Dibrell, Smith pitch Mets to doubleheader sweep at Dunedin

St. Lucie 9-1 in last 10 games

July 13, 2019

CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 13, 2019) - The St. Lucie Mets swept the Dunedin Blue Jays in a doubleheader at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.The Mets won both games behind dominant starts from Tony Dibrell and Kevin Smith. Dibrell fired six scoreless innings in the first game, a 5-2

CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 13, 2019) - The St. Lucie Mets swept the Dunedin Blue Jays in a doubleheader at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
The Mets won both games behind dominant starts from Tony Dibrell and Kevin Smith. Dibrell fired six scoreless innings in the first game, a 5-2 victory. Smith matched Dibrell with six shutout frames in game 2, which the Mets won 2-0.
The Mets have won four in a row and nine of their last 10 to improve to 18-8 in the FSL's second half. Saturday was their first doubleheader sweep of the season. They entered the night just 3-7 in doubleheader games.
In game 1, Dibrell scattered three singles and three walks. He struck out four and picked up his team-high eighth win. He also lowered his ERA to 2.39, the fifth best mark in the league.
The Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Jeremy Vasquez's two-run single.
The Mets broke the game open with three runs in the sixth inning. Edgardo Fermin hit a RBI single, Matt Winaker scored on a wild pitch and Hansel Moreno produced a run-scoring double to make it 5-0.
Carlos Hernandez allowed two runs in the bottom of the seventh but retired Alejandro Kirk, who represented the tying run at the plate, on a pop out to Vasquez in foul ground at first base to end the game.
Vasquez, Fermin and Jacob Zanon had two hits apiece.
In game 2, Smith also gave up just three singles over six innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out eight Blue Jays to bring his season strikeout total to 102, which is the most in the FSL.
Ezequiel Zabaleta pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his seventh save. It clinched the Mets' 10th shutout victory of the season.
The Mets scored their first run in the third inning when Zanon hit into a double play with the bases loaded to bring home Dan Rizzie.
Winaker scored from third base on a strikeout wild pitch by Jackson Rees in the sixth inning for the other run of the game.
Rizzie went 2 for 3 with a double. Moreno also went 2 for 3 at the plate.
The Mets (18-8, 50-42) aim for a fifth straight win and a series sweep of the Blue Jays (16-8, 57-32) when the teams meet at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.