Ft. Myers rallies, but Daytona hangs on to take rain-soaked affair
FT. MYERS, Fla—The Daytona Tortugas jumped out to a four-run lead bridging a 1-hour, 16-minute rain delay, then held on at the end as they edged the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon at Hammond Stadium.
Daytona (10-6, 41-41) won their fourth straight to reach the .500 mark for the first time since May 25, as Ft. Myers (11-5, 42-39) fell behind early once again and couldn’t quite complete a comeback effort.
For the second game in a row, Daytona struck in the very first inning against starter Ricky Castro. A one-out walk to Ricardo Cabrera was followed by a single from Sammy Stafura. Ariel Almonte followed with a foulout to right in which Cabrera tagged and went to third. The throw, though, was offline, and Cabrera scooted home with the game’s first run.
An inning later, the Tortugas tacked on two more. Esmith Pineda led off with a double, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and came home on a sacrifice fly by Jack Moss. Johnny Ascanio then reached on an infield single and came all the way home on an opposite-field double by Yerlin Confidan to extend the lead to 3-0.
Daytona starter Adam Serwinowski struck out two in a scoreless first, but ran into trouble in the second. Nick Lucky tripled with one out before lefty picked up a strikeout. However, a walk and wild pitch brought in a run to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Ft. Myers threatened again in the third, putting runners at first and third with no outs. After two pop-ups failed to score a run, the skies opener and the game entered a rain delay which ended up stretching over an hour. After the delay, Drew Pestka came on and picked up a groundout on his first pitch to end the inning, preserving the two-run advantage.
The Tortugas proceeded to add on a run in the fourth against new pitcher Paulshawn Pasqualotto. Pineda drew a leadoff walk, then went to third on a Jack Moss single. Johnny Ascanio proceeded to lay down a squeeze bunt to score Pineda to make it 4-1, Tortugas.
Pestka (1-0) followed with a scoreless fourth, allowing one hit and striking out two over 1.1 scoreless innings to put himself in line for the win.
Hunter Hollan then emerged from the bullpen in the fifth as the Reds’ third-round pick from a year ago made his Tortugas debut. The left-hander left a good first impression, striking out two in a 1-2-3 fifth.
In the sixth, the Tortugas stretched the lead further. With one out, Moss doubled down the left field line and moved to third on a wild pitch. Ascanio then lifted a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Moss for a 5-1 lead.
Hollan allowed a one-out single in a scoreless sixth, but ran into trouble in the seventh. After a one-out walk and wild pitch, a throwing error put two men in scoring position with one out. Daniel Pena then looped a two-run single to left, cutting the lead in half. Hollan did regroup and ending the inning with a strikeout, fanning five over 3.0 innings of two-run (one unearned) ball.
Cody Adcock came on for the eighth and immediately ran into trouble, plunking a batter and allowing a double to Ryan McCarthy that put two men in scoring position. An error then brought home a run to cut the lead to 5-4. However, the right-hander picked off McCarthy at second, then forced two groundouts to end the inning and hold the lead.
In the ninth, Adcock returned and issued a leadoff walk, but the right-hander quickly settled down, retiring the next three batters, including two strikeouts, ending the game and picking up his fourth save, and with it, a fourth straight win.
Daytona will play game three of the six-game series against the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels on Thursday night. First pitch from Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers is at 7:05 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio Network with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense beginning at 6:50 p.m.
