Cano Walks Off Cardinals as Tortugas Win Second Straight in Final At-Bat

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ichiro Cano delivered a two-out, two-run walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Daytona Tortugas rallied past the Palm Beach Cardinals, 5-4, Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

The Tortugas earned their second consecutive walk-off victory, improved to 28-16 in the second half and extended their lead atop the Florida State League East to six games over Palm Beach.

The Rundown

Daytona struck first behind Jalen Hairston, who wound up scoring each of the Tortugas' first four runs of the night. Hairston opened the bottom of the first with a single to right field, moved to second on a groundout from Rafhlmil Torres and advanced to third on a single from Mulivai Levu. Arnaldo Lantigua followed with a sacrifice fly to shallow center, bringing Hairston home for a 1-0 lead.

Palm Beach answered in the second against Iker Redona. Owen Henne drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a balk and scored when Gabe Camacho doubled to right field, tying the game at one.

Mason Morris entered to begin the third and immediately settled the game down. The right-hander worked around traffic in the fourth and fifth, including three baserunners in the fifth, before retiring the Cardinals in order in the sixth.

Daytona moved back in front in the bottom of the fifth without recording a hit. Hairston walked to begin the inning, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Torres struck out, Levu lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hairston and put the Tortugas ahead, 2-1.

Palm Beach tied the game again in the seventh. Camacho and Trevor Haskins opened the inning with singles before Alexander Frias loaded the bases with another hit. Yairo Padilla followed with a single to shallow center that brought home Camacho, but Morris stranded the remaining three runners by striking out Ryan Mitchell and Dee Kennedy to keep the game even at 2-2.

Daytona immediately regained the lead in the home half. Hairston doubled to left field with one out before Torres walked. After Levu advanced both runners with a groundout, a wild pitch from Alan Reyes allowed Hairston to race home for his third run of the night and give the Tortugas a 3-2 advantage.

Palm Beach turned the game around in the eighth, but needed three Daytona errors to do it. Henne opened the inning with a double before Cristofer Lebrón reached on an error by Anielson Buten. After a strikeout, catcher interference on Dylan King loaded the bases. Haskins then walked to force home the tying run before another throwing error by King allowed Lebrón to score and put Palm Beach ahead, 4-3. Dominic Scheffler recovered to strand three runners and keep the deficit at one.

The Tortugas went quietly in the eighth despite a two-out double from Buten, but Scheffler responded with a perfect top of the ninth, striking out both Henne and Lebrón to send Daytona to the plate still within a run.

Hairston drew his third walk of the night to begin the bottom of the ninth. After Torres flied out, Levu reached on a throwing error by Kennedy, putting the tying run in scoring position. Lantigua walked to load the bases, and Adolfo Sanchez struck out for the second out.

That brought up Cano, who lined a single into left-center field. Hairston scored easily from third before pinch runner Steele Hall raced home from second with the winning run, completing the 5-4 comeback and setting off Daytona's second consecutive walk-off celebration.

Stat of the Game

2 — Daytona has now earned back-to-back walk-off victories for the second time this season, matching its consecutive walk-offs on May 1 and May 2 against Fort Myers.

Notes

• Daytona improved to 49-61 overall and 28-16 in the second half.
• The Tortugas improved to 8-4 in August.
• Daytona improved to 8-12 on Wednesdays.
• The Tortugas improved to 32-24 at home.
• Daytona improved to 38-42 in night games.
• The Tortugas improved to 35-48 against right-handed starters.
• Daytona improved to 2-42 when trailing after eight innings.
• The Tortugas improved to 17-13 in one-run games.
• Daytona recorded its 24th comeback victory of the season.
• The Tortugas improved to 32-23 when scoring first.
• Daytona improved to 42-16 when scoring at least five runs.
• The Tortugas improved to 36-4 when outhitting their opponent.
• Daytona earned its 10th walk-off victory of the season.
• The Tortugas have won on a walk-off in consecutive games for the second time this season and first since May 1-2 against Fort Myers.
• Daytona leads the seven-game series against Palm Beach, 2-1.
• The Tortugas improved to 5-9 against Palm Beach this season.
• Daytona holds a six-game lead over Palm Beach for first place in the FSL East.
• Hairston scored each of Daytona's first four runs and became the first Tortuga to score four times in a game since Kyle Henley and Drew Davies both did so April 15 against St. Lucie.
• Hairston drew three walks, the first Daytona player to do so since Cano walked three times in Game 2 of the Aug. 5 doubleheader at St. Lucie.
• Hairston recorded his 17th multi-hit game and 11th two-hit game of the season.
• Cano recorded his 23rd multi-hit game and fifth three-hit game of the season.
• Cano recorded his 15th multi-RBI game and 11th two-RBI game of the season.
• Morris tossed 5.0 innings of one-run relief, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out six.
• Morris tied his career high with six strikeouts for the third time this season and first since May 20 at Jupiter.
• Buten extended his hitting streak to five games.
• Buten extended his on-base streak to seven games.
• Cano extended his hitting streak to four games.
• Hairston extended his hitting streak to four games.
• Hairston extended his on-base streak to seven games.
• Lantigua extended his on-base streak to six games.
• Torres extended his on-base streak to four games.

Up Next

The Tortugas continue their seven-game series against the Palm Beach Cardinals on Thursday, August 13 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET.