Tortugas Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 3-2 Loss

DAYTONA BEACH—Carlos Jorge tripled and homered, but the Daytona Tortugas couldn’t complete a ninth-inning rally as they fell Saturday night, 3-2 to the Palm Beach Cardinals at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Daytona (5-3) dropped their third straight, stranding ten runners as Palm Beach (4-4) only recorded five hits, but made the most of them as the Tortugas now will need to win Sunday to split the series.

The first three innings of this one were scoreless as Cardinals lefty Pete Hansen and Daytona right-hander Mason Pelio traded zeroes.

In the third, Daytona had a shot to take the lead, but Pete Hansen picked Malvin Valdez off first right before a Carlos Jorge triple, which prevented the Tortugas from striking first.

With that stroke of good fortune, Palm Beach then scored in the fourth. After a hit batter and a groundout began the inning, R.J. Yeager unloaded on a fastball from Pelio and crushed it over the left-field scoreboard for a two-run homer which put Palm Beach ahead 2-0.

In the fifth, Pelio gave way to Jared Lyons, who retired the first two batters he faced. However, a walk was followed by a triple to deep left-center from Won-Bin Cho, which extended the Palm Beach lead to 3-0.

After Hansen (1-0) finished 5.0 scoreless frames, Daytona began to mount a comeback bid against Chandler Arnold in the sixth. Ariel Almonte greeted Arnold with a double, before two strikeouts. With two outs and a 1-2 count, though, Logan Tanner doubled into the left-field corner to bring in the first run of the game for Daytona, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

In the seventh, Valdez ended the top of the frame with a strong one-hop throw to throw out Brandon Hernandez, who attempted to advance on a flyout to the Tortuga centerfielder.

In the bottom of the inning, Jorge walked with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. With a 3-0 count on Leo Balcazar, though, lightning flashed over Jackie Robinson Ballpark and the game entered a weather delay.

After a 1-hour, 14-minute delay, Balcazar walked against Roy Garcia to put two on with one out. However, Yeager made a diving stop to rob Sal Stewart of a hit, then Garcia struck out Ariel Almonte with two men in scoring position to end the inning.

The score remained 3-1 into the bottom of the ninth after two scoreless frames from Zach Maxwell, which included escaping unscathed following a leadoff triple in the ninth, the Tortugas mounted a threat in the ninth.

A strikeout began the inning with a strikeout, but Jorge followed with a solo homer to right, his first of the season, which trimmed the deficit to one. Balcazar followed with a base hit to center. Stewart came up with the tying run aboard, but rolled into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game as Daytona dropped their third straight.

The series will wrap up on Sunday evening as the Tortugas host Shelldon’s Family Fun Night presented by the Central Florida Zoo and the Museum of Arts and Sciences, which will feature Kids Run the Bases after the game. LHP Nicolo Pinazzi (0-0, 0.00) gets the ball for Daytona opposite RHP Hansel Rincon (0-1, 9.82) for Palm Beach. First pitch is at 5:00 with pregame on the Tortugas Radio Network and Bally Live with the Voice of the Tortugas Brennan Mense at 4:45.

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.