Tarpons tame Mussels 3-2 on delayed-filled day in Tampa
TAMPA – After over four hours of weather delays Thursday, the Tampa Tarpons defeated the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 3-2 in six innings at Steinbrenner Field.
Keoni Cavaco delivered his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot to left to put Fort Myers (43-30, 2-7) on top 2-0 in the second inning. Cavaco’s dinger left the bat at 104 mph.
The Mighty Mussels put runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings, but were unable to come through.
Fort Myers led 2-0 entering the bottom of the fifth. Starting pitcher Jaylen Nowlin (3-3) had tossed four scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. However, Nowlin walked the leadoff batter before plunking Ben Rice with a pitch. Kyle Battle followed with an RBI single to make it 2-1. Nowlin then walked Raimfer Salinas and was removed from the game.
Reliever Anthony Escobar entered and got Oswaldo Cabrera to ground into a fielder’s choice, making it 2-2. The next batter was Marcos Cabrera, who lifted a sacrifice fly to center to give Tampa (35-42, 8-3) a 3-2 lead.
Since the teams were only able to complete one of their two scheduled games on Thursday, they will play a doubleheader at 4 p.m. today at Steinbrenner Field. Coverage begins at 3:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.