Homers Help Power Marauders Win over Palm Beach

BRADENTON, Fla. — A pair of home runs, as well as resilient pitching performances, lifted the Marauders to a 6-4 win over the Palm Beach Cardinals on Thursday night at LECOM Park.

The win, along with a Tampa Tarpons loss to Dunedin, put the Marauders (25-14, 54-50) one game ahead of Tampa for first place in the FSL West. It was also Bradenton’s fifth win in its last six games.

Tsung-Che Cheng led off the bottom of the first inning for the Marauders with a single off left-hander Alfredo Ruiz and later scored the game’s first run on a Juan Jerez groundout. In the bottom of the second, Bubba Chandler drew a leadoff walk and came home on a two-run homer by Norkis Marcos, giving Bradenton a 3-0 lead entering the third inning.

After two scoreless innings by Marauders starter Luis Peralta, Palm Beach (23-16, 53-50) struck back in the top of the third on a Brody Moore RBI-single. But Bradenton pushed back in the home half, as Sergio Campana reached on an infield single and later scored on a popout to second base by Wyatt Hendrie. As Cardinals second baseman Moore made the catch in shallow right field, Campana took several steps off third base, drawing a long throw to third by Moore and breaking for home in a daring baserunning maneuver.

Peralta allowed a leadoff solo homer to Palm Beach catcher Jimmy Crooks in the fourth but retired the next three batters and finished his outing with five strikeouts and just one walk across four frames.

With the score 4-2 in Bradenton’s favor entering the bottom of the sixth, Brenden Dixon crushed a towering solo home run to left field off Cardinals reliever Hancel Rincon to re-extend the home team’s lead to three runs.

Darvin Garcia pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Marauders behind Peralta but saw the Beach Birds creep within two runs again in the seventh, allowing a Darlin Moquete double and an Elijah Cabell RBI-groundout before retiring the side with the score 5-3.

The two teams traded runs again at the end of the evening. Wyatt Hendrie clubbed a triple off the left field wall in the bottom of the eighth and scored on a hard-hit single up the middle by Chandler, and Marauders righty Carlos Lomeli allowed a two-out RBI-double to Cabell in the ninth inning before striking out Nathan Church swinging to end the game.

Lomeli had begun his outing with a perfect eighth inning and finished with three strikeouts in a two-inning save, his fourth of the season.

Seven of nine Marauders batters recorded a hit, with Cheng’s two hits leading the way. Cheng is now batting .458 during an active six-game hit streak.

The series continues Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at LECOM Park. RHP Valentin Linarez will start for the Marauders, while RHP Yonael Dominguez 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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