Merphy Hernandez moves into second in Mussels’ franchise history with 46th steal in win
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Bradenton Marauders by a final score of 4-2 Thursday night at Lee Health Sports Complex.
Merphy Hernandez stole bases number 45 and 46 tonight, moving past Ben Revere (2009) for the second-most in a single-season in franchise history (since 1992). The top spot belongs to Anthony Felston, who stole 86 bases in 1998.
Since being promoted to Single-A on May 21, Hernandez leads the Florida State League and is tied for second among all full-season MiLB players in steals. He steals a base 58% of the time he reaches base and averages .84 steals per game. Despite only playing in 55 of Fort Myers’ 122 games, Hernandez accounts for 16% of the Mussels’ steals in their record-breaking season, which has seen the team’s total climb to 280.
Fort Myers (67-55, 30-27) sent Cristian Hernandez to the mound to make his fourth start of the season. He worked around a pair of one-out singles and struck out two Marauders (52-68, 21-34) in a scoreless first.
The Mussels grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first. M. Hernandez smoked a first-pitch triple into the right-center field gap. Three batters later, Isaiah Lane punched a single into right field to score the run and give Fort Myers a 1-0 lead.
After Bryce Fowler doubled to begin the bottom of the second inning, Quentin Young delivered a first-pitch RBI knock to double the Mussels’ lead.
Young swiped second during the next at-bat, marking the 17th consecutive game with a stolen base for the Mighty Mussels. This ties the longest streak in franchise history, set earlier this year from May 21 to June 9. It is the second-longest streak in the FSL this year and the longest active streak among full-season MiLB clubs.
After Bradenton got a run in the top of the third, Fort Myers responded in the bottom half. Carson Tinney, who doubled earlier in the inning, came into score on a wild pitch. Later in the frame, Young drove home Colby Turner on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
C. Hernandez was done after 3.2 innings. He recorded a season-high in strikeouts with the Mussels with six, allowing just one run. Rainer Marin (1-0) replaced him and made his FSL debut, working 1.1 innings and registering his first Single-A strikeout.
Adam Falinski took over in the sixth. Over two innings, he surrendered one run and stranded the bases loaded in the seventh.
Nick McAuliffe (S1) replaced Falinski in the eighth. McAuliffe slammed the door over the final two innings, giving the Mussels their third win in four games this week.
The series continues today, Aug. 28, with Fan Appreciation Night at Lee Health Sports Complex. Fort Myers sends Matthew Dalquist (4.66) to the mound, while Bradenton counters with Yonleg Gaetano (4.43). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.