Four-Run Sixth Inning Stuns Marauders in Loss
August 5, 2021 - Florida State League (FSL)
Bradenton Marauders News Release
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A four-run Clearwater rally erased a two-run lead Thursday night for the Marauders en route to a 6-3 loss to the Threshers at BayCare Ballpark.
Leading 3-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, Marauders (46-32) piggyback starter Luis Ortiz (1-3) saw Arturo de Freitas reach second base on a throwing error by shortstop Maikol Escotto to open the inning. After a strikeout, Ortiz surrendered four consecutive hits. A Juan Aparicio double plated de Freitas, and after a wild pitch, Wilfredo Flores singled Aparicio home for the tying run. Felix Reyes followed with another single, and after second baseman Dariel Lopez dropped a pickoff throw from Ortiz, Carlos de la Cruz drilled a go-ahead, two-run double to right field for a 5-3 Threshers (38-37) lead.
De la Cruz added a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Threshers five unanswered runs as right-hander Victor Lopez retired Bradenton in order in the ninth.
Left-hander Gabriel Cotto (1-0) earned the win in relief, holding the Marauders to just one run and one hit across four and one-third innings, striking out six.
The Marauders had opened the evening's scoring on an Alexander Mojica RBI-single in the second inning off Clearwater starter Fernando Lozano. The Threshers briefly tied the score in the third inning off starter Nick Garcia, whose wild pitch allowed Kervin Pichardo to score from third. But Bradenton immediately retook the lead in similar fashion in the third, when Endy Rodriguez doubled and later scored from third on a passed ball by de Freitas. Jack Herman added a bases-loaded walk in the fifth for a 3-1 lead, but Rodriguez grounded into an inning-ending double play, cutting the Bradenton threat short.
Garcia allowed just one run across four innings, throwing just 15 pitches over his first two innings combined before a 25-pitch second inning. The right-hander escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth with the help of an inning-ending double-play grounder, keeping the Marauders' lead intact.
The Marauders managed just one baserunner over their final four innings at the plate; Hudson Head was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth, bringing the tying run to the plate, but was erased on a double-play grounder.
The series continues Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at BayCare Ballpark. RHP Eddy Yean is scheduled to start for the Marauders against RHP Eduar Segovia for the Threshers.
For more information about the Bradenton Marauders, please call (941) 747-3031, visit BradentonMarauders.com.
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