Nick Morabito picked the perfect time to come up with his first big-league hit.
With two outs in the seventh inning, he lined a 2-2 pitch down the left-field line for a three-run double that extended the Mets’ lead over Tampa Bay to 9-4. The Mets (63-77) went on to a 10-4 victory Wednesday to take a series from the American League’s best team at Tropicana Field.
Morabito had started his career 0-for-12. The Mets selected the 23-year-old in the second round of the 2022 draft out of Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.
It was the second three-run double of the night for New York. Brett Baty connected in the third with an opposite-field shot that hit near the top of the wall, missing a grand slam by a few feet. That double made it 6-1 and chased starter Griffin Jax (6-10), who was making his first appearance in a month because of an elbow injury.
Justin Hagenman, 29, started and looked good in his season debut, allowing one run on two hits over three innings. He walked one, struck out two and threw 26 of 46 pitches for strikes.
The Rays (83-56) scored three runs in the fourth off Chris Devenski on a Cedric Mullins RBI single and a two-run homer by Richie Palacios.
After Devenski was hit hard, Dedniel Núñez threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Nate Lavender worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings and Daniel Duarte recorded four outs. Jonathan Pintaro finished the game with a perfect inning.
The 26-year-old rookie Lavender hasn’t allowed a run in his first 12 2/3 innings. He has struck out 14 and walked three.
New York scored three in the first. Jared Young singled to right with runners at first and second, and the throw home was in time to get Bo Bichette, but catcher Liam Hicks couldn’t handle it. It glanced off his glove, then off Bichette and wound up near the first-base dugout. That allowed Carson Benge to score as well. Marcus Semien followed with an RBI double.
One night after being held to three hits, the Mets tallied three hits in the first. They finished with 14.
Juan Soto hit his 23rd homer, a solo shot, in the eighth.
Stat of the Game
Hagenman became the 39th pitcher and 64th player used by the Mets this year. The 64 players tie the team high set in 2021. The MLB record is 71, set by the Braves last season.
Player of the Game
Let’s give it to the guy who got his first hit and made a diving catch near the left-field line to end the eighth. He also added a single in the ninth.
Morabito became the third Met to get his first MLB hit with the bases loaded, per SNY. The first two were Michael Conforto in 2015 and pitcher Frank Tanana in 1993, who came to the Mets after pitching for 20 years in the American League. Tanana finished with nine career hits, all with the Mets that season.
On Deck
The Mets are off Thursday. They return to Citi Field to host the Giants over the weekend. Nolan McLean (10-8, 3.06 ERA, no earned runs allowed in 17 innings) will be opposed Friday by rookie left-hander Matt Wilkinson (0-2, 4.63 ERA), who will be making his fourth career start. The game is at 7:10 p.m. ET on WPIX.
