Tortugas Rally From Five Down to Walk-off Mets in Series Finale

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—The Daytona Tortugas rallied from five runs down in the seventh to win on a two-run fielder’s choice and error in the ninth, stunning the St. Lucie Mets for an 8-7 victory on Sunday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Daytona (12-9) claimed their second straight series victory with their second walk-off win of the series, overcoming 17 strikeouts by St. Lucie (9-12) pitchers in the contest.

Daytona starter Brian Edgington worked around a two-out single with little trouble in the first, but in the second was dinged with two outs. This time, it was a solo home run cracked the other way by Estarling Mercado to put St. Lucie up 1-0.

Daytona did nothing against rehabbing MLB left-hander David Peterson, who retired all six Tortugas he faced, striking out five of them in 2.0 perfect innings before Ernesto Mercedes entered and fired a scoreless third.

Edgington also threw a scoreless third, but St. Lucie added another tally in the fourth. After a one-out double by Christopher Suero, the runner tried to advance on a ball in the dirt. The throw down to third, though, sailed into left field and allowed Suero to trot home with St. Lucie’s second run.

Daytona, though, rallied back. Mercedes walked two in the fourth and Yerlin Confidan came through with a two-out RBI double to cut the deficit in half. An inning later, Daytona drew even in bizarre fashion as Carter Graham singled, moved to second on a balk, then broke for third on a pitch that Mercedes spiked past the catcher, allowing Graham to round third and score, knotting it up at 2-2.

St. Lucie, though, put together back-to-back rallies, loading the bases with no outs in the sixth and plating two runs against Gabe Starks. The seventh inning was no better for Simon Miller, as the Mets loaded the bags with one out and scored all three runners, including the final two on a throwing error to go ahead 7-2.

On the other side of the seventh-inning stretch, Daytona made their push. Esmith Pineda walked and came around on a two-out RBI single from Graham to plate the first run of the comeback against Juan Arnaud.

In the eighth, Jack Wenninger came in for St. Lucie and the Tortugas pounced as Dominic Pitelli was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a wild pitch, and stole third. Alfredo Duno then lifted a sacrifice fly to bring in Pitelli. The rally didn’t end there, though, as Confidan singled, then scored when Pineda blasted his first home run of the season, a 404-foot shot to left-center. All of the sudden, the St. Lucie lead was down to 7-6 after eight innings.

After Alex Johnson (1-1) worked a 1-2-3 ninth to put Daytona in position, Yassel Pino began the rally with a one-out bloop single to center. Trey Faltine entered as a pinch-runner and promptly swiped second. Ricardo Cabrera then hit a dribbler in front of the mound that Wenninger mishandled, allowing Cabrera to reach and Faltine to go to third.

Cabrera was then lifted for pinch-runner Johnny Ascanio, who scooted up to second base on a ball in the dirt. Ariel Almonte then chopped a 2-2 pitch towards first, where Suero made a sliding stop. However, Suero’s throw to the plate sailed to the screen, not only scoring Faltine, but also bringing home Ascanio for another improbable finish as Daytona won 8-7.

We just have a flair for the dramatic this week, don't we?!

The play that capped off the five-run comeback! ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/nael41obuj

— Daytona Tortugas (@daytonatortugas) April 29, 2024

The Tortugas will have Monday off before heading to Palm Beach to begin a six-game series with the Palm Beach Cardinals on Tuesday night. Starters for both teams are still to be announced. First pitch from Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense begins at 4:45 p.m.