Mets Farm Report: Campbell, Harvey, Pascucci All Shine On All-Star Night!

Buffalo

Triple-A All Star Game

By Sean Kenny

The Triple-A All-Star Game featured Matt Harvey, Fernando Cabrera and Valentino Pascucci of the Bisons playing for the International League team, but despite their solid efforts the Pacific Coast League team won the game by a score of 3-0

The first starter for the IL, Tyler Cloyd of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Phillies Triple-A affiliate gave up two runs in the first inning on three hits while walking one and striking out one. Matt Harvey would pitch two excellent innings for the second and third, giving up no hits and zero walks, while hitting a batter and striking out two, both on filthy curveballs in the dirt. Harvey threw 26 pitches, 17 for strikes and when he was missing he was missing low and away from righties and inside and low to righties. Harvey got three of his four outs on the groundball, and threw one ball low and in the dirt that went wild, but that could’ve been a product of adrenaline as well as Red Sox prospect Ryan Lavarnway’s lack of mobility behind the dish. Fernando Cabrera pitched the final out of the game, and got a strikeout. Cabrera seems to be a Quad-A type pitcher, in that he can get AAA hitters out effectively, but he may be nothing but a back of the bullpen guy at the MLB level.

Offensively, the IL put up zero’s in the runs column, but that didn’t stop Val Pascucci from going 1 for 1 and having a great day. Why the great day? Valentino also drew three walks. The only reason I imagine ‘Scooch isn’t up with the Mets is because he would 1.) Occupy a 40 man roster spot and force someone off and 2.) Plays the same position(s) as Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and whoever is out in right field for the Mets. Although Val does match the criteria the Mets are looking for (slugging RH bench bat), it would come at the expense of an outfield with nobody struggling, or Omar Quintinilla.

Herd Rumblings: It was a shame that Jeurys Familia has had such a poor season, because with his upside he and Matt Harvey could’ve had the best stuff on the entire IL staff. With the unfortunate news of the Dillon Gee blood clot leading him to surgery and likely done for the year, the rumblings about Matt Harvey coming up to the big club have become that much more likely, however it may not be until Matt gets one more AAA start and based on that outing justify sending him to Flushing, or using one of Jeremy Hefner/Miguel Batista to fill-in while Harvey fine-tunes. The Bisons will begin a four game series against Pawtucket, sending the aforementioned Jeremy Hefner (4-2, 2.50) to the mound against Doug Mathis (6-6, 4.50) at 7:05 P.M.

Binghamton

Double-A All Star Game

By Tim Burns

The Eastern League All-Star Classic was held on Wednesday night at First Energy Stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania, with three members of the Binghamton Mets taking part in the game. Eric Campbell, Jefry Marte, and Armando Rodriguez played for the Eastern Division All-Stars in the game, a game in which their team defeated the West All-Stars by a score of 5-4.

Eric Campbell, currently leading the league in batting average and on-base percentage, proved to be the hero in the game with his walk off hit in the bottom of the ninth for the East All-Stars. Campbell stepped to the plate with two on and two out in the bottom of the final frame, and singled to left field scoring the Reading Phillies Troy Hanzawa from third base. For his effort and clutch hit, Campbell was named the MVP of the 2012 Eastern League All-Star Game.

Overall, Campbell went 2-for-3 in the game, with a run scored. Campbell also had a double in the fifth inning, an inning in which he would eventually score on a sacrifice fly by B-Mets teammate Jefry Marte. That run that would give the East All-Stars a 4-to-3 lead in the game.

Marte went 1-for-1 in the game with an eighth inning single to his credit.

Relief pitcher Armando Rodriguez was called upon to pitch the seventh inning. In his one inning of work, Rodriguez struck out two batters, walked one, and gave up no runs and no hits.

B-Mets Buzz: Binghamton is back to work Thursday night when they begin an eight game homestand. First up for the B-Mets is the Erie SeaWolves followed by a three game set against the Trenton Thunder. The B-Mets record at the break is 41-47, good for fourth place in the Eastern Division of the Eastern League.

St. Lucie – Tampa

Postponed Rain

Wednesday night’s game between the St. Lucie Mets and the Tampa Yankees was postponed due to heavy thunderstorms that passed through the area yesterday. The game has been rescheduled as part of a twi-night double header today with the first game slated to start at 5:00 PM. Left-hander Chase Huchingson (5-5, 4.14) will make the start in one of the games for St. Lucie. Left-hander Nik Turley (4-3, 3.27) will start a game for the Yankees. Currently the Yankees are in 1st place by percentage points, in the second-half standings of the Northern Division of the Florida State League with a record of 10-8. The PSL-Mets, who were the first-half Southern Division winners, are in 4th place in the second-half standings with a record of 9-10.

Savannah 5, Delmarva 3

By Joe D.

The Savannah Sand Gnats survived a ninth-inning charge by the Delmarva ShoreBirds to beat them 5-3 on Wednesday night.

Starter Jake DeGrom gave the Gnats another solid effort and allowed just one earned on two hits and two walks in five innings while striking out five batters. DeGrom improves to 5-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.57 for the season.

Carlos Vasquez relieved DeGrom and tossed two no-hit innings while striking out three, and he was followed by Chasen Bradford who tossed a hitless inning of his own. The usually reliable T.J. Chism earned his 15th save of the season, but did allow a run on two hits in the ninth.

Catcher Xorge Carillo did most of the damage offensively for the Gnats with two hits including a two-run homer, two runs scored and three RBIs. Right fielder Gregory Pron had an RBI triple, and Dustin Lawley chipped in with an RBI double.

Gnats Gnotes: The Sand Gnats added two new players when OF Bradley Marquez and LHP Alberto Baldonado were assigned to Savannah from the Kingsport Mets. I actually interviewed Marquez for about 30 minutes before the promotion and I’ll try to have that transcribed and posted in the next day or two. He had some funny things to tell me about his roommate Gavin Cecchini who seems to be fitting in quite well with the K-Mets and is getting everyone hooked on his mom’s gumbo. Savannah will send Michael Fulmer to the mound tonight at 7:00 PM as the Gnats continue their four-game series with Delmarva.

Connecticut 1, Brooklyn 0

 By Clayton Collier

An excellent effort by both their starter Julian Hilario and the bullpen as the Cyclones came up short in an epic pitching duel, falling to the Connecticut Tigers by a final score of 1-0.

Julian Hilario got the nod for the ‘Clones and continued his hot start to the 2012 season. Though yet again a great start by Hilario went to waste as he went six frames allowing just one run on six hits while walking none and punching out five. The only mistake he made, which proved to be the difference in the game, came in the third when the Tigers’ Jake Stewart ripped a two out, RBI double to hand Connecticut the lead. That one run cost Hilario as he took the loss, his first decision in the 2012 season.

After Hilario, the bullpen was just as dominant as Matt Koch and Tyler Vanderheiden combined for two one-hit innings as they held down the fort to give the offense a chance to stage a comeback. Koch pitched the majority of the two frames going 1.2 IP, allowing that one hit while walking none and punching out three, a positive first step for the struggling Koch.

The Cyclones lineup pulled a Houdini as the disappearing act continued for the struggling offense, failing to score a run on the night. Holding them to just four hits, the Tigers arms made quick work of the ‘Clones bats as they fell 1-0.

Brooklyn Brew: Alex Sanchez accounted for half of the Cyclones hits on the day, going 2-3 with a double and a walk. Tyler Vanderheiden has extended his shutout streak to 7.1 innings to start his professional career. Phillip Evans and Kevin Plawecki also had hits in the loss. The Brooklyn Cyclones continue their series with the Connecticut Tigers starting at 7:05 PM, on Thursday.

Kingsport – Burlington

Postponed Rain

The K-Mets game with the Burlington Royals was postponed Wednesday night due to inclement weather, and has been rescheduled for tonight as part of a twi-night doubleheader that begins at 6:00 PM. The double-dip will kick off a three-game set against Burlington who are 13-7 on the year and tied for 1st place in the Eastern Division of the Appalachian League, just percentage points behind the Danville Braves. They have also won their last five games in a row. The K-Mets have lost six games in a row and stand at 4-16 for the season so far. Kingsport added two players to their roster from the Brooklyn Cyclones. Infielder Jorge Rivero and outfielder Julio Concepcion join the K-Mets where they should find it easier to get playing time than at over-crowded Brooklyn. They fill two spots vacated when Bradley Marquez and left-hander Alberto Baldonado were shipped to Savannah. Right-hander Persio Reyes (0-3, 11.57) will try and turn his fortunes around tonight as he starts one of the games for the K-Mets. John Gant (0-1, 7.98) will get the nod in the other game for Kingsport.