Palm Beach drops homestand opener to Charlotte

It was not the homecoming Palm Beach was looking for as the Cardinals, fresh off a six game road trip, dropped the series opener to the Charlotte Stone Crabs 7-0.
The visitors were first on the board in the second inning on a two-out RBI single from Zach Rutherford. A grand slam in the third made it a 5-0 ballgame, a deficit Palm Beach could not match.
The Beach Birds offense had just three hits all night, all singles off the bat of Lars Nootbaar, Luken Baker, and Julio Rodriguez. There were two total at bats with runners in scoring position.
A Michael Smith RBI single made it a 6-0 game for Charlotte before a home run by MLB Pipeline's No. 1 overall prospect Wander Franco capped off the seven-run night in the sixth inning. 
Out of the bullpen, Ramon Santos tossed 1 1/3 scoreless froms with Ben Yokley throwing the final inning without allowing any more damage. 
The teams will play again on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 5:30 PM. Tickets and more information can be found at Rogerdeanchevroletstadium.com.