Tarpons unable to match Cardinals’ firepower, drop series finale
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Tarpons (26-28) had trouble getting their offense going Sunday afternoon against the Palm Beach Cardinals (25-27). Tampa only gathered one run on four hits, while Palm Beach pushed 12 runs across on just as many hits. Chase Davis had a big day for the Cardinals,
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Tarpons (26-28) had trouble getting their offense going Sunday afternoon against the Palm Beach Cardinals (25-27). Tampa only gathered one run on four hits, while Palm Beach pushed 12 runs across on just as many hits. Chase Davis had a big day for the Cardinals, racking up six RBIs, with the big blow being a bases-clearing double that busted the game wide open in the sixth.
RHP Cam Schlittler (4.0IP, 5H, R, 2BB, 3K) pitched four quality innings for Tampa. He filled up the strike zone, throwing 70% of his pitches for strikes. Schlittler was able to keep Palm Beach’s batters off balance with an 8.4 MPH difference in his two most frequently thrown pitches, the fastball and slider.
After reaching on a fielder’s choice in the second, Joshua Baez swiped second base. Davis walked, and with two away, both runners took off as Dakota Harris lined an RBI single to left field to give Palm Beach the lead.
Won-Bin Cho greeted RHP Nolberto Henriquez with a 389-foot homerun on the first pitch he threw in the fifth inning. William Sullivan blasted a 106.9 MPH to the right field wall, and Beaz got hit by a pitch. Following a wild pitch, Davis drove them both in with a ground-rule double. With two away, Sammy Hernandez struck out on a dropped third strike, but the throw down to first sailed into right field, allowing Davis to score.
In his second game back from the injured list, CF Nelson Medina legged out his second triple of the year to open the fifth. RF Cole Gabrielson brought in Tampa’s only run with a groundout to short to score Medina.
Tre Richardson picked up his second hit of the day, leading off the sixth with a double. After advancing on a groundout, Levenson singled to left to extend Palm Beach’s lead to five. Two walks loaded the bases for Davis, who put the game out of reach with a bases-clearing double into the right-field gap.
Palm Beach would score three more runs in the eighth, while Tampa would go down quietly the rest of the day. The Tarpons head into their last home series of the season on Tuesday night when they take on the St. Lucie Mets, with the first pitch coming at 6:30 p.m.