Tortugas Fall for First Time on Rainy Thursday Night

DAYTONA BEACH—A rainy night with over three hours in delays saw the Palm Beach Cardinals score four times in the eighth to break a tie as they handed the Daytona Tortugas their first loss of the season with a 6-4 defeat on Thursday night (and Friday morning) at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Daytona (5-1) sees an eight-game winning streak dating back to 2022 come to an end while Palm Beach (2-4) earns their first win since Opening Day.

The game started late due to a 1 hour, 21 minute delay due to heavy rain before the game. Both pitchers started off the action with a scoreless first frame.

Palm Beach broke the seal by scratching across a run in the second. Won-Bin Cho drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. After he stole third, Trevyn Fletcher flew out to right and Wendell Marrero made a strong throw home, but Cho just beat the tag to score the first run of the game.

The Tortugas, though, had an answer immediately. In his first at-bat of the season, Andruw Salcedo led off with a single, then scooted to third on a double from Michel Triana. Victor Acosta followed by rolling a ground ball to short that scored Salcedo to tie the game. Leo Balcazar then rolled a ground ball through the right side of a drawn-in infield to put the Tortugas ahead 2-1.

Daytona starter Lyon Richardson then gave way to Kenya Huggins in the fourth. After working around a two-out walk in the fourth, he struck out the side in a 1-2-3 fifth. Immediately after the inning ended, though, lightning in the area forced both teams off the field once again.

This time, the delay lasted 1 hour, 40 minutes before play resumed shortly before 11 p.m. Both teams went scoreless through the remainder of the fifth and sixth before the seventh rolled around.

In the top of that frame, Palm Beach began the inning with back-to-back singles. A sacrifice bunt put two men in scoring position for Lizandro Espinoza, who rolled a well-placed ground ball that tied the game at 2 apiece.

An inning later, the dam broke in favor of Palm Beach. A strikeout wild pitch brought in the go-ahead run before a two-run single from Carlos Linarez and a passed ball allowed a total of four runs to score for Palm Beach.

With a 6-2 lead, Palm Beach looked like they would cruise to the finish line. However, in the bottom of the ninth, the Tortugas came to life.

Three straight doubles from Balcazar, Carlos Jorge, and Yassel Pino opened the inning to score two runs. A bloop single from Ariel Almonte put the tying run on base with no outs. However, Gustavo Rodriguez struck out the next three hitters to cap off a 6-4 win for Palm Beach.

Friday night will be Margaritaville Night, featuring specialty jerseys, Cheeseburger in Paradise and margarita specials as well as live music by the Tropical Drifter on the Riverwalk. RHP Johnathan Harman (1-0, 4.91) will take the hill for the Tortugas against Max Rajcic (0-1, 1.80) for Palm Beach. First pitch will be at 6:35 with gates opening at 5:30. The Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, will have pregame coverage on the Daytona Tortugas Radio Network and Bally Live beginning at 6:20.

Daytona Tortugas single-game tickets and ticket packages are on sale now at daytonatortugas.com, (386) 257-3172, or the box office at 110 East Orange Ave.

ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS

The Daytona Tortugas are the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in downtown Daytona Beach, Fla. Jackie Robinson Ballpark also plays host to Bethune-Cookman University, the Jackie Robinson