Tortugas Cruise to 10-3 Victory

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL—Michel Triana drove in three runs, Chris McElvain threw 4.0 hitless innings, and the Daytona Tortugas took advantage of 12 St. Lucie free passes to pull away for a 10-3 victory on Saturday night at Clover Park.

Daytona (2-0) drew double-digit walks for the second straight night as they handed St. Lucie (0-2) a second straight loss on their home turf after the Tortugas went just 2-15 in Port St. Lucie a season ago.

The first three innings were dominated by the mound corps. Christopher Vasquez worked around a pair of hits and a walk in three scoreless frames to open the game for St. Lucie. On the other side, McElvain did not allow a hit over the first three innings for the Tortugas.

In the fourth, Vasquez departed for Elliott Johnstone and Daytona capitalized. Sal Stewart legged out an infield single, then scored all the way from first on a double to center from Ariel Almonte. After a groundout and a walk, a bizarre double play ended the inning, but not before Almonte came home from third to put Daytona ahead 2-0.

After a fourth hitless frame from McElvain, he gave way to Johnathan Harmon in the fifth. After a hit and a walk, a groundout put two men in scoring position with two outs. An error then allowed a run to score, with the unearned tally trimming the lead to 2-1.

The Tortugas, though, answered in the sixth. With two on and two outs, Victor Acosta lined an 0-2 pitch just past the diving Carlos Dominquez in left field for a two-run double. Acosta was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple, but the damage was done with Daytona now ahead 4-1.

In the seventh, patience paid off for the Tortugas. Wendell Marrero and Triana both coaxed walks with the bases loaded, bringing home two more runs to make it 6-1.

In the eighth, Harmon, working in his fourth inning of relief, got the first two outs, but a walk and a two-run homer from Jefry De Los Santos cut the lead to 6-3 and ended his night. However, Jacob Heatherly came on in his first outing since 2021 and ended the inning with a strikeout. Harmon (1-0) struck out six over his 3.2 innings and earned his first professional win.

In the ninth, Daytona removed all doubt. Hector Rodriguez roped an RBI triple into the right-center field gap. After Marrero drew his fourth walk of the night and stole second, Triana lined a two-run single to right. An error later in the inning allowed a fourth run to score, making it 10-3.

Zach Maxwell came on and set down the side on just eight pitches to nail down a 10-3 win, moving Daytona to 2-0.

Daytona will go for the three-game sweep in St. Lucie on Sunday afternoon at 12:10 p.m. RHP Jared Lyons will get the ball for Daytona against LHP Felipe De La Cruz for St. Lucie. The Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, will have pregame coverage on the Daytona Tortugas Radio Network beginning at 11:55 a.m.

Daytona Tortugas single-game tickets and ticket packages are on sale now at daytonatortugas.com, (386) 257-3172, or the box office at 110 East Orange Ave.

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.