Minor League News Update:

As we reported on Tuesday, second baseman Reese Havens has indeed been activated and assigned to Double-A Binghamton in time for Sunday’s game. He is in the lineup and batting third today as the B-Mets take on the Erie SeaWolves. Welcome back, Reese.

4/29 METS FARM REPORT

I'll get Mazzoni if it's the last thing I do.

Buffalo 4, Rochester 3

From Team Reports

Vinny Rottino’s RBI-single with two outs in the ninth inning drove home Omar Quintanilla and gave the Herd a 4-3 victory over Rochester on Saturday afternoon from Coca-Cola Field. Buffalo has now won three straight, six of eight and eight of their last 11 games. They are a season-best three games over the .500 mark at 13-10.

Rottino brought a nine-game hit streak into the contest but was staring at an 0-4 day before getting his chance in the ninth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Rottino drove an offering from Rochester reliever Esmerling Vasquez right back through the middle for the game-winning run. Just as Quintanilla crossed the dish, the rest of the Bisons mobbed Rottino after first base.

The Bisons loaded the bases for Rottino without hitting the ball out of the infield. Quintanilla was hit by Vasquez to lead off the inning and then sacrificed to second by Andres Torres. Rochester intentionally walked Bobby Scales, but unintentionally issued a free pass to Valentino Pascucci to load the bases.

Buffalo had built a 3-0 advantage through the first three innings on Saturday. In his first game against his former team, Dustin Martin hit a solo home run to deep left-center in the second inning. Martin -who signed with the Mets on Wednesday- played 392 games over the past three seasons in Rochester.
The Bisons added two more in the third inning. Red Wings’ third baseman Ray Chang hit Torres in the back on an attempted force out at home. Matt Tuiasosopo followed with a sacrifice fly.

Rochester scored two in the fifth on Joe Benson’s home run and once in the sixth on Brain Dozier’s RBI-single.

Jeremy Hefner started for Buffalo and worked a Bisons’ season best 7.2 innings. The righty did not issue a walk and struck out five in his first game since being optioned back from the Mets.

Herd Rumblings: Pascucci singled in the seventh inning to increase his hit streak to 12 games. The stretch is the second-longest active streak in the International League…Andres Torres went 1-3 with a walk and a runs scored in the second game of his MLB injury rehab assignment…Jeremy Hefner has delivered a quality start in three of his four appearances with the Herd.

Erie 3, Binghamton 2

From Team Reports

The Binghamton Mets left nine men on base, including the potential game-tying run at second in the ninth, in a 3-2 loss to the Erie SeaWolves Saturday afternoon at Jerry Uht Park. The B-Mets turned four hits and seven walks into just two runs in the defeat.

B-Mets starter Collin McHugh battled low temperatures and command issues in the first two innings, walking four and reaching a full-count against five batters. In spite of the difficulties, he managed to escape unharmed with two shutout innings.

After working quick innings in the third and fourth, McHugh ran into a roadblock in the fifth. The righty allowed his first hit with one out, an infield single to short by Niuman Romero. After Brandon Douglas snuck a bunt single to third, both runners moved up an additional base when Jefry Marte uncorked a wild throw to first.

Rob Brantly gave Erie the lead by lacing a two-run, opposite-field double high off the left field fence. The hit ended McHugh’s day after 4.1 innings. He walked a season-high four and struck out four. Kevin Mulvey entered and surrendered an RBI single to Ben Guez, giving the SeaWolves a three-run edge.

Binghamton finally plated a run without the benefit of a hit in the seventh. After cruising through six frames, Avery pitched himself out of the game by walking Travis Ozga and Rafael Fernandez. Reliever Michael Morrison replaced him, walked Kai Gronauer and uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Ozga to score Binghamton’s first run. Pedro Zapata flied out to left to end the inning.

The walks continued for Erie pitching in the eighth. Morrison was pulled from the mound after putting the first three on base, all via base on balls. Jefry Marte greeted new reliever Kenny Faulk with a bloop single to right, scoring Den Dekker. The single by Marte was Binghamton’s first hit with a runner in scoring position in over 29 innings. Faulk retired the next three he faced to preserve the one-run lead.

Binghamton pushed the tying run to second in the ninth against Faulk, but failed to come through with the big hit. Zapata reached on an infield single and swiped second base with two outs. He was stranded to end the game when Oswaldo Navarro struck out against Faulk.

B-Mets Buzz: Faulk’s six-out save was his first of the season. Avery (3-1) picked up his third win and McHugh (3-2) watched his three-game winning streak come to an end with the loss. The B-Mets (11-10) wrap up their series with the SeaWolves in a rubber match tomorrow afternoon at 1:35 PM. RHP Zack Wheeler leads the B-Mets against RHP Mark Sorensen. The Horizons Federal Credit Union pre-game show begins at 1:20 PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF.

St. Lucie 4, Fort Myers 0 

By Clayton Collier

Opening up the series at Fort Myers, Cory Mazzoni and the St. Lucie Mets came to play, taking the opener 4-0. Mazzoni took the hill and never missed a beat, hurling five shutout frames on six hits while punching out four, remaining undefeated while picking up his third win of the year.

The St. Lucie offense however continued their theme of not hitting starting pitching, but coming alive against the bullpen. While only scoring one run in the form of a Cory Vaughn home run off of Jhon Garcia, the Mets scored three runs against the Miracle bullpen to win it 4-0.

The St. Lucie bullpen continued their run of dominance, hurling four one-hit innings to shut the door and hand the Mets their 18th win of the year.

Lucie Logistics: Alonzo Harris had a three hit game, rasing his average to .308 on the year. Wilmer FLores had another knock, now hitting safely in 13 straight games. With his solo shot today, Cory Vaughn now has four homers and 12 RBIs on the year. The second game of this three game set continues tomorrow in Fort Myers in a Sunday 1:05 matinee.

Lexington 5, Savannah 4

By Brandon Butler

The Savannah Sand Gnats continued their road trip against Lexington with a 5-4 loss on Saturday. Michael Fulmer was on the hill for Savannah and would get knocked out after just 3.2 inning of work and giving up four runs on five hits; two of them home runs. Not a good outing for the young right-hander whose ERA rose to 4.08 for the season.

The Gnats offense would get a run on the board in the third inning.  After a throwing error allowed Luis Nieves to reach base, T.J. Rivera would then hit an RBI double.  After scoring in the third, the Gnats would score three runs in the 5th inning to tie the ball game.  Albert Cordero hit a leadoff double, Luis Nieves reached base on another throwing error and then, T.J. Rivera came through again and cleared the bases with a 3-run homer that tied the game at 4-4 at the time.

The score would remained knotted and send the game into extra-innings. Unfortunately for Savannah, T.J. Chrism took the loss after allowing a walk-off home run to Lexington’s Drew Muron to end the game.

Gnats Gnotes: T.J. Rivera continues to hit the ball very well.  Rivera would go 2-4 with a home run, a double and four RBI’s. In the last five games, the Bronx native has 12 RBI’s. With another solid night offensively, Rivera now leads the South Atlantic League with a .407 batting average. I would not be shocked if he moves up to Single-A St. Lucie very soon. The Gnats’ Jeffrey Walters, Jack Leathersich, and Estarlin Morel threw 5.1 innings of solid relief, giving up no runs on just one hit.