St. Lucie Pulls Ahead in Ninth to Claim Series Opener

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FSL Daytona Tortugas

St. Lucie Pulls Ahead in Ninth to Claim Series Opener

June 10, 2025 - Florida State League (FSL)
Daytona Tortugas News Release


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla- Sammy Stafura tripled for a fourth game in a row, but the Daytona Tortugas managed just one more hit as the St. Lucie Mets broke a tie in the ninth inning to clip the Tortugas 2-1 on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

St. Lucie (31-26) maintained their four-game lead in the Florida State League East Division, as Daytona (25-33) has now scored just two runs in their last three games.

St. Lucie jumped out the gates with a flourish, as Trey Snyder jumped on Kenya Huggins' very first pitch of the game and crushed it 425 feet to left-center for a leadoff home run to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Daytona, though, answered in the bottom of the first. With one out, Stafura sliced a line drive that eluded right fielder Yohairo Cuevas and rolled to the corner. Stafura raced to third, but Cuevas missed the cutoff man with the throw, so Stafura raced home, scoring on what was scored a triple and throwing error. Nonetheless, the game was tied 1-1.

Stafura became the first player in Tortugas history to triple in four straight games and is the first player in all of Minor League Baseball to accomplish the feat since 2019.

At that point, the pitchers took over. Huggins did not allow another hit, though he had to navigate three walks, including a pair with two outs in the fourth, which he navigated around to finish his night.

JP Ortiz came on in the fifth and allowed a two-out triple, but worked around it. He erased a leadoff single with a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play in the sixth, and retired three straight after a leadoff walk in the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Tortuga offense failed to get off the ground. Stafura's triple was the only hit allowed by St. Lucie starter Wellington Aracena in his 5.2 innings. Franklin Gomez retired the first four batters he faced, finishing the seventh.

In the eighth, an infield single and errant pickoff put a St. Lucie runner at second with no outs, but Bernard Moon snared a lineout at second and doubled off the runner, followed by Ortiz finishing the inning, as he threw 4.0 scoreless innings with three hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.

In the bottom of the eighth, Daytona threatened as Myles Smith walked and Kyle Henley single to put two on with one out. After a strikeout, though, Gomez picked off Smith at second to end the inning.

In the ninth, St. Lucie pulled ahead. A one-out single by Yohairo Cuevas was followed by a double from Daiverson Gutierrez to put runners at second and third. After a lineout, a wild pitch scored Cuevas to break the deadlock.

With the lead, Gomez returned for the ninth and threw a 1-2-3 inning, finishing off a 2-1 St. Lucie victory.

Daytona will play game two at Jackie Robinson Ballpark against the St. Lucie Mets on Wednesday night. It will be Belly Buster Wednesday with all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, and Little Caesars pizza all for just a $6 upcharge to your ticket. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with first pitch at 6:35 p.m. Pregame coverage on Tuesday with the Voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, will begin on the Tortugas Radio Network and MiLB.tv at 6:20 p.m.

Tickets for every Tortugas home game are available on our website, by calling 386-257-3172, or by visiting the Jackie Robinson Ballpark box office at 110 E. Orange Avenue.

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Florida State League Stories from June 10, 2025


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