DAYTONA BEACH - The Daytona Cubs (13-13, 47-46) earned their first win against of the season against the Palm Beach Cardinals (12-15, 41-56) by a score of 7-0. The Cardinals committed five errors in the ballgame and Craig Muschko took his first win as a starter. The Cubs scored three runs in the opening frame thanks in part to two errors by the Cardinals catcher Blake Murphy. Former Cincinnati Bearcats Tony Campana and Josh Harrison led off the frame with back-to-back singles. They took off on a double steal and Murphy's throw to second ended up in center field, which allowed Campana to score and Harrison to move up to third. On the next play, right fielder Brandon Guyer grounded a ball back to the pitcher, Nick Additon, whose throw home was mishandled and allowed Harrison to score and Guyer to get all the way around to third. Cubs catcher Luis Flores brought in the final run of the inning for Daytona with a line-drive single to right field.
Daytona took advantage of another Palm Beach miscue in the bottom of the third inning to extend the lead to 4-0. Third baseman Josh Vitters led off with a double down the left field line. He moved to third on a ground ball and came in on an error by his counterpart Jermaine Curtis at third.
The Cubs Craig Muschko delivered his best start of the season for his first win as a starter in 2009. The righty out of Pennsylvania worked five innings of scoreless baseball and only surrendered one hit. To end the outing, Muschko retired the final twelve batters he faced.
Daytona really poured it on in the sixth and seventh. Three more runs on four hits, three of which were consecutive to start the seventh inning, pushed the score to 7-0. The shutout is the tenth pitched this season by the Cubs pitching staff.
Game three of the series will begin at 7:05 p.m. between the Cubs and Cardinals. The pitching matchup will be James Leverton against David Kopp. The first 1,500 fans through the gates will receive drawstring backpacks courtesy of Publix. There will also be a performance by the Kahuna Bar. The Fantastic Friday features Ladies Night and Kids Run the Bases Postgame. Gates will open at 6:05 p.m.
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