Hammerheads win slugfest 11-7 over Mets

July 20, 2024 – Florida State League (FSL)
Press release St. Lucie Mets

JUPITER, Fla. – The Jupiter Hammerheads defeated the St. Lucie Mets 11-7 in a thrilling game Saturday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The teams combined for 29 hits, with the Mets outscoring the Hammerheads 15-14. The Hammerheads scored in each of their first five innings and took advantage of 12 walks, the most the Mets have given up in a game this year. The game lasted 3 hours and 42 minutes, making it the longest nine-inning game for St. Lucie this season.

The Hammerheads scored four runs in the first inning, retiring Mets starter Ernesto Mercedes with just one out in the inning. Mercedes struggled with his control, walking two batters, hitting another and throwing two wild pitches. Ryan Ignoffo, Davis Bradshaw and Spencer Bramwell had run-scoring hits in the inning.

Jupiter starter Jake Brooks, who had an 0.56 ERA against the Mets this season, wasn’t quite as sharp this time around against St. Lucie. Willy Fanas put the Mets on the board with an RBI single in the fourth inning to make it 5-1. Yohario Cuevas hit a two-out, two-run double off Brooks in the fifth inning to cut the Mets’ deficit to 7-3. Brooks would come through the inning, scattering eight hits and three runs over 5.0 innings to earn the win and improve to 7-1.

Jupiter scored three runs in the fifth inning against reliever Edgar Moreta to increase the lead to 10-3.

The Mets entered the ninth inning trailing 11-3, but pulled ahead by scoring four runs. Cuevas had another two-run hit and Kevin Villavicencio hit an RBI triple off the top of the wall. Fanas singled in Villavicencio to make it 7-4. However, Juan Reynoso was able to retire Diego Mosquera and AJ Ewing to end the game.

Villavicencio went 4-for-5 and fell one home run short of the cycle.

Cuevas was 2 for 5 with four RBI.

Fanas went 3-for-5. In his last two starts, he had seven hits.

Ignoffo went 5-for-5 and reached base in all six at bats for the Hammerheads.

The Mets (8-15, 30-59) and Hammerheads (11-12, 47-42) conclude their three-game series at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.

• Discuss this story on the Florida State League message board…

The opinions expressed in this press release are those of the organization issuing the press release and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.