St. Lucie 6, Charlotte 5

PORT ST. LUCIE -- The Charlotte Stone Crabs fought back time and again but were unable to overcome the St. Lucie Mets on Monday at Digital Domain Park. Darrell Ceciliani sent the Mets to a 6-5 victory in the series opener with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth.

The Stone Crabs, coming off their first three-game series sweep since just after the All-Star Break in 2011, suffered their first loss of the season in dramatic fashion. Both St. Lucie and Charlotte are now tied for first place in the Florida State League South Division with identical 3-1 records.

Nate Garcia (0-1) surrendered Ceciliani's game-winning blast, which was one of three home runs hit by the Mets in the game. Francisco Pena and Cory Vaughn, both sons of former Major Leaguers, left the yard as well.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder B.J. Upton began his rehab assignment by playing the first four innings. Upton started in center field and went 0-for-2 with an RBI before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fifth. A collision in the outfield with Desmond Jennings on March 14 left Upton with a sore back and forced him to begin the season on the disabled list.

Stone Crabs leadoff man Ty Morrison enjoyed his best night of the season at the plate, going 2-for-3, drawing a pair of walks and scoring a run. Getting the start at second base, Hector Guevara continued his hot start with a pair of two out, run scoring singles.

Despite blowing the save by allowing Guevara's game-tying single in the eighth inning, Jeff Kaplan (1-0) tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up the win in relief for the Mets.

Charlotte will seek to even the series when they send righty Wilking Rodriguez to the mound in the middle contest on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.