TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Yankees (20-23) snapped a four-game winning streak and took a step back with a pair of losses, 7-1 and 13-1, to the Daytona Tortugas (24-19) in a doubleheader on Saturday at George M. Steinbrenner Field.Chris Okey paced Daytona's offense with a career-high six RBI in
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Yankees (20-23) snapped a four-game winning streak and took a step back with a pair of losses, 7-1 and 13-1, to the Daytona Tortugas (24-19) in a doubleheader on Saturday at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Chris Okey paced Daytona's offense with a career-high six RBI in the first contest. The 22-year-old drove in runs with a groundout in the second and a fielder's choice in the fourth before slugging a grand slam in the sixth, his first home run of the season.
Albert Abreu (L, 0-2) made his third start with Tampa and his first appearance since being placed on the disabled list on May 2nd. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on three hits in three innings, walking one while striking out three and throwing 31 of 44 pitches for strikes.
The T-Yanks avoided being shutout when Chris Gittens clobbered an opposite-field, solo home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh. It was Gittens' third long ball of the season.
RHP José López (W, 2-3) held the Yankees to one earned run on five hits in six and a third innings, walking one while striking out six and throwing 51 of 75 pitches for strikes. RHP Jake Ehret retired the final two batters of the game.
Daytona pummeled the baseball in the nightcap, collecting 13 runs on 20 hits against a Tampa pitching staff that entered the day with a league-best 2.62 ERA.
Erik Swanson brought a 23.0 consecutive scoreless innings streak into his fifth start with Tampa. That streak snapped after 24 innings when Reydel Medina belted a leadoff home run in the top of the second.
Alfredo Rodriguez led the charge for Daytona with a five-hit performance, tallying four RBI and a run scored out of the leadoff spot. Every Tortuga batter collected a hit, with seven tallying multiple knocks.
The Tortugas batted around twice, scoring five runs in both the third and sixth innings, in addition to a two-out, two run single by Rodriguez in the fifth.
Swanson (L, 1-1) allowed a career-high eight earned runs on 12 hits in four and two-third innings, walking one while striking out three. The 23-year-old threw 69 of 89 pitches for strikes.
Tampa's lone runs came home on a pair of two-out, RBI singles by Gosuke Katoh in the second and sixth innings. It was Katoh's first multi-RBI game of the season.
RHP Jake Paulson made his first start of the season and took a no-decision after holding Tampa to one earned run on six hits in four innings, walking one while striking out four. RHP Sandy Lugo (W, 3-1) earned the win in relief after yielding one earned run on three hits in two innings, striking out three.
Kyle Holder (3-for-7) and Tito Polo (3-for-7) hit safely in both ends of the doubleheader. Gittens (2-for-5, HR, 2BB, RBI, R) recorded a multi-hit game in game one while Holder, Polo, Trey Amburgey (2-for-3, BB, 2R) and Katoh (2-for-3, 2RBI) had multiple hits in game two.
The series concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. when LHP Josh Rogers (3-3, 2.49 ERA) makes the start against RHP Vladimir Gutierrez (3-3, 3.93 ERA). On "Kids Funday Sunday," kids ages 14-and-under can enjoy half-priced kids' meals and run the bases after the game. For tickets and more information, call (813) 673-3055 or visit www.tybaseball.com.
