Mets Minors Recap: Ronny Mauricio Joins 20/20 Club

Ronny Mauricio. Photo by Richard Nelson

Triple-A

Columbus Clippers (53-63) 9, Syracuse Mets (48-68) 4

2B Ronny Mauricio: 1-for-5, R, HR (20), 2 RBIs (65), K (.823 OPS)
1B Luke Ritter: 1-for-4, R, HR (11), RBI (30), K (.790 OPS)
LF Carlos Cortes: 2-for-4, K (.839 OPS)
RF Brandon McIlwain: 1-for-3, RBI (8), BB, SB, 2 K (.863 OPS)
DH Brett Baty: 1-for-5, K (1.158 OPS)

The Syracuse offense was going up against Zach Plesac on Saturday and they were able to do the bulk of their scoring in the bottom of the fifth when Ronny Mauricio hit his 20^th home run of the year to tie the game at three and give him 20-plus home runs and 20-plus stolen bases for the second straight year. Two batters later, Ritter would hit a solo shot for his 11^th home run at Triple-A and his 25^th home run overall on the year.

McIlwain got the scoring started with an RBI single and he has done a good job of getting on-base regularly since being called up to Triple-A

RHP Denyi Reyes (5.79 ERA): 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K (55 of 87 pitches for strikes)
RHP Eric Orze (2-4, 6.27): 1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, K

After starting Game 1 of the New York Mets doubleheader a week ago against the Braves, Reyes was able to go six innings or later for the fourth time this year at Triple-A. However, he allowed all three solo home runs in the first three innings.

Drew Gilbert. Photo by Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso of NorthJersey/USA TODAY NETWORK

Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (57-55) 6, Portland Sea Dogs (61-52) 1

BOX SCORE

2B Rowdey Jordan: 2-for-4, R, HR (12), 4 RBIs (53), K (.772 OPS)
SS Luisangel Acuña: 0-for-4, 2 K (.504 OPS)
CF Drew Gilbert: 1-for-4, K (.954 OPS)
RF Jeremiah Jackson: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB (.641 OPS)

Jordan was the star on offense on Saturday. He hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the second and a two-run single in the third. The 24-year-old has driven in nine runs in the last five games.

RHP Dominic Hamel (7-6, 4.29): 6 IP. 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K (54 of 85 pitches for strikes)
RHP Trey McLoughlin (2.93): 2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 4 K

On Saturday, Hamel faced Portland for the second time in the last two months. Even though he didn’t have as many strikeouts as the 11 he had on July 5, he still went six innings or more for the eighth time this year and he did not allow a single extra-base hit (seven ground ball outs).

McLoughin followed that up with a strong outing of the bullpen. The 24-year-old right-hander has not allowed a run in five of his six appearances in August and it was the fifth time this year he has struck out four or more hitters in an appearance.

William Lugo. Photo by Ed Delaney, MMO

High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones (56-56) 8, Hudson Valley Renegades (62-51) 7

BOX SCORE

SS Jett Williams: 1-for-4, R, HR (2), RBI (5), BB, SB, K (.963 OPS)
1B William Lugo: 2-for-4, R, 2B, 3B, 4 RBIs (43) (.686 OPS)
3B Jacob Reimer: 0-for-2, 2 R, RBI (6), 2 BB, K (.654 OPS)
DH Alex Ramírez: 1-for-4, R, BB (.669 OPS)
RF Ryan Clifford: 0-for-3, R, BB, K (.850 OPS)

The Cyclones found themselves in an early 3-0 hole, but they were able to rally back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. After Reimer walked with the bases loaded, Lugo and D’Andre Smith each had two-run doubles to give Brooklyn a 5-3 lead.

Later in the game, it was Lugo’s two-run triple in the seventh that ultimately ended up being the game-winning hit. The 21-year-old has six RBIs in the last three games. Williams added a solo shot in the sixth for his second home run with the Cyclones. That home run ended up extending his hit streak to seven games.

RHP Jordan Geber (4.82): 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K (34 of 58 pitches for strikes)
RHP Benito Garcia (1-1, 1.50): 3 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 5 K, WP, HBP

Garcia ended up getting the win out of the bullpen as he had a season-high five strikeouts. The 23-year-old right-hander has 12 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings this month (three appearances) and has held opposing hitters to a .168 average in 17 appearances with Brooklyn.

Nick Morabito. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Low-A

Jupiter Hammerheads (59-54) 5, St. Lucie Mets (38-75) 4 in 10 Innings

BOX SCORE

3B Wilfredo Lara: 2-for-4, R, 2B, HR (13), 2 RBIs (41) (.807 OPS)
C Vincent Perozo: 2-for-4, R, HR (8), RBI (39) (.714 OPS)
DH Kevin Parada: 0-for-4, 3 K
SS Diego Mosquera: 2-for-5, R, K (.572 OPS)
CF Nick Morabito: 1-for-5, 4 K (.729 OPS)

Both Jupiter and St. Lucie struck out 14 times in this extra-inning affair. Lara got St. Lucie on the board in the fourth with a solo home run and would later tie the game at two with an RBI double in the sixth. The Mets would force extra-inning thanks to a home run by Perozo in the ninth (home runs in back-to-back games).

It has been a rough few games for Parada on his rehab assignment. In the three games he has played in Low-A, he is 0-for-11 with six strikeouts.

RHP Layonel Ovalles (4.92): 6 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB, 8 K (57 of 93 pitches for strikes)
RHP Christopher Vasquez (0-5, 6.44): 2 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, BB, K, WP, HBP

Even though Ovalles gave up a home run in his quality starts, he held Jupiter to only one other hit. The 20-year-old right-hander had his second-highest strikeout total of the year (high was 10 on June 2).

Florida Complex League

The FCL Mets (31-18) had their originally scheduled game against the FCL Nationals (23-25) canceled due to rain. The two teams were able to finish a postponed game from August 4 with the Mets taking the win, 5-4.

Ronald Hernandez went 2-for-3 in the game with two runs scored and he had a two-run home run in the bottom of the first. They did have to rally from a 4-3 deficit in the fifth, but they were able to get a solo home run from Carlos Oviedo (3^rd of the year) and ultimately the game-winning single from Kellum Clark in the sixth. With the win, the Mets clinch home-field for their one-game semifinal playoff on Thursday and they clinched the best record in the FCL.

Dominican Summer League

DSL Mets Blue (25-28) 5, DSL Brewers 2 (21-31) 3

BOX SCORE

CF Justin Ramirez: 2-for-5, 2 K (.747 OPS)
3B Leyderman Ruiz: 1-for-3, 2 RBIS (16), BB (.624 OPS)
LF Jostyn Almonte: 1-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB (.968 OPS)
1B Daniel Silva: 1-for-2, RBI (1), 2 BB (.489 OPS)

As a team, the Blue Mets squad drew 11 walks in the victory with tree of them coming from Almonte. Ramirez added two more hits to give him 11 in the last four games. In 49 at-bats this month, he has a slash line of .367/.446/.673.

LHP Cesar Rivera (4.50 ERA): 3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 6 K
RHP Fredayan Figuera (1-0, 4.26): 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 BB, K

After being mainly a reliever this year, Rivera made his first start on Saturday and the 18-year-old southpaw struck out 6 of the 9 batters he faced (season-high).

DSL White Sox (30-22) 6, DSL Mets Orange (23-30) 5

BOX SCORE

SS Jeremy Rodriguez: 2-for-5, R, 3B, 2 RBIs (31), SB (.849 OPS)
RF Jeffry Rosa: 2-for-4, RBI (36), BB (1.054 OPS)
DH Anthony Baptist: 1-for-5, R, 3B, K (.888 OPS)
CF Heriberto Rincon: 1-for-4, RBI (21), K (.771 OPS)
C Julio Zayas: 0-for-2, 2 K (.885 OPS)

Since coming to the Mets in the Tommy Pham trade from Arizona, Rodriguez has continued to hit. He tied the game at two with an RBI triple in the top of the fifth and had an RBI single in the seventh. In 40 at-bats this month, Rodriguez has a slash line of .375/.500/.675 with 13 RBIs.

RHP Jhon Nunez (4.93): 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 2 WP, 2 HBP
LHP Osiris Calvo (3-2, 3.82): 2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 5 K

Nunez went four innings for the second consecutive outing and despite putting four runners on via walk and a hit-by-pitch, he tied his season-high with five strikeouts.