Sports stats



FSL1 Palm Beach Cardinals

Bryan, Grayson Power Cardinals to Victory

May 18, 2016 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Palm Beach Cardinals News Release


Jupiter, FL - Vaughn Bryan and Casey Grayson hit a home run each and it lifted the Palm Beach Cardinals (17-24) to a 6-1 victory over the Lakeland Tigers (22-18) on a rainy Wednesday night.

The Rundown

Ian McKinney (3-3) would step onto the mound after a 44 minute delay to start the game and be as sharp as he has been all season, outdueling A.J. Ladwig throughout the game (6-2). He would go seven innings, giving up only four hits, one earned run, walk only one batter, while tying his previous high of six strikeouts.

Palm Beach would score early in the second inning and take a 2-0 lead that they would never relinquish the rest of the evening. Casey Grayson would get things started as he would hit a single to right. Blake Drake would then get on via a fielder's choice putting Grayson out at second. Mercado would then hit a one out double to deep left field to plate Drake for the first run of the game. Mercado would swipe his 14th bag of the season as he took third, he would later come around to score on an Andrew Brodbeck single. Brodbeck would get the second stolen base of the game and the inning, but left there as Vaughn Bryan would strike out to end the second.

Lakeland would come back in the top of the third and cut the lead to 2-1. Ben Verlander would start the inning off with a single to right. Christin Stewart would then double him home for the Tigers first and only run of the game.

Palm Beach would extend its lead in the sixth on a Casey Grayson took a ball the opposite way and had it leave the park for his first home run of the season and his eleventh RBI of the season as well. Drake would single after him and get the team's fourth stolen bag, but would be left on base in the sixth with Cardinals leading 3-1.

The Cardinals would score again in the seventh without even recording a hit in the inning as Slade Smith entered the game for Lakeland. Casey Turgeon would reach base with one out after getting hit by a pitch on a full count. Cole Lankford would then get on from a walk and both runners would advance on a wild pitch. Casey Grayson would walk to load the bases and Smith would throw his second wild pitch of the inning allowing Turgeon to come across the plate. Blake Drake would also walk to load the bases, but the inning would end with Mercado striking out. The Cardinals would lead 4-1 after seven innings of play.

Kyle Grana would relieve McKinney in the eighth inning and toss a scoreless frame giving up only one hit and striking out one as well.

Vaughn Bryan would extend the lead to four in the eighth inning as he took a 0-1 pitch over the right field fence with two outs. It would be his first home run of the season and give the Cardinals the breathing room they needed to close it out in the ninth.

Rowan Wick would come on and get two ground outs and a strike out for the second perfect night in a row on only ten pitches. It would get the Cardinals their third win in the month of May.Stat of the Game

2 - The Palm Beach Cardinals hit two home runs for the first time in a home game this season. One each by Casey Grayson and Vaughn Bryan.

Quote of the Game

Vaughn Bryan on his first home run of the season," It felt great. I finally made the best contact of the season on that pitch and thankfully it got out of the park. It was a good feeling."

Notes

The Cardinals won back to back games for the first time since April 29-30 when they had a three game winning streak leaving the month of April.

Vaughn Bryan would get his first RBI and home run on the season in one swing of the bat in the eighth inning.

The four stolen bases on the night for the Cardinals were the most for the team this season.

Four different Cardinals had multi-hit games, Turgeon, Grayson, Mercado, and Bryan.

Mercado got his 14th stolen base of the season, putting him back in the Florida State League lead in that category.

Palm Beach would have a base runner reach in every inning and record a hit in seven of the eight innings they batted in.

Next Up

Palm Beach and Lakeland will play the final game of the four game set tomorrow at 6:30 at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cardinals will look to Jack Flaherty (0-4) to get the series win over Lakeland. The Flying Tigers will send out Jeff Thompson (2-0) to try and even the series up.

Check out the Palm Beach Cardinals Statistics



Florida State League Stories from May 18, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central