Baseball | Marauders wait out rain, can't complete comeback

BRADENTON -- When the dark clouds had finally scattered above McKechnie Field -- or were at least shrouded by the black night only to reappear when distant lightning danced across the horizon -- and most of the 1,510 had been chased away by a nearly two-hour rain delay, Chris Diaz waited at first base and Marauders faced a chance to slice into the Mets' lead.

The first-place Cardinals had lost long ago and a win during the series opener in Bradenton would have pulled the Marauders within two games in the Florida State League South's second half standings. Singles by Austin Meadows and Justin Steranka eventually pushed Diaz home before Bradenton's second and final no-out rally stalled as the Marauders dropped their third straight game, 5-3, against St. Lucie. The losing streak is Bradenton's longest since the Marauders (62-57, 30-19) dropped four in a row from July 8-11.

The Mets (60-59, 25-24) didn't bring all of them, but their roster is currently dotted with rehabbing players who will likely be in New York again before season's end. David Wright and outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis both sat out after playing the past few days, and Bradenton will miss starting pitcher Steven Matz, who took the hill Saturday in Jupiter. On Saturday, all St. Lucie had was Rafael Montero.

The starting pitcher, making his second rehab appearance for St. Lucie, went three innings against the Marauders and held the Pirates' Class A-Advanced affiliate to one run and two hits. After 46 pitches, St. Lucie went to its bullpen.

The first man out of the bullpen was Jake Kuebler, who matched Montero with three one-hit innings. The fifth inning was the only time Kuebler (3-0) found himself in early trouble -- and Bradenton capitalized.

Diaz led off with his a single -- his inning-starting hits in the fifth- and seventh-innings were the only two times the Marauders got the lead-off runner on -- and stole second. A single by Justin Maffei sent him to third and a laser lineout to right let the utility infielder cut the Mets' lead to 3-2.

"He has good at-bats. His balance is a lot better," manager Michael Ryan said. "He's a grinder, man. He's not gonna throw any at-bats away. He's taking the opportunity of playing pretty much every day for the rest of the year in stride. He wants to show that he's an everyday player."

Bradenton could never get past that hump to tie the game, though. When the Marauders sliced the lead to one run in the fifth, St. Lucie stretched it back to two in the seventh. When Bradenton answered with a run after the delay, the Mets scored in the top of the eighth to make it 5-3. Aside from the two innings with leadoff hits, the Marauders only put runners on when there were already two outs.

Bradenton scored once against Montero in the third on a two-out double by Diaz. Third baseman Wyatt Mathisen went home easily and so did Michael Fransoso. The game took a pause, though, and Ryan met with the umpires. There's no wall in right-field foul territory and after outfielder Victor Cruzado failed to field the ball initially, it bounced over a line signifying a ground-rule double. Fransoso slogged back to third and the two-out rally ended four pitches later.

"Especially in close games, it seems like one play here or there would've been the difference," Ryan said. "I don't know if it would've had a difference in the outcome of the game or anything, but it's just weird how those things stick out when it's a close game."

Even in the ninth, when Meadows came to bat against Robert Coles, there was already two outs. The relief pitcher gave Meadows a pitch inside and the FSL's top prospect launched a deep fly ball off the right-field wall for a triple. The tying run came to the plate only for Harold Ramirez to sail a soft fly to right field and give Coles his fourth save of the year. A shaky start by Frank Duncan (7-9), who allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings, put Bradenton behind early and neither the weather nor its offense cooperated, and the Marauders missed a third straight opportunity to make up ground on Palm Beach.

This story was originally published August 16, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Baseball | Marauders wait out rain, can't complete comeback."