Marauders Rally to Stun Stone Crabs

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BRADENTON – The Marauders (24-26) scored three runs in the ninth and four straight runs to close the game, walking off on Jeff Roy's single through a drawn in infield to defeat the Charlotte Stone Crabs (25-24) 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at McKechnie Field. Orlando Castro turned in another strong start, tossing six innings and striking out a half dozen batters without a walk. He left with the game tied 2-2 and did not factor in the decision.

Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Raul Fortunato led off with his second home run in three days, trimming the Charlotte lead to one. The Marauders brought the tying run to the plate in the inning, but Jose Molina (L, 3-2) came out of the bullpen to record the final two outs of the inning.

In the ninth, Max Moroff worked the count full and lined a single to right field. Jonathan Schwind followed with a walk and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt from D.J. Crumlich. Jacob Stallings hit a fly ball to right field that was muffed by Jonathan Quinonez, scoring one run and putting two in scoring position. Raul Fortunato brought home the tying run and reached himself on a bouncing ball to the right side. Roy batted next and provided the game winner.

Bradenton struck first, plating two runs in the bottom of the second against Charlotte starter Bruedlin Suero. Moroff hit a one-out double to center field. Schwind followed by extending his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI-triple to left field, then scored on a Crumlich sacrifice fly. The Marauders did not score again until the eighth.

Charlotte rallied through a steady rain in the top of the sixth. Jonathan Quinonez singled to left off Castro with one out and reached third on Tommy Coyle's double. Quinonez scored on a sacrifice fly by Leonardo Reginatto. Patrick Leonard followed with an RBI double to tie the game 2-2.

The Stone Crabs plated two runs in the seventh against Josh Smith, then added another in the eighth with Jhondaniel Medina on the mound to take a 5-3 lead. Robby Rowland (W, 2-5) pitched a scoreless ninth inning and received the win when the Marauders rallied.

Monday is an off day for the Marauders. Bradenton travels to Tampa on Tuesday night to face the Yankees at 7:00 p.m. Jason Creasy will be on the mound for Bradenton. 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.