Miracle Shut Out Marauders 5-0

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FORT MYERS – The Miracle (41-28) clinched a second straight First Half Championship with a 5-0 win over the Marauders (35-34) on Wednesday night at Hammond Stadium. Bradenton was blanked for the eighth time in the first half and fell for the eighth time in nine visits to Fort Myers.

The game was a scoreless pitchers’ duel between D.J. Baxendale (W, 1-1) and Bradenton’s Jason Creasy (L, 3-3). The first run came in on Miracle catcher Stuart Turner’s solo home run with two outs in the fifth. Fort Myers scored three runs on four hits in the sixth to chase Creasy, and added a run in the seventh against Marauders reliever Thomas Harlan, who pitched 1 2/3 innings. Creasy matched his season high with seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in the loss.

Matt Tomshaw (S, 2) stepped out of his starting role to record a nine-out save for the Miracle. Baxendale struck out five over six innings. Robby Rowland pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth for Bradenton.

Adam Frazier went 2-for-4 with a double for the Marauders. Josh Bell recorded another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 at the plate.

The Marauders open a three-game series at Roger Dean Stadium against the Jupiter Hammerheads on Thursday night to begin the second half. Austin Brice will start of the mound for Jupiter, while Bradenton counters with Tyler Glasnow. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. The game will be broadcast on www.BradentonMarauders.com.

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