Mark Vientos. Photo by Herm Card

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (16-24) 7, Norfolk Tide (29-10) 9  Box Score 

The Syracuse Mets were taking on a formidable Norfolk Tide team in first place in the International League. They faced some of major league baseball’s highly touted prospects in Colton Cowser, Connor Norby, Jordan Westburg, and lefty hurler DL Hall.

The Mets’ offense broke through with the game’s first runs as Ronny Mauricio continued his scoring-hot May by ripping a two-run single clocked at 110.2 mph off the talented southpaw Hall. Mauricio would add another RBI in the game when his opposite-field bloop single plated Tim Locastro in the fourth. The 22-year-old extended his hit streak to eight games and is batting .418, with a 1.114 OPS in May.

Mark Vientos followed Mauricio in the fourth with an RBI base hit and extended the lead for the Mets to 6-0. Leading off in the seventh, he crushed a 411-foot homer for his 13th of the season to put the Mets up 7-3. Vientos’s homer was his fifth in May, and he leads the team with 37 RBIs.

Jose Butto was up for the challenge of taking on the Tides’ talented lineup Tuesday night. The 6-foot-1 right-hander was turning in a quality start until he ran into some trouble in the sixth inning and was relieved by lefty Nathan Lavender. He yielded three runs on five hits, walking a pair, and fanned three Tides in five-plus innings. Two were against MLB pipeline No. 31 prospect Cowser and No. 52 prospect Westburg. Butto generated 41% swinging strikes on his changeup and slider.

John Curtiss took the mound in the ninth with Syracuse up 7-5 and faced the Tides’ heart of the order. His defense did not help him, as third baseman Danny Mendick committed a throwing error to begin the inning. Four batters later, Dez Cameron delivered the walk-off win for Norfolk by smacking a three-run homer. Curtiss has allowed the walk-off hit in two straight appearances.

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (15-18) 7, New Hampshire Fisher Cats (17-16) 5  Box Score

Switch-hitting outfielder Rowdey Jordan generated the first runs for Binghamton Tuesday night as he launched his third home run to give the Ponies a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Even though he is hitting merely .193 and a .677 OPS on the year, in 11 games in May, Jordan is slashing .278/.378/.583, a .961 OPS with three home runs, nine batted in, and seven walks.

In the fifth inning, lefty hitter Matt Rudick crushed his fourth round-tripper of the year to close the gap to 4-3. Later in the seventh inning, Rudick would propel the Ponies back with the go-ahead two-run double for his second two-bagger. Rudick is 8 for his last 16 with six runs, three doubles, a home run, five batted in, and three walks. He remains one of the top hitters in the Eastern League slashing. 309/.446/.526 and a .972 OPS.

Rumble Ponies infielder José Peroza is coming off Eastern Player of the Week for May 8-14th. The 22-year-old was on fire in seven games against the Hartford Yard Goats. He kicked off last week with a bang going 4-for-4, mashing three home runs, and drove in five runs. He went 11-for-27, with 12 runs batted in, eight extra-base hits, and four multi-hit games. He went 0-for-3 with two walks Tuesday night.

After a rocky start allowing three runs in the first inning against the Fisher Cats, Dominic Hamel settled in and tossed five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and no walks. Toronto Blue Jays No. 4 prospect Orelvis Martinez burned Hamel twice, mashing two homers. The 24-year-old generated 15 swings and misses and totaled five punchouts on 83 pitches. Hamel continues limiting the walks in May, where he’s allowed just one in 15.1 innings compared to 13 in 15.2 innings in April.

Jimmy Yacabonis pitching on a rehab assignment, picked up the win. He threw two scoreless innings and allowed just one baserunner.

Right-hander Dylan Hall fired a scoreless ninth inning and notched his first save of the season. Hall punched out one batter and needed just 13 pitches to preserve the win for Binghamton.

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (11-20) 6, Hudson Valley Renegades (22-12) 9  Box Score 

  • C Kevin Parada 2-for-5, R, HR (3), 2 RBI (11), .798 OPS
  • CF Alex Ramírez 1-for-3 2 R, BB, HR (2), RBI (17), .696 OPS
  • RF Stanley Consuegra 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, .828 OPS

With the Hudson Valley Renegades leading 4-0 early against the Brooklyn Cyclones, Kevin Parada led off the fourth inning and mashed his third home run of the year to cut the deficit to 4-1. Brooklyn would tack on two more runs in the inning, with Joe Suozzi plating the third run. Parada added a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning. The 22-year-old highly ranked catcher is posting a .980 OPS in May.

Outfielder Alex Ramírez drilled a solo shot over the right-center field wall in the sixth inning to keep the Cyclones within striking distance of the Renegades. Ramirez’s bat has been cold in May, as he’s hitting just .214 compared to .294 in April, and this was his first home run since April 14th.

In the eighth inning, Stanley Consuegra belted his seventh double of the year and scored the final run for Brooklyn on Omar de Los Santos’s RBI single. Consuegra recorded a multi-hit game and scored two runs.

Jeffrey Colón was making his fifth start of the year and took the loss. The Renegades lineup knocked Colón out in 1.1 innings. He surrendered four runs on six hits and served up two home runs. The 23-year-old is sporting a bloated ERA of 9.00 and a 1.95 WHIP in 22 innings.

Right-hander Trey McLoughlin bounced back after his bad outing last Friday. He tossed two scoreless innings and punched out five Renegades. On the season, he has posted a 2.03 ERA with 22 strikeouts over 13.1 innings.

Low-A: Palm Beach Cardinals (21-13) 8, St. Lucie Mets (8-26) 6 Box Score 

The St. Lucie Mets returned home to Clover Park Tuesday night to take on the Palm Beach Cardinals for a six-game series.

Trailing 7-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning, the St. Lucie bats rallied back in the game against the Cardinals. Outfielder Carlos Domínguez returned to the lineup and hit an RBI single, and Jett Williams followed with an RBI base knock to cut the deficit to 7-2. Domínguez missed almost a month of the season and went 1-for-5 Tuesday night. Williams swiped two bags giving him eight on the year and walked for the 20th time.

In the seventh inning, after Blaine McIntosh smacked a one-out double, lead-off hitter Wilfredo Lara launched a 391-foot home run to pull St. Lucie within three. The 19-year-old Lara, in 52 plate appearances, is hitting .265 with four home runs, 12 batted in, and a .859 OPS.

The Mets scored their final runs of the game and made it 7-6 in the eighth inning with consecutive RBI base knocks by Vincent Perozo and McIntosh. 21-year-old lefty hitter McIntosh was in an 0-for-17 slump heading into Tuesday night’s game and broke out of it finishing 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

The Cardinals ‘ offense walloped and beat Lefty hurler Felipe De La Cruz. He yielded seven runs on seven hits, issued three walks, and served up three home runs in three innings.

Right-hander Christopher Vasquez held the Cardinals’ bats in check by tossing four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, walking a pair, and recording four strikeouts.