Las Vegas (54-38) 10, Albuquerque 5
Zach Lutz had a great return to the Mets organization going 4-5 with a double and three RBI. He played first base and batted fifth with his only out at the plate coming on a line drive to left field. In case you missed it Lutz was added to roster yesterday to replace Alex Castellanos who decided to go play in Japan. The 51’s scored eight runs in the first two innings off former Met John Lannan including a two-run stand up triple by Anthony Recker.
Recker finished going 2-4 with three RBI and three runs scored, he is now hitting .304/.407/.667 with 19 RBI in 19 games for Las Vegas. T.J. Rivera was 3-5 with his 16th RBI and two runs scored raising his AAA line to .320/.359/.449 in 43 games.Travis Taijeron was 2-5 with his 12th double and 45th RBI but struck out three times. Dilson Herrera batted leadoff going 2-5 with two runs scored while Wilfredo Tovar went 0-4 and is hitting just .264 on the year.
Matt Bowman improved his record to 6-10 on the year and even chipped in at the plate going 1-3 with a RBI and run scored. He was pitching a one-run gem going into the 6th inning when Ryan Wheeler hit a grand slam off him for his 2nd blast off the night against Matt. Bowman’s final line, 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K’s with 10 groundball outs. Zach Thornton, Chase Huchingson, and Chase Bradford combined to close the game out with three scoreless innings. Box Score
Trenton 3, Binghamton (47-43) 2
Michael Conforto clubbed his 4th AA homerun (11th overall) in the 7th inning on an outside fastball that he went with to left center field. Here is video of the homerun. Conforto came back up in the 8th in a big spot with the tying run on 2nd and winning run on 1st against former All-Star and ROY Andrew Bailey. Michael put a good swing on the ball but it was caught by right fielder Mark Payton in front of the warning track. He finished 1-4. him and Cecchini combined to throw out Gary Sanchez trying to stretch a single into a double. Conforto is now hitting .295/.368/.474 with 11 homeruns and 50 RBI combined for the year.
Cecchini was 0-3 with a walk and has just one hit over last four games but has walked seven times in that span. Brandon Nimmo was 1-3 with a walk while playing center field and batting fifth. L.J. Mazzilli was 1-3 with a walk and has seven base on balls in last ten games, unfortunately he is only 8-40 in that span.
Michael Fulmer had his worst start in a long time lasting only 5 innings giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits, three walks, and a balk. He struck out only two hitters and had a hard time throwing strikes all night resulting in needing 88 pitches (48 strikes) to finish his shortest outing since a rain shortened outing on June 12th. Matt Koch followed with two shutout innings with two strikeouts lowering his ERA to 3.14 and WHIP to 1.17 for the season. Beck Wheeler pitched two scoreless and has allowed one run over his last 21 innings of relief. Box Score
Dunedin 6, St. Lucie (47-44) 2
Dominic Smith went 1-3 with two walks keeping his season average right at .303, over his last ten games he has walked five times compared to only six strikeouts. Smith is hitting .321/.397/.482 in 56 June at bats. Florida State League’s leading hitter Jeff McNeil was 1-4 with a walk, run scored, and his 14th stolen base of the year. Amed Rosario was 1-3 with a walk and his 22nd RBI of the season, he is 9-23 since returning from his injury. Jhoan Urena returned to St. Lucie for his first game for them since May 22nd, he was 0-3 with a walk while playing third base and batting 7th.
Kevin McGowan picked up his 8th loss of the season going 6 innings givning up five runs (three earned) on nine hits, he walked none and struck out five. David Roseboom pitched one inning allowing a run on a hit and walk while striking out two. Jeff Walters pitched last night after picking up the save on Wednesday and was fantastic striking out the side in the 9th. Jeff looks like he is ready to head back to close at Las Vegas. Box Score
Savannah (46-43) 4, Asheville 3 F/8 Game One
With one out in the bottom of the 8th inning Luis Guillorme singled to right field to score Patrick Biondi to end game one with a walk-off. Guillorme was 2-4 with the RBI on the night while Biondi was 1-3 with RBI, 19th stolen base, and the scoring the winning run.
Wuilmer Becerra made is return to the lineup for the first time since July 3rd, he was 1-2 with a walk and was thrown out trying to stretch his 19th double into a triple. Vicente Lupo hit a two-run homerun in the fifth for his only hit of the game. He has 3 homeruns and 10 RBI over last ten games but is hitting only.200 with 11 strikeouts in that span.
Paul Paez got his 3rd victory in relief pitching a perfect 8th inning with two strikeouts lowering his ERA to 1.95 on the year. Scarlyn Reyes started the game going 5 innings giving up three runs on five hits, two walks, and two HBP. Box Score
Asheville 4, Savannah (46-44) 1 F/7 Game Two
Michael Gibbons was strong in his second Sand Gnats start going 6 innings allowing two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out six. The Savannah bats were quiet producing only five baserunners including one hit. Joe Tuschak doubled in the 3rd inning for the lone Sand Gnats hit. Guillorme had three plate appearances picking up two walks and a sac bunt. Jonathan Johnson was 0-1 with two walks and scored the only run. Eudor Garcia (who had game one off) was 0-2 but knocked in the lone run in the first inning with a sac fly. Box Score
Staten Island 1, Brooklyn (15-10) 0
David Thompson singled with two outs in the 9th and was followed by Jeffrey Diehl who singled as well before Pedro Perez grounded out to end the game. Thompson was 1-4 on the night, he is hitting only .189 with eight strikeouts over his last ten game. Vinny Siena went 1-4 and has now hit safely in 22 of 24 games to start his pro career. Diehl was only Cyclone to reach twice with the single and a walk. Brandon Brosher was 1-4 with a double, batted 4th and caught the whole game.
Matt Blackham got the start in the SNY televised game and introduced himself to Mets fans with a 6-inning ten strikeout performance. Matt did take his first loss of the year allowing one run on five hits and a walk. The 29th round 2014 pick lowered his ERA to 2.76 and has allowed just 18 hits in 29.1 innings with a league leading 40 strikeouts. He was hitting 93 MPH with his fastball and showed a good changeup that he was able to locate on low outside corner of the plate.
Christian Montgomery pitched 1.2 scoreless striking out two batters, he has yet to be scored upon in 9.2 innings this year and has struck out 18 hitters in that span. He was hitting 93 consistently on the radar gun and I saw 94 MPH once. Box Score
Princeton 7, Kingsport (11-11) 6 F/10
Catcher and cleanup hitter Patrick Mazeika went 2-5 with his 8th double and 4th homerun of his young career. He scored two runs and lifted his line up to .338/.427/..597 in 21 professional games. His 17 RBI tie him with teammate Dash Winningham (0-5, 2K’s) for 2nd in the Appalachian League, his 1.024 OPS ranks 5th in the league. Kevin Kaczmarski was 2-5 with two, the 9th round pick is hitting .311 to start his career.
In his first start since throwing a no-hitter for the GCL Mets Merandy Gonzalez made his Kingsport debut lasting 4.2 innings giving up two runs on seven hits (HR). He issues only one walk while striking out four Rays hitters. He was relieved by Chase Ingram who struggled giving up four runs and one inherited runner on two innings of work. Seth Davis, 22nd round, pitched 2.1 scoreless with four strikeouts. Box Score
GCL Mets (12-10) 3, GCL Marlins 2 F/5 Rain Shortened
Ali Sanchez was 1-2 with a walk and scored a run raising his slash line for the year to .373/.422/.390 with seven RBI in his first 17 games stateside. He batted third and played catcher while nabbing his 11th runner trying to steal compared to just six that have been successful. Milton Ramos was 0-3 with a strikeout, he played shortstop and batted 2nd in the lineup.
Joel Huertas went 5 solid innings allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and zero walks, he struck out six on his way to his 2nd win of the season. The 19-year old lefty has pitched 20.1 innings this year allowing a measly 12 hits while striking out 18. Box Score
