Marauders Fall Just Short Wednesday in Clearwater

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Missed opportunities with runners on base saw the Marauders lose a two-run lead in a back-and-forth battle, and an eventual 4-3 loss, to the Dunedin Blue Jays on Wednesday night at BayCare Ballpark.

The loss ended the Marauders (4-4) winning streak at three games and evened the series at one win apiece. The Marauders left a man in scoring position in six different innings in the game, going 2-for-16 overall with runners in scoring position and stranding a total of 12 runners.

With the score tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Blue Jays (2-6) catcher Zach Britton doubled to right field. After a strikeout, P.K. Morris delivered a bloop single to shallow center, scoring Britton and giving the Blue Jays their first lead of the series. The Marauders got a two-out walk from Will Matthiessen and pinch-runner Jasiah Dixon stole second, but Maikol Escotto grounded out to end the game.

J.C. Flowers (0-1) took the loss for Bradenton, allowing the go-ahead hit. Roither Hernandez (1-0) earned the win in relief, holding the Marauders scoreless over the final two and two-thirds innings.

After each team scored once in the third inning, the fourth inning saw the Marauders break the tie with a pair of runs. With men on first and second, Dariel Lopez doubled to right field, scoring Norkis Marcos. While standing on third during the next at-bat, Sergio Campana timed up Dunedin right-hander Lazaro Estrada, breaking early for home and sliding under the catcher’s tag, narrowly beating the throw. Campana’s steal of home was the first by a Marauder since Jose Osuna did so on April 11, 2014 against Jupiter.

The runs were charged to Jays starter Naswell Paulino, who departed with two out in the fourth. Estrada and Hernandez combined to hold Bradenton scoreless over the final five innings.

Marauders starter Santiago Florez labored through five innings and was touched for three runs on seven hits, the latter of which matched his career-high, over five innings of work. After giving up RBI-singles in both the fourth and fifth innings, Florez departed with the score tied at 3-3.

The series continues Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at BayCare Ballpark. RHP Eddy Yean (1-1, 19.29) will start for the Marauders against RHP Jol Concepcion (0-0, 21.00) for the Blue Jays.