Tarpons Battle Back, Fall Late to Mets

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Tarpons kept pace with the St. Lucie Mets in a tightly contested game Wednesday night at “The Tank”, but a pair of ninth inning runs sunk the Tarpons late, 6-4. Kyle West, Richie Bonomolo Jr., and Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek each made their professional debuts in the loss, and all collected their first hits in a Tarpons uniform.

After falling behind 4–0 through two innings, Tampa responded with three runs in the bottom of the second. West sparked the inning with a leadoff walk, and Bonomolo Jr. followed with an infield single. Enmanuel Tejeda came through with an RBI single and raced home on a throwing error to cap the three-run frame and pull Tampa within one.

The Tarpons knotted the game at 4–4 in the fourth, as Bonomolo Jr. reached on an error and later came around to score on another miscue by St. Lucie.

On the mound, Sunayro Martina started for Tampa and eventually settled in after a rocky start, while Mariano Salomon delivered 4.1 innings of scoreless relief, keeping the game tied into the later frames.

With the game even in the ninth, the Mets pushed across two runs on a Kevin Villavicencio double and two-out single by Trace Willhoite, putting them ahead for good.

Tampa will look to bounce back Thursday as the series continues against St. Lucie. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM.