BRADENTON -- Francisco Pena turned on a fastball and ripped a drive down the third-base line that would have given the St. Lucie Mets a lead Tuesday night at McKechnie Field.

But the ball rolled right into the Mets’ bullpen and was ruled a ground-rule double. Jefry Marte, who was running from first on the pitch, had to stop at third. The score was still tied. And it appeared as if the Bradenton Marauders had caught a huge break during Game 1 of the Florida State League’s South Division Championship Series.

That wasn’t the case.

One pitch later, Jose Coronado lifted a two-out, two-run double to center, which proved to be the difference in the Mets’ 4-2 win in front of 525 fans.

The Marauders, who rolled into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak, need to win Game 2 tonight at Port St. Lucie’s Digital Domain Park to stay alive in the best-of-three series.

“It’s over now. It’s the playoffs, it’s win or lose,” said Marauders outfielder Adalberto Santos, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles Tuesday. “We’ve got to keep moving forward. We’ve got another game (tonight), and you’ve got to win two anyway. Might as well just put this game behind us, learn from our mistakes and keep moving forward.”

Thanks to the work of their battery, the Marauders were in control early Tuesday night. Pitcher Brandon Cumpton blanked the Mets for five innings while Bradenton took a 2-0 lead on St. Lucie ace Darin Gorski. Named the pitcher of the year in the FSL, Gorski allowed a run in the first inning when catcher Ramon Cabrera’s sacrifice fly scored Robbie Grossman in the first inning.

Cabrera added another RBI in the fifth when his two-out single plated Bengie Gonzalez.

The Mets, however, started getting to Cumpton in the sixth. Wilmer Flores blooped a double to center with two outs and scored on a base hit by Stefan Welch before Pena bounced into a run-scoring double play in the seventh, knotting the game at 2.

That’s how the score stayed until the ninth, and that’s how it appeared it would stay after Pena’s hit rolled into the bullpen and kept Marte at third.

“That ball goes into the bullpen and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, shoot,’” said Mets manager Pedro Lopez. “But you know what? Coronado got a big hit for us, and that was an outstanding performance.

“I’m just glad that Coronado was able to handle that fastball that Moreno threw.”

Closer Jeff Kaplan struck out the side in the ninth to preserve the win for reliever John Church, who pitched a perfect eighth.

“We had a solid bullpen all year, and I just hope they keep on doing it,” Lopez said. “You want to go up against the best teams, and I feel (the Marauders) are one of the best teams in the league. I’m just glad we were able to win this one.”

The series now shifts to Digital Domain Park. The Marauders were 19-12 on the road in the second half and took two of three from the Mets during their most recent trip to the East Coast.

A win tonight forces a Game 3 on Thursday in Port St. Lucie.

“St. Lucie’s a good park to play at, and we’ve done good there,” Santos said. “So no heads down. Just keep it up and keep going.”