Wold hits grand slam, Mets clobber Threshers 9-2

CLEARWATER, Fla. (August 9, 2022) – The St. Lucie Mets started their 12-game, 13-day road trip with a dominant 9-2 win over the Clearwater Threshers at BayCare Ballpark on Tuesday.

After a sluggish start through the first three innings, the Mets broke out in a big way when Jack-Thomas Wold launched an opposite grand slam to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning. The three Mets base runners to reach before Wold made their way on base on two walks and a hit-by-pitch by Clearwater starter Starlyn Castillo (0-4).

Mets starter Joel Diaz allowed a sac fly in the first inning and a two-out RBI by Matt Alifano in the second inning but turned on the heat starting in the third inning. After the Alifano hit, Diaz retired 10 of the next 11 batters to finish his night.

Diaz (2-1) pitched five innings and gave up two hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out five. It was his second consecutive outing getting the win.

Paul Gervase, the Mets 12th round pick in July from LSU, made his team debut and pitched a perfect sixth inning by striking out all three batters he faced looking.

Josh Walker, on MiLB rehab assignment, pitched the next 2.1 innings scoreless.

The Mets broke the game open with a five-run eighth inning. Carlos Dominguez hit a three-run homer to make it 8-2. It was his FSL-leading 17th home run of the season.

Blaine McIntosh hit a RBI double to complete the scoring in his team debut.

Jace Beck replaced Walker with one out in the ninth and struck out two batters to end the game.

Omar De Los Santos, Junior Tilien, Dominguez and Wold had two hits apiece.

The Mets have won three games in a row and six of their last seven. They are now 20 games over .500 for the first time since they were 39-19.

The Mets (61-41, 21-16) and Threshers (47-55, 12-25) play the second game of their series at BayCare Ballpark on Wednesday. First pitch is 6:30 p.m.