Early Offense Leads Bradenton to 6-4 Win Over Dunedin

BRADENTON, FL — After scoring five runs through the first three innings, the Bradenton Marauders beat the Dunedin Blue Jays by a final score of 6-4, snapping their five-game losing streak Saturday night at LECOM Park.

With two outs and nobody on in the top of the first, Dunedin struck first when Aaron Parker sent a solo-homer to right to put the Blue Jays ahead 1-0.

In the bottom half of the frame, Keiner Delgado and Esmerlyn Valdez drew back-to-back walks to place runners at first and second. With two outs, Jhonny Severino slapped a single to right that brought home Delgado to tie the game at 1-1.

The Blue Jays threatened again in the top of the second when Tucker Toman reached on an error and Braden Barry walked. With runners on first and second, J.R. Freethy grounded a single to right to bring home Toman. The next hitter was Nick Mitchell, who sent a sacrifice fly to center that scored Barry and gave Dunedin a 3-1 advantage.

The tug-of-war affair continued in the bottom of the second when Shalin Polanco walked, and Braylon Bishop was hit by a pitch. Duce Gourson followed with an RBI single to right to cut the deficit to 3-2 and place runners at the corners. With Delgado at the plate, Gourson took off from first on a 2-0 pitch. Instead of throwing down to second, Dunedin’s catcher Parker snapped a wide throw to third that rolled into left, allowing Polanco to score and knot the game at 3-3.

In the bottom of the third, Severino singled with one out. Two batters later, Polanco cranked a double to right that scored Severino to put the Marauders ahead 4-3. The next hitter, Javier Rivas, seared a single to left to push across Polanco and extend the lead to 5-3.

Bradenton played add on in the bottom of the fifth, when Bishop blasted a solo homer to right to push the lead to three runs. The homer left Bishop’s bat at 106.7 miles per hour for his fifth-round tripper of the season.

Bradenton left-hander Inmer Lobo (2-0) was stellar tossing a season-high four innings while allowing no runs on just one hit. Fellow relivers Luigi Hernandez and Danny Carrion combined for three innings of one-run ball to slam the door on the win. In the process, Carrion earned his first professional save.

The victory snapped Dunedin’s four-game winning streak and earned Bradenton its first win since last Saturday.

The Marauders (47-66, 18-29) and Blue Jays (57-54, 23-22) will finish the series Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m. on the Marauders Broadcast Network.