Tarpons’ rally falls short, lose 4-3 to the Mets

TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Tarpons (14-19) made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth but dropped the series opener to the St. Lucie Mets (24-10) at George M. Steinbrenner Field, 4-3.

The Tarpons seemingly had no answer for Mets’ starter Mike Vasil (3-1), who fanned 11 batters in seven innings of work.

Tampa called upon RHP Tyrone Yulie to toe the rubber for his sixth start of the 2022 campaign. Yulie delivered his best outing of the season for the Tarpons, allowing just one unearned run over five innings pitched. He amassed five strikeouts while only allowing three hits and two walks.

The Mets struck first in the third inning after William Lugo reached on a throwing error by 3B Marcos Cabrera. Cabrera’s throw was low in the dirt and skipped by 1B Anthony Garcia, allowing Khalil Lee to cross the plate after a double to center field.

The Tarpons answered quickly as DH Alexander Vargas singled to right field to start the bottom of the fourth. Vargas had an unorthodox trip around the bases – stealing second base as CF Jasson Dominguez was called out on strikes. With Cabrera at the dish, Vargas swiped third base and saw the catcher’s throw sail into left field which allowed him to score easily.

Manager Rachel Balkovec turned to RHP Kevin Milam (3-3) to maintain the tie score, but that quickly slipped away. Lee led off for the Mets and reached base on a fielding mishap which saw Milam fail to step on first for the out. Batting next, Lugo ripped the very first pitch he saw to deep right field over the head of RF Grant Richardson. With runners on second and third with no outs, Milam fought by back striking out the next two batters. Omar De Los Santos stepped into the box and broke the tie with an RBI-single up the middle to score both batters.

De Los Santos would strike again in the top of the eighth, with another RBI-single which scored Stanley Consuegra. His single came off RHP Jack Neely, who allowed one earned run on three hits over 2.1 innings pitched.

The Tarpons headed into the bottom of the ninth looking to get a rally going down three runs. With one out, Dominguez doubled on a ground ball to left field – the Tarpons only extra base hit of the game. Garcia singled on a grounder up the middle which ricocheted off Mets’ second baseman Justin Guerrera. The ball bounced into center field, and Dominguez jogged in to score. C Anthony Seigler drew a full count walk, putting both tying runs on base.

The Mets turned to RHP Joshua Cornielly to wrap things up. Cornielly forced Richardson to put the ball on the ground but was unable to haul in a throw from his first baseman while hurrying to cover the bag. The blunder allowed Garcia to score, bringing the game within one run. With the tying run on third base and go ahead run on first, SS Ben Cowles struck out swinging on a full count.

The Tarpons and Mets return to action tomorrow night for game two of a six game series. RHP Yon Castro is slated to make the start, with the first pitch thrown at 6:30 PM EST.