Mark Vientos, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

 AAA: Syracuse (13-11) 7, Toledo (15-8) 3 Box Score

Back-to-back home runs in the first inning set the tone for Syracuse on Thursday evening. The Mets plated two runs in each of the first two innings and added three insurance runs late in the game, staving off Toledo who scored three in the ninth. Vientos continues to produce, adding yet another homerun to keep his OPS north of 1.000 on the young season.

Ronny Mauricio went 0-for-4 with a walk in his fifth game defensively at second base.

The first eight innings on the mount were fantastic for the Syracuse arms with all three of Toledo’s runs coming off of the struggling William Woods in the final frame. Eric Orze had an encouraging, yet strange outing by walking two and failing to strike out any Mud Hens. His K/9 has now fallen below 9.0 for the first time in his career despite having many two-strike counts against Toledo. His bread-and-butter splitter was inconsistent with location and hitters have done a good job adjusting to high fastballs in the last two years despite Orze’s high-ride profile. His slider needs some work to be an MLB pitch, but his other offerings will continue to be effective, especially as a command-oriented reliever.

Double-A Game 1: Akron (9-8) 5, Binghamton (7-9) 2 Box Score

Game 1 had but one highlight for the Rumble Pony hitters. Jose Peroza hit his first long ball of the season which is a great sign for a team that is struggling on offense. He is off to a hot start and is the only player on the team above .300, however, Matt Rudick is still leading the way with a .981 OPS.

Dominic Hamel had yet another outing full of run prevention, swings and misses, and high-pitch counts. The two walks were a season low and the seven strikeouts tied his season-high.

Stephen Nogosek got the loss in his rehab outing, walking three and allowing three runs in 1 2/3 innings. His arsenal did look sharp though with his fastball in the mid-90s, a high-80s cutter, a changeup with good depth, a sweeper up to 20″ glove side horizontal break, and his old go-to curveball.

Double-A Game 2: Binghamton (8-9) 4, Akron (9-9) 3 Box Score

  • DH Mateo Gil, 2-for-4, RBI (7) .171/.478
  • 3B Jose Peroza, 1-for-4, RBI (6), BB .308/.802
  • 2B Wyatt Young, 1-for-2, 2 BB .250/.686

Seven hits spread out between six hitters defined this team-effort extra innings win for Binghamton in the second game of Thursday’s twin bill. Peroza and Mateo Gil each had RBIs along with Matt O’Neill and Dariel Gomez.

  • RHP Junior Santos (1.23 ERA) 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
  • RHP Marcel Renteria (2.45 ERA) 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Manny Alvarez (9.00) 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 BB, 2 K

Junior Santos got off to a great start with four scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fifth. He ended his outing by allowing four hits and a walk to his final six hitters. While the final line isn’t great, it’s encouraging that he flashed brilliance, at least initially. Marcel Renteria and Manny Alvarez had strong outings in relief to give Bingo the win. Alvarez’s performance included a scoreless inning despite starting the eighth inning with a runner on second.

High-A: Brooklyn (6-11) 4, Jersey Shore (8-9) 3 Box Score

Alex Ramírez extended his hit streak to 12 games and the Cyclones held on for a win, scoring all of their runs in the top of the fifth inning. William Lugo had a great day in his second game of the season and Kevin Parada had the eventual winning RBI with a double to score Joe Suozzi.

Joander Suarez struggled after a strong outing against Wilmington last time out, walking four in 4 1/3 innings. He was bailed out by a good relief appearance from the surging Kolby Kubichek who recently threw six scoreless innings in AA. Wilkin Ramos and Manny Rodriguez shut the door with Rodriguez earning his first professional save. He lowered his ERA to 1.69 and it’s likely that the Mets are considering a promotion for the 27-year-old with the mid-90’s heater.

Low-A: Clearwater (12-6) 7, St. Lucie Mets (5-13) 6 Box Score

In a back-and-forth affair, St. Lucie was bested again despite nearly rallying to tie the game in the ninth inning. Rhylan Thomas and Junior Tilien tallied four doubles total on the day but their efforts weren’t enough to get the St. Lucie squad over the hump.

Ultimately, Clearwater’s insurance runs in the last few innings off of Jimmy Loper proved decisive in the loss. Loper walked three for the second straight outing and all four of the Low-A pitchers yielded runs on the day (although Eli Ankeney’s was unearned). It’s hard to get a win when the starter only makes it through 2.2 innings and that showed through on Thursday.