O stays hot, but streak snapped at 7
Daytona Beach, FL - The Daytona Cubs were handed their first loss in eight days at the hands of the Bradenton Marauders Wednesday night at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The light-hitting Marauders struck for five runs in the top of the eighth inning for the comeback 9-7 victory. Bradenton jumped out to an early 4-1 lead through five innings before the Cubs completed the first comeback of the night.
The Cubs got on the board in the third inning on CF Jacob Hannemann's first home run with Daytona. Daytona would then tie things up in the sixth when an error in right field by Walker Gourley allowed two runs to score on a RF Billy McKinney sacrifice fly. The tying run would then score on a 3B Wes Darvill sacrifice fly to left field just one batter later.
The Cubs would take their only lead of the night in the very next inning on a SS Marco Hernandez RBI single. Daytona increased its lead with the help of some more sacrifice flies - First from DH Kyle Schwarber and then McKinney again. There were five sacrifice flies hit in the game.
The Cubs took a 7-4 lead into the eighth inning with their bullpen working on a 16.1 scoreless inning streak. That's when the wheels came off for Daytona, as RHP Michael Jensen and RHP Zack Godley (BS, L 3-2) combined to surrender five runs in the frame. Three were charged to Jensen in just a third of an inning, while Godley allowed the two deciding runs in 1.2 innings. For Godley, it was his second blown save in as many appearances against Bradenton.
LHP Gerardo Concepcion made his Daytona debut and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings. The southpaw did not allow a hit and struck out two.
RHP Justin Amlung received a no-decision in his first start since July 2nd, allowing four earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched.
The Cubs offense stayed hot, pounding out seven runs on 11 more hits. Hannemann and Hernandez each had three hits atop the Cubs lineup, while C Willson Contreras added two. For Hernandez, it was his team-leading 29th multi-hit game. McKinney added two more RBIs, giving him 22 in 24 games with Daytona. 1B Dan Vogelbach was aboard three more times with a double and two walks.
For the Cubs, it was their 22nd loss this season after leading in a ballgame. The loss snapped Daytona's season-high seven game win-streak, but the Cubs still remain 4.5 games up on the north division for first place.
Daytona will try to win its eighth second half series in 12 tries Thursday night, when its four game set with the Marauders concludes. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.