Can Cole keep rolling?

Marauders starter Gerrit Cole takes the hill tonight against the Fort Myers Miracle at McKechnie Field, trying to keep his fine season intact.
The first overall pick of last year's draft, Cole is 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA and 46 strikeouts. Cole is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA over his last five starts and is second in the league in opposing batting average (.200) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.2) and ninth in ERA.
Here are tonight's lineups:

MIRACLE
Daniel Santana, ss
Danny Ortiz, cf
Jairo Perez, dh
Oswaldo Arcia, rf
Dan Rohlfing, c
Lance Ray, lf
Anderson Hidalgo, 3b
Michael Gonzales, 1b
Levi Michael, 2b
Madison Boer, p

MARAUDERS
Gift Ngoepe, ss
Drew Maggi, 2b
Mel Rojas Jr., cf
Alex Dickerson, 1b
Stefan Welch, 3b
Evan Chambers, rf
Dan Grovatt, lf
Carlos Paulino, c
Wes Freeman, dh
Gerrit Cole, p

Starting lineups for 70s Night

photo by John Lembo

Cool hat, huh?
Consider a tip of the cap (pun intended) to the 1970s Pittsburgh Pirates, who made the pillbox look during their run to the 1979 World Championship.
The Marauders will be wearing those hats tonight for 70s Night here at McKechnie Field, where Bradenton faces Clearwater.
The lineups:

THRESHERS
Edgar Duran, ss
Carlos Alonso, 2b
Brandon Tripp, lf
James Murphy, 1b
Cody Asche, 3b
Anthony Hewitt, rf
Chris Duffy, dh
Miguel Alvarez, cf
Chace Numata, c
Brody Colvin, p

MARAUDERS
Gift Ngoepe, ss
Drew Maggi, 2b
Mel Rojas jr., cf
Alex Dickerson, 1b
Carlos Paulino, c
Stefan Welch, 3b
Wes Freeman, lf
Dan Grovatt, rf
Justin Howard, dh
Jameson Taillon, p

Irwin, Poytress off to Altoona

Pitchers Josh Poytress and Philip Irwin have been promoted to Double-A Altoona.
Poytress, 21, a lefty, wasn't scored upon in 16 2/3 innings spread over six games.He allowed 10 hits, struck out 11 and limited opposing hitters to a .175 average.
He tossed six shutout innings Sunday to earn the win in the Marauders' 18-inning win over Tampa. An 18th-round pick last year, Poytress was 2-0 with Bradenton.
Irwin, 25, won his lone start with the Marauders, tossing five innings in Saturday's win over the Yankees. He went 13-4 last year when he split time between Altoona and Bradenton.
The Marauders also added Rick VandenHurk from extended spring training, and he pitched six innings Monday to help beat the Tampa Yankees 10-5.
The 26-year-old VandenHurk hails from the Netherlands was signed as an amateur free agent by the Florida Marlins in 2002. The righty is 8-10 with a 5.97 ERA in 46 games (35 starts) with the Marlins and Baltimore Orioles
The Pirates signed VandenHurk on April 9.

Jameson Taillon named FSL Pitcher of the Week



photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie

Marauders starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has been named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 23 through 29.
Taillon, the Pirates' first pick in 2010, went 1-0 and didn't allow a run in 11 innings of work stretched over two starts. He struck out 10, walked two and allowed six hits

Taillon limited Jupiter to just three hits over five innings on Apri 24, striking out six batters. He faced the Hammerheads five days later in Jupiter, where he tossed six shutout innings and struck out four. 

Taillon is seventh in the league with a 1.46 ERA

Marauders in 10

Benji Gonzalez led off the 10th inning with a double and scored on a throwing error by pitcher Caleb Thielbar as the Marauders beat the Fort Myers Miracle 3-2 in 10 innings in front of 1,215 fans at McKechnie Field.
Thielbar made the error after fielding Gift Ngoepe's sacrifice bunt.
In danger of being shut out for the second straight night, the Marauders (3-5) tied the score at 2 on Drew Maggi's two-run single in the eighth.
Jhontahan Ramos threw two hitless innings of relief to earn the win, raising his record to 2-1 and lowering his ERA to 1.17.
Jameson Taillon struck out six in five innings while allowing a run on three hits in his first start at McKechnie Field.

STAR OF THE GAME: Gonzalez scored two runs and walked twice to go along with his double.

UP NEXT: The Marauders and Miracle close out their set tonight in Fort Myers. The Marauders return home Sunday to start a three-game series with the Palm Beach Cardinals. Sunday's game starts at 5 p.m.

It's Taillon Time...

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)

Jameson Taillon, wearing No. 19 in the above picture, makes his Bradenton debut tonight when the Marauders host the Fort Myers Miracle.

The 20-year-old Taillon is considered one of the Pirates' top-two prospects and one of the best in baseball. He allowed two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings during his first start last week in St. Lucie while striking out six and walking two.

Here is a look at tonight's lineups:

MIRACLE

Daniel Santana ss

Jairo Perez 3b

Angel Morales cf

Josmil Pinto dh

Dan Rolfhing c

Lance Ray rf

Danny Rams lf

Michael Gonzales 1b

Andy Leer 2b

B.J. Hermsen p

MARAUDERS

Gift Ngoepe 2b

Drew Maggi ss

Mel Rojas Jr. cf

Alex Dickerson 1b

Carlos Paulino c

Dan Grovatt dh

Wesley Freeman lf

Justin Howard rf

Benji Gonzalez 3b

Jameson Taillon p

They have the arms, where's the hammer?

(photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie)

Given the number of power arms in their rotation, including Gerrit Cole (above), the Bradenton Marauders were thought to be a team reliant on its pitching.

Thus far, the hurlers have been as good as advertised.

The hitters, however?

Not so much.

The Marauders are batting .185 heading into tonight's game in Palm Beach against Cardinals, ranking them last in the 12-team Florida State League.

The team ERA (2.70) is ranked fifth.

Consequently, the Marauders have lost three straight games and have been outscored 11-4 during the skid.

Nine Marauders have appeared in at least three of the team's four games thus far, but only two are hitting above .235 - Mel Rojas Jr. (.313) and Drew Maggi (.286). Bradenton is the only team in the league without a home run and only six of the Marauders' 23 hits have gone for extra bases.

They are last in the league in RBIs (six), runs (seven), total bases (31) and slugging, and 11th in on-base percentage (.271). After scoring three runs during Thursday's season-opener against St. Lucie, the Marauders have scored four since.

On the flip side, Bradenton's pitchers are fifth in WHIP (1.28), fourth in strikeouts (37) and are tied for fourth for fewest earned runs allowed (11).

Of course, the season is still very early. Heck, so is the first half.

But if they want to see a third straight trip to playoffs, the Marauders need their offense to catch up to their pitching.