The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A) were rained out on Sunday afternoon, but the remaining games on the slate took place across the New York Mets’ organizational farm system. Top-30 prospect Zach Thornton made his Triple-A debut with the Syracuse Mets, providing a solid six innings of work. Starting pitching was solid up and down the system on Sunday, with Jose Chirinos turning in an impressive outing of his own for Single-A St. Lucie. With the bats, runs were at a premium at all levels.
Double-A Binghamton will play a doubleheader on Sunday to make up for Saturday’s rainout.
Zach Thornton. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Triple-A
Rochester 7, Syracuse 4
- 3B Yonny Hernandez: 2-3 (.642 OPS)
- CF Cristian Pache: 1-3, 2B (.774 OPS)
- SS Jackson Cluff: 1-3, HR (.496 OPS)
- 1B Christian Arroyo: 1-4, HR (.756 OPS)
The Syracuse offense did not make much noise on Sunday, totaling just six base runners in total. Half of their hits went for extra-base hits, including a pair of homers from Cluff and Arroyo. Pache raised his season OPS to just one tick under the .775 mark, and could be on the Mets’ radar if injuries continue to pile up in Queens.
A.J. Ewing has struggled over the last week or so, posting just a .544 OPS in the month of May.
- LHP Zach Thornton: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (4.50 ERA)
- RHP Ryan Lambert: IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, K (7.36 ERA)
- LHP Nate Lavender: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (0.00 ERA)
- RHP Jonathan Pintaro: IP, H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (2.91 ERA)
Thornton was solid in his Triple-A debut, allowing seven base runners over six innings of work and throwing roughly 70% of his pitches for strikes. He matched the output of his offense, but the bullpen behind him struggled once again.
Lavender has continued to look solid as he comes back from Tommy John surgery, while Lambert, who was considered to be a high-profile relief prospect coming into the season, has been struggling for the last month or so.
Double-A
As mentioned, Double-A Binghamton’s game was rained out. They’ll play a doubleheader on Sunday as a result.
High-A
Game One: Bowling Green 7, Brooklyn 6 (F/10)
- RHP Nate Hall: 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (5.70 ERA)
- RHP Hoss Brewer: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 3 K (5.25 ERA)
- RHP Hunter Hodges: 2 IP, H, R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (3.55 ERA)
The right-handed pitcher Hall was shaky again for the Cyclones, with his struggle now leaking into a second month of work. Through now six starts, Hall has gone five innings once, and walked multiple batters in every outing but one. Brewer and Hodges provided solid relief, backing up Hall and keeping the Cyclones in the game. Felix Cepeda lost it in the 10th, allowing the winning run to score on the third pitch of the inning.
- RF John Bay: 3-5, HR (.860 OPS)
- C Vincent Perozo: 3-4, HR (.668 OPS)
- 3B Colin Houck: 1-4 (.664 OPS)
- LF Corey Collins: 1-5 (.711 OPS)
The Cyclones’ bats were able to keep up with Bowling Green, but failed to get more than one run ahead in extra innings with the automatic runner played at second. Ultimately, they failed to score in the top of the 10th before the Hot Rods walked it off in the bottom half.
Bay and Perozo both turned in major performances, including homers, but accounted for the majority of the Cyclones’ offense. Those two combined for 12 total bases, with the rest of the team totaling just three the entire game.
Ronald Hernandez, Photo by Ed Delany of Metmerized
Game Two: Bowling Green 6, Brooklyn 5 (F/7)
- 2B Yonatan Henriquez: 1-4, HR (.480 OPS)
- C Ronald Hernandez: 1-3, HR (.724 OPS)
- 1B Trace Willhoite: 1-3, HR (.748 OPS)
- CF Sam Biller: 3-3 (.565 OPS)
- DH Daiverson Gutierrez: 1-3, 2B (.560 OPS)
The Cyclones had just three hits during the first 5 2/3 innings of the second game and did not draw a single walk during the duration of the contest. Their offense has been struggling from the jump of the season, but it felt to be hitting a new low late Saturday night.
Following, their offense finally awoke for four runs in the final two frames. Hernandez went yard in the sixth after Biller singled, and in the seventh Gutierrez doubled in front of a Willhoite game-tying homer.
- RHP Danis Correa: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (3.60 ERA)
- RHP Parker Carlson: 1.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (4.05 ERA)
- RHP Tanner Witt: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (16.20 ERA)
- RHP Juan Arnaud: IP, H, R, ER, BB, K (4.35 ERA)
Correa was solid in his work as an opener for the Cyclones in the second game of their doubleheader, but nothing else went according to plan for their pitching staff. Carlson was brutalized from the jump and ended up on the long side of the decision in this game. Witt was tasked with being the bulk arm for the night cap, but struggled to keep the Hot Rods off the board as well, allowing a runner of his own and an inherited runner to score. Arnaud lost the game in the bottom half of the seventh on a walk-off homer.
Single-A
St. Lucie Mets 3, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2
- RF JT Benson: 2-4, 3B, SB (.963 OPS)
- LF Randy Guzman: 1-4, 2B (.871 OPS)
- SS Elian Peña: 1-3, 2 BB (.823 OPS)
- 3B Branny De Oleo: 1-4, 2B (.684 OPS)
Benson was the catalyst for the Mets’ offense, which only needed three runs on the day to support their superb pitching performance. Benson’s triple was his fourth on the season already, and he is pushing for a call-up to High-A Brooklyn before the summer gets going.
Meanwhile, Peña continued to be an on-base machine, reaching base three times on Saturday. On the base paths, Benson swiped his sixth base of the young season, but was also thrown out once.
- RHP Jose Chirinos: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (2.52 ERA)
- RHP Emilio Obispo: 2 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 2 BB, 2 K (3.38 ERA)
- RHP Ryan Dollar: IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (5.06 ERA)
Chirinos has been a regular on Saturdays for St. Lucie, and he turned in another premier performance over the weekend. Six innings of one-run ball is arguably the best outing of his career, as he set a new season-high in innings pitched. Behind him, Ryan Dollar made quick work of the Flying Tigers for his second save of the season, needing just four pitches, all strikes, to end the ballgame.
