The Lakeland Flying Tigers (37-43, 6-9) saw a three-run lead slip away in a 5-3 loss to the Palm Beach Cardinals (43-38, 10-5) in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Lakeland began the scoring with two runs in the third off starter Nathan Shinn. Jack Goodman led off with a walk and scored on a triple from Jesus Pinto. Beau Ankeney drove in Pinto on an RBI single to give the Flying Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Lakeland added one run off Shinn in the fourth. Hunter Dobbins tripled and scored on a Goodman groundout, extending the lead to 3-0.
Palm Beach rallied with three runs in the fifth, with the first two charged to starter Connor Fenlong and the last charged to reliever Xiomer Guacache. Alex Birge singled and moved to second on an infield single from Brayden Smith. Sebastian Dos Santos plated Birge with a single while a fielding error allowed both Smith and Dos Santos to score on the play, tying the game at 3-3.
The Cardinals took the lead with one run off Guacache in the sixth. Matthew Miura and Jonathan Mejía led off the inning with walks and both advanced 90 feet on a flyout from Chase Heath. Trevor Haskins drove in Miura on a groundout, giving Palm Beach its first lead of the day.
The Cardinals added one run in the eighth off reliever Jan Caraballo. Mejía walked and scored on an RBI double from Heath, extending the lead to 5-3.
Lakeland nearly rallied in the bottom of the ninth but reliever Justin Militello escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam to seal the 5-3 Palm Beach win.
Zeke Wood (1-0) earned the win, throwing 1.0 hitless inning while striking out two. Guacache (2-1) took the loss, going 2.0 innings while allowing two runs (one earned) while walking two and punching out one. Militello (1) notched the save, recording the final three outs.
Lakeland travels to Dunedin for a six-game set with the Blue Jays beginning on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Both teams’ starters are to be determined.
