Mussels Earn Series Split With 14-7 Win Over Bradenton

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 13, 2023) – Yohander Martinez launched a homer and drove in four Sunday to catapult the Mighty Mussels to a 14-7 win over the Bradenton Marauders at Hammond Stadium.

With two runners on in the bottom of the second, Martinez sent a towering fly ball to the berm in left center that put the Mussels (52-56, 18-24) up 6-1. The ball traveled 399 feet for Martinez’s second long ball of the season.

After Rodolfo Nolasco put Bradenton (61-46, 26-16) on top 1-0 with a homer, the Mussels answered back after *Luke Keaschall *was hit by a pitch and *Danny De Andrade *walked. After Keaschall attempted to steal third, Marauders catcher Justin Miknis made an errant throw that sailed into left, allowing Keaschall to score the games’ tying run. On the same play De Andrade advanced to third, allowing him to score on an RBI ground out by *Rubel Cespedes *that gave the Mussels a 2-1 lead.

Still leading by one in the bottom of the second, *Maddux Houghton *and *Kyle Schmidt *drew walksto open the inning. With no outs, *Alec Sayre *served a liner to left for an RBI single that extended the lead to 3-1 before the Martinez homer put Fort Myers up 6-1 against Pirates rehabber Max Kranick (0-1).

In the bottom of the fourth, Martinez walked before *Jay Harry *singled to place runners at the corners. With one down, Keaschall sent a sacrifice fly to center that pushed the lead to 7-1. After De Andrade singled, Cespedes poked a liner to left that brought home Harry to make it 8-1.

In the top of the fourth, Bradenton added on one more after Sergio Campana scored from third on a balk.

Mussels’ starter *John Klein *(0-1)was stout, tossing 4.2 innings while allowing two runs. The outing marked the deepest a Mussels’ starter pitched into a game throughout the six-game series.

After Nolasco launched another home run to make it 8-4 in the top of the seventh, the Mussels rallied for more in the bottom of the same inning. Cespedes and Houghton singled to place runners on the corners for Schmidt, who tapped a soft grounder to second for an infield-RBI single to extend the lead to 9-4. Later in the frame, Sayre drove in a run with a ground out, and Martinez sent a double down the left field line to increase the advantage to 11-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, De Andrade walked and Cespedes cracked a two-run homer to right to make it 13-5. Cespedes has now left the yard ten times, making him the first Mussels player to reach double digits this season.

The Mussels will enjoy an off day Monday before traveling to West Palm Beach to face the Cardinals at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. First pitch on Tuesday is slated for 5:00 p.m.