Back-to-back blasts supply early lead as Tortugas secure clutch outs late
TAMPA, Fla—Sammy Stafura and Ariel Almonte connected for back-to-back home runs in the third and Jonah Hurney earned a clutch seven-out save as the Daytona Tortugas held off the Tampa Tarpons 5-4 on Wednesday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Daytona (19-16, 50-51) starts off the series with their second win in a row as Tampa (18-17, 42-59) nipped at the heels of Daytona, but could not fully come back from an early four-run deficit.
The first inning passed uneventfully, but the Tortugas jumped in front in the second. Esmith Pineda led off with a double, then moved to third on a groundout. Diego Omana followed with a drive to deep center that was ran, but it was plenty deep to score Pineda with the game’s first run.
In the bottom of the second, Tampa had a chance to tie the game after a leadoff walk and stolen base had a runner at second with no outs. Coby Morales lined a single to right, but Almonte threw out the runner at the plate, then Omana threw out Morales rounding first for an improbable 9-2-3 double play to extinguish the threat.
An inning later, Daytona found the longball to extend the lead. Carlos Sanchez drew a one-out walk in front of Stafura, who crushed a 392-foot blast to left for a two-run home run. Not to be outdone, Almonte stepped up behind him and crushed a 398-foot blast to right-center for his league-leading 18th of the season, putting Daytona in front 4-0.
In the third, Tampa began to chip away with a two-out rally. Owen Cobb singled, then moved to second on a walk. After a double steal, a wild pitch from Lorant allowed Cobb to scamper home to put the Tarpons on the board.
An inning later, Tampa added another run. Three straight singles opened the inning, with Morales dropping a single to right that scored Willy Montero, trimming the lead to 4-2. However, a caught stealing on an attempted double steal greatly aided Lorant, who escaped the inning with no further damage.
The right-hander followed with a 1-2-3 fifth, striking out the final two batters faced to end his outing, in which Lorant (8-3) went 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts, leaving in line for the victory.
In the top of the sixth, Daytona scratched out a run. Omana led off with a single and moved to second on a Yerlin Confidan hit. Both runners advanced on a ball in the dirt before Sanchez hit a slow chopper to second in which Omana raced home despite the drawn-in infield to take a 5-2 lead.
Cole Schoenwetter then entered for the sixth and in his Tortugas debut looked very sharp early on, striking out the first two batters he faced. However, with two outs, a walk and single put two on for Parks Harbor, who crushed a two-run double off the wall in right-center, cutting the lead to 5-4.
Schoenwetter stayed on for the seventh. He retired two straight after a leadoff walk, but then walked two more to lead the bases for Hurney, who came on with two outs, but ended the inning with a fielder’s choice groundout on his very first pitch.
In the eighth, Tampa threatened one final time as Harbor led off with a triple to right-center. A groundball to short followed, but with the infield drawn in, Stafura cut down Harbor at the plate for the most critical out of the night.
Hurney returned for the ninth and skipped the drama, working a 1-2-3 frame with two strikeouts, polishing off a seven-out save to secure a 5-4 victory.
Daytona will have play game three of the series against the Tampa Tarpons on Thursday. First pitch from George M. Steinbrenner Field will be at 6:30 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense beginning at 6:15 p.m.
