Although the minor league seasons may be coming to a close, there is still plenty of time for players on the farm to build some momentum to take with them into the offseason. Marco Vargas has been heating up as he continues to get healthier, batting over .400 in his last seven games, and Jonathan Santucci delivered a strong outing for the third time in a row.
Jonathan Santucci. Photo Credit: Syracuse Mets
Triple-A
St. Paul (77-63) 5, Syracuse (73-66) 4
- LF Ryan Clifford – 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
- CF Jose Ramos – 2-for-4, RBI
- 2B Vidal Brujan – 3-for-4, 2B, R, BB
The Syracuse lineup strung together 10 hits as a team but it was not enough to defeat the Saints on Wednesday. Vidal Brujan was great with his three hit game. Ryan Clifford was able to send one out of the yard as he tries to end the year on a high note.
- LHP Jonathan Santucci: 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 6 K
- RHP Justin Hagenman: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
- RHP Chayce McDermott: 1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Syracuse got out to an early 4-0 lead and a strong start by Jonathan Santucci made it seem like it would stick. However, a rough relief appearance from Justin Hagenman turned it into a nail biter. Ultimately, Chayce McDermott surrenders the walk off walk that comes at a poor time as Syracuse continues to make a bid for postseason baseball.
Santucci has pitched five innings in each of his last three starts and has allowed five runs over that span, a real chance for the southpaw to end the year on a high note.
Double-A
Binghamton (61-73) 5, Portland (68-65) 2
- SS Marco Vargas – 1-for-4, RBI
- 2B Jefferson Rojas – 2-for-4, 2B, R
- LF Corey Collins – 2-for-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI
Marco Vargas continues to hit over his last seven games, going 12-for-28 (.429) with two doubles and five RBIs. Binghamton continues to try and flip the script of their season in this second half, and they’ll need their starts to shine. Jefferson Rojas picks up a couple hits, along with Corey Collins notching two extra base hits including a home run on Wednesday. John Bay was on base three times, while Chris Suero and Jacob Reimer were each on base twice.
Binghamton sits 3.5 GB of Reading for the top spot in the standings with four games remaining.
- RHP Will Watson 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- RHP Ryan Dollar 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 4 K
- RHP Bryce Conley 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
- RF/RHP Bryce Jenkins 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), K
Will Watson made his third start for Binghamton since returning from the injured list, allowing just one run over three innings. A strong team performance out of the bullpen with the Bryce duo pitching three innings of one run baseball to close out the win. Rumble Ponies combined for 12 strikeouts as a team and only threw three walks.
Ryan Dollar made his Double-A debut for Binghamton and threw two dominant innings with four of his six outs recorded via the strikeout.
