Manatees Open 2014 Campaign With Victory
By Brevard County Manatees // April 3, 2014
1-0 victory over the Daytona Cubs
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — The Brevard County Manatees opened up their 2014 campaign at Space Coast Stadium with a tight, 1-0 victory over the Daytona Cubs on Thursday evening, in front of 3,576 fans.
Brevard County (1-0 first half, 1-0 overall) grabbed the early lead in the bottom half of the third inning on a two-out, RBI double by center fielder Tyrone Taylor and never looked back.
Led by a strong performance by right-hander Tyler Wagner (1-0, 0.00 ERA), Daytona (0-1, 0-1) was only able to muster three hits off the Las Vegas native. Wagner struck out three and walked only two, over his five innings of work.
The Cubs attempted to rally in the seventh inning as first baseman Dan Vogelbach and third baseman Jeimer Candelario led off with consecutive singles, but right-handed reliever Martin Viramontes was able to buckle down. The former USC Trojan struck out left fielder Rock Shoulders and got catcher Chadd Krist hit a double play ball to third to end the threat.
Viramontes’ night was a part of a stout effort by the Manatees’ bullpen as he and left-handerStephen Peterson combined to allow just three base runners over their combined three innings of work.
Tommy Toledo, who led the Manatees in saves a year ago, closed the door on the Cubs by getting Candelario to fly out to center – after allowing a two out walk – to end the game.
Felix Pena took the loss in his first start with the Cubs, allowing the game’s only run on three hits over six innings.
The Manatees will travel to Daytona tomorrow evening to play the second game of this four-game opening series. Right-hander Damien Magnifico will take the mound for the Manatees against the Cubs’ Jose Rosario. First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m.
