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| Irving Cota, Photo Courtesy of the St. Lucie Mets |
TAMPA, Fla. (August 9, 2025) – The St. Lucie Mets swept their doubleheader against the Tampa Tarpons on Saturday at the Yankees Complex next to George M. Steinbrenner Field. The Mets cruised to a 5-2 victory in game 1, then held on to win 8-6 in game 2.
In game 1, Mets starter Irving Cota shined over 5.0 innings, scattering three hits and allowing two runs. Cota walked two and struck out eight. He got the win.
The Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out, two-run single by Kevin Villavicencio.
Randy Guzman clobbered a two-run double in the third inning to increase the lead to 4-0.
Marshall Toole got the Tarpons on the board in the fourth inning with a RBI triple.
AJ Salgado put the Mets back up by four runs with a RBI single that scored Chase Meggers in the sixth inning for a 5-1 lead.
The Tarpons got second run on a Toole RBI fielders' choice in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Mets lead to 5-2.
Bryce Jenkins took over for Cota in the bottom of the sixth and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts as he continued his minor league rehab assignment.
Layonel Ovalles replaced Jenkins with two outs in the seventh and got a ground out to finish the game.
Yonatan Henriquez went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run.
Guzman finished 2 for 4 with the double, a single, two RBI and a run.
Mets first round draft pick Mitch Voit was 1 for 3 with a walk and two runs.
In game 2, the Mets put the pressure on early again by scoring two runs in the second inning on a RBI double by John Bay and a RBI single by Villavicencio against Tampa reliever Cade Austin.
Villavicencio continued his hot day with a RBI double in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead. He scored later in the inning on a Tanner Bauman wild pitch to up the Mets lead to 4-0.
St. Lucie seemingly broke the game wide open with a four-run top of the fifth. All four runs came with two outs. Simon Juan belted a two-run single with the bases loaded and Trey Snyder hit another two-run single with the bags full to boost the Mets advantage to 8-0.
Mets reliever Omar Victorino pitched 3.0 hitless innings from the third inning through the fifth inning but ran into trouble in the sixth. Victorino walked four batters in the inning, including two with the bases loaded to make it 8-2. Ernesto Mercedes relieved Victorino and allowed all three inherited runs to score plus one of his own as the Tarpons cut their deficit to 8-6.
Mercedes was able to get the last out of the sixth and Yuhi Sako pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to end the game. Sako picked up his first save.
With the sweep the Mets have won 15 of their last 16 road games and are 15-2 in their last 17 games overall.
At 64-42 the Mets are 22 games over .500 for the first time since August 16, 2022 (65-43).
The Mets (64-42, 30-11) and Tarpons (48-55, 12-26) conclude their six-game series at the Yankees Complex on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
Kevin Villavicencio drives in two!
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 9, 2025
2-0 Mets | Top 1st pic.twitter.com/tg9g7oYqIn
Randy Guzman is blazing hot! His 7th double of the season extends the lead!
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 9, 2025
4-0 Mets | Top 3rd pic.twitter.com/w171moGAC1
Irving Cota with a fantastic performance on the mound!
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 9, 2025
5️⃣ IP 3️⃣ H 2️⃣ R 2️⃣ BB 8️⃣ K pic.twitter.com/h895p8MTaf
Kevin Villavicencio drives in another run 💪
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 9, 2025
2-0 Mets | bottom 2nd pic.twitter.com/uHUWYQRKx3
Look at Kevin Villavicencio go!
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 9, 2025
4-0 Mets | Top 4th pic.twitter.com/bBlDbi5fgx
Simon Juan with a 2 RBI base hit!
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 9, 2025
6-0 Mets | Top 5th pic.twitter.com/XsRZ04aKYu
Trey Snyder joins the fun!
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 9, 2025
8-0 Mets | Top 5th pic.twitter.com/UxZGKp8V9j
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