Fort Myers drops game three of series against Bradenton, 6-3
FORT MYERS – After consecutive victories over the Bradenton Marauders, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels fell 6-3 in game three of the series Thursday night at Hammond Stadium.
Eli Jones put together a solid outing on the mound for Fort Myers (6-6), tossing five shutout innings and striking out six Marauder batters in his third start of the campaign. He carried a no-hit bid into the fifth inning, before a Cam Janik one-out, broken-bat single found the grass in center field.
Like Jones, Bradenton (4-8) starter Carlos Castillo carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before the Mighty Mussels broke through offensively. Jay Thomason led off the frame with an infield single, the first knock of the game for Fort Myers. Daniel Pena then snuck a double inside the third base line, scoring Thomason from first and putting Fort Myers in front 1-0.
Later in the inning, with Pena still at second, Yohander Martinez singled to left to plate Pena and give the Mussels a 2-0 lead.
After being held to one hit through the first five innings by Jones, Bradenton got on the board in the top of the sixth. Hunter Hoopes entered for Fort Myers and allowed a leadoff infield single to Konnor Griffin. Griffin then stole second and came around to score on an RBI single by Jhonny Severino, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Two batters later, Yordany De Los Santos doubled and Severino scored on a throwing error by Thomason on the play, tying the game at 2. The next batter, Janik, singled to right field to give Bradenton the lead 3-2 after five and a half innings.
Bradenton plated another run in the seventh, as Griffin again singled to begin the frame, scoring later on a fielder’s choice to push the lead to 4-2.
Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Thomason launched a solo homer to right field to cut the Bradenton lead to 4-3. It was the second consecutive night with a 111 mph exit velocity home run for Thomason. He has recorded an extra-base hit in all three games this series.
The Marauders got two runs in the top of the eighth, scoring once on a Fort Myers error and getting another on an RBI groundout, extending their lead to 6-3.
First pitch of game four of the series is set for 7:05 p.m. toiday at Hammond Stadium. Jason Doktorczyk (2-0, 2.70) will get the ball for the Mussels. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.