PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 18, 2026) – The Lakeland Flying Tigers cruised to a 10-1 win over the St. Lucie Mets on Tuesday night in the series opener between the teams at Clover Park. The Mets have lost eight of their last nine games.
The Flying Tigers scored single runs in the second, third and fourth innings on their way to building a 3-1 lead. They scored twice in the fifth then blew the game open by scoring five runs in the seventh inning.
The Mets went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and scored their lone run on a sac fly by Ryan Tayman in the fourth inning to cut the Flying Tigers lead to 3-1. The Mets got the tying run to second base later in the fourth but Jose Guzman struck out Jack Toomey to end the inning.
Lakeland starter Caleb Leys pitched 3.2 innings and gave up one run. Guzman pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to get the win.
Justin Hagenman (rib fracture) started for St. Lucie in the first game of a MLB rehab assignment. He allowed one run on three hits over 2.1 innings. He struck out three.
Jesus Pinto hit a RBI single in the second inning off Hagenman to make it 1-0. The Flying Tigers led the rest of the way resulting in Hagenman taking the loss.
Mets infielder Jeremy Rodriguez was activated off the Development List before the game and went 2 for 3 with a pair of singles and a walk. He was the only Met with a multi-hit game.
Toomey, who was signed out of Boston College after the draft, went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk in his pro debut.
Tayman was 1 for 2 with a single, walk and sac fly. Reed Stallman was 1 for 4 with a double.
Six of the nine Flying Tigers hitters had multi-hit games. Angel De Los Santos went 3 for 6 with a double, RBI and run.
The Mets (17-31, 50-64) and Flying Tigers (23-24, 54-58) play the second game of their series at Clover Park on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.