Daytona Tortugas Have A Knack For Walk-Off Wins

The Daytona Tortugas are playing a rare back-to-back homestand this week. Last week, the Cincinnati Reds affiliate went 4-2 in the six-game set against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, who are an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

Within those four wins were two walk-offs, A 5-4 win on May 1, and 7-6 win on May 2.

In the former, right fielder Arnaldo Lantigua hit the game-winning single, scoring catcher Jacob Friend.  

In the latter, the win came on a silver platter as Fort Myers had a complete meltdown that included a passed ball and throwing error by catcher Irvin Nunez on different plays, two wild pitches and a hit by pitcher by righty Mitch Mueller.

The second wild pitch by Mueller opened a path for Henry Hunter to cross the plate, representing the game-winning run with two out in the ninth and two strikes on shortstop Tyson Lewis.

The Mighty Mussels did have some fun whilst at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, walloping Daytona 24-8 in the third game of the series. The Tortugas committed four errors, two by second baseman Bernard Moon, leading to 10 of the runs being unearned.

Daytona opened the first game of the second straight homestand with a 9-8 win against the Philadelphia Phillies’ affiliated Clearwater Threshers.

It too was a walk-off victory.

Down 6-2 in the fifth, Daytona’s offense got going, aided by catcher Jacob Friend, the Florida State League player of the month. He continues to crush it to the tune of a .341 batting average, six home runs and a 1.168 OPS.  

However, the hits leader of the night went to Lewis, who checked in with three hits, including the winning walk-off home run with one out in the ninth.

The third baseman raised his batting average to .245 and OPS to .656. Lewis has also collected four stolen bases in 26 games played.

The best performance on the mound in the win goes to Brady Afthim.  He tossed 2.2 innings, striking out two, lowering his ERA to an even three over 12 innings pitched. Afthim is a strike thrower, averaging a K per innings, though his WHIP is a lofty 1.42.

The game-winning play in last night's Tortugas win over the Thrashers.

Daytona, 11-17, is in last place within the Florida State League’s East Division.

Clearwater is 16-12, they are tied for first in the FSL’s West Division with Fort Myers. The Thrasher are joined by the Palm Beach Cardinals in a three-way tie for the best record in the league. Daytona will face Palm Beach next week, on the road.

In case you missed it, that means the Tortugas are playing the three best teams in 18 straight games. No easy task.

Keep an eye on Clearwater’s 22nd-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline, catcher, designated hitter and first baseman Alirio Ferrebus. He is off to a blistering .356 batting average and 1.035 OPS.

Gage Wood was the Phillies' April pitcher of the month. Drafted in the first round in 2025, April was his first full month of professional baseball. If the Thrashers stay true to their rotation, Wood would pitch on Friday evening. For the season, the righty has a 3.20 ERA along with a 1.07 WHIP.

There is no rain in the forecast, so come out to The Jack and have a blast!

Charles I. Guarria is an author, reporter and host based in the state of Florida, USA, covering any topic, anywhere in the world. His career began in 2009. Mr. Guarria is a three-time winner of Emerald Group Publishing’s Highly Commended Award and host of The Opinion Guy Fun Friendly Informative.

He is available for hire to write, research, or beta-read.

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Photo Credit: Daytona Tortugas

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