Tapia Shines, 3 RBIs For Rivera In St. Lucie Victory

St. Lucie 6, Fort Myers 5

Domingo Tapia allowed zero earned runs over seven innings and put St. Lucie on the path to victory on Saturday evening.

Tapia was on his game for St. Lucie, as he allowed just four hits and a walk across seven innings while striking out six. He was on the hook for two unearned runs, the first of which scored on a ground out after the baserunner Miguel Sano advanced on a passed ball by Albert Cordero. The seventh inning saw Sano score again, this time directly on an error by Dustin Lawley. Overall, Tapia was in complete control for most of the game and it was his longest outing of the year to date.

Frank Francisco pitched another rehab inning in relief of Tapia on Saturday, and he got through it with no issues at all, allowing no baserunners and striking out one. Randy Fontanez was brought on to finish the game, but struggled mightily and was unable to pick up a single out while allowing a hit and three walks. After Fontanez walked home a run, Hamilton Bennett took over with the bases loaded and none out. He allowed two runs to score, but danced out of danger and St. Lucie narrowly escaped.

Offensively, it was the four-run seventh inning that sealed the deal for St. Lucie, where T.J. Rivera ripped a three-run double that unloaded the bases with one out, and Rivera was driven home by Matt Reynolds later in the inning. Rivera scored earlier in the game on a wild pitch in the third inning. Travis Taijeron drilled an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to cap off the scoring for the Mets.