Photo Credit: Zachary Lucy

Syracuse (16-9) 18, IronPigs (16-8) 5 Box

I thought the 51s weren’t in Vegas anymore! The 51s poured it on the defenseless Iron Pigs, scoring a season-high 18 runs. Every member of the starting lineup, sans Rene Rivera, got a hit. Guillorme collected three hits, which was his best offensive showing since being sent down to Syracuse. “Hech” is hitting .410/.419/.513 over his last ten games. The infield of Hechavarria, Guillorme, Espinosa, and David Thompson combined to knock in 11 of the Mets’ 18 runs.

The Mets scored early and often, putting up a three-spot in the first inning and a four-spot in the following frame. After Drew Anderson, Lehigh Valley’s starter, left after the third inning, the Mets proceeded to knock around their bullpen. They scored four in the fourth and tacked on another in the fifth.

The Iron Pigs were forced to scramble for pitching to cover the last frame and so they turned to former MLBer and utility infielder Matt McBride. The Mets treated him as a batting-practice pitcher, scoring four times and leaving the bases loaded against the 33-year-old. Rymer Liriano, Espinosa, and Hechavarria knocked back-to-back-to-back doubles to extend the lead against McBride. However, the Iron Pigs committed two errors to open the frame so McBride’s ERA remains intact.

Chris Flexen pitched well enough to keep Jason Vargas‘ seat as the fifth starter pretty hot. With the pressure off of him early, Flexen hurled six strong innings. He retired the first nine batters, but ran into some trouble in the fourth inning. With one run already in, Flexen loaded the bases with one out. However, Flexen struck out Mitch Walding and Damek Tomscha to limit the damage. In total, Flexen recorded 11 strikeouts, tying a career-high. Eric Hanhold struggled with his command and allowed a three-run homer to Shane Robinson in the ninth.

Binghamton (11-8) 1, Akron (12-13) 0 Box

Despite tallying eight hits, the Rumble Ponies were only able to come away with one run. After Toffey and Dario Pizzano singled in the second inning, Lee drove in Toffey with a well-placed single into left field that scored Toffey. However, the Rumble Pones were held scoreless for the remainder of the game. Their only other scoring threat came in the seventh inning when, with Lee on first, Kevin Kaczmarski hit a ball to the wall that Toffey attempted to score on. However, Toffey was thrown out on the plate on a perfect relay from the Ducks’ shortstop, Alexis Pantoja.

In his first start of the season, Mickey Jannis channeled his inner Tim Wakefield as the knuckleballer shut out the RubberDucks for seven innings. With a small margin of error, the righty held Akron to only two hits and one base-on-balls on 89 pitches. Although he only struck three hitters, Jannis induced fourteen ground-balls, the fourth-highest mark of his career. With the Mets’ upper-level starting pitching lacking depth, he could appear in Queens this season. Ryan and Blackham followed him with a hitless inning apiece to secure the nail-biting 1-0 victory.

Palm Beach Cardinals (17-8) 9, St.Lucie Mets(13-12) 1 Box 

Down in a hole early, the Mets weren’t able to capitalize on their scoring opportunities. Although the game was within reach for the majority of the game, the Mets simply couldn’t convert with runners in scoring position. Aside from the seventh inning, the Mets had a runner on base every inning, yet they couldn’t push a run across the plate after the third frame.  A Luis Carpio flyout made a first-and-third rally go for naught in the first inning and four innings later, with two runners in scoring position, Carpio struck out to kill that rally. All told, Carpio left five runners on base last night.

Jeremy Vasquez had himself a four-hit night, the first of his career. Even though he collected four singles, he’s still yet to show the power associated with the first-base position. The other first baseman on the roster, Matt Winaker has struggled mightily in his second full professional season; his .446 OPS ranks second-to-last on the team.

Luc Rennie didn’t last long. A 2017 independent-league pick-up, Renne has mostly floundered in the Mets organization. He was tagged for four early runs, highlighted by a Justin Toerner three-run homer in the second inning. After pitching himself in-and-out of jams in the third and fourth inning, Kevin Boles decided to supplement him with Brian Campusano. After Campusano pitched two innings of one-run ball, Marcel Renteria blew the game open by allowing three runs in an inning and a third. Despite his not-so-great ERA, there have been encouraging reports coming out of Port St.Lucie regarding the righty.

Delmarva (18-4) 6, Columbia (8-16) 3 Box

Sheryvon Newton had his best game since coming over the IL, recording two hits and driving in his first run of the season. Newton snapped an 0-for-20 stretch when he singled in the seventh inning. Columbia loaded the bases with no one out in the ninth inning, but Bradley Marquez grounded into a double-play to effectively kill the rally. Ronny Mauricio‘s 0-for-10 skid has pushed his batting average down 25 points. Mark Vientos has been struggling to drive the ball early in the season; he’s recorded only four extra-base hits.

Christian James‘ tough start to the season continued as the righty didn’t make it past the fifth inning for the third time this season. Jaison Vilera and James, the two co-aces of Brooklyn last year, have struggled to make the jump to full-season ball. James’ defense did him no favors, as Brandon Marquez and Mark Vientos both committed errors that resulted in runs. Viall’s tantalizing potential has yet to come to fruition in the pen, he’s allowed seven runs in 11.2 innings.