St. Lucie 11 - Dunedin 10

The St. Lucie Mets rallied and hung on for an improbable 11-10 win over the Dunedin Blue Jays on Monday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

The Mets went down 5-1 early, rallied two different times to take the lead and were forced to use two position players on the mound to close out the game.

Down 5-1 after two innings, the Mets clawed their way back into the game over the middle innings and jumped in front on Jeff Diehl’s two run homer that made it 7-6 in the sixth.

The Blue Jays scored twice in the seventh to go ahead 8-7. The Mets roared right back in the eighth with four runs. Patrick Mazeika’s leadoff home run tied the game. Later in the frame Diehl knocked a go-ahead single up the middle. Vinny Siena and John Mora followed with RBI singles to put the Mets up 11-8.

Tyler Bashlor, the Mets sixth pitcher of the night, recorded two quick outs in the eighth before running into trouble. He gave up a run and had to leave the game with an injury. The Mets brought in Diehl from left field to pitch and he eventually struck out J.C. Cardenas with the tying run at third base to end the inning and preserve the 11-10 lead.

The Mets turned to backup catcher Anthony Dimino to get the final three outs in the ninth. Dimino got two quick fly outs, surrendered a single, then got Juan Kelly to line out to Diehl back in left to end the game.

It was the second time in a week the Mets had to use two position players on the mound. Last Tuesday Diehl and Nick Sergakis pitched in the Mets 14 inning loss to Bradenton.

Jhoan Urena went 2 for 4 with two doubles. J.C. Rodriguez was 3 for 4 and scored three runs. Wuilmer Becerra hit his first home run of the year.

Johnny Magliozzi earned the win. Dimino was credited with the unlikely save.