Cardinals beat Mets 17-2 in series opener

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (April 21, 2026) – The Palm Beach Cardinals defeated the St. Lucie Mets 17-2 in the series opener between the teams at Clover Park on Tuesday night.

The Cardinals scored seven runs off Mets starter Omar Victorino in the second inning to go up 7-0. The game coasted along until the Cardinals scored eight runs in the eighth inning to take a commanding 17-2 lead.

The Mets offense, which scored 25 runs across their games Saturday and Sunday in Daytona, was limited to three hits on Tuesday. The Mets two runs came on RBI ground outs by Sam Robertson and JT Benson in the third and fourth innings.

Cameron Nickens opened the scoring against Victorino in the second with a two-run single. Victorino would issue consecutive bases-loaded walks to force in runs that made it 4-0. Caden Wooster replaced Victorino and Jack Gurevitch hit Wooster’s first pitch for a three-run double that made it 7-0.

In a bright spot for the Mets, pitcher Nicolas Carreño pitched 4.0 innings of excellent relief, allowing just one hit and one run on a solo homer by Ryan Mitchell. Carreño retired the first nine batters he faced. He struck out five.

The game was put away for good when the first eight Cardinals batters of the eighth inning reached base and scored. Reliever Jorge De Leon did not record and out and was charged with five runs. Ryan Weingartner hit a grand slam off De Leon. Ryan Dollar got all three outs in the inning and gave up three runs. Two came on a homer by Gurevitch.

Benson, who started for the Mets in left field, pitched a scoreless ninth inning with two walks and two strikeouts.

Randy Guzman went 1 for 3 with a walk and a run. Sam Biller went 1 for 2 with a single, hit-by-pitch, run and stolen base.

The Mets (8-8) and Cardinals (12-4) play the second game of their series at Clover Park on Wednesday. First pitch is 6:10 p.m.