Tortugas Come from Behind Again to Beat Mets, 8-6
Published on April 16, 2026 under Florida State League (FSL)
St. Lucie Mets News Release
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The St. Lucie Mets hit a season-high three home runs but could not hold onto a mid-game lead for a second straight night in an 8-6 loss to the Daytona Tortugas on Thursday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
JT Benson and Branny De Oleo both hit their first home runs of the season and Randy Guzman hit his third homer in two games. Benson' leadoff shot in the second inning boosted the Mets' lead to 3-1. Guzman hit a towering solo shot to left field with two outs in the fifth inning to make it 4-2 Mets.
With the Mets trailing 8-4 in the ninth inning, De Oleo crushed a two-run homer to left field to cut the Mets' deficit to 8-6. Guzman eventually came to the plate as the tying run with two outs but Mike Villani retired Guzman on a ground out to second to end the game.
The Tortugas started their comeback from a 4-2 deficit in the fifth inning when the first two batters reached against the rehabbing Nate Lavender. Bernard Moon hit a run-scoring ground out and Tyson Lewis tied the game 4-4 on a sac fly.
Daytona scored four runs in the sixth inning to take an 8-4 lead. Lavender returned to the mound and retired just one of the four batters he faced. Ernesto Mercedes came in with the bases loaded and got a key strikeout of Kyle Henley. However, he spiked a two-strike pitch to Jacob Friend for a wild pitch and Drew Davies scored the go-ahead run. Friend then hit a two-run double to make it 7-4. Moon followed with a RBI single to plate Friend for an 8-4 advantage.
Benson went 2 for 4 with the homer, a single and two runs. AJ Salgado was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI. Julio Zayas was 2 for 4.
Lavender took the loss. He was charged with five runs on three hits with two walks over 1.1 innings.
Mets starter Frank Camarillo pitched 3.0 innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits. He walked three and struck out two.
Daytona reliever Lisnerkin Lantigua pitched 4.0 innings of one-run relief to get the win.
The Mets (5-7) and Tortugas (5-7) play the fourth game of their series at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
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