Cardinals rally back, defeat Mets 7-3

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 22, 2024) – The Palm Beach Cardinals overcame an early deficit and went on to beat the St. Lucie Mets 7-3 on Thursday night at Clover Park. The Cardinals are 3-0 in the series and improved to 8-1 in games at Clover Park this season.

The Mets struck early as Boston Baro hit a RBI single and Ronald Hernandez followed with a RBI double in the first inning against Jose Davila to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. However, the offense dried up. The Mets went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position the rest of the game.

Mets starter Joel Diaz struggled with his command but managed to keep the Cardinals off the board over the first four innings. The tide turned in the fifth when Cade McGee reached on an error to start the inning and Lizandro Espinoza followed with a two-run homer to tie the game 2-2.

The Cardinals scored two more runs in the fifth inning to go up 4-2. Both runs scored on bases loaded walks issued by reliever Jeremy Peguero.

JJ Wetherholt hit a run-scoring ground out and Jose Suarez belted a RBI single in the sixth inning to make it 6-2 Cardinals. Both runs were unearned after an error earlier in the inning.

Josh Kross led off the seventh with a double and Christian Martin ripped a two-out double later in the frame for the final Cardinals run.

The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth but could only muster one run on a sac fly by Yohairo Cuevas that made it 7-3.

Davila limited the Mets to two runs over 4.0 innings. Randel Clemente followed with 2.0 scoreless innings to get the win. Augusto Calderon, Michael Watson and Angel Cuenca each pitched an inning to finish out the game for the Cardinals on the mound.

Diaz took the loss. He was charged with three runs (two earned) on just two hits over 4.0 innings. He walked five and struck out two.

Overall the Mets walked 11 batters and the two errors led to just three of the seven runs being earned.

Martin reached base five times for the Cardinals from the leadoff spot. He singled, doubled and walked three times.

A.J. Ewing reached base three times for the Mets. He singled and walked twice.

Nick Roselli was 2 for 4 with a pair of singles.

The Mets (17-32, 39-76) and Cardinals (35-14, 72-43) 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!