Cardinals slam 3 home runs, beat Mets 11-4
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (June 17, 2025) – The Palm Beach Cardinals broke a 2-2 tie with a seven-run sixth inning en route to an 11-4 win over the St. Lucie Mets in the series opener between the teams on Tuesday night at Clover Park. Cade McGee hit a two-run
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (June 17, 2025) – The Palm Beach Cardinals broke a 2-2 tie with a seven-run sixth inning en route to an 11-4 win over the St. Lucie Mets in the series opener between the teams on Tuesday night at Clover Park.
Cade McGee hit a two-run homer off Irving Cota to start the scoring in the sixth inning. Sammy Hernandez hit a two-run single to make it 6-2. Matt Lloyd crushed a two-run homer against Hunter Hodges with two outs in the inning to cap the scoring at 9-2.
Daiverson Gutierrez hit a two-run single for the Mets in the seventh inning. The Mets had the bases loaded later in the frame but Randel Clemente got Simon Juan to bounce into an inning-ending double play to keep the Cardinals up 9-4. Clemente stranded the bases loaded again in the eighth.
Luis Pino, the only Cardinal without a hit through the first eight innings, belted a two-run homer off Jorge De Leon in the ninth to complete the scoring.
New York Mets reliever Brooks Raley (Tommy John surgery) made his first MLB rehab start and pitched a scoreless first inning. Raley gave up one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Daviel Hurtado, promoted from the FCL Mets, made his St. Lucie debut behind Raley and fired 3.0 scoreless innings. Hurtado allowed one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out four.
Cota took the loss, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits over 1.2 innings.
Palm Beach starter Leonel Sequera earned the win after holding the Mets to two runs in 5.0 innings. Clemente was credited with his fourth save. He did not give up a run over the last 2.2 innings.
Colin Houck got the scoring started in the game with a RBI double in the third inning.
The Cardinals scored twice against Cota in the fifth inning on a RBI single by Sammy Hernandez and a run-scoring passed ball against Gutirrez.
Nick Roselli briefly tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with an inside-the-park home run. Roselli lined a pitched into center field with a 108 mph exit velocity that was misplayed to the wall by Bryce Madron. It was the fifth homer of the season for Roselli.
Houck went 2 for 4 with a double, walk, RBI and run. Jeremy Rodriguez went 2 for 3 with a walk.
The Mets (34-29) and Cardinals (30-33) play the second game of their series at Clover Park on Wednesday. First pitch is 6:10 p.m.