Game Recap and Highlights: Palm Beach Cardinals send St. Lucie Mets to 7th straight loss

 

Palm Beach beats St. Lucie 8-4

 

ST. LUCIE METS PRESS RELEASE: PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (May 17, 2023) – The Palm Beach Cardinals defeated the St. Lucie Mets 8-4 on Thursday night at Clover Park, extending the Mets losing streak to seven games. Meanwhile the Cardinals have won 12 of their last 15 (Box Score).

 

After scoring twice in the first inning on Tuesday, Palm Beach scored three times in the first inning Wednesday and knocked Mets starter Javier Atencio out before he could finish the frame. Chris Rotondo drew a leadoff walk and Alex Iadisernia singled. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Rotondo scored on a ground out by Michael Curialle.

 

Leonardo Bernal wacked a RBI single into center field to make it 2-0. Atencio then walked consecutive batters and was removed at 33 pitches. Joey Lancellotti came in from the bullpen and threw a wild pitch on his first pitch to bring in Bernal for a 3-0 Palm Beach lead.

 

Won-Bin Cho hit a RBI single 111 mph off the bat it the third inning to make it 4-0. Brandon Hernandez singled to leadoff the fourth inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch by new reliever Michael Krauza for a 5-0 Cardinals advantage.

 

The Mets clawed back in the game in the bottom of the fifth against Palm Beach starter Hunter Hayes. Kevin Villavicencio started the inning with a triple. He scored on a ground out by Fernando Villalobos. Wilfredo Lara followed with a single and Carlos Dominguez rocketed a RBI triple to make it 5-2. Dominguez scored from third on a wild pitch by Hayes to cut the deficit to 5-3. Jett Williams singled to keep the inning going but Hayes induced an inning-ending double play off the bat of Jacob Reimer on a 3-0 pitch to escape further trouble.

 

The Cardinals got all three runs back in the top of the sixth against Brian Gursky. Bernal scored on the third wild pitch by the Mets to bring in a run and Cho bashed a two-run double to make it 8-3.

 

The Mets scored the last run of the game on a RBI single by Scott Ota in the bottom of the sixth.

 

Hayes got the win. He held the Mets to three runs on six hits over 5.0 innings.

 

Cardinals reliever Jose Davila pitched the final 4.0 innings to get his first save. He retired the last seven Mets batters in a row.

 

Atencio took his sixth loss of the season in his seventh appearance. He was charged with three runs on two hits with three walks in 0.2 innings.

 

Lara went 3 for 5 with a double in the loss.

 

Williams was 1 for 3 with a single and a walk to extend his hitting streak to three games.

 

Eight of the nine players in the Cardinals lineup recorded a hit. Cho and Hernandez had three hits apiece. Rotondo was 2 for 5 with a triple.

 

The Mets (8-27) and Cardinals (22-13) play the third game of their series at Clover Park on Thursday. First pitch is 6:10 p.m. It’s Dollar Night with $1 Bud Light drafts at the concession stand, $2 Bud and Bud Light aluminum bottles, $2 hot dogs, $1 soda and $1 popcorn.

RBI triple for Carlos Dominguez! 💪 pic.twitter.com/0cLtx1qNgl

— Mets Player Development (@MetsPlayerDev) May 18, 2023