Marauders' Tolman surges with five-hit game

Perfection was in the cards for Mitchell Tolman and Mitch Keller on Thursday night. 
Following a 3-for-3 performance on Wednesday, Tolman went 5-for-5 with a double and two RBIs to back Keller's four perfect innings in Class A Advanced Bradenton's 7-3 win over Dunedin. 

"I've never recorded five hits in a game before," Tolman said. "So that was cool and exciting for me and it was nice to get a win with it too. I didn't think about it until I got to first base and our first-base coach Adam Godwin said, 'What is that? Four for you tonight?' And I laughed and said, 'I think that's five.'"

Tolman started his night by laying a bunt down the third-base line for a single. With one out in the third inning, the 23-year-old swung away and ripped a 1-1 offering from starter Josh DeGraaf to left field for his fifth double of the season. 
"Any time someone gets on first and I see the third baseman back, I feel like that's a good time for it," Tolman said. "I looked to see where [Dunedin third baseman] Carl Wise was playing and he wasn't as far in as other guys would play, so I went for it and happened to put a good one down."
After legging out an infield single in the fourth, Tolman reached on a bunt single down the first-base line in the seventh.
"I do like pulling bunts with me and I feel like I have good feel for placement going towards first base. I put another good one down and beat [Dunedin reliever] Kirby Snead (0-1) over to the bag," the Irvine, California native added.
Gameday box score
The next inning, Tolman didn't squander the chance for his first career five-hit performance. The University of Oregon product battled Zach Jackson to a 3-2 count and then lined an RBI single to right.
In 64 games this season, Tolman sports a .263/.369/.366 slash line with four homers and 33 RBIs. The 2015 seventh-round pick ranks fifth in the Florida State League with 34 walks. 

"Getting on base has always been a big part of my game," Tolman said. "Obviously, I'm not going to be a guy who hits 20 homers and drives in 100 runs a year, so knowing that I'm more of a place setter than a guy who brings everyone in, that's important. 
"Whether it's working counts to get the guys behind me better looks or drawing attention to me when I'm on base, that's just part of who I am and the type of role I need to fill when I move up."
While Tolman propelled the offense, Keller was in fine form on the mound. The Pirates' No. 2 prospect set down all 12 hitters faced, two via strikeouts, before being replaced by Jess Amedee. The right-hander induced seven ground-ball outs while throwing 33 of 49 pitches for strikes.

MLB.com's No. 39 overall prospect has a 2.66 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP with 46 strikeouts in 44 innings this season.
"Mitch is a good guy and a competitor," Tolman said. "I love playing behind him. He works fast and he has good stuff. He works at his tempo and it makes it tough to hit off of him when he's getting up on the mound quick and is coming at you with 97 and 98 [mph] with good off-speed. It's fun to play behind him because he attacks hitters and you stay locked in."
Bret Helton (4-1) allowed a run on two hits and struck out a pair in three innings of relief for Bradenton.