FSL1 Palm Beach Cardinals

Gonzales Leads Cardinals to Fourth Straight Win

May 4, 2014 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Palm Beach Cardinals News Release


Jupiter, FL - Marco Gonzales turned in the best outing of his young, professional career, Breyvic Valera stayed red hot at the plate, and the Palm Beach Cardinals blanked the Jupiter Hammerheads 7-0 on a sun-kissed Sunday afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cardinals have won a season-high four straight games.

Gonzales (2-1) went eight shutout innings - the longest outing of his career - and allowed seven hits and one walk on the afternoon. The lefty struck out one batter and forced 15 groundouts, including four double play balls. He has turned in a quality start in each of his last four games dating back to April 15.

Gonzales' 1.42 ERA (5ER/31.2IP) is the fourth-best in the Florida State League.

Valera supported Gonzales' efforts with a big game at the plate. The third baseman went 3-for-4 with two RBI, two runs, and a triple to lead the Cardinals offense.

Valera is batting .429 (12-for-28) with nine runs, three triples, and four RBI over his current six-game hitting streak.

The Cardinals (14-16) used four hits and three Jupiter errors in the third inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Charlie Tilson, Bruce Caldwell, David Washington, and Valera each notched singles in the inning but Valera was the only one credited with an RBI due to the plethora of Hammerhead miscues.

Palm Beach doubled its lead with another three-run inning in the fifth. David Washington singled and scored on a Starlin Rodriguez sacrifice fly in the frame and Valera and Ildemaro Vargas each chipped in RBI singles to help the Cardinals build a 6-0 lead.

Valera tripled down the right field line to lead off the seventh inning and touched home on Rodriguez' second sacrifice fly of the game.

Iden Nazario preserved the 7-0 victory and the Cardinals' third combination shutout of the year with one scoreless inning in relief of Gonzales. Nazario allowed one hit while striking out one in the inning.

Austin Brice (2-3) allowed six runs on eight hits and four walks over four innings and took the loss for the Hammerheads (12-18).

The two clubs will play game two of the series on Monday night. The Hammerheads, who will be the home team in the final two games of the three-game set, will send RH Trevor Williams (3-3, 3.68) to the mound to face RH Michael Mayers (2-2, 4.18) for the Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Check out the Palm Beach Cardinals Statistics



Florida State League Stories from May 4, 2014


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