Patience Pays Off, Mets Edge Cardinals 5-4
April 21, 2014 - Florida State League (FSL1)
St. Lucie Mets News Release
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (April 21, 2014) - The St. Lucie Mets showed extreme patience in edging the Palm Beach Cardinals 5-4 on Monday at Tradition Field.
Trailing 4-3 with two outs in the eighth, the Mets worked four consecutive walks to tie the game and then take the lead.
Cam Maron led off the eighth with a walk issued by Aiden Lucas. After Lucas got Eudy Pina and Phillip Evans to fly out to right, he walked Maikis De La Cruz.
Lucas was replaced by closer Dixon Llorens, who proceeded to walk Dilson Herrera to load the bases. Lloren then walked Brandon Nimmo on five pitches to force home Maron as the tying run. Llorens followed by walking T.J. Rivera on four consecutive pitches to force home De La Cruz as the go-ahead run.
Randy Fontanez struck out two in a perfect ninth inning to earn his third save. Jake Kuebler tossed two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.
Lucas took the loss, while Llorens had a blown save.
The game went back-and-forth. The Cardinals started the scoring when Alex Mejia led off the third with a triple and scored on ground out.
The Mets answered back in their half of the their when Aderlin Rodriguez ripped a two-out, two-run double to put the Mets up 2-1. The Mets added another run in the fifth when Nimmo drove in De La Cruz with a single.
The Cardinals tied the game 3-3 in the sixth when Nick Martini laced a two-run double into right-center field. Then with two outs, David Washington singled off of Mets starter Luis Cessa to drive home Martini for a 4-3 Cardinals lead.
The lead would disappear when the bullpen unraveled in the eighth.
Cessa gave up six hits and four runs in six innings. Cardinals starter Kyle Helisek scattered seven hits and three runs in five innings.
Rivera went 3 for 4 and upped his average to .406. Nimmo was 2 for 4 and is now batting .388.
Herrera's 11-game hitting streak was snapped, but he reached base twice on walks.
The Mets (10-7) host the Cardinals (8-9) again at Tradition Field on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. It's a $2 Tuesday with $2 beer and soda, plus $2 tickets for those who show proof at the box office that they follow @stluciemets on Twitter.
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- Patience Pays Off, Mets Edge Cardinals 5-4 - St. Lucie Mets
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