Becerra stays north of .400 for St. Lucie

Wednesday was just another day at the office for Wuilmer Becerra.

The Mets' seventh-ranked prospect smacked three hits and drove in a run as Class A Advanced St. Lucie bested Jupiter, 5-2, at Roger Dean Stadium.

Becerra singled to right field in the second inning, then reached on an infield hit in the fourth. He lined into a double play in the sixth and struck out in the eighth before singling home Mets No. 2 prospect Amed Rosario to cap a three-run ninth.

"He started off 2-for-2 on the night; it looked like a typical night for him lately," St. Lucie manager Luis Rojas said. "He's been giving us at-bats, putting the bat on the ball. He's a kid that plays hard and, eventually, he gets some tough hits because of how hard he plays.

"Really good clutch at-bat in the ninth to drive in a run. I thought that he had another great night, similar to the nights he's had the last two weeks."

Becerra leads the Florida State League and ranks second in the Minors with a .415 batting average. The 21-year-old outfielder has been particularly scorching in May, registering at least two hits in eight of nine games this month.

"Honestly, for me, his strike zone discipline is what's been doing it," Rojas said. "He's been looking for his pitch, the pitch he can do damage with, and he's been sticking to that plan. He's giving himself more chances to square the ball up. Even if he gets down a little bit, he can still put a good swing on a pitch that's in the zone he's looking for."

Despite the strong start, Becerra has not homered in 94 at-bats at the Class A Advanced level. Rojas said he thinks it will happen sooner than later.

"I think he has the power to hit home runs in this league," the manager said. "He's just trying to hit the ball hard right now and whatever happens after he squares it is a different story. He's not really trying to lift and separate. He's always trying to stay inside the pitch. He's getting good results and, eventually, the power will come into play. Very sure that's going to start happening soon."

Rosario broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI double in the ninth. The 20-year-old shortstop, back with St. Lucie after playing 105 games there a year ago, is batting .328 and is tied for second in the league with 68 total bases.

"They had a really good start tonight against a guy [Luis Castillo] that throws 96, 97 mph," Rojas said of MLB.com's No. 75 overall prospect. "Amed had a couple of tough at-bats earlier, he was having an 0-for-3 night. It's good to see Amed step up in that situation with the go-ahead run on second base, facing another tough righty [Jose Adames]. He had a really good at-bat and wound up driving it the other way for a double, driving in the go-ahead run. It's a really good thing to see from this young player."

Tim Peterson (1-0) gave up two hits and struck out three over two innings of scoreless relief to earn his first FSL win. Robert Coles allowed a hit and fanned one in the ninth to record his second save.

Taylor Ard drove in a pair of runs for the Hammerheads.