FSL1 Palm Beach Cardinals

Cardinals Ride Petree's Arm to Victory

Published on May 25, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Palm Beach Cardinals News Release


Jupiter, FL - Nick Petree was terrific on the mound yet again, leading the Palm Beach Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the St. Lucie Mets on a sun-kissed Sunday afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cardinals went 5-1 on the homestand.

Petree (3-1) was cruising through seven innings before a solo home run off the bat of Brandon Nimmo knocked him out of the game. Nimmo's solo blast was the only run Petree allowed in the contest. He scattered five hits over 7.1 innings, walked one and fanned four to earn his third victory in four starts with Palm Beach this season. The right-hander had a stretch of 12 consecutive batters retired from the second inning to the sixth.

Petree has been phenomenal since coming to Palm Beach from Low-A Peoria on May 4. In four starts, he's allowed just three runs over 25.1 innings for a 1.07 ERA. The Cardinals are 3-1 when Petree toes the rubber this year.

Palm Beach hurlers have posted six straight quality starts dating back to the first game of the homestand on May 20. Each starter in the current six-man rotation has chipped in to make it the longest current streak of the year. Over the span, the group has posted an impressive 1.31 ERA (6ER/41.1IP) while boasting a 0.77 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched).

Palm Beach leads the Florida State League with a 2.33 ERA during the month of May.

The Cardinals (23-27) opened up the scoring with two runs in the fifth. Jesus Montero and Luis Perez each recorded singles to start the inning. Montero touched home first on a St. Lucie error and a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Alex Mejia brought Perez in to give the Birds a 2-0 lead.

The Birds padded their lead to 3-0 with an RBI single from Charlie Tilson in the seventh. Ildemaro laid down a bunt single and took second on the subsequent throwing error to set up the scoring play.

Three runs were more than enough for Petree and Danny Miranda Jr., who relieved Petree in the eighth. Miranda got two outs with two pitches after entering with one out in the frame. The lefty allowed one hit over 1.2 innings to pick up his second save of the year.

After the Mets got on the board with Nimmo's homer in the eighth, Palm Beach answered back with another run of their own. Starlin Rodriguez drew a walk and later scored on a Nick Martini RBI single right up the middle to finish the scoring at 4-1.

Martini went 2-for-4 with one run driven in to pace the Cardinals offense.

Steven Matz (2-3) took the tough-luck loss for St. Lucie, allowing two unearned runs on four hits over six innings.

The Cardinals will return to action on Tuesday night for the first of a four-game series with the Cubs in Daytona. RH Thomas Lee (4-2, 2.93) will start for Palm Beach to open the series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

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Florida State League Stories from May 25, 2014


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