Pena, Camargo Homer in 9-4 Win Over Tarpons

TAMPA, Fla. (June 6, 2024) – Isaac Pena and Jair Camargo both homered Thursday to power the Mighty Mussels past the Tampa Tarpons 9-4 at Steinbrenner Field.

The victory extends the Mussels’ (27-27) winning streak to seven games, their longest of the season. It also gets Fort Myers back to the .500 mark for the first time since April 13 when they began the season 4-4.

Pena’s solo shot in the fifth was his first of the season and first at the Low-A level. It left the bat at 96 mph and traveled 390 feet to extend the Fort Myers’ (27-27) lead to 3-0.

Camargo’s homer in the seventh inning broke the game open. With Fort Myers leading 4-2, Ryan McCarthy and Payton Eeles both drew one-out walks. After a pop out, Camargo laced a line drive down the left field line. The ball stayed just inside the left field pole and cleared the wall to extend the Mussels’ advantage to 7-2.

They would add two more runs in the ninth on a Carlos Aguiar two-run double to the gap.

Fort Myers got solid pitching from four different hurlers. Cory Lewis made a rehab start, going three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk. Tanner Hall tossed 2.1 innings in relief, surrendering two runs on five hits. Jack Noble (2-2) notched the win after pitching Hall out of a jam in the sixth and lasting 1.2 innings.

After Noble allowed a Dylan Jasso home run and two more singles in the eighth, Nolan Santos came in to retire three straight batters to keep the score at 7-3. Santos worked the ninth to earn his fifth save of the year.

The Mussels will go for their eighth straight win on Friday at 6:30 p.m. LHP Cesar Lares (2-1, 2.48) is scheduled to start for Fort Myers, opposite RHP Gabriel Barbosa (1-6, 4.81) of Tampa. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.