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| Felipe De La Cruz - St. Lucie Team Set |
De La Cruz scatters 10 hits, earns wins
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 3, 2023) – The St. Lucie Mets snapped a five-game losing streak with a hard fought 4-3 win over the Daytona Tortugas on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Mets pitchers Felipe De La Cruz, Jimmy Loper and Elliot Johnstone combined to limit the Tortugas to 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position.
The Mets offense produced four RBI hits with two outs to provide enough runs for the victory.
De La Cruz was in and out of trouble from the start of the game. He stranded the bases loaded with one out on back-to-back ground outs in the first inning to keep the game scoreless. Hector Rodriguez hit a two-out RBI single in the second inning to give Daytona a 1-0 lead but shortstop Kevin Villavicencio threw out Donovan Antonia at the plate on the play to end the inning.
Daytona starter Gabriel Aguilera struck out the first two batters of the fourth inning but Jefrey De Los Santos hit a single and Jose Hernandez followed with a RBI double to tie the game 1-1. Karell Paz then singled to bring home Hernandez for a 2-1 Mets lead.
Yassel Pino hit a two-out RBI double in the fifth to tie the game 2-2. De La Cruz then stranded Pino on second and Cam Collier on third by striking out Juan Garcia to keep the game tied.
The Tortugas only went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position against De La Cruz.
The Mets took the lead for good in the sixth when Yeral Martinez hit a two-out RBI single off Nestor Lorant. Kevin Villavicencio then popped up a pitch to first base that was misplayed into a run-scoring single that gave the Mets a 4-2 lead.
Jimmy Loper took over on the mound for De La Cruz with two outs in the sixth. Rodriguez hit a two-out infield single to plate a run that made it 4-3. Later in the inning with Rodriguez at third and the go-ahead run at first, Mets center fielder Nick Morabito made a spectacular leaping catch off the bat of Collier to end the inning and keep the Mets in the lead.
Loper struck out Rodriguez to end the eighth with the tying run at second.
Johnstone worked around a one-out walk in the ninth by striking out Johnny Ascanio and getting Pino to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the game. It was Johnstone’s team-leading fifth save.
Villavicencio led all Mets hitters by going 2 for 3. The Mets worked nine walks as a team after walking just once in the first two games of the series.
De La Cruz’s final line: 5.2 innings, 10 hits, three runs, two walks and four strikeouts.
The Mets (34-64, 10-23) and Tortugas (42-54, 13-18) 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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