Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Rick Nelson

Francisco Álvarez would launch a titanic blast in Lehigh Valley that left the stadium for his 22nd home run of the season overall. Meanwhile, in Binghamton the Mets second-ranked prospect, Brett Baty continues to rake as he brought his season average to .304. Down in St. Lucie, 18-year-old pitching prospect Joel Diaz would dominate Daytona in six shutout innings of relief.

Syracuse Mets (45-56) 1 vs. Lehigh Valley (56-45) 6   BOX SCORE

  • C Francisco Álvarez: 1-for-4, R, HR (22), RBI, .261/.367/.535
  • DH Nick Dini: 1-for-4, .214/.327/.397
  • RF Travis Blankenhorn: 1-for-3, 2B, .283/.347/.496

There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the Mets and baseball’s top prospect, Francisco Álvarez over the past few weeks. Whether it was him being traded or being called up, Álvarez continues to do what he does best, and that’s hit dingers. He would crush his fourth home run in Triple-A, which not only cleared the left field wall but might have cleared the entire stadium. That missile by Álvarez would unfortunately for Syracuse, be the only run they’d put up on the scoreboard as they were shut down by the IronPigs pitching all night and lost 6-1.

Things would unravel for the Mets and their starter Trevor Cahill early in this game. Cahill would allow the IronPigs to score four runs in just the first inning to put Syracuse behind 4-0. Cahill would last only two innings and struggled with his command, giving up four walks. Locke St. John would come in to relieve Cahill and the left-hander would shut Lehigh Valley down in his two shutout innings of work. If St. John continues to pitch like this he could be an intriguing call-up for the Mets going down the stretch as a left-handed arm out of the bullpen. Jose Rodriguez would also put together a scoreless outing as he went 2 2/3 innings giving up no hits or runs while striking out six in the Syracuse loss.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (37–60) 6 vs. Somerset (60-37) 2   BOX SCORE

  • 2B Wyatt Young: 2-for-4, R, BB, .273/.358/.377
  • 3B Brett Baty: 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, .304/.396/.518
  • SS Ronny Mauricio: 2-for-5, RBI, .256/.295/.486

The Rumble Ponies took advantage of some sloppy Somerset fielding as the Patriots made three errors which ultimately led to a Binghamton win. The offense kept the pressure on Somerset all game as every batter in the Rumble Ponies lineup reached base safely. Binghamton put the game out of reach with a three-run ninth inning, which included RBI singles from Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty. It was Baty’s 50th RBI as he carries his hot month of July into August, reaching base 39 times in his last 16 games.

  • RHP Alex Valverde: 2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 6.04 ERA
  • RHP Jesus Vargas: (W, 1-8), 6 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 7.09 ERA
  • RHP Grant Hartwig: 1 IP, H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA

A couple of Binghamton errors in the ninth inning prevented the Rumble Ponies from pitching a shutout in Somerset, but it was still enough to walk away with a 6-2 win. Alex Valverde began the afternoon for the Rumble Ponies firing two shutout innings with three strikeouts as he’d tightrope out of danger allowing four hits and two walks but never let Somerset get on the scoreboard.

Jesus Vargas though would turn in the best performance on the mound. Vargas came into this game struggling in Double-A with a 7.99 ERA, but he’d pitch his best game as a Rumble Pony, going six scoreless innings with four strikeouts, no walks, and allowing just one hit as he picked up his first win in Double-A. Grant Hartwig would wrap the game up in the ninth as his dominance over Double-A hitters continues. In eight innings with Binghamton, he still has a perfect ERA. Before joining the Rumble Ponies, Hartwig sported a 0.59 ERA over 15 ⅓ innings with High-A Brooklyn.

Winston-Salem (48-50) 8 vs Brooklyn Cyclones (48-50) 0   BOX SCORE

It was a grim afternoon for Brooklyn at the plate as Jose Peroza would provide the only two hits the Cyclones could scratch out against Winston-Salem pitching. Alex Ramirez, who had been on a tear lately, would be given the infamous golden sombrero in this game, striking out four times in his four at-bats. Brooklyn would strikeout 13 times in their 8-0 loss.

  • RHP Oscar Rojas: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.01 ERA
  • LHP Cam Opp: (L, 1-3), 1.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 5.81 ERA
  • RHP Justin Courtney: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.57 ERA
  • RHP Brendan Hardy: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, SO, 3.15 ERA

Oscar Rojas would get the start in this game, his first start in nearly two months after a couple of bullpen appearances in the previous month. Through his three shutout innings of work, Rojas showed impeccable command allowing no walks and giving up just two hits. Cam Opp would come in in relief of Rojas, where the game would get out of hand in a hurry. In his worst outing of the season, Opp allowed the Dash to score six runs on six hits and two home runs over just 1 ⅔ inning of work. Justin Courtney and Brendan Hardy would finish off the game with Courtney allowing two more additional runs and Hardy pitching a perfect eighth inning in the 8-0 loss.

Daytona (38-57) 1 vs St Lucie Mets ( 57-40) 5   BOX SCORE

St Lucie found themselves in the middle of a pitcher duel going into the eighth inning in this game with the score tied at one. After Brady Smith led the inning off with a double, Omar De Los Santos would drive him in with an RBI single to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning, freshly called up from the Florida Complex League, Karell Paz would make his first hit in Single-A a memorable one as he ripped a three-run triple to center field to extend the Met lead to 5-1. Paz, a 22-year-old out of Cuba, was just named FCL player of the week last week and was batting .291 in 55 at-bats before his call-up. Also worth noting in this game, Omar De Los Santos would steal two bases bringing up his season total to 53, which leads all other FSL players by 21.

 

  • RHP Calvin Ziegler: 0.2 IP, 0 H, R, 0 ER, 3 BB, SO, 3.50 ERA
  • RHP Joshua Cornielly: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, SO, 6.09 ERA
  • RHP Joel Diaz: (W, 1-1), 6 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 6 SO, 6.82 ERA

Calvin Ziegler made his first start since mid-June and wouldn’t make it out of the first inning as the Mets wanted to play it safe with his pitch count, which got to 25 before he was taken out of the game. Over his brief outing, the Mets 2021 second-round draft choice would struggle with his control, walking three batters while striking out one and allowing an unearned run.

Another highly touted Met pitching prospect would later come into this game in relief. 18-year-old Joel Diaz looked like the same man who dominated the FCL last season. He would fire off six innings of shutout ball, allowing only one hit and a walk, and would strike out six Daytona batters in the process. This kind of outing is exactly what the Mets are hoping to see more of from Diaz, and after struggling during his first two months with St Lucie, this might be the performance that turns his season around. Diaz would also pick up his first win of the season as he helped the Mets to a 5-1 win over Daytona.