Mets rally past Cardinals late for 2-1 win

JUPITER, Fla. (June 12, 2026) – The St. Lucie Mets rallied late to beat the Palm Beach Cardinals 2-1 on Friday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. The Mets lead the series 3-1.

The game was scoreless at the seventh inning stretch. The Cardinals worked a pair of two-out walks against Mets reliever Luis Alvarez before Brayden Smith hit a RBI single to put the Cardinals up 1-0.

The Mets answered right back in the eighth. Chase Meggers and Branny De Oleo hit back-to-back singles. Smith misplayed De Oleo’s hit in right field allowing Meggers and De Oleo to advance to third and second.

With one out Jackson Hauge ripped a 3-2 pitch from Yadiel Batista down the third base line for a two-run double that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.

That was enough of a cushion for Zack Mack. The righty reliever retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings to close out the game for his first career save.

Alvarez was credited with the win. He allowed one run and struck out three over 2.0 innings.

Mets starter Joel Lara escaped a bases loaded jam in the first inning by getting Chase Heath to fly out to right field. Yohairo Cuevas threw out Deniel Ortiz at the plate trying to tag up on the play for a double play.

Lara pitched 3.0 scoreless innings.

Tyler McLoughlin escaped a big jam in the fifth inning. The first two batters reached and made it to second and third base with no outs. McLoughlin recovered to get a ground out, popout and another ground out to keep the game 0-0. McLoughlin pitched 2.0 scoreless innings.

Palm Beach starter Brian Holiday pitched 5.0 scoreless innings. He retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced. Trey Snyder hit a double to be only base runner against Holiday.

The victory for St. Lucie snapped a 12-game streak in which the team that scored first in a Mets game went on to win.

The Mets (28-33) and Cardinals (31-30) play the fifth game of their series at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.