Mets bludgeon Hammerheads again, 9-2

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (May, 2 2024) – The St. Lucie Mets continued their dominance over the Jupiter Hammerheads this week with a crushing 9-2 victory on Thursday. The Mets have won all three games in the series and have a plus-22 run differential.

For the second straight game the Mets put the pressure on early by scoring four runs in the first inning. The Mets first five batters – Colin Houck, Jesus Baez, Ronald Hernandez, Vincent Perozo and Nick Morabito – recorded hits against Jupiter starter Brandon White.

Perozo’s single drove in two runs and Morabito followed with another two-run single for a 4-0 lead.

Baez crushed a 411-foot homer in the second inning to make it 5-0.

That was plenty of run support for 18-year-old starter Franklin Gomez. The lefty who was making his first start rolled through the Hammerheads lineup. Gomez fired 5.0 scoreless innings and gave up just one hit and one walk. He struck out five and only threw 55 pitches. Gomez faced the minimum over his five innings of work and got the win.

Zack Thornton pitched the final 4.0 innings to get the save. He worked around a couple of runs to start the ninth inning by retiring three straight batters to end the game.

Colin Houck hit a bases-clearing triple in the sixth inning to open an 8-0 lead. Perozo drove in Houck for the Mets final run with a single.

The top four batters in the Mets lineup had two hits each. Morabito went 3 for 4. He leads the FSL with a .411 batting average.

The Mets (12-12) and Hammerheads (15-9) play the fourth game of their series at Clover Park on Friday. First pitch is 6:10 p.m. Kids can run the bases after the game.