Mets Comeback Bid Falls Short in 7-6 Loss to Daytona
July 2, 2025 - Florida State League (FSL)
St. Lucie Mets News Release
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Daytona Tortugas built a 6-0 lead and held off the St. Lucie Mets for a 7-6 win on Wednesday night at Clover Park.
The Mets entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 7-5. Simon Juan hit a one-out double against Gabe Starks and Starks then walked Willy Fanas on four pitches. Trey Snyder followed by hitting a RBI single up the middle to make it 7-6. Fanas advanced to third base as the tying run on the play. Starks fell behind the next hitter Jeremy Rodriguez 2-0 but rallied to strike out Rodriguez for the second out. Starks then got Daiverson Gutierrez to fly out to right field to end the game.
The Tortugas strung together three consecutive two-out hits against Mets starter Channing Austin in the fourth inning. Those three hits included a two-run single by Ryan McCrystal and a two-run double by Alfredo Duno that put Daytona up 6-0.
The Mets scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch by Daytona starter JP Ortiz and a sac fly by Kevin Villavicencio.
After McCrystal hit a RBI single against Alfred Vega in the top of the sixth to make it 7-2, the Mets answered with three runs in the home sixth against Kenya Huggins to make it 7-5. Trace Willhoite and Roselli ripped RBI doubles in the inning.
Austin took the loss. He allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits over 4.0 innings. Estarlin Escalante pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief and Layonel Ovalles turned in a scoreless ninth.
Drew Pestka pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief for Daytona to earn the win. Starks picked up his third save.
Gutierrez and Willhoite each went 2 for 4 in the loss.
The Mets (7-4, 41-35) and Tortugas (7-4, 36-41) play the third game of their series on Thursday. First pitch at Clover Park is 6:10 p.m. The biggest and best pre-Independence Day fireworks show on the Treasure Coast will ignite the night sky as soon as the game ends. Tickets are still available. The box opens at 12:00 p.m. and tickets can be purchased anytime on stluciemets.com.
Florida State League Stories from July 2, 2025
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