Binghamton Mets: Wheeler Back At Work

Binghamton 9, New Hampshire 2

By Tim Burns

On the night Zack Wheeler returned to the Binghamton Mets lineup their offense exploded to earn him the win in the first game of a four game set in Manchester, New Hampshire by a score of 9-2.

Wheeler, who improved his record to 2-2, pitched five innings giving up two earned runs on six hits. Along the way, he struck out seven New Hampshire batters and walked only one. The bullpen was solid in relief of Wheeler, with Armando Rodriguez earning his second hold of the season in two innings worth of work in which he gave up only one hit and struck out five, and Jeff Kaplan got his first save at the AA level, striking out three and giving up two hits in two innings. A total of 15 strikeouts by the B-Mets pitchers were the most in a single game so far this season.

Defensively for the B-Mets, this would prove to be the first game in the last six that they went error free, a streak stretching back to May 3rd in Akron.

On the offensive side, every B-Met in the lineup had at least one hit off of the New Hampshire pitchers. DH Raul Reyes went 3/5 with three RBI’s and two runs scored in his second multi-hit game in as many nights. Right fielder Juan Lagares was 3/5 as well, with a run scored and two RBI’s. Matt den Dekker was the third B-Met with a multi-hit game, going 2/5 with a run scored as well. Reese Havens (1/4, 2 RBI’s, 1 run scored) and Josh Rodriguez (1/3, 2 runs scored) each had a double in the game.

New Hampshire used a total of five pitchers in the game. In the end, it was starter Chad Jenkins (2-3, 5.03) who took the loss in the game, the second time the B-Mets have beat him this season. The first time, on April 17th in Manchester, Jenkins lasted only 2 2/3, giving up 8 earned runs on nine hits with no strikeouts.

B-Mets Buzz: The series against the Fisher Cats, AA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, continues on Friday in Manchester at 6:35. It will be Gonzalez Germen (0-1, 7.50) on the bump for the B-Mets against New Hampshire’s Deck McGuire (1-4, 6.40). McGuire, ranked the number 10 prospect in the Blue Jays system, has faced the B-Mets twice this season, holding a record of 1-1 after those two starts. In one of those games, in Binghamton on April 25th, the B-Mets scored 7 earned runs on 9 hits in only three innings of work by McGuire.