BRADENTON – The Marauders (22-28) won their third straight game in a row and seventh in nine tries, rallying from a 4-0 deficit to win 5-4 over the Palm Beach Cardinals (27-24) on Thursday night at McKechnie Field. Bradenton has won three straight series.
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Palm Beach leapt out to a 4-0 lead through three innings against Joely Rodriguez. Patrick Wisdom smashed a three-run home run in the first inning, and Jonathon Rodriguez added a solo shot in the third. Joely Rodriguez pitched five innings and struck out four. Matt Benedict (W, 2-9) pitched three scoreless innings and Robbie Kilcrease earned his 10th save with a perfect ninth inning.
The comeback began with a fourth inning solo shot by Stetson Allie off Palm Beach starter Marco Gonzales. Three of Allie’s four home runs have come off the Cardinals this year. The blast was the only hit the 2013 first round pick surrendered over five innings.
Taylor Lewis greeted reliever Patrick Billbrough with a triple to the gap in right-centerfield in the sixth. Junior Sosa drove in Lewis with a groundout to cut the deficit to 4-2. In the seventh, Lewis came up again with runners at first and second. Billbrough was lifted in favor of Dean Kiekhefer (L, 3-3). Lewis tripled for the second time, bringing home both runners to tie the score 4-4. Lewis has 11 triples on the season, pacing the Florida State League.
In the bottom of the eighth, Sosa led off with an infield single. Gift Ngoepe sacrificed the runner over. Allie lifted a fly ball to center, with Sosa tagging and moving to third on the catch. Ronnie Gil’s errant throw to third allowed Sosa to scoot home with the winning run.
The Marauders open a three-game series against the Fort Myers Miracle on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Zack Dodson will be on the hill for the Marauders.