The Bradenton Marauders had a great all around win against the St. Lucie Mets tonight, with starting pitcher Brett Lorin throwing six shutout innings, and the offense scoring eight runs and chasing top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler early. Bradenton won 10-0, evening the series against the Mets at 1-1.
Brett Lorin set the tone for the Marauders on the mound. After a one out double in the first, Lorin retired his next 14 batters. He got three ground outs in the second, struck out the side in the third, and didn’t allow a base runner until he issued a leadoff walk in the sixth. The only time Lorin ran in to any kind of trouble tonight was when he gave up a one out single in the sixth, putting runners on first and second. He escaped the jam with a double play on a catch by Evan Chambers in center field, doubling off the runner at second.
The Marauders put up four runs in the fourth inning. Chambers led off with a walk, and scored on a Cole White double. Kelson Brown singled, bringing in White to make it 2-0. Benji Gonzalez put runners on first and second, then Adalberto Santos, who is batting .600 in the last two games, hit a double to bring in both runners, and giving the Marauders a 4-0 lead. Bradenton managed all of this off of top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler, who allowed four runs on five hits in 3.2 innings, with a 7:2 K/BB ratio.
Bradenton added one more in each of the next two innings. Elevys Gonzalez and Evan Chambers led off the inning with back to back walks. A wild pitch moved both runners over, and a sacrifice fly by Kelson Brown brought in Gonzalez, making it 5-0 Bradenton.
The Marauders had a strange inning in the sixth where they led off with four straight singles, but only managed one run. Robbie Grossman started the inning with a single to right field. Adalberto Santos followed that up with a single, which hit Robbie Grossman on his way to second, putting one out on the board. Ramon Cabrera singled, putting Santos on third, and a single by Calvin Anderson brought Santos home.
Bradenton padded their lead with two more runs in the top of the eighth inning. Adalberto Santos hit a one out single, his third hit of the game, and second game with three hits. Ramon Cabrera hit a triple to bring Santos in, then scored two batters later on a single by Elevys Gonzalez to put Bradenton up 8-0. Cabrera and Santos each had three hits, with Cabrera walking in his other two plate appearances.
Lorin left the game after six innings, allowing no runs on a walk and two hits, with three strikeouts. Jeff Inman came on to pitch a perfect seventh inning, and Tyler Cox sent St. Lucie down in order in the eighth inning, with one strikeout. Bradenton added the final two runs in the ninth inning when Calvin Anderson hit a two out single with the bases loaded, bringing in two runs. Victor Black came on to close out the win with a perfect inning, striking out his final two batters.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
