O'Donnell's Homer, Four-Hit Night Not Enough as 'Tugas Fall, Eliminated from Postseason

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL—Ethan O’Donnell blasted a homer as part of a four-hit, three-RBI night, but the St. Lucie Mets defeated the Daytona Tortugas 11-7 to eliminate the Tortugas from playoff contention on Tuesday night at Clover Park.

St. Lucie (18-41, 42-82) tied their season high of 13 hits to eliminate Daytona (25-34, 54-70) from the Florida State League East Division second half race, which was accelerated by a Jupiter Hammerheads win over Dunedin early in the evening.

After both teams notched two baserunners in the first but failed to score, Daytona jumped in front in the second. A walk, an Ariel Almonte single, and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs for O’Donnell, who came through with a two-run single to left to give Daytona a 2-0 lead.

Juan Martinez navigated three hits to throw a pair of scoreless innings for Daytona, thanks in large part to three strikeouts, including a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play in the first. In the third, though, St. Lucie flipped the script.

A leadoff double was followed by a walk and an RBI single from Jefrey De Los Santos to bring in St. Lucie’s first run. After a walk loaded the bases, Vincent Perozo lined a bases-clearing triple just inside the first base line, staking St. Lucie to a 4-2 lead. After a pitching change, a wild pitch brought home Perozo before a single and three more walks brought in a another run. A six-run frame gave St. Lucie a 6-2 lead.

Ben Brutti entered in the fourth to make his Tortugas debut, but he ran into trouble with a one-out walk and stolen base, which turned into a run thanks to a bloop single with two outs by Diego Mosquera to make it 7-2, Mets.

In the fifth, Daytona mounted a comeback threat against reliver Christopher Vasquez. Back-to-back singles from Ricardo Cabrera and O’Donnell opened the inning. After a strikeout and pitching change, Cam Collier greeted reliever Wilson Lopez with an RBI single up the middle. A walk then loaded the bases for Dominic Pitelli, who also drew a walk to force in O’Donnell. Lopez, though, buckled down to end the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but Daytona was within 7-4.

St. Lucie, though, answered back in the bottom of the fifth as an RBI single from Marco Vargas brought in a run. The Mets then eclipsed double digits in the seventh, sending nine men to the plate and scoring three times, with a two-run single by Yohairo Cuevas highlighting the inning.

Now trailing 11-4, the Tortugas went down in order in both the seventh and eighth innings against Elliot Johnstone, who also came out for the ninth. The ninth began with Cabrera being robbed of a hit on a diving play by third baseman Wilfredo Lara. However, the Tortugas mounted a rally shortly thereafter.

O’Donnell blasted a 390-foot home run for his fourth hit of the night, which was followed by base hits from Collier and Johnny Ascanio. A walk then loaded the bases. After a strikeout, Jack Moss singled in two runs to close the gap to 11-7. Almonte then walked to improbably bring the tying to the plate.

.@ethanodonnell14 has a four-hit night capped off with his second home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/JQDpivVy6s

— Daytona Tortugas (@daytonatortugas) September 6, 2023

At that point, Eric Foggo entered the game and promptly fell behind Juan Garcia 3-0, but came back to fill out the count before inducing a ground ball to second to end the game and with it, Daytona’s playoff hopes.

Daytona play game two Wednesday afternoon against the St. Lucie Mets. RHP Arij Fransen (3-8, 6.25) will get the ball opposite St. Lucie RHP Jonah Tong (0-1, 6.75). First pitch will be at 2:10 p.m. with pregame coverage from Clover Park in Port St. Lucie with the voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense beginning at 1:55 p.m. on the Tortugas Radio Network.

ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS

The Daytona Tortugas are the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in downtown Daytona Beach, Fla. 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.