Lott, Cardinals grab 5-4 walk-off win over Mets

Saunders goes 3 for 5, raises average to .299

July 15, 2021

JUPITER, Fla. (July 15, 2021) – The Palm Beach Cardinals overcame a three-run deficit to get a 5-4 walk-off win over the St. Lucie Mets on Thursday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Todd Lott hit a long one-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to score Carlos Soto

JUPITER, Fla. (July 15, 2021) – The Palm Beach Cardinals overcame a three-run deficit to get a 5-4 walk-off win over the St. Lucie Mets on Thursday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

Todd Lott hit a long one-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to score Carlos Soto from second base for the winning run. Lott was 3 for 5 and sparked the Cardinals with a two-run single earlier in the game.

The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Jimmy Titus, Jose Colina and Anthony Walters all drew walks from Cardinals starter Luis Moreno to begin the inning. Omar De Los Santos started the scoring with a sac fly. Warren Saunders and Brandon McIlwain hit consecutive RBI singles to make it 3-0.

The Cardinals got one run in the fourth inning when Patrick Romeri doubled and later scored on a sac fly.

The Mets were a gifted a run to go up 4-1 in the fifth. Saunders reached on an infield single, went to second base on a balk, tagged up to third base on a fly out and was balked home.

Mets starter Oscar Rojas was able to escape trouble in the first four innings but ran into problems due to command in the fifth. He walked two batters and hit another. Lott hit a two-run single to make it 4-3.

Rojas received a no-decision. He pitched 4.1 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and five walks while striking out five.

Palm Beach’s Donivan Williams tied the game 4-4 with a leadoff homer off Drake Nightengale in the sixth inning.

Nolan Clenney (0-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the Mets but gave up a walk and consecutive hits after getting the first out of the ninth. He suffered the loss.

Cardinals relievers Luis Ortiz and Edgar Manzo (4-2) combined to limit the Mets office to one run over 6.1 innings. The duo struck out nine hitters.

Saunders went 3 for 5 in the loss and raised his batting average to .299. He was the only Met with a multi-hit game.

Jimmy Titus reached base three times with a single and two walks.

The Mets (33-30) and Cardinals (24-38) play the fourth game of their series at Roger Dean Stadium on Friday at 6:30 p.m.