Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

Buffalo (44-42) 8, Syracuse (42-45) 2 Box Score

  • LF Gregor Blanco: 1-for-4, R, HR(9), RBI(22) | .245/.329/.421
  • DH Tim Tebow: 1-for-3, R, HR(4), RBI(19), 2 K | .163/.240/.264

Blanco and Tebow accounted for the only runs of the night for Syracuse when they both homered in the second inning of the game.

  • RHP Walker Lockett: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 K, 2 BB, Loss | 1-2, 4.28 ERA, 1.40 WHIP
  • RHP Ryley Gilliam: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 BB | 2-0, 12.96 ERA, 3.00 WHIP
  • RHP Brooks Pounders: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 0 BB| 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP

It was the Bo Bichette show early in this game as he accounted for three of the five runs scored against Lockett. He doubled, stole third base, and then scored in the first inning, hit an RBI double in the second inning, and then launched a solo home run in the fourth inning to cap off his night against Lockett. Gilliam continues to struggle in  Triple-A, allowing at least one earned run for the seventh time in his nine appearances thus far.

Akron (41-46) 6, Binghamton (41-42) 0 Box Score

A quiet day offensively for the Rumble Ponies as the team only mustered six hits on the night with Sanchez and Carpio accounting for half of them.

  • RHP Austin McGeorge: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 K, 1 BB, Loss | 0-4, 4.65 ERA, 1.52 WHIP
  • RHP Eric Hanhold: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 K, 0 BB | 1-0, 1.29 ERA, 0.71 WHIP

It was a bullpen day for the Rumble Ponies with McGeorge providing the bulk of the work. He was excellent through the first two innings but wore down and imploding in his third inning of work. After a single, double, and a walk allowed, Trenton Brooks and Nellie Rodriguez went back to back with a grand slam and a solo home run to ruin McGeorge’s night. On the positive side, Hanhold continues to pitch well post-demotion to (AA) as he recorded his third clean multi-inning appearance for the Rumble Ponies.

St. Lucie (43-41) 4, Dayton (42-41) 2 Box Score

The St. Lucie offense was being no-hit through the first five innings of the game but rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning with three runs thanks to some patience at the plate and good ‘ole small ball. After a single, sac bunt, and two walks loaded the bases, Ghelfi drove one up the middle for a two-RBI single to tie the game. The next batter, Jeremy Vasquez, with drive in the third run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to give the Mets the lead.

  • RHP Dedniel Nunez: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, Win | 2-3, 4.27 ERA, 1.33 WHIP
  • RHP Ezequiel Zabaleta: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, Save | 1-1, 2.84 ERA, 0.79 WHIP

Nunez was solid in this one posting his fourth quality start of the season for the St. Lucie team (fifth in total). Zabaleta converted his sixth save opportunity of the season in seven attempts, bouncing back nicely from his first blown save last time out.

Columbia (33-49) 11, Hickory (51-31) 7 Box Score

It was a big day offensively for the Fireflies as each starter in the lineup, sans Juan Uriarte, had at least one hit, totaling fifteen hits on the day as a team. Newton had a breakout game posting his first career four-hit game and tying a career high with four runs batted in, a feat he last accomplished in 2017 for the DSL Mets 2.

  • RHP Willy Taveras: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 3 BB, Win | 5-7, 5.38 ERA, 1.39 WHIP
  • RHP Allan Winans: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB, Save | 0-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.25 WHIP

After three straight poor starts where he allowed six-plus earned runs, Taveras finally righted the ship keeping the Crawdads off the board until his last inning of work and leaving the game in excellent position for a win with Fireflies ahead 9-1. The bullpen would make things interesting though as they gave up five runs over the next 2.1 innings to create a save opportunity for Winans. Entering the game with the bases loaded and one out, Winans allowed one inherited runner to score but was able to shut down the Crawdads rally and eventually convert his third save of the season.

Aberdeen (9-11) 5, Brooklyn (11-9) 2 Box Score

The Cyclones mustered only four hits on the night including the one extra base hit by Romero but they were able to make the most of those hits scoring two runs. Any chances of a comeback though were eliminated thanks to the game being ended early due to fog.

  • RHP Frank Valentino: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, Loss | 0-1, 4.35 ERA, 1.45 WHIP

Valentino’s first start of the season did not go a well as he would have liked allowing five runs on sevens hits in five innings of work. To make matters worse, despite pitching the whole game for the Cyclones, Valentino would not be credited for a complete game as the delay and eventually, early ending of the game occurred after the Cyclones had already announced Justin Lasko as the next pitcher in the game.

Elizabethton (9-8) 7, Kingsport (7-10) 1 Box Score

The Kingsport offense was able to collect seven hits, including three extra-base hits, but could only score one run on the day as they went 1-for-8 in situations with runners in scoring position.

  • RHP Junior Santos: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 K, 0 BB, Loss | 0-3, 7.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP
  • RHP Nate Peden: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 K, 2 BB | 0-1, 6.48 ERA, 1.44 WHIP

The Santos/Peden piggyback duo struggled once again allowing a combined six earned runs for the third consecutive turn through the rotation. It was the duo’s best performance strikeout wise though as they both struck out five batters each.

GCL Cardinals (2-8) 14, GCL Mets (5-4) 7 Box Score

  • CF Kenedy Corona: 1-for-5, R, HR(1), 2 RBI(3), 2 K | .333/.400/.778
  • 2B Nick Conti: 1-for-2, 2 R, RBI(8), SB(4), 2 BB | .222/.417/.370

Aided by five walks, the GCL Mets were able to turn seven hits into seven runs with two of them coming on Corona’s first home run of the season in the top of the ninth inning.

  • RHP Jordany Ventura: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, Loss | 0-1, 11.57 ERA, 1.71 WHIP

It was an ugly performance by the entire GCL Mets staff as they combined to allowed twenty-one base-runners to reach safely (ten hits and eleven walks) resulting in fourteen runs scored.

DSL Twins (9-18) 9, DSL Mets1 (16-11) 6 Box Score

It was a solid offensive day for the DSL 1 team as they scored six runs on twelve hits. That said, it could have been much better as they were a combined 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Valdez seems to be heating up as he posted his third multi-hit performance over his last five games.

  • RHP Luis Moreno: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 K, 4 BB, Loss | 0-1, 3.52 ERA, 1.70 WHIP

Not much to talk about here as the pitching staff was obliterated in this game allowing twenty-two base-runners to reach (sixteen hits and eight walks) resulting in nine runs allowed.

DSL Mets2 (14-16) 3, DSL Tigers1 (9-21) 2 Box Score

The DSL2 team struggled with runners in scoring position going 3-for-13, but, with the game tied 2-2 and bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, they didn’t need a hit to score the go-ahead run as Cesar Berbesi scampered home on a wild pitch to give the team the lead and the win.

  • RHP Eiker Huizi: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 0 BB, Win | 3-2, 2.79 ERA, 1.45 WHIP

Huizi, Erickson Ortega, and Rolfy Vargas each tossed three innings of work, but, it was Huizi who was the beneficiary of the run-scoring wild pitch as he earned his third win of the season.