FSL Bradenton Marauders

Seventh-Inning Struggles Haunt Marauders in Loss

Published on July 28, 2022 under Florida State League (FSL)
Bradenton Marauders News Release


BRADENTON, Fla. - The Marauders carried a six-run lead out of the sixth inning Thursday night, but a seventh-inning implosion saw the Lakeland Flying Tigers gain the lead in an eventual 10-9 Marauders loss at LECOM Park.

The loss, along with a Tampa win, dropped the Marauders (17-10, 46-46) to two games out of first place in the West Division standings.

Bradenton had assembled a 9-3 lead through the game's first six innings. But in the seventh, Jack Hartman issued a leadoff walk to Lakeland's Eduardo Valencia and allowed an Austin Schultz single, advancing Valencia to third base. Hartman recovered for a strikeout, then saw Izaac Pacheco single to right field on a ball that, upon discussion by the umpires, was ruled to have struck Schultz en route to second base, negating an RBI for Pacheco and placing Valencia back on third base with two out. Manuel Sequera followed with a groundball to second base that Deivis Nadal bobbled, then threw wildly past first base, plating Valencia. Chris Meyers followed with an RBI-infield single, and Hartman walked Roberto Campos, loading the bases and turning the game over to Yunior Thibo. The new right-hander proceeded to uncork a run-scoring wild pitch, then issued three straight walks, the latter two forcing home one run each to bring the Flying Tigers within one run, 9-8. Austin Schultz then hit a grounder to third baseman Juan Jerez, who threw errantly past first base, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs for Lakeland. The inning featured five walks, four errors (matching a Bradenton season-high), and just three hits as the Flying Tigers sent 12 batters to the plate.

Lakeland right-hander Tim Holdgrafer earned the three-inning save, retiring nine of the ten Marauders batters he faced.

The lead was the second of the game for Lakeland, as Schultz had delivered a two-run bloop single to right field in the second inning off Luis Peralta, who would not allow another run in a four-inning, six-strikeout performance.

Marauders bats quickly overcame the two-run deficit, rallying ahead with four runs in the bottom of the second, including a go-ahead two-run single to center by Brenden Dixon. Bradenton padded their lead to 7-2 in the fourth inning on three straight run-scoring hits by Tsung-Che Cheng, Jase Bowen, and Jerez, and added two more runs in the sixth.

As a team, Bradenton went 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Bowen led the team by going 3-for-4 with two RBI and now has six RBI in his last three games, while Jerez went 2-for-5 with two RBI and now has 12 RBI in his last 12 games.

The five Marauders pitchers, however, combined for eight walks, one shy of the team's season-high. Four of the walks came around to score.

The series continues Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at LECOM Park. RHP Valentin Linarez will start for the Marauders, while Lakeland will counter with RHP Angel Reyes.

Check out the Bradenton Marauders Statistics

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Florida State League Stories from July 28, 2022


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