Eighth-inning home run breaks scoreless deadlock as Tortugas take series lead
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—Ariel Almonte drilled a two-run pinch-hit home run in the eighth and three pitchers combined to hold the St. Lucie Mets to five hits as the Daytona Tortugas claimed a 2-0 victory on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Daytona (10-8) earned their third shutout victory of the season as they earned their second straight victory over St. Lucie (8-10).
The game was pitching-dominated from the start on both sides. Each team did pick up a hit in the first, but Tortugas starter Adam Serwinowski picked off a runner to end the first, and a Ricardo Cabrera single against St. Lucie’s Jonah Tong was erased on a caught stealing.
Serwinowski allowed a leadoff infield single in the second, but the Daytona southpaw settled in, retiring his next eight hitters.
Tong, meanwhile, locked in quickly. He struck out three in the second, with a minor detour due to an error along the way. He retired the side in order as well in the third and fourth.
Serwinowski would retire eight of the last nine batters he faced as he threw 4.0 scoreless innings for the fourth consecutive start to begin the season, allowing two hits and a walk with four strikeouts before departing for Anyer Laureano to begin the fifth.
Laureano, meanwhile, allowed a one-out double in fifth, but retired the next. In the sixth, he issued a leadoff walk, but promptly set down the next three batters, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings as he bridged the middle innings.
Tong allowed a one-out single in the fifth, but retired the last five batters he faced, three by strikeout, to strike out nine over 6.0 innings of scoreless two-hit ball, but he would settle for a no-decision as the game remained tied at 0-0.
Nestor Lorant entered for Daytona and immediately found himself in the biggest jam of the night for either team. After a leadoff walk, Nick Morabito rolled a hit to right to put two on with no outs. However, Lorant picked up a strikeout and Connor Burns cut down Christopher Suero trying to steal third for the second out. Lorant then picked up another strikeout to end the inning.
Austin Troesser entered in the seventh for St. Lucie and promptly threw a 1-2-3 inning. However, he was not as lucky in the eighth. Yerlin Confidan led off the inning with his second hit of the night, he single to center. Troesser struck out the next two men, but Ariel Almonte came off the bench and blasted a 1-2 pitch from Troesser over the right-field fence for a two-run home run.
Now in front 2-0, Lorant returned for his third inning in relief in the ninth. With one out, Suero legged out an infield single, but St. Lucie did not threaten further. After a fielder’s choice, Lorant (3-0) ended his 3.0 innings of scoreless stint, as well as the ballgame, with a strikeout to nail down a 2-0 win.
The Tortugas will play game four against the St. Lucie Mets on Friday evening. It will be the first Copa de la Diversion Night of the season as the Rumberos de Daytona make their season debut. It will also be City of Deltona Night with discounted general admission tickets for Deltona residents. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with gates opening at 5:30. Pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense begins at 6:20 p.m.
