PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (July 25, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels won their third consecutive game over the St. Lucie Mets, this time by a 15-14 score, securing a series win on Saturday night at Clover Park.
The 29 total runs is the second largest run total in a game in franchise history (tracked since 2005) and fell three runs shy of matching the record set earlier this season. It was the fourth time in the Mussels’ era (since 2020) that Fort Myers has scored 15 runs or more in a game.
The 3:34 time of game was two minutes shy of matching the longest nine-inning game of the season.
Eight of the nine Mussels’ starters reached and scored by the end of the third inning and all nine reached and scored by the sixth.
The Fort Myers’ (51-42, 14-14) offense exploded in the first inning, scoring eight total runs and chasing Mets’ (43-51, 10-18) starter Ethan Lanthier (0-3) after he recorded just two outs. An RBI single from Jhomnardo Reyes opened the scoring and then JP Smith II made it 2-0 with a single to center. Reyes and Smith executed a double steal to bring home the third run.
Later in the frame, Harry Genth connected on a bases-clearing double to extend the margin to 6-0. It was Genth's third consecutive game with an extra-base hit this week. A two-run single from Bryon Chourio brought home the final two runs of the frame. The Mighty Mussels sent 12 men to the plate in the inning and leadoff man Ramiro Dominguez recorded two doubles before St. Lucie had their first plate appearance.
The Mets immediately responded in their half of the first, scoring five runs off of Mussels’ starter Matt Barr, cutting the lead to 8-5. The Minnesota Twins No. 27 prospect faced nine men in his first Florida State League inning, after missing the bulk of his first full professional season with an injury.
In total, there were 13 runs scored with 11 combined hits in a first inning that took 40 minutes to complete.
In the third, Dominguez grounded a ball up the middle to bring home two more runs. He was later caught stealing. Chourio followed with his seventh home run of the year to make it 11-5.
Fort Myers had five successful stolen bases across the first three innings after averaging just 0.94 steals per game across their first 18 games this month.
Barr ended up tossing 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on four hits with two strikeouts and three walks. He retired six of the final eight batters he faced. The 20-year-old threw 56 pitches, eclipsing his season-high from his eight appearances in the Florida Complex League.
Dylan Questad recorded the final out in the third before giving way to Ramiro Villanueva in the fourth.
St. Lucie plated two unearned runs in the fourth to make it 11-7 after a pair of Mussel errors led to a two-run “little league home run” for Trey Snyder.
Genth was hit by a pitch in the fifth, giving him 23 on the year, the most in all of Minor League Baseball.
In the bottom of the frame, Randy Guzman connected on a two-run homer to move the score to 11-9. Villanueva was ejected from the game after hitting Met batters on consecutive pitches. The first hit-by-pitch came on a slider that didn’t break, and both teams were warned after the Mussels’ bench cleared when Villanueva took issue with a comment from the Met dugout. He then plunked Simon Juan on the next pitch, leading to his early exit. Due to the warnings from the umpires, manager Jordan Smith was automatically ejected along with Villanueva. It was the first ejection for a Mussel player this season.
Adam Falinski took over on the mound following the ejections. He walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, but then retired the following two Mets to escape the jam.
With two aboard in the sixth, Quentin Young demolished his 12th home run of the season. It traveled 437 feet and cleared the batter's eye. The blast tied him with Jayson Bass for the team lead this season and for the third most home runs in a season in the Mussels’ era (since 2020) with Kala’i Rosario who hit a dozen homers in 2022. Young's homer left the bat at 111.9 mph, giving three of the five hardest hit home runs in franchise history.
Guzman responded in the bottom of the inning with his second homer of the night, this time a three run blast, to make it 14-12. Michael Hilker Jr. (5-2) entered and got the final out of the inning.
The first six innings took 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete.
Hilker worked 2.1 scoreless innings. Brent Fransico (S3) allowed two runs in the ninth but held the lead to close out the win.
The series concludes on Sunday, July 26. First pitch is set for 12:10 p.m. Callan Fang (2.18) starts for the Mussels. There will not be an audio broadcast on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network. St. Lucie will have coverage on MiLB and a free audio stream through their website.