Marte, Cole and Tallion among top 50 prospects in baseball

(mlb.com)

One former Bradenton Marauder and two potential future Marauders are three of the top 100 prospects in baseball, according to MLB.com.

Pitcher Jameson Tallion, the Pittsburgh Pirates' first pick of the 2010 draft who may start the season with the Marauders, is ranked eighth on the list. The righty went 2-3 with 3.98 ERA in 23 starts with 97 strikeouts in 92 2/3 innings for the Pirates' low Single-A team in West Virginia last season.

Another power arm expected to start the year in Bradenton, pitcher Gerrit Cole, is ranked 11th. The Pirates took Cole with the first overall pick last year out of UCLA.

Former Marauders outfielder Starling Marte is ranked 40th. Marte was with the Marauders in 2009 and spent all of last season with the Pirates' Double-A affiliate in Altoona, where he hit .332 in 129 games. Marte scored 91 runs, swiped 24 bases, had 58 extra-base hits and slugged .500.

Diamondbacks take Brett Lorin in Rule 5 Draft

Another year, another Marauder chosen in the Rule 5 Draft.

This time, it was pitcher Brett Lorin, who was picked by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

The Kansas City Royals chose Nathan Adcock during last year's draft, and the pitcher wound up becoming the first Marauder to reach the majors.

Lorin, 24, spent all of last season in Bradenton, and went 7-6 with a 2.84 ERA in 25 games and 17 starts. He walked just 19 in 117 1/3 innings and limited opponents to a .230 average en route to making the Florida State League's South Division All-Star team.

The Pirates acquired Lorin, along with Adcock, Jeff Clement and Aaron Pribanic, in a 2009 trade that sent Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to Seattle.

The Mariners drafted Lorin, who attended Long Beach State, in the fifth round of the '08 draft. He is 18-16 with a 3.03 ERA in 76 professional appearances.

The Marauders' mission - beat Zack Wheeler

(minorleaguebaseball.com)

Standing between the Bradenton Marauders and elimination is one of the best prospects in baseball and the centerpiece to one of this season's biggest trades.

Zack Wheeler goes for the St. Lucie Mets in Game 2 of tonight's South Division Championship Series at Digital Domain Park. The Mets beat the Marauders 4-2 on Tuesday in Game 1 and lead the best-of-three series 1-0.

Wheeler, 21, was the San Francisco Giants' first pick in 2009. Ranked the 55th-best prospect by Baseball America, Wheeler was dealt to the New York Mets at the trade deadline in exchange for outfielder Carlos Beltran.

Wheeler went 2-2 in six starts with St. Lucie but recorded a 2.00 ERA, allowing six earned runs and striking out 31 in 27 innings and walking five. He was 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in two starts this year against the Marauders.

Prior to the trade, Wheeler went 7-5 with a 3.99 ERA with the Giants' high Single-A affiliate in San Jose.

"The advantage he has is his overall stuff," Mets manager Pedro Lopez told tcpalm.com. "Whenever you have a guy with that kind of repertoire, it'll make it difficult for any club."

The Marauders will counter with Brett Lorin, who went 7-6 with a 2.84 ERA en route to making the FSL South's All-Star team.

First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

M's lose 4-2

The Marauders lost 4-2 in Game 1 of the South Division Championship Series at McKechnie Field.

They need to Game 2 Wednesday in Port St. Lucie,to stay alive and force Game 3, which would be played Thursday back in Port St. Lucie's Digital Domain Park.

Game 2 starts at 6:30 p.m.

M's trail 4-2, down to their final three outs

The Bradenton Marauders are down to their final three outs in Game 1 of the South Division Championship Series.
Jose Coronado ripped a two-out, two-run double to deep center off reliever Diego Moreno to give the St. Lucie Mets a 4-2 lead in the top of the ninth inning.
The Marauders initially caught a break earlier in the inning when Francisco Pena ripped a line drive down the left-field line that easily would have scored Jefry Marte from first. But the ball rolled into the Mets' bullpen and was ruled a ground-rule double, forcing Marte to stop at third.
But Coronado's double made it moot.
The Marauders will send up Elevys Gonzalez, Evan Chambers and Cole White in the bottom of the ninth against Mets reliever Jeff Kaplan, who had 12 saves this season.

All tied up, Foster in from the 'pen

The St. Lucie Mets have drawn even with the Bradenton Marauders, and needed just one hit to do so.

The Mets tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh, a rally that began when Cesar Puello was hit by pitched. He went to third on a soft single by Cory Vaughn and wound up scoring when Francisco bounced into a 4-6-3 double play.

But Jose Coronado singled, chasing Marauder starter Brandon Cumptom. The right went 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, and striking out seven and walking one.

Cumpton gave way to Zachary Foster, who needed just one pitch to retire Pedro Zapata on a fielder's choice.

It's 2-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Mets make a dent, trail 2-1

The St. Lucie Mets are showing some life in Game 1 of the South Division Championship Series, and now trail 2-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Wilmer Flores dumped a two-out double off the glove of a sliding Evan Chambers in center. Stefan Welch, above, followed a run-scoring single to right. But Marauders' starter Brandon Cumpton quelled the rally by retiring Jefry Marte on a grounder to first.