Nick Lodolo exits early, but Daytona Tortugas beat Jupiter on Opening Day
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DAYTONA BEACH — The Daytona Tortugas christened their renovated home April 2 with an opening-night victory.
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Jacob Friend and Bernard Moon launched solo home runs, and a trio of Tortugas pitchers combined to toss a three-hitter in a 4-2 victory over the Jupiter Hammerheads at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Thursday's opener featured a tantalizing pitching matchup between starters on rehab assignments with their respective clubs: Cincinnati Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo and Miami Marlins top prospect Thomas White.
Lodolo retired Jupiter's first eight hitters in order with four strikeouts, but exited with a blister after throwing just 40 of his scheduled 60-65 pitches. The 28-year-old has spent time on the injured list each of the last three seasons due to blister issues.
"Electric, a ton of fun to catch," said Friend, the Tortugas' starting catcher. "Whenever you can have a guy like that come down and be with us so guys can watch and learn, it's always fun."
Reds manager Terry Francona said Lodolo was set to make his 2026 debut during the team's April 6-9 series in Miami, barring a setback.
White, the No. 1 prospect in Miami's farm system, struck out four in 2⅔ innings but served up a towering home run to Friend over the brand-new player development facility beyond the right field wall.
Luis De La Cruz entered in White's place and promptly committed three balks, allowing Ichiro Cano to trot around the bases and score Daytona's second run. Moon belted a solo homer to center in the fourth to give the Tortugas a 3-0 advantage.
Jupiter broke up the shutout bid in the fifth when Victor Ortega gapped a ground-rule double underneath the wall in right center.
Arnaldo Lantigua brought home the Tortugas' final run of the night with a bloop single to shallow left, off the glove of Hammerheads shortstop Andrew Salas. Daytona scratched out six hits, but struck out 14 times against Jupiter pitching, eight alone from left-hander Nate Payne.
Daytona will face Jupiter at 6:35 p.m. each of the next two days before embarking on a six-game trip to Lakeland after Easter.
"It's a good, close-knit group," Tortugas manager Ricky Gutierrez said. "I've been getting to know them. When I got to Arizona, I watched them play and noticed that real quick. They play hard. We pitched well. As you saw, we play very good defense.
"It's hard to pinpoint right now early in the season, but the sky's the limit. There's so much talent on this team, and they are hungry. They want to play as a team. To have that at a young age is really good."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Tortugas defeat Jupiter Hammerheads on opening night