Carlos Dominguez, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

The St. Lucie Mets entered the ninth inning of the first game of their Championship Series down 5-4. After a Kevin Parada walk and two outs, the Mets found themselves down to their last out. That kind of pressure did not both Carlos Dominguez, however, as he blasted a two-run homer over the center field fence to give the Mets a lead that they would not relinquish.

AAA: Syracuse Mets (59-82) 9, Buffalo Bisons (72-67) 8  Box Score

Three home runs powered Syracuse to a shootout victory against the Bisons on Sunday. Álvarez got the Mets started right away with his three-run home run with nobody out in the first inning. The home run was his 26th of the season and his second in six games since returning from the injured list. Mangum continued his hot streak with a three-hit game and even flashed a rare bit of power with his fourth home run of the season. He has recorded a hit in nine straight games and is hitting .382/.426/.564 so far in September.

  • RHP Connor Grey (5-6, 6.26 ERA) 2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, BB, 3 K
  • RHP Eric Orze (4-3, 5.36 ERA) 1.1 IP, H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K
  • RHP Yoan López (W, 2-2, 5.17 ERA) 1.0 IP, BB

Grey was hit very hard by the Bisons’ hitters, giving up three home runs in less than three innings of work. Orze had similar issues in his appearance, as he gave up a two-run shot of his own that resulted in Buffalo taking an 8-4 lead in the fourth inning. Orze has had home run issues all season and has now given up eleven home runs in 45 1/3 innings of work (by comparison, he has given up just 14 walks all year).

AA: Hartford Yard Goats (77-60) 8, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (53-83) 4  Box Score

Binghamton had tons of offense early in Sunday’s game, as doubles by Gaddis and Luke Ritter brought home four runs in the first two innings. The lineup, however, would be held to just two hits for the remainder of the game. With two more hits, extending his hitting streak to five games, Mauricio has brought his on-base percentage closer to .300 than it has been at any point since May 22.

Griffin struggled in Sunday’s start and has now given up three or more runs in four of his last five starts. Geber gave up three runs himself in a rocky Double-A debut. Santos was the best pitcher of the afternoon for Binghamton, punching out three batters and throwing just 27 pitches in two scoreless innings of work.

A: St. Lucie Mets (1-0) 6, Dunedin Blue Jays (0-1) 5  Box Score

The Mets began the Florida State League Championship Series with a dramatic comeback victory against the Blue Jays. After falling behind by two runs early in the game, St. Lucie entered the ninth inning down 5-4. Down to their final out, with Parada at first after a walk, St. Lucie was given the lead when Dominguez crushed a ball 404 feet and over the center field fence. Including this championship game, Parada has walked as much as he has struck out (14 times apiece) so far in his professional career.

Ovalles relied heavily on his 94 MPH fastball (he threw it 69% of the time) in his championship game start, but that strategy did not work well for him. The four runs he allowed were tied for the most he had allowed in a start all season. De La Cruz mixed speeds a bit better, with his slider being his most used pitch. However, it was his changeup that was his most dominant pitch, generating whiffs on five of the nine swings against it. Gomez was perfect in closing out the final 3 2/3 frames of the game. It didn’t hurt that his blazing fastball was turned up a notch or two in this game: he averaged 98 MPH and threw a 100.2 MPH fastball in the game, his hardest pitch of the season.