Mighty Mussels fall to Flying Tigers, 4-1
Lakeland, Fla. — The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels fell for the second straight night to the Lakeland Flying Tigers, dropping Wednesday’s contest by a final of 4-1 at Publix Field.
Lakeland (58-30, 20-4) took an early 2-0 lead in the first, as a Mussels’ (39-51, 12-14) error with two outs opened the door for a pair of unearned runs against Christian Becerra (2-2). The first run of the frame scored on an error while the second came home on a wild pitch during the following plate appearance.
Lakeland starter R.J. Sales (4-3) outlasted Becerra by a single out. He went five shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 2.45, while racking up four strikeouts and allowing three hits.
Becerra spun 4.2 innings while matching a season high with four strikeouts. He allowed just two hits and a pair of unearned runs, lowering his season ERA to 2.20. Matt Gabbert recorded the final out in the fifth.
In the sixth, Gabbert allowed three straight hits to load the bases with one out. He then punched out Junior Tillien for out number two. Gabbert proceeded to issue a balk on the first pitch to Cristian Santana, plated Jackson Strong and extending the Lakeland lead 3-0.
Ruddy Gomez entered for the seventh. He struck out the side, but allowed an RBI double to Samuel Gil, moving the deficit to 4-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Blaze O’Saben reached on an error. Yohander Martinez then worked the count full and shot a line drive to center, plating O’Saben and breaking up the shutout.
The Mussels return to action today at 5 p.m. Adrian Bohorquez (2-3, 5.13) starts for Fort Myers. Coverage begins at 4:50 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.