Mets Farm Report: Harvey Dominates, Lara Fans Ten, St. Lucie and Savannah Prevail

Buffalo 8, Louisville 0

By Connor O’Brien

The Buffalo Bisons beat the Louisville Bats last night by a score of 8-0. Matt Harvey, who was recently selected to play in the Triple-A All-Star Game, took the mound for the Bisons, looking to improve to 7-3. He was dominant. Harvey allowed just two hits and one walk in seven shutout innings. He also struck out nine. Harvey was on point the whole night, and could have even pitched into the eighth as he had only 94 pitches through seven. However, Wally Backman turned to the bullpen to get the final six outs. First, he called upon Elvin Ramirez. Ramirez threw a scoreless inning, striking out a batter. Pedro Beato came in for the ninth. He is progressing very well with his rehab and also threw a scoreless inning.

The Bisons also had a great night on offense. They began the scoring in the first, with Brad Emaus hitting a two-RBI single. Then in the second, Oswaldo Navarro hit his first homer of the year to make it 3-0. The Bisons went on to score in each of the next four innings. Matt den Dekker hit a home run, his fourth with the Bisons in the fourth inning. The next batter, Josh Rodriguez, also hit a home run. By the end of the night, the Bisons had pounded out eight runs on eleven hits en route to an 8-0 victory.

Herd Rumblings: Last night was Matt Harvey’s fourth straight outing of at least five innings and also his ninth straight without allowing more than three runs. He leads the International League in strikeouts with 96. Josh Rodriguez had a tremendous night, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Brad Emaus also had a big night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI. The Bisons open up a four-game series against the Durham Bulls at 7:05 pm, lefty Mark Cohoon makes the start for the Herd.

Bowie 8, Binghamton 5 

By Joe D.

The Binghamton Mets were outscored 8-5 last night by the Bowie BaySox who completed a four-game sweep of the B-Mets at NYSEG Stadium. Getting swept in a four game series usually suck, but when you’re playing at home it’s all the more painful.

The B-Mets handed their starter Greg Peavey a 2-0 early lead, but after dodging a few bullets, Peavey was eventually tagged for five runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Peavey took the loss and has given up 14 earned runs in his last three starts. He was tagged for five runs on eight hits, one homer, two walks and two strikeouts in his five innings of work, and his ERA has climbed to 5.57 on the season.

Armando Rodriguez pitched two innings of relief and allowed two runs which iced the game for Bowie, and Edgar Martinez pitched the final frame and allowed an unearned run.

Offensively for B-Mets, the song remains the same, Wilmer Flores had a good night with three hits and a pair of runs scored. Flores was at third base for this one as he seems to be getting most of his reps alternating between second and third. Right fielder Dustin Martin provided the big blow of the game for Binghamton, a two run bomb that was part of a three-RBI night for Martin.

Binghamton made a late charge in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases on three singles, but they only scored one run on a groundout by Martin, before Francisco Pena struck out to end the inning.

B-Mets Buzz: The BaySox scored an alarming 33 runs and collected 49 hits in the four-game series. The B-Mets, who now have a six-game home losing streak, continue their eight-game homestand by hosting the Altoona Curve (PIT) for a four-game set. The action all begins on Saturday night at 7:05 PM with RHP Zack Wheeler (7-3, 2.29) on the hill for Binghamton against righty Tim Alderson (3-3, 4.15). Lets see if Wheeler can be a stopper tonight.

St. Lucie 4, Jupiter 2

By Joe D.

It might have taken them 12 innings to do it, but ultimately the St. Lucie Mets edged out the Jupiter Hammerheads (MIA) by a score of 4-2 on Friday night.

The victory was aided thanks to a tremendous effort by starting pitcher Rafael Montero and the St. Lucie bullpen who held the Hammerheads scoreless for eight innings after Montero allowed two runs in the fourth. In total Montero pitched six innings allowing just the two runs on six hits while striking out four.

The bullpen took over as John Church, Adam Kolarek, Jeffery Walters and Taylor Whitenton combined to toss six scoreless innings allowing just three hits and striking out seven. Walters got the win, his first, while Whitenton earned his second save of the season.

Alonzo Harris had a busy night with three hits including a triple, a run score, an RBI and his 16th stolen base of the season. Shortstop T.J. Rivera busted out with a four-hit game, while Rylan Sandoval, Allan Dykstra and Joe Bonfe all had two hits a piece.

Lucie Logistics: The Mets had 14 hits in the game, 12 of them were singles. Cory Vaughn went 0-for-4 and is now batting .219. Rylan Sandoval has been hot of late and in his last ten games is batting .317/.64/.488 with seven runs scored. RHP Erik Goeddel (2-2, 2.63) will be on the mound tonight for St.Lucie and the Hammerheads send right-hander Robert Morey (4-0, 2.70) to the hill, game time is 6:35 pm.

Savannah 6, Augusta 2

By Pete Shapiro

Left-fielder Dustin Lawley’s two-run double in the seventh inning turned a 4-2 Sand Gnat lead into a 6-2 Sand Gnat lead and broke the back of the Augusta GreenJackets, while making a winner of Michael Fulmer as the game ended with the final score 6-2. The victory ended a six-game losing streak by Savannah, and was just their second win in the last nine games. Fulmer (5-4, 3.00) won for the third time in his last four starts, by going six innings and giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. Relievers Carlos Vasquez, Chasen Bradford, and T.J. Chism combined to throw 3.0 innings, with only two hits and nothing across.

The Gnats stung first getting two runs in the second inning. First-baseman Brian Harrison got on on a fielding error and went to second on a wild-pitch. Then with two-outs, catcher Albert Cordero singled to drive in Harrison making it 1-0. It was then that Augusta starter Kyle Crick (3-5, 2.70) completely fell apart. He walked the next three batters, the third of which, Gilbert Gomez forced in a run to make it 2-0 before Crick finally retired the side.

The GreenJackets (SFG) scored a run in the third to make it 2-1, then Savannah answered in the top of the fourth on a lead-off double by right-fielder Charley Thurber, who was sacrificed to third where he was able to score on a ground-out making it 3-1. Augusta got an unearned run in the fifth to edge closer at 3-2. But the Sand Gnats iced it with a three-run seventh, and a 6-2 lead and they never looked back.

The Sand Gnat seventh started with three consecutive singles by shortstop Ismael Tijerina, second-baseman Yucarybert De La Cruz, and center-fielder Gilbert Gomez to load the bases and chase reliever Demondre Arnold from the game in favor of Andrew Berger. Gnat DH Cam Maron greeted Berger with a single to right to plate one run and make the score 4-2. That set the stage for Lawley’s turning-point of the game at-bat in which he hammered a double to left-field to score De La Cruz and Gomez, and make it 6-2.

Gnats Gnotes: Augusta second-baseman Jose Flores went 0-for-4 in the game, but he also recorded both RBI’s for the GreenJackets, picking up an RBI on a ground-out in the third and an RBI on a ground-out in the fifth. For his last ten games Aderlin Rodriguez is hitting .341 with five doubles, two home runs and eight RBI. The catching tandem of Albert Cordero who is hitting .294, and Cam Maron who is hitting .357 with a dinger and seven RBI over each of their last ten games, is contributing at a very high level these days. One guy getting very little love this season is righty reliever Chasen Bradford, the Mets 35th round draft pick from 2011. In his last ten games Bradford is 1-1 with a 0.66 ERA over 13.2 innings. He has given up one earned run on 11 hits, with 12 strikeouts and three walks. Overall this year he has pitched in 17 games and 26.2 innings with a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 1.69, and has a K/BB ratio of 22/6. Tonight at 7:05 pm the Sand Gnats and GreenJackets go at it again in the second game of a marathon five-game series. Starting for Savannah is 25-year-old left-hander James Fuller (0-1, 6.00) and Augusta will counter with 6’3″ south-paw Adalberto Mejia (5-4, 4.95).

Brooklyn 5, Aberdeen 2

By Dave (Retire 31)

Cyclones continue to have great starting pitching as they rally around another good start from Rainy Lara with five runs over ten hits on Friday night to beat Aberdeen 5-2.

Rainy Lara has quickly become one of the team’s most dominant pitchers. He scattered only three hits allowed in his five and two-thirds innings pitched. He gave up a run in the fifth inning and then a solo-homerun in the sixth before being pulled. Of course his most impressive number of the night is the ten strikeouts and zero walks. His impressive start earns him his second straight win of the season and he has cruised to a nice 1.69 ERA.

The Cyclones scored four runs in the third inning. The biggest blow came on a two-out, two-run homerun by Phillip Evans. That was his third long ball of the season. The other two runs came from another two-out, two-run double from outfielder, Stefan Sabol, one of two doubles he hit on the evening.

The Cyclones had an insurance run driven in by first baseman Cole Frenzel in the eighth. He had three hits on the night, including a double and two runs scored. His average is at .441 in the early season.

The rest of the bullpen was great as well, with Beck Wheeler finishing out the sixth with a walk and a strikeout. Juan Urbina pitched a hitless seventh inning with a strikeout. The eighth and ninth were left for Matthew Bowman who got his first save of the season tossing two scoreless innings, only giving up one hit and one walk, while striking out five.

Brooklyn Brew: The Cyclones continue to get great pitching as they combined for 17 strikeouts, including all of Aberdeen’s hitters at least once. They are currently tied for the league lead in team strikeouts with 110, and lead the league in WHIP with a 1.01, and in fewest hits and fewest runs given up. They are second in the league in team ERA with a 2.46. Cole Frenzel has been the Cyclones best hitter overall this season with a slash-line of .441/.512/.559 which ranks him at 2nd/4th/9th in the league. With three home runs, Phillip Evans is in a three-way tie for 2nd place in the league. Outfielder Eudy Pina also finds himself in a three-way tie for second place in the league in RBI, with 11 on the season. With an overall record of 8-4 the Clones are presently tied atop the standings with the Renegades for 1st-place in the McNamara Division of the New York Penn League. Up next the Cyclones finish out their three games series with the Aberdeen IronBirds. Aberdeen will go with 6’4″ Sebastian Vader (0-2, 8.00) while Brooklyn has not announced their starter as yet.

Bluefield 12, Kingsport 3

By Pete Shapiro

The K-Mets winning streak died at one-game last night when the Bluefield Blue Jays evened the series at a game apiece by stomping Kingsport to the tune of 12-3. The K-Mets record now drops to 2-9 as they wallow in last place in their division. Right-hander Christian Montgomery (0-1, 9.39) started the second game of his pro career and was quite dreadful, allowing six runs, five earned, on four hits, three walks and three strikeouts in 3+ innings, to pick up the loss. He also hit two batters and threw two wild-pitches.

Righty Matt Budgell replaced Montgomery with no outs in the fourth inning and the score already 6-2. Budgell tossed 2.0 innings in which he allowed two unearned runs to score, on one hit with two strikeouts, a wild-pitch, and a hit batter, to bring the score to 8-2 after four. Right-hander Edioglis Villasmil came in to pitch the sixth and seventh innings giving up one earned run on a home run to Dwight Smith, Jr. to make it 9-2, while striking out five and walking one, with one wild-pitch. The last Kingsport pitcher of the night, righty Ramon Estevez, pitched the final two innings, surrendering three earned runs on two hits and a walk, with two strikeouts, a hit batter, and a wild-pitch, to bring the score to the final tally of 12-3. It also gave Kingsport a total of five wild-pitches, and four hit batters for the night.

Kingsport scored the first two of their runs in the third inning when DH Joe Tuschak led off with a walk and moved to second on a ground-out. Second-baseman Branden Kaupe then singled to centerfield to score Tuschak making it 2-1 Bluefield, but when Dwight Smith, Jr. muffed his chance in the outfield, the ball got by him and Kaupe wound up on third with a single and two-base error on Smith. Then with shortstop Gavin Cecchini batting, Blue Jay starter Daniel Norris uncorked a wild-pitch to allow Kaupe to score, tying the game at 2-2. Kingsport came to bat in the bottom of the sixth with the score 9-2, and after two-outs right-fielder Maikis De La Cruz singled and moved to second on a wild-pitch. Catcher Tomas Nido then doubled to bring in De La Cruz making it a 9-3 game at the time.

Lefty reliever Griffin Murphy (1-0, 2.25) picked up the win by going three innings and allowing just one run on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts, a wild-pitch and a hit batter. Bluefield center-fielder Dwight Smith went 2-for-5 with two runs, a home run and two RBI. Second-baseman Jason Leblebijian went 1-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, a double and two RBI. Left-fielder Eric Arse went 2-for-5 with a run scored, a double, and an RBI. Pinch-hitter Chris Peters went 1-for-1 with a double and two RBI. For the K-Mets left-fielder Eris Peguero, Maikis De La Cruz, and Tomas Nido had two hits apiece.

Kingsport Knews: The K-Mets are way out in front leading the league in wild-pitches this year. The second place team has 16 wild-pitches, while Kingsport has unleashed a whopping 29 wild-pitches in just 11 games. They rank second in the league in hit batters with 13, walks, earned runs and ERA. They are first in runs given up, and have allowed 21 unearned runs to score so far this season. They have the most errors as a team by far with 25, and the worst fielding % with a .940. They have been slightly better on offense, with the main weakness there being team slugging, in which they rank second to last in the league. They play the rubber game against Bluefield today at 6:00 pm. Right-hander Deivy Estrada (1-0, 10.80) will make the start for the Jays, while righty Robert Gsellman (1-0, 0.00) toes the rubber for Kingsport.