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| 8.7 vs Daytona - Julio Zayas winning HR, photo courtesy of the St. Lucie Mets |
Zayas delivers in the 9th with walk-off homer for 2-0 win St. Lucie pitches shutout one night after allowing 17 runs
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 7, 2026) – Julio Zayas broke a scoreless tie by hitting a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the St. Lucie Mets to a 2-0 victory over the Daytona Tortugas on Friday night at Clover Park. It was the second walk-off win for the Mets in their last three games. They tied the series with the Tortugas 2-2.
Three Mets pitchers combined for the shutout one night after the Mets gave up 17 runs.
Starter Ethan Lanthier pitched the first 3.0 innings. He gave up two singles, walked one and struck out three. Christian Rodriguez pitched the next 4.1 innings which was a season high. He held the Tortugas to four singles. Rodriguez walked one and struck out four.
Zack Mack pitched the final 1.2 innings to get the win. He stranded an inherited runner from Rodriguez in the eighth inning, then got a key 4-6-3 double play in the ninth inning off the bat of Bernard Moon.
Daytona starter Ryjeteri Merite pitched the first 3.0 innings. Jake Brink went the rest of the way. Brink retired 13 batters in a row until he plunked Ryan Tayman with two outs in the ninth after jumping ahead of Tayman 0-2. That brought Zayas to the plate. Zayas clubbed a 1-0 cutter to straightaway center field, clearing the batters eye. The homer traveled 440 feet and had an exit velocity of 107 mph.
The Zayas homer was the only extra base hit for either team in the game. The Mets limited the Tortugas to six singles and held them 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Eight Tortugas base runners were stranded.
Zayas finished 2 for 4 as the lone Met to record a multi-hit game.
Friday was the third walk-off win for the Mets at Clover Park this year and the second that ended on a ninth inning home run. Jamari Baylor hit a leadoff homer to beat the Palm Beach Cardinals 7-6 on May 22nd.
The game took two hours and five minutes making it the shortest nine-inning game played by the Mets this season.
The Mets (15-23, 48-56) and Tortugas (24-14, 45-59) are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday at Clover Park to make up for Tuesday’s rainout. Game 1 will start at 4:00 p.m. Game 2 will start approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion of game 1.
It’s Back to School Night at the ballpark. All K-12 students receive free admission. There will be a book giveaway. It’s also Pirate Night. Fans are encouraged to wear pirate themed garb. A postgame fireworks show will follow game 2.
Julio Zayas WALK-OFF BOMB! pic.twitter.com/RiNC7zMv3h
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 8, 2026
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