Manatees Pummel Palm Beach

Kodi Medeiros

The Brevard County Manatees flipped the script on “Awful Night” Monday, as they took down the visiting Palm Beach Cardinals, 8-3. On a night that featured awful music, awful games and an awful “fireworks” display, the Manatees offense was anything but awful. They got hits from all but one starter and five of the nine had multi-hit nights.

The Sea Cows offense jumped out early, putting up four runs in the first inning against Palm Beach starter Jacob Evans. Omar Garcia and Angel Ortega opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Dustin DeMuth followed with a shot to right, scoring Garcia.

The runners moved up to second and third, as Garcia slid in to the plate. Elvis Rubio’s RBI ground out made it 2-0 and Clint Coulter chased the left fielder back to the wall, with his sacrifice fly, scoring the third run. Coulter was the only starter without a hit in the lineup, but that was a productive out.

“He hit that ball well,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault. “It probably would’ve been out of every ballpark in the league except this one and Jupiter.” George Iskenderian’s RBI single capped the scoring and gave Brevard County starter Kodi Medeiros a nice cushion, as he made his first start since May 27.

Brevard County added to the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI triple from Fidel Pena, scoring Rubio, who singled earlier. Dustin Houle and Jose Cuas added RBI singles and just like that, it was 7-0.

Medeiros (3-5) pitched well on this night, allowing four hits in his five innings of work. He allowed a double in the first to Allen Staton and Blake Drake hit one in the second and one fourth, so three of the four hits he allowed were doubles. The only one that proved costly was the one in the fourth, when Dylan Tice grounded into a force out, allowing Drake to score.

“It was nice to see Medeiros back out back there,” said Ayrault. “Nice job earning the win.” When asked how Medeiros felt after the game, Ayrault responded, “real good.” Medeiros walked one and struck out four, dropping his ERA from 6.35 to 5.84. He threw 79 pitches on Monday, 51 for strikes.

The Manatees got that run back in the bottom of the fourth, when DeMuth took Evans up and out, over the right field wall. The homer measured 386 feet and was his fourth of the season. 

“He’s done a real good job hitting left-handed pitchers,” said Ayrault. “A couple of his homer have been off left-hand pitchers.”

It was a forgettable night for Evans, whose record dropped to 2-7. He allowed eight earned runs on 10 hits in his four innings of work. He walked one and struck out two, throwing 48 of his 77 pitches for strikes.

On the other side, Kaleb Earls followed Medeiros and he allowed two runs in the Palm Beach seventh, one on a wild pitch. He went two innings, walking two, striking out two and allowing one hit. Kender Villegas finished up, throwing the final two innings. He allowed one hit and struck out two. “He did a good job there at the end,” said Ayrault of Villegas. “It was nice to see him pitch that way against his old team.”

For more info: Palm Beach @ Brevard County boxscore

The Manatees were an impressive 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Monday. “We’ve had a little bit of trouble in our last few losses with not being able to drive guys in,” said Ayrault. “It was a big night for the offense tonight.”

Roster moves: Zack Jones, who was with Brevard County on a rehab stint, was moved to Colorado Springs (AAA). Gage Smith was promoted to Double-A Biloxi earlier in the day, to make room for Medeiros. “He’s done a great job for us,” Ayrault said of Smith. “He came in and all he did was get people out. He put up good numbers and throws strikes with that funky delivery and a good slider. I’m happy for him, he deserves it.”

Jon Perrin (0-4, 2.83 ERA) will look to keep the Manatees on the winning track Tuesday night. He will be opposed by Matt Pearce (6-2, 2.54 ERA). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

This article originally appeared on the now defunct Examiner.com on 6/13/16