Precious few games have come easy for the Brevard County Manatees in 2014. The Manatees are 10-6, but through the first 16 games of the season, Brevard County has played six one-run ballgames to tie for the Florida State League-lead. Fortunately for the ‘Tees, they have won four of those contests. Let’s take a look at how they’ve done it:

 

Tyrone Taylor

When the ‘Tees are in a tight game, it is usually not a shootout. Brevard County has not scored more than five runs in its one-run contests. While most of the ‘Tees struggle in these games, however, Tyrone Taylor excels. In one-run ballgames, Taylor is hitting .347, while the rest of the team has hit .185.

The center fielder has also hit six of his MiLB-leading 10 doubles in one-run ballgames, leading him to a .609 slugging percentage in those contests. On 4/7 at Daytona, Taylor tied a career-high with three doubles in a 5-4 win. He also had a pretty decent defensive play:

What’s more, Taylor has been the deciding factor in two of Brevard’s six one-run games. He has contributed one game-winning run and one game-winning RBI, plus the game-tying double, heard above.

 

Bullpen

Two weeks ago, we told you how good the Manatees bullpen had been at the start of the season. That certainly has not changed and the relievers appear to be even better in games decided by one run:

ERA: 0.86 (2 ER/21 IP)

WHIP: 0.95 (15 H & 5 BB/21 IP)

K/9: 7.71 (18 K/21 IP)

Whether you’re a starter or a reliever, though, it certainly doesn’t hurt when you get some defensive assistance like this to help win a one-run ballgame:

 

Closers

As the Manatees’ closers, Tanner Poppe and Tommy Toledo are at the center of Brevard’s bullpen success. Neither of them has given up an earned run and it has been a struggle for hitters to get on board against them:

ERA: 0.00 (0 ER/7.2 IP)

WHIP: 1.04 (7 H & 1 BB/7.2 IP)

K/9: 9.39 (8 K/7.2 IP)

Talk about unhittable, Poppe in particular has bore down when his team needs him. The right-hander has recorded three of his five saves in one-run games and has struck out seven of the 17 men he has faced. Does that sound like a lot? It should, because that mark gives Poppe a K/9 rate of 15.75 in games decided by one run.

 

‘Tees Tidbits: Brevard County has also faired well in three-run contests this season. The ‘Tees are 3-0 in games decided by three runs. They are 1-1 in games decided by two runs.