Tortugas are Kings of the North

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - The Daytona Tortugas won their first Division Title in Tortugas history Tuesday night with a pair of wins against the Palm Beach Cardinals at Sliwa Stadium on the campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. It's the first division crown for Daytona since 2014 and the first in the first half of a season since 2011.
Daytona railed late in each victory, winning game one 7-2, before a 4-2 victory in the nightcap.
Daytona got the day's scoring started in the bottom of the third inning in game one. Brantley Bell led the inning off with a walk, stole second, moved to third on a bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Taylor Trammell. Jose Siri then doubled to extend the inning and came around to score on a TJ Friedl single up the middle to go up 2-0.
Palm Beach tied the game up in the fifth. José Godoy hit a one-out double against RHP Tony Santillan, and moved to third on a single. Kramer Robertson then followed with a two-out double to get Palm Beach on the board. Robertson came in to score a few pitches later on a Chase Pinder double to tie the score at two.
The Tortugas answered immediately, scoring three in the bottom half of the fifth. Hector Vargas reached first with a one-out infield single and came around to score on a Taylor Trammell double to give Daytona the 3-2 lead. Siri would add an RBI triple, prior to a Tyler Stephenson RBI infield single to make it 5-2.
Daytona put the game away with a pair of runs in the sixth. Mitch Nay led off the frame with a double to left, his 17th of the year, and Ibandel Isabel was hit by a pitch. Then, Brantley Bell came up and hit a bouncer back to the pitcher RHP Junior Fernandez, who turned and sailed the throw into centerfield. Isabel moved to third on the play and scored on a Vargas sacrifice fly.
Santillan (6-4) earned the win in his first complete game of the year. He went seven innings, allowing seven hits, two runs, and a walk, while striking out six. LHP Austin Warner (3-3) took the loss. He allowed five hits, five runs, and two walks in 4 ⅔ innings, while striking out seven.
TJ Friedl kicked off game two's scoring in the bottom of the third, when he hit a two-run triple, scoring Trammell and Vargas to give Daytona a 2-0 lead.
Palm Beach tied the game up with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth on RHP Tommy Berjgans. With two-outs and runners on second and third, Robertson hit a two-run double, scoring Danny Hudzina and Ryan McCarvel to tie the game at two.
Daytona took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth. Friedl was hit-by-a-pitch in the right foot to start the inning, then moved first-to-third on a Randy Ventura single, his first with Daytona. Friedl would come in to score on a Nay ground-out to make it 3-2. Michael Beltre then doubled the lead with a RBI basehit to score Ventura, making it 4-2.
RHP Ryan Hendrix (3-2) earned the win in relief. He pitched a scoreless inning with a walk. RHP Will Latcham (3-3) took the loss. He gave up two hits and allowed the go-ahead runs to score in the sixth. RHP Joel Kuhnel earned his eighth save by pitching a scoreless seventh with a walk.
The Tortugas are off Wednesday, and will begin the second half with a series against the Florida Fire Frogs on Thursday.
First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:05 PM, with coverage beginning at 6:50 PM with The Metcare Pregame Show on AM 1230, AM 1490, and FM 106.9 WSBB.
NOTES: The Tortugas finished the first half with a 37-29 record… Daytona is 9-1 in doubleheader games this season, best in the league, with 4 sweeps… Brantley Bell's career-high 12-game hitting streak came to an end after going 0-for-2 with a walk in game one. He finished 0-for-5 on the day with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored… TJ Friedl was hit by a pitch for the sixth time this season. No other Tortuga has been hit more than three times… Randy Ventura became the 43rd different player to appear in a Tortuga uniform this season and 16th different Tortuga to DH. He was 1-for-3 with a single and a run scored in his debut… Tony Santillan had the Tortugas third complete game in game one. All three complete games were non 9-inning games (2 rain shortened, one DH). He becomes the third Tortuga starter with six wins, a league-high.