Cardinals’ Pitching Shuts Down Mussels Bats in 3-1 Loss

FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 25, 2023) – The Mighty Mussels mustered just three singles Tuesday, losing 3-1 to the Palm Beach Cardinals at Hammond Stadium.

The Cardinals’ (45-43, 8-15) pitching was stellar, with starter Brycen Mautz (3-8) allowing two hits over five scoreless innings. In the process, he earned his first win since May 13. Reliever Henry Gomez followed with four innings of one-run ball to pick up the save.

With no score in the top of the fourth, Chase Davis and Leonardo Bernal led off with back-to-back singles to place runners at first and second. After Mussels’ (45-46, 11-14) starter Ben Ethridge (1-5) retired the next two hitters, Kade Kretzschmar roped a double down the right field line to push across both runs and make it 2-0 Cardinals.

Still leading 2-0 in the top of the seventh, Won-Bin Cho walked and stole second to place himself in scoring position with two outs. The next hitter was Michael Curialle, who poked a single to right that scored Cho and extended the Palm Beach lead to 3-0.

In the bottom of the seventh, Rubel Cespedes walked before Rafael Cruz was hit by a pitch to break a stretch of 13 consecutive Fort Myers’ hitters retired. Two batters later, Alec Sayre served a liner to left center that scored Cespedes to cut the deficit to 3-1.

However, the Mussels went quietly in the eighth and ninth to drop the series opener.

Looking to even the series tomorrow, Fort Myers will start Jose Olivares (2-3, 6.14), opposed by Hancel Rincon (7-4, 3.26) of the Cardinals. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m., with coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.

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