Mets Farm Report: Bisons Annihilated In 21-3 Drubbing, St. Lucie Wins In Walk-off

Columbus 21, Buffalo 3

By Andrew O’Brien

The Columbus Clipper scored 17 runs through the first four innings Tuesday night en route to a 21-3 drubbing of the Buffalo Bisons.

Dylan Owen (3-3) started the game for Buffalo. In three innings of work, Owen allowed 11 hits, 13 runs (all earned), walked five and struck out none. He allowed two home runs. His Triple-A ERA is now 5.32.

Chuck James came on in relief of Owen and allowed another four earned runs on two hits and a homer.

The lone bright spot in terms of pitching was Josh Edgin, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts. Jean Luc Blaquiere, a catcher, also pitched. He allowed three earned runs on three hits in one inning.

Bisons pitchers had allowed just 20 total runs in the nine games prior to Tuesday’s contest.

Valentino Pascucci, who went 2-for-3 with a double and a two-run home run, accounted for plating all three Bisons runs. Pascucci now has a team-leading 40 RBIs this season.

Herd Rumblings: Ruben Tejada removed himself from the game after two innings with right quad tightness. Before the game, the Mets selected the contract of Chris Young. He started for the Mets on Tuesday in Washington and allowed two earned runs in five innings of a no-decision. Bisons pitchedrs walked 10 batters and struck out only two. Columbus went 10-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The Bisons (33-26) look to put this game behind them in Game 2 of the four-game series at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.

Harrisburg 9, Binghamton 6

By Tim Burns

The Binghamton Mets jumped out to an early three run lead on Tuesday night in Harrisburg after two innings, only to see that lead disappear and after some back and forth run scoring by both teams the B-Mets found themselves on the losing end of a 9-6 decision to the Harrisburg Senators.

Mark Cohoon started the game for the visiting B-Mets and lasted six innings in his tenth start of the season. Cohoon gave up five earned runs, including two home runs, on seven hits while striking out five Senators.

Cohoon was replaced in the bottom of the seventh by Brandon Moore. Moore, making his second appearance for the B-Mets in 2012 after serving a 50 game suspension, lasted only 1/3 of an inning. In that 1/3 of an inning, Moore walked two batters, hit a batter, and threw a wild pitch which allowed a Harrisburg runner to move into scoring position. Two earned runs were charged to Moore and he was issued the loss in the game.

Brad Holt was brought in to relieve Moore in the bottom of the seventh, and he pitched the rest of the game which amounted to 1 2/3 innings worth of work. In that span, Holt gave up two runs on three hits, struck out one and walked two. Holt was charged with a blown save in the game, his second of the year.

All told, after Moore and Holt’s appearances, the Harrisburg Senators scored four unanswered runs over the final two innings to steal the win from the Binghamton Mets.

Jefry Marte had a strong night at the plate for the B-Mets, going 2/4 with a double and a home run to his credit as well as four RBI’s. Matt den Dekker was 3/5 with two runs scored in the game. Josh Rodriguez (2/5) and Reese Havens (1/4) both had doubles in the game, and Pedro Zapata (1/4) has his team leading fifth triple of the season.

B-Mets Buzz: Wednesday night is game two of the series at MetroBank park, featuring the B-Mets Collin McHugh (5-3, 2.17) against the Senators Mike Ballard (1-4, 3.12). If anyone is looking for a roadtrip to watch the B-Mets play, this Thursday night in Harrisburg may be the one to make. The pitching matchup right now is scheduled to be Zack Wheeler (5-2, 1.88) against Danny Rosenbaum (7-1, 1.75). Rosenbaum and Wheeler are third and fourth in ERA and second and third in WHIP in the Eastern League right now, and it should prove to be an interesting duel between the two. If you can’t make the drive, as a side note, milb.com has a ‘TV’ section where they show a lot of minor league contests, and Harrisburg is one of the teams that regularly shows their games. Viewers have to pay a subscription fee, but the Bisons games are on quite a bit as well – might be worth the cost for some to see the rising stars.

St. Lucie 3, Clearwater 2

By Clayton Collier

In an evening where the real Mets rallied late but could not find the bullpen help or defensive backing they needed, the St. Lucie Mets were able to do just that and win their game in walkoff fashion 3-2.

Tyler Pill took the mound for St. Lucie, making his debut with the club since his promotion from the Sand Gnats and put together a solid first outing. Pill went 5.1 frames allowing two runs on eight hits, taking a no decision in the effort.

Clearwater was the first to draw blood on the evening in the form of a Jim Murphy RBI single that scored the speedy Cody Asche, staking them to an early 1-0 lead. That lead wouldn’t survive the half inning however as Alonzo Harris started off the home first with a solo shot to dead center to tie the ballgame up, his first of the year. Come bottom three, St. Lucie took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Wilmer Flores to make it a 2-1 game.

That lead would be erased in the top of the sixth when Pill was lifted for Hamilton Bennett with runners at first and second with one down, Bennett came on and walked the first two batters to face him to tie it up at two a piece.He would then retire the next two batters to end the threat.

After that point the bullpens went to work, tossing up goose eggs until the Mets came up in the bottom of the ninth. ZeErika McQueen led it off with a base hit and after being bunted over, was in scoring position for Jonathan Clark. Clark came through, lining a base hit into center to win the ballgame for St. Lucie.

Lucie Logistics: This team doesn’t quit. They fight and fight and fight and fight; a theme that has apparently been instilled in every level of this 2012 Mets franchise. Jason Bay went 0-3 with a walk and should rejoin the Mets in the coming days. Wilmer Flores went 1-3 with an RBI and has his average up to .314 on the year. Wilfredo Tovar went 1-4 with a double and is now batting .294 on the year. The Mets continue their four game set with Clearwater tomorrow starting at 6:30 PM.