Big nights for Vasil, De Los Santos in 4-3 win at Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. (May 17, 2022) – St. Lucie Mets won their series opener against the Tampa Tarpons 4-3 on Tuesday at Steinbrenner Field.

Omar De Los Santos went 2 for 4 with three RBI and three stolen bases to lead the offense while Mike Vasil struck out 11 over 7.0 innings to get the win.

Vasil gave up one unearned run and two singles. He did not walk a batter. Vasil has allowed just one earned run over his last 23.0 innings (four starts) to lower his season ERA to 1.85.

De Los Santos broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the sixth inning with a two-out, two-run single that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead. He proceeded to steal second and third base on consecutive pitches, although he did not score in the end.

De Los Santos provided the Mets a key insurance run with another two-out RBI single in the eighth to make it 4-1.

The Tarpons put together a two-out rally in the ninth. A RBI single by Anthony Garcia scored a run to make it 4-2 and keep the game going. The next batter, Grant Richardson, reached on an error to bring in a run and send the tying run to third base.

Mets reliever Joshua Cornielly recovered to strike out Ben Cowles on a 3-2 pitch to end the game. It was the first save of the season for Cornielly.

The Mets ended the night with 10 hits. The first four batters in the lineup – Alex Ramirez, Khalil Lee, William Lugo and Stanley Consuegra – all hit doubles.

Ramirez went 2 for 5. Consguegra was 2 for 4. Kevin Villavicencio also went 2 for 4.

The Mets (24-10) and Tarpons (14-19) play game 2 of their series at Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday. First pitch is 6:30 p.m.