Long Ball Powers Mussels Past Cardinals 4-3
June 3, 2025 - Florida State League (FSL)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels hit three solo homers en route to a 4-3 victory over the Palm Beach Cardinals on Tuesday night at Hammond Stadium.
Palm Beach (23-28) jumped on Mussels' starter Dylan Questad in the top of the first inning. After a one-out walk, Cardinals' No. 7 prospect Rainiel Rodriguez hit a two-run homer in his first FSL at-bat to give Palm Beach an early 2-0 lead.
Fort Myers (24-28) responded immediately in the bottom of the frame, getting a leadoff homer off the bat of Dameury Pena to cut the deficit to 2-1. It was the second time this year that Pena has hit a leadoff home run.
Two batters later, Jay Thomason hit an opposite-field home run to draw the score even 2-2. His seventh home run of the year is now the most among Mussel hitters in 2025.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the third, as Maddux Houghton blasted the third solo homer of the night for Fort Myers and gave the Mussels their first lead of the game at 3-2. Houghton finished the night 2-4, marking his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season.
Thomason then tripled to right field, and scored one batter later on a Luke Napleton sacrifice fly to extend the margin 4-2. Thomason finished the night with three hits, marking the third time he's recorded a three-hit game this season.
Questad worked into the fourth inning, but did not record an out in the frame. He finished the night allowing two runs on two hits over three-plus innings of work.
Tyler Stasiowski replaced Questad in the top of the fourth and retired all three batters he faced.
Stasiowski exited in the fifth, giving way to Christian Becerra (1-0). Becerra allowed two hits and struck out a batter over three scoreless frames. It was the second straight, three-inning scoreless outing for Becerra to begin his 2025 campaign.
The Cardinals would get a run back in the top of the eighth inning after Deniel Ortiz hit a solo shot to bring Palm Beach within one run at 4-3.
Ruddy Gomez fired the final two innings of the contest for the Mussels and earned the first save of his FSL career.
The Mussels are back in action for game two of the series against the Palm Beach Cardinals at 7:05 p.m. at Hammond Stadium on Wednesday. Eli Jones (1-5, 4.33) gets the start for Fort Myers, squaring off with Cardinals' starter Brandt Thompson (1-3, 3.83). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.
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