Baseball | Marauders stay in playoff chase with win over Mets

BRADENTON -- The Marauders rested Wednesday for their final off day of the season and nearly 1,000 miles to the north in Bowie, Md., Austin Meadows was suiting up in a new uniform. The outfielder, who solidified himself as the Pirates' top hitting prospect this year, was promoted from Bradenton to Double-A Altoona, leaving the Marauders without their star for the final days of a playoff push.

The change at the front of Bradenton's lineup card Thursday was glaring. The second spot in the order center field, where an All-Star had raked during the entire second half of the season, was now occupied by Junior Sosa, an oft-injured 25-year-old with fewer than 60 Class A-Advanced at-bats in 2015.

He ran out to his spot in center field at the start of the eighth inning and was greeted with a standing ovation from the 886 fans at McKechnie Field for the penultimate home game of the regular season. Every game left for Bradenton is essentially a must-win, as the Marauders try to chase down the first-place Cardinals -- and Sosa's first two home runs since 2012 gave Bradenton a 4-2 victory against the Mets.

"A lot of time I was on the DL," Sosa said. "I had two years or three years with no homers. I just kept working."

Michael Ryan received the news Meadows would be promoted to Altoona sometime on Tuesday, and the selfish part of his brain first told the manager to be upset. The Marauders (72-63, 40-25 second half) entered their off day trailing Palm Beach by two games in the South division's second-half standings, and Meadows was the trigger man in the Florida State League's best offense.

He called the outfielder into his office and gave him the news. Seeing the joy in person was enough to wash those negative thoughts away.

"His reaction was such excitement and proud of himself, so I was good with it," Ryan said. "That's why we're here - to get guys to Double A and we did it with a great player."

He did have to find a new center fielder, though, and it didn't take long to decide. Sosa, Ryan felt, was a fit for the spot. The Venezuelan has the range to cover ground in the cavernous McKechnie center field and put together good at-bats in his limited action since coming off the disabled list after a three-month absence in early August. The third time he faced Scarlyn Reyes, the at-bats had a payoff.

The outfielder singled against the starting pitcher in his first at-bat and grounded out in the second. By the time he sent his first homer on to the boardwalk beyond the right-field fence, Sosa had seen 11 pitches.

He was waiting for an off-speed pitch and Reyes finally gave him one. Sosa shot a laser out to right field and Maikis De La Cruz froze for a minute, waiting for the fly ball. Then he sprinted back toward the wall. There was no chance to even feign an attempt at the catch. Bradenton's lead doubled to 2-0 behind starting pitcher Luis Heredia.

"I was just looking for my pitch and good contact," Sosa said. "Everybody came out to me happy. It was good."

Heredia (5-6) had been shaky to this point despite working on a shutout. The starting pitcher walked to the mound in the first inning as fans shouted to him about the importance of this start. He had a 6.75 ERA in August and one gregarious supporter made sure Heredia could hear his pleas for a strong outing.

He walked the first batter and was saved by a caught stealing. Then he walked the second. And then, the fourth. Eventually, he made it out of the frame unscathed.

"I was excited. I just had to calm down, settle my mind and that helped a lot," Heredia said. "I felt much better. I had more swagger."

After 5 2/3 shutout innings with three hits and four walks, he handed the ball to Henry Hirsch and a revamped back end. Relief pitcher Montana DuRapau was also called up to the Curve on Wednesday, which meant Dovydas Neverauskas was the new closer, and Miguel Rosario joined Hirsch in set-up duty. The trio combined to allow two runs to St. Lucie (67-68, 32-33) and helped Neverauskas notch his third save of the year.

It meant, however, that the Marauders needed an extra insurance run. Sosa's fourth and final at-bat came in the seventh after Reyes (2-3) had gone and New York's FSL squad had cut Bradenton's lead to 2-1. He waited for another off-speed pitch and this time it was a third-pitch slider from relief pitcher David Roseboom.

This ball flew even farther to a deeper part of the park. It was another mob at home plate for the man who hadn't experienced even one in more than four years. And with three games to go, he cut the Cardinals' lead to a single game.

"Everybody is comfortable, everybody is so excited because we're playing good," Sosa said. "Just play these three games good and I don't know. We can't control it."

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Baseball | Marauders stay in playoff chase with win over Mets."