Photo by Rick Nelson

Triple-A: Lehigh Valley IronPigs (13-14) 9, Syracuse Mets (14-14) 7  Box Score 

Heading into Tuesday’s contest,  Mark Vientos was 8-for-18 with two homers, four doubles, and five batted in in his previous four games . He also collected back-to-back three-hit performances during that span. In his second at-bat on Tuesday with the Syracuse Mets trailing 2-0, Vientos continued his hot hitting by smashing a two-run game-tying blast (110.7 exit velocity), driving in Ronny Mauricio, who led off the fourth with a double. On the night, Vientos finished 2-for-5 with his ninth home run of the season and three more runs batted in to give him 26 on the year. Vientos continues to be one of the best hitters in the International League, as he is among the leaders in all hitting categories.

The switch-hitting Mauricio was making his eighth start of the year at second base and seems to be transitioning nicely to the new position, as he is yet to commit an error. He finished the day 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, giving him ten two-baggers on the year. Mauricio’s slash line is up to .333/.373/.977 with six homers, 16 RBIs, and four stolen bases.

Jaylin Davis entered Tuesday two for his last 19 with one just RBI. Davis ended his mini-slump by driving a two-run triple past the diving right fielder to give the Mets a brief lead of 4-2 in the sixth. Later in the game, Davis clubbed his third homer, finishing the contest 2-for-4 with four RBIs.

  • RHP Humberto Mejía 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 4 K, 4.55 ERA
  • RHP Eric Orze ( L, 1-1) 0.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 10.03 ERA

Leading the Mets’ pitching staff with 21 strikeouts in 21.2 innings, right-hander Humberto Mejía was on the hill against Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Mejía limited the IronPigs to two runs in six innings and punched out four batters. The only blemish on the night was when he served up a two-run homer to cleanup hitter Dustin Peterson.

Mejía was in line for the win with the Mets up 4-2 until reliever Eric Orze quickly coughed up the lead. Orze continues to pitch poorly, as he was charged with six runs ( five earned), only recording one out. His ERA has ballooned to 10.03.

The Mets promoted 23-year-old lefty Nathan Lavender before last night’s game. The 2021 14th-rounder was dominant at Double-A. He appeared in seven games for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, producing a 16.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/P with four saves and a 1.74 ERA.

Double-A: Somerset Patriots (13-8) 7, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 4 (10-10), Box Score 

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies’ offense scored four runs on the night with merely four hits which were not enough against the Patriots in a back-and-forth contest.

Returning to Double-A after playing in eight games for the Triple-A affiliate Syracuse Mets, Luke Ritter clubbed a two-run homer in the second. Three batters later, outfielder Rowdey Jordan swatted his first dinger to tie the game at three.

In the sixth inning, down 4-3, third baseman Jose Peroza stepped up to the plate and delivered an RBI double. In nine games for the Ponies, Peroza has posted a slash line of.294/.368/.809 with one homer and seven RBIs.

The 24-year-old lefty Matt Rudick entered the month of May among the top five in the Eastern League with a .321 average, .471 OBP, .999 OPS, and a wRC+ 187. He walked three times Tuesday night to give him 17 on the year while only striking out nine times.

  • RHP Luis Moreno (L,2-1) 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 2 K, 7.06 ERA

Luis Moreno suffered the loss against a formidable Somerset Patriots lineup that included the Yankees’ highly-ranked top prospect, “The Martian” Jasson Dominguez. He labored through the first inning as the Patriots put up a three-spot against him. He allowed the first five batters to reach base, issuing three walks, a hit, and a balk before recording an out. In the fourth inning, the Patriots tacked on another run to go up 4-3 when first baseman T.J. Rumfield took Moreno deep. Overall, Moreno tossed 5.1 innings on 83 pitches, yielding five runs, five hits, four walks, and two strikeouts.

High-A Brooklyn Cyclones (7-11) 4, Aberdeen IronBirds (7-13) 3 (10 innings)  Box Score 

The Brooklyn Cyclones scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly by outfielder Stanley Consuegra bringing in Alex Ramírez, who led off with a walk. Consuegra leads all Cyclones hitters with 14 RBIs.

Twenty-one-year-old Kevin Parada had a great night swinging the bat Tuesday, as he collected three hits in the contest. He finished 3-for-4 with a double and triple. His double off the left field wall in the sixth inning registered 107 mph exit velocity.

 

Left fielder Omar De Los Santos continued to be a pest on the basepaths. He manufactured the Cyclones’ second run of the game when he reached base on a single, and then proceeded to steal his 11th and 12th stolen bases of the season and advanced home on a throwing error by the IronBirds catcher Silas Ardoin. De Los Santos capped off the night by delivering the game-winning hit in extra innings to give Brooklyn the 4-3 win.

Tyler Stuart, coming off a stellar month of April (1.98 ERA, 11.9 K/9 in 13.2 innings) for the Cyclones, was looking to continue his early-season success against an Aberdeen IronBirds lineup, which included highly touted prospect Jackson Holliday. The 6-foot-9 righty delivered a strong pitching performance in a no-decision, producing 16 whiffs and recording a season-high nine punchouts on the night. He allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks on 92 pitches across five innings.

The bullpen trio of Jordan Geber, Joshua Cornielly, and Wilkin Ramos tossed scoreless sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Ramos returned to the mound in the final frame to preserve the win, but a pair of costly errors by Mateo Gil and Consuegra allowed the IronBirds to tie the game. Southpaw Daniel Jaurez then entered the game and notched his second win. He struck out one and issued a pair of walks in 1.1 innings. Juarez has yet to allow a run across 7.1 innings and has 12 strikeouts.

Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads 7 (13-9), St. Lucie Mets (5-17) 4  Box Score

Before the St. Lucie Mets took on the Jupiter Hammerheads Tuesday night at Clover Park, they received their 2022 Florida State League championship rings.

The Mets were attempting to rebound after a lousy month of April, ending it by losing six consecutive games. Overall, offensively, they are second-to-last in batting average (.207), slugging (.313), OPS of (.638), and tied for last with a combined ten home runs and 74 runs batted in. On the pitching side, they are second to last in team ERA (5.31) and last in WHIP (1.70)

Third baseman Jacob Reimer led off the bottom half of the fourth with a 433-foot rocket to dead center for his first round-tripper to put the Mets up 2-1. The 19-year-old also collected his 14th walk of the year in the game.

Shortstop Jett Williams was back in the lineup after missing the previous four games after being hit on the elbow. He didn’t appear to have any rust, as he went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, a double, and swiped his sixth stolen base.

Dyron Campos slugged a 411-foot solo home run to left field in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 5-4. Campos also tripled and was hit by a pitch, finishing the night 2-for-3.

The Mets attempted to rally in the ninth, trailing 7-4 with two outs and runners in scoring position—Tim Locastro, who is on a rehab assignment, lined out to center field to end the game. The Mets went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

After surrendering seven runs in his previous start, Jordany Ventura pitched his longest outing of the season, hurling five innings and permitting three runs on seven hits. He only issued one walk on the night after owning a 14.9 BB/9 over four starts.

Christopher Vasquez entered the game in the sixth inning with the score tied 3-3 and allowed two runs on four hits in 1.2 innings. He took his third loss of the season.

Twenty-six-year-old righty Kyle Wilson also pitched for the first time this year for the Mets on a rehab assignment.