Daytona and St. Lucie were tied 5-5 entering the tenth inning, and after RHP A.J. Morris (W, 1-1) retired the side in order for the second straight inning, LF Matt Szczur led off the bottom part of the frame with a four pitch walk. 3B Arismendy Alcantara laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to advance Szczur into scoring position. After RF Nelson Perez was intentionally walked, 1B Greg Rohan popped a ball up on the infield for the second out. With DH Richard Jones batting, RHP John Church (L, 0-2) threw a wild pitch which allowed both runners to advance. After swinging through two sliders, Jones drove a pitch over Mets first baseman Juan Torres' head to win the game for the Cubs.
Daytona trailed 5-4 in the eighth inning when Perez led off with a homerun over the center field fence. Mets center fielder Alonzo Harris Jr. was playing deep in center, drifted back to the wall and appeared to have made the catch, but the ball hit off his glove and went over the wall while Harris was jumping. The homerun was Perez' seventh of the season.
Daytona led 3-2 heading into the seventh inning thanks to six fantastic frames from starter RHP P.J. Francescon who was making his season debut for the Cubs since being promoted from A-Peoria. Francescon allowed only one earned run (two earned) on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts. In the seventh, RHP Hayden Simpson allowed three runs on three hits with a walk and picked up a blown save. Daytona cut into the 5-3 St. Lucie lead in the bottom of the seventh when Szczur hit a two-out RBI double off the wall in left-center to plate SS Roni Torreyes.
The Cubs trailed 2-0 in the fourth, and Mets' starter RHP Cory Mazzoni retired the first 11 batters of the game, but Perez hit an opposite-field single with two outs and Rohan crushed a two-run homerun over the batting cages in left field to tie the game at 2-2.
RHP Scott Weismann did not allow a hit in the eighth and lowered his season ERA to 1.00.
For the second-straight game, Szczur and LF John Andreoli had two hits, and Szczur scored two runs to increase his league-leading total to 40. Szczur also stole third for his league-leading 19th stolen base of the season. Rohan's two RBIs increased his league-leading total to 37.
With the win the Cubs improve to 18-25 on the season and the Mets fall to 34-11. The two teams will play game three of the four-game series on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. LHP Frank Del Valle will toe the rubber for the Cubs and his mound-foe will be LHP Chase Huchingson. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.
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