Bradenton 9, St. Lucie 1
Did the scoreboard make you worry a little? Well, fear not, Domingo Tapia was the starting pitcher on the mound on Thursday night but he was not part of the six-run top of the sixth inning that led to St. Lucie’s 9-1 demise.
Tapia pitched an alright game, pitching into the sixth and getting two outs before being lifted with a man on base. When Wanel Vasquez came in to relieve him, he allowed the inherited runner to score and closed the book on Domingo Tapia at 5.2 innings pitched with two earned runs allowed. He gave up four hits and two walks, while striking out five. I’d like to see a little more from Tapia going forward, considering he has the ability to absolutely dominate.
Bradenton struck first in the top of the fourth, when Gregory Polanco doubled against Tapia to score a run – and his second run scored as an inherited runner, as mentioned before. Matt Reynolds would knock an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at the time, but that would be almost all the St. Lucie offense could muster for the evening.
The huge damage came in that mess of a seventh inning, where Wanel Mesa and Chasen Bradford were rocked for six runs without giving up a single home run. Darwin Frias also pitched in this game, making his St. Lucie debut, and he was only able to record one out before allowing an earned run and being pulled from the ball game for Hamilton Bennett, who wrapped up the Mets’ pitching.
Key Stats
Matt Reynolds: 2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Dustin Lawley: 1-for-4, 1 SB, Outfield Assist
T.J. Rivera: 1-for-5, 1 2B, 1 R
Domingo Tapia: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 5 K
Wanel Vasquez (Mesa) : 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 ER
Chasen Bradford: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 ER, 1 K
Darwin Frias: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER
Hamilton Bennett: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2 K
