PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Justin Henschel delivered five scoreless innings and Ichiro Cano supplied a two-run homer as the Daytona Tortugas held off the St. Lucie Mets, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at Clover Park.
The victory gave Daytona four wins in the seven-game set and secured its first road series victory of the season. The Tortugas improved to 26-15 in the second half and remain atop the Florida State League East, five games ahead of Palm Beach with 25 games remaining.
The Rundown
After a 22-minute delay pushed first pitch back to 12:32 p.m., Henschel immediately settled in. St. Lucie collected two singles in the first inning, but Henschel struck out Reed Stallman before retiring Kuhio Aloy on a line drive to strand both runners. He worked around another single in the second and erased the only baserunner he allowed in the third when Adolfo Sanchez threw out Aiden Robbins as part of an inning-ending double play.
Daytona did not record a hit through the first three innings against Joel Lara, but the Tortugas broke through with three runs in the fourth. Cano, Sanchez and Jirvin Morillo opened the inning with three consecutive walks to load the bases. A wild pitch brought Cano home with the first run before Anielson Buten lined a two-run single up the middle, scoring Sanchez and Morillo for a 3-0 lead.
Henschel responded with consecutive perfect innings. He retired the side in order in the fourth and needed just three batters again in the fifth, completing his afternoon with five scoreless frames. The right-hander allowed only three hits and one walk while striking out four, facing just 18 batters and throwing 48 of his 75 pitches for strikes.
The Tortugas gave him two more runs before he departed. Henry Hunter drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Cano jumped on the first offering from Jean Brito and drove it over the right-field wall for his seventh home run of the season, extending Daytona's advantage to 5-0.
St. Lucie finally broke through against Lisnerkin Lantigua in the sixth. Elian Peña doubled to begin the inning before consecutive two-out hits from Stallman and Aloy brought home two runs. After a wild pitch advanced Aloy to third, Simon Juan singled him home to cut the Daytona lead to 5-3.
The Mets threatened again in the seventh after a leadoff walk and another free pass put two aboard, but Daytona turned its second double play of the afternoon when Steele Hall started a 6-4-3 twin killing to end the inning.
St. Lucie made it a one-run game in the eighth. Julio Zayas walked and Stallman singled before Juan lifted a sacrifice fly to center, trimming the advantage to 5-4. Lantigua escaped without further damage to preserve the lead.
Jesus Colina took over for the ninth and left no doubt. The right-hander retired Wyatt Vincent on a fly ball before striking out Dylan Carey and Peña back-to-back, finishing a perfect nine-pitch frame and earning his first Single-A save.
Daytona finished with six hits but made its opportunities count, scoring three times in the fourth despite only one hit before Cano's two-run homer provided the decisive insurance. Buten led the offense with two hits and two RBI.
Stat of the Game
1 — Daytona secured its first road series victory of the season, taking four of seven games from St. Lucie after entering the weekend 0-7-1 in road series.
Notes
• Daytona improved to 47-60 overall and 26-15 in the second half.
• The Tortugas improved to 6-3 in August.
• Daytona improved to 7-10 on Sundays.
• The Tortugas improved to 11-18 in day games.
• Daytona improved to 7-11 against St. Lucie.
• The Tortugas improved to 17-37 on the road.
• Daytona is now 1-7-1 in road series this season after earning its first road series victory.
• The Tortugas improved to 6-11-2 in series overall.
• Daytona improved to 34-3 when leading after seven innings.
• The Tortugas improved to 33-48 against right-handed starters.
• Daytona improved to 15-13 in one-run games.
• The Tortugas improved to 33-20 when hitting a home run.
• Daytona improved to 20-10 when homering with runners on base.
• The Tortugas improved to 31-22 when scoring first.
• Daytona improved to 40-15 when scoring at least five runs.
• The Tortugas improved to 9-47 when being outhit by their opponent.
• Henschel tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out four.
• Buten recorded his 12th multi-hit game and ninth two-hit game of the season.
• Buten recorded his second multi-RBI game and first two-RBI game of the season.
• Cano recorded his 14th multi-RBI game and 10th two-RBI game of the season.
• Colina earned his first Single-A save and eighth save of the season combined between Daytona and the ACL Reds.
• Buten extended his on-base streak to six games.
• Davies extended his on-base streak to seven games.
• Hunter extended his on-base streak to eight games.
• Moon extended his on-base streak to 14 games, tying his longest on-base streak of the season.
• Daytona remains in first place in the FSL East, five games ahead of Palm Beach with 25 games remaining.
• Thirteen of Daytona's final 25 games will come against Palm Beach.
Up Next
The Tortugas return to Jackie Robinson Ballpark for a seven-game series against the Palm Beach Cardinals beginning Tuesday, Aug. 11. Play begins at 4:30 p.m. ET with the resumption of the suspended July 12 game, in which Daytona leads 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning. A seven-inning game will follow the completion of the suspended contest.