The St. Lucie Mets fell behind early and could not complete a late comeback in a 7-4 loss to the Palm Beach Cardinals on Saturday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The loss evened the three-game series at one game apiece and set up a rubber match Sunday afternoon.

Palm Beach opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Brayden Smith singled to center field, and an error by D'Andre Smith allowed the Cardinals to capitalize. Ryan Weingartner and Sebastian Dos Santos scored on the play before Brayden Smith came around to give Palm Beach a 3-0 advantage.

St. Lucie responded with two runs in the second inning.

Chase Meggers delivered an RBI single with runners on the corners, scoring AJ Salgado. Jeremy Rodriguez then brought Simon Juan home on a fielder's choice to cut the Cardinals' lead to 3-2.

Palm Beach began pulling away in the fourth inning. Alex Birg drove in Yordalin Pena with an RBI single before Dos Santos launched a two-run home run. The Cardinals eventually built a 7-2 lead.

The Mets bullpen settled the game down after Joe Scarborough entered from the bullpen. Scarborough delivered two scoreless and hitless innings while striking out four batters.

It marked Scarborough's second consecutive scoreless appearance at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

Antonio Jimenez gave the Mets another run in the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run. It was Jimenez's sixth homer of the season and his fourth during July, cutting the Palm Beach lead to 7-3.

Caden Wooster followed Scarborough with another strong relief appearance. Wooster allowed just one hit over two scoreless innings and struck out four.

Scarborough and Wooster combined to strike out eight batters over four shutout innings. St. Lucie's pitching staff finished the game with 12 strikeouts, reaching double digits for the second consecutive night.

The Mets mounted one final rally in the ninth inning and brought the potential tying run to the plate. Palm Beach reliever Nathan Shinn escaped the threat and secured the victory for the Cardinals.

St. Lucie fell to 7-14 in the second half and 40-47 overall. Palm Beach improved to 13-9 in the second half and 65-42 overall.

The teams will decide the series Sunday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.