Manatees' Bradley wards off illness

Jed Bradley came to Space Coast Stadium sick to his stomach Thursday, which was particularly unfortunate because it was also his day to start.

The 15th overall pick by the Brewers in the 2011 Draft persevered, though, to throw 6 2/3 innings while allowing just one unearned run in Class A Advanced Brevard County's 2-0 hard-luck loss to Dunedin.

Bradley (1-1) scattered three hits, striking out four and walking one. The Georgia Tech product wound up throwing 88 pitches and nearly completed seven of the rain-shortened game's eight innings, despite being affected by an illness which kept him from even eating during the day.

The native of Huntsville, Ala., said he had no doubt that he'd get on the mound and give it what he had.

"There was never a time where I didn't think I was going to throw," Bradley said. "I knew I was going to go out there and give it my best shot. I didn't know if that would be for two innings, or for 6 2/3 like I wound up going.

"I did everything I could to feel good before I did go out. I'm thankful for the good fortune I had tonight and to be able to get through it. There were a couple middle innings in there where I wasn't feeling too good, but I just had to talk myself into going back out."

The 21-year-old said he mostly relied on his two-seam fastball and changeup against the Blue Jays lineup. He was able to work through the first five innings flawlessly, before losing his perfect-game bid in the sixth.

"Ironically my first five innings were my best five innings while I felt the worst," MLB.com's No. 96 prospect said. "I just had to keep telling myself, 'Get to the fifth, get to the fifth.' Once I got past that, there were some guys on base in the sixth and the adrenaline kicked in, which helped [how I felt]."

Bradley's shot at the win was undone by an unearned run he allowed in the sixth. Jon Talley singled and Ivan Contreras reached on a fielding error by second baseman Shea Vucinich. After a wild pitch moved the runners over, Jack Murphy's sacrifice fly plated Talley.

Brevard County's lineup proved unable to crack Bradley's opponent, Dunedin starter Sean Nolin (2-0). Toronto's sixth-round selection in the 2010 Draft struck out 11, walked none and allowed just three hits in 5 2/3 innings for the win. Nolin hasn't allowed a run in either of his first two starts.

"The challenge [of a pitching duel] is good, but obviously you'd never say no to blowing a team out though," Bradley joked. "But it is what it is. That's baseball - some things even out, some things don't. There were some great defensive plays made behind me to make my outing easier, so I was thankful for that."

Bradley, for his part, has yet to allow an earned run after Thursday's start. In two games this season the left-hander has thrown 13 innings, struck out 11 and walked two while maintaining a 0.00 ERA.

As impressive as Bradley's start was given what he was battling, Milwaukee's No. 2 prospect didn't want to make too big a deal of his outing.

"I came to the field, felt [terrible], tried to feel a little better and just went out there and did what I needed to do."