Rodriguez, Valdez's Longballs Lead Strong All-Around Victory

DAYTONA BEACH, FL—Hector Rodriguez and Malvin Valdez homered, Ariel Almonte drove in three runs, and Sal Stewart stroked three hits as the Daytona Tortugas opened up their home slate with a 9-2 rout over the Palm Beach Cardinals.

Daytona (4-0) continues their best start since 2011 as they held Palm Beach (1-3) to just three hits while stroking 13 knocks of their own.

In the early innings, both teams had opportunities to strike first. In the bottom of the first, Daytona loaded the bases with two outs, but did not score. An inning later, Palm Beach put two on with no outs, but Leo Balcazar made a diving snag of a line drive and doubled off the runner at second to extinguish the threat.

In the third, Palm Beach jumped in front against Daytona starter Ryan Cardona. Following a one-out walk, a stolen base and a groundout moved Lizandro Espinoza to third before a passed ball brought him home.

However, the lead didn’t even survive the inning. With two outs, Stewart doubled off the left-field wall, Almonte singled him in, and Rodriguez went the other way, depositing a two-run homer 407 feet away over the scoreboard in left field, putting Daytona ahead 3-1.

In the fourth, Palm Beach battled back. Two walks began the inning before Cardona gave way to Joseph Menefee came on with two outs. Alex Iadisernia greated him with an RBI double to trim the deficit to one. However, with two men in scoring position, Cam Collier made a diving stop at third to end the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Valdez got in on the party, depositing a tape-measure home run down the left-field line to extend the lead to 4-2.

An inning later, the Tortugas began pulling away. With two outs, Victor Acosta tripled to left, plating two runs to double the lead. In the seventh, it was Almonte’s turn, as he doubled to deep left-center, scoring two more to blow the game open.

In the meantime, the bullpen held the line. Menefee (1-0) went 1.1 scoreless innings to earn the win. Nicolo Pinazzi followed him with 3.0 scoreless innings, striking out seven batters in the process.

In the eighth, Stewart put the finishing touches on the rout with an RBI single to right to score Balcazar. John Murphy then struck out the side in the ninth to nail down a 9-2 win.

Daytona play game two of the series on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark against Palm Beach at 6:35 p.m. Tomorrow will be the first Belly Buster Wednesday with all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, and Marcos pizza for just $4 in addition to your ticket. LHP Rob Hensey will take the hill for the Tortugas against RHP Joseph King for Palm Beach. The Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, will have pregame coverage on the Daytona Tortugas Radio Network beginning at 6:20

Daytona Tortugas single-game tickets and ticket packages are on sale now at daytonatortugas.com, (386) 257-3172, or the box office at 110 East Orange Ave.

ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS

The Daytona Tortugas are the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in downtown Daytona Beach, Fla. Jackie Robinson Ballpark also plays host to Bethune-Cookman University, the Jackie Robinson Ballpark Museum, and many community events and initiatives of all sizes throughout the year.