JUPITER, Fla. (August 14, 2026) – The Jupiter Hammerheads slipped by the St. Lucie Mets 3-2 on Friday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Jupiter now leads the series 3-1.
The Hammerheads scored first when their leadoff hitter Cam Kozeal started the first inning with a home run off Mets starter Nate Hall.
Echedry Vargas hit a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded against Tyler McLoughlin in the second inning to make it 3-0 Jupiter. The two runs were charged to Hall.
The Mets bullpen locked down the Hammerheads the rest of the night. McLoughlin (1.2 IP), Jonathan Jimenez (3.0 IP, 0 H), Ernesto Mercedes (1.1 IP, 0 H) and Julio Gonzalez (0.2 IP) combined for 6.2 innings of shutout ball and just two hits. The foursome struck out seven batters.
The Mets offense could not muster a run through the first six innings for the second straight game. They broke through in the seventh inning when Wyatt Vincent hit a leadoff double and Dylan Carey followed with a two-run homer off Davidxon Lara to make it a 3-2 game. It was the first professional home run for Carey (undrafted – Nebraska).
Lara settled down and retired the next three batters to end the seventh inning.
The Mets couldn’t get anything going against Samuel Carpio over the final two innings. Carpio worked around a one-out single in the eighth and a leadoff hit batter in the ninth to record his sixth save.
Elian Peña pinch hit with one out in the ninth inning and fouled out to third base. His 14-game hitting streak was snapped. It was the longest hitting streak for a Met since 2022 and the second longest hitting streak in the FSL this season.
Jupiter starter Elier Morillo struck out eight batters over just 3.2 innings. Luis De La Cruz followed Morillo for 2.1 innings of no-hit ball to get the win.
The Mets (17-28, 50-61) and Hammerheads (19-26, 56-55) play the fourth game of their series at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Saturday. First pitch is 6:00 p.m.