Mets Minors Daily: Mateo Tosses A Gem, Cohoon Crushed, Havens & Tovar Deliver In B-Mets Win

Durham Outslugs Buffalo In 14-10 Onslaught

By Sean Kenny

The Bisons erupted for a huge day offensively, but the Durham Bulls were just too much as they clobbered Mark Cohoon & Jack Egbert in Monday night’s 14-10 loss.

Mark Cohoon was absolutely crushed today, giving up seven runs on eight hits while striking out one and allowing two home runs in three and two-third innings in his first start in Triple-A this season. Cohoon had no luck fooling any batters, and not only gave up hits but served up two homers. As if entering the game behind four wasn’t bad enough, after Buffalo tied the game at 7-7, Jack Egbert came out and promptly gave up five runs on five hits, striking out two in two-thirds of an inning. Manny Acosta went two-thirds of an inning as well, giving up one run on three hits striking out one. Elvin Ramirez went two innings giving up one run on one hit, walking one and striking out two. Since his return to Buffalo, Ramirez has given up earned runs in both of his outings. Pedro Beato was the only pitcher for the Bisons to leave the game with a clean line in his inning of work, giving up one hit and striking out one.

The entire Bisons pitching staff really struggled today, and if anyone were to say “The Bisons walked one, struck out seven and gave up 14 runs”, they’d probably be called crazy.

Offensively is where the Bisons went ballistic today. Josh Satin went 4 for 5 with two home runs and four RBI. Raul Reyes went 4 for 5 with a home run, three runs scored and an RBI. Lucas May went 1 for 4 with two RBI with an error as well. The majority of the production came from the lower half of the lineup, but losing a game where your offense puts up 10 runs is extremely difficult to fathom.

Herd Rumblings: Mark Cohoon was struggling even in Binghamton, pitching to a 4.11 ERA. Matt Den Dekker is hitting .218, but already has four stolen bases in Buffalo and is showing off his speed as well as his defense, nailing a runner from the outfield on a force-out. Manny Acosta has been scored on in three of his last four outings. The Bisons will begin a series against Louisville, sending RHP Jeurys Familia (5-4, 5.00) to the mound against RHP Tim Gustafson (3-1, 4.29) at 7:05 P.M.

B-Mets Sink The Sea Wolves 11-5

By Joe D.

On a night when top prospect Zack Wheeler got lit up like a roman candle, the Binghamton Mets had no problem beating the Erie Sea Wolves 11-5 in an all-hands-on-deck slugfest.

Wheeler made it through seven innings and despite a strong start, the bottom line was he allowed five earned runs on eight hits and three walks while fanning five. Wheeler did manage to get the win and improves to 7-3 on the season with a 2.29 ERA.

If you’re wondering why Colin McHugh and Mark Cohoon were recently promoted ahead of Wheeler, it’s because he’s been inconsistent, inefficient, and has seen his walk rate rise considerably. If you haven’t figured it out by now, this front office is not promoting anyone who walks more than four batters per nine innings. Stop dilly-dallying and throw strikes.

Edgar Ramirez relieved Wheeler and pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth allowing just one hit and striking out two.

The B-Mets exploded for 18 hits against the Sea Wolves with shortstop Wilfredo Tovar leading the assault and busting out with a 4-for-4 game that included a double, a run scored and two RBI. Second baseman Reese Havens has been heating up of late and had two more hits tonight including his fifth home run of the season – a two run bomb to put his team ahead for good.

Center fielder Juan Lagares (two doubles)  and right fielder Dustin Martin (three runs scored) each had three hits and hopefully this was a sign that both are ready to break out of their mild slumps. It was a solid effort all around for the B-Mets offense who did a nice job of rising to the occasion on a night when their ace simply didn’t have it.

B-Mets Buzz: Seven players in tonight’s lineup had at least two hits for the B-Mets on Monday night. Binghamton batters were 8-for-21 with RISP. Wilmer Flores was the designated hitter and was hitless in four at-bats, but did manage a walk and scored a run. Cory Mazzoni will get the nod tomorrow as the B-Mets conclude their series with the Sea Wolves – game time is at 7:00 PM.

St. Lucie Drops Both Ends of Doubleheader

By Nick Campione

In Game One of the doubleheader, the Mets struggled to sustain any offense and Cuan had a very short outing, going 1 1/13 innings, five hits, four earned runs, and one walk. Kyle Allen only fared a little better in 3 2/3 innings, 4 hits and two earned runs. On the offensive side, Rylan Sandoval homered and Travis Taijeron hit his second homer in his short time in St Lucie. Those were two of the only three hits in the game for St. Lucie., the other being a single from catcher Blake Forsythe.

Game Two was a 12-inning affair and had much better pitching as Erik Goeddel took a no hitter into the sixth inning before he gave up a lead off double, followed by single and another double to leave the bases loaded when he was replaced by reliever Jeff Walters. Unfortunately for Goeddel, Walters allowed all the inherited runners to score, as the first two hitters he faced drove everyone home and accounted for three earned runs for Goeddel. Offensively, Allan Dykstra had two hits and one RBI, Juan Torres had an RBI, and Rivera went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Lucie Logistics: Angel Cuan was chased from the game after just 1.1 innings of work, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits with one walk and no strikeouts. It was Cuan’s shortest start of the season, and the first time he did not record a strikeout in 12 appearances this year. The Mets were held scoreless over the final nine innings of the nightcap. Daytona and St. Lucie will square off again on Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Digital Domain Park, with RHP Tyler Pill on the mound.

Charleston Outlasts Savannah

By Pete Shapiro

The Savannah bats didn’t wake up until the ninth inning when they scored two times. The trouble was the Charleston RiverDogs had banked three runs already and so the Sand Gnats crashed by a score of 3-2 Monday night in Charleston dropping their third straight game.

Marco Camarena (5-2) made the start for the Gnats and pitched well for five innings, surrendering two runs on five hits and five strikeouts. Lefty Jeremy Gould pitched the final three frames giving up one run on one hit, two walks and a strikeout.

Left-handed starter Matt Bashore (1-1) got the win for Charleston by going five innings and giving up no runs on two hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. Charleston drew first blood when center-fielder Mason Williams homered leading off the bottom of the first. In the fourth the lead-off hitter for Charleston, second-baseman Angelo Gumbs, singled and moved to second when he tagged on a fly ball to deep center-field. He then scored when the next hitter, catcher Gary Sanchez singled to make it 2-0.

The RiverDogs would tally one more run in the sixth when Sanchez plated Gumbs again, this time on a sac-fly to make it 3-0. The score remained that way until the ninth inning when the Gnats got to right-hander Philip Wetherell, who nearly blew the game.

Savannah second-baseman Brandon Brown led off the ninth with a single, and took second on a wild pitch with one out. A walk to Aderlin Rodriguez, and a single by Brian Harrison would bring home Brown to make it 3-1. A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third, putting the tying runs in scoring position. After a strikeout for the second out, Greg Pron singled scoring Rodriguez while Harrison was forced to stop at third. After an Albert Cordero walk, Gilbert Gomez lined out to right to end the game, leaving the tying run stranded on third.

Gnats Gnotes: The loss was the Gnats third in a row, and fourth in their last five games. It was announced by the Mets yesterday that they have signed one of their second round picks from the recent draft, third-baseman Matt Reynolds from the University of Arkansas. It was also announced that he would begin his professional career at Savannah as a member of the Sand Gnats. No word yet on when he is expected to report. Tuesday night the Gnats take on the RiverDogs again in game two of this four-game series, with game time slated for 7:05 pm.

Cyclones Two-Hit Renegades In 3-0 Win

By Dave [Retire 31]

Strong starting pitching has been key for the Cyclones so far this season, and on Monday night right hander Luis Mateo helped lead Brooklyn to a shutout 3-0 victory over the Hudson Valley Renegades.

The win was Mateo’s second of the season. He pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk, while striking out seven batters. Mateo pitched three innings going one-two-three. There was literally only one inning where he didn’t strikeout a batter. His ERA drops to 0.77. Working in relief, Paul Sewald threw two perfect innings, striking out three batters, while Tyler Vanderheiden closed out the game and picked up his second save of the season.

The Cyclones took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. First baseman Cole Frenzel singled to left and advanced to third on a line drive double to center field by right fielder Eudy Pina. Frenzel later scored on a balk by Guerrieri and Pina took third on the play; however, left fielder Jonathan Clark hit a ground ball to second to end the inning. triple to shortstop Phillip Evans in between.

Brooklyn added a couple insurance runs in the eighth off a bases loaded, two-RBI single by Pina. Kevin Plawecki and Frenzel, who reached on a walk and double, respectively, both scored.

Brooklyn Brew: Through the first eight games of the season, Cyclones starting pitchers are 5-1. No pitcher has allowed more than two earned runs in any of these outings. Phillip Evans had two hits, with his first triple, Cole Frenzel had two hits with a double and two runs scored, whole Eudy Pina had three hits with two RBIs and a double. The Cyclones will travel to Hudson Valley tomorrow, Tuesday, June 26, to face the Renegades again at 7:05 PM.

Danville Braves Clobber Kingsport

By Pete Shapiro

The Kingsport Mets were waving the white flags after five innings Monday night in Danville, after the Braves had hung a ten-spot on them in the bottom of the fifth. After that it was cruise control for Danville as they went on to defeat the Kingsport Mets by a score of 10-2.

Kingsport starter Akeel Morris (0-2) in the beginning was terrific, tossing four dominant innings in which he only surrendered a single and a walk, while striking out five. But then the fifth inning reared it’s ugly head. It all started innocently enough when Morris plunked the lead-off hitter. A single, a walk, and a fielding error plated the first run, and a grand-slam home run by second-baseman Levi Hyams plated four more to make it 5-2 and chase Morris in favor of right-hander Edioglis Villasmil. Villasmil didn’t fare any better than Morris.

Two singles, a wild pitch, and a single, scored two more to make it 7-2. Then with one out and a runner on first Villasmil threw the ball away on a pick-off attempt. A single, a triple, and a sac-fly would cause three more runs to score before the fifth inning ended making the score 10-2.

Right-hander Miller Diaz came on to pitch the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, allowing a hit and walking one, while striking out three. He restored some order but the horses were already out of the barn. Danville starter right-hander Eduardo Castillo (1-1) got the win going 6.0 innings with two runs on five hits and four strikeouts.

Kingsport took an early lead with one run in the second, and one in the third. In the second, right-fielder Maikis De La Cruz singled with one out, and moved to second on a ground-out. He then came in to score on a two-out RBI single by third-baseman Anthony Chavez for an early 1-0 lead. In the third, second-baseman Branden Kaupe singled to lead off the inning, stole second, moved to third on a ground-out, and scored on an Eris Peguero sac-fly, for a 2-0 Kingsport advantage.

Unfortunately that would be all she wrote for the K-Mets offense last night. From the fourth inning on, the only base-runner they would get would be as a result of a lead-off single by Bradley Marquez in the top of the sixth. Otherwise they went quietly into the night. The fifth inning explosion by the Braves pretty much put an end to any discussion of winning this one.

Kingsport Knews: The loss is the K-Mets sixth in their first seven games this season. Outfielder Eris Peguero had his six-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 night. Kingsport catcher Tyler Carpenter announced his retirement. Tuesday night the K-Mets play the second game of this three-game set in Danville. Lefty Steve Matz is the probable starter for Kingsport, game time is 7:05 pm.