Better pitch selection helps Mets win 8-6 By VICTOR LEE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer PORT ST. LUCIE - After blowing scoring opportunities in the second and seventh innings, St. Lucie Mets manager Tim Black-well was beginning to wonder if his club ever would come up with a clutch hit. It finally did. Trailing by two runs, the Mets scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night to beat Winter Haven 8-6 before 295 fans in a Florida State League game at St. Lucie County Sports Complex. "We didn't die tonight," said Doug Sanders, whose two-run double gave the Mets their winning runs. "We were swinging at bad pitches early. It was upsetting, but we were determined." Minnesota Vikings running back D.J. Dozier, in his first year of professional baseball, opened the bottom of the eighth with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jim Morrisette's double. Bob Olah was hit by a pitch, then Lee May grounded into a fielder's choice, sending Morrisette to third. Loy McBride's infield single scored Morrisette, tying the game. Then came Sanders' double, scoring May and McBride and giving St. Lucie the 8-6 lead. Denny Harriger (2-0) got the win for St. Lucie (10-9). Vladimir Perez earned his second save. Peter Hoy (0-2) tookthe loss for Florida State League Winter Haven (4-15). Morrisette was making up for an earlier failure. He, Olah and May struck out consecutively in the second inning with runners on first and second base. Olah and May opened the seventh inning with singles, but were stranded by the Mets' top two RBI hitters, Alan Zinter and Nikco Riesgo. "We've done that several times this year, squandered scoring opportunities," Blackwell said. "The guys in the second inning were swinging at nothing but balls. "They finally got it in their mind that if he's going to throw balls, you've got to make him throw a strike before thinking about a hit." Morrisette said the problem and solution was psychological. "Sometimes you go up there trying to keep the pressure off, and you swing at a bad pitch," he said. "In the eighth, I just went up there thinking contact." The Mets' comeback took former Palm Beach Community College pitcher Dan Furmanik (2-1) off the hook. The right-hander gave up seven hits and six earned runs in 5 innings. He gave up 'solo home runs in the third and fourth innings. "He wasn't exactly fooling them," Blackwell said. "He was leaving the ball over the plate in the happy zone." The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. McBride walked, stole second, went to third on Sanders' sacrifice and scored on Zinter's groundout. The Red Sox got two in the third, one in the fourth and three in the sixth before St. Lucie scored three in the sixth then rallied for the win in the seventh. Notes . . . Mets outfielder Derrick Young was injured in the third inning while coaching first base. Young was hit on the left knee by a line drive off Zinter's bat. He was helped from the field but later was walking around and believed to be OK. His injury reduced the Mets bench to two players - excluding pitchers and one of those, Jimy Kelly, was ill. Lakeland 1, West Palm Beach 0 WEST PALM BEACH - Darren Hursey and Kurt Knudsen combined on a four-hit shutout, leading the Lakeland Tigers to a 1-0 victory over the West Palm Beach Expos in front of 1,020 at Municipal Stadium. A St. Lucie 8, W. Haven 6 WINTER HAVEN ST. LUCIE h M 1 OMcBhdecf 2 3 Saunders 2b h M 1 O 0 O 2 e 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 -8 T Witherspoon If Dixon 3b Fnedman lb Bo. Moore rf Colon dh McNeely cf Manila c Delgado ss Ba. Moore 2b Totals I Zinter c O Riesgo lb O Butterfield ss 0 Dozier If 1 Morrisette 3b I Olah dn 1 OMayrf 7 6 Totals 33 e W. Haven St. Lucie 002 103 OOO 6 100 003 04x a E Dixon. Friedman, Butterfield. OP STL I. LOB-y ' STL 7: WH 8. 2B Dixon. Butterfield, Morisette. '. Saunders. 3B Witherspoon. HR Delgado (I), Manila '. (I). SB Friedman, McBride. Butterfield, Dozier, Ba. ' Moore, MCNeely. s Mcunae. IP N R ER BB SO' Winter Haven Kite 5 2 4 3 HoyL.0-2 2 4 6 4 Sanders Vi 0 0 0 St. Lucie FurmaniK 5 2 4 3 Harriger W.2-0 2 4 6 4 Perez S.2 10 0 0 3 1 0 i HBP Manila, Witherspoon by Furmanik. WP Hoy.. T 3:03. A-295. , Lakeland 1, WPB 0 LAKELAND WEST PALM BEACH ab I k M ah r h M Cole 2b 3 0 0 0 Smith If 4 0 0 0 Tresh dh 3 0 0 0 Mayo cf 4 0 10' Spann If 3 0 0 0 Williams 2b 10 10' Cruz lb 4 0 0 OFIetcherph 1 0 0 0' Goodalerf 4 1 1 OMellolb 3 0 0 0' Mangny 3b 3 0 11 Terns ph 0 0 0 0' Hurst cf 4 0 2 0 Stairs 3b 4 0 0 0 1 Balthazar c 4 0 0 0 Gonzalez dh 3 0 0 0' Kimbertmss 2 0 1 OBoddieph 10 0 0' Lakerf 2 0 0 0' Faulk rf 1 0 0 0 Santangelo ss 3 0 10' Mason c 2 0 0 0' Siddall c 10 0 0' Toms 30 1 8 1 Totals 30 0 3 0 lakeland WP Beach OOO OOO 100 1, 000 000 000 Q , DP WPB 1. LOB Lakeland 7, WPB 6. 3B Goo- dale. S Cole. SB Williams. IP H R ER BB SO" Lakeland Hursey w.1-1 Knudsen S. 1 West Palm Beach Pollack L.. 1-1 Davis Wennck T 2:3 1. A-1,0. 1 2 0 2 J. 6 -1