Marauders Come Back Late, Blue Jays Rally in 9th but Fall Short

Bradenton, FL — The Dunedin Blue Jays dropped back below .500 with their 6-4 loss to the Bradenton Marauders on Friday night.

Dunedin got it going early in the first when Roque Salinas drove in birthday-boy Manuel Beltre to give the Blue Jays an early 1-0 lead. Later on in the fourth, Glenn Santiago went opposite field, lofting one into the sky and landing it into the Marauder bullpen past the right field fence, doubling the Dunedin lead and making it 2-0.

The Blue Jays would have a prime opportunity to extend their lead even further the very next inning, loading the bases on Bradenton starter Alessandro Ercolani with just one out. But the Marauders went to the pen, bringing in reliever Carlos Lamely who struck out his first two batters, getting out of the jam.

Bradenton would get one back in the sixth off LHP Kendry Rojas after being held without a hit through three innings by MiLB-rehabber CJ Van Eyk. And in the seventh, the Marauder lineup would break out of their funk. A single, then an error by Rojas on a pickoff play at first, followed by a wild pitch would tie the ballgame 2-2. Then back-to-back walks would bring up the red-hot Jack Brannigan with the go-ahead run in scoring position, and he didn’t waste the chance.

Brannigan mashed a three-run homer, his fourth home run of the series, to give Bradenton their first lead of the night, 5-2. The Marauders would manufacture an insurance run in the eighth off LHP Harry Rutkowski, taking a 6-2 lead to the ninth.

With Elijah Birdsong out for the save situation, the Blue Jays would threaten. A walk drawn by Nic Deschamps, followed by a flare-shot double by Angel Del Rosario would put two runners in scoring position, and Jaden Rudd would bring both in with a double of his own. Down 6-4 with the potential tying run at the plate, that’d be all Dunedin could manage. Birdsong got the next two outs in order, thwarting the Blue Jays’ comeback efforts.

With the loss, the Blue Jays fell to 27-28 on the year, with Bradenton improving to 29-26, tying the series up at two games apiece. Both teams will have a chance two win the series over the weekend, with game-five scheduled for Saturday night with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch.