B-Mets 5, Connecticut 4

A five-run first inning led the Binghamton Mets to their sixth win in eight games, as they knocked off the Connecticut Defenders 5-4 Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium. Lucas Duda extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a single in the third, surpassing Brian Dopirak of New Hampshire for the longest this season in the Eastern League.

The Defenders scored first off Dylan Owen in the first inning with two runs on four hits. Brock Bond singled, and scored on a Mike McBryde double. McBryde then advanced to third on Brandon Crawford’s fly out and Brett Pill drove him in with a single to put Connecticut in front 2-0.

Binghamton (37-58) responded in the bottom half of the first with five runs, one earned, against Brooks McNiven, who only could muster two outs. McNiven was pinned with the loss.

Ten B-Mets came to the plate, as Binghamton was helped by two Defenders’ errors. Emmanuel Garcia walked to lead off the frame, extending his home on-base streak to 24 games. Josh Thole collected a two-run single and two more runs scored on a Bond error. Jose Coronado plated the fifth and final run with a single to center, driving home D.J. Wabick. Reliever Ben Snyder struck out Garcia to get Connecticut out of the inning.

Crawford singled to start the fifth and moved to third on Pill’s single. Owen then induced a double play off the bat of Eddy Martinez-Esteve, scoring Crawford, cutting the B-Mets lead to 5-3.

Connecticut (54-42) closed within one in the eighth when Emary Frederick allowed a double to Ramon Castro and a single to Jackson Williams before being pulled for Roy Merritt. Merritt got Tyler La Torre to ground into a run-scoring double play and Bond grounded out holding the B-Mets lead at 5-4.

Connor Robertson worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save of the season. Owen was knocked for three runs in five innings but won his third game of the year. He allowed 11 hits, a season-high for a B-Mets starter.