FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 29, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Palm Beach Cardinals 19-5 Wednesday night at Hammond Stadium.
JP Smith II connected on two home runs tonight, giving him 14 on the season. Smith, who also homered yesterday, moves into a tie for the most single-season home runs in the Mussels’ era (since 2020), joining Brandon Winokur (2024). He passed Jayson Bass, Quentin Young and Rubel Cespedes (2023) who are all tied with 13.
The pair of homers also brought the team total to 103 on the season, tying the all-time franchise record (since 1992).
High-A rehabber Michael Carpenter got the start for Fort Myers (52-44, 15-16). Carpenter worked around a walk, a single and an error to hold Palm Beach scoreless in the first.
In the bottom of the frame, Minnesota Twins No. 3 prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez pulled a triple to right-center field for the first hit of his rehab stint with the Mussels. Bass brought him in on a sacrifice fly to put Fort Myers on the board.
The Cardinals (50-47, 17-14) exploded for eight runs on eight hits in the second inning, both season-highs allowed by Fort Myers. The first nine men reached against Carpenter and Matthew Dalquist (1-3), with the first run being charged to Carpenter.
The Cardinals added a run in the fourth to extend their lead.
Palm Beach starter Brian Holiday struck out eight consecutive batters at one point and totaled nine strikeouts across his four innings.
Playing in his first game in 41 days, Bryan Acuna led off the fifth with an infield single. Byron Chourio followed with a double off the wall in center to bring home Acuna.
In total, the Mussels’ staff allowed a season-high 29 hits, which was also a season high for the Cardinal offense.
Eight of the Palm Beach starters recorded three-hit nights, including Johnfrank Salazar who had five hits. It is the first five-hit game allowed by Fort Myers since St. Lucie’s Jaylen Palmer in July 2021.
After striking out 19 times tonight, Fort Myers has whiffed 46 times in the last three games.
The series continues on Thursday, July 30. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.