Timely Offense, Dominant Bullpen Performances Lead Fort Myers in Doubleheader Sweep over Bradenton

FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 1, 2024) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels dominated on both sides of the ball, sweeping a doubleheader over the Bradenton Marauders at Hammond Stadium on Saturday night.

Fort Myers (23-27) took game one by a final score of 8-3 and was victorious in game 2 with a 3-1 final to secure the series victory. The Mussels have outscored the Marauders 27-10 while taking four of the first five games of the series.

In game one of the day, Bradenton (21-29) jumped in front after leadoff man Braylon Bishop doubled and later came around to score to take an early 1-0 advantage.

Fort Myers would respond quickly with a run of their own, as Payton Eeles singled to start the bottom of the first and scored when Poncho Ruiz grounded into a double play to even the score 1-1.

Bradenton picked up a run in each of the next two innings and led 3-1 after two and a half complete.

Carlos Aguiar got the third inning started with a ringing double to right field and Eeles knocked him in one batter later. Eeles then stole second and scored on a single through the left side by Brandon Winokur. The next batter was Ruiz, who doubled home Winokur as the Mussels took a 4-3 lead,

Triple-A rehabber Brooks Lee was the designated hitter in game one and picked up an RBI with a single to right field to score Aguiar in the fourth inning to make it 5-3. It was his third RBI since joining Fort Myers earlier this week.

The Mussels would pick another pair of runs in the fifth on a RBI infield single from Ryan McCarthy and a bases loaded walk by Eeles as the score moved to 7-3.

The final run of game one was scored by Winokur, who walked to lead off the sixth inning and scored on an RBI single from Ruiz.

Charlee Soto allowed seven hits across 2.2 innings, but only surrendered three runs in the outing. Paulshawn Pasqualotto (1-4) earned the victory after coming out of the bullpen, posting 4.1 scoreless innings in relief while allowing just one base hit.

Pitching was the story of game two, as Ross Dunn got the start for Fort Myers, going three innings, scattering three hits and allowing an unearned run in the first inning to go along with four strikeouts.

Ricky Castro (1-0) impressed in his Florida State League debut after signing with the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. Castro earned the victory after striking out four Bradenton hitters over two scoreless innings.

With the Mussels trailing 1-0 entering the fifth, Matthew Clayton singled up the middle and advanced to second after an error on a pickoff attempt by Bradenton starter Khristian Curtis. Gregory Duran was the next batter and drew a walk to put runners at first and second with nobody out for Yohander Martinez. Martinez hit a ball through the right side to drive in Clayton. After cutting off the throw to home on the play, Esmerlyn Valdez made an errant throw to first base, allowing Duran to score and Martinez to move up all the way to third to make it 2-1. With Issac Pena batting and the infield drawn in, Curtis fired a wild pitch that allowed Martinez to score from third to make it 3-1.

Nolan Santos came out of the bullpen, striking out all six batters he faced over two perfect innings to end the game and sweep the doubleheader. Santos earned his team-leading fourth save of the season. Mussels’ pitching struck out the final seven batters of the game and totalled 14 punchouts in the seven inning victory.

The Mussels are back in action for game six of the series on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. as right-hander Spencer Bengard (2-0, 1.31) will get the ball for Fort Myers. Bradenton will send rehabber Scott Randall (0-0, 0.00) to the mound for his first Low-A appearance of the season. Coverage begins at 11:45 a.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.