The St. Lucie Mets erased an early five-run deficit with an eight-run second inning and rallied for an 11-8 win over the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels on Sunday afternoon at Clover Park.
Fort Myers won the seven-game series 4-3 and finished the season series with an 8-4 advantage.
The Mighty Mussels scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the second to build a 5-0 lead. St. Lucie responded with eight runs in the bottom of the second and moved ahead for good.
Randy Guzman delivered the decisive hit, lining a two-out, two-run single that turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 Mets lead. Julio Zayas followed with a two-run single to extend the advantage to 8-5.
The Mets added three runs in the third. Elian Peña hit an RBI single, Jacob Reimer drove in a run with a double and Trey Snyder added a sacrifice fly to make it 11-5.
Conner Ware took over on the mound in the third inning and settled the game down for St. Lucie. Ware pitched four scoreless innings, allowed one hit and one walk, and struck out a career-high eight batters. He struck out the side swinging in the fourth and struck out the side looking in the sixth before earning the win.
Fort Myers scored three runs in the seventh against Luis Sotillo, who was making his Mets debut. Sotillo recovered by retiring six of the final seven batters he faced and carried the game through the eighth inning.
Elwis Mijares worked a perfect ninth on six pitches to record his third save.
Jeremy Rodriguez led the Mets at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored from the No. 9 spot in the order. Zayas and Peña collected two hits apiece.
Reimer, beginning a minor league rehabilitation assignment for a groin injury, went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. He played all nine innings at third base.
The Mets improved to 11-18 in the second half and 44-51 overall. They are off Monday before opening a six-game road series against the Dunedin Blue Jays on Tuesday. First pitch at TD Ballpark is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.