Marauders Beat Cardinals 5-2

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JUPITER – The Marauders (6-5) scratched and clawed for a 5-2 win over the Palm Beach Cardinals (6-5) on Monday night at Roger Dean Stadium. Bradenton took advantage of two Palm Beach errors to score in three straight innings and turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.

Palm Beach struck first against Bradenton starter Chad Kuhl. Breyvic Valera singled with one out in the first inning. Valera moved up to second on ground out, then scored on a two-out double by Jacob Wilson. Kuhl settled in to pitch 4 2/3 innings and strike out five Cardinals.

Kyle Helisek (L, 1-1) continued his mastery of Bradenton for the first four innings. In the fifth, the Palm Beach lefty appeared ready to hang another zero on the board. With Jeff Roy at third and two outs, Adam Frazier hit a hard grounder to third. Valera speared the ball to his right, but his throw to first was dropped by David Washington. The drop tied the game 1-1.

In the sixth, Walker Gourley led off with a single. Josh Bell bunted Gourley to second. After a wild pitch sent Gourley to third, Jose Osuna launched a long double to center to give Bradenton its first lead at 2-1. The lead swelled to 3-1 in the seventh on an errant throw by catcher Jesus Montero while attempted to end a bases loaded jam on a would-be one-two-three double play.

Bryton Trepagnier (W, 1-0) pitched 2 1/3 innings for the win. The Cardinals tagged Trepagnier for a run in the seventh, but he stranded the tying run at second base. Tyler Waldron (S, 1) earned the six out save, protecting the lead in the eighth by inducing Montero into a six-four-three double play with men at the corners and one out.

The Marauders added two runs in the ninth against Palm Beach reliever Dixon Llorens, who pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the Cardinals. Frazier had an RBI infield single in the two-run rally after a Roy scored his third run of the night on a balk.

Game two of the series is Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. Pat Ludwig will make his first start of the season for the Marauders. He struck out six Cardinals in a four inning relief appearance on April 10 at McKechnie Field. The game will be broadcast live online at www.BradentonMarauders.com.

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