Omar De Los Santos, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

The St. Lucie Mets put on a show every night down in Single-A, and Thursday was no exception, as the team powered their way to a 7-5 victory over the Tampa Tarpons and pushed their winning streak to eight games. In that game, outfielder Omar De Los Santos hit a mammoth 463 foot home run for St. Lucie.

AAA: Game 1 – Syracuse Mets 1 (14-23) vs. Buffalo Bisons 0 (21-17) Box Score

The Syracuse Mets won Game 1 of their seven-inning doubleheader against the Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday in a very low-scoring affair. The decisive run didn’t come until extras, when Tzu-Wei Lin came through with an RBI single to plate Cody Bohanek in the top of the eighth. Mark Vientos and Johneshwy Fargas combined for four of the team’s six hits, and the Mets were lucky to walk away victorious in a game where batters left a combined 19 runners on base.

This was Connor Grey’s second consecutive strong outing, as he has now pitched 11 2/3 scoreless innings over his past two starts with 10 strikeouts. Yoan López had a masterful appearance in relief, retiring all six batters he faced and stranding the automatic runner on third in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the victory for the Mets. López has not given up an earned run in each of his last four appearances, cutting his season ERA down from 9.00 to 4.15 in that span.

AAA: Game 2 – Syracuse Mets 1 (14-24) vs. Buffalo Bisons 4 (22-17) Box Score

  • CF Johneshwy Fargas: 1-for-3, 1 HR (2), 1 R, 1 SO, .200/.200/.433
  • 1B Daniel Palka: 1-for-3, 1 SO, .227/.331/.518
  • DH Travis Blankenhorn: 1-for-3, .198/.242/.353

Unfortunately, one run was not enough for the Syracuse Mets to claim victory in Game 2. The Mets mustered just five hits and would have been shut out if not for a Johneshwy Fargas solo homer in the third inning, his second in six games since being moved back up to the Triple-A level. The Mets grounded into three double plays, crushing any potential momentum they could have built from leadoff hits in those innings.

Jose Rodriguez labored through his 2 2/3 innings of work and was chased out of the game in the third inning after the Bisons’ Jordan Groshans collected his second RBI single of the night. Tim Adleman worked himself into a bases-loaded jam in the fourth but was able to escape, allowing only one run to score. Justin Dillon followed suit by working around his own bases-loaded jam in the fifth, but the offense was unable to overcome the deficit.

AA: Akron RubberDucks 13 (21-15), Binghamton Ruble Ponies 1 (11-24) Box Score

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies were pummeled by the Akron RubberDucks on a night where they committed more errors in the field (3) than the number of hits they recorded (2). They’ve lost four straight, and six of their last seven. Ronny Mauricio put the Rumble Ponies on the board with an RBI double in the seventh inning, but the RubberDucks had already scored 12 runs by that point. Brett Baty has gone hitless in his 12 at-bats, dropping his season OPS below .800 and leaving the Rumble Ponies without a single qualified batter with an OPS above that mark.

David Griffin got shelled in this one, allowing five consecutive batters to record hits against him in the fifth inning to knock him out of the game. The final blow was dealt by RubberDucks slugger George Valera, who launched a grand slam in the fifth for his second homer of the game. Griffin has lost two of his three starts since being called up to Double-A earlier this month and has allowed at least three runs to score in each of those starts. The lone bright spot for the pitching staff was Yeizo Campos, who rebounded from a rough outing his last time on the mound by keeping the opposing bats silenced across 1 1/3 innings of work.

A+: Hudson Valley Renegades 3 (16-19), Brooklyn Cyclones 1 (15-18) Box Score

It has not been all that difficult for opposing pitchers to shut down the Brooklyn Cyclones offense this season, and the Renegades’ Matt Sauer did just that, striking out nine across an impressive 7 1/3 innings. Joe Suozzi provided a spark with a solo shot in the sixth inning, and Matt O’Neill made things interesting with a one-out double in the ninth. However, the Cyclones couldn’t score him from second, missing their chance to secure at least a series split against the Renegades after winning the first two games of this set.

  • RHP Garrison Bryant: (L, 1-1), 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2.78 ERA
  • LHP Cam Opp: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K, 1.29 ERA
  • RHP Evy Ruibal: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 5.91 ERA

Garrison Bryant held the Renegades scoreless through the first four innings but allowed two runs to score in the fifth, which was all it took for him to be saddled with his first loss on the season. Cam Opp fired three shutdown innings in relief and was well on his way to finishing out the game, but he allowed the first two batters he faced in the ninth to reach base and was subsequently pulled. Evy Ruibal allowed one of those inherited runners to score, eventually stranding the other runner at third to keep the Cyclones within shouting distance of the Renegades.

A: St. Lucie Mets 7 (26-10), Tampa Tarpons 5 (14-21) Box Score

The St. Lucie Mets were the only Mets minor league affiliate to score more than one run on Thursday, belting four homers en route to their eighth consecutive victory. The Mets are now 15-3 in their last 18 games played. Alex Ramirez and Carlos Dominguez often steal the headlines from this powerhouse outfield that the Mets have assembled, but Omar De Los Santos proved once again why he should not be overlooked. He now has four home runs on the season to go along with 20 steals, good for second in the Florida State League.

Raul Beracierta also homered for St. Lucie, his first of the season. And Khalil Lee had two hits including a double.

The numbers on Omar De Los Santos home run are ridiculous: 111.7 mph, 463 feet, and 25 degree launch angle. There’s been only two home runs in Major League Baseball this season that at least met those measurable, one by Byron Buxton and one by Jorge Soler.

  • RHP Carson Seymour: (W, 4-0), 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 1.19 ERA
  • LHP Daniel Juarez: (H, 1), 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1.72 ERA
  • RHP Nate Jones: (H, 3), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 K, 3.21 ERA
  • RHP Dan Goggin: (S, 1), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 5.40 ERA

Carson Seymour was not particularly sharp in this one, putting the Mets in an early 3-0 hole after the first inning and allowing another two runs to score in the sixth. However, the high-powered Mets offense picked up Seymour, who did just enough to walk away with his fourth victory on the season. Seymour did still manage 15 whiffs in the game with 9 of them coming on his cutter that averaged 89 mph. His fastball was up to 95 on the night.

Carson Seymour is one of the names we talked about in our recent chat with Mets director of amateur scouting Marc Tramuta.

The bullpen did an extraordinary job of getting the Mets over the line, combining for 3 2/3 hitless innings of relief.