Tampa Drops Opener to Palm Beach, 4-2
Published on July 21, 2016 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Tampa Yankees News Release
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Yankees (13-15, 55-42) opened the season-series with the Palm Beach Cardinals (9-19, 41-55) on Thursday night and lost the first of four games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, 4-2. Tampa will play the Cardinals seven more times in the next 11 days, with the Yankees traveling to Palm Beach next weekend.
The T-Yanks opened the scoring with a run in the second. Austin Aune hit a leadoff, ground-rule double and later scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Trey Amburgey, giving Tampa a 1-0 lead.
RHP Domingo Acevedo took a shutout into the fifth until Casey Turgeon hooked a game-tying home run down the right field line, knotting the game at 1-1.
Palm Beach took the lead with another run in the sixth. Michael Pritchard lined a one-out single and Thomas Spitz followed with a walk. LHP Caleb Frare entered in relief for Acevedo and Orlando Olivera greeted him with a single, loading the bases. A sacrifice fly by Steve Bean scored the go-ahead run, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage.
Acevedo allowed two earned runs on seven hits in five and a third innings. The right-hander tallied eight strikeouts and tied a season-high by issuing three walks. Acevedo threw 60 of 98 pitches for strikes, taking a no-decision.
Cardinals' starter Jack Flaherty walked the first three batters in the bottom of the sixth. RHP Ward Davis (BS, 1)(W, 2-0) entered in relief and Connor Spencer lined an RBI single into center, tying the game at 2-2.
Flaherty surrendered two earned runs on five in five innings, walking five while striking out six. The righty threw 53 of 93 pitches for strikes.
Frare dealt two more scoreless innings before handing the ball to RHP Willie Gabay (L, 0-1) in the ninth. Olivera reached on a throwing error by Jorge Mateo to start the frame. One out later, Oscar Mercado hopped a ground-rule double over the bullpen wall in left. Turgeon followed with a two-run double, giving Palm Beach a 4-2 lead.
A pair of walks issued by RHP Robby Rowland allowed Tampa to bring the go-ahead run to the plate before RHP Kyle Grana (SV, 3) retired the final two Yankee hitters to close out the win for the Cardinals.
Spencer (3-for-4, RBI) is batting .429 (12-for-28) with four multi-hit games in his last eight games. Jeff Hendrix (2-for-5) recorded his fourth-straight multi-hit game, batting .550 (11-for-20) since joining Tampa.
The series continues on Friday night at 7 when LHP Josh Rogers (5-4, 2.87 ERA) starts for Tampa against LHP Jacob Evans (3-7, 3.71 ERA) for Palm Beach. Every Friday Tampa Yankees home game, for $15, fans can get a lower reserved ticket and all-you-can-eat chicken wings from 6:00pm-8:00pm. All fans can enjoy 1/2 price alcoholic drinks and regular soda from 6:00pm-8:00pm. **Ticket and food Special can ONLY be purchased at the George M. Steinbrenner Field Box Office. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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