Tortugas Slug to Game One Win; Blanked in Game Two to Split Twinbill

CLEARWATER, Fla—Yerlin Confidan’s career-high two home runs and five RBI powered the Daytona Tortugas to an 8-5 victory to open the day, before the Clearwater Threshers scratched across a sixth-inning run to take the nightcap 1-0 as the two teams split a Thursday evening doubleheader at BayCare Ballpark.

Daytona (19-17) earned the game one victory behind the third multi-home run game by a Tortuga this season, though Clearwater (22-14) spoiled 5.0 no-hit innings from Juan Martinez to hand Daytona their seventh shutout loss of the season.

In the first inning of game one, Daytona pulled ahead against Clearwater right-hander Luke Russo. With one out, Dominic Pitelli rolled a double up the third base line. He then took off for third on the same pitch that Alfredo Duno hit a slow roller to third. When the ball was mishandled, Pitelli kept running and crossed the plate without a throw to put Daytona ahead 1-0.

Daytona right-hander Ben Brutti, who drew the start on his 21^st birthday, immediately ran into trouble as a single and walk put two on and no outs for Clearwater in the first. However, the right-hander retired the next three to end the inning. In the second, he worked around two walks to throw another scoreless frame.

After Brutti spun a 1-2-3 third, Daytona went back to work against Russo in the fourth. Trey Faltine singled and Esmith Pineda walked to begin the inning before Russo retired the next two. However, Confidan connected for his first big fly, a three-run shot to right-center that extended the Tortugas’ lead to 4-0.

Clearwater, though, broke through in the bottom of the fourth. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs, chasing Brutti. Cody Adcock came on and struck out the next two hitters, but the third out proved elusive as a walk, hit batter, and another walk forced home three runs before the inning finally ended, with the lead down to 4-3.

Daytona loaded the bases against Jonathan Petit in the fifth before Faltine brought in a run with a sacrifice fly to restore the advantage to two runs. However, a two-run double by Dakota Kotowski tied the game for Clearwater.

The Tortugas, though, answered in a big way against Chase Hopewell in the sixth. After Yassel Pino doubled with one out, Confidan lined his second home run of the night, putting another one on the right-field berm. Pitelli stepped up and connected on a 3-1 delivery from Hopewell, sending a majestic blast of his own onto the berm to put Daytona up 8-5 on the back-to-back blasts.

Game two may not have gone our way, but at least we can admire a couple blasts from Confi from earlier today! 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/X3LwSaWHgp

— Daytona Tortugas (@daytonatortugas) May 17, 2024

After notching the final out of the fifth, Gabe Starks did the rest out of the bullpen. He issued a pair of one-out walks in the sixth, but ended the inning with two strikeouts. Starks (1-2) returned for the seventh and set down Clearwater 1-2-3, finishing off 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts to nail down his first professional win as Daytona won 8-5 in the first game.

The second game was a much different story as pitching ruled from the start. Daytona had a threat against Clearwater’s Braydon Tucker with a Faltine single and a walk putting two on in the second, but the Tortugas couldn’t push home a run. A leadoff double from Ariel Almonte in the fourth also failed to ignite a rally.

Meanwhile, the Daytona starter Martinez was excellent. After a leadoff walk in the second, the right-hander retired ten consecutive batters. That stretch was ended by a one-out free pass in the fifth, with a stolen base and error putting a runner at third, but a pop-up ended the inning and Martinez’s outing.

Martinez spun 5.0 hitless innings, allowing no runs and two walks while striking out five. However, with the game still scoreless, he was forced to settle for a no-decision.

Tucker, meanwhile, kept Daytona in check as he allowed just three hits over 5.2 innings before Saul Teran came on and got the final out of the sixth.

In the bottom of the sixth, Simon Miller came on for Daytona and on his first pitch surrendered a double to Nikau Pouaka-Grego. Pinch-runner Bryson Ware came on and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, then came home on a wild pitch for the first run of the game.

With a 1-0 lead, Teran retired the Tortugas in order in the seventh, as Clearwater won game two 1-0 despite only recording one hit.

Game four of the series against the Threshers is scheduled for Thursday night. Daytona is expected to start RHP Jose Franco (1-0, 2.66) while Clearwater’s starter is still to be announced. First pitch from BayCare Ballpark is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense begins at 6:15 p.m.