Matheus Magic! Tarpons walk-off Cardinals in Series Finale

TAMPA, Fla – The Tampa Tarpons (19-20) capped off a gritty comeback with a dramatic walk-off single from 2B Juan Matheus, stunning the Palm Beach Cardinals (19-20) at “The Tank”, 5-4. Down by four runs early, Tampa rallied for five unanswered runs—two in the ninth—to clinch a thrilling series finale. The Tarpons wrapped up the week taking five of six games from Palm Beach.

Palm Beach struck first, grabbing early momentum on a solo homer from Anyelo Encarnacion in the second inning. The Cardinals tacked on three more in the fifth, stretching their lead to 4–0.

Tampa finally broke through and turned things around in the sixth, as RF Austin Green delivered a clutch two-run single to cut the deficit in half and breathe some life into the Tarpons’ dugout.

An inning later, SS Owen Cobb and CF Marshall Toole set the table with back-to-back singles. Cobb crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by C Edgleen Perez, trimming the Cardinals’ lead to 4-3.

While the Cardinals had chances to add insurance, the Tarpons’ bullpen—particularly Sean Hermann, Cole Zaffiro, and Jackson Fristoe—slammed the door. Fristoe, who earned his third win of the season, struck out two and induced a groundout with two men on to keep Tampa within one and set the stage for a thrilling finish.

In the bottom of the ninth, Cobb and Perez each reached base with singles, and DH Engelth Urena’s sharp grounder up the middle brought home the tying run. With two outs and the winning run in scoring position, Matheus came through with a liner back up the middle to plate Perez and send the Tarpons home victorious.

Tampa hits the road next, opening a six-game series against the Dunedin Blue Jays on Tuesday night.