Sixth-inning grand slam powers Tortugas over Marauders
BRADENTON, Fla—Connor Burns broke open a scoreless game with a sixth-inning grand slam and three pitchers allowed just four hits as the Daytona Tortugas began their road trip with a 5-2 win over the Bradenton Marauders at LECOM Park.
Daytona (5-5) nailed down the win by retiring the final 11 Bradenton (1-9) hitters as the Marauders suffered their seventh straight loss, while Burns’ slam, the first since Dominic Pitelli’s drive on August 19, 2023, provided the key offensive blow.
In the first inning, the Tortugas had a scoring opportunity right away as Carlos Sanchez singled to lead off the game and Ricardo Cabrera walked to put two on with no outs. Bradenton right-hander Carlos Jimenez, though, retired the next three batters.
Not to be outdone, Jose Franco pulled off a similar feat in the bottom of the first. A leadoff walk was followed by a double to put runners at second and third with no outs. However, a pop-up, strikeout, and soft liner to second ended the threat as the game remained scoreless.
In the third, Bradenton threatened once more against Franco. After a leadoff single and a walk, a one-out error loaded the bases. Franco, though, struck out the next hitter before being lifted with two outs in the third. Nick Sando entered and on his very first pitch induced a groundout to second to end the inning and keep it a 0-0 contest.
Jimenez departed for Luigi Hernandez in the fourth inning and Hernandez promptly threw two scoreless innings to start his night. However, the sixth frame is where things unraveled as the right-hander walked Cabreraand Alfredo Duno back-to-back with one out, ending his night. Hunter Furtado entered and promptly walked Ariel Almonte to load the bases. He then fell behind Burns 3-0, but with a green light, Burns ripped a 110-mph liner into the Daytona bullpen over the left-field wall for a grand slam to stake Daytona to a 4-0 lead.
After a pair of scoreless innings, Sando, also ran into sixth-inning trouble, allowing a leadoff walk, then an RBI double to Shalin Polanco and an RBI hit to Jack Herman, trimming the lead to 4-2. However, he recovered with a double play ball and strikeout to end the inning.
In the seventh, Daytona got a run right back as Yassel Pino drew a leadoff walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and came home on an RBI single from Sanchez, Sanchez’s second hit of the night. The Tortugas now led 5-2.
The pitching staff did the rest as Sando (1-0) threw a 1-2-3 seventh to cap off a 4.1-inning outing in which he struck out four and worked around the two runs to earn his first career win.
Simon Miller entered in the eighth and promptly retired the side on just five pitches before returning for the ninth and striking out the side, going six-up, six-down for a dominant save, closing out the 5-2 victory.
The Tortugas will play game two against the Bradenton Marauders from LECOM Park in Bradenton on Wednesday morning. Daytona will throw RHP Brian Edgington (0-0, 2.00) while Bradenton will counter with RHP Hung Leng Chang (0-0, 2.45). First pitch on Wednesday is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense beginning at 10:45 a.m.
