Mets shock Cardinals with 9th inning comeback

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 24, 2022) – In stunning fashion, the St. Lucie Mets walked off the Palm Beach Cardinals 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth at Clover Park on Wednesday.

The Cardinals took a 4-3 lead into the last inning. Raul Beracierta started the rally with a leadoff single. On the next pitch to D’Andre Smith, Cardinals catcher Jimmy Crooks tossed the live ball away into his own dugout which resulted in Beracierta being awarded third base.

Later in the at-bat, Smith cranked a triple off Andrew Marrero to bring in Beracierta. As Smith headed for third base, Cardinals shortstop Jeremy Rivas threw the ball away into the Mets dugout allowing Smith to come in and score the game winning run.

It was an improbable comeback for the Mets, who were trailing 4-0 in the seventh inning. The Cardinals had runners on second and third with no outs in the seventh looking to add to their lead, but Mets reliever Joshua Cornielly got a shallow fly out and two strikeouts to keep the deficit at four.

The Mets score three runs in the bottom of the seventh, all with two outs. Rivas made a throwing error to second base on a potential force play that would have ended the inning. Instead the ball escaped and Tanner Murphy scored the first run for the Mets. Brad Malm then hit a casual fly ball to center field that Victor Scott lost in the twilight. Two runs scored to cut the Mets deficit to 4-3.

Cornielly worked around more base runners in the eighth and ninth innings to keep the Mets down just a run. He pitched three scoreless innings to get the win.

Mets starter Jordan Geber pitched six solid innings in a no-decision. He scattered seven hits and four runs (three earned). Geber walked one and struck out five.

Carlos Dominguez went 3 for 4 with three singles.

Smith was 2 for 3 with a triple, single, walk, RBI and two runs.

Rivas, who made the two crucial throwing errors at short, went 4 for 4 with a two-run homer for the Cardinals.

Palm Beach starter Tink Hence tossed four shutout innings.

The Mets (67-48, 27-23) and Cardinals (57-57, 27-23) 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 and Bud Light, $1 soda, $1 popcorn and $2 hot dogs. Also as part of Strike Out Hunger Night, fans who bring five non-perishable food items for the Treasure Coast Food Bank will get a free ticket.