Jenrry Mejia Solid In Bisons Wild Walk-off Win, Flores Homers Again In Losing Effort

Buffalo 3, Columbus 2

By Andrew O’Brien

In a pitching duel, Buffalo and Columbus combined to go hitless for five straight innings before the Bisons scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the tenth inning, beating Columbus, 3-2, Wednesday night to take the first three games of the four-game series.

Josh Satin led the 10th inning off with a ground-rule double and later scored on a two-out wild pitch.

Buffalo and Columbus combined for only seven hits in the game.

Jenrry Mejia made his debut for Triple-A Buffalo as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Mejia went six innings, allowing just two hits and two runs while striking out two and walking one. He threw 68 pitches (45 strikes).

Columbus (24-28) took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Matt LaPorta solo blast. Buffalo responded with two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Brad Emaus led the inning off with a double and then Corey Wimberly launched a two-run homer to left field — his first home run of the year for Buffalo.

Wimberly finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Satin finished the game 2-for-4.

Josh Edgin and Elvin Ramirez combined for four shutout innings in relief of Mejia. Over the four innings, the two pitchers allowed just one hit while striking out five and walking none.

Josh Thole went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter.

Herd Rumblings: After the game, Jenrry Mejia told reports: “I feel this is my best outing. Every pitch I could throw for strikes.” Elvin Ramirez has throw 14.2 scoreless innings for Buffalo. In the last 10 innings, the Bisons bullpen has allowed no runs, three hits, one walk and struck out 17 batters. The Bisons pitching staff has allowed four runs on 10 hits over the last 28 innings. Buffalo (31-22) looks for the four-game sweep at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The game will be aired on MLB Network and Chris Young takes the mound as he continues his rehab to get back to the big leagues. Thole is slated to start the game at catcher.

Reading 5, Binghamton 3

By Tim Burns

Miguel Batista became the second New York Mets pitcher to rehab in a Binghamton uniform in 2012 on Wednesday night in Reading, Pennsylvania and was issued the loss as the Binghamton Mets dropped the first game of a rain shortened series by a score of 5-3. Batista’s start was delayed 24 hours courtesy of Mother Nature when game one of the series was rained out on Tuesday night.

Batista walked the first Phillies batter he faced, third baseman Miguel Abreu, who advanced to third on a fielding error by Reese Havens when the second batter in the inning Cesar Hernandez reached safely. Darin Ruf was up next, and his sacrifice fly to center field scored Abreu from first. Although he didn’t allow any hits in the first inning, Batista found himself down 1-0 when the third out was recorded in the frame.

After a three up and three down second inning, Batista walked the first batter he faced in the third, Julio Rodriguez, who was subsequently out on a force play at second when the following batter Miguel Abreu hit a ground ball to B-Mets shortstop Josh Rodriguez. Abreu scored the R-Phils second run of the game on a Cesar Hernandez double to left field. Hernandez would advance to third base on a wild pitch by Batista, and then two batters later he would score from third on the B-Mets starter’s second wild pitch of the inning.

Batista would get the R-Phils to go three up and three down in the fourth and fifth innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Batista was able to get the first batter he faced to ground out before walking the second batter Darin Ruf. Ruf would advance to third on a single to right field, and then score on a Sebastian Valle sacrifice fly.

The seventh inning would be Batista’s last of the night, and it started out with a solo shot by Jiwan James to center field giving the home team their fifth, and final, run of the game. Batista got the next three batters to ground out, ending his night.

Batista’s line in the game would read seven innings pitched, five runs (four of which were earned) on four hits, three strikeouts and four walks. He was charged with two wild pitches in the game, a game in which he threw a total of 83 pitches, 49 for strikes.

Brad Holt came on in relief of Batista and in one inning worth of work gave up one hit and no runs while striking out one.

The B-Mets were able to tally three runs in the game against the Phillies, with two coming in the third inning and their final run of the game by way of Matt den Dekker’s seventh home run of 2012.

Den Dekker would prove to be the only B-Met batter to have more than one hit in the game and the only batter with a multi-base hit as well as he went 2/4 with a double and home run, and two runs scored. Jefry Marte, Eric Campbell, and Juan Lagares went 1/4 for the B-Mets, and Juan Centeno accounted for the B-Mets sixth hit of the game going 1/3.

Mid-Week Stats Snapshot: Matt den Dekker is 1st in runs scored with 37, T-1st with 17 doubles, and 3rd in hits with 61; Eric Campbell is 2nd in on-base percentage at .421. Zack Wheeler is 4th in ERA at 1.97, 3rd in WHIP at 1.05, and 3rd in strikeouts with 52; Collin McHugh is 5th in ERA at 2.17, 6th in WHIP at 1.09, and T-2nd in strikeouts with 53.

B-Mets Buzz: The B-Mets locker room has had a revolving door on it over the past couple of days as they sent Sean Kazmar and Raul Reyes to the Buffalo Bisons, and welcomed back Rylan Sandoval and Joe Bonfe from St. Lucie. The rubber match of the now two game set is scheduled for 7:05 on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading. Binghamton will send top prospect Zack Wheeler (4-2, 1.97 ERA) to the mound to face the R-Phils Jonathan Pettibone (3-4, 3.59 ERA). Reading has announced that Tuesday’s rainout will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, August 4th.

Palm Beach 3, St. Lucie 1

By Joe DeCaro

All good things must come to an end as the Palm Beach Cardinals beat the St. Lucie Mets 3-1 last night, halting their  six-game winning streak.

Things looked pretty good for St. Lucie as they quickly took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after third baseman Wilmer Flores blasted a lead off home run, his tenth of the season and second in as many games. Unfortunately for St. Lucie, it would be their only run of the game.

The score remained 1-0 as starting pitcher Chase Huchingson cruised through six shutout innings and scattering three harmless hits. But after a quick out in the seventh inning, Huchingson was pulled after allowing a walk and a single and replaced with  reliever Ryan Fraser. It would prove to be a fatal move for St. Lucie as Jonathan Rodriguez greeted Fraser with a booming three-run homer to put the Cardinals ahead 3-1 late in the game.

It was all over after that

Lucie Logistics: The only two hits in the game for St. Lucie came off the bat of Wilmer Flores. The only other times St. Lucie got on base were courtesy of a pair of walks by Richard Lucas. Chase Hutchingson was charged with two runs and took the loss. He still has a very respectable 3.14 ERA for the season. St. Lucie will send Yohan Almonte to the mound as they try and take the rubber game against the Cardinals tonight at 6:35 PM.

Greenville 6, Savannah 3 

By Sean Kenny

Tyler Pill had a rough outing today as the Gnats lost to the Greenville Drive 6 to 3. Pill struggled through five innings allowing five runs on eight hits, including two home runs while walking one and striking out seven. Pill managed to strike out seven batters, but the two home runs he allowed accounted for three of the five runs he allowed. Pill was rocky in the first two innings, settled down from innings three to five, then seemed to lose steam in the sixth. LHP Carlos Vazquez went to the mound for the last three innings and gave up one unearned run on three hits, walking one and striking out two.

A quiet offense day today compared to yesterday, as Aderlin Rodriguez accounted for two of the three runs with a pair of solo home runs, and the third run scored on an error off a Gilbert Gomez hit. Three Gnats went hitless, including newly called-up Ismael Tijerina. Cam Maron had another two-hit game, going 2 for 4 with a double. Maron has two hits in each of the last four games he has played.

Savannah’s Sorrow Of The Day: The entire sixth inning. After Aderlin Rodriguez hit another solo home-run, the pitching let the momentum swing the other way, and the Gnats couldn’t push across another run

Gnats Gnotes: Aderlin Rodriguez now has eight home runs on the season, and with 22 walks on the season four more walks will allow him to top his entire total from last season of 26 in 300+ less AB’s. T.J. Rivera has extended his hitting streak to six games with his 1 for 5 effort today. Gilbert Gomez had two errors today, one throwing and one fielding. The Gnats will begin a series with the Greensboro Grasshoppers, who will send RHP Jose Fernandez (5-0, 1.67) to the mound against Savannah’s Michael Fulmer (2-2, 3.74)

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