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St. Lucie Mets Stage Ninth Inning Comeback to beat Tampa, 5-4

By Former Writers

July 30, 2013 No comments

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St. Lucie 5, Tampa 4

St. Lucie closer T.J. Chism had not blown a save in just over a month prior to Monday’s misstep against Tampa at Tradition Field. Fortunately, he was bailed out by his teammates in the bottom half of the ninth inning as the Mets rallied for a 5-4 victory that snapped their two-game losing streak.

Chism surrendered two runs — both in the ninth inning to give Tampa a 4-3 lead — on three hits and a walk in 1.2 innings to spoil a solid performance by starter Rainy Lara. It was just his third blown save of the season and first since June 28 as he had racked up six saves since that missed opportunity against Palm Beach. Cody Satterwhite fanned the only batter he faced to finish the ninth after replacing Chism.

His rare stumble cost Lara an opportunity to post his third consecutive win after he allowed just two runs on eight hits and no walks with three strikeouts over seven innings — his longest outing with St. Lucie since May 30 (eight innings). In his previous six starts, the right-hander had not completed more than 5.2 innings in an outing. Lara is now boasting a 2.88 ERA.

Offensively, the Mets’ lineup included outfielder Lucas Duda, who was making his first appearance on a Class A-Advanced rehab assignment. Duda, the second rehabbing player in the outfield (Cory Vaughn), went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI while hitting out of the No. 3 spot in the batting order. His run-scoring double in the fourth tied the game at 2-all and was one of five doubles St. Lucie (57-44) collected during the game.

First baseman Robbie Shields also tallied a double to halt a six-game stretch without an extra-base hit. He has now registered a hit in four of his past five contests, but is still carrying a .183 batting average during July. The Mets ended up leaving 11 runners in scoring position during Monday’s matchup.

Hansel Robles (4-2, 3.62 ERA) draws the start for the second game of the series Tuesday and is expected to be opposed by the Yankees’ Rafael De Paula (0-2, 6.75). Robles fired 5.2 scoreless innings and allowed just four hits in his previous start at Lakeland last Friday.

Key Stats
Kyle Johnson: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B
T.J. Rivera: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B
Lucas Duda: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 2B
Kevin Plawecki: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 2B
Robbie Shields: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B
Rainy Lara: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, 3 K