Romano, O'Grady power 'Tugas to 3-2 W

Palm Beach, FL - The Daytona Tortugas (39-35, 2-2) seem to be back on the right track after another victory, this time a 3-2 win against the Palm Beach Cardinals (35-40, 3-2) in game three of the series. After dropping the first two games of the first half, the Tortugas have benefited from excellent pitching and timely hitting to string together two wins. Daytona has now won five of seven against Palm Beach and will be going for the series win tomorrow.

 

For the second night in a row, rain pushed back the scheduled start time. This time a delay of just under an hour caused first pitch to be thrown at 7:30. However, as the game proved to be a close and well-played affair, it was well worth the wait as startersRHP Sal Romano (W, 4-2) and Luke Weaver dueled to a scoreless tie through the first six innings. 

 

In the seventh inning though, both teams were able to crack the opposition and find some offense. Weaver began the seventh by walking RF Sebastian Elizalde and then surrendered a double to deep left centerfield to 1B Robert Ramirez. That put two in scoring position with no outs. Then LF Brian O'Grady, a recent call-up from Daytona stepped to the plate for his third at-bat in his Tortugas debut. His first two at-bats resulted in pop outs but in the seventh, he changed the game dramatically with one swing. O'Grady hit a towering shot over the right field fence for a three-run blast that put the Tortugas in front 3-0 and chased Weaver from the game. It was O'Grady's seventh homer of his 2015 season.

 

The Cardinals were able to answer with a run in their half of the seventh as they were likewise able to solve the opposing starter. Derek Gibson led off with an infield single and Carson Kelly followed with double into the left field corner that scored the runner. That would be the game for Romano but he finished with six innings pitched, seven hits, and eight strikeouts. RHP Evan Mitchell (H, 3) took over and finished the inning without any more damage done.

 

RHP Joe Mantoni (H, 3) also contributed well as he had a perfect eighth inning and got the first two outs of the ninth thanks in part to three total strikeouts. However, Palm Beach came within a run when Jake Gronsky doubled off Mantoni with two outs in the ninth and came home to score on a Blake Drake RBI single. RHP El'Hajj Muhammad (S, 8) gave up the hit to Drake but also helped record the game's final out. 

 

The series concludes tomorrow for Daytona and Palm Beach with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch time from Roger Dean Stadium. Fans can listen to the action on AM 1230 and AM 1490 WSBB starting with the D.B. Pickles Pregame Show at 6:20 p.m.