Jairo Perez sparked a slumping offense and helped the St. Lucie Mets edge the Daytona Cubs 4-3 on Saturday at Tradition Field.
Perez broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth when he unloaded on a 2-0 pitch from Jose Rosario for a three-run homer to put the Mets up for good.
Earlier in the inning, T.J. Rivera singled home Maikis De La Cruz to tie the game 1-1.
Daytona tried to stage a comeback in the ninth, but Chase Huchingson ended the ballgame by striking out Pin-Chieh Chen with the tying run at second base. Marco Hernandez plated two runs one batter earlier with a single against Randy Fontanez that made it 4-3.
Mets starter Gabriel Ynoa allowed an RBI double to Albert Almora in the first but was nearly lights out afterwards. He improved to 5-2 by limiting the Cubs to five hits and one run over six innings. He threw 99 pitches.
Felix Pena was equal to Ynoa, if not better. The Cubs starter shut out the Mets over five innings. The only hit he allowed was a double to Cam Maron.
But Pena was replaced by Rosario to start the sixth, despite throwing just 58 pitches. Rosario gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in the sixth, the only inning he pitched in.
The Mets desperately needed the win and boost from Perez. They came into the game having lost four of five and scoring just one run in each of the four losses. They only had five hits against the Cubs, but one giant home run by Perez proved to be the difference.
Perez also had a triple.
Hunter Carnevale pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth. He induced an inning-ending double play ball off the bat of Almora to finish his outing.
Fontanez could not complete the ninth to earn the save, but both runs he allowed were unearned.
The Mets (32-23) are tied for first place in the Florida State League South Division with the Fort Myers Miracle, who were rained out on Saturday and will play a doubleheader against Tampa on Sunday. Only 15 games remain in the first half.- team press release
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