FIRST HALF CHAMPS! Mets beat Tortugas 7-5, clinch FSL East first half title
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 15, 2025) – The St. Lucie Mets are playoff bound! The Mets beat the Daytona Tortugas 7-5 on Sunday evening and with the Palm Beach Cardinals also losing on Sunday the Mets clinched the Florida State League East division first half title. It’s the first division
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 15, 2025) – The St. Lucie Mets are playoff bound! The Mets beat the Daytona Tortugas 7-5 on Sunday evening and with the Palm Beach Cardinals also losing on Sunday the Mets clinched the Florida State League East division first half title.
It’s the first division title for the Mets since the first half of the 2022 season. The Mets will be one of four teams in the FSL playoffs come September. They’ll be seeking their seventh league title. They last won it all in 2022.
On Sunday, the Mets fell behind 1-0 and later 4-3 but shrugged off both deficits. Trey Snyder tied the game 4-4 in the fourth inning on a RBI fielder’s choice. Jeremy Rodriguez followed with a RBI single to give the Mets a 5-4 lead. Later in the inning Ben Brutti hit Trace Willhoite with the bases loaded to make it 6-4 Mets.
Hoss Brewer relieved Cristofer Gomez with two outs and two on in the fifth inning and struck out Kyle Henley on three pitches to keep the Mets in the lead.
Colin Houck slugged a leadoff home run in the sixth inning to push the Mets lead to 7-4. It was Houck’s second home run of the series and eighth of the season to tie Willhoite for the team lead.
Wellington Aracena pitched 3.2 innings in relief from the fifth inning through the second out of the eighth inning. Brett Banks replaced Aracena with two outs in the eighth and surrendered a RBI single to Ryan McCrystal that made it 7-5.
The Tortugas loaded the bases later the eighth but Banks held on by getting Sammy Stafura to line out to Willy Fanas in left field to strand three runners.
Banks turned in a perfect ninth inning to secure the win and the FSL East. He earned his first save.
Cristofer Gomez was credited with the win. Mets starter Frankling Gomez scattered five hits and three runs (two earned) over 2.1 innings.
Houck went 2 for 4 with the homer and single.
Snyder was 2 for 5 with three RBI from the leadoff spot.
Kevin Villavicencio went 2 for 5 with a double and a run.
The Mets won the series 4-2. They are now 12-6 vs. Daytona, including an 8-4 mark at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The Mets (34-28) are off on Monday. They return to the diamond on Tuesday to start a six-game series against the Palm Beach Cardinals at Clover Park. First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.