Three former Marauders named to Eastern League All-Star Game

Brock Holt, Ramon Cabrera and Brandon Crumpton will represent the Double-A Altoona Curve during the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 11.
All three played with the Marauders at some point.
Holt, a shortstop, is batting .318 with 29 RBIs in 69 games with the Curve. He batted .351 in 47 games with Bradenton in 2010 before his season was cut short by an injury.
Cabrera, a catcher, is hitting .236 with two home runs and 31 RBIs with the Curve after he won the Florida State League batting title (.343) last year with the Marauders.
Cumpton is 8-6 with a 3.21 ERA in 15 starts with Altoona. He made 13 starts last year with the Marauders.

Marauders vs. Cardinals, starting lineups

The Marauders look to bounce back tonight against the Palm Beach Cardinals after Thursday's six-run defeat.

The lineups:

CARDINALS
Starlin Rodriguez, 2b
Ronny Gil, ss
Chris Edmondson, lf
Geoffrey Klein, 1b
Nick Longmire, cf
Raniel Rosario, rf
Luis De La Cruz, c
Tyler Rahmatulla, 3b
Bradley Watson, p

MARAUDERS
Dan Grovatt, lf
Gift Ngoepe, ss
Mel Rojas Jr, cf
Alex Dickerson, 1b
Kirk Singer, 3b
Elevys Gonzalez, dh
Carlos Paulino, c
Junior Sosa, rf
Benji Gonzalez, 2b
Casey Sadler, p

Back in town

Will there be another championship t-shirt on sale next season inside the Marauders team store?
Bradenton takes a half game lead in the South Division into tonight's game with the Palm Beach Cardinals, even though we're just six games into the 70-game second half.
But hey, first place is first place, right?
St. Petersburg native Matt Benedict makes the start tonight for Bradenton, and here is a look at how the lineups shake out.

CARDINALS
Mike O'Neill, lf
Ronny Gil, ss
Starlin Rodriguez, 2b
Chris Edmonson, rf
Nick Longmire, cf
Geoffrey Klein, 1b
Luis De La Cruz, c
Jeremy Patton, dh
Vance Albitz, 3b
Chris Corrigan, p

MARAUDERS
Dan Grovatt, lf
Gift Ngoepe, ss
Mel Rojas Jr., cf
Alex Dickerson, 1b
Elevys Gonzalez, 2b
Justin Howard, dh
Kirk Singer, 3b
Andy Vasquez, rf
Kawika Emsley-Pai, c
Matt Benedict, p

Cole OK after taking line drive to neck

photo by Grant Jefferies

A night after taking a line drive off his neck, former Marauders pitcher Gerrit Cole is OK and resumed baseball activities Wednesday, according to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Cole was struck by a ball off the bat of Harrisburg's Destin Hood on Tuesday while pitching for Double-A Altoona and left after one inning.
The Pirates said Cole had a contusion on his jaw but no signs of a concussion.
Cole allowed three on five hits and struck out two in the Curve's 8-3 loss. It was his first loss since he was promoted to Double-A earlier this month.

Kirk Singer named Player of the Week

photo by Paul Videla

Kirk Singer's fast start with the Marauders has caught the eye of the folks of the Florida State League.
Singer, an infielder promoted to Bradenton earlier this month, has been named the FSL Player of the Week after batting .474 with nine hits in five games. Singer has eight RBIs, two home runs, slugged .789 and had a .545 on-base percentage during that span.
The Marauders are 3-1 in the second half heading into tonight's game at Dunedin.

Bryan Morris promoted to Pirates

Another former Marauder is now a Pittsburgh Pirate.
The Pirates called up pitcher Bryan Morris from Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday, making him the fourth Marauder to make a major-league roster and third to play for the Pirates.
A starter throughout most of his pro career, Morris has adjusted well to a switch to the bullpen and posted a 2.28 ERA in 23 games with the Indians. He was 1-2 with five saves while striking out 44 in 43 1/3 innings.
Morris started the first game in Marauders history in 2010 and went 3-0 with a 0.60 ERA in eight starts that summer in Bradenton.
A third-round pick by the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, Morris was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers the following season. He was traded to Pittsburgh in July 2008 as part of the deal that sent Jason Bay to the Boston Red Sox and Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.
Former Marauders Jeff Locke and Eric Fryer were promoted to Pittsburgh last year, and Nathan Adcock made the Kansas City Royals Opening Day roster in 2011 after the Royals picked him during the Rule 5 draft.

Opening Night, Part II

The second season begins tonight for the Marauders, who open the second half of the Florida State League season against the Charlotte Stone Crabs, aka The Baby Rays.

Lineups:

STONE CRABS
Hector Guevara, 2b
Robbie Price, dh
Mikie Mahtook, cf
Derek Dietrich, ss
Riccio Torrez, 3b
Phil Wunderlich, 1b
Stephen Tinoco, rf
David Wendt, c
Cody Rogers, lf
Kyle Farnsworth, p

MARAUDERS
Gift Ngoepe, ss
Kirk Singer, 3b
Mel Rojas Jr., cf
Alex Dickerson, 1b
Elevys Gonzalez, 2b
Justin Howard, dh
Carlos Mesa, rf
Kawia Emsley-Pai, c
Dan Grovatt, lf
Tyler Waldron, p