Upper Minors: McHugh Battered, Lagares Homers, Muno Drives In Three

Colorado Springs 8, Las Vegas 7

It was an up and down night for the Las Vegas 51s that ended on a low note as they fell to Colorado Springs in walk off fashion, going down in a wild one 8-7.

Mets rotation hopeful Collin McHugh took the hill and had himself a day he’d like to soon forget. Going just 5 1/3 innings, McHugh surrendered four runs on a whopping 13 hits while walking none and striking out three. McHugh failed to put together a single 1-2-3 inning, however was able to limit the damage through the first five frames to three runs despite the high hit total in part due to the fact that only 1 of the 13 knocks surrendered was an extra base hit. Three of the runs scored on McHugh’s watch came in the third where Charlie Backmon, Nolan Arenado and Ryan Wheeler all cashed in RBI knocks in a merry-go-round of five straight singles. Later in the inning, Matt McBride lined a two-out base hit, however thanks to a strong throw by Juan Lagares, Arenado was tagged out at home to end the threat. McHugh would leave in the sixth with a runner on third and just one out. Justin Hampson would come on and give up three straight knocks, after which he was pulled for Armando Rodriguez , who would allow one more run to score on a sac fly, but retired the side. McHugh would receive a no decision, however his ERA ballooned from just 0.50 coming into today to a “lofty” 1.93 ERA.

The 51s were first to draw blood in this one as Lagares led off the game with a solo shot on a fly ball to left field. They would be held off the board in the second and third. In the fourth and fifth however, Las Vegas cashed in a run in each on RBI singles by Zack Lutz and Andrew Brown respectively. Lutz would be driven in in the top of the sixth on a Jamie Hoffmann drive to center that went for a double, his sixth on the season, making it a 4-3 Vegas advantage. After losing the lead in the previous half inning, the 51s Wilmer Flores came up in a 1st and 3rd situation with just one out and got himself a RBI-steak of his own. They would later load up the bases for Hoffmann who came through again, this time with a two-run single, to make it a 7-6 lead for the Mets Triple-A affiliate.

Greg Peavey came on and put up goose eggs in the seventh and eighth, and went out for his third inning of work in the ninth. Clearly gassed, Peavey was completely ineffective as he allowed the first three batters to reach base, loading them up for Tyler Colvin, who promptly served up a game winning, fly ball to right field that brought home the tying and lead runs to win it for the Colorado Springs Skysox. The 51s have now fallen to just two games over .500 at 10-8.

(Clayton Collier)

Key Stats

Juan Lagares: 1-for-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Andrew Brown: 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 R

Wilmer Flores: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Zach Lutz: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

Jamie Hoffmann: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 3 RBI

Collin McHugh: 5.1 IP, 13 H, 0 BB, 4 ER, 3 K

Justin Hampson: 0.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 ER

Greg Peavey: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 K

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Binghamton 15, New Hampshire 2

The Binghamton Mets pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of a season-high eleven walks to defeat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 15-2, at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Allan Dykstra and Danny Muno each drove in three runs as the B-Mets matched a season-high with fifteen runs scored.

Alonzo Harris led the offensive day with four singles, becoming the first B-Met in 2013 to compile a four-hit day. Vaughn also chipped into the multiple-hit effort with three of his own. Josh Rodriguez scored three times as the B-Mets had eight different players touch home.

Facing Deck McGuire for the second time in less than two weeks, the B-Mets wasted little time grabbing the lead. Binghamton loaded the bases in the first on a single and two walks and plated two runs on run-scoring groundouts by Dykstra and Cory Vaughn.

Blake Forsythe led off the second inning by bouncing a double off the right field wall and came home with two outs when Alonzo Harris zipped a single back up the middle.

The Fisher Cats scratched back in the fourth with one big fly from Ricardo Nanita. The outfielder launched a 2-0 pitch from Verrett over the right field fence for his second homer of the series, cutting Binghamton’s lead down to two.

Binghamton put the game out of reach with a five-run fifth inning. The B-Mets chewed through three New Hampshire pitchers, sent 11 men to the plate, collected three hits and took advantage of five walks to take an 8-1 lead.

Richard Lucas chased McGuire (1-2) from the game with an RBI single in the fifth. The righty exited after allowing six hits and handing out a career-high six walks. Chorye Spoone inherited three runners and allowed all to score, by uncorking a wild pitch and walking three of the four batters he faced. Trystan Magnuson finally put out the flames in the disastrous inning by inducing a fly out.

Verrett (3-0) went just far enough to pick up his third straight win. The righty allowed five hits and surrendered one run over five innings in the victory. His only blemish was Nanita’s solo homer in the fourth.

Binghamton’s offensive attack continued into a four-run sixth inning. The B-Mets took advantage of a fielding error with the bases loaded, a hit batsman and three hits, highlighted by Danny Muno’s two-run single off the top of the right field wall. They tacked on three more runs on three hits and two errors in the ninth.

Adam Kolarek, in his first game since returning from the Las Vegas 51’s (AAA), tossed two scoreless innings of relief. Adrian Rosario closed the B-Mets pitching tab and allowed one run on two hits in two innings of relief.

The B-Mets (10-7) continue their week-long roadtrip by starting a three-game series against the Portland Sea Dogs Monday night in Maine at 6:00 PM. RHP Jacob DeGrom (0-1, 1.13) takes the hill for his second Double-A start. RHP Brandon Workman (3-0, 3.00) gets the ball for Portland.