Cortes homer lifts Mets to 5-4 win vs. Tarpons

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (June 6, 2019) -Carlos Cortes hit a long two-run, go-ahead home run in the seventh inning to propel the St. Lucie Mets to a 5-4 win over the Tampa Tarpons on Thursday at First Data Field.
New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo (neck) served as the DH and leadoff hitter in his first rehab game. Nimmo went 2 for 4 with a triple and his single.
Nimmo's triple started the seventh inning with the Mets down 4-3. Two batters later Cortes crushed the winning home run over right field and out of the stadium. It was Cortes' team-leading sixth homer of the year.
Ezequiel Zabaleta struck out four Tarpons in the final two innings to earn the six-out save.
The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the third inning on a RBI single by Jeremy Vasquez and a two-run triple by Jacob Zanon.
The Tarpons rallied for four runs in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Welfrin Mateo hit a two-run homer. Isiah Gilliam tied the game with a RBI ground out and Dermis Garcia followed with a run-scoring single to give Tampa the lead.
Mets starter Dedniel Nunez cruised through the first five innings. He faced the minimum amount of batters in the first five frames. The only three Tarpons batters who reached base in the first five innings were thrown out by catcher Mitch Ghelfi trying to steal second.
Darwin Ramos pitched two innings and gave up one run to get the win.
The Mets went 7-1 in the season series against the Tarpons. The teams don't meet again in 2019.
The Mets (30-29) start a seven-game road trip on Friday. First up is a visit to Lakeland to play the Flying Tigers. Friday's games at Joker Marchant Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.