Mets win Sunday finale 5-1 over Cardinals, split series 3-3

JUPITER, Fla. (June 30, 2024) – The St. Lucie Mets defeated the Palm Beach Cardinals 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium to earn a 3-3 series split.

Mets starter Joel Diaz dazzled, as he limited the Cardinals to just a Chase Davis homer. Diaz pitched 5.1 innings to get the win. The only other hit he allowed was single to the last batter he faced in the sixth inning. Diaz walked three and struck out two while throwing 71 pitches.

The Mets offense exploded for all five of its runs in the third inning against Palm Beach starter Hunter Kublick. The Mets loaded the bases no outs and Marco Vargas took a walk to force in a run. Estarling Mercardo followed with a two-run single to open up a 3-0 lead. Yohairo Cuevas then hit a RBI single to make it 4-0. The single extended Ceuvas’ hitting streak to eight games. Jeffry Rosa capped off the inning with a sac fly for a 5-0 advantage.

Davis led off the fourth inning with a home run to make it 5-1. Diaz recovered by retiring the next five batters.

Mets reliever Layonel Ovalles took over for Diaz with one out in the sixth and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in his return from the FCL. Ovalles gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.

Ryan Ammons pitched a perfect ninth with one strikeout to close out the game in a non-save situation.

Kublick took the loss. He gave up all five runs over 2.0 innings.

Mercado went 2 for 4 with two RBI to lead the Mets at the plate.

Davis had two of Palm Beach’s three hits.

The Mets won three of the final four games of the series after starting the week 0-2.

The Mets (3-6, 25-50) are on the road to Daytona Beach on Monday to start a six-game series against the Daytona Tortugas. It will be a split series with the first three games Monday-Wednesday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark and final three game Thursday-Saturday at Clover Park. First pitch on Monday is 6:35 p.m.