Daytona snaps six-game skid with outfielder’s walk-off single
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—The Daytona Tortugas saw a five-run lead evaporate, but Ariel Almonte lined a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as Daytona snapped a six-game losing streak by defeating the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels 7-6 on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Daytona (20-22) pounded out 13 hits in their fourth walk-off victory of the season as they earned their first victory of the series against Ft. Myers (18-24).
After two scoreless innings started the night, Ft. Myers got on the board first in the top of the third. Gregory Duran doubled with one out and came home on a two-out single by Payton Eeles. The tally was the only blemish against Daytona starter Jose Franco, who also struck out four over 3.0 innings of work.
Ft. Myers starter Jose Olivares also only went 3.0 innings, though he had to work around four hits over his outing. He departed in the fourth for Julio Bonilla and Daytona immediately roared to life. A leadoff double by Esmith Pineda, a single from Trey Faltine, and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. A wild pitch brought home Pineda before a strikeout. However, Johnny Ascanio roped a two-run double to put Daytona in front, chasing Bonilla.
The Tortugas weren’t done, though, as Ricardo Cabrera swatted his third hit of the night, an RBI triple off Samuel Perez to bring in a fourth run. Alfredo Duno capped off the rally with an RBI single. All told, the Tortugas sent nine men to the plate, scoring five runs on five hits to race out to a 5-1 lead.
Entering in the fourth, Nick Payero was electric early on in his Tortugas debut on the mound. The right-hander threw 1-2-3 frames in his first two innings, striking out three. He struck out two more in the sixth bracketed around a pair of errors that put a runner at third with two outs. However, the right-hander surrendered a two-run homer to Brandon Winokur to cut the lead in half. Payero then ended the inning with his sixth strikeout, but the advantage was down to 5-3.
After a scoreless seventh by Graham Osman, the Tortugas took advantage of a Ft. Myers miscue to get a run back. Almonte doubled with one out, then was running on a ground ball to third by Faltine with two outs. The throw to first was low, however, and Duran couldn’t scoop the throw, allowing Almonte to score from second on the play to put the Tortugas back up by three.
The Mighty Mussels, though, roared back in the eighth. Two walks began the inning before a pop-up. Winokur then stepped up and ripped a two-run double to close the gap to one run. Kyle Hess followed with an RBI single that tied the game, chasing Osman for Dylan Simmons, who recorded the final two outs of the innings, thanks in part to Duno throwing out a potential base-stealer. However, the game was now tied 6-6.
Simmons (2-2) hit a batter and gifted an intentional walk in the ninth, but successfully threw a scoreless inning to set up the offense for the winning rally.
In the bottom of the ninth, former Bethune-Cookman pitcher Nolan Santos recorded the first out, but Duno blasted a double off the center field wall with one down for his third hit of the night. On a 2-2 pitch, Almonte ripped a base hit through the right side, scoring Duno with ease for the winning run as Daytona snapped their skid with a 7-6 victory.
The Tortugas will play game four against the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels on Friday night. Daytona will start RHP Gabriel Aguilera (1-0, 2.61) against Ft. Myers LHP Cesar Lares (0-0, 2.49). Tomorrow will be City of New Smyrna Night with ticket specials for city residents. First pitch from Jackie Robinson Ballpark is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network and MiLB.tv with Brennan Mense begins at 6:20 p.m.
