Astin deals, Blandino goes deep in win

Bradenton, FL - The Daytona Tortugas were in cruise control for much of Wednesday's game at McKechnie Field, but a late surge from the Bradenton Marauders made things interesting. The Pirates affiliate nearly climbed out of a 6-0 hole, stranding the tying run on third base in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Tortugas hung on for a 7-6 win. 

CF Junior Arias got things going early with a one-out single into right field. He stole second and reached third on a groundout. DH Sebastian Elizalde then walked and the two executed a double steal, with Elizalde drawing throw to second and Arias scoring from third. 

C Chad Wallach and 3B Taylor Sparks hit back-to-back singles to score Elizalde and give Dayton a 2-0 cushion against starter Luis Heredia. Wallach and Sparks each recorded their second conescutive multi-hit games. 

Tortugas were able to tack on another run when they forced reliever Montana DuRapau to throw over 30 pitches in the sixth inning. Elizalde walked and reached second on a wild pitch. Sparks then lined another single to right, allowing Elizalde to score for the second time in the game to give Daytona a 3-0 lead. 

Henry Hirsch came in for relief in the seventh inning and immediately ran into trouble. He allowed a leadoff walk to 2B Wendell Soto and a single to Arias. Then, SS Alex Blandino crushed a 3-run home run to left field, his fourth homer of the year to double Daytona's lead to 6-0.

RHP Barrett Astin (W, 2-1) recorded his longest outing of the year. He went six innings and allowed just two infield singles while shutting out the Marauders. Astin also had three strikeouts.

For the second game in a row, the Marauders were able to make things interesting late in the game. After a hitless seventh inning, RHP Nick Howard let up back-to-back singles to Jin-De Jhang and Wyatt Mathisen. Then, Austin Meadows walked to load the bases with no outs. JaCoby Jones lined out to right field but sacrificed home Jhang from third. Barrett Barnes then walked to reload the bases and Jose Osuna also got a free pass from Howard to force in a run. 

RHP Alejandro Chacin (H, 1) replaced Howard with one down and inherited the bases loaded. Austin Meadows greeted Chacin with a sacrifice fly before the Marauders pulled off a double steal, moving Barnes to third and Osuna to second. Harold Ramirez was then able to knock a single to right, plating both runners and bringing Bradenton within one run. 

Brett McKinney came in to pitch the ninth for the Marauders and the Tortugas managed an insurance run off of him. With two outs, Blandino reached on a single and Elizalde followed with a double to score him from first. 

That play proved to be the game-winner, as Bradenton put runners on the corners in the ninth inning and plated a run to make it 7-6. RHP El'Hajj Muhammad (S, 3) was able to induce two consecutive pop outs to strand the tying run at third base and ensure Daytona of at least a split in the four-game series.