After falling down 5-0 early, the Lakeland Flying Tigers (45-48, 14-14) could not recover as their five-game winning streak came to close with a 6-4 loss to the Jupiter Hammerheads (46-48, 9-19) on Friday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.
After Lakeland starting pitcher Cash Kuiper exited the game after three pitches, Jupiter tallied four runs in the first off reliever Xiomer Guacache. PJ Morlando led off the game with a walk, moved to third on an Andres Valor double. Max Williams walked and Jake McCutcheon smacked a two-run double, scoring Morlando and Valor. Yoffry Solano drove in Williams on a single and an error on the play also scored McCutcheon, putting the Hammerheards in front, 4-0.
Jupiter added one more run in the second off Guacache. Jeremy Almonte blasted a solo shot to extend the visitors’ lead to 5-0.
Lakeland got on the board with one run in the fourth off reliever Eiler Morillo. Jack Goodman led off with a walk, advanced to second on a single from Javier Osorio, moved to third on a fielder’s choice from Jordan Yost and scored on a Beau Ankeney sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
The Flying Tigers tacked on one more run in the fifth off Morillo. Edian Espinal smacked a solo shot, his third long ball in as many games to slice the gap to 5-2.
The Hammerheads responded with one run in the seventh off reliever Yendy Gomez. Williams walked, moved to second on a Solano single, advanced to third on a hit by pitch to Luis Arana and scored on a sacrifice fly from Josh Hogue, extending the lead to 6-2.
Lakeland answered with one run in the bottom half of the seventh off reliever Ramon Sanchez. Thayron Liranzo drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a groundout from Jude Warwick, cutting the deficit to 6-3.
The Flying Tigers added one more run in the ninth off reliever Engel Peralta. Hunter Dobbins extended his on-base streak to 10 games with a leadoff double and scored on an RBI single from Jesus Pinto. Lakeland’s rally fell short, as Peralta stranded the tying run on first and closed out a 6-4 Jupiter win.
Morillo (5-1) got the win, allowing two runs on three hits across 3.1 innings while striking out five and walking two. Guacache (2-3) took the loss, allowing four hits on a season-high five runs over 2.0 innings while walking three and punching out one. Peralta (1) earned his first save since 2023, going the final 1.0 inning while surrendering one run on two hits with one walk.
Lakeland has another opportunity at a series win as they host the Hammerheads at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Flying Tigers send RHP Malachi Witherspoon (3-3, 5.68) to the hill to face Jupiter LHP Dameivi Tineo (0-4, 2.87).
