Bradenton 4, Fort Myers 2

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FT. MYERS – The Marauders (16-14) tallied a single run in four separate innings to derail the Miracle (16-14) 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Hammond Stadium. Jason Creasy (W, 2-1) was sharp on the mound, tossing 5 2/3 innings of two-hit ball to earn his second win for Bradenton.

Jason Wheeler (L, 2-2) could not replicate his dominance of Bradenton from his previous start. The lefty had fired a two-hit shutout in his prior outing against the Marauders, but Bradenton tagged him for a run in the third to open the scoring. Jeff Roy tripled with one out and came home when Adam Frazier grounded out to first to give Bradenton an early lead.

The Marauders extended the lead to 2-0 in the fourth. Josh Bell, Eric Wood, and Max Moroff hit consecutive singles to open the inning, with Moroff’s scoring Bell. Wheeler limited the damage to just the one run. Wood added an RBI single in the sixth against the Miracle starter, who departed after 5 2/3 innings and struck out five.

Bradenton scored its final run in unearned fashion against Steven Gruver in the seventh. A leadoff error put Raul Fortunato aboard. He later scored on a Walker Gourley single to extend the visitors’  lead to 4-0.

Minnesota Twins’ top prospect Byron Buxton came off the Disabled List to make his season debut for Fort Myers. Creasy faced Buxton with two in scoring position and nobody out in the first, whiffing the centerfielder on a 3-2 fastball. Creasy struck Buxton out looking in the third and got him to ground out to end the fifth. Buxton finished 0-for-4.

The Miracle rallied for two unearned runs in the seventh against Thomas Harlan (S, 1) Max Kepler struck out  on a pitch in the dirt and reached on a throwing error with one out. Stuart Turner doubled to cash in Kepler all the way from first, then scored himself on a two-out single by Jorge Polanco. Harlan finished the game while allowing only one more hit. Harlan was credited with the save, striking out two over 3 1/3.

Game two of the series is Monday night at 7:05 p.m. at Hammond Stadium. Tyler Glasnow is slated to pitch for the Marauders, with Matt Tomshaw set to counter for Fort Myers. The game will be broadcast online at www.BradentonMarauders.com.

The box score for Sunday's game can be seen here; the Play-by-Play review can be viewed here.