Las Vegas had the day off but are back at it tonight at Cashman Field with Matz the Magnificent facing off against former Met farmhand Randy Fontanez at 10:05 ET.
Harrisburg 10, Binghamton 1
Gabriel Ynoa continued what has been a disappointing season for him giving up five runs on six hits, three walks, HBP, and three strikeouts while picking up his 2nd loss of the season that saw his ERA balloon up to 4.35. Ynoa has always been touted as a very good control pitcher but that part of his game has struggled this year as he has given up 17 walks in just 41.1 innings this year after walking just 12 in 66.1 innings with Binghamton last year. Ynoa had a chance to avoid trouble with two on and two out in the 3rd with the pitcher up and the B’Mets leading 1-0 but he hit Harrisburg pitcher Matthew Spann with a 0-2. Derrick Robinson followed with a bases clearing double to left field to capitalize on the big mistake by Ynoa. Ynoa did retire 8 straight at one point before getting into trouble again in the 5th when he gave up another two-out hit, this one a two-run single. B’Mets relievers didn’t fare much better as Julian Hilario made his 2nd appearance since his promotion giving up three runs in his inning and Dario Alvarez gave up two more in his 1.2 innings of work.
Binghamton had a handful of scoring chances but couldn’t capitalize on any of them as they hit into 4 double plays(lone run scored on DP with bases loaded) and went 0-5 with runners in scoring position. Jayce Boyd extended his multi-hit streak to 4 games with two hits including his league leading 15th double. Boyd stretched is overall hitting streak to 6 games, going 11-25 with only 1 strikeout during the streak. Backup catcher Albert Cordero was the lone other B’Mets with multiple hits collecting two singles, he is 5-11 over his last three starts. Gavin Cecchini was in the leadoff spot again with Brandon Nimmo out and went 1-4 on the day. Eudy Pina extended his hitting streak to 7 games with his 1-4 day while Aderlin Rodriguez reached base three times with a walk and getting hit by a pitch twice. Box Score. Binghamton plays tonight at 6:30 v.s Harrisburg with Luis Cessa (3-2, 2.97) getting the start.
St. Lucie (18-22) 4, Palm Beach 3
Michael Conforto came to the plate in the top of the 9th with the scored tied 3-3 with two outs, nobody on, and Josh Lucas pitching who hadn’t gave up a HR in 22 innings this year. Conforto got down in the count 0-2 before he launched a solo blast to left field to give the Mets the 4-3 lead that they would ultimately win by. The excitement wasn’t over yet as closer Akeel Morris came in and immediately got into trouble by booting a ball hit back to him. The next batter laid down a sac bunt to move Robelys Reyes in to scoring position. Juan Herrera came up as the go-ahead run, lining a single into CF were Yeixon Ruiz was playing (Champ Stuart slumping hard) that should have tied the game if not for a perfect throw and tag. Mets announcer, fans, and the whole Palm Beach team was shocked by the play and the out call at the plate. Herrera moved up to 2nd on the play but Morris was able to coax the next hitter into a ground ball to Dominic Smith to end the game. Conforto also singled in the 3rd, he has hit safely in 7 of his last 8 games with 5 doubles and a .333/.389/.576 slash line over that period. Smith knocked in Conforto in the 3rd inning with his 7th double of the year, his 6th in the last 10 games. Smith’s 14th RBI was also his 11th in his last nine games. Jeff McNeil collected two more hits to make it 17 times out of 34 games this year he has had atleast two hits in a game. Amed Rosario was 1-4 picking up his 10th double of the year which is good for 2nd in the Florida State League.
Loga Taylor had his longest outing of the year going 6.2 innings giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out seven batters. Kelly Secrest pitched 1.1 perfect innings picking up his 3rd win of the year in relief. Morris picked up his 6th save but for the first time since July 24th of 2014 failed to record a strikeout when he pitched a full inning. Box Score. Dillon Gee is scheduled to make his 2nd rehab start tonight at 6:30 vs. Dunedin.
Savannah (16-22) 2, Augusta 0
Brad Wieck and Jimmy Duff combined on a 3-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts to push the Sand Gnats winning streak to a season best 3 games. In his last outing Wieck set a career high in K’s with 11 and yesterday was the first start of his career he didn’t give up a run in. He pitched 6.2 innings allowing only three hits, two walks while whiffing 9 batters and is now 2nd in the South Atlantic League with 49 punch outs in 9 innings less than the leader. Duff didn’t allow a base runner in his 2.1 innings of work that saw him strike out three hitters and pick up his 2nd save of the year.
The Sand Gnats only put together 6 hits as a team with Luis Guillorme having half of those while knocking in his 18th run of the year. Guillorme is now 5th in the league in hitting (.320), 9th in OBP (.389), and tied for the team lead with John Mora for RBI’s. Jonathan Johnson was 2-2 with a RBI and Vicente Lupo was 1-3 with a run scored accounting for the rest of the Savannah offense on the night. Box Score. The Sand Gnats play tonight with Casey Meisner (2-1, 2.31) making the start against Rome at 7:05 PM.
