Preview: Sarasota Sailors vs. Manatee Hurricanes
Sarasota is 9-1 against Manatee since April of 2018, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Thursday. The Sarasota Sailors will look to defend their home field against the Manatee Hurricanes at 7:00 p.m. The last three games Sarasota has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
On Wednesday, Sarasota had just enough and edged South Fort Myers out 5-4.
Blake Norman tossed a big game, striking out eight batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Michael Bendever was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-6. The team also got some help courtesy of Juan Perez, who scored a run while going 3-for-6.
Meanwhile, Manatee stacked a sixth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. Everything went their way against South Fort Myers as Manatee made off with a 16-2 victory. The win was familiar territory for Manatee who now have four in a row.
Manatee also got a great performance from Truman Brugos as he struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits.
On the hitting side, Bryan Rodriguez and Nick Zunica did most of the damage at the plate: Rodriguez scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4, while Zunica scored three runs while going 2-for-2. Diego Garcia-Gill was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing a base.
Sarasota's victory bumped their record up to 5-9. As for Manatee, their win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-2.
Sarasota took their victory against Manatee when the teams last played back in March of 2023 by a conclusive 12-2. Will Sarasota repeat their success, or does Manatee have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
