Flores, Flying Tigers blank Mets 7-0

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Sept. 11, 2021) – The Lakeland Flying blanked the St. Lucie Mets 7-0 on Saturday night at Clover Park.

Lakeland starting pitcher Wilmer Flores (3-3) held the Mets to one hit and two walks over 6.0 strong innings. Three Flying Tigers relievers pitched a scoreless inning apiece to preserve the shutout.

Corey Oswalt (knee) made a MLB rehab start for St. Lucie. He pitched a scoreless first inning, allowing a single and recording a strikeout.

Trey McLoughlin followed Oswalt and tossed three scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Austin Schultz hit a one-out infield single with the bases loaded to bring home the first run of the night for Lakeland. After McLoughlin recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Nick Quintana ripped a three-run double down the third base line to make it a 4-0 lead.

The Flying Tigers added a run in the sixth on a two-out error and scored two more in the seventh inning on an error and a single.

Juan Uriarte ended Flores’s no-hit bid with a lead off single in bottom of the sixth. Alex Ramirez and Justin Guerrera had the other two hits for St. Lucie.

McLoughin (0-2) took the loss. He was charged with four runs and five hits in 3.2 innings.

Liam McCall finished the game on the mound for the Mets by pitching two scoreless and hitless innings.

The Mets (55-54) and Flying Tigers (50-61) conclude their series with a single nine-inning game on Sunday at 12:10 p.m.