Henley Drives in Two, But Eighth-Inning Blast Topples ‘Tugas

CLEARWATER, Fla—Kyle Henley had two hits and his first two RBI of the season, but a leadoff home run in the eighth broke a tie as the Clearwater Threshers nipped the Daytona Tortugas 5-4 on Saturday night at BayCare Ballpark.

Clearwater (5-4) struck out 13 Daytona (4-4) batters as the Tortugas were left playing catch-up nearly the entire night, twice tying the game, but never taking the lead.

Daytona had an opportunity to score right away as a walk and hit batter put two on with one out against Marcus Morgan. However, the right-hander struck out the last two batters of the inning to keep Daytona off the board.

Clearwater, though, took advantage of a pair of free baserunners. After two walks opened the bottom of the first, Aroon Escobar blasted a two-run double to left-center. Two batters later, Kodey Shojinaga singled up the middle to score Escobar, putting the Threshers in front 3-0.

The Tortugas, though, answered right back. Morgan walked each of the first three batters in the inning. Jacob Friend brought in the first run with a sacrifice fly, then with two outs, Kyle Henley brought in a run with an infield hit. After a pitching change, a passed ball brought in Malvin Valdez to tie the game at three apiece.

After a difficult first, Kenya Huggins regrouped with a six-pitch, 1-2-3 second inning. He followed that up with another 1-2-3 third, striking out a pair in the inning. Huggins departed after 3.0 innings, allowing the three runs, but striking out five.

He then departed for JP Ortiz, who struck out a pair in his first inning of work, but also allowed a one-out double to Kodey Shojinaga. With two outs, Raider Tello rolled a base hit of the middle to score Shojinaga, putting the Threshers in front, 4-3.

Ortiz settled down after that, working around a one-out hit in the fifth, then spinning a 1-2-3 sixth with a pair of strikeouts.

In the seventh, Daytona drew even again Ryan Degges. Friend led off with his first hit of the season, then with one out stole second and moved to third on an error. Henley then chopped a grounder over the drawn-in infield, scoring Friend to tie the game. Alfredo Duno then reached on an infield hit and throwing error, putting runners at second and third and one out. However, Degges retired the next two to end the inning. The game was now tied 4-4, though.

Ortiz returned and worked around a two-out hit to secure a scoreless seventh, ending his night with 4.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing a run on four hits and striking out a career-high five batters with no walks.

He handed the ball off to Dalvin Rosario in the eighth. However, Rosario’s second pitch of the inning was blasted down the right field line by Eduardo Tait, who hooked a towering drive over and around the foul pole for his third homer of the series, putting the Threshers back in front.

In the ninth, Degges stayed on and issued a leadoff walk to Bernard Moon. Moon wound up stealing second, but Degges did the rest, striking out the next three batters to end the game as the Threshers won 5-4.

Daytona will look to split the series with Clearwater on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. RHP Luke Holman (0-0, 0.00) gets the ball for Daytona while Clearwater’s starter is still to be determined. Pregame coverage with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, will begin on the Tortugas Radio Network at 11:45 a.m.

Tickets for every Tortugas home game are available on our website, by calling 386-257-3172, or by visiting the Jackie Robinson Ballpark box office at 110 E. Orange Avenue.

ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS

The Daytona Tortugas are in their tenth season as the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at historic Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida that was recently designated a National Commemorative Site. 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.