Bradenton Marauders 6, Tampa Yankees 2
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Quinton Miller earned his second win of the season as the Marauders pounded out 12 hits, including 3 by 3B Elevys Gonzalez (3-for-3 in the game).
2B Jarek Cunningham got the Marauders started with a triple in the top of the 1st. C Ramon Cabrera brought Cunningham in to score with an RBI single off the glove of the Tampa shortstop. Gonzalez also singled in the 1st but was left on base. LF David Rubinstein led off the 2nd inning with line drive double into right field, then moved to third base on a wild pitch. SS Benji Gonzalez provided the RBI single that scored Rubinstein, to give Bradenton a 2-0 lead.
The Marauders kept right on rolling in the 3rd inning. Walks to Cabrera, Elevys Gonzalez, and Rubinstein loaded the bases with two outs. That chased the Tampa starting pitcher from the mound. DH Cole White greeted the new reliever with a double into left field, plating both Cabrera and Gonzalez for a 4-0 lead. Singles by Rubinstein and White, plus a throwing error by the Tampa right fielder gave the Marauders a 5th run in the 5th inning.
Meanwhile, Miller was busy holding the Yankees to just 2 hits: a triple in the 1st inning and a double in the 2nd. The Yankees got to Miller in the 5th inning — with one out, a single and a triple gave them one run, then an RBI ground out scored the runner from third. The 2 runs on 4 hits, no walks, and one strikeout in 5 innings was enough to give Miller the win.
That was all the runs Tampa would get. Jason Erickson pitched a scoreless 6th. He loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batter, but then got a strikeout, a line out, and a ground out to escape the jam. Jhonathan Ramos worked around a hit batter in the 7th and a batter who reached on a fielding error by Elevys Gonzalez in the 8th. Ryan Beckman took care of the 9th for the Marauders with a 1-2-3 inning.
The Marauders threatened in the 7th, when Elevys Gonzalez hit a ground-rule double and Chambers walked, but both were left stranded. Cabrera added one more run in the top of the 9th. He led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Baker, and to third with another sacrifice bunt by Elevys Gonzalez. A wild pitch let Cabrera score.
Charleston RiverDogs 5, West Virginia Power 4
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A three-run rally in the 9th inning by the Power fell short of catching up to the RiverDogs. 2B Gift Ngoepe led the offense with 3 of the Power’s 5 hits. Ngoepe opened the game with a single lined into left field, then moved to second on SS Drew Maggi’s sacrifice bunt. A fielding error on 1B Matt Curry’s grounder let Ngoepe advance to third base, and he scored on RF Justin Howard’s RBI ground out. The RiverDogs came right back with a solo home run off starter Zack Dodson to tie the score.
Dodson kept the RiverDogs scoreless for the next three innings, then gave up another homer to lead off the bottom of the 5th. Three consecutive singles followed the homer, but Irwin stopped the scoring with a strikeout and a double play. Dodson began the 6th with two outs, then had a batter reach on a fielding error by 3B Andy Vasquez. Zach Foster relieved Dodson and gave up two singles to drive in a run. A walk loaded the bases, but a fly out ended the rally.
Trent Stevenson pitched a scoreless 7th inning for the Power. The RiverDogs made it 5-1 in the bottom of the 8th, adding two more runs. Jason Townsend relieved Stevenson, and gave up a single and a 2-run homer.
Ngoepe singled again to lead off the 3rd inning, but he was out at second when he tried to make it to second base. He singled again in the 8th, and moved to second base on a walk to Curry, but both were left on base. The Power’s only other two hits came in the top of the 9th. LF Dan Grovatt led off with a single, and he moved to second base when DH Kawika Emsley-Pai walked for the second time. A throwing error by the Charleston catcher put Grovatt onto third base. Vasquez tripled into right field, scoring both Grovatt and Emsley-Pai. Ngoepe reached base on a fielding error in right field, and that let Vasquez come in to score, bringing the Power within one run of the RiverDogs. But a ground out ended the rally and the game.
