Lakeland 3, St. Lucie 0

Michael Fulmer was a tough luck loser in St. Lucie’s 3-0 loss to the Lakeland Flying Tigers. While Fulmer wasn’t at his best, he escaped numerous jams and held the Tigers to only one run in 6.1 innings. In the first inning, Fulmer allowed two runners on with one out but he managed to induce an inning ending double play to retire the side. Fulmer loaded the bases in the third with two outs, but he again escaped the inning by inducing a ground ball to the second baseman. Fulmer yielded one run in the fourth inning on an RBI single to center field by Corey Jones, but the right-hander limited the damage by retiring the next two batters. Overall, Fulmer pitched good enough to deserve the win, but St. Lucie’s offense gave him no support.

St. Lucie’s offense scored no runs, and managed only one hit against Thomas Collier and the Lakeland bullpen. For a while, it seemed like St. Lucie was going to be no hit, but Robbie Shields singled to center field in the eighth inning off Alex Burgos.

The loss drops St. Lucie out of first place in the second half standings. They will look to rebound tomorrow against the Tampa Yankees. Rainy Lara is the scheduled starter for St. Lucie.

Key Stats

Michael Fulmer: 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Robbie Shields: 1-3, 1B, K, .238 BA

Jayce Boyd: 0-3, BB, 2 K, .280 BA

Kevin Plawecki: 0-3, .308 BA

Randy Fontanez: 1.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K