Tortugas Stymied in Rainy Thursday-Night Defeat

DAYTONA BEACH—The Daytona Tortugas endured two weather delays and a tough night at the plate as Fort Myers broke the game open with a seventh-inning grand slam to defeat the Daytona Tortugas 5-1 on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Fort Myers (10-8) came through to take a 2-1 lead in the series as Daytona (7-11) was held to just three hits in the defeat.

After a 14-minute weather delay to start the game, Mason Pelio faced the minimum in the top of the first inning thanks to a 5-4-3 double play that erased a leadoff walk.

In the bottom of the inning, Daytona manufactured a run in classic fashion off Fort Myers starter Jose Oliveras. Carlos Jorge led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a flyout, and scored on a groundout by Leo Balcazar, putting the Tortugas ahead 1-0.

However, at the end of the first inning, the game entered a lightning delay. This delay was much lengthier, prematurely ending the nights for the starters Pelio and Oliveras. Play finally began after a 1-hour, 15-minute delay.

Following the restart, Jean Correa took the hill and gutted out three crucial innings for Daytona. He dealt with traffic, allowing a double in the second, two runners in the third, and two hits and a walk in the fourth, but he was able to navigate out of all those jams, twirling 3.0 scoreless innings.

He gave way to Jacob Heatherly, who allowed a walk and an error to begin the fifth, but struck out the next two batters before fielding a comebacker to end his one inning of work, passing the baton off to Jared Lyons.

Lyons (0-2) worked a 1-2-3 sixth and struck out three of his first four batters, but ran into trouble in the seventh. With one out, he allowed a single then a walk. After a flyout, Lyons was just one out away, but a four-pitch walk loaded the bases for Ricardo Olivar, who launched the first pitch over the wall in left-center for a grand slam. Suddenly, the Mighty Mussels held a 4-1 lead.

At that point, Ft. Myers continued to hold down a Daytona offense that failed to get things going after the first-inning tally. After Jorge’s leadoff hit, the Tortugas did not record another hit until the sixth inning.

Ft. Myers added one more in the eighth as Carlos Aguiar led off with a triple and came home on a Mikey Perez single to push the lead to 5-1, which proved to be the final score as Daytona failed to mount a serious rally in the later innings.

The Tortugas will play game four against Fort Myers on Friday night. The Rumberos make their season debut in our first Copa de la Diversion of the season! The night will feature specialty jerseys, live music, and food and drink specials. First pitch is at 6:35 with gates opening at 5:30. LHP Nicolo Pinazzi (0-1, 12.60) will get the ball for Daytona against Fort Myers RHP Zebby Matthews (2-0, 3.07). Pregame on the Tortugas Radio Network and Bally Live 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.