4-8: - B-Mets vs. Akron - Pre-Game Notes

Binghamton Mets (0-0) vs.


Akron Aeros (0-0)

AA Affiliate of the Cleveland Indians

LHP Eric Niesen (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Zach Putnam (0-0, 0.00)

Game #1• Thursday, April 8, 2010

NYSEG Stadium • Binghamton, NY • 6:35 p.m.
 
LAST GAME: Tonight, the Binghamton Mets open the 2010


season against the Akron Aeros. This is the fourth time in the

B-Mets history that they will open up their season with the

Double-A Indians. In 2005, Binghamton beat Akron April 7 at

Canal Park 4-1 behind RHP Brian Bannister, now a starter for

the Kansas City Royals. 2006 saw the B-Mets shutout Akron

at NYSEG Stadium April 6 3-0. In 2007, Binghamton’s threegame,

season-opening series at Akron was snowed out. Last

season, the B-Mets opened at Trenton and knocked off the

Thunder 5-3, coming back from a late-inning, three-run deficit

behind a strong performance from Ruben Tejada, who drove

in a pair of runs. Tejada, who was the youngest player in the

Eastern League last year, is now a member of the New York

Mets.

STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP: LHP Eric Niesen, a 2010 nonroster

invitee to NY Mets Spring Training, will make his first

career Opening Day start tonight. The talented southpaw split

last season between St. Lucie (High-A) and Binghamton. He

tallied a 4-7 mark with a 4.66 ERA in 16 starts spanning 83

innings. Niesen led all Mets minor leaguers with 134 strikeouts

in 2009. He was the Mets’ third-round choice in 2007

out of Wake Forest and is considered the No. 24 prospect in

the Mets farm system by Baseball America.

RHP Zach Putnam gets the Opening Day call for Akron. He

returns to a starting role this year after spending 2009 in the

Aeros bullpen, where he made 33 appearances with a 4-2

record and 4.13 ERA in 56.2 innings. Putnam is considered

the No. 16 prospect in the Indians system according to Baseball

America. A talented two-way player at the University of

Michigan, the righty was Cleveland’s fifth-round pick in 2008.

“TURN THE PAGE”: 2009 was a difficult year for Binghamton;

the team finished with the worst record in the affiliated baseball,

54-86. April proved to be the only winning month for the

B-Mets last year, as the team went 10-8. New faces dot the

dugout in 2010, including Manager Tim Teufel, who won a

World Series in 1986 with the New York Mets as a second

baseman.

HISTORY LESSON: This is the B-Mets 19th consecutive season

Eastern League season and 93rd season overall dating back

to the Binghamton Bingoes of the New York State League,

which debuted in 1885. Binghamton was a charter member of

the Eastern League playing from 1923-1963 and again in

1967 and 1968 as the Binghamton Triplets. When the Triplets

began play in 1923, however, the league was dubbed the New

York-Pennsylvania League. It was not until 1938 that the

league garnered the “Eastern League” moniker