Tortugas Fall Behind Early, Can't Quite Recover as Lakeland Evens Series

DAYTONA BEACH—The Lakeland Flying Tigers pulled ahead early and defeated the Daytona Tortugas 8-4 on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Lakeland (17-24) scored five runs in the first two innings to build a lead they wouldn’t relinguish, snapping Daytona’s (17-24) string of six straight wins at The Jack.

In the top of the first, Lakeland struck early. After a game-opening strikeout, Peyton Graham swatted Kevin Abel’s 3-1 pitch well over the left field wall to stake the Flying Tigers to a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, though, Daytona answered back. A hit batter and walk put two on for Cam Collier, who singled home the first run of the contest. Yassel Pino then legged out the back end of a potential double play, beating out the fielder’s choice to bring home another run to put Daytona ahead 2-1.

However, that lead quickly evaporated. Cristian Santana led off the second with a home run to even the score. Two more singles followed before a fielder’s choice and strikeout had Abel on the verge of escaping with just the one run. However, back-to-back singles from Seth Stephenson and Graham, the latter of which was deflected off Abel’s body, brought in two runs. An errant pickoff throw added a fourth run to put Lakeland ahead 5-2.

The Tortugas, though, again had an answer. Ariel Almonte led off with a single and then was balked over to second base. With two outs, Hector Rodriguez singled to shallow center to bring home Almonte, with the throw home moving Rodriguez to second. In his first at-bat of the season, Johnny Ascanio followed with an RBI single up the middle, closing the gap to 5-4.

At that point, both offenses screeched to a halt. Neither starter made it beyond four innings, but the bullpens were excellent in the middle innings. Frainger Aranguren relieved Abel in the third for his first Tortugas appearance in 2023 and fired 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out three before handing off the baton to Johnathan Harmon in the sixth.

Harmon worked around doubles in both the sixth and seventh to throw scoreless innings, keeping the Flying Tigers in check.

On the other side, Connor Holden threw perfect fourth and fifth innings before Sean Guenther erased a leadoff single with a double-play ball to face the minimum in the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, Almonte greeted Cam Brown with a sinking line drive to center that eluded Stephenson. Almonte rounded second, but was thrown out trying to reach third, ending that threat immediately.

In the eighth, Lakeland finally broke through to add critical insurance. After a one-out error, three singles and another error followed, leading to three runs—all unearned—to extend the Flying Tigers lead to 8-4.

The Tortugas tallied a two-out single in the eighth, but nothing more as Lakeland cruised to the finish line to even the series.

The Tortugas play game three against the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Thursday night. RHP Chris McElvain (2-1, 2.87) will get the ball for Daytona against Lakeland LHP Joe Miller (0-1, 6.00). Tomorrow will be a Thirsty Thursday with $1 and $2 specials on beer and soft drinks. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. with first pitch at 6:35 p.m. Pregame on the Tortugas Radio Network with the Voice of the Tortugas Brennan Mense at 6:20 from Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

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.