McDaniel’s big night drives comeback win for Mighty Mussels
BRADENTON, Fla. – Quinn McDaniel hit his first Florida State League home run as the Mighty Mussels out-slugged the Bradenton Marauders 10-6 Wednesday night at LECOM Park.
McDaniel, who was signed to a minor league contract on Monday, had his best night as a Mighty Mussel in the win. The 23-year-old recorded five RBI, two triples and a booming home run in the win. The three extra base hits travelled a combined 1,154 feet.
Following a double to leadoff the game by Dameury Pena, Bradenton (19-16) starter Jaiker Garcia struck out two Mussels to strand Pena in scoring position.
Fort Myers (20-15) sent Merit Jones to the mound in the second game of the series in Bradenton. After giving up a one-out single, Jones held the Marauders scoreless in the first inning.
In the top of the third inning, Byron Chourio and Bryan Acuna worked back-to-back leadoff walks against Garcia. After Pena’s lineout moved Chourio to third, Irvin Nunez brought him in on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Fort Myers.
Following walks from Henry Kusiak and JP Smith II, McDaniel smoked his first triple of the night at 102.7 mph to clear the bases and break the game open.
The Mighty Mussels drew four walks in the third inning, and the big swing from McDaniel paid it off to take a 4-0 lead.
Bradenton struck back in the bottom half of the third, as Dylan Palmer drove home Antonio Pimentel to get the Marauders on the scoreboard.
The next batter was Dominic Fletcher, who hit his first home run of the season to make the score 4-3.
In the bottom of the fourth, following a single from Richard Ramirez, first baseman Luke Scherrer torched his first home run of the year at 108.9 mph to give Bradenton their first lead, 5-4.
Jake Murray (1-1) relieved Jones in the fifth. In four frames, Jones surrendered six hits and five runs, while striking out five Marauders.
Murray fanned two hitters in the fifth inning, working around a one-out walk to keep the deficit at one.
Facing Brandon Cain (1-1), McDaniel reached on an error to begin the sixth. Minnesota Twins No. 14 prospect Quentin Young clobbered his fourth home run to give Fort Myers a 6-5 lead.
Young’s second blast in as many nights left the bat at a staggering 111.1 mph, travelling 367 feet to center field. His RBI total for May (10) has already eclipsed his tally for the entire month of April (7). Young also has multiple RBI in four games this month after he had none in the first month of the season.
Following the blast, Fort Myers worked back-to-back walks again to continue the threat. However, despite later loading up the bases, the Mussels could not manufacture any more runs. They led 6-5 after five and a half innings.
Murray continued into the sixth inning, inducing two groundouts as part of a 1-2-3 frame.
After Smith singled to lead off the seventh, McDaniel’s second triple of the night gave him the team lead among active players in his second game with the team.
Two batters later, Bass singled home McDaniel. Then, Acuna smoked a double to bring home Bass. Fort Myers got three runs in the inning, making the score 9-5.
Mitch Mueller relieved Murray in the eighth. He gave up one run over two innings of work, striking out four Bradenton hitters.
McDaniel capped his night with a 367-foot home run in the top of the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Mike McKenna locked down the win, striking out the side. McKenna’s ERA is down to 0.77 for the season.
The series continues today, May 14. Ramiro Villanueva (0.90) starts for the Mussels. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.