BRADENTON, FL – It was yet another game in which the Jupiter Hammerheads held an early lead and seemed to have everything in control, only to then cost themselves the game.
Saturday night’s game against the Bradenton Marauders was no different, as they were down 5-4 in the final frame. Down to their last strike, Echedry Vargas connected on a late three-run homer to lift the Hammerheads past the Marauders 7-5.
Dameivi Tineo Strikes Out 11
Ballgame Hammerheads 7 | Marauders 5
– Dameivi Tineo struck out a season high of 11 – Echedry Vargas continues his breakout season with four RBI – Jacob Lombard and Luis Arana each collected a pair of hits pic.twitter.com/vi7j2lDULx
On the mound, Dameivi Tineo was relentless. He allowed just two hits, a run, and three walks in 4.2 innings, striking out a season-high 11. Impressively, his first 10 punchouts came on the slider, while the last one came on the changeup. After his performance, his ERA fell to 2.90 while his BAA dropped to .199.
After the Marauders hit a solo home run in the fourth, the Hammerheads got to work in the fifth inning. Eric Guevara hit a two-run home run to put Jupiter on the score sheet. Echedry Vargas followed through with a sac fly, scoring Jacob Lombard to put the Hammerheads ahead 3-1.
In the bottom half of the sixth, though, Bradenton responded with a four-run inning, giving Samuel Carpio a hectic outing on the mound. The recently called-up Davidxon Lara froze the Marauder bats with 2.1 scoreless innings and two punchouts. He improved his record to 2-0.
Top 8th Hammerheads 4 | Marauders 5
Luis Cova puts Jupiter just one run away from tying this game with a single into left field pic.twitter.com/ZY4ixuk8S2
Following walks to Andres Valor and Jake McCutcheon, Luis Cova brought the Hammerheads within a run in the eighth with an RBI single. The bottom half of the ninth started off Jeremy Almonte getting hit by a pitch and Guevara taking a walk.
Echedry Vargas Breakout Season
However, hope soon faded as the Marauders got two easy outs. For the Hammerheads, they had the right man at the plate with their last out on the line. Their power-hitting machine Vargas was more than capable of changing the scope of this game with one swing.
He did just that. Vargas fouled off the first pitch before taking three straight balls. On the fifth pitch, he fouled off a sinker. That was already the fifth straight sinker thrown in the at-bat. The next pitch, he connected on his pitch, a slider over the top of the plate, sending it over the bleachers.
Top 9th Hammerheads 7 | Marauders 5
Down to his last strike, Echedry Vargas hits a three-run bomb to give the Hammerheads back the lead.
Echedry Vargas’ 22nd homer of the season had an exit velocity of 107.3 MPH and traveled 416 feet. In the top half of the ninth, Janero Miller recorded his first career save with Jupiter.
Vargas is certainly making his case for a promotion back to High-A Beloit. He has rebounded from last season’s struggles with 105 hits, 22 doubles, 81 RBI, a .310 average, and a .945 OPS.
He’s a diehard 305 native who roots for his hometown teams in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recently, he graduated from FIU with an MBA, but now he’s a Lemonhead covering UM basketball. Known to be anywhere and everywhere, you may catch him at a Miami sporting event.
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