Daytona Hits Three Homers in 15-4 Drubbing of Fort Myers

FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 28, 2024) - The Daytona Tortugas homered three times on Thursday night in a 15-4 rout of Fort Myers at Hammond Stadium.

Fort Myers (42-40, 11-6) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first after Poncho Ruiz grounded into a double play, allowing Walker Jenkins to score from third. One batter later, Rixon Wingrove slapped a chopper over the head of Daytona (42-41,11-6) third baseman Luis Reyes to drive in the second run of the frame, making it 2-0 Fort Myers.

Mussels' starting pitcher Ross Dunn (1-3) labored through an inning and two-thirds, exiting with the bases loaded in the top of the second. Jack Noble was first out of the bullpen for Fort Myers, promptly surrendering a grand slam to Sammy Stafura to make it 4-2 Daytona. Connor Burns was the next man into the batter’s box, hitting an opposite field solo shot as Daytona took a 5-2 lead.

The Tortugas wouldn’t look back, scoring three more runs in the third inning, all of which unearned thanks to three Fort Myers' errors in the frame.

Holding an 8-2 lead in the top of the fourth, the Tortugas got an RBI double from Malvin Valdez and a sacrifice fly from Luis Reyes, extending the margin to 10-2.

Julio Bonilla got two quick outs to begin the top of the fifth inning but issued back to back walks to Stafura and Burns. Yassel Pino then hit a towering shot on to the berm in left field to make it 13-2.

Carlos Aguiar came to bat with two outs and the bases empty in the sixth, launching a solo shot into the bleachers in right field, cutting the deficit to 13-3.

Trailing 15-3 in the ninth, Byron Chourio singled into center field to drive in Angel Del Rosario and cap the scoring at 15-4.

The Mussels will be back in action Friday at 7:05 p.m. as Fort Myers sends Tanner Hall (0-0, 4.70) to the mound to square off against Daytona’s Nick Payero (0-1, 3.49). Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.