Game Notes for Thursday, July 31
TONIGHT'S GAME: The Palm Beach Cardinals and the Lakeland Flying Tigers play the final game of a four-game series tonight at Roger Dean Stadium. The Flying Tigers are the Florida State League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. The Birds are clinging to a 0.5 game lead in the Florida State League South standings with 31 games remaining in the 2014 regular season.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: The Cardinals had several great run-scoring opportunities but didn't do enough to capitalize on the chances as the Flying Tigers came away with a 5-3 victory on Wednesday night at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cards stranded 10 baserunners on the night and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Trailing 4-1 in the sixth inning, Palm Beach looked poised to start a rally but left the bases juiced. The seventh inning was much of the same, as the Cardinals put three on with nobody out but only mustered one run.
HOMER HAPPY: The Cardinals have gone yard eight times over the last six games, including grand slams two days in a row on Sunday and Monday. The Birds have homered in 15 of their last 22 games and currently rank first in the league with 24 bombs this month. The team is second in the FSL with 64 homers overall this season. Despite the offensive success with the long ball, Palm Beach pitching has allowed a fair share of home runs as of late too. In the last 10 games, opponents have clubbed 13 homers.
RBI MACHINE: INF Bruce Caldwell drove in all three runs last night for the Cardinals. He went 2-for-4 in the contest and turned in his team-leading eighth, three-RBI performance this season. Caldwell also leads the team with 14 multi-RBI games overall in 2014. Since May 29, he leads the league with 42 RBI. Over the 51 games played in the span, Caldwell owns a .301 batting average with 27 extra-base hits, including nine home runs.
VS. LAKELAND: Tonight's game marks the final of eight meetings this season between the Cardinals and the Flying Tigers. Lakeland holds a 5-2 advantage in the season series after victories the last two nights. The Tigers took three of four games against the Cards in Lakeland from May 31-June 3. Since 2005, the Cards have won five season sets against the Flying Tigers and are 38-36 overall over the span. Last year, Palm Beach went 3-2 against Lakeland. The teams split at Roger Dean Stadium, 2-2, and had three games canceled in Lakeland due to weather.
LOPSIDED RESULTS: In the first two games of the current series combined, the margin of victory was 17 runs. The Birds' 11-0 blowout win over the Tigers on Monday was the largest margin of victory for the team this season, although lopsided wins are nothing new. Palm Beach ranks second in the FSL with 30 wins by more than three runs and has the second-best winning percentage (.698) in those contests.
TONIGHT'S STARTER: The Cardinals are 8-2 over RH Joe Cuda's last 10 starts. Despite a 4.84 ERA (33ER/61.1IP) over the stretch, Cuda is 7-2 with 39 strikeouts. Since May 21, Cuda is second only to Bradenton's Chad Kuhl with seven wins. Kuhl leads the FSL with eight winning decisions over the span.
FIRST TO THE PUNCH: The Cardinals' loss last night came after the team scored the first run of the game. It was only the fifth loss for the Birds when striking first at home. Palm Beach is now 24-5 when scoring first in home games.
ON THE ROCKS: OF Nick Martini has been red hot since moving to the leadoff spot in the order. Last night the centerfielder went 1-for-4 with two runs scored. He is batting .357 (15-for-42) with 12 runs and seven RBI over his last 10 games. Martini has hit safely in nine of those 10 games.