Pino Homers Early, Simmons Shuts Down Late in Series-Opening Win

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—Yassel Pino blasted his third home run of the homestand to put Daytona in front early, and Dylan Simmons wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth as the Daytona Tortugas pulled out a 5-3 victory over the St. Lucie Mets on Monday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Daytona (5-4, 36-39) won a series opener at home for just the second time in eight tries this season as they moved to 11-5 this season against St. Lucie (3-7, 25-51), who stranded ten runners on base.

After a scoreless first inning, Daytona jumped in front in the second against St. Lucie starter Franklin Gomez. A leadoff single by Ariel Almonte was followed by a one-out walk to Esmith Pineda to bring up Pino, who lofted a high fly ball to left that caught the wind and carried over the fence for a three-run home run to put Daytona up 3-0.

Daytona starter Jose Montero settled in and while he never threw a 1-2-3 inning, he kept St. Lucie off the scoreboard. The right-hander struck out multiple batters in the first, second, and fourth innings, going 4.0 scoreless innings with a season-high seven strikeouts while dodging two hits and two walks.

In the fifth, Nick Sando entered for Daytona and was promptly greeted by a leadoff double by Vincent Perozo. Two ground balls got him to third and then across the plate, with Boston Baro’s roller bringing in Perozo for St. Lucie’s first run.

Sando, settled down, though, with a scoreless sixth. He ran into trouble to begin the seventh with a single and hit batter beginning the ending, but he induced a double play with runners on the corners to end the inning, preserving the 3-1 lead.

Gomez, meanwhile, kept Daytona at bay through six innings and returned for the seventh, but Daytona touched him again. A leadoff walk by Eddy Isturiz was followed by Yerlin Confidan’s second hit of the night, which put two men in scoring position with no outs.

Eduardo Herrera then entered and picked up a strikeout, but the ball eluded Perozo behind the plate to score Isturiz and move Confidan to third. A slow roller to short by Sammy Stafura was then mishandled, allowing Confidan to score without a throw home, pushing the lead to 5-1.

Firmly in line for the win, Sando (3-2) spun a scoreless eighth and returned for the ninth trying to finish the game. However, a hit batter, single, and walk loaded the bases with no outs, chasing Sando for Simmons.

The right-hander was greeted by a two-run double off the third-base bag off the bat of Diego Mosquera, putting the tying run in scoring position with no outs in a 5-3 game. Simmons then picked up a strikeout, then issued a walk to load the bases with one down. He then picked up a strikeout for the second out before inducing a foul pop-up that was snagged by Ricardo Cabrera to end the game as Daytona held on for a 5-3 victory.

Daytona will play game two against the St. Lucie Mets tomorrow night in game two of the series. Tomorrow will be a Silver Sluggers Tuesday along with Breast Cancer Awareness Night. Gates will open at 5:30 with first pitch will at 6:35 p.m. Pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio Network, MiLB.tv, and Bally Live with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, beginning at 6:20 p.m.