Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

The St. Lucie Mets have been the best team in the Florida State League during the first half of the season. After a 5-1 win over Tampa, they have a title to show for it as the Mets wrapped up their FSL East Division title.

Meanwhile, Mark Vientos hit another home run for Triple-A Syracuse.

Syracuse Mets (23-28) 5 vs. Norfolk (30-32) 4   BOX SCORE,

  • 3B Mark Vientos: 2-for-5, R, HR (11), RBI, .260/.345/.540
  • RF Daniel Palka: 2-for-4, R, 2B, .264/.350/.528
  • SS JT Riddle: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 2B, .238/.282/.437

The noise surrounding calling up super prospect Mark Vientos might only get a little louder after this game as Vientos hit a home run for the third consecutive game and his 11th overall. Vientos has been rolling after escaping his brutal April slump. Since May 1st his slash line is .321/.406/.679.

After scoring 18 runs the previous night the Mets only needed five runs to get the victory in this one. The Mets played a back and forth game all night with the Tides until Travis Blankenhorn broke up the tie with an RBI single in the eighth inning. Jake Mangum returned after a brief stint on the bench dealing with a minor injury and collected a hit as the DH in the Mets 5-4 win in Norfolk.

  • LHP Mike Montgomery: 1.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.90 ERA
  • RHP Trey Cobb: (W, 3-1), 2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 5.02 ERA
  • RHP Tommy Hunter: IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K
  • RHP R.J. Alvarez: (S, 1), 1 IP, H, R, ER, 2 SO, 2.42 ERA

The Mets emptied their bullpen in this one as six pitchers combined to turn in a 5-4 win. Starter Mike Montgomery lasted one inning and was perfect in his only inning of work. A recent fan favorite, Adonis Medina would hold the Tides scoreless over his inning of work but it would be Trey Cobb who picked up the win with his two scoreless innings, and then R.J Alvarez would lock up his first Syracuse save.

The veteran Hunter has allowed only two runs and struck out 11 in his last 8 2/3 innings. It looks like he’s ready to rejoin the Mets at any time.

Game One: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (22-36) 13 vs. Bowie (22-36) 1, F/7   BOX SCORE

In game one of their doubleheader with the Baysox the Rumble Ponies put up enough runs in just a seven-inning game as some teams do in two or three nine-inning games combined. 13 was a lucky number for Binghamton as they battered Bowie in a 13-1 rout. All three of the super prospects in the lineup contributed to the blowout. Baty had two hits with a double,  Álvarez would continue to stay hot with three hits, a double, and two RBIs to bring up his overall total to 35 and Mauricio would belt his 10th home run of the season along with two RBIs of his own to keep the RBI lead over Álvarez with 38.

Carlos Cortes would hit his second home run of the season and drive in three runs and Quinn Brodey turned in perhaps the best performance of the night with a home run and four RBIs.

  • RHP Jose Butto: (W, 4-4) 6 IP, 5 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 3.40 ERA
  • RHP Josh Hejka: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1.69 ERA

Jose Butto continued his dominant June, as after this start, he remains undefeated at 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA this month. Butto would cruise to his fourth win of the season, lasting five solid innings, allowing Bowie just one run and striking out five. In his three starts in June, Butto has seen his ERA fall .60 points and already has 19 strikeouts. He had 21 in five starts in May.

Game Two: Bowie (23-36) 4 vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (22-37) 0   BOX SCORE

  • 2B Wyatt Young: 1-for-3, .269/.347/.332
  • DH Francisco Álvarez: 0-for-2, BB, .276/.352/.542
  • CF Quinn Brodey: 1-for-2, .163/.213/.312

The Rumble Ponies were the home team on record in this one despite being nearly 300 miles away from Binghamton in Bowie. Binghamton’s offense, after putting up 13 runs in the first game would run out of gas in the nightcap by only mustering two hits in a 4-0 shutout by the Baysox.

  • RHP Jose Chacin: (L, 0-2) 4.1 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 SO, 5.91 ERA
  • RHP Justin Lasko: 2.2 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, SO, 8.02 ERA

Jose Chacin’s night couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. Three batters into the game Chacin gave up a two-run home run and by the time the first inning was over he and the Rumble Ponies would find themselves down 4-0 to the Baysox. Chacin would settle down after that and keep Bowie from scoring any additional runs over the rest of his start. Justin Lasko came out of the bullpen and would also keep the Baysox off the board with a scoreless performance but the damage was already done and the Rumble Ponies would split their doubleheader in Bowie with a 4-0 l0ss.

Game One: Brooklyn Cyclones (25-32) 4 vs. Wilmington (29-27) 2   BOX SCORE

The Cyclones would hit for a team cycle in their game one victory over the Blue Rocks. Brandon McIlwain continues to quietly put together a nice season in Brooklyn as he would lace his sixth triple of the season and continue to flirt with a .300 batting average. Shervyen Newton would put the Cyclones on the board and give them the lead for good in the fifth inning with a three-run home run, his third of the season and the Cyclones beat the Blue Rocks 4-2.

Coming into June, the 20-year-old Junior Santos had an ERA of 5.29 and looked overwhelmed in High-A. June however seems to be exactly what Junior needed. In his three starts thus far in the month, Santos is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.62. Santos in this game would only allow one run as he would tightrope out of danger a few times giving up three hits and four walks over his start. He would still walk away with the quality start and the win and lower his overall ERA to 4.04.

Grant Hartwig would earn the save and lock up the win for Santos. Since coming up from St. Lucie, Hartwig has been dominating High-A batters. In his first six games, Hartwig has an ERA of 0.90 with four saves and 16 strikeouts.

Game Two: Wilmington (30-27) 9 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (25-33) 5   BOX SCORE

  • RF Brandon McIlwain: 2-for-4, RBI, .297.387/.475
  • CF Jaylen Palmer: 1-for-3, R, BB, .179/.293/.321
  • LF Tanner Murphy: 2-for-3, R, 3B, 2 RBI, .189/.228/.321

Much like the Rumble Ponies in Bowie, the Cyclones found themselves playing the home team on the road. Unfortunately, they too would wind up on the losing end of their second game in a 9-5 loss. Brandon McIlwain would continue to stay hot with a two-hit performance that included an RBI, his 16th of the season. Shervyen Newton would add on two RBIs and finish the day with five overall in the doubleheader.

  • RHP Daison Acosta: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO, 9.29 ERA
  • LHP Cam Opp: (L, 0-2) 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, SO, 3.24 ERA
  • RHP Reyson Santos: 1.1 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 2 BB, SO, 7.79 ERA

The Blue Rocks would hammer Cyclone starting pitcher, Daison Acosta and then the rest of the Cyclone bullpen for nine runs in the nightcap of their doubleheader. Acosta continues to struggle while in High-A as he’d give up five earned runs and watch his ERA swell to over nine in this game. Usually, reliable Cam Opp would struggle in this game allowing three runs in just one inning of work as he would get the loss in a 9-5 defeat for Brooklyn.

Tampa (24-35) 1 vs. St. Lucie Mets (39-19) 5   BOX SCORE

The St. Lucie Mets were ready to clinch their first-half FSL Divisional crown in this one and they wasted no time in showing it. The Mets would overwhelm Tampa early, scoring five runs in the first inning. Stanley Consuegra and Jack-Thomas Wold would each go deep and by the time the first inning was over the Mets had a 5-0 lead. That would be all the Mets would need as they would go on to win the ballgame and clinch the division with a 5-1 win at home over Tampa. The Mets will now be on their way to FSL postseason play for the first time since 2016. The win would bring the Mets home record at Clover Park to a dominant 22-3 so far this season.

  • RHP Dominic Hamel: (W, 4-1) 6.2 IP, H, R, ER, 4 BB, 7 SO, 4.25 ERA
  • RHP Jace Beck: 2.1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA

https://twitter.com/stluciemets/status/1537243382925250560?s=20&t=3_k6QxpjmK3cWhLaZbxPQw

On a night of celebrations in St. Lucie, Dominic Hamel submitted perhaps his most impressive start of the season. No pitcher has loved pitching at Clover Park more than Hamel as after this game he stayed undefeated at home with a 3-0 record and a 2.28 ERA. Hamel would allow only one hit and one run in his start and strikeout seven Tarpon batters, one-off his career-high, in earning his fourth win of the season. Jace Beck would come in relief to put the cap on the clincher as he would get Tampa batter, Connor Cannon to pop out to first baseman Jack-Thomas Wold for the final out to seal the Mets division crown.