Florida Drops Tight Contest in Extras to Daytona to Open Second Half
June 21, 2018 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Florida Fire Frogs News Release
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Florida Fire Frogs had a late lead slip away in a 2-1, 10-inning loss to the Daytona Tortugas on Thursday night at Osceola County Stadium to open up the second half. The defeat drops the Atlanta Braves' affiliate to 3-6 in extra-inning contests.
Alejandro Salazar (0x3, RBI, BB) gave Florida (0-1, 29-38) the early advantage with an RBI groundout in the second inning. Braxton Davidson (0x2, R, BB) started the frame with a free pass, and moved up to second on a single to right from Kurt Hoekstra (1x4). After a fielder's choice off the bat of Garrison Schwartz (1x3, BB) put runners at the corner's, Salazar hit a high chopper to second, scoring Davidson for the 1-0 lead.
Joey Wentz worked four scoreless innings in his first start of the second half. The 20-year-old allowed an infield single to Bruce Yari and walked Mitch Nay to start to second inning, but retired the next nine batters to dig in. The organization's 10th-ranked prospect (MLB.com) added two strikeouts to his line, and finished the night with 64 pitches, with 41 crossing the zone for strikes.
Luis Salazar brought Jon Kennedy in from the bullpen for the fifth and sixth innings, and the Australian left-hander limited Daytona (1-0, 38-29) to a hit while picking up two punchouts.
Justin Kelly followed and worked around a two-out double in the seventh, but allowed the tying run to come across in the eighth.
Brantley Bell singled to start the frame, and moved up to third two batters later on Alan Trammell's double to right-center. Michael Beltre bounced a grounder to short, pushing Bell home to knot the game at a run apiece.
The Tortugas plated the winning run in the top of the 10th against Josh Graham (1-2) on an RBI knock from Bell. With Stuart Fairchild taking off from second on an 0-1 pitch, Bell drove a single up the middle to bring around the runner.
The Fire Frogs had a chance to tie the game in the bottom half of the extra frame, but Salazar, Lucas Herbert (1x4) and Kevin Josephina (0x4) went down in order to end the game.
Aaron Fossas (3-1) earned the win out of the bullpen for the visitors, tossing two scoreless innings with one hit allowed and two strikeouts. Joel Kuhnel (SV, 9) earned the save with the perfect 10th.
The Fire Frogs will look to tie the four-game series at one on Friday night at Osceola County Stadium. LHP Kyle Muller (2-1, 3.62) makes his first career start against the Tortugas against LHP Wennington Romero (6-3, 3.99). First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., with coverage starting at 5:45 p.m. with the Florida Fire Frogs Pre-game Show on the Florida Fire Frogs Broadcasting Network.
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