Ronny Mauricio, Photo by Rick Nelson

With Francisco Álvarez not playing in Saturday’s game, Binghamton’s lineup had big shoes to fill. Fellow top prospects Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty stepped up to fill the hole his absence left, as they blasted home runs that were key to Binghamton’s victory.

AAA: Syracuse Mets (25-39) 13, Norfolk Tides (31-34) 8 Box Score

Syracuse won a wild extra-innings game on Saturday. After entering the 10th inning tied 5-5, Syracuse scored eight runs to put the game out of reach. Most incredibly, the Mets managed to score their 13 runs on just eight hits, and none of their hits were home runs. Part of this was the result of poor defense by Norfolk (the Mets made five errors themselves) and seven walks.

Nonetheless, the Mets also had plenty of clutch hitting in the game. They were 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Blankenhorn has been heating up in June and is now hitting .351/.413/.544 for the month.

  • RHP Trevor Cahill (0-0, 7.36 ERA) 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Joe Zanghi (0-0, 3.86 ERA) 2.0 IP, BB, 3 K
  • RHP Michel Otanez (W, 2-0, 5.68 ERA) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 2 K

Cahill has struggled in his three starts since joining the Mets’ organization. He has given up at least one run in each outing and has yet to make it past the second inning. He threw 58 pitches (30 strikes) before being pulled with two outs in the second inning in Saturday’s start.

Zanghi has not given up a run in four June appearances (7.0 innings pitched). Also, Otanez has walked as many batters (six) in 6 1/3rd Triple-A innings, as he did in 15 innings pitched in Double-A prior to his promotion.

AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (23-39) 8, Bowie Baysox (25-37) 5 Box Score

Francisco Álvarez was absent from the lineup after leaving Friday’s game with an undisclosed injury. However, Mauricio and Baty more than made up for the absence of his power bat. Mauricio got the Rumble Ponies on the board with a blast down the right field line in the first inning. Meanwhile, Baty tied the game with a three-run homer to dead center in the eighth.

McIlwain, who was making his Double-A debut after impressing in Brooklyn, followed later that same inning with a clutch hit of his own. He tallied a RBI ground-rule double that ended up driving in the deciding run of the game.

Mauricio is slugging .542 with five home runs in June. Perhaps most impressively, he has cut his K% to just 16.9% this month. Baty is hitting .327/.383/.509 in June.

Double-A has not been kind to Parson since his promotion this month. After giving up just four runs over 19 2/3rd innings pitched with Brooklyn, he has given up eight runs (six earned) in only 6 1/3rd with Binghamton.

A+ (Game One): Brooklyn Cyclones (27-34) 1, Wilmington Blue Rocks (31-29) 0 Box Score

The Cyclones were limited to just five singles in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. However, thanks to a tremendous pitching effort, this was all they needed to get the victory. Jordan drove in the game-winning run with a ground-ball single up the middle in the eighth. He’s hitting .300/.404/.450 in June.

Zwack didn’t have his best strikeout stuff in Saturday’s game (his three strikeouts were the least in any start of more the four innings he has pitched this year). However, he still managed to induce soft contact and cruise through six shutout innings. Since giving up eight runs over his first two starts of the season, Zwack has given up just seven earned runs over his last 38.0 innings pitched. This is good for a 1.66 ERA over that span.

A+ (Game 2): Brooklyn Cyclones (28-34) 4, Wilmington Blue Rocks (31-30) 1 Box Score

Home runs by Gaddis and Murphy in the third and fourth innings, respectively, powered the Cyclones to a sweep of Saturday’s doubleheader. Murphy’s fourth inning home run was the first of his season. This was also the second three-hit game of his career.

Bryant had his strongest start of the season as he led Brooklyn to victory on Saturday. His six innings pitched were a season high. He also gave up less runs and hits than he had in any other start longer than three innings this year. Hartwig has an 18:3 K/BB ratio over 11.0 innings pitched since his promotion to Brooklyn. He is also a perfect 8-for-8 in save opportunities this year.

A: St. Lucie Mets (40-21) 7, Tampa Tarpons (26-36) 6 Box Score

Ramirez has never been known for elite plate discipline, but he had the first three-walk game of his career on Saturday. Considering that this performance came less than a week after he had consecutive two-walk games for the first time in his career, it is possible that he has been intentionally working on having a more patient approach at the plate in recent weeks. Consuegra has really been flashing his power this month, as he is slashing .288/.393/.654 with nine extra-base hits in June.

Atencio was uncharacteristically wild in Saturday’s start, as his five walks were two more than his previous career-high of three walks. The result was allowing four times as many earned runs in this start as he had over his previous four starts combined. On the bright side, he was quite good at missing bats in this start, as evidenced by his 38% whiff rate.

Juarez’s fastball averaged just under 91 MPH in Saturday’s game, but he gets a well above average 2450 RPM spin rate on it, which explains why it misses bats so frequently. Askew had a 56% whiff rate on his slider in his appearance.

FCL: FCL Marlins (4-6) 12, FCL Mets (6-4) 9 Box Score

  • Ronis Aybar LF: 1-for-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, K, .100/.217/.250

Aybar’s three-run homer in the first inning gave the Mets an early lead, and the Marlins helped the Mets add on a few more runs in the middle innings by making three errors.

The Mets made four errors in this game, so only six of the 12 runs allowed were earned. Garcia was the only pitcher to have a scoreless outing and his seven strikeouts comprised nearly half of the team’s total of 16. He has 15 strikeouts in just seven innings of work this year.

DSL: DSL Pirates Gold (7-3) 4, DSL Mets 1 (5-5) 0  Box Score

The entirety of the Mets’ offense consisted of just one single and two walks in the shutout.

The 18-year-old Ferrer has a 20.86 K/9 through 7 1/3rd innings pitched this year.

DSL: DSL Pirates Black (6-4) 7, DSL Mets 2 (4-6) 4  Box Score

  • Dyron Campos CF: 1-f0r-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, .321/.355/.786

Campos hit his career-high third home run of the season in just his eighth game of the year. However, worth noting, this is the third season in which he is playing in the DSL.