FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 30, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Palm Beach Cardinals 9-3 on Thursday night at Hammond Stadium.
The Mighty Mussels saw six members of the 2026 Minnesota Twins’ draft class added to the roster today. Vahn Lackey (No. 3 overall pick) Carson Tinney (2nd round) Aidan Teel (11th round) Colby Turner (12th round) Isaiah Lane (13th round) all made their professional debuts. Charlie Scholvin (15th round) was added to the roster and is expected to debut later this series.
Mussels’ (52-45, 15-17) starter Eric Hammond (0-4) struck out a career-high seven batters across his 3.2 innings of work. The righty exited trailing 2-0, after yielding four hits on a season high 63 pitches. He retired the final four men he faced.
In the fourth inning, Tinney drew a one-out walk. Teel followed with an infield single, marking the first professional hit for the draft class. Turner then singled to center to plate a run and make it 2-1.
The Cardinals (51-47, 17-15) got the run back in the fifth off of Adam Falinski, extending their lead back to two.
Lane led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, collecting the first extra-base hit for the draft class.
Nick McAuliffe took over in the sixth and allowed two runs after issuing three walks to begin his outing.
Fort Myers got a run back in the bottom of the frame on a throwing error, plating Lackey, who had reached on a walk, and moving the score to 5-2.
Michael Hilker Jr. took over in the eighth and allowed three runs on four hits to increase the deficit to 8-2.
Merphy Hernandez led off the bottom of the eighth with an infield single. After recording two outs, Justin Millitello plunked three consecutive batters to make it 8-3.
Hilker allowed a solo homer to Ryan Weingartner in the ninth to move the score to 9-3. He exited after matching a season-high in pitches with 48 across 1.2 innings. The four runs allowed was also a season-high for Hilker. It was just the second time he has allowed multiple earned runs in his team leading 29 appearances.
The series continues on Friday, July 31. Twins No. 27 prospect Matt Barr will make his Hammond Stadium debut. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.