Syndergaard Solid Again, But St. Lucie Shutout Behind Him 6-0

Fort Myers 6, St. Lucie 0

St. Lucie’s starter Noah Syndergaard was locked in a pitchers’ duel with Fort Myers’ starter Matthew Summers for the majority of this game. Syndergaard fired five scoreless innings to start the game before running into trouble in the sixth. Fort Myers’ third baseman Miguel Sano doubled off Syndergaard, but shortstop T.J. Rivera threw out Eddie Rosario at home plate. The next batter, Kennys Vargas, unfortunately came through for the Miracle with an RBI single for the first run of the game.

By looking at the stat line alone, Syndergaard allowed eight hits and two walks, which looks a little worrisome. However, he stranded nine of those ten and danced out of danger all evening. While six innings pitched was once a career high for Syndergaard, he has now strung together three straight outings of at least six innings and no more than one earned run allowed in each. He has also walked a maximum of two batters per start in the same span as well. He dropped his ERA down to 2.90 as he has looked to have settled down nicely in the FSL.

It all fell apart for St Lucie in the seventh inning, however, after Syndergaard’s departure. Pedro Feliciano yielded singles to the first two batters he faced and a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt loaded the bases. Feliciano then gave up consecutive sacrifice flies to make the score 3-0. Chasen Bradford came in relief of Feliciano and didn’t fare much better. Bradford gave up three hits and two runs in the inning, including one he inherited from Pedro Feliciano, which put St. Lucie behind 6-0. Third baseman Rylan Sandoval committed two errors in the inning.

St. Lucie’s offense was completely shut down by the Fort Myers pitching staff. St. Lucie scored no runs and only had 6 hits. Their biggest opportunity of the night was in the fifth inning. Travis Taijeron led off the inning with a double, but St. Lucie failed to drive him in. The Mets will look to avoid the series sweep against Fort Myers on Sunday. Tonight’s loss puts them seven games behind first place in the south division.