FSL1 Palm Beach Cardinals

Cardinals Walk off in Extra-Inning Pitchers' Duel

Published on May 20, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Palm Beach Cardinals News Release


Jupiter, FL - Thomas Lee turned in an eight-inning gem and Luke Voit drove in the lone run of the game in dramatic fashion to lead the Palm Beach Cardinals over the Brevard County Manatees 1-0 on Tuesday night at Roger Dean Stadium. The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Cardinals.

With no score heading into the bottom of the 11th inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases with one out for Voit. In his first game in a Palm Beach uniform, Voit made his first hit count. After starting the game 0-for-4, the 23-year-old first baseman drove a ball right up the middle to give the Birds a thrilling walk-off victory.

Bruce Caldwell and Breyvic Valera connected for back-to-back singles off Brevard County reliever Stephen Peterson to lead off the 11th. Ildemaro Vargas followed with a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position with one out. Peterson gave Starlin Rodriguez first base on an intentional walk to load the bases and set the stage for Voit.

Lee was phenomenal from start to finish on Tuesday night, allowing just three hits over eight shutout innings. He was in complete command of the strike zone on the evening, striking out three while not issuing a base on balls. Lee surrendered just one hit through his first five innings and finished the night by retiring seven straight.

Lee has posted a quality start in each of his last four games and owns a 1.69 ERA (5ER/26.2IP) with 13 strikeouts and no walks over the stretch. The Cardinals are 4-0 in the span.

Iden Nazario came in for Lee in the ninth inning and struck out four batters over two perfect innings in relief. Chris Thomas (1-0) picked up the win by tossing a scoreless 11th inning.

For the second straight night, and for the third time this season, the Palm Beach pitching staff limited its opponent to just three hits for the entire game. Lee, Nazario, and Thomas didn't allow a Manatee runner to second base in the combination shutout. It is the Cardinals' fifth shutout this year.

The Cardinals (19-26) lead the Florida State League with a 2.35 ERA during the month of May.

In a game where hits were hard to come by for both teams, Valera collected three of them. The Palm Beach second baseman stayed red hot at the plate with his fifth multi-hit showing in the last seven games. Valera is batting .531 (17-for-32) over the stretch and ranks second in the Florida State League with a .341 batting average this season.

The Manatees (23-20) got excellent pitching on the night as well. Jed Bradley went nine scoreless innings, allowed four hits and fanned three before Greg Holle took over in the 10th. Peterson (0-2) was pegged with the loss after allowing three hits, including Voit's walk-off in the 11th.

The Cards and 'Tees will play game two of the four-game series on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. RH Joe Cuda (0-5, 9.10) will toe the rubber for Palm Beach against RH Jorge Lopez (5-2, 3.51) for Brevard County. The game will be broadcast live on PalmBeachCardinals.com.

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Florida State League Stories from May 20, 2014


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