Mets Minors Recap: Luke Ritter, Carlos Cortes Homer For Syracuse

Luke Ritter, Photo by Herm Card

Luke Ritter and Carlos Cortes hit back-to-back home runs, but the bullpen blew the lead for Syracuse, and Binghamton got a solid outing from Luis Moreno and some solid hitting from Luisangel Acuna and Drew Gilbert to seal a win. The FCL Mets clinched a division title.

Triple-A: Columbus 6, Syracuse 5, Box Score

2B Ronny Mauricio 1-for-5, SB, K, .821 OPS
3B Brett Baty 1-for-4, R, K, 1.216 OPS
DH Luke Ritter 1-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, K, .779 OPS
LF Carlos Cortes 2-for-2, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, K, .836 OPS

Syracuse, as a team, only managed six hits on the day, but Ronny Mauricio played second base today without an error. Carlos Cortes and Luke Ritter hit back-to-back homers, giving Ritter 10 home runs with Syracuse and a Mets minor league system-best 24 home runs. Why Ritter wasn’t called up instead of Almonte is a curious decision to me.

RHP Justin Jarvis 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, HR allowed, 8.46 ERA
RHP Hunter Parsons 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R (2 ER), BB, 4.66 ERA
RHP Sean Reid-Foley 1 IP, 3 K, 5.28 ERA
LHP Nate Lavender 1.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HR allowed, 3.27 ERA
RHP Vinny Nittoli .1 IP, 5.15 ERA

Justin Jarvis had his best outing as a Met, but still needed 85 pitches to get through 4 1/3 innings. Nate Lavender gave up a two-out home run to Indians prospect George Valera to give Columbus the lead in the top of the eighth inning.

Double-A: Binghamton 5, Portland 4, Box Score

2B/SS Luisangel Acuna 1-for-3, 2 R, SB, BB, .459 OPS
RF/CF Drew Gilbert 1-for-3, 2B, R, RBI, K, .851 OPS
SS Jeremiah Jackson 1-for-3, 2 K
DH JT Schwartz 2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, .806 OPS

In a hard-fought game, Drew Gilbert hit a double, and Luisangel Acuna stole another base, his seventh for the Rumble Ponies. Rowdey Jordan hit an RBI triple that wound up being the deciding run.

RHP Luis Moreno 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 4.88 ERA
RHP Wilkin Ramos 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
RHP Tyler Thomas 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 0.83 ERA

Luis Moreno had a quality start as he managed to work around the four walks. Tyler Thomas closed out the game on a strong note.

High-A: Hudson Valley 6, Brooklyn 5, Box Score

CF Jett Williams 2-for-6, 2 2B, R, SB, 2 K, .910 OPS
1B Ryan Clifford 0-for-5, R, BB, 4 K, .850 OPS
3B Jacob Reimer – 4-for-5, R, RBI, .634 OPS
RF Stanley Consuegra 2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, .741 OPS
LF Omar De Los Santos 2-for-5, 2 RBI, BB, SB, .567 OPS

Jacob Reimer had a great day at the plate and a rare day where Jett Williams didn’t walk – but he still stole a base and was on base twice with two doubles.

RHP Jawilme Ramirez 6 IP, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR allowed, 3.60 ERA
LHP Eli Ankeney 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2.03 ERA

Jawilme Ramirez looked great for the first five innings, then faltered in the sixth. Eli Ankeney continues to have a great season despite allowing a run.

Low-A: Jupiter, St. Lucie, PPD

Postponed due to rain, to be made up tomorrow, August 18th, as a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.

Florida Complex League: Mets 11, Cardinals 7, Box Score

3B Marco Vargas 2-for-6, 2B, 2 R, .835 OPS
SS Colin Houck 1-for-5, 1 R, 3 K, .634 OPS
CF Willy Fanas 2-for-3, 4 RBI, SB, BB, K, .755 OPS
2B Jesus Baez 1-for-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, .657 OPS

The FCL Mets managed 11 runs on only 10 hits, but thanks to 12 walks, they clinched the East Division and a playoff spot. First round pick Colin Houck made a nice play at shortstop to end the game.

Read more about their win here.