Mercedes’ sets StatCast record as Mussels’ comeback falls short
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Tampa Tarpons by a final score of 9-8 Tuesday night at the Lee Health Sports Complex.
Despite the loss, Yasser Mercedes recorded the hardest hit ball in Fort Myers’ franchise history at 113.7 mph. StatCast began tracking such stats in 2015. Mercedes’ RBI single just eked out former Mussel Jose Salas, who was the previous record holder at 113.5 mph on a double last April in Clearwater.
Mercedes reached base four timesTuesday and recorded three hits, bringing his slash line up to .312/.430/.582 in 2026. Despite missing the first two series of the season, Mercedes leads the team amongst qualified hitters in AVG, HR, RBI, SB and OPS.
Fort Myers (16-12) sent Eric Hammond (0-2) to the hill to make his third start of the season. Hammond ran into trouble early, giving up back-to-back extra base hits to open the game and give Tampa (13-15) the first run. A wild pitch by the righty later in the frame made it 2-0 Tarpons.
In the top of the second inning, Tampa’s offense got back to work after Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek was hit by a pitch. He scored on an error following an infield single by Hans Montero. Two more runners would score later on another error to make it 5-0 Tampa.
The Mighty Mussels struck in the bottom of the second inning when Minnesota Twins No. 14 prospect Quentin Young demolished an opposite-field, two-run home run. Young’s second of the year came off the bat at 102.4 mph to right-center field.
In the top of the fourth, Hammond surrendered another run on an RBI single by Luis Durango to make it 6-2 Tarpons. Hammond finished his outing at 59 pitches, going 3.1 innings and giving up four earned runs.
Brian Zeldin was first out of the bullpen for Fort Myers and turned in a solid outing. He struck out five and retired seven of the eight Tarpons he faced.
Fort Myers’ offense got back to work in the fifth inning, after leadoff walks from Jayson Bass and Harry Genth. Two batters later, facing new Tampa righty Greyson Carter (2-0), both runners scored on a combination of a wild pitch and throwing error in the same play. This made the score 6-4 Tampa after five innings.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Tampa tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh inning. Key hits by Urena and Martin-Grudielanek against Mitch Mueller made it 9-4 Tampa.
The Mussels would fight right back in the bottom half, after Genth, Dameury Pena, and Bruin Agbayani all worked one-out walks. Mercedes’ record-setting single made it 9-5, and Ramiro Dominguez brought in a run on a groundout to cut the deficit to three.
With two outs in the frame, JP Smith II ripped a two-run single down the left-field line to make the score 9-8 Tampa after seven innings.
Michael Hilker Jr. was strong across two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth innings for the Mussels. Hilker only surrendered one baserunner and struck out two.
In the bottom of the ninth, Mercedes doubled with two outs, but the Mussels could not bring him home.
The series continues today, May 6. Matthew Dalquist (5.40) gets the start for Fort Myers, Mac Heuer (2.70) goes for Tampa. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.