DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona Tortugas pounded out 14 hits and scored in each of the first four innings, while Sherman Johnson recorded the first three-hit game of his professional career in a 13-4 rout of the St. Lucie Mets on Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Daytona scored 11 runs over the first four frames, including five in the fourth, and received 3.2 strong innings from Bryan Salgado in his Single-A debut. With every other game in the Florida State League postponed or cancelled Saturday, the Tortugas' magic number dropped to one. Any Daytona win or Palm Beach loss over the remainder of the regular season will clinch the FSL East second-half championship.
The Rundown
Daytona wasted little time grabbing the lead against St. Lucie starter Jose Lopez. After Steele Hall drew a one-out walk in the first, Mulivai Levu launched a 2-0 pitch over the center-field wall for a two-run home run, his second of the season, to put the Tortugas ahead, 2-0.
Lopez exited with an injury during the next at-bat, forcing the Mets into their bullpen after recording just one out.
St. Lucie answered against Ty Horn in the second. Jeremy Rodriguez walked before Branny De Oleo connected on a two-run home run to left-center, tying the game at two.
The Tortugas immediately reclaimed the lead in the bottom half. Anielson Buten singled with two outs before Henry Hunter was hit by a pitch. Buten stole third, and Johnson followed with a two-run double to center that put Daytona back in front, 4-2.
Bryan Salgado entered for his Single-A debut in the third and struck out the side around a leadoff walk, keeping Daytona's two-run advantage intact.
The Tortugas added two more in the bottom of the third. Arnaldo Lantigua walked and moved to third on a wild pitch and groundout before Rafhlmil Torres singled him home. Drew Davies followed with a walk, and Buten reached on a fielder's choice that brought Davies around to score when an errant throw allowed the inning to continue, extending the lead to 6-2.
Daytona blew the game open with five runs in the fourth. Johnson opened the inning with a single and stole second before Levu walked. A wild pitch moved both runners up, and a passed ball brought Johnson home. Lantigua followed with a sacrifice fly to score Levu and make it 8-2.
After Ichiro Cano walked and Torres singled, Davies drove in Cano with a two-out single through the right side. Buten then doubled to bring home Torres and Davies, completing the five-run inning and pushing the advantage to 11-2.
Salgado continued to control St. Lucie. After striking out the side in his first inning, the right-hander worked around a single in the fourth and retired the Mets in order in the fifth. Julio Zayas led off the sixth with a solo home run, but Salgado responded with a strikeout and groundout before departing with two outs.
Salgado finished his Single-A debut with career highs of 3.2 innings and six strikeouts while allowing one run on two hits and two walks. His previous career highs were 3.0 innings on June 15, 2024 at the DSL Rockies and four strikeouts on July 30, 2024 against the DSL Padres.
With Lopez's early departure forcing St. Lucie to exhaust its available pitching, the Mets turned to position players for the final four innings. Reed Stallman tossed scoreless fifth and sixth innings before Jake Ogden covered the seventh and eighth.
St. Lucie pushed across a run against Abraham Gaitan in the eighth, but Daytona answered with two more in the bottom half.
Levu singled and Lantigua doubled to put runners at second and third before Cano singled home Levu. Torres followed with a double to right-center to score Lantigua and give Daytona a 13-4 advantage.
Gaitan returned for the ninth and worked around a two-out walk to finish 3.1 innings of one-run relief and earn his second save.
The Tortugas finished with 14 hits, their fourth consecutive game with at least nine, while six different Daytona hitters recorded multiple hits. Johnson led the way with a career-high three hits, while Torres also collected three as Daytona moved one result away from securing a postseason berth.
Stat of the Game
1 — Daytona's magic number to clinch the FSL East second-half championship. Any Tortugas victory or Palm Beach loss over the remainder of the regular season will send Daytona to the playoffs.
Notes
• Daytona improved to 57-67 overall and 36-22 in the second half.
• The Tortugas improved to 16-10 in August.
• Daytona improved to 11-12 on Saturdays.
• The Tortugas lead the six-game series, 3-2.
• Daytona improved to 10-13 against St. Lucie this season.
• The Tortugas improved to 38-27 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
• Daytona improved to 42-3 when leading after seven innings.
• The Tortugas improved to 31-6 when recording at least 10 hits.
• Daytona improved to 41-23 when hitting a home run.
• The Tortugas improved to 30-12 when hitting a home run with runners on base.
• Daytona improved to 37-25 when scoring first.
• The Tortugas improved to 50-17 when scoring five or more runs.
• Daytona improved to 42-4 when outhitting its opponent.
• The Tortugas' magic number to clinch the FSL East second-half championship dropped to one.
• Any Daytona win or Palm Beach loss over the remainder of the regular season will clinch the FSL East second-half championship for the Tortugas.
• Salgado made his Single-A debut and earned the victory with 3.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six.
• Salgado established career highs with 3.2 innings pitched and six strikeouts. His previous highs were 3.0 innings on June 15, 2024 at the DSL Rockies and four strikeouts on July 30, 2024 against the DSL Padres.
• Johnson went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI, a run and a stolen base.
• Johnson recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season and established a new career high with three hits, surpassing his previous high of two, accomplished three times and most recently Friday night.
• Johnson recorded his second multi-RBI game and tied his career high with two RBI for the second consecutive game.
• Torres recorded his 29th multi-hit game and seventh three-hit game of the season.
• Torres recorded his eighth multi-RBI game and sixth two-RBI game of the season.
• Levu recorded his fourth multi-hit game and tied his career high with two hits for the fourth time, including for the second consecutive game.
• Levu recorded his fourth multi-RBI game and third two-RBI game of the season.
• Cano recorded his 26th multi-hit game and 19th two-hit game of the season.
• Buten recorded his 15th multi-hit game and 11th two-hit game of the season.
• Buten recorded his third multi-RBI game and second two-RBI game of the season.
• Levu extended his hitting streak to five games.
• Cano extended his on-base streak to 17 games, matching his longest of the season.
• Lantigua extended his on-base streak to five games.
Up Next
The Tortugas play their final home game of the 2026 regular season and wrap up their six-game series against the St. Lucie Mets on Sunday, August 30 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch for the series finale is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.