Mets fall to Hammerheads 5-4 in Clover Park finale
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (September 1, 2024) – The Jupiter Hammerheads jumped out to a big early lead and hung on to beat the St. Lucie Mets 5-4 on Sunday afternoon in the Clover Park finale. The Mets played all 66 of their home games as scheduled with no rainouts,
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (September 1, 2024) – The Jupiter Hammerheads jumped out to a big early lead and hung on to beat the St. Lucie Mets 5-4 on Sunday afternoon in the Clover Park finale.
The Mets played all 66 of their home games as scheduled with no rainouts, suspended games or shortened games. Only two of the 66 games had delayed starts. That included Sunday’s 13 minute delay due to rain.
When play did begin the Hammerheads scored four runs in the first inning against Mets starter Jorge De Leon. Carter Johnson hit a two-run double before an out was recorded to put Jupiter up 2-0. Payton Green hit a sac fly for a 3-0 lead and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart scored from third base on a passed ball to make it 4-0.
Brayhans Barrerto relieved De Leon and got the final out of the first inning. Michael Snyder hit a double to start the second inning and Jake DeLeo followed with a RBI single for a 5-0 Jupiter advantage. DeLeo made his way to third base with no outs on two stolen bases but Barreto buckled down and stranded him.
The Mets started to come back in the bottom of the second inning when A.J. Ewing hit a two-out, two-run double to make it 5-2.
Trey Snyder hit a RBI single in the third inning and Yohairo Cuevas launched a double to plate Snyder to cut the deficit to 5-4.
The Mets had several opportunities in the game to get the tying run in but the Hammerheads held them off. The Mets loaded the bases in the sixth and eighth inning but couldn’t score. Cuevas hit another double off the top of the wall in the ninth with one out. Jake Faherty retired the next two batters to end the game.
The Mets went 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 base runners.
Barreto gave up just one run in 3.1 innings. Edgar Moreta pitched 3.0 shutout innings with four strikeouts. Ethan Lanthier, the Mets 12th round pick from Kansas, made his professional debut and struck out two in a scoreless fifth inning.
Ewing, Cuevas and Nick Roselli each had two hits.
The Mets (21-37, 43-81) are off on Monday. They return to the diamond on Tuesday when they start a six-game series at the Clearwater Threshers. It is the final week of the season. First pitch from BayCare Ballpark on Tuesday is 6:30 p.m.