Las Vegas (47-37) 3, Albuquerque 2
In the battle of two former Mets starters Dillon Gee out-dueled Aaron Laffey pitch up his 2nd win in three starts for Las Vegas. Gee went 7 innings giving up two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four. Dillon lost his shutout in the 6th inning and needed only 90 pitches (62 strikes) while lowering his ERA to 8.82.
Lefty Chase Huchingson threw 0.2 scoreless inning and has yet to allow a run for Las Vegas in 10 innings while also extending his scoreless appearance streak to 16 games. Jenrry Mejia pitched a scoreless 9th allowing one hit before picking up his 1st save in what should be his last appearance before being promoted. He is eligible to come back on Tuesday and did not do the Mejia stomp after recording the final out.
The 51’s offense mustered just six hits but Dilson Herrera had half of them including his 2nd homerun of the year for Las Vegas. Travis Taijeron got the scoring started with a solo homerrun in the 2nd inning giving him 14 on the year and 42 RBI. Kirk Nieuwenhuis was 0-4 on the night and is now 2 for his 22 over a six game stretch. Matt Reynolds sat for the 2nd straight game with his elbow injury because in Albuquerque there is no DH available, he did strike out as a pinch hitter. Box Score
Portland 6, Binghamton (41-40) 1
John Gant returned to the B’Mets after starting the year in Binghamton and making seven starts with them. He went down to St. Lucie and was dominant with a 1,79 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and holding opponents to a .180 average. Gant made some tweaks to his mechanics with St. Lucie pitching coach Phil Regan that has been him more consistent with his fastball velocity.
Gant was good in his return but was hurt by his defense with three of the four runs he allowed were unearned with errors from Eudy Pina in right field and Aderlin Rodriguez at first base. Gant went 6 innings allowing the one earned run on six hits while walking none and striking out five, he was sitting at 91/92 MPH with his fastball but did hit 95 a few times.
Dario Alvarez pitched a perfect 7th inning with a strikeout, he hasn’t given up a run in 10 straight appearances spanning 11 games while giving up only two hits in that time. His ERA is down to 3.67, WHIP now 1.19, and the league is hitting just .200 against him this year. Josh Smoker made his AA debut after being promoted from St. Lucie on Sunday for Paul Sewald who was placed on the temporary inactive list to participate in the Pan Am Games. Smoker continued his season dominance pitching a perfect 8th with two strikeouts. Didn’t catch his velocities last night but he was hitting 96/97 in his last outing for St. Lucie.
Akeel Morris really struggled in his 5th appearance for Binghamton giving up two runs on two hits, a walk, and two balks. He did manage to strikeout out two hitters but has given up six runs in 4.1 in AA with five walks.
The B’Mets offense produced only five hits with Michael Conforto, Gavin Cecchini, and L.J. Mazzilli all going 1-3 with a walk. Conforto hit his 10th double for Binghamton and his 22nd overall while hitting safely for the 8th time in 10 games. Mazzilli and Cecchini each extended their hitting streaks to six games. Brandon Nimmo was 0-3 with a walk to leadoff the 9th and came around to score the B’Mets only run. Box Score
Fort Myers 5, St. Lucie (40-41) 4
Mickey Jannis made his Mets debut after signing with them over the weekend, he has been pitching for the Long Island Ducks and was leading the lead in ERA, innings pitched, and strikeouts. He was solid in his debut going 7 innings giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, four walks, and three strikeouts.
Jannis was in line to pick up the win with Robert Coles coming into the game with a 4-2 lead headed to the bottom of he 8th. Coles has been solid this year but struggled last night giving up three runs on two hits and three walks while picking up his 3rd blown save and 2nd loss of the year.
Dominic Smith was 1-2 with two walks and scored a run, he is now hitting .300/.346/.414 with league leading 25 doubles for the year. Victor Cruzado went 1-3 with a walk and a two-run homerun which is his 3rd of the season, all of which have come in the last 10 games. Champ Stuart was 2-3 with two doubles and his 15th RBI for the year, he is hitting just .199 so far this season. Jeff McNeil was 0-5 while playing SS again for Amed Rosario. Rosario did pinch run later in the game for his first appearance since June 30th, during the game Mets announcer Adam MacDonald said that Amed was nursing a hand injury. Box Score
Savannah (43-37) 8, Greenville 6
The Sand Gnats headed to the top of the 9th inning in a 6 all tie before Patrick Biondi led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch, that was followed by a Eudor Garcia solo homerun. James Duff worked around a 9th inning double to close out his 9th save of the season for Savannah.
Garcia was 2-3 with a walk, two runs scored but is hitting only .167 with 14 strikeouts over his last 10 games. Vicente Lupo was 1-2 with with two walks, two runs scored, and his 6th homerun (2nd straight game going deep). Everyone in the the Sand Gnats lineup produced a hit and they were 4-9 with runners in scoring position.
Wuilmer Becerra was placed in the 7-day disabled list after leaving game one of the Sand Gnats doubleheader on for a pinch runner in the 7th inning. Box Score
Brooklyn (11-5) 9, Williamsport 2
What a night by Brooklyn DH Brandon Brosher who hit a grand slam in the first inning and a bases clearing double in the 7th inning. Brosher finished going 2-3 with a walk, scoring two runs, and knocked in a Cyclones record 7 RBI. It was also his 2nd straight game with a homerun, he was promoted from the GCL Mets last week and has played 5 games for Brooklyn.
Mets 14th round pick Vincent Siena was 2-3 with a walk and two runs while stealing his 3rd base. He extended his hitting streak to 9 games, raising his average to .400, and has hit safely in 14 of 15 professional games. David Thompson was 1-4 with a run scored and is hitting .324 in his first 10 pro games.
Lefty Kevin Canelon got the win pitching 4.2 scoreless with six strikeouts in relief. Box Score
Kingsport (6-7) 5, Greeneville 2
Dash Winningham was 2-4 with his 3rd homerun of the year and two RBI. He now has 12 RBI in 12 games with a slash line of .311/.327/.600 in the early going. Patrick Mazeika was 1-3 with a walk and a two-run homer in the 8th inning to extend the Mets lead. Patrick has reached base safely in 11 of 12 games to start his pro career. Despite going 0-4 Milton Ramos is still batting .341/.370/.455 on the year.
Mets 2015 12th round pick Joe Shaw gave up two hits but still managed to pick up his 2nd professional save. Box Score
Over The Weekend
Luis Cessa struggled in his first start for Las Vegas going only 4.2 innings giving up seven runs on eleven hits and was beaten by former Met John Lannan. On Friday Alex Castellanos collected two hits for his 5th straight multi-hit game and his 2nd straight with a homerun.
On Saturday Binghamton won 5-2 thanks to a grand slam by Gavin Cecchini and another good outing by Michael Fulmer who picked up his 3rd win and lowered his ERA to 2.29 in AA.
Chris Flexen and Johnny Magliozzi both made their season debut on Saturday with scoreless innings for the GCL Mets. Mets 2013 2nd rounder Andrew Church pitched in the same game getting the win throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
On Friday for St. Lucie Casey Meisner struggled in his 2nd advanced-A start going 5.2 innings giving up five runs (three earned) on nine baserunners while striking out five, he did pick up his 2nd straight win however.
