Cardinals Stun Mets with Five 9th Inning Runs
Down 7-3 in the top of the 9th inning at the St. Lucie Mets on Sunday, the Palm Beach Cardinals looked destined to have to contimplate a game and series loss during their 40 mile bus ride back from Clover Park on Sunday afternoon. But the Beach Birds had other
Down 7-3 in the top of the 9th inning at the St. Lucie Mets on Sunday, the Palm Beach Cardinals looked destined to have to contimplate a game and series loss during their 40 mile bus ride back from Clover Park on Sunday afternoon.
But the Beach Birds had other plans on getaway day, and wouldn't be heading back to Palm Beach County without first shocking the home team, preaviling 8-7.
FINAL: The #BeachBirds stun the @stluciemets, 8-7 with 🖐️ unanswered runs in the 9th!!!
— Palm Beach Cardinals (@GoPBCardinals) July 31, 2022
Watch as R.J. Yeager, Darlin Moquete and Thomas Francisco help us tie and then take the lead in the final inning, before Andrew Marrero completes the save! pic.twitter.com/2ufP3yvEIT
Palm Beach commenced the rally with a Leonardo Bernal leadoff walk, after winning a challenge on a called strike two. Two batters later, R.J. Yeager would recored his first professional home run to get the Cardinals within two runs.
Down to the last out, Chris Rotondo would reach base with a single before Darlin Moquete homered to tie the contest. Before the Mets could even fully comprehend the sequence of events, Thomas Francisco put a dagger in St. Lucie with a solo home run to give the Cardinals a one-run lead.
Relif pitcher Andrew Marrero worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning to earn a three-out save and clinch the win for Palm Beach. Nelfri Contreras was the winning pitcher Sunday after tossing a scoreless eighth inning to keep the Cards alive.
The Cardinals opened the scoring with a Francisco RBI single to score Victor Scott in the first. Scott would drive in Lizandro Espinzoa on a sacrifice fly two innings later before Alex Iadisernia made it 3-0. However, three Mets runs in the third and four in the fourth would necessitate the comeback in the ninth.
With the win, the Cardinals secure a series split with St. Lucie. Palm Beach is back at home this week for a six-game series against in-stadium rivals Jupiter, with first pitch Tuesday night slated for 6:30 p.m.