Ryan Clifford led the Double-A Eastern League in home runs last year with 24 and hit five more at Triple-A Syracuse. But the No. 4 Mets prospect on MLB Pipeline hadn’t gone deep in his first 17 games and 64 plate appearances with Triple-A Syracuse this season. That ended Saturday. He connected in both ends of a doubleheader sweep of Scranton.
Ryan Clifford. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Triple-A
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (10-9) 4, Syracuse Mets (10-9) 9
- 1B Ryan Clifford, 2-for-3, HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, CS (.674 OPS)
- DH Ronny Mauricio, 1-for-4, HR (3), K (.809 OPS)
- SS Vidal Bruján, 1-for-3, HR (1), 2 RBI, K (.709 OPS)
- C Onix Vega, 1-for-3, HR (1), 2 RBI (.812 OPS)
- RF Nick Morabito, 0-for-2, R, 2 BB (.794 OPS)
Mauricio homered for the second straight game and added his fifth steal in the second game of the doubleheader.
- RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (5.29 ERA) 5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 2 K, HR, W
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (10-10) 4, Syracuse Mets (11-9) 7
- DH Ryan Clifford, 2-for-3, HR (2), 2B, 2 RBI (.767 OPS)
- SS Ronny Mauricio, 1-for-3, 2B, 3 RBI, SB, K (.821 OPS)
- CF Nick Morabito, 1-for-4, 2 R, SB (.776 OPS)
- LF Jihwan Bae, 2-for-3, 2 R, SB, K (.842 OPS)
- RF Cristian Pache, 2-for-3, 3B, 2B, R, K (.676 OPS)
Clifford was 4-for-6 with the homers, a double and a walk in the two games. His OPS jumped from .578 to .767. Morabito is 3-for-3 stealing bases. He stole 49 in 60 tries last season.
- RHP Bryce Conley (5.40 ERA) 4 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K, HR
A.J. Ewing. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Double-A
Binghamton Rumble Ponies (6-7) 4, Akron RubberDucks (9-5) 5
- CF A.J. Ewing, 2-for-5, R, 2 SB, 2 K (1.047 OPS)
- SS Marco Vargas, 0-for-3, R, SB, 2 BB, K (.460 OPS)
- C Chris Suero, 1-for-4, 2B, BB (1.112 OPS)
- DH Eli Serrano III, 1-for-3, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K, HBP (.934 OPS)
Ewing entered Saturday sixth in the Eastern League in batting average (.389) and third in on-base percentage (.522). He now has eight steals in 11 games. He stole 70 in 81 attempts last year. Suero was sixth in slugging percentage (.667) and fifth in OPS.
- RHP Brendan Girton (5.06 ERA) 4 IP, ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K, HR
Girton, 24, was excellent at Brooklyn last season (2.59 ERA in 76 1/3 innings), but gave up eight earned runs in 10 2/3 innings after he was promoted to Double-A Binghamton.
Colin Houck. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
High-A
Greensboro Grasshoppers (10-4) 3, Brooklyn Cyclones (4-9) 8
- 1B Ronald Hernandez, 2-for-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI, R, 2 BB, K (.745 OPS)
- 2B Colin Houck, 3-for-4, 2 RBI, BB, K (.672 OPS)
- SS Mitch Voit, 1-for-5, R (.720 OPS)
- C Daiverson Gutierrez, 2-for-5, R, 2 K (.748 OPS)
Voit made a sensational diving catch on Saturday that you can see here. Houck, 21, a first-round pick (32nd overall) in 2023 out of Parkview (Georgia) HS, had three hits for the second time in three games.
- RHP Irving Cota (0.00 ERA) 4 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K
- LHP Gregori Louis (8.31 ERA) IP, 3 K
Cota, 22, hasn’t allowed a run in 10 2/3 innings. He pitched to a 4.36 ERA over 84 2/3 innings at St. Lucie last season.
Elian Peña. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Single-A
St. Lucie Mets (7-7) 12, Daytona Tortugas (5-9) 8
- SS Elian Peña, 2-for-5, 2 RBI, R, SB, BB, K (.845 OPS)
- 1B Chase Meggers, 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R, BB, K (.657 OPS)
- LF Randy Guzman, 0-for-3, 2 R, 2 SB, 2 BB, K (.774 OPS
- DH AJ Salgado, 1-for-4, 2 R, BB, 2 K (.995 OPS)
St. Lucie stole seven bases in nine attempts and Peña notched his sixth. Peña made his second error of the season. The 18-year-old committed 14 errors in 43 games at shortstop in the Dominican Summer League last year.
- RHP Cam Tilly (5.56 ERA) 3 IP, 7 R, (4 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Tilly was a seventh-round selection last year out of Auburn.
