DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona Tortugas piled up 14 hits and controlled the game from the middle innings on, defeating Clearwater 9-4 on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The Rundown
Daytona broke through in the second inning. After Bernard Moon was hit by a pitch and Henry Hunter reached on a single, Ichiro Cano ripped a triple down the right-field line, bringing home two runs to give the Tortugas an early 2-0 lead.
The Tortugas extended the lead in the fourth. Moon doubled to open the inning, later scoring on a single from Cano. Kyle Henley followed with an RBI single, and Jacob Friend added another run-scoring hit to cap a three-run frame and push the advantage to 5-0.
Clearwater got on the board in the fifth, then cut into the lead in the sixth with a pair of runs to make it 5-3.
Daytona responded immediately. In the bottom half of the sixth, Rafhlmil Torres reached and advanced into scoring position before Cano delivered a sacrifice fly. Henley followed with a single, and Friend and Tyson Lewis each drove in runs as part of another three-run inning to stretch the lead to 8-3.
Clearwater scratched across one more in the seventh, but Daytona added an insurance run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Friend, sealing the 9-4 victory.
Pitching
Edgar Colon (W, 1-1) earned his first professional victory, allowing one run over 5.0 innings while striking out six.
Andrew Shaffner allowed two runs in relief, and Mike Villani closed it out with 2.0 scoreless innings.
Stat of the Game
14 — Hits for Daytona, tied for the second-most in a game this season.
Notes
• Daytona improves to 12-18 overall and 9-9 at home
• The Tortugas have won five of their last six and are 6-3 on the current homestand
• Daytona is now 11-0 when out-hitting opponents
• The 14 hits are tied for the second-most in a game this season
• The Tortugas recorded their first non-comeback win of the season
• Daytona is now 8-2 when recording 10+ hits
• Colon earned the first win of his professional career
• Cano recorded his first three-hit game of the season and a season-high three RBI
• Henley logged his fourth three-hit game and 11th multi-hit game of the season
• Friend recorded his fifth two-hit game and ninth multi-hit game
• Lewis extended his streak to three straight multi-hit games
• Hunter extended his hitting streak to three games and scored three runs
• Cano extended his hitting streak to three games and on-base streak to eight
• Lantigua’s 13-game on-base streak was snapped
• Moon recorded two doubles and now has 13 on the season, leading the FSL
• Torres extended his on-base streak to five games
• Villani extended his scoreless appearance streak to two games (3.0 IP)
Next Up
Daytona continues its series against Clearwater on Friday, May 8 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET.