The Daytona Tortugas rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the St. Lucie Mets 6-5 on Aug. 28, 2026, at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Drew Davies broke a 5-5 tie with a solo home run in the seventh inning, giving Daytona the lead for good. The victory lowered the Tortugas’ magic number to two to clinch the Florida State League East second-half championship.
St. Lucie took a 2-0 lead against Ryjeteri Merite in the first inning. Jake Ogden singled, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Kuhio Aloy walked and stole second. With two outs, Yovanny Rodriguez singled through the right side to bring home both runners.
Justin Henschel took over to begin the third inning and limited the damage after St. Lucie loaded the bases. Rodriguez added a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead, but Henschel induced Julio Zayas into an inning-ending double play. Branny De Oleo then hit a solo home run in the fourth to extend the St. Lucie Mets’ advantage to 4-0.
Daytona scores five in fifth
The Daytona Tortugas had three hits through the first four innings before breaking through in the fifth. Rafhlmil Torres opened the inning with a single, and Ichiro Cano walked before a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Sherman Johnson followed with a two-run single to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Steele Hall singled to put two runners aboard, and another wild pitch moved them up. Mulivai Levu then delivered a two-run single through the right side to tie the game at 4-4. Levu advanced to second on an error before Arnaldo Lantigua drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single, giving Daytona a 5-4 lead.
Henschel protected the lead in the sixth inning despite another St. Lucie threat. De Oleo was hit by a pitch, Wyatt Vincent reached on a fielder’s choice and Vladi Gomez singled to put runners at the corners. Henschel escaped when Ogden lined out to right field.
St. Lucie pulled even in the seventh when Ryan Tayman doubled and Aloy followed with an infield single. A passed ball allowed Tayman to score after Rodriguez popped out, tying the game at 5-5. Henschel then struck out Zayas and induced Dylan Carey into an inning-ending groundout.
The tie lasted one pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Davies drove the first pitch he saw from Brett Banks over the right-field wall for his seventh home run of the season. The solo shot restored Daytona’s lead at 6-5.
Colina records third Single-A save
Jesus Colina took over in the eighth inning and preserved the one-run advantage. The right-hander struck out the first two batters he faced, worked around a two-out walk and stolen base, then returned in the ninth to retire the middle of the St. Lucie Mets order. Colina completed two hitless innings to record his third Single-A save.
The victory was Daytona’s 27th comeback win of the season and improved the Tortugas to 41-3 when leading after seven innings, 20-13 in one-run games and 49-17 when scoring five or more runs. Daytona also improved to 15-10 in August and 37-27 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The Tortugas are 9-13 against St. Lucie this season, and the six-game series is tied 2-2.
Johnson recorded his first multi-RBI game as a professional and tied his career high with two hits. Hall recorded his third multi-hit game of the season, while Lantigua recorded his 20th multi-hit game and 17th two-hit game of the season. Levu recorded his third multi-RBI game of the season and second two-RBI game of the season while extending his hitting streak to four games.
Cano extended his on-base streak to 16 games, and Sanchez extended his on-base streak to four games. The Tortugas improved to 56-67 overall and 35-22 in the second half. They also improved to 49-17 when scoring five or more runs.
Daytona can clinch Saturday
Daytona can clinch the Florida State League East second-half championship Saturday with a victory over the St. Lucie Mets and a Palm Beach loss. The Tortugas will continue the six-game series at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Aug. 29. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET.
Source: Original report