El Paso 4, Las Vegas (31-29) 1
Las Vegas tied the game in the bottom of the of the 3rd on a RBI single by Dilson Herrera and the game stayed that way until the top of the 8th when former big leaguer Ramiro Pena hit a 3-run homerun off Chase Bradford. The 51’s brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the 8th against their former teammate Cory Mazzoni, loading the bases for Johnny Monell but he struck out to end the threat for Las Vegas. Darin Gorski started going 6 innings allowing only one run on seven hits while walking none and striking out five hitters. Zack Thornton followed throwing a scoreless 7th but ran into trouble in the 8th leaving with two runners on. Bradford then came in giving up the homerun to the first batter he faced in Pena. Jon Velasquez threw a clean 9th inning with a strikeout bouncing back from his last outing when he gave up 6 runs in one inning.
Herrera was 2-4 on the night knocking in the only Las Vegas run and clearly looks like he is ready to come back to the Mets. Johnny Monell was 1-3 with a walk extending his hitting streak to seven games, he played 1st base again with Travis d’Arnaud catching. d’Arnaud was 0-3 before being taken out of the game in a double switch to presumably fly him to New York for today’s game. Matt Reynolds was 0-3 with a walk snapping his 8-game hitting streak. Wilfredo Tovar went 1-4 scoring the only run while stretching his hitting streak to six games. Box Score
Steven Matz (6-4, 1.94) continues to waste bullets in Las Vegas tomorrow night when he starts against Reno at 10:05 ET.
Binghamton (28-29) 8, Bowie 1
The game was still scoreless going into the 6th inning before the B’Mets bats came alive scoring three in the 6th, four in the 8th, and one in the 9th to give them a much needed victory. L.J. Mazzilli was finally moved up in the lineup to the 2 hole giving Binghamton a formidable 1-2-3 in Gavin Cecchini, Mazzilli, and Michael Conforto. Mazzilli started the 6th inning rally and was 1-3 with two walks, two runs scored, while stealing his first base in AA. Michael Conforto snapped his hitting streak at seven games going 0-3 but did walk twice (9 in 9 games in AA) scoring both times. Brock Peterson was 2-3 with two RBI’s, two runs scored, two walks, and his first double for Binghamton. Josh Rodriguez was 1-3 with a 2-run triple and was the 4th consecutive hitter in the lineup to walk twice on the night. Gavin Cecchini took a rare 0-5 lowering his average to .322 but did hit three balls hard on the night.
Rainy Lara picked up his 4th win of the season going 7 innings giving up the lone run on five hits and two walks while striking out four. Lara threw 91 pitches (56 strikes) while lowering his ERA to 3.57 and his WHIP to 1.32 on the year. Bobby Parnell pitched the 8th inning without allowing a run or hit, unfortunately he did walk and hit a batter while topping out at 93 MPH with the fastball throwing only 11 strikes in 22 pitches. Chase Huchingson pitched a scoreless 9th with two strikeouts to preserve the win. Box Score
Luis Cessa (4-4, 2.81) is coming off two straight great starts to pitch vs. Bowie at 6:35.
St. Lucie (30-28) 3, Daytona 2 F/10
Dominic Smith came up in the 10th inning with the winning run on 3rd and unsurprisingly came up with the winning hit on a RBI single to center field to score Jeff McNeil. Smith finished the game going 3-5 with his league leading 20th double, scored a run and picked up his 31st RBI of the season. Maybe most impressive was that two of the hits went to center field while one was right field because despite Smiths’ hot stretch some scouts have said he needs to start pulling the ball more often to change their views. Smith is now batting .279/.321/.425 with 20 doubles, 2 HR’s, and 31 RBI’s in 46 games for St. Lucie. Amed Rosario had a good game going 2-5 with his 14th RBI of the season. FSL All-Star Jeff McNeil was 1-5 scoring the winning run while reaching race for the 25 straight game. Champ Stuart was 0-4 with three strikeouts extending his streak to have struck out in 29 straight games and 79 times overall this year in 183 at bats.
Kevin McGowan pitched well in his start going 6 innings allowing two tuns on only three hits and two walks while striking out a season high seven on the night. Mike Hepple and Josh Smoker each threw 1.2 innings of scoreless ball bridging the gap to All-Star closer Akeel Morris who came in to pick up his 12th save of the year. In his last 12 innings Morris has allowed only one run on five hits while striking out sixteen and walking just four. Box Score
St. Lucie Mets play tonight in Daytona at 7:05 with Miller Diaz (4-3, 3.47) on the hill.
Savannah (31-27) 9, West Virginia 1
The Sand Gnats have now won their 6th straight game pulling themselves into a tie for first place with Greenville thanks to a huge night from Eudor Garcia. Garcia, the Mets 4th round pick from last year, went 3-5 with two homeruns and four RBI’s on the night. Garcia is now hitting .318/.355/.481 with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homeruns, and 21 RBI’s in 33 games for Savannah. Wuilmer Becerra was 0-3 but walked twice, scored three runs, and stole his 6th base of the year. Jonathan Johnson was 1-2 with two walks, HBP, and a run scored out of the lead off spot. Patrick Biondi was 3-5 with his 4th double, 12th stolen base, and 9th RBI of the year, he is now hitting .316. Luis Guillorme was 1-4 with a walk while knocking in his 24th run of the season.
Casey Meisner was fantastic for the Sand Gnats pitching 7 innings of 1-run ball while striking out six and picking up his 6th win of the season. Meisner gave up a solo homerun in the 1st inning but cruised after that allowing just five hits and one walk while lowering his ERA to 1.82 and his WHIP to 1.06. Alberto Baldonado pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts to close out the game for Savannah. Box Score
The Sand Gnats play tonight at 7:05 vs. West Virginia with Casey Delgado (2-0, 1.80) scheduled to pitch
DSL Mets2 (6-3) 8, DSL Red Sox2 5 Box Score
DSL Twins 9, DSL Mets1 (5-4) 6 Box Score
Injury News and Notes
Casey Meisner, Johnathan Johnson, and David Roseboom were all named to the South Atlantic League All-star game while Wuilmer Becerra and Luis Guillorme were snubbed. St. Lucie Catcher Colton Plaia has been added to the Florida State League All-Star roster as an injury replacement.
Duane Below was placed on the 7-day DL for Las Vegas with catcher Dan Rohlfing being activated to take his place.
