JUPITER, Fla. – It wasn’t a good afternoon for the Palm Beach Cardinals.
The Bradenton Marauders came into Roger Dean Stadium, dominating the Cardinals en route to an 11-5 victory.
Cardinals’ pitcher Jack Flaherty got the start on Tuesday, but ended up having the worst start in his professional career. He lasted only one-third of an inning, allowing five hits, walking two batters, striking out one batter, and allowed seven runs.
From then on, Bradenton didn’t let go of the lead.
After Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol yanked Flaherty from the game, Cody Schumacher entered in relief. Five of the seven runs allowed in the top of the first inning were charged to Flaherty, with the last two charged to Schumacher. In the second and fourth innings, Schumacher allowed two runs each to make it an 11-1 game.
The top pitcher for Palm Beach during the afternoon was closer Kevin Herget. Hermit entered the game in the fifth inning and threw three scoreless innings, shutting the Marauders down. His line for the game also included a walk to go along with two strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Palm Beach scored three runs on three hits.
Danny Diekroeger extended his team-leading hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the first inning. Diekroeger also recorded his team-leading tenth RBI of the season when Oscar Mercado scored on a single. Another notable stat was Blake Drake hit the first home run of the season for the Cardinals in the seventh inning, when he smashed a deep shot over the left field fence.
Palm Beach will host Bradenton again on Wednesday evening. For the Cardinals, Austin Gomber (1-1) will get the start, going up against the Marauders’ Yeudy Garcia (0-1).
