[Empty Body]
LAKELAND, FL - Ryan Hendrix struck out Ignacio Valdes to strand the tying run at third base in Daytona's 4-3 victory over the Lakeland Flying Tigers Friday night at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. It was Daytona's first win against Lakeland this season.
Lakeland got on the board in the first inning with a Cam Gibson two-out single to left field. Lakeland would only manage one more hit until the ninth inning.
The Tortugas would score all four runs against RHP Kyle Dowdy in the sixth inning. It began with a game tying home run from TJ Friedl into the right field corner, his second with Daytona. Luis Gonzalez followed with his first triple of 2017 and scored the go-ahead run a batter later when Reydel Medina singled to left field for the 2-1 lead.
The Tortugas would put six of the first seven men on base in the inning, chasing Dowdy from the game. Garrett Boulware drove home the final two runs of the inning with a two-run single against reliever RHP Zach Houston.
The Tortugas handed their 4-1 lead over to RHP Ryan Hendrix for the ninth inning. With two on and two out, Hendrix surrendered a two-run triple to Arvicent Perez, putting the tying run at third base. Hendrix responded by fanning Valdez, in his Lakeland debut, to leaving the tying run 90 feet away.
Strahan (1-4) allowed one run in seven innings to earn his first victory since 2015. Dowdy (7-9) allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings to suffer his fourth consecutive loss. Hendrix registered his second save of the year, despite allowing two runs in the ninth.
The series continues Saturday at 6 PM. LHP Seth Varner gets the ball for Daytona, looking for his first win of the year. Coverage begins at 5:50 PM with The Metcare Pregame Show on AM 1230 and AM 1490 WSBB.
NOTES: The win snapped Daytona's eight game losing streak against Lakeland, their longest since our records began in 2005...Boulware went 3-for-3 with a walk, catching his third straight game for the first time in 2017...Strahan completed seven innings for the first time since 2015.
