Palm Beach Drops FSL East Division Opener to St. Lucie
September 14, 2022 – Florida State League (FSL) – Palm Beach Cardinals News Release
The Palm Beach Cardinals drop Game 1 of the Florida State League East Division Championship Series 1-6 against the St. Lucie Mets at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Tuesday evening.
After a brief weather delay, Palm Beach suited up for their first playoff game since 2018. The two clubs were in a scoreless stale mate through the first four innings. St. Lucie was first on the scoreboard with a trio of runs in the top of the fifth. With two-outs, Kevin Kendall connected for an RBI triple to score the first run. D’Andre Smith and Kevin Parada would follow with RBIs of their own to finish the frame.
The Mets would add three more runs to their 3-0 lead in the top of the eighth. A sacrifice fly with the bases loaded from Carlos Dominguez and two consecutive balks form Palm Beach would make it a 6-0 game.
The Cardinals would get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of Jimmy Crooks. The former Oklahoma Sooner belted a solo homer 393 feet to right field.
On the mound, Trent Baker started for the Beach Birds. The Texas native pitched 6.2 innings on Tuesday night. The righty struck out six batters while giving up five hits and three runs. From the bullpen, the Cardinals turned to Gustavo Rodriguez first. The Venezuelan born righty pitched one inning.
Roy Garcia would come into the game and force his lone batter faced into a ground out. Matt Hickey would close out the game for the Cardinals and worked a scoreless ninth inning. The former Tarleton State product struck out two batters.
The East Division Championship Series will now shift to St. Lucie, with Game Two scheduled for Thursday, September 15th. First pitch from St. Lucie will be at 6:10 PM. Fans can follow along to their radio broadcast here or watch on MiLB.tv here. If Palm Beach wins next game, the two clubs will play the deciding game on Friday in St. Lucie.
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