Three-Homer Sixth Sends Mets Past Tortugas 8-2
FSL Daytona Tortugas

Three-Homer Sixth Sends Mets Past Tortugas 8-2

Published on June 17, 2026 under Florida State League (FSL)
Daytona Tortugas News Release


PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Daytona Tortugas were held to to just two runs as a three-homer sixth inning powered the St. Lucie Mets to an 8-2 win Wednesday night at Clover Park. The Rundown

Luke Hayden made his 2026 Tortugas debut and worked around traffic early. The right-hander allowed a leadoff double and two walks in the first inning, but stranded the bases loaded before facing the minimum in the second to finish his outing with 2.0 scoreless innings.

St. Lucie broke through in the third against Andrew Shaffner. Elian Peña singled, moved to second on a passed ball and later scored on an RBI single from Julio Zayas. Branny De Oleo followed with an RBI double to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

The Mets added another run in the fourth when Peña singled and scored on a two-out double by Trey Snyder, stretching the lead to 3-0.

Daytona answered in the fifth. Ichiro Cano doubled to left and scored on an RBI single by Dylan King, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

The game got away in the sixth. Francisco Toledo opened the inning with a solo home run before an error and a walk put two runners aboard. After a balk moved both runners into scoring position, Antonio Jimenez launched a three-run homer to left and Yohairo Cuevas followed with a solo shot to right, giving St. Lucie three home runs in the inning and an 8-1 lead.

The Tortugas pushed across their final run in the ninth without a hit. Bernard Moon walked, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a flyout and scored when Anielson Buten drew a bases-loaded walk.

Mike Villani provided strong relief, entering in the sixth and tossing 2.1 scoreless innings while striking out three. However, Daytona finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and grounded into three double plays. Stat of the Day

3 - St. Lucie hit three home runs in the sixth inning, turning a 3-1 game into an 8-1 deficit. It is the most home runs the Tortugas have given up in a single inning this season. Notes

- Daytona fell to 21-44 overall and 7-25 on the road.

- St. Lucie leads the series 2-0 and has won five straight games against Daytona.

- The Tortugas dropped to 2-5 against St. Lucie this season.

- Daytona fell to 3-11 in June and 3-9 on Wednesdays.

- The Tortugas have lost three straight games.

- Daytona dropped to 15-31 in night games.

- The Tortugas fell to 14-35 against right-handed starters.

- Daytona is now 1-34 when trailing after seven innings.

- The Tortugas dropped to 8-15 when allowing 10 or more hits.

- St. Lucie has outscored Daytona 18-5 through the first two games of the series.

- Daytona fell to 7-36 when scoring fewer than five runs.

- The Tortugas dropped to 5-38 when being outhit by their opponent.

- Villani recorded the second-longest outing of his career with 2.1 scoreless innings.

- Cano extended his on-base streak to nine games and his hitting streak to three games.

- Davies extended his on-base streak to eight games.

- Arnaldo Lantigua recorded his first hit since being promoted back to Daytona at the beginning of the week.

- Moon extended his on-base streak to four games.

- Torres extended his on-base streak to five games.

- Buten extended his on-base streak to four games.

- Hayden made his 2026 Tortugas debut and tossed 2.0 scoreless innings in his first start off the injured list. Up Next

The Tortugas continue their six-game series against the St. Lucie Mets on Thursday, June 18 at Clover Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. ET.

Check out the Daytona Tortugas Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Florida State League Stories from June 17, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central