Cardinals rally to down Mussels in series opener
JUPITER – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels suffered a walk-off loss to the Palm Beach Cardinals Tuesday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Tied 5-5 in the top of the ninth, Hideki Prather and Charlie Scholvin opened the inning with a pair of singles. Two batters later, Vahn Lackey bounced a ball past the draw-in infield, putting Fort Myers (62-51, 25-22) back in front 7-5. Adam Falinski (2-1) then allowed three runs in the bottom of the ninth with Matthew Miura delivering the game-winning hit on a ground ball down the first base line.
Fort Myers did not trail in the game until the final pitch of the night, despite the pitching staff matching a season-high with nine walks.
The Mussels opened the scoring in the second. Yovanny Duran led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a groundout and stole third. Aidan Teel then drove in Duran with a sacrifice fly to the base of the warning track in right.
Aided by four stellar defensive plays from Merphy Hernandez and Scholvin, Mussels’ starter Eric Hammond navigated 2.2 scoreless innings. He gave way to Brian Strange who needed one pitch to retire the first batter he faced in his career, closing the line on Hammond.
With one out in the fourth, Carson Tinney blasted his fourth homer of the season to make it 2-0. That began a streak of five consecutive Mussels reaching base. With the bases loaded, Isaiah Lane doubled down the left field line to bring home two runs. Hideki Prather added a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.
Strange kept the momentum going by striking out the side in his first full professional inning.
The Cardinals (57-58, 24-25) leveled the score in the fifth, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring five runs (three earned) off of Jackson Sleeper in his professional debut.
Matthew Becker took over with one out and the bases loaded. He walked in a run and a costly error allowed the final two inherited runners to score. Becker ended up working 1.2 innings without allowing a hit or a run of his own.
The tie score held until both teams rallied in their halves of the ninth inning. During the Mussels’ rally, Hernandez added his 42nd steal of the season, moving into a tie for fourth on the all-time single-season list with Matt Lawton III (1994).
The series continues today, Aug. 19. Matt Barr (6.43) starts for the Mussels opposite Jacob Haley (4.15). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:20 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.