Mercedes' Highlight Reel Night Not Enough for Mussels in Loss to Tarpons
FSL Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

Mercedes' Highlight Reel Night Not Enough for Mussels in Loss to Tarpons

Published on May 6, 2026 under Florida State League (FSL)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release


FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Tampa Tarpons by a final score of 4-3 on Wednesday night at the Lee Health Sports Complex.

Yasser Mercedes added to his early-season highlight reel tonight. Mercedes connected on his fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning to right-center field. The ball left the bat at 103 mph, which gave him three-straight 100+ mph hits dating back to his record-setting night on Tuesday.

Later on in the game, Meredes walked to lead off the fifth inning, then stole second and third base. With Quentin Young batting, Mercedes dashed to the plate for a straight steal of home, catching Tampa southpaw Pedro Rodriguez off-guard. Mercedes, who set a Mussel-era record with 34 stolen bases in 2025, extended his 2026 lead with 11 steals.

Mercedes is the first Mussel to have a steal of home since Angel Del Rosario on August 27, 2024 against Clearwater, however Del Rosario's steal came on the back-end of a double steal.

Mercedes continues to pace qualified Mighty Mussel hitters in average (.324), HR (5), RBI (19), runs scored (18), OPS (1.035) and steals (11).

Fort Myers (16-13) sent Matthew Dalquist to the mound to make his fourth start of the season. Dalquist gave up a one-out triple to Tampa's (14-15) Jackson Lovich in the first, but struck out the following two hitters to strand the runner at third.

Dalquist worked around another hit in the second, inducing a 6-4-3 double play to face the minimum.

After a clean third inning, the first two men reached in the fourth. Dalquist used another 6-4-3 twin killing to retire the side and strand two more runners.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ryan Sprock led off the inning with a single, then Ian Daugherty followed up with a knock of his own. Later in the frame, Dameury Pena roped a two-out single into left field to score Sprock. This made the score 2-0 Fort Myers.

Tampa fought back to cut the Mussel lead in half in the subsequent frame, manufacturing a run after a leadoff walk against Dalquist.

Dalquist was done after five innings, matching the longest start of the season for a Mussels' pitcher. He allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out four without issuing a walk.

In the bottom of the fifth, Mercedes' mad dash around the bases made the score 3-1.

The Tarpons continued to press in the sixth after new Mussels' righty Matthew DesMartes issued a leadoff walk to Enmanuel Tejada. Tejada stole both second and third, then came in on an RBI single by Jackson Lovich to make the score 3-2 Mussels.

In the top of the seventh inning, with two-out and no one on base, the Tarpons rallied to tie the game. JoJo Jackson worked a walk, stole second, then scored on an RBI double by Gregory Bozzo. This made the score 3-3.

Tampa paid off its rally by taking the lead in the top of the eighth. Three consecutive walks issued by Jake Murray (0-1) allowed a run to score on a sacrifice fly by Hans Montero. The Tarpons led 4-3 after seven and a half innings.

Parker Seay (3-0), who entered the game in the seventh inning to get a key strikeout, shut down the Mussels in the final two frames. Seay struck out five Fort Myers' hitters and faced one over the minimum in 2.1 innings to secure the win.

Fort Myers went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, leaving 11 on base in their fifth consecutive loss.

The series continues on Thursday, May 7. Merit Jones (2.38) gets the start for Fort Myers, Justin West (6.53) goes for Tampa. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.

Check out the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Statistics

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Florida State League Stories from May 6, 2026


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