Cabrera Extends Hit Streak in Shutout Loss

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Reigning Florida State League Player of the Week Ricardo Cabrera extended his hitting streak to a team-high eight games, but the Daytona Tortugas were held to just two hits in a 4-0 loss to the St. Lucie Mets on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

St. Lucie (8-8) quieted the Daytona offense all night, overcoming a Daytona (8-8) pitching staff that racked up 14 strikeouts on the night.

St. Lucie threatened with a single and a walk to put two on with one out against Daytona starter Brian Edgington. However, the Tortuga right-hander struck out the next two, finishing off a three-strikeout inning by leaving two men aboard.

Meanwhile, Daytona could get nothing going early against St. Lucie right-hander Jack Wenninger, who struck out five of the first seven Tortugas. Trey Faltine snapped that string with a one-out single in third, then stole second and moved to third on a groundout. However, he was stranded there after yet another strikeout ended the inning.

In the fourth, St. Lucie got to Edgington, albeit with some tough luck involved. With one out, a bloop single followed by a slow dribbler up the third base line put two on for the Mets. After a broken-bat groundout, Christopher Suero pulled an 0-2 pitch down the left-field line for a two-run double, staking St. Lucie to a 2-0 lead.

Edgington (0-1) ran into some more trouble in the fifth as he allowed a leadoff single, but then struck out the next two batters, running his total to a season-high of seven. However, a two-out walk put two runners aboard and he departed for Alex Johnson, who picked up the Daytona starter by inducing a groundout to end the inning.

Johnson, though, was roughed up in the sixth. A leadoff double, single, and stolen base put two men in scoring position with no outs. After a strikeout, Suero came through with another big hit, pulling a single through the left side that scored both runners, giving him all four RBI and the Mets a 4-0 lead. Oddly enough, for the second time in three inning, Daytona catcher Connor Burns ended the inning by catching Suero stealing at third base.

Wenniger (1-0), meanwhile, completely shut down the Daytona offense. After Faltine’s third-inning hit, the right-hander did not allow another baserunner as he retired the last 11 men he faced, finishing an outing of 6.0 scoreless innings with his tenth strikeout. Miguel Alfonseca would follow with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

For Daytona, Jonah Hurney came out of the bullpen in the seventh and was sharp, striking out two batters in the seventh and working around a single in each of his first two frames. He ended a night of 3.0 scoreless innings with two more strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth, finishing with five punchouts.

The Tortuga offense finally woke up somewhat in the eighth as two walks and a passed ball against Ernesto Mercedes in the eighth put two on with one out. A pop-up and fly ball ended that threat, though.

Daytona made another push in the ninth. Following a leadoff walk, Cabrera extended his hitting streak to eight games with an infield hit to put two on with no outs. Dominic Pitelli followed with a drive to deep right-center, but center fielder Nick Morabito ran it down and doubled Cabrera off first. One batter late, Mercedes secured the 4-0 victory.

The Tortugas will play game two against the St. Lucie Mets on Wednesday evening. It will be be Belly Buster Wednesday, with all-you-care-to-eat hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, and Little Caesars Pizza starting at just $17. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with gates opening at 5:30. Pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense begins at 6:20 p.m.