No Fireworks tonight, Tarpons fall to Tortugas, 12-2
July 1, 2023 - Florida State League (FSL)
Tampa Tarpons News Release
Tampa Tarpons dig for first
(Tampa Tarpons)
TAMPA, Fla. - As the calendar flipped to July, the Tampa Tarpons (3-4) offense came out cold, dropping Saturday night's contest to the Daytona Tortugas (6-1) at GMS Field, 12-2. After giving up two runs in the top of the first inning, Tampa answered right back to tie the score. However, that was all the offense the Tarpons could muster up in the loss.
RHP Sean Hermann (2.1IP, 4H, 7R, 4ER, 6BB) struggled during his brief start. His command issues led to four walked batters while also hitting one in the first frame. Hermann's major issue was generating swings and misses. Despite throwing 68 pitches, he only recorded one swing and miss the entire outing. To put a positive spin on the night, Daytona's batters did not hit Hermann's pitches all too hard. Hermann's average exit velocity against was only 78.7 MPH.
Back-to-back one-out walks from Hector Rodriguez and Sal Stewart set up the Tortugas in the first. After Cade Hunter hit into a fielder's choice, runners were at the corners, and a balk brought in the game's first run. Hermann's control issues continued when he walked the bases loaded and plunked Yassel Pino to plate the second run of the inning.
SS Jared Serna grounded the first pitch he saw down the left field line, pulling into second with a first-inning leadoff double. After 2B Brenny Escanio walked, he and Serna advanced on a groundout. CF Anthony Hall knotted the game at two, dumping a two-RBI single to right field.
Daytona batted around to reclaim the lead in the third. Hunter walked, moved to second on a fielder's choice, and came around to score on a bloop single from Johnny Ascanio. Yassel Pino tripled to deep right center to extend the lead to two. With Pino at third, Yerlin Confidan bounced a ball to second, and Escanio made a good throw home, but C Ben Rice could not handle the throw, allowing another run to score. Escanio could not handle a ground ball off the bat of Rodriguez, extending the Tortuga lead to four. The scoring did not stop there. Stewart doubled, adding two more to the already dreadful inning for Tampa.
The rest of Daytona's scoring came in the eighth. Confidan singled, Logan Tanner walked, and Carlos Jorge singled past a diving 1B Ronny Rojas to add to the Tortuga lead. Then, Rodriguez executed a hit and run, which resulted in an RBI single to grow the lead to eight. A single off the bat of the Cincinnati Reds' fourth-ranked prospect, Cam Collier, plated Jorge. The fourth run of the inning came on a wild pitch that allowed Rodriguez to score to make the score 12-2, which would hold firm for the rest of the game.
The Tarpons will be back at it tomorrow, taking on the Tortugas. RHP Justin Lange will take the ball, with first pitch coming at 12:00 p.m.
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 Tampa Tarpons dig for first |
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