Mets comeback falls short in 6-3 Opening Day loss to Cards

JUPITER, Fla. (April 2, 2026) – The Palm Beach Cardinals held off the St. Lucie Mets in the ninth inning for a 6-3 win on Thursday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The Mets trailed 6-1 through seven innings. AJ Salgado brought the Mets closer with a two-run homer in the eighth to make it a 6-3 game. The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on a Elian Pena single and two walks against Antoni Cuello. Cuello rebounded to strike out Julio Zayas, then got Salgado to fly out to the middle of the warning track in left field to end the game.

The Cardinals got the scoring started in the second inning with a solo home run by Jonathan Mejia off Mets starter Nicolas Carreno.

Chase Meggers tied the game 1-1 with a RBI single in the fourth inning that plated Zayas.

The big blow against the Mets came in the bottom of the fourth inning. No. 9 hitter Chase Heath hit a two-out, two-strike three-run homer off Tyler McLoughlin to put the Cardinals up 4-1.

The Cardinals added two more runs in the seventh inning against Omar Victorino when Jack Gurevitch hit a RBI single and Heath scored a second run on the play on an error.

Pena, the Mets No. 8 prospect, made his stateside debut and went 2 for 4 with a double and walk from the leadoff spot.

Zayas was 2 for 5 with a double.

Carreno received a no decision. He gave up just one run on the homer over 2.1 innings. McLoughlin took the loss after surrendering three runs in 1.2 innings. Victorino was charged with two runs (one earned) over 3.0 innings. Felix Cepeda pitched a scoreless eighth in his organizational debut.

The Mets are now 22-16 all time on Opening Day. They have lost three of their last four Opening Day games.

The Mets (0-1) and Cardinals (1-0) play the second game of their three-game series at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.