Mets Farm Report: McHugh Solid, Cecchini Drives In Two, Flores Keeps On Hitting

Buffalo 4, Louisville 2

By Sean Kenny

Starting pitcher Collin McHugh and company pitched a solid game, and some Bisons backups came through in a key fourth inning in their 4-2 victory on Thursday night to clinch at least a series split against the Louisville Bats.

McHugh didn’t have his best stuff, as evidenced by it taking him 79 pitches through four innings while allowing two runs on four hits walking three and striking out two. McHugh’s greatest problem has been pitching deep into games at the AAA level, and hopefully for the bullpen’s sake he can start to stretch his outings. The bullpen came through huge today, with Jack Egbert pitching two innings allowing zero hits and striking out one to earn the win. Manny Acosta went two innings, allowing one hit while striking out four. Fernando Cabrera came out for the ninth and struck out one to earn his league leading 16th save of the season.

Things Manny Acosta does well in AAA that he couldn’t for the Mets this season: avoid walking batters (0 walks in 13.2 AAA innings) and avoid giving up homeruns (0).

The offense wasn’t as potent as Wednesday’s nine run outburst, but some well timed hits by Lucas May and Osvaldo Navarro, in addition to a bases loaded walk by Josh Rodriguez provided all the runs the Bisons would need. Collin McHugh also helped his own cause with an RBI groundout for some added insurance. Only three Bisons had hits on the day, and the 1-2-3 combination of Den Dekker/Valdespin/Satin went 0 for 10 with two walks and two strikeouts.

Player(s) Of The Game: The Bisons bullpen. Quality work and great bridging between relievers lead to a quality win.

Herd Rumblings: Val Pascucci, after his huge day yesterday decided to take a walk – three to be precise. Jack Egbert has a 7.50 ERA in June spanning 8 games. Josh Rodriguez made his second error in as many days, this time as the throwing variety. Tomorrow’s series finale will see prospect and recently announced AAA All-Star team member RHP Matt Harvey (6-4, 3.69) against the Louisville Bats and LHP Ryan Feierabend (1-1, 4.64). Game time is 7:05 P.M.

Bowie 8, Binghamton 6

By Joe D.

Despite a valiant two-run, ninth inning rally, the Binghamton Mets came up short and were defeated by the Bowie Baysox 8-6 on Thursday night at NYSEG Stadium.

Binghamton struck early when Juan Lagares hit a lead off single to start the first inning. Then after a walk to Reese Havens, third baseman Jefry Marte drove home Lagares with a single to left field for the first run of the game. Designated hitter Wilmer Flores followed with a deep sacrifice fly to score Havens and gibe the B-Mets a 2-0 lead. The B-Mets tacked on another run in the third when Flores lined an RBI single to score Eric Campbell who had singled and advanced to second on an error to lead off the inning.

Darin Gorski started and for three innings he was nearly perfect until the Baysox got to him in the fourth inning with a four-run rally to take the lead. A costly throwing error by catcher Juan Centeno on a pickoff attempt allowed the go-ahead run to score from third and gave Bowie the 4-3 lead. Gorski ended up tossing six innings and allowing three earned runs on five hits, a walk and two strikeouts.

To their credit, the B-Mets clawed their way back in the bottom of the sixth when Pedro Zapata scored on a sac fly by Juan Lagares to tie the game 4-4, but another four runs allowed by relievers Ryan Fraser (who took the loss) and Robert Carson put the game out of reach for the good guys.

B-Mets Buzz: Wilmer Flores had two hits and a walk to go with his two RBI and is now batting .367 as a B-Met. Catcher Juan Centeno had a solid game collecting three hits to raise his average to .272. Robert Carson got hit hard in the ninth allowing three earned runs on two hits and three walks and saw his ERA jump to 4.44 for the season.  Congratulations to 1B Eric Campbell, RHP Zack Wheeler and 3B Jefry Marte who were selected to represent the B-Mets at the 2012 Eastern League All-Star Game on July 11. Campbell, 25, and has a .325 batting average to go with a league leading .433 on-base percentage. Wheeler, 22, is 7-3 and ranks in the top five in the league with a 2.29 ERA, .188 BAA and 77 strikeouts. Marte, 21, is hitting .326 and leads the team with six home runs, 37 RBI and 102 total bases. Binghamton concludes their series with Bowie on Friday at 7:05 PM with RHP Greg Peavey (3-4, 4.50) opposing RHP Zach Clark (6-4, 3.12).

Jupiter 11, St. Lucie 4

By Clayton Collier

The St. Lucie Mets opened up a three game set at Jupiter against the Hammerheads and were hit hard, taking their fourth loss in their past five games by a score of 11-4.

Chase Huchingson got the start for St. Lucie looking to bounce back after his worst start of the year last week, but instead decided to try and top last weeks awful outing. Huchingson started off well, but completely imploded in the third, allowing a grand slam and a two-run bomb to hand the Hammerheads the lead for good. After that it just got uglier as he allowed another two runs in the fourth on four straight singles and again in the fifth when he gave up a solo shot to make it a 9-4 ballgame. Huchingson ended the evening with five innings pitched, allowing nine runs, (seven earned) on eleven hits while walking none and punching out six, taing the loss to fall ot a 5-5 record with a 4.17 ERA.

Kyle Allen wasn’t much of an improvement to Huchingson as he allowed two runs in the sixth before pitching a scoreless seventh. Allowing a two-run homer to the Hammerheads’ Christian Yelch, Allen ended the evening with a final line of two innings pitched, two runs, one walk, and no strikeouts. For what it’s worth, Hamilton Bennett came on long after the game was out of hand and pitched a perfect eighth with a strikeout.

The St. Lucie offense started off hitting the Hammerheads well, but then disappeared once the game was well out of reach. In the second, Cory Vaughn scored on an RBI groundout and was soon followed by Rafael Fernandez who came home on a T.J. Rivera RBI single. Rafael Fernandez drove in two with a two out triple to score Cory Vaughn and Rylan Sandoval in the third. However it didn’t matter either way how the offense did as the pitching was simply not there for St. Lucie today as they fall to the Hammerheds 11-4.

Lucie Logistics: The St. Lucie Mets are just 4-7 since the All-Star break. Understandable since they have lost Wilmer Flores, Cory Mazzoni, Francisco Pena, and Wilfredo Tovar over that stretch. Rafael Fernandez went 2-4 with a triple and two RBI-steaks. Rylan Sandoval and T.J. Rivera also had multi-hit games of their own, Rivera also had an RBI himself. Cory Vaughn went 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored and Richard Lucas and Robbie Shields btoh wet 1-4 in the loss. The Mets continue their series with the Jupiter Hammerheads with Rafael Montero as they get started Friday at 12:05pm.

Charleston 5, Savannah 4

By Joe D.

Sand Gnats starting pitcher Jacob DeGrom probably deserved a better fate, but his defense committed four errors in a sloppy 5-4 loss to the Charleston RiverDogs on Thursday night.

DeGrom was charged with four runs, but only one was earned and in his 5.2 innings of work he allowed eight hits, a walk and struck out two. The loss saw his record drop to 3-2 and his ERA improve to 2.58 for the season.

Jeremy Gould relieved DeGrom to finish up the sixth with a successful pickoff throw to first base for the final out. In an odd seventh inning Gould allowed an earned run without the benefit of a hit as the RiverDogs’ Ali Castillo drew a walk, stole second, reached third when Gould balked and scored on a groundout. Oh those bases on balls.

Aderlin Rodriguez provided most of the offense by going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI in the loss. A-Rod-Lite helped keep a late ninth inning charge going when consecutive inning-opening doubles by Dustin Lawley, Brian Harrison and Rodriguez brought Savannah within one run of tying the game, but Albert Cordero and Yucarybert De La Cruz both grounded out to end the game and leave two runners stranded.

Gnats Gnotes: Cam Maron picked up a single and has hit safely in nine of his last ten games and batting .390 during that span. Brian Harrison drove in a run and scored a run and has 39 RBI’s with the Gnats which ranks second behind Aderlin Rodriguez who leads the team with 47. Luis Nieves (10) and Greg Pron (8) have combined to steal 17 bases for the Gnats and have yet to be caught stealing. Savannah is off to Augusta to begin a 5-game series on Friday night beginning at 7:05 PM.

Aberdeen 5, Brooklyn 3

By Clayton Collier

The 3-7 Aberdeen Ironbirds came into Brooklyn for a three game set against the first-place Cyclones and took the opener by a score of 5-2.

Matt Koch took the mound for the opener and probably regrets doing so. Making his pro-ball debut, the 21-year old pitched a perfect first but completely imploded in the second. Walking two and hitting one, Koch loaded the bases and allowed each of them to score on two productive outs and an Anthony Vega RBI single to make it a 3-0 ballgame before being lifted in favor of Beck Wheeler, who retired the side to end the threat. Koch ended the evening with 1 2/3 innings pitched allowing three runs on a hit, a hit by pitch and two walks, taking the loss in a rough debut for him.

The bullpen held down the fort for the most part with exception to Juan Hilario who surrendered the only runs from the pen, having two hiccups in the fourth and fith innings. the final line for the pen was 7 1/3 innings pitched, allowing two runs (one earned) on eight hits while walking two and punching out six.

Then there is that stumbling offense as of late. They did manage two runs (one unearned), but stranded eleven runners on. both runs were scored on singles, one for an RBI, the other due to a throwing error from the Ironbirds Will Howard. Regardless, the effort was in vain as they failed to mount a comeback against Aberdeen’s underwhelming bullpen to take their fourth loss of the year.

Brooklyn Brew: For the Cyclones offense, this is their second straight ballgame without an extra-base hit. Brandon Nimmo went 1-3 with yet another walk, his 13th of the season despite having only six hits, maybe that’s why Alderson drafted this kid ;-). Cole Frenzel went 0-1 with a pair of walks in the loss. Juan Carlos Gamboa was the only ‘Clone with a multi-hit game, going 2-3 with two walks and a run scored. In addition to Nimmo and Gamboa, Jonathon Clark, Nefli Zapata, and Dimas Ponce all had knocks on the day, Zapata also acounted for the only RBI for Brooklyn on the day. The Cyclones continue their series with the Aberdeen Ironbirds at MCU Park Friday starting at 7pm.

Kingsport 4, Bluefield 3

By Pete Shapiro

The Kingsport Mets snapped a three-game losing streak and won their second game of the season last night by defeating the Bluefield Blue Jays by a score of 4-3. Right-hander John Gant, the 2011 21st round draft pick, made his second start of the year and went 5.1 innings giving up three earned runs on three hits, with three walks, and two strikeouts. He was relieved by right-hander Flabio Ortega (1-0) in the sixth, he also pitched a quiet seventh with one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts to pick up the win. Lefty Shane Bay finished up pitching the eighth and ninth innings with a walk and four strikeouts, to knotch his first save.

Bluefield scored all of their runs off Gant in the sixth inning. Kingsport scored each of their four runs as single runs. The first came in the third inning when with one out, left-fielder Eris Peguero reached first on a fielding error by Bluefield shortstop Dickie Thon. If the name looks familiar, it’s because Thon’s father Dickie Thon, Sr. was an all-star shortstop for the Houston Astros until Met right-hander Mike Torrez struck him with a pitch in his left eye. Although he tried valiantly to return, the once brilliant performer was never able to come back from that. After Peguero got on first on the error, with two men out he stole second-base. The next batter, shortstop Gavin Cecchini promptly singled to score Peguero with the game’s first run making it 1-0.

The K-Mets would score a single run in the fifth when center-fielder Bradley Marquez led off the inning with a triple, and with one out he dashed home on a passed ball by the Bluefield catcher making it 2-0. The three-run Bluefield rally in the top of the sixth which began with a lead-off homer by Thon, would allow the Blue Jays to take the lead 3-2. But Kingsport tied the game in the bottom half of the inning when first-baseman Jeff Diehl singled and went to second on a wild-pitch. Then with two-outs, right-fielder Maikis De La Cruz tripled to bring Diehl home with the tying run making it 3-3. Kingsport scored the deciding run with two-outs and nobody on in the seventh. Second-baseman Branden Kaupe walked and went to second on a wild-pitch. Then once again Gavin Cecchini singled with two outs to bring in Kaupe for the 4-3 final score.

Kingsport Knews: Gavin Cecchini was 2-for-4 with two RBI and is now batting .286. Jeff Diehl was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Bradley Marquez went 1-for-2 with a walk, a triple and a run scored. Kingsport had just seven hits in the game, four were singles, and three were triples. Friday night at 7:00 pm the K-Mets take on Bluefield in the second of three. Left-hander Daniel Norris (1-1, 4.50) goes for the Blue Jays against K-Met right-hander Christian Montgomery (0-0, 5.79) last years’ 11th round draft pick of the Mets.