Mark Vientos, Photo by Richard Nelson

The Syracuse Mets played a doubleheader in Buffalo and during the first game of it, the Mets would mash seven total home runs which also included back-to-back-to-back home runs in the second inning. Mark Vientos had four hits including his 15th home run of the season.

Meanwhile in Brooklyn, newly promoted Alex Ramirez would record his first High-A double and Javier Atencio would fire off 11 strikeouts in five innings for St. Lucie.

AAA: Game One: Syracuse Mets (34-45) 9 vs. Buffalo (41-38) 4 F/7   BOX SCORE 

The Fourth of July might have been a couple of days ago but the Mets still had some fireworks left over. As a team, they would slug seven home runs total. Travis Blankenhorn would start the show early with a two-run blast in the first. In the second, the Mets got home run happy. Gosuke Katoh, Deven Marrero, and Travis Jankowski would hit back-to-back-to-back jacks to give the Mets a 6-1 lead.

Two batters later, Mark Vientos joined in on the lumber party and smacked his 15th home run of the season. In the fourth, Travis Blankenhorn would go deep for the second time, his 11th on the season, as the Mets rolled past Buffalo in game one, 9-4.

When the offense hits seven home runs, the pressure is off the pitching staff. Thomas Szapucki, despite giving up four runs in the five innings was more than good enough to earn himself the win in this one. He would throw a season-high, 93 pitches while striking out six. Yoan López would come to wrap up the final two innings and the Mets didn’t have to dip into their bullpen in the early game of the doubleheader.

AAA: Syracuse Mets (34-46) 4 vs. Buffalo (42-38) 6

  • 1B Mark Vientos: 2-for-4, .256/.345/.507
  • DH: Nick Plummer: 1-for-3, R, HR (7), RBI, .223/.288/.455
  • 2B Kramer Robertson: 2-for-3, 2 R, HR (7), RBI, .230/.390/.368

While not quite the power surge they had in the first game, the Mets still knocked out two home runs in this one. One of which was Kramer Robertson‘s first home run in the Mets organization. Nick Plummer also had a homer, his seventh of the season. Mark Vientos would tally two hits in this one giving him four hits in the two games. Despite collecting nine hits the Mets would still fall to Buffalo 6-4.

  • LHP Rob Zastryzny: 2 IP, 2 H, R, ER, BB, 3 SO, 3.82 ERA
  • RHP Trey Cobb:(H,1) 1.1 IP, H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, SO, 6.55 ERA
  • RHP Michel Otanez: (L,3-1) 0.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 6.75 ERA
  • RHP Eric Orze: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, SO, 5.51 ERA

Syracuse seemed well on their way to a doubleheader sweep heading into the sixth inning in the second game. They had a 4-1 lead and needed six more outs to close the deal. Things would unravel quickly for the Mets however. After Trey Cobb allowed the first two batters he faced in the sixth to reach base, Buffalo would cut into the lead with a sacrifice fly making it 4-2. Cobb was replaced with Otanez who would fail to record an out. He would walk the first two Buffalo batters, give up an RBI single to make it a 4-3 game, and then would balk in the tying run. His night would be finished when he gave up a two-run double to the next batter he faced as the lead was gone and Syracuse lost 6-4.

AA: Portland (36-41) 12 vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (31-46) 5   BOX SCORE

  • DH Brett Baty: 2-for-5, R, RBI, .289/.386/.479
  • 3B Luke Ritter: 1-for-4, R, 3B, 2 RBI, .247/.326/.375
  • 2B Wyatt Young: 1-for-4, R, HR (1), 2 RBI, .263/.334/.347

This game was ugly for the Rumble Ponies and ended in a loss. Binghamton had more errors, six, than they did runs, five in this one. Three errors in just the first three innings would allow Portland to take a 5-1 lead. The Binghamton offense couldn’t make up for their spotty defense as they would eventually lose 12-5

Brett Baty would extend his hit streak to a modest six games and with his RBI in this one he now has seven in his last five games. Wyatt Young would hit his second home run of the year and his first with the Rumble Ponies.

  • RHP Jesus Vargas: (L,0-6), 5.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 8.58 ERA
  • RHP Josh Hejka: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 3.18 ERA
  • RHP Jordan Yamamoto: 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2.45 ERA

To say that the Binghamton pitching staff was given a tough hand today would be an understatement. Despite Portland putting up 12 runs, only five of them were earned runs. Jesus Vargas is still looking for his first win of the season as he was handed his sixth loss on the season. The stat that tells you all you need to know about how sloppy the Rumble Ponies defense was. Jordan Yamamoto would go one inning and see Portland score four runs, but none were charged to him as he saw his ERA drop to an impressive 2.45.

High-A: Aberdeen (49-28) 2 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (36-41) 4    BOX SCORE

Brooklyn wasted no time getting on the board in this one. Leadoff hitter, Matt Rudick took the second pitch of the bottom of the first inning and turned it into a home run over the right field wall to give the Cyclones a very early 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Stanley Consuegra got his first hit in High-A with a two-run double which extended the Cyclone lead to 3-0. Nic Gaddis would then provide a little bit of breathing room in the fourth with a solo shot to put the Cyclones up 4-0. A lead they would never relinquish as they flew past the IronBirds 4-2.

  • LHP Nick Zwack: (W,3-1), 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO, 1.37 ERA
  • RHP Daison Acosta: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 7.50 ERA

There isn’t a hotter pitcher in the Mets organization than Nick Zwack. After going six scoreless innings in this one, Zwack hasn’t allowed a run in his last four starts over 23 innings. Perhaps even more impressive is during that time he’s only allowed 11 hits and five walks. This game, however, was his most dominant outing, not only during this scoreless streak but over his entire season. Zwack only allowed two hits, one walk, and struck out a season-high 10 batters as he lowered his ERA to 1.37.

Daison Acosta would come in for the unconventional three-inning save, ensuring the win for Zwack and the Cyclones.

Single-A: St Lucie Mets (45-31) 2 vs. Daytona (33-43) 3   BOX SCORE

The Mets fell to Daytona in a closely contested pitchers duel as the series is now split at a game apiece between the two teams. The only offense of the game for the Mets came in the form of an Omar De Los Santos two-run home run, his 10th of the season. The Mets would rattle off eight hits in this one including two doubles from Junior Tilien but it wasn’t enough as the Mets fell in Daytona, 3-2.

Javier Atencio has quietly been one of the best pitchers in the Met organization since his first game with St Lucie on May 24th. In this game, he would set a career-high with 11 strikeouts through five innings while only allowing one run and lowering his ERA to 2.14. A lack of run support would keep him from earning the win in this one. Jupiter would pick away at the Mets 2-1 lead off of Michael Krauza. A solo shot in the sixth would tie the game and then a bases-loaded walk would give Jupiter the lead and the eventual 3-2 win.