The Bradenton Marauders jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never trailed Sunday in a 6-3 win over the Fort Myers Miracle at Hammond Stadium.

The Miracle (31-32) remain one game behind the St. Lucie Mets (32-32) in the Florida State League South Division standings after the Mets lost to Jupiter Sunday.

The Marauders (27-36) tallied four hits in the first inning with Ramon Cabrera delivering a RBI single to right field. They added a pair in the top of the second when Jarek Cunningham homered over the left field wall off Miracle starter Edgar Ibarra.

The Miracle answered in the bottom of the second to cut the Marauder lead to one run. With two out, Anderson Hidalgo singled off Marauder starter Philip Irwin. Steve Liddle followed with a hit to right. Then, newcomer Jamaal Hawkins reached on a fielding error by Cunningham at second base that allowed Hidalgo to score. Cunningham committed a second error on a ball hit by James Beresford to score Liddle.

Adding a run on Elevys Gonzalez’s hit, the Marauders took a 4-2 advantage into the sixth. The Miracle pulled within one run when reliever Jason Erickson threw a wild pitch that allowed Liddle to score.

After two scoreless relief innings in Ricky Bowen’s Miracle debut, the Marauders scored three runs in the final two innings off Dakota Watts to cement the victory. Ibarra (1-5) was the losing pitcher and Irwin (5-0) earned the win.

Joe Mauer, making his sixth rehabilitation start from the Twins, went 1-for-4 with a double in the fifth inning.

The Miracle host the Marauders in the series finale at 7:05 p.m. Monday at Hammond Stadium.