Charlotte edges Palm Beach in front of sellout crowd

JUPITER, FL- Charlotte's 4-run fifth inning proved to be enough to edge Palm Beach by the score of 6-3 Thursday night at Roger Dean Stadium.

A packed house of 7,092 showed up to watch the Florida State League matchup on America's birthday.

With the score locked at 2 runs a piece heading into the fifth, the Stone Crabs strung together a pair of singles and a RBI-double to lead off the inning. With runners on second and third, Cardinals starter Tyler Melling (4.2 IP, 5H, 6ER, 4BB, K), managed to calm the storm by recording a strikeout for the first out of the inning. An intentional walk was then issued to load the bases in hopes of a potential double-play. However, DH Alejandro Segovia followed with a deep sac-fly to center scoring the runner from third and giving Charlotte a 4-2 lead. Danny Miranda relieved Melling at this point but the lefty was unable to extinguish the threat as the Stone Crabs cashed in for an additional two runs before ending the inning.

Palm Beach would plate one more run in the 8th on a Jonathan Rodriguez RBI ground out , ultimately proving to be the last run scored on the night.

With the win, Charlotte improves to 9-5 in the second half, commanding the top spot of the FSL South Division.

Offensively for the Cardinals, Starlin Rodriguez (2-4, 2B), Anthony Garcia (2-4, 2B, RBI, R) and Alex Mejia (2-4, 2B, RBI) all collected multi-hit nights.

The two teams will play the last game of a three game series tomorrow, 6:35 p.m. at Roger Dean Stadium. RHP Zach Petrick is set to throw for the Cardinals as the Stone Crabs have RHP Parker Markel slated for the start.

For more information on the Palm Beach Cardinals please visit www.palmbeachcardinals.com or call 561-799-1391.

WP: Bellatti (2-1) LP: Melling (2-3) S: Garcia (6)