Mets fall to Hammerheads in extra innings

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 30, 2022) – The St. Lucie Mets dropped a fourth straight game, losing 4-3 in 10 innings to the Jupiter Hammerheads on Tuesday at Clover Park.

The Hammerheads broke a 2-2 tie in the 10th inning on a Carlos Santiago sac fly. The next two batters drew walks from Mets reliever Joander Suarez to load the bases. Chase Luttrell then hit a sac fly against the new Mets pitcher Miguel Alfonseca to give the Hammerheads an insurance run and a 4-2 lead.

The Mets got a RBI fielder’s choice ground out from Chase Estep in the bottom of the 10th to make it 4-3. Jupiter reliever Kyle Crigger then got Junior Tilien to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Eduardo Salazar put the Mets on the board in the fifth inning by hitting a leadoff home run off Jupiter starter Holt Jones, Jr. The Mets scored again in the inning when Branden Fryman came home from third on a sac fly by Kevin Parada for a 2-0 Mets lead.

Jupiter’s Torin Montgomery tied the game in the sixth inning with a two-run homer off Mike Vasil, who was pitching on a MiLB rehab assignment.

New York Mets pitcher Joey Lucchesi (Tommy John surgery) made his third rehab appearance with St. Lucie by pitching a scoreless inning of relief in the fourth. He struck out a batter and worked around a one-out double.

Omar De Los Santos went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles, a walk and two stolen bases in the loss. He now has 69 stolen bases on the year and is just six off the team record of 75 set by Wayne Lydon in 2003.

Parada, the Mets first round draft pick, went 1 for 3 with a single, walk and sac fly. His infield hit in the 10th inning was his first with St. Lucie.

Montgomery went 4 for 5 with a homer, three singles, two RBI and two runs for Jupiter.

The Mets have lost nine of their last 11 games to drop to .500 in the second half.

The Mets (67-52, 27-27) and Hammerheads (58-60, 24-30) continue their series at Clover Park on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.