Bats Back Linarez' Gem in Friday Night Victory

BRADENTON, Fla. — Valentin Linarez turned in a gem on the mound for the Marauders on Friday night, earning ample run support in a 6-1 win over the Palm Beach Cardinals at LECOM Park.

Linarez tossed six scoreless innings for the Marauders (26-14, 55-50) and matched his season-high with seven strikeouts, at one point retiring eight straight batters and a stretch of 13 of 14 at the end of five innings. The right-hander held Palm Beach (23-17, 53-51) to two hits and walked just two batters, finishing his outing by inducing an inning-ending double play in the sixth.

The win was the third straight for Bradenton, who have now won six of their last seven games. The first-place Marauders now lead the FSL West by two games over the Tampa Tarpons, who lost a second straight game in Dunedin.

Marauders bats rallied for three runs in the bottom of the first inning off Yonael Dominguez. Sergio Campana knocked a one-out double and scored the game’s first run on a line-drive single by Tres Gonzalez, his first hit as a professional. Gonzalez then scored on a double off the center field wall by Wyatt Hendrie, who in turn came home on a Bubba Chandler single.

After Dominguez settled down to hold Bradenton scoreless in the second and third innings, he surrendered another run in the fourth, as Norkis Marcos bunted for a single and later scored on a Tsung-Che Cheng sacrifice fly.

Cheng would finish the game 1-for-2 with a walk, blooping a single in his final at-bat in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak to seven consecutive games.

In the bottom of the sixth, Campana capped the Marauders’ scoring for the night with a two-run double to left-center—his second double of the game—off Cardinals reliever Angel Cuenca.

Marauders right-hander Carlos Campos tossed two innings of relief behind Linarez, allowing Palm Beach’s only run on an Elijah Cabell solo home run to center field in the seventh. Campos went on to pitch a perfect eighth before turning the ninth over to Sergio Umana, who recorded two flyouts and a strikeout to end the game. The two relievers combined with Linarez to retire 10 of the final 11 Cardinals batters of the game.

Seven of the nine players in the Marauders lineup collected a hit, with Campana’s 2-for-4, two-RBI performance leading the way. All nine reached base safely.

The series continues Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at LECOM Park. RHP Joelvis del Rosario will start for the Marauders, while RHP Jose Davila will start for Palm Beach.

For more information about the Bradenton Marauders, please call (941) 747-3031, visit BradentonMarauders.com, or email [email protected].

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