Manatee has enjoyed a four-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Sarasota Sailors at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Manatee can now show off six landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Tuesday. They put the hurt on South Fort Myers with a sharp 16-2 win. While fans of Manatee might be used to big wins, the 14-run margin marked the team's biggest victory yet this season.
Manatee 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. Brugos has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in four consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, 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 can finally bid farewell to their six-game losing streak thanks to their game on Wednesday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past South Fort Myers 5-4.
Sarasota also got a great performance from Blake Norman as he struck out eight batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off three hits.
On the hitting side, Michael Bendever was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-6. Another player making a difference was Juan Perez, who scored a run while going 3-for-6.
Manatee has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season. As for Sarasota, their record now sits at 5-9.
Manatee suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to Sarasota when the teams last played back in March of 2023. Can Manatee avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
