Gulf Coast Phillies vs Gulf Coast Pirates

Bradenton, Florida: The Gulf Coast Pirates shut-out the Gulf Coast Phillies 3-0 on Saturday at Pirate City.

Both clubs dueled in a shut-out until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Pirates struck for two runs. Elvys Gonzalez drew a walk to lead off then inning. Gift Ngoepe then reached on an error to put a second runner on the base path. Gerlis Rodriguez laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. Andrew Walker drove home the first run with an RBI double to score Gonzalez. Ngoepe later scored on a sacrifice fly by Rogelios Noris and the Pirates took a 2-0 lead.

The Pirates added an insurance run in the seventh inning. Melvin De La Cruz led off the inning with a walk. De La Cruz advanced to second on a stolen base and then to third on a sac bunt by Elvys Gonzalez. Gift Ngoepe followed with a ground ball to first that scored De La Cruz and gave the Pirates the 3-0 margin of victory.

Brad Clapp picked up the win and Diomedes Garcia the save for the Pirates. Kevin Angelle was the losing pitcher for the Phillies.

For more photos from the game, visit my Phillies/Pirates game gallery.