Press and Sun-Bulletin

James McCann continues to push closer to joining the big club every day. McCann notched two hits and caught all nine innings behind the plate in another game of his rehab assignment. Meanwhile, fellow catcher Francisco Álvarez saw his on-base streak reach 20 games.

AAA: Syracuse Mets (26-41) 2 vs. Rochester (38-30) 4   BOX SCORE

The Mets found themselves locked in a pitcher’s duel in their matinee matchup with Rochester and would come out on the losing end of it in a 4-2 defeat. Despite the loss, there were a few bright spots across the Syracuse lineup in this one. Nick Meyer put together a two-hit game. Also, with a hit in this game, Quinn Brodey has now gotten at least one hit in his first three games back with Syracuse after being called up from Binghamton. Warren Saunders also had a two-hit game and collected his first Triple-A RBI after making the high jump from High-A Brooklyn to Syracuse.

After a rough start in Norfolk in his previous start, Nate Fisher rebounded nicely in this one. Fisher made it through four innings of work allowing Rochester just one run on three hits as he would strike out three. The bullpen would get tagged for three runs as Trey Cobb, who had been dominating in Double-A Binghamton to the tune of a 0.47 ERA is still struggling to find his footing in Triple-A. Cobb would last two innings but give up a home run to give the Red Wings and then 2-1 lead. St. John and Otanez would give up a run a piece in the later innings all leading to a 4-2 loss for the Mets.

AA: Reading (29-36) 9 vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (24-41) 3   BOX SCORE

  • C James McCann: 2-for-4, .286/.348/.381
  • DH Francisco Álvarez: 0-for-2, 2 BB, .285/.367/.575
  • 3B Brett Baty: 1-for-3, R, BB, .273/.363/.429
  • 1B Jeremy Vasquez: 2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, .244/.335/.347

While Mad Max Mania swept across Binghamton in the previous game, his battery mate, James McCann was back in the Rumble Pony lineup again for this one. McCann perhaps made his biggest leap forward to joining the big league club, as not only did he have two hits but he would also catch all nine innings behind the plate. While the Rumble Ponies would fall to Reading 9-3, two of the super prospects in the lineup continued impressive streaks. Francisco Álvarez would go hitless in this game but two walks were enough to keep his on-base streak alive as the Mets’ number one prospect has now reached base in 17 straight games. Not to be outdone, Brett Baty’s single in the fourth inning would bring his hit streak up to 13.

Shortstop Ronny Mauricio went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the game.

  • RHP Jose Chacin: (L, 0-3), 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 HR, 6.63 ERA
  • RHP Mitch Ragan: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 5 SO, 4.06 ERA
  • RHP Josh Hejka: 2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 SO, 3.38 ERA

Things would get out of hand early for Jose Chacin and the Rumble Ponies early in this game. Chacin would fail to make it out of the second inning as he’d give up four runs to put Binghamton in a 4-0 hole through two innings. Mitch Ragan though would settle things down as he’d keep Reading off the board in a scoreless outing out of the bullpen. Ragan, who had an ugly April, has quietly been one of the Rumble Ponies’ most consistent arms on their roster. In May he had an ERA of just 1.50 and so far through June, his ERA is 2.03. Over the last two months, Ragan has lowered his ERA by over 4 points. Josh Hejka would have a rare rough outing out of the bullpen as he’d allow five runs, three of them earned in his two innings of work, leading to a 9-3 loss.

High-A: Lakewood (25-40) 5 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (29-36) 3   BOX SCORE

Going into the sixth inning, the Cyclones would find themselves down 5-0 to Lakewood. Brooklyn wouldn’t go down without a fight and would attempt to rally late. JT Schwartz would get the Cyclones on the board by driving in his 26th run of the season on an RBI single. In the ninth, Matt Rudick would smoke an RBI double to cut the Lakewood lead to 5-3 as the Cyclones managed to get the tying run to the plate down in the ninth. The rally though would come up just short as Brooklyn lost the second game of their series with Lakewood 5-3.

Also, worth noting. Coming into this game Jersey Shore’s Johan Rojas had been 31-for-31 in stolen base attempts. Cyclone catcher, Jose Mena however, would end Rojas’ perfect season when he nailed Rojas trying to steal third in the third inning.

The good news is that Junior Santos set a new season-high with eight strikeouts in his five innings of work. The bad news is he gave up a season-high nine hits, tied his season-high in runs given up at four, and would be slapped with the loss in this one, his sixth of the season. Santos would start his evening on the wrong foot giving up two runs in the first inning and end it on a similarly sour note giving up two runs in the fifth inning. In between those innings though Santos looked sharp allowing no runs and gathering five of his nine strikeouts. Nolan Clenney would have a perfect outing out of the bullpen and Sammy Taverez continues to pitch well this season, as a scoreless inning of relief in this one would lower his ERA to 1.40 on the season.

Low-A: St. Lucie Mets (40-24) 2 vs. Palm Beach (29-34) 4   BOX SCORE

The Mets would combine to walk a total of nine times as six Palm Beach pitchers would struggle with their control all game. However, St. Lucie couldn’t capitalize as they only managed to score two runs in an eventual 4-2 loss. The two lone hits for the Mets came off the bat of Gregory Guerrero. Guerrero has been with the Mets organization since 2016 and is now eight games into his first stint in Single-A. He achieved a personal milestone in this game as he would register his first Single-A RBI with a single in the third inning.

  • RHP Jeffrey Colon: 5.2 IP, 5 H, R, ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 2.76 ERA
  • RHP Dylan Hall: (H, 1), 1.1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, SO, 1.52 ERA
  • LHP Daniel Juarez: (L, 2-1), 0.2 IP,  0 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, SO, 2.51 ERA

Jeffrey Colon was perfect through the first 11 batters he faced in Palm Beach in this game. Colon would lose his perfect game with two outs in the fourth inning but was still able to hold Palm Beach off the scoreboard until the sixth inning, turning in an impressive outing as Colon continues to have a solid season with St. Lucie. The Mets would hold a 2-1 lead going into the eighth inning but that’s when things got wild for the Mets, literally. Daniel Juarez would hit the first batter he’d face in the inning, walk the next two and then uncork a wild pitch to enable Palm Beach to tie the game at two. Reyson Santos would come in next to try and keep the game tied, but incredibly he would unleash a wild pitch of his own, giving Palm Beach the lead, which they would hold en route to a 3-2 win.