Rubio Walk-Off Snaps Manatees Losing Streak

Elvis Rubio Walk-Off Homer

After losing on a walk-off grand slam on Tuesday, the Brevard County Manatees were finally on the receiving end of some good fortune on Wednesday, when Elvis Rubio drove an Ariel Hernandez pitch over the left field wall, sending the Manatees off with a 7-6 win and sending the crowd at Space Coast Stadium home with smiles on their faces.

“That was huge. Rubio’s been swinging the bat well in the four-hole and I had a good vibe about him,” said Manatees skipper Joe Ayrault. “He’s put together some good ABs, had three hits on the night, that being the huge one for us in that ballgame.”

Rubio’s three hits led the Manatees 13-hit attack and helped snap an 11-Game losing streak. The victory was the first of the second half for the Manatees, as they improved to 1-6 and 24-51 overall. The way things started, it looked as if the Manatees might have to wait another night to snap the streak, as Daytona put up two runs against Cody Ponce in the top of the first. 

Ty Washington singled to start the game and stole second. It was just the start of a big night for him. Blake Trahan singled, moving Washington to third. Trahan then took off for second and an errant throw by catcher Gregory McCall plated the first Daytona run. Trahan went to third on the error and he would later score on a Brian O’Grady sacrifice fly, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead.

Brevard County got one run back in the bottom of the first when Dustin DeMuth hit his fifth big fly of the season off of Daytona starter Tejay Antone, a 374-foot shot, cutting the lead to 2-1. They would tie things up in the bottom of the second, when Jose Cuas and Malik Collymore hit one out singles. Omar Garcia was back in the lineup after being held out for a few games and he reached on an error by Antone, who was going for a force out. The error allowed Cuas to score, tying things up. 

Blake Allemand singled, putting runners at the corners, but the Manatees were unable to get another run in.

The game wasn’t tied for long, because Washington led off the top of the third with his second homer of the season, making it a 3-2 contest. Trahan followed with a sinking liner toward Coulter in right that looked like it was going to fall, but Coulter made a nice diving, snow cone grab, highlighting the inning defensively for the ‘Tees. They got the run right back in the third inning when McCall took Antone deep, for his third home run of the season. That one just cleared the wall in left-center and resulted in a delayed home run call, while the umpires waited to see if it had left the park. When it did, the game was knotted at three. “He was very impressive too, going the opposite way,” said Ayrault of McCall. “It was an exciting night.”

Ponce, who is still being worked with caution as he makes his way back from arm issues back in the spring, was done after four innings. He hadn’t gone more than three in any of his previous outings. 

He gave up four hits and three runs (two earned), didn’t walk a batter and struck out two. 34 of his 46 pitches went for strikes. “Our main concern right now is his health, getting out there and getting acclimated in his first full season,” said Ayrault. “I’m looking forward to him extending that pitch count, staying healthy and doing some good things for us.”

Angel Ventura (3-2) who was just added to the active roster before the game on Wednesday, after a stint on the disabled list, followed Ponce in relief. Unfortunately for Ventura, Washington came up again in the fifth. Garrett Boulware led off with a single and one out later, Washington sent his second homer of the night over the center field wall, giving Daytona a 5-3 lead. 

The Manatees battled back in the sixth, getting one of those runs back. McCall led off with a single and moved to second moments later on a failed pickoff attempt by Antone. One out later, Omar Garcia tripled into right field. The ball caromed off the side wall and the chase was on, allowing McCall to score and cut the lead to 5-4. With that, Antone’s night was done. He gave way to Nolan 

Becker, who struck out Allemand to end the inning. Antone was charged with four runs on nine hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out four. He threw 58 pitches, 44 for strikes.

Daytona (4,3, 40-36) got that run back in the top of the seventh on a Gavin LaValley RBI double, extending the Daytona lead to 6-4. Singles by DeMuth and Rubio in the bottom of the inning, ended the night for Becker. He was relieved by Jeremy Kivel, who immediately threw a wild pitch with Coulter in the box, allowing both runners to move up. Coulter’s sac fly, made it 6-5.

Brennan Bernadino came in to pitch the eighth for Daytona and got through that inning without a problem. In the ninth he gave up a single to Garcia and a sac bunt to Allemand, before striking out DeMuth. Daytona manager Eli Marrero decided to go to the ‘pen again, bringing in Ariel Hernandez to face Rubio. With two down and a 2-1 count on him, Rubio muscled up and sent one over the left field wall, giving the Manatees their second walk-off win of the season.

For more info: Daytona @ Brevard County boxscore

Overall, the teams combined to hit five home runs in the game, a rare feat in Viera. “You don’t see that very often here at Space Coast Stadium,” said Ayrault. 

This home-at-home series concludes Thursday in Daytona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

This article originally appeared on the now defunct Examiner.com on 6/29/16