Mets Minors Recap: Baty, Mauricio, Vientos Homer for Syracuse

The Mets affiliates were back in action Monday, and two of their top pitching prospects were on the mound. Mets’ 2022 second-round pick, Blade Tidwell, made his High-A debut for the Cyclones in Winston-Salem, and right-hander Mike Vasil took the hill for the Rumble Ponies to kick off their season’s first homestand against the Somerset Patriots as Binghamton tried to gain its first win.

Triple-A: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (6-4) 9, Syracuse Mets (6-4) 7  Box Score 

• 3B Brett Baty 3-for-5, HR (3), 2B, R, 2 RBI (7), 1.351 OPS
• 1B Mark Vientos 1-for-5, HR (3), R, RBI (6), 1,057 OPS
• SS Ronny Mauricio 1-for-2, HR (4), 2 R, RBI (10), BB, SB 1.245 OPS
• 2B Jonathan Araúz 3-for-4, .833 OPS

The balls flew out of the PNC Field Tuesday as the teams combined for seven home runs and 23 hits. The Mets’ top hitting prospects that are currently playing in the minors (Baty, Vientos, and Mauricio) each homered for Syracuse.

Against RailRiders’ pitcher Sean Doyle, the night began promising for Syracuse’s offense. Danny Mendick started the game with a single, and Baty struck an RBI double to left center field. Two batters into the game, Syracuse was already leading 1-0.

Mauricio jumped all over the 1-1 offering in the second inning and smashed a 414-foot shot to right field for his fourth home run (113.1 MPH off the bat.) to put the Mets up 2-0.

• RHP Humberto Mejía (L 0-1) 3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 11.74 ERA
• RHP Jimmy Yacabonis 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA

Unfortunately, the pitching would represent the downfall of the Syracuse Mets on Tuesday. Mejía struggled in the game and suffered the loss. He surrendered seven hits and four home runs over 3.2 innings. Andrés Chaparro and Estevan Florial blasted two home runs each for Scranton. Yacabonis continued being solid out of the pen however, making his fourth consecutive appearance without allowing a run.

The Syracuse offense would attempt to make a comeback in the final innings.

Mark Vientos hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, his 3rd of the year. Later catcher Nick Meyer hit a two-run double in the eighth. On top of that, Baty would complete his three-hit day with a home run in the final frame. However, the comeback fell just short as the Mets ultimately fell by a score of 9-7.

Double-A: Somerset Patriots (3-1) 7, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (0-4) 6  Box Score

The Rumble Ponies were just three outs from getting their first win of the season when a costly error and a bullpen meltdown led to five runs for Somerset.

• RF Matt Rudick 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, SB, 1.423 OPS
• 1B JT Schwartz 1-for 4, 2B, 2 RBI (3), BB .619 OPS
• LF Brandon Mcllwain 1-for-3, HR (1), RBI (1), R, .690 OPS

Although the Rumble Ponies’ offense scored six runs, they stranded ten runners on base and could not get a timely hit when needed going 3-for-13 with RISP.

JT Schwartz collected the game’s first hit in the third inning and drove in two runs with a double, scoring Mateo Gil and Rudick to give the Rumble Ponies an early lead of 2-0.

• RHP Mike Vasil 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB. 8 K, 4.50 ERA
• RHP Dylan Hall 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
• RHP Nolan Clenney (L, 0-1), 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 16.20 ERA

Vasil made his season debut and did not disappoint. He lasted four innings and allowed two hits and one walk while recording eight strikeouts. (16 whiffs.) The one blemish against Vasil came after Everson Pereria recorded the first hit for the Patriots in the fourth inning. Two batter later, Tyler Hardman belted a two-run homer to tie the game.

Following Vasil’s exit, relief pitcher Dylan Hall was effective in three scoreless innings.

In the bottom of the eighth, Binghamton would add to their lead with RBIs from Gil and Wyatt Young, putting the Ponies up 5-2 in the final inning.

With two runners on base and one out, Nolan Clenney replaced lefty Nathan Lavender. Clenney would immediately surrender the lead by allowing back-to-back homers and getting a blown save. The Patriots sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs in the frame to take the lead.

McElwain hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the ninth to narrow the gap to one, but Somerset held on for the win.

High-A Winston-Salem Dash (1-1), 5, Brooklyn Cyclones (2-2), 3  Box Score

• C Kevin Parada 1-for-4, .888 OPS
• OF Alex Ramírez 0-for-4, .369 OPS
• LF Jaylen Palmer 1-for-4,  HR (1), R, RBI (3), .725 OPS
• DH Omar De Los Santos 2-for-4, HR (1), R, RBI (2), .979 OPS

The Cyclones got little scoring and couldn’t capitalize late on opportunities. Palmer and De Los Santos blasted home runs that accounted for two of the teams’ runs. Palmer’s solo homer came in the fifth, followed by an RBI double by third baseman Chase Estep. In the seventh inning, De Los Santos crushed his first home run of the season off the scoreboard in right-center field.

Catcher Kevin Parada continued to struggle behind the dish. He allowed the game’s first run by committing a passed ball and followed with a throwing error.

• RHP Blade Tidwell (L, 0-1) 4.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB 6 K, 8.31 ERA
• RHP Paul Gervase 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
• RHP Joshua Cornielly 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 3.00 ERA

The Mets’ top pitching prospect Tidwell took the loss in this one. He was dominant in the first three innings, but seemed to run out of gas by the fifth inning. He allowed five runs in 4.1 innings with six strikeouts on 83 pitches and generated 13 swings and misses.

Low-A: Jupiter Hammerheads (3-1), 3, St. Lucie Mets (0-4), 2  Box Score

• RHP Joey Lancellotti 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
• RHP Jimmy Loper 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
• RHP Jean Calderon  3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K. 5.79 ERA

The St. Lucie Mets were looking to secure their first win of the year on the road against the Hammerheads. Saul García received the start and could not make it out of the first inning, recording only two outs. Five consecutive walks and an error by catcher Fernando Villalobos led to three runs for Jupiter. García struggled with his control. He threw 32 pitches, only nine of which were strikes, and allowed five walks.

Four relievers pitched a combined 7.1 scoreless innings to carefully keep the Hammerheads at bay and salvage the rest of the game.

• SS Jett Williams 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SB, .686 OPS
• 3B Jacob Reimer 0-for-3, 1 BB, .769 OPS
• CF Rhylan Thomas 2-for-3, .500 OPS

St. Lucie responded with runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Luis Castillo and Junior Tilien delivered RBIs to make the score 3-2. These would be the final runs of the game for the Mets. In the ninth inning, they mounted a threat with only one out and the bases loaded. Kevin Villavicencio would then strike out, followed by Tilien, who grounded out to end the game.

Outfielder Rylan Thomas had a successful game for the Mets with multiple hits.