Mussels’ offense held to three hits, Palm Beach takes series finale, 3-1
JUPITER – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Palm Beach Cardinals by a final score of 3-1 Sunday afternoon at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Fort Myers (64-54, 27-26) tabbed Eric Hammond to start the series finale. Hammond struck out one Palm Beach (60-60, 27-27) hitter in a clean first inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, The Mussels’ Ramiro Dominguez was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. Dominguez then stole his 24th base of the season, which is second on the ballclub (Merphy Hernandez, 42).
The Mussels’ offense drew five free passes over the first three innings but could not break through against Cardinal pitchers Jefferson Moran and Dallis Moran.
In the fifth, facing Moran, Fort Myers finally paid off a walk. After Byran Acuna was walked to lead off the inning, he stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error. Two batters later, Colby Turner drove Acuna in on a sacrifice fly to open the scoring.
Hammond spun 4.2 innings of shutdown ball, allowing one hit and striking out three over 63 pitches. He set a season-high in innings and tied his max in pitches.
Melvin Rodriguez (0-2) took over with two out in the fifth and finished the inning. In the bottom of the sixth, he surrendered back-to-back one-out hits that tied the game at one.
Jake Covey took over and inherited a runner at second. He allowed a two-run home run to the first batter he faced as Palm Beach took a 3-1 advantage.
In the top of the seventh, Quentin Young led off with a single, the first hit of the day for Fort Myers. The Mussels got second and third with two out, but could not capitalize.
Hendry Chivilli took over in the eighth inning and fanned three Cardinals.
The Mighty Mussels could not score in the top of the ninth and they lost the series finale to Palm Beach. Fort Myers finished the regular season with a 25-17 record against FSL East opponents, going 5-7 against Palm Beach.
The final two series of the season are both against FSL West foes.
After a day off today, Fort Myers returns home Tuesday, Aug. 25 to play the Bradenton Marauders, beginning the final home series of the regular season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.