Daytona outfielder ties league record for doubles in front of season-high crowd
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—Yerlin Confidan tied a Florida State League record with four doubles and Adam Serwinowski struck out ten as the Daytona Tortugas defeated the St. Lucie Mets 7-1 in front of a season-high crowd of 3,260 fans at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Daytona (6-5, 37-40) finished off a 5-4 homestand by pounding out eight extra-base hits off a St. Lucie (4-8, 26-52) pitching staff that served up ten hits.
Serwinowski started off the night in style, striking out the side in the first. After that, the Tortugas jumped out in front in a big way in the first inning.
Against Saul Garcia, Confidanled off with his first double, then scored on a Ricardo Cabrera single. A ground-rule double by Sammy Stafura put two in scoring position for Ariel Almonte, who brought them both home with a two-run double of his own. Esmith Pineda then capped off the rally with an RBI double of his own, putting Daytona ahead 4-0.
Serwinowski battled through a long second inning that featured a two-out single and walk. However, he picked up his fifth strikeout of the night on a full-count to end the inning.
The left-hander settled down in the third, striking out two more in a 1-2-3 third. He then ratcheted it up to another level in the fourth, fanning the side for a second time as he reached ten strikeouts through four innings.
Meanwhile, Confidan legged out his second double in the second, then the Tortugas added another run to the lead in the third as Pineda crushed a long solo home run off Garcia. His fifth round-tripper of the year extended the Daytona lead to 5-0.
Serwinowski returned for the fifth and walked two of the first three men in the inning, giving way to Nestor Lorant with two on and one down. He hit a batter to load the bases with one down, then gave up a sacrifice fly to A.J. Ewing to bring in St. Lucie’s first run.
Lorant (7-2) finished that inning with just one run scored, kicking off a run of escape acts. The right-hander allowed multiple baserunners in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, but each time he stranded two on base with no runs allowed over 3.2 scoreless innings to leave in line for the win.
Confidan stroked his third double of the night in the sixth, then came up with two on and two down in the eighth. He capped off his night in style, ripping a two-run double to right-center, capping off a 4-for-4 night by putting Daytona up 7-1.
Cody Adcock came on for the ninth and encountered little trouble to finish the game, setting down the Mets 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts to polish off a win.
Daytona will hit the road to St. Lucie tomorrow night for a July 4 contest against the St. Lucie Mets beginning at 6:10 p.m. Pregame coverage from Clover Park on the Tortugas Radio Network with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense beginning at 5:55 p.m.
