St. Lucie Recap: P.B. Cardinals Beat St. Lucie Mets 7-3 in Series Opener in Jupiter

St. Lucie Mets via X/Twitter

Baez doubles to extend hitting streak to 14 games

Box Score

 

JUPITER, Fla. (May 14, 2024) – The Palm Beach Cardinals defeated the St. Lucie Mets 7-3 in the series opener at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Tuesday evening. It was the 10^th straight loss for St. Lucie.

 

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the third inning when Lizandro Espinoza scored on a fly ball hit by Jose Cordoba that was dropped by center fielder Diego Mosquera.

 

The game remained 1-0 midway through the fifth. The Cardinals started to break the game open when Miguel Villarroel hit a two-out RBI single against Ryan Ammons to make it 2-0. Two batters later Chase Davis hit a two-run single that pushed the lead to 4-0.

 

Meanwhile, Cardinals starter Juan Salas dominated. Salas pitched 6.2 scoreless innings allowing just two hits. He walked two and struck out eight, including the final four Mets he faced.

 

The Mets scored quickly upon Salas' removal from the game. With two outs in the seventh Yohairo Cuevas doubled off new pitcher Ettore Giulianelli. Kevin Villavicencio followed with another double to plate Cuevas and make it 4-1.

 

The Cardinals got a two-out, two-run single from Trey Paige in the seventh inning off Juan Arnaud to make it 6-1.

 

Boston Baro hit a RBI single in the top of the eighth to make it 6-2.

 

Chase Adkison laced a RBI single in the home eighth for a 7-2 Cardinals advantage.

 

Villavicencio made it three straight innings with a run to end the night for the Mets offense when he lofted a sac fly in the ninth.

 

Jesus Baez went 1 for 3 with a double in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.

 

Marco Vargas doubled and scored in the eighth inning on his 19^th birthday.

 

The double for Cuevas was his fourth in two games.

 

Mets starter Franklin Gomez took the loss. He was charged with three runs (two earned) on three hits over 4.2 innings. He walked three and struck out five.

 

The Mets (12-22) and Cardinals (19-15) play the second game of their series at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.