Brevard blanks Flying Tigers in rain-shortened game

LAKELAND, Fla - It took over 24 hours and it was only six innings, but the Brevard County Manatees completed an 8-0 rain-shortened shutout of the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Monday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.

The second game of the doubleheader that was scheduled to be played on Monday will be made up as part of a doubleheader in Lakeland on Tuesday, August 20 beginning at 5:00 p.m.

The Manatees (7-4 second half, 44-34 overall) started the game on Sunday with a bang as they scored three runs out of the gate in the first inning. Yadiel Rivera doubled to left with one out and then Nick Ramirez followed with a walk. Mitch Haniger would then step in and clear the bases with his third homer of the season.

Ben McMahan led off the second with a single and two batters later Lance Roenicke followed with a one-out single of his own. Brandon Macias then brought both of them home with his 14th double of the season to make it a 5-0 game.

Two batters later, Ramirez plated Macias with a double of his own to make it a 6-0 game. It was at that point where the game was suspended on Sunday night.

Manatees' starting pitcher Cody Scarpetta worked just one inning as he walked two and struck out just one. The strikeout would be the only hitter Scarpetta would actually retire as the other two outs in the inning came when catcher Rafael Neda threw out two Lakeland (3-7, 33-45) baserunners attempting to steal second.

When the game resumed on Monday night, Chad Pierce took over on the mound and he threw five scoreless innings as he yielded four hits and two walks, while striking out six.

In his 18 appearances out of the bullpen this season, Pierce is 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA compared to his three starts, where he is 0-1 with an 8.53 ERA. Since the All-Star break, Pierce has allowed just one earned run in 11.1 innings of relief with 12 strikeouts.

Brevard County tacked two more runs on in the fifth as McMahan and Neda both connected with two-out RBI singles to give the 'Tees an 8-0 lead.

Rivera led the way at the plate as he went 3-for-4, while Macias, Haniger and McMahan added two hits each as the Manatees tallied 13 hits in just six innings.

Following an off-day on Tuesday, the Manatees will return home to Space Coast Stadium on Wednesday night to host the Daytona Cubs (7-3, 42-34) beginning at 6:35 p.m.