Weekend wrap: Mussels drop two of three to visiting Flying Tigers
Fort Myers’ offense silent in late innings, drops series to Lakeland
FORT MYERS – Ramiro Dominguez and Jake Rucker each homered as the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Lakeland Flying Tigers by a final score of 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Lee Health Sports Complex.
High-A rehabber Ross Dunn made his first rehab appearance with Fort Myers (47-40, 10-12) after making two starts with the FCL Twins earlier this month. Lakeland (42-47, 11-13) third baseman Carson Rucker poked a two-out, two-run single into center field to put the Flying Tigers in front 2-0. Dunn recorded three backwards Ks (batters looking and not swinging) in the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Ramiro Dominguez smoked a lead-off home run to left-center field to put Fort Myers on the board. Dominguez’s ninth blast of the season left the bat at 104.8 mph. It’s the Mighty Mussels first leadoff home run since Dameury Pena on June 3, 2025.
Jonathan Stevens took over in the second and faced the minimum in the frame.
In the bottom of the second, the Mussels tied the game. After a mid-at bat pitching change to bring Donye Evans on in relief, Ricardo Paez punched a single into right field to score Byron Chourio from second base.
Merit Jones relieved Stevens in the third. Jones worked around two singles by the Flying Tigers to preserve the tie, striking out the side.
Fort Myers took the lead in the third inning. Double-A rehabber Jake Rucker uncorked a 107.2 mph solo home run to left field to make the score 3-2. He is now hitting .583 (7-for-12) with the Mighty Mussels during his rehab.
Lakeland rehabber Joe Miller (1-0) worked two scoreless frames, throwing 21 of his 33 pitches for strikes.
Jones worked three scoreless innings, fanning six Flying Tigers and throwing nearly 75% strikes.
Triple-A rehabber Julian Merryweather (0-1) took over in the sixth. Following a dropped pop-up error by Harry Genth, Merryweather gave up a two-run home run to Zach MacDonald to put Lakeland in front 4-3. Merryweather struck out two Flying Tigers in the frame.
Adam Falinski relieved Merryweather in the seventh. Falinski worked around a lead-off broken-bat single by Beau Ankeney to strand two and record a scoreless inning.
In the eighth inning, the Mussels brought Billy Oldham on in relief. Oldham recorded his first strikeout as a Mussel while stranding a lead-off walk at first base.
Mike McKenna took over in the ninth inning, retiring the side in order.
Connor Fenlong (S1) locked down the final four innings in relief for Lakeland, earning the save.
Fort Myers used six reliever in the game. The line of Stevens, Jones, Merryweather, Falinski, Oldham and McKenna combined to throw eight innings, striking out 10 batters and throwing 69% strikes.
The Mighty Mussels have now dropped three consecutive series and have lost 8 of their last 10 games.
Fort Myers begins a seven-game series in Port St. Lucie against the Mets Tuesday, July 21. The Mighty Mussels Baseball Network will provide audio broadcasts for the first six games of the week. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 5:50 p.m.
Rucker’s four-hit day not enough in loss to Lakeland
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Lakeland Flying Tigers by a final score of 7-3 Saturday night at Lee Health Sports Complex.
Double-A rehabber Jake Rucker collected four base hits tonight, all coming with two strikes. Rucker had three singles and a double, joining Minnesota Twins No. 1 prospect Walker Jenkins as the rehabbers to have four hits in a Mighty Mussels’ game this season.
In 504 minor league contests, J. Rucker now has two four-hit games. The other occurrence was 11 days ago with the FCL Twins on July 9.
He and his brother Carson Rucker, who batted eighth for the Flying Tigers on Saturday, combined to go 7-for-9 with four extra-base hits and two home runs.
“It’s really cool to see,” Jake Rucker said postgame. “I was talking with him [Carson] pregame about adjustments, just playing the game and having fun.”
Fort Myers (47-39, 10-11) tabbed Jason Reitz (0-2) to make his eighth start of the season. Reitz retired the side in order in the first, with all three outs coming in the air.
For the third consecutive game, the Mighty Mussels struck in the bottom of the first inning. Ramiro Dominguez and J. Rucker each singled to open the inning. Two batters later, Jayson Bass ripped a two-run double down the right-field line to put the Mussels up 2-0.
Reitz faced the minimum in the second inning despite allowing a leadoff single to Lakeland’s (40-47, 10-13) Nick Dumesnil, who Irvin Nunez caught trying to steal second base.
In the top of the third inning, with two on and two out, All-Star rehabber Gleyber Torres hit an opposite-field three-run home run to put Lakeland in front. Because of an error earlier in the inning, all three runs against Reitz went unearned.
In the bottom of the inning, Dominguez singled and J. Rucker doubled to set up second and third. Bass drove in his third run of the night on a sacrifice fly and the Mussels tied the game. Bass now has 48 RBI on the season, extending his team lead.
Lakeland took the lead right back in the top of the fourth, as Jesus Pinto demolished a two-run home run to left-center field to give the Flying Tigers the advantage at 5-3. Nick McAuliffe took over and stranded a man to keep the deficit at two.
Major League rehabber Garrett Acton worked two clean frames across the fifth and sixth innings. Acton threw 21 pitches and struck out one batter.
Ramiro Villanueva took over in the seventh and gave up a lead-off solo home run to C. Rucker, extending Lakeland’s lead to 6-3.
Yendy Gomez (4-2) worked two solid innings in relief for Lakeland, earning the win.
Villanueva pitched into the eighth, but was relieved by Brent Francisco with one out. Aided by the third caught stealing of the night by Nunez, Francisco faced just two in the eighth.
In the ninth, Francisco gave up a lead-off, opposite-field home run to C. Rucker, his second of the night. For C. Rucker, it was his second multi-home run game of the season. Lakeland hit four home runs tonight, three of them went to the opposite field.
The Mussels went quietly in the ninth, setting up a rubber match on Sunday.
Mighty Mussels throw last punch in back-and-forth series opener with Lakeland
FORT MYERS – JP Smith II drove in three runs and blasted a go-ahead home run as the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers by a final score of 9-5 Friday at Lee Health Sports Complex.
In a game that saw the Flying Tigers fight back and force three ties, JP Smith II’s two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning proved to be the difference in the Mighty Mussels’ win.
Fort Myers (47-38, 10-10) handed Reed Moring the ball in their first game out of the All-Star Break. Moring induced a flyout from rehabbing All-Star Gleyber Torres on his way to a 1-2-3 top of the first.
Ramiro Dominguez walked and Double-A rehabber Jake Rucker singled to begin the bottom of the first against Major League rehabber Burch Smith. Sacrifice flies from Luis Fragoza and JP Smith II put the Mussels on top 2-0.
Three consecutive Lakeland (40-47, 9-13) singles to begin the top of the second against Moring tied the game. With two on and two out, Moring induced a flyout from Detroit Tigers No. 7 prospect Jordan Yost to limit the damage and keep the game tied.
Moring finished with seven strikeouts in 3.2 innings, throwing 49 of his 67 pitches for strikes. With two out in the fourth, Callan Fang came on and struck out the only man he faced in the frame.
In the bottom half, Fort Myers took the lead back. With two on and two out, Ramiro Dominguez lined a run-scoring single off the glove of Yost to bring home Byron Chourio. Merphy Hernandez, who singled earlier in the frame, scored on a wild pitch during the next at bat. The Mussels took a 4-2 lead to the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Dominguez drove in Chourio again, lining a ball that deflected off Yost’s mitt, making the score 5-3.
Fang recorded five strikeouts over 2.2 scoreless innings. After recording one out in the seventh, he gave way to Dylan Questad.
Questad issued two consecutive walks, then Nick Dumesnil smoked a two-run double to right field to make it 5-4. Michael Hilker Jr. (4-2) was the third Mussel pitcher of the inning, and he allowed the inherited runner to score on a game-tying RBI single by Edian Espinal.
After Luis Fragoza reached on a catcher’s interference, Smith paid it off with an opposite-field home run against Jan Caraballo (2-4) to give the Mussels a 7-5 lead. Smith’s 11th of the season travelled 377 feet and left the bat at 103.4 mph.
Later in the frame, M. Hernandez roped a two-run double into right-center field to double Fort Myers’ lead, making the score 9-5.
Triple-A rehabber Julian Merryweather needed just eight pitches to strike out two Flying Tigers and secure the win.