Friday night was Opening Day for three of the New York Mets full-season affiliates. The Low-A St. Lucie Mets were the only team to come away with a victory.
Triple-A
Syracuse Mets (2-3) 4, Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders (3-2) 8
- LF Ben Gamel: 3-for-3, 2 R, HR(1), 2 RBI, BB
- CF Drew Gilbert: 2-for-4, BB, K
- C Austin Allen: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, HR (1)
- 3B Mark Vientos: 1-for-5, 2 K
- SS Luisangel Acuña: 0-for-5, K
The Mets found themselves in a 3-0 hole in the bottom of the first after a shaky start by Dom Hamel. The 25-year-old pitcher gave up a Jose Rojas three-run home run, but Ben Gamel quickly responded with a two-run homer, scoring Yolmer Sánchez and cutting the lead to 3-2.
Two SWB runs in the bottom of the second would boost the RailRiders’ lead back up to three until an Austin Allen two-run shot off former Met Phil Bickford cut the lead to 5-4. Syracuse’s pitching woes would rear their head again, giving up another two-run homer and a walked-in run, resulting in the RailRiders’ comfortable 8-4 victory.
Luisangel Acuña was hitless in five plate appearances. He has started the season 2-for-22 and a walk.
- RHP Dominic Hamel (L, 0-1): 2 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 2 H, 7 BB, 3 K
- LHP Josh Walker: 1 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K
- RHP Eric Orze: 1 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K
- RHP Jon Duplantier: 1 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 0 H, 3 BB, 2 K
The five Syracuse pitchers combined for 15 walks as a team, with Hamel accounting for seven in his two and two-thirds of work. The Mets head into a doubleheader, hoping for a couple of bounce-back performances from their pitching staff.
Double-A
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (1-0) 5, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (0-1) 2
- CF Alex Ramírez: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 SB K
- SS Jett Williams: 1-for-4, R, BB, SB
- C Kevin Parada: 0-for-2, 2 BB, K
- 3B Jose Peroza: 1-for-4, R, HR (1), RBI
Jett Williams would pick up where he left off last year, starting the game with a walk—he led all of the Mets’ minor leaguers with 104 walks last season. Alex Ramírez then hit an RBI double, scoring Williams from first base. Two more Rumble Ponies would walk in the opening frame, but the bases would be left loaded.
Binghamton would double their lead in the fifth inning with a José Peroza solo homer run.
We are SO back
(Thanks José Peroza) pic.twitter.com/wsY2EnaTiq— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) April 6, 2024
A home run by Zach Britton in the sixth inning tied the game. New Hampshire took the lead in the seventh inning and never gave it up. A seventh-inning home run by Garrett Spain and RBI doubles by Britton and Rainer Nunez in the ninth ballooned the lead to 5-2, making the game out of reach for the Rumble Ponies.
- RHP Joander Suarez: 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K
- RHP Carlos Guzman: 1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB
- LHP Daniel Juarez (L, 0-1): 1 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K
- RHP Nolan Clenney: 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, BB, 4 K
Suarez posted an excellent start to open the season, throwing five innings and only allowing two hits—his six strikeouts would be the game-high for a pitcher on either staff. The Binghamton bullpen struggled to finish innings, giving up four of five runs with two outs.
High-A
Brooklyn Cyclones (0-1) 1, Wilmington Blue Rocks (1-0) 4
- SS William Lugo: 2-for-4, RBI BB, K
- RF Stanley Consuegra: 2-for-5, 2 K
- LF Ryan Clifford: 0-for-3, 2 BB
Wilmington controlled most of the game with great pitching and consistent offense – Andry Lara would go five innings, giving up four hits and no runs while striking out six. The Cyclones could have produced more on the offensive side of the ball outside of William Lugo, who had an active day, reaching base three times. The Cyclones did make the Blue Rocks’ pitching staff work to throw strikes, drawing seven walks – though they would leave 12 runners stranded and hit 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
- RHP Noah Hall (L, 0-1): 3 3/2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K
- RHP Douglas Orellana: 3 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 K
In his three and two-thirds innings of work, Noah Hall gave up all four Wilmington runs and never found a groove, throwing only 44 out of 77 pitches for strikes (57%). Douglas Orellana allowed four hits over three innings, keeping the Blue Rocks scoreless while on the mound.
Colin Houck, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Low-A
Daytona Tortugas (0-1) 4, St. Lucie Mets (1-0) 5 In 10 Innings
- SS Colin Houck: 1-for-4, R, 3B, RBI
- C Ronald Hernandez: 2-for-4, R, 2B
- CF Nick Morabito: 2-for-4, R, HR (1), RBI, K
- DH J.D. Martinez: 0-for-4, BB
- 3B Jesus Baez: 1-for-4, RBI
It was an exciting opening day in Port St. Lucie. A handful of the Mets’ top 30 prospects filled the PSL lineup, along with newly signed former all-star J.D. Martinez, who is ramping up to head to the big league club.
St. Lucie fell behind quickly after a three-run home run in the second inning by Connor Burns, but fought back with runs in three consecutive innings to cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth. A Nick Morabito opposite-field home run in the ninth inning sent the game to extra innings, where Colin Houck hit a walk-off sacrifice fly, giving PSL their first win of the season.
- RHP Jack Wenninger: 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP
- RHP Jawilme Ramirez (W, 1-0): 3 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, 6 K
Jack Wenninger got the nod for Port St. Lucie’s opening day game, where he would need help finding outs. Untimely walks and, ultimately, the Burns homer would cut the 22-year-old’s first short. Jawilme Ramirez would hold off Daytona’s offense after the eighth inning while demonstrating impressive strikeout and groundball pitching.
