Stone Crabs hit long balls to doom Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 23, 2016) - A pair of solo home runs lifted the Charlotte Stone Crabs to a 3-2 win over the St. Lucie Mets on Tuesday at Tradition Field.
 
Joe McCarthy's two-out homer in the sixth off of Casey Delgado tied the game 2-2.
 
In the eighth, No. 9 hitter Jonah Heim hit his first FSL home run with one out against Kelly Secrest to put the Stone Crabs up for good, 3-2.
 
The Mets had a great chance to tie or take the lead in the bottom of the eighth. The first two batters reached base to set the table for the 2-3-4 hitters in the lineup. Kevin Kaczmarski flew out to center, David Thompson struck out and Kevin Taylor grounded out harmlessly to third base to end the threat.
 
Nick Sawyer pitched a perfect ninth to get the save.
 
Former big leaguer Casey Coleman pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth to get the win.
 
Crabs starter Greg Harris allowed the first two batters of the game to reach base and score but then dominated for six innings.
 
Mets starter Casey Delgado pitched well, but twice he was burned by McCarthy. The Mets led 2-0 when McCarthy hit a two-out RBI single to center field in the third. Then McCarthy homered for the tie in the sixth.
 
Delgado allowed two runs in seven innings. He struck out seven. Secrest struck out four batters in two innings but took the loss.
 
Jonathan Johnson led off the bottom of the first with a walk and scored on Kaczmarski's double. Kaczmarski went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Thompson' sac fly to make it 2-0. The Mets wouldn't score again and only registered two more hits after Kaczmarski's double.
 
In a positive for the Mets, the Jupiter Hammerheads lost 3-0 to Bradenton so the Mets remain in a first place tie with Jupiter. Charlotte and Fort Myers (which won vs. Palm Beach) are only one game out of first place. Bradenton is now just two games back of first place.
 
Next Up: The Mets (65-58, 30-26) and Stone Crabs (62-63, 29-27) meet again at Tradition Field on Wednesday. First pitch is 6:30 p.m.
 
For the Fans: Wednesday is the final All You Can Eat and a Seat of the season. For $15 get a ticket and enjoy the smorgasbord of hamburgers, hot dogs, beans and more.