Jayden Lobliner hit two home runs and helped complete the final out as the Palm Beach Cardinals defeated the Daytona Tortugas 8-7 Thursday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter.
Palm Beach, playing under its alternate identity as the Frozen Iguanas, took an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. Matthew Miura and Gabe Camacho singled before Lobliner hit a three-run home run, giving the Palm Beach Cardinals a 3-0 advantage.
Daytona answered with an RBI single from Ichiro Cano in the top of the third inning. Palm Beach responded in the bottom half when Miura drew a bases-loaded walk and Camacho hit a two-run double, extending the lead to 6-1.
The Daytona Tortugas scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Drew Davies hit a sacrifice fly, Anielson Buten hit an RBI single and Cano drove in another run with a single to cut the deficit to 6-4. Alexander Frias then scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half for Palm Beach.
The scoring slowed through the middle innings, while Jesús García pitched two scoreless innings in relief for the Palm Beach Cardinals. The outing brought García’s total for the week to 5 1/3 shutout innings.
Daytona cut Palm Beach’s lead to 7-5 when Davies scored on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth inning. Lobliner answered with a solo home run in the bottom half, his second home run of the game, fourth of the year and first multi-home-run game of his professional career.
Kaden Echeman entered in the top of the ninth inning and earned the save, but Daytona moved the tying run to third base. Jirvin Morillo hit an RBI single and Davies followed with an RBI double.
Echeman then threw a wild pitch, but Lobliner recovered the ball and flipped it to Echeman, who was covering home plate. Echeman recorded the out on the tying run, and Anielson Buten struck out swinging to end the game.
The victory secured a series win for the Palm Beach Cardinals over the Daytona Tortugas. Palm Beach was listed at 33-32 in the second-half standings and 66-65 overall, while Daytona was listed at 37-27 in the second half and 58-72 overall.
The series and regular season conclude Sunday, Sept. 6, at 12:30 p.m. at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Source: Original report