FORT MYERS – Emmanuel Rodriguez clubbed his third home run in the last eight days Wednesday, but the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels fell 2-1 to the Tampa Tarpons at Hammond Stadium.

The Mussels (31-15) got the tying run into scoring position with nobody out in the ninth, but were unable to get the big hit.

The 19-year-old Rodriguez is 8-for-21 with three homers, seven RBI and 10 walks over his last seven games. Wednesday’s performance pushed his season OPS to .998, which leads the Florida State League by over 100 points.

Rodriguez’ solo home run in the fourth inning represented all of the scoring for Fort Myers.

Mighty Mussels starter Steve Hajjar struck out seven over 4.1 solid innings. Hajjar did not allow a hit until Marcos Cabrera’s single to center to start the fifth. With one out, Kyle Battle dropped a game-tying single into center to tie the game 1-1. After a walk, Jackson Hicks came in and pitched Fort Myers out of a one-out jam.

In a tie game in the sixth, Jasson Dominguez and Grant Richardson both roped singles to right to give Tampa (21-26) their first lead of the series. The Tarpons’ bullpen did the rest, with three relievers combining to toss four scoreless innings.

Fort Myers will look to jump back in front in the series at 7 p.m. today. Marco Raya (3-1, 2.48) is scheduled to pitch for the Mussels against Juan Carela (2-1, 2.36) of Tampa. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.