Palm Beach Down 1-0 in FSL Championship Series with 7-6 Loss at Lakeland Sunday Night
JUPITER, FL – The Palm Beach Cardinals dropped the first game of the Florida State League Championship Series to the Lakeland Flying Tigers by a score of 7-6 on Sunday night at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. It is the first loss of the postseason for Palm Beach and
JUPITER, FL – The Palm Beach Cardinals dropped the first game of the Florida State League Championship Series to the Lakeland Flying Tigers by a score of 7-6 on Sunday night at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. It is the first loss of the postseason for Palm Beach and their first defeat since September 3rd to the Jupiter Hammerheads in the regular season.
The Beach Birds scored first for the third time in as many playoff games. In the top of the first inning, Christian Martin and Bryce Madron both hit singles and JJ Wetherholt drove in Martin on an RBI single to put Palm Beach ahead 1-0.
The one-run lead remained until Lakeland got itself on the scoreboard in a big way off of Cardinals’ starting pitcher Gerardo Salas. With two runners on and one out in the bottom of the third inning, Jack Penney tied the game with an RBI single followed with an RBI single by Josue Briceño to give Lakeland its first lead. Still with two runners on, Jose De La Cruz launched a three-run home run to left field to put the Flying Tigers ahead by a 5-1 score.
Salas finished his start with three innings pitched and five earned runs, which was the most earned runs allowed all season.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Cardinals began a comeback in the top of the fifth inning. Joshua Baez led off the frame with a double and Ian Petrutz got Baez home with an RBI double. Two batters later, Jon Jon Gazdar hit his first of two RBI singles which cut the deficit to 5-3 still in favor of Lakeland.
In the very next inning, the Cardinals produced another big inning. Palm Beach loaded the bases with two outs thanks to a base hit and two walks. Then, Josh Kross notched an RBI single which resulted in two runs scoring thanks to a Lakeland fielding error. Gazdar capped the inning with his second RBI single of the game and gave the Beach Birds the lead again, this time by a 6-5 score.
In the meantime, Leonel Sequera provided three shutout innings with four strikeouts out of the Palm Beach bullpen in his first relief appearance of the season.
With the Cardinals leading by just one run, Lakeland came up in the bottom of the eighth inning facing Michael Watson for his second inning in relief. With one out, Franyerber Montilla hit a triple which prompted a pitching change and Luis Gastelum (L, 0-1; BS, 1). Eduardo Valencia tied the game with an RBI single with a soft ground ball along the third-base line. Later in the inning with two outs, Jackson Strong hit a pinch-hit, RBI triple to put the Flying Tigers on top 7-6.
Palm Beach got the tying run on base in the top of the ninth inning against Micah Ashman (Sv, 2) when Wetherholt reached on a leadoff infield single, however the Cardinals did not have another comeback in them as Lakeland took game one by a final score of 7-6.
Wetherholt led the Cardinals’ offense after he went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Wetherholt is 7-13 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored during the playoffs and on a ten-game hitting streak going back to the regular season. In his first start of the playoffs, Gazdar finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
The Palm Beach Cardinals are down 1-0 in the series with game two scheduled for Tuesday, September 17th with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets for game two. If the Cardinals win to even the series 1-1, a winner-take-all game three will be played Wednesday, September 18th with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
About Jupiter Stadium, LTD:
Opening in 1998, the 110-acre complex/stadium is specially designed to house two Major League and two Minor League Baseball Teams. The stadium is home to the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals for Spring Training. The Florida State League’s Jupiter Hammerheads (Class A Affiliate of the Miami Marlins) and Palm Beach Cardinals (Class A Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) make their home at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium from April through September. This year-round facility can accommodate the smallest birthday party to the largest corporate outing, while never forgetting that each and every fan is our most important product.