Palm Beach Takes Series Opener with 7-3 Win Over St. Lucie

The Palm Beach Cardinals (19-15) defeated the St. Lucie Mets by a final score of 7-3 in the first meeting of the season on Tuesday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Palm Beach starting pitcher Gerardo Salas (W, 2-1) had his best start of the season tossing 6 2/3 shutout innings with two hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts.

After the first two and a half innings featured no runs, Palm Beach looked to strike first in the bottom of the third inning. Lizandro Espinoza led off with a single and advanced to third base on a throwing error from St. Lucie starter Franklin Gomez (L, 1-1). With one out, Jose Cordoba hit a line drive to center field which was not handled on a sliding attempt by Diego Mosquera and was ruled an error and an RBI scoring Espinoza to make it 1-0 in favor of Palm Beach.

Two innings later, the Beach Birds would add a significant cushion to their lead. With two outs, Cordoba hit a single and Johnfrank Salazar walked. Then, Miguel Villarroel drove in Cordoba to make it 2-0. Two batters later with the bases loaded, Chase Davis smacked a two-RBI single to extend the Palm Beach lead to 4-0.

Salas went out for the top of the seventh and picked up two strikeouts but was not given the opportunity to finish the frame. Ettore Giulianelli was the first relief pitcher out of the Cardinals' bullpen. He would surrender two doubles, including an RBI double to Kevin Villavicencio, which got the Mets on the scoreboard and made it 4-1.

However, the Cardinals immediately responded in the bottom of the frame. With two outs and two runners in scoring position thanks to a balk charged to Mets reliever Juan Arnaud, Trey Paige knocked in both runners with a two-RBI single to make it 6-1 in favor of the Cardinals. After the Mets added another run in the top of the eighth inning, Chase Adkison would get the run back for the Beach Birds with an RBI single scoring Salazar to make it a 7-2 lead after eight innings.

St. Lucie was able to get another run across in the top of the ninth innings thanks to a sacrifice fly by Villavicencio to make it 7-3 but that was it as Palm Beach secured the series opening victory. With the loss, St. Lucie extends their losing streak to 10 games which is the longest active streak in all of minor league baseball.

Villarroel finished the day leading all hitters by going 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Villarroel continues to lead the Florida State League in hits with 45 and has a hit in 11 of his last 12 games. Salazar went 1-for-2 with a double, two runs scored, and three walks and is also on a team-high seven-game hit streak.

Game two of the series between the Cardinals and Mets continues on Wednesday, May 15th with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Click here to purchase tickets for the ballgame. Click here to become a member of the Silver Sluggers program.

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.