Threshers beat St. Lucie Mets 3-2 on walk-off sac fly

 

Griffin dazzles over 6.0 strong innings

 

CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 4, 2021) – Juan Aparicio hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Clearwater Threshers to 3-2 win over the St. Lucie Mets on Sunday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark.

 

Johan Rojas started the rally with a one out single off Mets reliever Willy Tavares. Rixon Wingrove then sliced an opposite field single that moved Rojas to third base. Aparicio flew the next pitch to deep right. Joe Suozzi caught it on the warning track and had no play at the plate to get Rojas.

 

The Mets were down 1-0 and being no-hit through five innings. They tied the game 1-1 on their first hit, a one-out RBI triple by Jaylen Palmer that scored Branden Fryman in the sixth inning.

 

The Mets took the lead in the seventh inning. Suozzi hit a two-out single, stole second and went to third on an error. Brandon McIlwain followed with a go-ahead single to make it 2-1.

 

Clearwater’s Baron Radcliff tied the game in the seventh with a two-out, two-strike solo home run off of reliever Jeffrey Colon.

 

The Mets had a couple runners on base in the top of the ninth but Threshers reliever Erubiel Armenta struck out three to escape trouble. Armenta (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings with five strikeouts to get the win.

 

Mets starter David Griffin was excellent in his second start. He surrendered a solo homer to the second batter he faced, Edgar Made, but only allowed just three base runners after that. He retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced.

 

Griffin took a tough no-decision. He was charged with one run on two hits over 6.0 innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.

 

The Mets (28-26) are off on Monday. They return to Clover Park on Tuesday to start a six-game series against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.