St. Lucie 5, Palm Beach 3
Angel Cuan was handed a no decision in St Lucie’s 5-3 win last night against the Palm Beach Cardinals. Cuan yielded 3 runs and 8 hits through 6.1 innings pitched. Cuan allowed two solo home runs early, but he settled in and pitched effectively the rest of the way. In the sixth, Cuan exited after allowing two runners on, but Chasen Bradford came in and induced a double play to end the inning.
St. Lucie’s offense only managed to score two runs through the first eight innings. Robbie Shields drove in a run in the second on a RBI single to left field, and Jayce Boyd also singled to left field for an RBI in the sixth. It wasn’t until the ninth inning that the St Lucie offense erupted.
With the score 3-2 in the ninth, St. Lucie managed to stage a thrilling comeback against Cardinals closer Ronnie Shaban. The leadoff batter, Dustin Lawley , crushed a home run to left field to tie the game. St Lucie first baseman, Jayce Boyd continued the rally with a line drive single to centerfield. The next batter, Kevin Plawecki, scorched a double to centerfield, which allowed the go ahead run to score. St Lucie tacked on another run on a wild pitch by Cardinals relief pitcher, Iden Nazario to make the score 5-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, St lucie’s closer, T.J Chisim, pitched out of a jam to pick up the save. Cardinals’ centerfielder, Starlin Rodriguez, reached base on an error by shortstop Matt Reynolds. Chisim then allowed a double to left field, which put runners on second and third with two outs. Chisim escaped the inning when third baseman Robbie Shields tagged out pinch runner, Matt Wiliams, to end the game.
St. Lucie is currently on a six game winning streak, and will look to keep it going in game two of the series against Palm Beach. The pitching matchup will be Noah Syndergaard against Tyrell Jenkins.
Key Stats
Dustin Lawley: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HR
Jayce Boyd: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Kevin Plawecki: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Robbie Shields: 1-for-4, 1 RBI
Angel Cuan: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 3 ER, 6 K
It’s going to be fun to watch Plawecki and Boyd hit back to back in the lineup as they move up the organizational ladder. They always speak of how the feed off, learn from, and learn from each other. Not sure the peak on either guy at this stage, but it’s fun right now seeing what they’re doing day in and day out.