Portland 9, Binghamton 8

Wild Pitch Seals Wild Binghamton Loss, 9-8

PORTLAND, ME – The Portland Sea Dogs scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the tenth inning to defeat the Binghamton Mets, 9-8, in walk-off fashion on a cold, wet Tuesday night at Hadlock Field.

With two outs, Heiker Meneses raced home with the game-winner when John Church’s first pitch to Derrik Gibson skipped to the backstop. The errant offering capped a four-hour, three-minute contest that was played in a prevailing mist with temperatures hovering in the low 40’s.

Facing a Major League rehabber for the second straight night, the B-Mets jumped out of the gate against southpaw Craig Breslow. Alonzo Harris and Darrell Ceciliani started the contest with singles. With Josh Rodriguez at the plate, Ceciliani broke for second. Harris, leading from third, sprinted home with the game’s first run when the catcher’s throw to second skipped away.

Following a walk to Rodriguez, Allan Dykstra stroked a two-run double to right, giving the B-Mets a 3-0 lead and ending Breslow’s rehab appearance. Brandon Workman entered and racked up three outs to end the frame.

Binghamton added two more runs in the second against Workman. After a leadoff walk, Danny Muno zipped an RBI double down the left field line. The B-Mets second baseman scored later when third baseman Kolbrin Vitek let a hard groundball squeak through his legs.

The five-run lead nearly vanished in the third. B-Mets starter Tyler Pill allowed the first five batters to reach safely on two walks and three singles. JC Linares and Michael Almanzar chipped away with RBI singles and Christian Vazquez capped the inning with a two-run single to left.

With their lead trimmed to one, Binghamton responded in the fifth with a single score. Ceciliani stared the stanza with a double to left center, stole third and came home on a sac fly from Rodriguez.

The two-run advantage did not stand for long. Adam Kolarek took over for Pill in the fifth and could not avoid damage after Wilfredo Tovar unleashed an errant through on a groundball from Tony Thomas. Vazquez drove him in later in the inning with a single to left and scored the game-tying run on a triple by Heiker Meneses.

Meneses struck again in the seventh against Kolarek. Following a pair of two-out walks, the Portland nine-hitter smacked a two-run triple into the right field corner, giving the Sea Dogs an 8-6 lead.

The B-Mets took advantage of shake Portland defense to tie the game in the eighth. Reliever Will Latimer allowed the first two he faced to reach, but bounced back with two strikeouts. With two on and two outs, Wilfredo Tovar sent a chopper to third. Vitek fielded cleanly, but his throw to first skipped past Almanzar, allowing both runs to score.

Jack Leathersich preserved the tie game with 2-1/3 innings of scoreless relief. The lefty struck out three during the hitless appearance.

In the tenth, Binghamton’s threat to retake the lead fell a few inches short. The B-Mets started the inning with a walk and a single against reliever Brock Huntzinger. Followed a sac bunt and a strikeout, Wilfredo Tovar launched a fly ball to center. Playing shallow to start, Shannon Wilkerson raced back and make a leaping catch to end the frame, setting the stage for Portland’s walk-off win in the bottom half of the inning.

Church (0-3) took his third loss and watched his stretch of scoreless appearances come to a close at five. Huntzinger (1-0) earned his first win of the year. Pill took a no-decision while allowing four runs on seven hits in four innings of work. Workman surrendered three runs (two earned) on three hits over five frames.

The B-Mets (10-9) conclude their week-long roadtrip and end a three-game series with the Sea Dogs Wednesday night at 6:00 PM. RHP Erik Goeddel (1-2, 5.52) gets the ball for Binghamton against RHP Kyle Kaminska (0-2, 7.53). The Horizons Federal Credit Union Pregame Show begins at 5:45 PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF.

POSTGAME NOTES: It was Binghamton’s first extra-inning game of the season...the B-Mets went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position…Kolarek’s 2-2/3 innings of work was his longest appearance as a B-Met