DAYTONA, Fla (Sept. 1, 2017) - The Florida Fire Frogs took an early 3-0 lead, but fell to the Daytona Tortugas, 4-3 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The loss hands the Fire Frogs the series defeat to end the inaugural season.
DAYTONA, Fla (Sept. 1, 2017) - The Florida Fire Frogs took an early 3-0 lead, but fell to the Daytona Tortugas, 4-3 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The loss hands the Fire Frogs the series defeat to end the inaugural season.
Florida (23-39, 48-80) used a lead-off double from Stephen Gaylor (2x5, R, 2B) to jump out to an early lead in the first. Ray-Patrick Didder (1x3) placed down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner up to third, and Alay Lago (1x5, RBI) brought the man home with a ground out to short for the 1-0 advantage.
Kyle Wright tossed two innings in his final start of the season, allowing just one hit while picking up three punchouts on 27 pitches (18 strikes).
Tanner Murphy (1x4, RBI) and Alejandro Salazar (2x4, RBI) tallied RBI singles in the fourth to push the Fire Frogs ahead by three.
Raymar Navarro took over the reins on the mound, and carried the two-run edge into the sixth before being lifted after Malik Collymore singled home Luis Gonzalez to cut the lead to two.
Chad Sobotka (1-4) inherited runners at first and second and one out, and let go of a wild pitch to move both runners into scoring position. Chris Okey bounced into a fielder's choice, plating James Vasquez to shrink Florida's lead to one.
Daytona (19-48, 52-80) plated two runs against Adam McCreery , who took over with runners at first and second with nobody out.
The tall left-hander walked Vasquez to load the bases in front of Brantley Bell's run-scoring single to knot the game at three apiece. McCreery then uncorked a wild pitch, bringing across Shane Mardirosian for the go-ahead run.
The Fire Frogs had one last chance to tie the game in the ninth with Didder at first and one out, but the base runner was caught stealing and Lago grounded out to end the game.
Austin Orewiler (5-4) earned the win out of the Tortugas' bullpen with 2.1 scoreless innings. Aaron Quillen worked a perfect eighth on three pop outs, and Jose Rafael De Paula (SV, 1) earned the save with a scoreless ninth.
Florida will look to salvage the series in game four of the five-game set at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Saturday night. LHP Jaret Hellinger (0-0, --) makes his team debut for the Fire Frogs against the Tortugas' RHP Wyatt Strahan (1-6, 4.19). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., with coverage starting at 6:50 p.m. on the Florida Fire Frogs Broadcasting Network.
About the Florida Fire Frogs
The Florida Fire Frogs are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and compete in the Florida State League. The Fire Frogs play their home games at Osceola County Stadium, located at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Fla. For more information, please visit www.FloridaFireFrogs.com, and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.
