Game Recap: St. Lucie Mets win 11-9 thriller against Hammerheads

 

Jett Williams reaches base 5x with 2 H and 3 BB

 

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (July 15, 2023) – The St. Lucie Mets held off a furious late game rally by the Jupiter Hammerheads to win a thriller 11-9 at Clover Park on Saturday night.

 

The Mets jumped out to a 6-0 lead through the first three innings and eventually padded their lead to 11-2 by the end of the sixth inning.

 

Jupiter scored seven times in the top of the seventh to cut the deficit to 11-9. Elliot Johnstone was able to induced a huge double play for the first two outs in the eighth inning, then struck out Chase Luttrell to complete a scoreless ninth inning for his third save.

 

The Mets took a 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Yeral Martinez in the second inning off Jupiter starter Juan De La Cruz. Later in the inning Wilfredo Lara flared a two-run single with the bases loaded to make it 4-0.

 

Dyron Campos mashed a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, in the third inning to increase the Mets lead to 6-0.

 

Jupiter got a pair of runs against Mets reliever Jawilme Ramirez in the fifth inning on RBI hits by Sam Praytor and Jordan McCants that made it 6-2.

 

The Mets answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jacob Reimer hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and Lara recorded another RBI hit for a 9-2 lead.

 

Martinez blasted a RBI triple in the sixth and scored on a Kevin Villavicencio ground out for an 11-2 lead.

 

Trouble really began for the Mets in the seventh when center fielder Jefrey De Los Santos lost the potential third out in the lights. The ball hit by Ian Lewis bounced for a ground rule double with the bases loaded to cut the Mets lead to 11-6. After Miguel Alfonseca walked the next batter, Johnstone came in and Harrison Spohn pulled a two-run double to left that made it 11-8. Luttrell then scored from third base on a wild pitch to make it 11-9.

 

Johnstone stopped the bleeding by getting a ground out to keep the two-run lead intact.

 

Praytor led off the top of the eighth by hitting a comebacker off Johnstone’s right leg. Johnstone stayed in the game and on the next pitch got a tailor made 6-4-3 double play ball off the bat of Brett Roberts. McCants then flew out to end the inning.

 

Johnstone plunked Torin Montgomery with one out in the ninth but recovered to get Ian Lewis to fly out and Luttrell to strike out to end the game.

 

Mets leadoff hitter Jett Williams reached base five times in the win. He recorded two singles and walked three times. Williams scored twice and stole two bases.

 

Martinez went 3 for 5 with a homer, triple and single. In his bid to become the second St. Lucie Met to ever hit for the cycle, he flew out to center field in the eighth inning.

 

Mets starter Candido Cuevas served as the opener. He pitched 2.0 scoreless innings. He allowed one hit, did not walk a batter and struck out three.

 

Ramirez pitched the next 4.2 innings to get the win. He allowed five runs on six hits.

 

Alfonseca did not record an out and was charged with four runs on two hits and two walks.

 

Johnstone pitched the final 2.1 innings scoreless for the save.

 

The Mets (30-52, 6-11) and Hammerheads (42-41, 7-10) conclude their three-games series at Clover Park on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m.