LAKELAND, Fla. (May 5, 2026) – The St. Lucie Mets opened their series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.
JT Benson went 3 for 4 and fell a single shy of the cycle. Elian Peña hit a critical three-run homer with two outs in the fourth inning to double the Mets lead to 6-0.
Benson tripled in the second inning, homered in the fourth inning and doubled in the fifth inning. In his final at-bat in the eighth inning he needed a single to join Marvin Seale (6/7/01) as the only other player in the 38-year history of the St. Lucie Mets to hit for the cycle. He struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch from Andrew Pogue.
Six Mets pitchers combined to limit the Flying Tigers to two runs on four hits. The Mets carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
The Mets got on the board in the second inning when Benson hit a two-out triple to center field and Chase Meggers hit the next pitch from Graysen Grinsell for a single that made it 1-0.
The Mets scored five runs in the fourth inning. Benson hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0. Later in the inning with two outs Peña crushed a three-run homer into the seats in right field for a 6-0 Mets lead.
St. Lucie pitching was up to the task of holding the big lead.
Mets starter R.J. Gordon pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts on a MiLB rehab assignment.
Daviel Hurtado came off the 7-day IL and made his season debut with two hitless and scoreless innings after Gordon. Hurtado struck out four and the only base runner that reached against him came on a third strike wild pitch.
Ryan Dollar followed Hurtado with two scoreless innings. The Flying Tigers got their first hit of the game against Dollar in the sixth inning on a shallow fly ball to right field that popped out of Benson’s glove as he made a sliding attempt.
Tyler McLoughlin was on the verge of scoreless seventh inning when Jude Warwick hit a fly ball into center field that was lost in the lights by Edward Lantigua. The ball dropped for a RBI double. Two batters later Sergio Tapia hit a RBI single to make it 6-2.
Jorge De Leon came in from the bullpen and got a shallow fly out to end the inning. De Leon then pitched a scoreless eighth. He was credited with the win.
Joe Scarborough pitched the ninth and induced a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.
The Mets (13-15) and Flying Tigers (14-14) play the second game of their series at Joker Marchant Stadium on Wednesday. First pitch is 6:30 p.m.