Mets homer 4 times in 6-4 loss to Cardinals

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (July 29, 2022) – The Palm Beach Cardinals beat the St. Lucie Mets 6-4 on Friday at Clover Park.

The Mets hit four solo home runs in defeat. That gives the Mets a total of 100 home runs through 93 games this season. Justin Guerrera hit his eighth homer of the season, Junior Tilien smacked two homers and William Lugo hit his third home run of the series.

The two homers for Tilien was his second multi-homer game of the season. He hit a St. Lucie record three home runs on May 29th at Dunedin. Tilien now has 11 long balls on the year.

The Mets struggled on the mound despite the offensive power surge. Through the first six innings three Mets pitchers combined to walk eight batters and struck out just four. There were also two errant pickoff throws to first base.

The Cardinals scored three runs against Mets starter Franklin Sanchez in the third inning. Elijah Cabell hit a RBI single to start the scoring, a second run scored on a double play and Thomas Francisco knocked Sanchez out the game with a two-out RBI single that made it 3-1.

Tilien and Lugo hit consecutive homers in the fifth inning off Cardinals starter Trent Baker to tie the game 3-3.

The Cardinals scored twice in the sixth to retake the lead. Leonard Bernal hit a RBI double and Jhon Torres registered a RBI ground out that made it 5-3.

A walk, error and a passed ball helped to score Nathan Church in the seventh inning to put the Cardinals up 6-3.

Tilien launched his second homer of the game in the bottom of the seventh to make it 6-4.

The game entered a 1 hour and 33 minute rain delay in the top of the ninth. When play resumed the Cardinals lined into a double play and the Mets went down in order vs. Andrew Marrero in the bottom of the ninth to finish the game.

The Mets (54-39, 14-14) and Cardinals (46-46, 16-12) play the fifth game of their series at Clover Park on Saturday. First pitch is 6:10 p.m. As part of Maddie’s Fight Night the Mets will wear special purple and gold uniforms that will be auctioned off to raise money for children’s cancer research. There will also be postgame fireworks.