Alex Ramirez, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

AAA: Columbus Clippers (5-3) 5 vs. Syracuse Mets (1-6) 0 

It was another grim evening for the Mets in Columbus as they were shutout for the second straight night by the same score of 5-0.

The Mets were held to a paltry three hits as Adam Scott shut Syracuse down through five innings and then the Clippers bullpen finished the job. Carlos Cortes provided one of the Mets three hits as well as their only extra base hit with a double in the top of the ninth.

Adonis Medina, who was once considered a rich prize in the Phillies Minor League system a few years ago, made his Met debut tonight. He showed flashes as to why he was one regarded as a top prospect, throwing two shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out three. It was an especially rough night for Eric Orze who saw his ERA balloon to 12.00 while allowing four runs on two home runs over two innings of relief.

Colin Holderman closed out the night for Syracuse on a high note by tossing two perfect innings out of the bullpen.

AA: Bowie Baysox (2-3) 4 vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (2-3) 3

  • CF Jake Mangum: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B, .222/.333/.596
  • DH/3B Brett Baty: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SO .478/.478/.783
  • SS Ronny Mauricio: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, .318/.348/.591

The Rumble Ponies comeback came up just short in Binghamton as the BaySox took game two of the series 4-3. Brett Baty continued to his torrid start to the season going 3-for-4 with an RBI double and boosting his average to a sizzling .478. Fellow top prospect Francisco Alvarez went hitless but still managed to tally an RBI with a sac fly, his eighth in just five games.

Ronny Mauricio stroked his third double of the young season while driving in his fifth RBI. Jake Mangum also had his first big game of the season at the plate going 2-for-4 with a triple. Mangum, Baty, Alvarez and Mauricio combined for all of Binghamton’s six hits on the night.

Mitch Ragan’s starting pitching debut in Double-A, and his first start at any level since 2019, didn’t go as he would’ve liked as he was roughed up for three runs on two hits including a home run over two and two thirds innings of work. Ragan got off to a nice start setting down eight of the first nine batters he faced but it went downhill fast after that. A walk, a single and then a Jordan Westburg home run ended Ragan’s night on a sour note.

Willy Taveras settled things down after that with three shutout innings as Binghamton was able to tie the game up at three. But in the seventh, Kevin Gadea couldn’t keep Bowie off the board as the BaySox rallied again with two outs to take the lead for good 4-3.

Bryce Montes de Oca was untouchable in the last two innings though firing two shutout innings while punching out four. Montes De Oca has already hit 100 mph times this season.

A: Jersey Shore BlueClaws (1-4) 4 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (2-3) 3 

The Cyclones dug themselves into an early 4-0 hole and couldn’t dig themselves out of it losing 4-3 and handing Jersey Shore their first win of the season. Brooklyn’s best rally came in the sixth inning when their first four batters of the inning reached base, including back-to-back singles by Jose Peroza and then an RBI single off of J.T Schwartz’s bat. Joe Suozzi would later score Peroza on a sacrifice fly cutting the BlueClaws lead in half. But outside of a seventh inning passed ball that trimmed the lead to 4-3, Jersey Shore would hold off Brooklyn’s offense with two hitless innings by Jason Ruffcorn who earned the save as the Cyclones dropped a tough one.

  • Daison Acosta: (L 0-1) 2.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 18.00 ERA
  • Colby Morris: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
  • David Griffin: 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
  • Reyson Santos: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA

Daison Acosta was back on a professional mound for the first time since 2019. He came out of the gate looking strong with a perfect first inning. The second inning though was a mess, as Acosta gave up four runs including two on two wild pitches. The bullpen kept the Cyclones in the game by combining to toss seven innings of scoreless relief including four sensational innings from David Griffin who held the BlueClaws hitless and struck out five in a dominant outing from the bullpen.

Low-A: Clearwater Threshers (0-5) 3 vs. St. Lucie Mets (4-1) 9 

St. Lucie thrashed Clearwater all night to the tune of nine runs including three home runs as the Mets won 9-3 and  kept the Threshers winless. Carlos Dominguez got the offense fired up early with a three-run home run in the first inning and from there the rout was on. Alex Ramirez had another offensive explosion as he went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and brought his average up to .571. Ramirez had three hits in the game of at least 105 mph off the bat.

The Mets ended the offensive surge in style in the eighth as Cesar Berbesi and Drake Osborn clubbed back-to-back home runs, each their first in Single-A. St. Lucie has scored 33 runs in their first five games of the season.

Dominic Hamel, the Mets 3rd round selection in last year’s MLB Amateur Draft, made his much anticipated St. Lucie debut. He got into trouble in the first inning surrendering two runs but managed to settle down a bit after that, lasting another three innings and giving up just one more run while striking out four.

Hamel had a 33% whiff rate on his slider that was up to 2986 rpms and averaged 2873. The spin rate darling had above average rpms on his fastball at 2497 and averaged 93 mph on that pitch. One of his three curveballs also had a 2971 spin rate.

The bullpen would take over from there and wouldn’t allow Clearwater another run. Grant Hartwig earned the win by pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Hamel and struck out four. Franklin Sanchez and Miguel Alfonseca combined to toss three more scoreless innings and wrapped up St. Lucie’s fourth win of the season. Sanchez had his fastball up to 99 mph multiple times.