St. Lucie 3, Brevard County 1

After a bumpy stretch at the end of June, Alex Panteliodis appears to have returned to the same effective level as his teammates in St. Lucie’s starting rotation. The left-hander held an opponent scoreless for the second straight game, this time permitting just four hits over seven innings in a 3-1 victory over Brevard County on Friday night at Tradition Field.

Panteliodis (5-3) tallied seven strikeouts and issued only two walks as he extended his scoreless streak to 15.2 innings. Only one of his four hits allowed went for extra bases and he is now boasting a 3.72 ERA after sporting a 4.56 mark following his shortest outing of the season June 29th at Fort Myers (3.2 innings).

The key to his recent success has been an improved grasp of the strike zone. After two straight outings with more walks than strikeouts, Panteliodis has roared back with an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5-to-1 in his past two starts. The renewed command has allowed him to reach the seventh inning in each game — the only occasions he’s worked past the sixth this season.

Leadoff hitter Kyle Johnson paced the Mets’ offense with two doubles and scored twice. He has now recorded a hit and run scored in each of his past four games to drive his batting average up to .378 since his promotion from Savannah earlier this month.

Five other St. Lucie (52-41) players netted a single, including Kevin Plawecki, who served as the first baseman for the third time in the past six games. He has reached base safely in 10 consecutive contests.

Mets closer T.J. Chism surrendered an unearned run in the ninth, but struck out Brandon Macias to end the game and secure his 14th save of the season. The southpaw has not yielded an earned run over his past seven appearances, trimming his ERA to 2.40.

The teams conclude the two-game series — part of a home-and-home set — Saturday with Michael Fulmer (0-1, 4.50 ERA) making his third start for the Mets. He is slated to be opposed by Brent Suter (7-5, 2.79) for the Manatees.

Key Stats

Kyle Johnson: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B

T.J. Rivera: 1-for-3, 1 BB

Jayce Boyd: 1-for-4, 1 RBI

Dustin Lawley: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Kevin Plawecki: 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Alex Panteliodis: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 7 K

Cody Satterwhite: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 3 K