Mets offense goes cold in 1-0 loss at Lakeland

LAKELAND, Fla. (June 8, 2017) - The St. Lucie Mets offense was ice cold in a 1-0 loss to the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Thursday at Joker Marchant Stadium.
 
The Mets were held to one hit, which was a single from Wuilmer Becerra in the fifth inning. The Mets have not scored a run in 17 consecutive innings.
 
Not even the presence of New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Céspedes could make a difference. Cespedes (hamstring/quad) made a rehab appearance and played the entire game in left field. He went 0 for 4 with a ground out and three fly outs.
 
Lakeland starter Sandy Baez, who lost all six of his starts entering Thursday, cruised through six innings. He gave up the one hit, walked one and struck out seven. Baez was perfect through the first four innings.
 
Flying Tigers relievers Mark Ecker, Bryan Garcia and Gerson Moreno combined to pitch the final three innings. Moreno converted his seventh save with a perfect ninth.
 
Mets starter Nabil Crismatt took the tough-luck loss. His only mistake was allowing a two-out RBI double to Elvis Rubio in the sixth inning on a two-strike pitch. Earlier in the inning he plunked Will Allen on a two-strike pitch.
 
Crismatt scattered three hits and the one run over 5.2 innings. He fanned six.
 
The Mets did draw four walks. Two walks were taken by Jhoan Urena in eight and nine pitch at-bats.
 
The Mets lost by the score of 1-0 for the second time in two weeks. Their only three losses since May 23rd have been 1-0, 4-2 (10 innings) and 1-0.
 
The Mets (30-28) and Flying Tigers (23-33) play the second game of their series at Joker Marchant Stadium on Friday at 6:30 p.m.