DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Clearwater closed the series with three straight wins, defeating the Daytona Tortugas 11-3 on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark to take the six-game set, 4-2.
Before Sunday’s finale, Daytona and Clearwater played a Saturday doubleheader after a 3:33 delay pushed Game 1 to a 7:33 p.m. first pitch. The Threshers took the opener 4-2 behind a three-run fifth, then completed the sweep with a 7-5 win in Game 2 despite Daytona scoring five runs over the final four innings.
The Rundown
Clearwater broke through in the third inning. After Victor Cardoza singled and Nolan Beltran reached on an error, Griffin Burkholder doubled home two runs. Alirio Ferrebus followed with an RBI single, then scored later in the inning on a triple by Matthew Ferrara, giving Clearwater a 4-0 lead.
Daytona answered in the bottom half. Jacob Friend walked, Kyle Henley doubled him to third, and Ty Doucette brought home Friend with a groundout. Henley then scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 4-2.
The Threshers added three more in the fourth. Tyler Pettorini tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly before Ferrebus delivered a two-run single, stretching the lead to 7-2.
Daytona got one back in the fifth when Ichiro Cano walked and scored on an RBI double from Friend, but Clearwater pulled away late with three runs in the seventh and another in the eighth.
Pitching
Deivi Villafana took the loss, allowing seven runs, five earned, over 5.0 innings.
Jordan Little worked 2.0 innings in relief before Lisnerkin Lantigua covered the final two frames.
Stat of the Game
3 — Clearwater won the final three games of the series after Daytona had won four straight entering Saturday.
Notes
• Daytona falls to 12-21 overall.
• Clearwater won the series 4-2.
• The Tortugas have lost three straight.
• Daytona heads on a two-week road trip beginning Tuesday, with six games at Palm Beach followed by six games at Jupiter.
• Friend drove in his 27th run of the season, on his 11th double, the second most of any Tortuga this season.
• Moon recorded a multi-hit game.
• Davies doubled in the ninth, his fourth of the season.
Next Up
Daytona begins a six-game road series at Palm Beach on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.