St. Lucie Mets Survive Late Charge by Tortugas, Win 5 - 3

Rojas dazzles over 6.0 shutout innings 

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 27, 2021) – The St. Lucie built a comfortable lead and ended up surviving a late charge by the Daytona Tortugas in a 5-3 win at Clover Park on Friday night (Box Score). 

Mets starter Oscar Rojas (5-3) flummoxed the Tortugas over 6.0 shutout innings to earn the win. Rojas retired 10 in a row to start the game and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Daniel Vellojin broke up the bid with a one out single. Rojas struck out Austin Hendrick to end the inning and strand two in scoring position. 

Rojas allowed two hits, walked two and struck out five. He only threw 82 pitches. 

The Mets scored in four of the first six innings to gather a 5-0 lead. JT Schwartz started the second inning with a double and went on to score from third base on a balk to give the Mets their first run. 

Alex Ramirez hit a RBI single in the third inning and another run scored on the play when left fielder Danny Lantigua misplayed the ball. That put the Mets up 3-0. 

Ramirez drove in Jack-Thomas Wold on a sac fly in the fifth to make it 4-0. Justin Guerrera tripled in the sixth inning and came home to score on a two-out single by Matt O'Neill to put the Mets ahead 5-0. 

The Tortugas finally got on the board in the eighth when reliever Sammy Tavarez threw a wild pitch that allowed Rece Hinds to score. 

Justice Thompson hit a two-run homer off Liam McCall with one out in the ninth to make it a 5-3 game. McCall struck out the next batter for the second out, but Hinds followed with a triple and Vellojin drew a walk to reach first base as the tying run. 

Luis Montas relieved McCall and got Jose Torres to fly out to center field to end the game. Montas was credited with his seventh save. 

Seven Mets collected a hit. Ramirez went 2 for 3 with two RBI. 

Jason Parker (4-3) took the loss. The Daytona starter lasted 4.0 innings and was charged with three runs (two earned) on four hits. 

The Mets (52-45) and Tortugas (48-52) play the fifth game of their series on Saturday at Clover Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. There will be postgame fireworks.