Tortugas Score Twice in Ninth to Steal 2-1 Victory

JUPITER, Fla—After eight scoreless innings offensively, the Daytona Tortugas scratched across two runs in the top of the ninth inning to steal a 2-1 victory over the Jupiter Hammerheads on Thursday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

Daytona (27-21, 58-56) won their third straight game in the series as Jupiter (23-26, 59-56) was held to one run for a third straight night, as the Tortugas did not allow a single baserunner over the final six innings of the season-low 1-hour, 51-minute contest.

After a scoreless first, Jupiter took their first lead of the series in the second. With one out, J.T. Mabry doubled, then moved to third on a single. Eric Rataczak then shot a single through the left side to put the Hammerheads on top 1-0.

On the other side, Jupiter left-hander Keyner Benitez stymied Daytona early on. The left-hander was dominant early on, striking out five of the first seven batters. He allowed a two-out walk in the third for his first baserunner.

Daytona picked up their first hit on a two-out infield single in the fourth from Peyton Stovall, who then stole second, but the Tortugas could not come up with a two-out run. An inning later, Carlos Sanchez led off with a single and reached second, but advanced no further as Benitez finished 5.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

Meanwhile, after the second Tortugas starter Dualvert Gutierrez settled down nicely. The right-hander allowed a leadoff infield hit in the third, but erased the runner with caught stealing. He then spun 1-2-3 fourth and fifth innings, ultimately retiring the final eight batters he faced.

In the sixth, Collin Lowe entered for Jupiter and struck out the side to begin his outing. Stovall reached on an infield hit to begin the seventh, but was erased by a double play. Lowe then fired a 1-2-3 eighth.

On the other side, David Lorduy (1-0) kept the pace in relief for Daytona. The right-hander spun 3.0 perfect innings, striking out three batters in an outing where he needed just 28 pitches to record his nine outs, putting the Tortugas in position to come back.

With the Hammerheads still in front 1-0 going to the ninth, Lowe stayed on to finish it out. However, Sammy Stafura legged out an infield single to begin the inning. He then broke for second and Ricardo Cabrera rolled a base hit up the middle, putting runners on the corners with no outs.

On the very next pitch, Lowe spiked a breaking ball that went to the screen, scoring Stafura to tie the game. After a groundout moved Cabrera to third with one out, Stovall stepped up and hit a groundball to short against a drawn-in infield. The throw home was off the mark, though, and Cabrera scored to put the Tortugas in front 2-1.

Jonah Hurney then came on for the ninth and left little doubt. After a lineout on his first pitch of the inning, the southpaw struck out the next two batters to end the game, securing his sixth save and with it, a 2-1 victory.

The Tortugas play game four of the six-game series against the Jupiter Hammerheads on Friday 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.