St. Lucie’s pitching mates Austin Troesser and Jonah Tong dominated the Tampa Tarpons in their combined two-hit effort as the Mets rolled. Troesser began the game striking out the side in the first two innings, lowering his season ERA to 1.54. Tong continued his impressive season with a relief outing in St. Lucie’s victory over the Tarpons. Tong has recorded 27 strikeouts in his 12 and two-thirds innings pitched. 

Triple-A

Syracuse Mets (2-3) 1, Charlotte Knights (8-11) 5

BOX SCORE

Trayce Thompson opened the scoring with a solo blast off the scoreboard in the second inning. Still, an eventful third inning for the Knights doomed Luis Moreno and the Mets—a walked-in run, a two-run double by former Met Danny Mendick, and an Oscar Colás sacrifice fly put Syracuse in a 4-1 hole. 

Mendick would haunt his former team further with a seventh-inning solo blast, solidifying the Charlotte victory. 

  • RHP Luis Moreno (L, 0-2): 3 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K (30 of 47 pitches for strikes)
  • LHP Kolton Ingram: 1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, BB, K (11 of 22 pitches for strikes)
  • LHP Nate Lavender: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K (16 of 26 pitches for strikes)
  • RHP Shintaro Fujinami: 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 K (16 of 26 pitches for strikes)
  • LHP Danny Young: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K (10 of 14 pitches for strikes)

It was tough sledding for Luis Moreno, who received his second loss of the season – allowing five baserunners and four earned runs in the third inning. The Syracuse bullpen would be solid the rest of the night besides Shintaro Fujinami allowing a solo home run.

Double-A

Reading Fightin Phils (5-8) 8, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (5-7) 2

BOX SCORE

The Binghamton offense struggled to find runs when it mattered despite accumulating eight hits on the night. Two big innings by Reading proved to be too much for the Rumble Ponies. The Fightin Phils were led by extra-base hits from up and down the lineup, jumping all over the Binghamton pitching staff. 

Rhylan Thomas, with his consistent performance, showcased his impressive hit tool once again, bringing in his fourth RBI in as many games. Brandon McIlwain, with his three hits, had another productive day at the dish, significantly improving his batting average to .324 and OPS to .819. 

  • RHP Joander Suarez (L, 0-1): 5 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K (55 of 88 pitches for strikes)
  • LHP Junior Santos: 2 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 0 K (28 of 44 pitches for strikes)
  • RHP Trey McLoughlin: 1 IP, ER, 2 H,  K (14 of 20 pitches for strikes)

Suarez would struggle after his excellent start to the season. After posting three scoreless frames to open the game, his pitch command would loosen, allowing two walks and a multitude of loud contact. Suarez finished his outing with five earned runs, five hits, three walks, and five strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings en route to his first loss of the year. Junior Santos was first in from the Binghamton bullpen and would find the same struggles as Suarez, allowing hard contact resulting in a Jim Haley RBI double and a Casey Martin two-run homer. Trey McLoughlin got the top of the ninth inning, allowing a run on two hits.  

High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones (5-8) 3, Wilmington Blue Rocks (8-5) 6

BOX SCORE

This was another game in which Brooklyn was dominated from the start, going down 5-0 by the fifth inning. Jersey Shore scored with RBI singles by Otto Kemp, Andrick Nava, and Felix Reyes and a Troy Schreffler fourth-inning solo homer. Brooklyn Starter Felipe De La Cruz‘s wild pitch also brought home a Blue Claw Run. 

Brooklyn scored three combined runs in the eighth and ninth innings, powered by Ryan Clifford and Joe Suozzi. Consensus top prospect Ryan Clifford has yet to get going for Brooklyn, batting to the tune of .217/.345/.693. He will look to find his success last year at the High-A level, especially his power stroke ( 22 HR between A+ Brooklyn and A+ Asheville). 

Brooklyn struck out an astonishing 16 times while leaving eight runners on base. 

  • LHP Felipe De La Cruz (L, 0-1): 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 10 H, 5 K, WP (49 of 75 pitches for strikes) 
  • RHP Brett Banks: 1 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, K (11 of 13 pitches for strikes)
  • RHP Dakota Hawkins: 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 5 K (22 of 33 pitches for strikes)

Felipe De La Cruz was roughed up for the first time in a Cyclones uniform, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits in four and two-thirds innings. His inability to finish at-bats was his demise in this start, as he gave up four of his five runs with two strikes. Brett Banks and Dakota Hawkins combined for three and a third innings pitched, one earned run, two hits, and six strikeouts. 

Low-A

Tampa Tarpons (4-9) 1, St. Lucie Mets (5-8) 3

BOX SCORE

This Friday evening bout was defined by solid pitching and timely situational hitting for St. Lucie. The Mets struck first with two third-inning RBIs by Ronald Hernandez and Jesus Baez, both on fielder’s choice groundouts. Tampa cut PSL’s lead in half after a Coby Morales fourth-inning double, but Vincent Perozo responded the following frame with a run-scoring single that put the game away. 

The Mets drew eight walks in the game – led by Christopher Suero, who had four single-handedly. 

  • RHP Austin Troesser: 4 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 8 K (48 of 73 pitches for strikes)
  • RHP Jonah Tong (W, 1-0): 4 1/3 IP, 0 ER, H, 6 K (34 of 50 pitches for strikes)

Austin Troesser started the game for St. Lucie, going four and two-thirds innings and striking out eight Tampa batters. Troesser opened the game with six consecutive Ks and dominated the rest of his outing, aside from the fourth-inning hiccup to Morales. Jonah Tong made his fourth outing of the season, first in relief, and continued his impressive pitching. While maintaining his 0.00 ERA, he also struck out six Tarpons, allowing only two hits. An exciting development for Tong was his command of the strike zone, throwing 68% of his pitches for strikes and not conceding a walk.