Five Arms Combine on Shutout of Cardinals

JUPITER, Fla. — Five Marauders pitchers combined to shut out the Palm Beach Cardinals, 4-0, on Thursday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The shutout was the second of the season for the Marauders (17-19), who avoided a three-game losing streak with the victory.

Starter Carlos Jimenez (1-2) pitched a season-high five innings, maneuvering around three walks and two hits. Relievers Denny Roman, Dante Mendoza, Cristian Charle, and Jack Hartman, the latter of whom made his professional debut, each pitched one scoreless frame in the win.

The Cardinals (13-23) did not place a runner into scoring position at any point in the game, thanks in part to three Marauders double plays and catcher Wyatt Hendrie throwing out Palm Beach’s Sander Mora on an attempted steal of second base in the fifth inning.

In the top of the first, Sergio Campana legged out a one-out bunt single for the Marauders and proceeded to steal both second base and third. Rodolfo Nolasco promptly drove him home on a groundout to the shortstop for a 1-0 Bradenton lead.

The score would remain 1-0 until the ninth inning. As Cardinals starter Tink Hence (0-1) recovered for a scoreless second and third innings in his Single-A debut before giving way to a strong Palm Beach bullpen, the Marauders struggled with runners on base. Bradenton loaded the bases with one out in both the fourth and sixth innings, but were unable to add onto their lead. The team also squandered a leadoff triple by Tsung-Che Cheng in the seventh, and the Marauders finished the game 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 total runners.

Marauders bats finally seized an opportunity in the ninth against right-hander Carlos Guarate, albeit with help from Palm Beach defensive miscues. With two out and the Marauders leading, 1-0, Campana reached first base on a dropped popup by shortstop Jeremy Rivas. He then stole second base and scored when Rivas dropped another popup off the bat of Nolasco. After a Jase Bowen single and a passed ball placed runners at second and third, Rivas dropped yet another popup, this time hit by Alexander Mojica, to plate two runs and give Bradenton a 4-0 cushion.

After one scoreless inning each by Roman, Mendoza, and Charle, Hartman toed the rubber in the ninth inning for his professional debut, issuing a leadoff walk before retiring the next three batters to seal the victory.

The series continues Friday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. RHP Po-Yu Chen (0-2, 4.62 ERA) will start for the Marauders against LHP Chris Gerard (1-2, 3.94 ERA) 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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