Tortugas Start Fast, but Ft. Myers Claims Series-Opening Win

FT. MYERS, FL—The Daytona Tortugas jumped out to a first-inning lead, but the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels quickly overtook Daytona and cruised to a 7-1 victory in the series opener Tuesday night at Hammond Stadium.

Ft. Myers (22-27, 57-58) earned their fourth consecutive win with three multi-run innings while also scattering Daytona (21-26, 50-62) baserunners all night, as the Tortugas left 11 runners on base.

In the top of the first, Daytona jumped in front right away against Ft. Myers starter Ben Ethridge. Victor Acosta and Hector Rodriguez singled on the first two pitches of the game, but Acosta was thrown out trying to reach third. However, Rodriguez stole second, then scored on a Cam Collier RBI single to give Daytona a 1-0 lead.

The lead quickly dissipiated, though as the Mighty Mussels flexed their muscles in the bottom of the first off Daytona starter Arij Fransen. With one out, Luke Keaschall tripled to right, then scored when Ricardo Olivar followed with a bloop single to right. Two batters later, Rubel Cespedes connected for a 420-foot home run to right-center field, bringing in two runs to push Ft. Myers ahead 3-1.

Daytona threatened to answer right back in the third as a walk, stolen base, and bunt single with one out put runners on the corners with one out. Ethridge picked up a strikeout, but walked Acosta to load the bases. However, Rodriguez grounded out to end the threat.

At that point, Ft. Myers began extending the lead. In the third, Keaschall led off with a double and scored when Olivar followed with his own two-bagger. After a groundout, Cespedes lifted a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Olivar, making it 5-1.

After a scoreless fourth, the Mighty Mussels again struck in the fifth with the heart of the order. Keaschall walked and Olivar was hit by a pitch. After a balk, a sacrifice fly from Danny DeAndrade brought in a run. Following a pitching change, Alex Johnson surrendered an RBI double to Cespedes, his fourth RBI of the night, to extend the Ft. Myers lead to 7-1.

Johnson settled down after that, facing the minimum in the sixth and seventh framed thanks to double plays in each inning. Nicolo Pinazzi followed by navigating a single and walk to throw a scoreless eighth.

Meanwhile, Daytona had at least one baserunner in every inning, including multiple runners in the fifth and seventh innings, but the Tortugas couldn’t string anything together as Ethridge went 5.0 innings and three relievers combined to blank Daytona the rest of the way as the Mighty Mussels cruised to a 7-1 victory.

Daytona will play game two against the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels on Wednesday night. RHP Jared Lyons gets the ball for Daytona against Ft. Myers RHP Jack Noble (0-2, 3.15). First pitch will be at 7:00 p.m. with pregame coverage from Hammond Stadium with the voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, beginning at 6:45 p.m. on the Tortugas Radio Network.

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.