DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Drew Davies lined a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Daytona Tortugas to a 10-9 win over the Palm Beach Cardinals on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The Rundown
Palm Beach grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first when Ryan Mitchell doubled home Brayden Smith, but Daytona answered immediately with a three-run second. Kyle Henley singled and stole second before advancing to third on a passed ball. Dylan King drove him home with an RBI single, then stole second before Bernard Moon lined a two-run single through the left side to score both King and Anielson Buten, giving the Tortugas a 3-1 lead.
After the Cardinals plated an unearned run in the third, Daytona answered again when Henley crushed a two-run homer to left-center, scoring Arnaldo Lantigua and stretching the advantage to 5-2. Palm Beach responded with solo home runs from Yordalin Peña and Jonathan Mejía in the fourth to pull within a run, but Moon came through again in the bottom half, ripping an RBI double to center to score King and restore Daytona's two-run cushion.
The Tortugas created breathing room in the sixth. Ichiro Cano singled before Moon was hit by a pitch following a throwing error on a pickoff attempt. With two aboard, Jalen Hairston unloaded on the first pitch he saw from Kaden Echeman, launching a three-run homer to right that pushed Daytona's lead to 9-4.
Palm Beach refused to go away. The Cardinals scored twice in the seventh without recording a hit, taking advantage of two hit batters, two walks and a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 9-6. An eighth-inning sacrifice fly made it 9-7 before Palm Beach completed the comeback in the ninth. Three consecutive singles plated one run, and a sacrifice fly by Mejía tied the game at 9-9, erasing Daytona's five-run advantage.
The Tortugas responded immediately in the bottom of the ninth. Ty Doucette opened the inning with a double into the right-center gap and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Henley struck out, Davies lined a single into left-center, bringing home Doucette with the winning run and giving Daytona its sixth walk-off victory of the season and first since June 10.
Notes
• Daytona has won four straight, tying its longest winning streak of the season.
• The Tortugas are 10-6 in the second half and in first place in the FSL East.
• Daytona improved to 31-51 overall.
• The Tortugas lead the series 2-0 and are 3-5 against Palm Beach this season.
• Daytona improved to 5-2 in July, 24-35 in night games and 20-21 at home.
• Daytona improved to 23-0 when leading after eight innings and 22-3 when leading after seven.
• The Tortugas improved to 11-11 in one-run games.
• Daytona improved to 17-5 when recording 10 or more hits.
• The Tortugas improved to 19-17 when hitting a home run and 10-8 when homering with men on base.
• Daytona improved to 25-11 when scoring five or more runs and 23-2 when outhitting its opponent.
• It was Daytona’s sixth walk-off win of the season and first since June 10, when Yeycol Soriano scored on a wild pitch against Jupiter.
• Moon recorded his fifth three-hit game and 21st multi-hit game of the season.
• Moon doubled again and continues to lead the Florida State League in doubles and extra-base hits.
• Moon recorded his 11th multi-RBI game and second three-RBI game of the season.
• Henley recorded his 22nd multi-hit game, 16th two-hit game and seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
• Henley hit his second home run of the season.
• King set a new career high with three hits, passing his previous high of two.
• King recorded his third multi-hit game of the season.
• Davies recorded his 10th multi-hit game and tied his career high with two hits for the 31st time.
• Hairston recorded his third multi-RBI game and second three-RBI game of the season.
• All nine Tortugas reached base safely.
• Davies extended his on-base streak to 22 games, the longest by a Tortuga this season, and his hitting streak to 10 games.
• Doucette extended his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 15.
• Moon extended his hitting streak to four games and his on-base streak to six.
• Hairston extended his hitting streak to five games and his on-base streak to nine.
• Lantigua extended his on-base streak to four games.
• Henley extended his on-base streak to seven games.
• Cano extended his hitting streak to four games.
• Buten extended his on-base streak to five games.
Up Next
The Tortugas continue their six-game series against the Palm Beach Cardinals on Thursday, July 9 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET.