Mets hold on to beat Marauders 4-3

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 6, 2016) - The St. Lucie Mets had to hang on late for an exciting 4-3 win over the Bradenton Marauders on Saturday at Tradition Field.
 
The game started with Zack Wheeler beginning a rehab assignment. Wheeler, who underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2015, was slated to throw two innings or 35 pitches. He allowed one walk and one unearned run in the first inning. He threw 17 pitches, 11 for strikes.
 
Rain halted the game in the bottom of the first. A 30-minute delay ended any chance of Wheeler starting the second inning.
 
Fellow Major League rehabber Jim Henderson pitched the second inning. He struck out a batter and gave up a two-out single in a scoreless inning.
 
The Mets broke a 1-1 tied in the fifth. David Thompson broke his bat on a RBI single to left field. After Kevin Taylor singled to load the bases, Tomas Nido grounded a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-1 Mets.
 
Casey Delgado, who took the reigns on the mound in the third inning, shut out the Marauders for the next 6.1 innings. Finally a double by Michael Suchy with one out in the ninth chased Delgado from the game.
 
Closer Corey Taylor entered and promptly got the second out on a grounder. Pablo Reyes followed with a RBI double to cut the Mets lead to 4-2. Tito Polo kept the game alive with an infield hit to set up runners at the corners. Polo then stole second base and Nido's throw to second skipped into center field, allowing Reyes to score from third and Polo to advance to third as the tying run.
 
Taylor recovered to get Kevin Kramer to fly out to deep center field to end the game. It was Taylor's 17th save.
 
The win tied the Mets for first place in the FSL South Division with Jupiter.
 
Next Up: The Mets (58-50, 23-18) and Marauders (56-54, 18-24) conclude their three-game series on Sunday. First pitch at Tradition Field is 1 p.m. The Mets are aiming for the sweep.
 
For the Fans: Fans can get a ticket and enjoy a Sunday brunch for $18. Sunday is also ALS Awareness Day with a postgame Ice Bucket Challenge. All fans are invited to participate.