Cardinals soar past Mets after 9 run 1st inning

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (June 10, 2021) – The Palm Beach Cardinals used the strength of a nine-run top of the first to beat the St. Lucie Mets 14-8 at Clover Park on Thursday.

The Cardinals used a combination of walks, hits and an error to open up a 5-0 lead before making an out. Matt Koperniak hit a two-run double and Franklin Soto followed up with a two-run single to make it 5-0.

Mets starter Austin Faith was lifted before recording an out. Brailin Gonzalez entered from the bullpen and was taken deep for a grand slam by Masyn Winn for a 9-0 Cardinals lead.

The Mets scored a run in the second inning and four more in the third to cut the deficit to 9-5. Nic Gaddis, Jose Peroza and Jaylen Palmer had run-scoring hits. Back-to-back sac flies from Shervyen Newton and Jose Colina made it 9-5.

However, the Cardinals broke the game back open with five runs in the fifth off Liam McCall. Todd Lott hit a three-run homer and Koperniak hit the next pitch from McCall for a homer to make it 14-5.

Gaddis hit a two-run triple in the seventh and went on to score on an error for the final run of the night.

Francisco Justo pitched the final 2.1 innings without allowing a hit to stop the Mets comeback.

Edgar Manzo got the win after pitching three innings and not giving up a hit or run.

Three Mets relievers were able to get 27 outs. Brendan Hardy pitched four shutdown innings to finish out the game. He did not allow a hit and struck out seven. The three Mets relievers combined for 17 strikeouts, the most for the Mets pitching staff in a game this season.

Gaddis went 2 for 4 with a triple, single, walk and three RBI.

Winn was 3 for 4 with a homer, two singles, two walks and four RBI for the Cardinals.

The Mets (19-14) and Cardinals (9-24) play the fourth game of their series at Clover Park on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. It’s School’s Out Night. All K-12 students can get a free ticket by showing their ID at the ticket window.