TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — Greysen Carter threw three scoreless innings of two-hit relief as the Tampa Tarpons defeated the St. Lucie Mets 8-5 on Thursday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field before 598 fans.

Brando Mayea homered and drove in two runs for Tampa, which improved to 11-13. Enmanuel Tejeda added two RBIs. The Tarpons scored three runs in both the first and second innings to build an early 6-1 lead. St. Lucie rallied with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth but could not close the gap. Tampa added two runs in the fourth on a double play grounder that scored Luis Durango.

Randy Guzman homered and had an RBI for St. Lucie (10-14) and Sam Robertson went 3-for-4 with an RBI. R.J. Gordon took the loss. The Mets outhit Tampa 10-9 but left runners on base. The game lasted 2 hours, 42 minutes. The teams play again Friday.