St. Lucie goes ahead with two outs in ninth to even series
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—Sammy Stafura and Alfredo Duno each tallied three-hit nights, but the St. Lucie Mets pulled ahead in the ninth to defeat the Daytona Tortugas 2-1 on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
St. Lucie (18-17) snapped a five-game losing streak to even the series, overcoming Daytona’s (16-19) rally to tie the game in the eighth inning.
Daytona produced leadoff hits in the first two innings against St. Lucie starter Will Watson. Stafura singled in the first, but was stranded at third. Duno and Carter Graham singled to put two on with one out, but Watson retired the next two.
Two innings later in the fourth, Duno doubled with one out, then a pair of two-out walks loaded the bases. However, Watson ended the threat with a strikeout.
Daytona starter Adrian Herrera turned in his best start of the season, throwing 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk and striking out three.
In the fifth, Cole Schoenwetter entered for Daytona and allowed a one-out triple to Simon Juan, who scored one batter later scored on a Trace Wilhoite sacrifice fly to put St. Lucie in front 1-0.
Schoenwetter responded with a scoreless sixth, but then ran into trouble as a walk and single put runners at the corners with no outs in the seventh. He threw out a runner at the plate off a comebacker, then with two outs, allowed a single to left. Luis Leones, though, threw a strike to the plate to cut down a second runner at the dish to end the inning, keeping the score 1-0.
Jacob Gilbert then came on and threw a scoreless eighth, navigating a two-out single to put another zero on the board. At that point, the Tortugas had no baserunners since the fourth, but soon mounted a rally.
Stafura led off the eighth with his third hit of the night, then stole second with out. Carlos Sanchez then blasted a triple into the gap in right-center, scoring Stafura to tie the game. Bernard Moon followed with a chopper to third, but Sanchez was cut down at the plate. Duno then picked up his third hit, but a strikeout stranded two on, but the game was now tied, 1-1.
In the ninth, Gilbert issued a one-out walk, but then picked up a strikeout. However, with two outs, Wilhoite pulled a ground ball down the third base line that rolled all the way to the left-field corner, scoring Yohairo Cuevas from first to put the Mets in front, 2-1.
Daytona then went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, suffering a one-run defeat to even the series.
Daytona plays game three of their six-game series against the St. Lucie Mets at The Jack on Thursday night. Tomorrow will be Taps and Tacos with taco specials and half-price drink specials tomorrow night. Pregame coverage with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, will begin on the Tortugas Radio Network and MiLB.tv at 6:20.
Tickets for every Tortugas home game are available on our website, by calling 386-257-3172, or by visiting the Jackie Robinson Ballpark box office at 110 E. Orange Avenue.
ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS
The Daytona Tortugas are in their tenth season as the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at historic Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida that was recently designated a National Commemorative Site. Jackie Robinson Ballpark also plays host to Bethune-Cookman University, the Jackie Robinson Ballpark Museum, and many community events and initiatives of all sizes throughout the year.
