Two Big Blasts Not Enough in 10-8, Ten-Inning Defeat

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—Ariel Almonte and Ricardo Cabrera crushed three-run home runs, but the Daytona Tortugas committed five errors and surrendered a season-worst ten runs as the Palm Beach Cardinals claimed a 10-8 victory in ten innings on Sunday evening at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Palm Beach (6-3) won the series with the victory, overcoming three errors of their own and eight walks, as Daytona (4-5) left 13 runners on base in the 3-hour, 33-minute marathon.

Daytona took the lead thanks in large part to shaky defense from Palm Beach in the first inning against Jose Davila. A leadoff error was followed by a walk to Cabrera. Alfredo Duno followed with a ground ball up the middle. A diving stop was made by shortstop Lizandro Espinoza, but an ill-fated glove flip to second was off the mark and Carlos Sanchez scampered home. Almonte followed with a single to load the bases with no outs. Davila struck out the next hitter, but a weak dribbler by Yerlin Confidan brought home Cabrera to make it 2-0, Daytona.

That lead immediately evaporated, though, against Juan Martinez in the second. After a leadoff walk, back-to-back doubles followed with one out, with the second one off the bat of Ahari Grant bringing in two runs. Daytona’s defense then faltered as back-to-back errors brought in another run. Kade Kretzschmar then drove in another run on a groundout, which chased Martinez with Daytona now trailing 4-2.

Daytona had opportunities to answer, but they failed to cash in a first-and-third, one-out opportunity in the third as Davila preserved the two-run cushion.

In the fifth, the Tortugas mounted another threat, albeit in strange fashion. Cabrera led off with a double and with one out, Almonte blasted a pitch from Davila over the left-field wall. However, a loose baseball before the pitch resulted in a timeout being called that negated the longball. Almonte then walked before a single loaded the bases with one out. However, after a pitching change, reliever Randel Clemente retired the next two men to escape the jam and preserve the lead.

Palm Beach promptly extended the lead in the sixth as the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs before Brutti uncorked a wild pitch that scored Espinosa to extend their lead to 5-2.

In the seventh, though, Daytona drew even. Cabrera and Alfredo Duno walked to begin the inning, bringing up Almonte. This time, he crushed a 408-foot laser off the videoboard in left-center field and it counted, bringing in three runs to tie the game. After a pitching change, the Tortugas weren’t done, as Ettore Guillianelli walked the bases full with two outs. After he was lifted for Henry Gomez, Carlos Sanchez rocketed Gomez’s first pitch towards third, but Trey Paige made a diving stop and barely nabbed Sanchez at first, saving multiple runs with the play. The game, however, was tied at 5.

Dylan Simmons entered for the Tortugas in the eighth and contributed 2.0 scoreless innings, including escaping a first-and-third, no-out jam in the ninth thanks in part to a line-drive double play.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Tortugas made a push to win in walk-off fashion. Yerlin Confidan singled with one out, then moved to third on a two-out hit from Yassel Pino. Gomez, though, picked up a strikeout to send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the tenth, the inning went sideways for Daytona from the start. The first five batters reached for Palm Beach as the Cardinals sent nine men to the plate, scoring five runs on four hits, with the final two of five Daytona errors mixed in.

With a five-run deficit, Daytona did push back in the bottom of the tenth against Augusto Calderon, as Sanchez drew a leadoff walk, then Cabrera crushed the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a three-run home run to close the gap to 10-8. Calderon, though, retired the next three batters to end the game as Palm Beach claimed the series with the victory.

The Tortugas will have Monday off before hitting the road on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the Bradenton Marauders from LECOM Park in Bradenton. Bradenton will throw RHP Carlos Jimenez (0-1, 10.80) while Daytona’s starter is still to be determined. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense beginning at 5:15 p.m.