DAYTONA DROPS SERIES OPENER 6-5                                
The Cubs Squandered A Pair of Leads, And St. Lucie Used A Touch Of The Long Ball to Finish Strong Down the Stretch
June 15, 2005 - 6:49 AM
by: Bo Fulginiti

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla—With a current five-game winning streak in place and an All-Star left-hander taking the mound for Daytona on Tuesday night, conditions seemed almost perfect for a Cubs victory.

Unfortunately, “almost” only works well with horseshoes and hand grenades, and the middle of the St. Lucie Mets batting order had other plans.

The Mets lineup overcame a pair of early Daytona leads and launched three solo homeruns as St. Lucie held on to beat the Cubs in Game 1 of a three game series by a final of 6-5.

Daytona starter Sean Marshall (pictured above) was overpowering early as the southpaw toted a 2-0 lead into the bottom half of the fourth inning, until Mets outfielder Caleb Stewart stroked a solo homerun to right-center field to put St. Lucie on the scoreboard.

St. Lucie were then sparked by a pair of solo shots in the fifth and seventh innings from third baseman Shawn Bowman and shortstop Corey Ragsdale, as the Mets overcame deficits of 2-0 and 4-2 to storm ahead to a 6-4 lead in the seventh frame.

Cubs lefty reliever Clay Rapada (0-2) came in and pitched well for the final three innings striking out six Mets batters, but he surrendered the go-ahead runs in the seventh before settling down and was charged with his second loss of the season.

Offensively for Daytona, designated hitter Brian Dopirak and first baseman Matt Creighton each added two hits apiece, and left fielder Kevin Collins smacked his 13th homerun of the season to lead the charge.

With the loss the Cubs snapped a five-game winning streak and dropped to 34-30 on the season. Daytona will try to even the series on Wednesday night as they send newcomer Lee Gwaltney (1-0, 3.86) to the hill to face Mets southpaw Evan MacLane (4-3, 3.33). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST.