Three players have multiple hits and RBIs in wire-to-wire win
JUPITER, Fla—Ricardo Cabrera, Yerlin Confidan, and Malvin Valdez all have multiple hits and RBIs, while Adrian Herrera spurned any chance of a comeback with 4.0 scoreless innings as the Daytona Tortugas routed the Jupiter Hammerheads 12-1 on Tuesday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
Daytona (25-21, 56-56) bounced back from a crushing defeat on Sunday to pound out 15 hits, while also taking advantage of nine walks and four errors by Jupiter (23-24, 59-54) to win the first game of a crucial series.
Daytona jumped out to a quick start in the first inning. Confidandrew a leadoff walk, then stole second. With two outs, Esmith Pineda lined a double to right to score Confidan. One pitch later, Cabrera bounced a single up the middle, scoring Pineda to put Daytona ahead 2-0.
The Tortugas added on an inning later. After an error began the inning, Valdez singled and Jack Moss walked to load the bases. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Diego Omana and Confidan brought in two runs, then Moss came home on a wild pitch to move the Tortugas’ lead to 5-0.
Daytona was not done in the third. Carlos Sanchez singled and Valdez walked with one out before Omana walked to load the bases with two outs. Confidan then came up and ripped a two-run single to right, stretching the lead to 7-0.
Daytona starter Adam Serwinowski was locked in early on. The southpaw struck out two batters in each of the first two innings and retired the first eight batters he faced. He issued a two-out walk in the third that came around to score on a Jake DeLeo RBI single, trimming the gap to six runs.
The southpaw issued another hit and walk in the fourth, but he struck out two more and stranded both runners as he finished 4.0 innings, allowing a run on two hits and two walks, striking out six.
Herrera took over in the sixth and was sharp out of the gate, striking out his first two batters in a 1-2-3 fifth.
The Tortugas then erased any doubt with a two-out rally in the seventh. After an error extended the inning, Cabrera lined a two-run double to right-center. After Sanchez walked, Valdez lined a two-run triple to center, putting the Tortugas in front 11-1.
Daytona added their final tally in the seventh. Confidan led off with a booming double to center, then scored two batters later when Ariel Almonte crushed a RBI double to left-center to give Daytona a 12th run.
Herrera (2-1) retired the first eight batters he faced before working around a two-out double and hit batter in the seventh. He gave up a leadoff single in the eighth, but retired the next three hitters, finishing off 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks with five strikeouts to earn the win.
Nick Sando wobbled in the ninth, loading the bases on a walk, a double, and a hit batter, but he struck out DeLeo to end the game, nailing down the 12-1 victory.
The Tortugas play game two of the six-game series against the Jupiter Hammerheads on Wednesday night. First pitch at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium will be at 6:30 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio Network with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, beginning at 6:15 p.m.
