INT All-Stars 4, PCL All-Stars 3
The Pacific Coast League All-Stars took a 3-1 lead in the 8th inning on a two-run homerun by Diamondbacks prospect Peter O’Brien but Jon Edwards from the Rangers organization gave up three runs in the top of the 9th. The lone 51’s representative at the game (Matt Reynolds on DL) Travis Taijeron came up in the bottom of the 9th with two outs and the tying run on first base, he worked a walk to extend the game. Former Met Jason Pridie then came up with a chance to win it but struck out swinging to end the game. Taijeron played left field and struck out in his other at bat. Box Score
Eastern All-Stars 4, Western All-Stars F/Homerun Shootout
I traveled to Portland to watch the game and was one of the first people in the press box besides a scout I had talked to earlier in the week. We mostly talked Binghamton pitchers as he raved about Robert Gsellman and thought he could be a valuable trade chip for the Mets. He had also seen Gabriel Ynoa pitch and said he could be 4/5 in the Majors while being another asset at the trade deadline. He also said he would be surprised if the Mets didn’t trade for a shortstop this month.
Brandon Nimmo was a very hot commodity during batting practice and stretches getting bombarded with interviews left and right. The rosters were without many highly regarded prospects, with Nimmo and Josh Bell being the only Baseball America Top 50 guys at the game. Gavin Cecchini was the youngest player participating in the game and had his parents in attendance to watch him play.
Before the game was the Homerun Derby with the Binghamton Mets Josh Rodriguez participating but failed to hit a homerun before reaching his then outs. Hadlock Field is generally tougher on right-handed hitters with their own Maine Monster and three out of the four finalists were lefties. The final came down to San Franciso Giants Minor Leaguer Ricky Oropesa and winner Dan Gamache from the Pirates system who hit four homeruns in the final round. The only righty to make the finals was Yankee prospect Gary Sanchez who is a very big dude.
Nimmo started the game in center field while batting 6th and played the whole game going 1-4 with a double to start a three-run rally in the 2nd inning. Rodriguez started the game batting and playing second going 1-3 with a single in the first inning. Cecchini came in as a pinch hitter in the 5th inning going 0-1 with a walk and made a good play in the 9th inning to get a force out at 2nd on a ball deep in the shortstop hole on his backhand. Binghamton reliever Dario Alvarez started the 9th inning walking his first batter before striking out the next, he was then lifted to setup a righty/righty matchup.
The Western Division tied the score in the 7th inning with a three-run rally of its own, Bell walked with the bases loaded for the final run. Before the 8th inning started we were told in the press box that if the game ended in a tie that there would be a Homerun Derby Shootout to decided the winner. Each manager would pick three players to take one swing each to try and hit a homerun with the Eastern Division being the home team. The team with most homeruns after each hitter hit would win, well lets just say that is not where this game ended.
After the first three rounds no one even came close to hitting a homerun and it turned into a NHL style shootout going to the 12th round. Phillies farmhand Brian Pointer was shutout in the homerun derby earlier in the night but he redeemed himself ripping a fly ball into the stands in right field ending the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game on a walk-off homerun in derby shootout fashion. Here is video of the homerun and the entire shootout. Box Score
To check out some of the pictures I took during the festivities go to my twitter account @themainemets.
St. Lucie (47-43) 2, Dunedin 0
Martires Arias made his first appearance in High-A throwing 7 scoreless innings for the Mets, he allowed four hits and three walks while striking out five. The 6’7 righty got the win moving to 4-4 overall on the year and lowering his season ERA to 2.83 while holding opponents to a .211 average. Mike Hepple pitched a perfect 8th inning with one strikeout, he has allowed 27 hits in 39 innings this season. Jeff Walters made his 4th rehab appearance for St. Lucie pitching a perfect 9th to pick up his first save of the year after having 38 of them in 2013 with Binghamton.
Dominic Smith was 2-4 last night raising his average to .303 and moving him up to 3rd in the Florida State League. Phillip Evans was 2-4 with a run scored for his 5th straight two-hit game, unfortunately his batting line is still only .228/.275/.315 for the season. Amed Rosario was 1-4 and scored a run, he is hitting .294 over his last ten games. Jeff McNeil went 0-3 with a walk in what should be his last game in St. Lucie, still leading FSL in average at .317. Box Score
Savannah had their game postponed and will make the game up today as part of a doubleheader with Asheville.
Staten Island 3, Brooklyn (15-9) 2 F/10 Walk-Off
In ten innings the Cyclones offense could only muster four hits and lost on a walk-off balk. Mets 2013 2nd round pick Andrew Church got his first start for the Cyclones pitching 5 innings allowing an unearned run on four hits and a walk while striking out two. He has now pitched 11 innings this year between Brooklyn and GCL allowing only one earned run. Blake Taylor piggybacked him going 4 innings giving up a run on fours hits and a walk. Taylor has given up three runs in 10 innings while walking only two after that was the big issue for him last year.
David Thompson was 1-4 with his 2nd double, he also scored a run, HBP and committed his 4th error of the year. Vinny Siena was 0-3 but did walk twice and has now reached base in 22 out of 23 pro games. Brandon Brosher was 0-2 with two walks and was hit by a pitch while batting cleanup. Box Score
Princeton 8, Kingsport (11-10) 3
Dash Winningham was 3-4 with a walk and a two-run homerun for his 5th of the year which ties him for first in the Appalachian League. He now has 17 RBI which places him second in the league leaders. Patrick Mazeika was 2-5 with his 16th RBI of the season, his .984 OPS is 5th in the league. Mazeika played first base while hitting cleanup and now has a 8/8 BB/SO ratio. Kevin Kaczmarski was 1-3 with a walk boosting his slash line to .304/.407/.420, he has walked (11) more times than he has struckout (8) to start his career.
Harol Gonzalez took his first loss of the year going 7 innings giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and three strikeouts. The Mets 21st round pick Taylor Henry had his first pro hiccup giving up three runs in the 8th inning. Box Score
GCL Mets (11-10) 5, GCL Cardinals 4
Chris Flexen made his 3rd appearance of the year for the Mets starting the and throwing three scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and walk while striking out three on the day. In six innings this year he has allowed just three baserunners while striking out five.
Milton Ramos made his 4th appearance in the GCL after being demoted and went 1-4 with a RBI, he was hitting .341/.370/.455 in Kingsport when sent down. For the first time in five rehab games Jhoan Urena failed to record a hit going 0-4, he hit a homerun in each of the two previous games. Ivan Wilson was 1-3 with walk, run scored, and his first stolen base of the. It was also the second game in three days he did not strikeout. Jose Miguel Medina was 2-3 with two doubles, walk, and scored a run. Box Score
