Mussels win high scoring affair 13-5 over St. Lucie Mets

 

Suozzi hits second homer in three games

 

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (July 9, 2021) – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels cruised to a 13-5 victory over the St. Lucie Mets on Friday at Clover Park.

 

The Mussels scored seven runs in the second inning to take command of the game. They scored four more in the sixth inning and got a two-run pinch hit home run from Ruben Santana in the eighth.

 

Despite matching the Mussels with 10 hits, the Mets were unable to overcome the big deficit. Mets pitchers walked nine in the game and six of those walks came around to score.

 

Joe Suozzi went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer. It was his second home run in three games.

 

Anthony Walters went 2 for 3 with a double and two walks. Brandon McIlwain also went 2 for 3 with a pair of walks in the loss.

 

Mussels starting pitcher Louie Varland (4-2) was effective in picking up the win. He held the Mets to two runs over 5.0 innings. Varland had previously allowed just two earned runs in his previous 28 innings.

 

Franklin Parra (3-1) took the loss for the Mets. He was charged with six runs (three earned) on three hits and three walks in 1.2 innings. He walked three batters, including two in a row with the bases loaded, in the seven-run second inning.

 

Parra departed down 4-0 with two outs in the second. The next batter Yunior Severino greeted Mets reliever Drake Nightengale with a three-run homer on the first pitch to make it 7-0.

 

The Mets made it 7-1 on a McIlwain RBI single in the fourth inning. Jimmy Titus scored another run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning to cut the Mets deficit to 7-2.

 

The Mussels put the game out of reach in the sixth inning. Mets reliever Austin Faith walked four consecutive batters with one out to force home a run that put Fort Myers up 8-2. Severino then smacked a two-run double off of Reyson Santos to make it 10-2. Jesus Feliz added another run with a base hit for a 10-2 lead.

 

Suozzi hit his two-run homer in the eighth inning to make the score 13-4. Walters drew a bases loaded walk later in the eighth inning for the final run of the night.

 

The Mets (30-28) and Mighty Mussels (33-25) meet for the fifth time in their series on Saturday. It’s the final Military Appreciation Night at Clover Park. There will also be postgame fireworks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.