three innings with one hit and one strikeout before relieved by Melkin Laureano, but it was Noah Krol that ultimately earned the loss, falling to 3-4 on the year.
A sad note to the evening: starter at catcher for Bradenton, Tony Sanchez, suffered what is believed to be a broken jaw after being hit in the head by a pitch for the second time this month in Game One. We at Envision Sports Media wish Tony a speedy recovery.
What follows is a collection of images captured by Envision Sports Media’s Jason Roberts highlighting the action from Tuesday night’s matchups between the Marauders and Mets. As usual, all material included in this post remains the sole possession of Jason Roberts, Envision Sports Media and may not be reproduced in any format without the explicit permission of Jason. Such permission can be requested by emailing jason@envisionsportsmedia.com.
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2010 FSL Baseball – St. Lucie Mets & Bradenton Marauders
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Eager to even the series with the Blue Jays, Bradenton sent pitcher Nathan Adcock to the mound to oppose Dunedin’s Henderson Alvarez. Bradenton put the first runs on the score board in the second inning. Calvin Anderson opened the inning with a double and was driven home by a fly ball to left from James Skelton. Skelton scored later in the inning after a ground ball single from Adenson Chourio. James Skelton increased Bradenton’s 2-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth, when he hit a two run home run over the right field fences. In the bottom of the seventh, the Marauders tacked on one more insurance run as Calvin Anderson singled to drive in Jose De Los Santos. Adcock picked up his eight win of the year with a six inning, two strikeout performance. Casey Erickson and Tyler Cox closed out the shut out for Bradenton, combining to allow one hit and five strikeouts in the final three frames.
