PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The St. Lucie Mets pounded out 13 hits and knocked off the Fort Myers Miracle in the series opener, 4-2, on Monday night at First Data Field. The loss marked the fifth straight for the Miracle and their fourth in a row to open their six-game
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The St. Lucie Mets pounded out 13 hits and knocked off the Fort Myers Miracle in the series opener, 4-2, on Monday night at First Data Field.
The loss marked the fifth straight for the Miracle and their fourth in a row to open their six-game road trip.
The game was scoreless until the fifth inning, when the Mets struck first. With Hansel Moreno on first base and Cody Bohanek on third and one out, Moreno took off for second base and was caught in a run down. Moreno was tagged out, but Bohanek came in to score the first run of the game.
The Mets added three more in the sixth. Carlos Cortes led off with a double and Wagner Lagrange walked, forcing Fort Myers starter Lachlan Wells from the game. Yennier Cano entered and got Jeremy Vasquez to fly into a double play, but three straight run producing hits followed. Egardo Fermin and Dan Rizzie each doubled. Manny Rodriguez delivered an RBI single.
The Miracle got on the board with two out in the seventh, when Yeltsin Encarnacion delivered an RBI single. Andrew Bechtold's RBI single in the eighth made it 4-2, but the Miracle could not get any closer.
Jacob Pearson reached three times with a double and two walks. He also scored a run and stole a base. Pearson is hitting .308 through 15 games with the Miracle since his call up from Low-A Cedar Rapids.
Mets starter Tylor Megill (2-2) earned the win with a career-high 10 strikeouts in 5.1 innings. He allowed just two hits and also walked a pair. Wells (1-3) suffered the loss for the Miracle. The left-hander surrendered two runs on eight hits in five-plus innings. He waked one and struck out six.
St. Lucie went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position, while the Miracle were just 2-for-13.
Calvin Faucher tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning out of the Fort Myers bullpen, his seventh consecutive scoreless appearance.
Game two of the three-game series is Tuesday night at First Data Field. Right-hander Dakota Chalmers will start for the Miracle. First pitch is 6:30 p.m.
