Binghamton Mets (36-25) at Altoona Curve (25-35) (Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)
RHP Rafael Montero (6-3, 2.72) vs. RHP Casey Sadler (6-3, 3.33)
Saturday, June 8, 2013 • Game #63 • Away Game #32
Peoples Natural Gas Field • Altoona, PA • 6:00 PM
LAST GAME: The B-Mets defeated the Altoona Curve, 3-2, in the series opener on Friday night. Binghamton grabbed the lead in the third inning when Danny Muno scored Wilfredo Tovaron an RBI groundout. The Curve came back with a two-run single by Andrew Lambo to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth. In the fifth however, Binghamton took the lead for good. Muno tied the game with a double, and Cesar Puello took the lead with a two-out single into center. On the mound, Logan Verrett battled through six innings and earned his league-leading seventh win on the season. He was knocked around for nine base hits, but allowed only two runs to score in the win. The bullpen finished with three scoreless innings, and Jeff Walters earned his league-leading 14th save in a scoreless ninth inning.
BINGHAMTON STARTING PITCHER: RHP Rafael Montero makes his 11th start of the season for the B-Mets, and his first against the Curve. Montero has won his last three Double-A starts going back to May 13. On May 21, he lost his lone Triple-A start with Las Vegas. With the B-Mets, Montero has gone 3-1 in five starts on the road. He has allowed five earned runs in 31.0 innings. He has not given up a run in his last two starts. In Double-A, he is currently on a 16.0 inning scoreless streak. The last run against him as a B-Met was in the third inning of a 5-2 win over Akron on May 13. For the season, Montero has struck out 66 batters and only walked nine.
ALTOONA STARTING PITCHER: RHP Casey Sadler makes his 13th start of the season for the Curve. He leads the team with six wins, and is coming off of a win against Portland on June 2. In the win, he gave up four runs and seven hits over 5.2. Despite only striking out 43 in 75.2 innings, he has held opponents to a .250 batting average against. On May 28 against Binghamton, he got a no-decision after giving up four runs in six innings. At home in 2013, Sadler is 1-3 with a 4.65 ERA in five starts. He is 5-0 on the road. When batting, he is 3-for-15 with two RBI in 2013. Sadler was drafted by the Pirates in the 25th round of the 2010 draft out of Western Oklahoma State JC.
CLOSE CALL: The B-Mets have won two consecutive games by one run. They beat Trenton, 5-4 on Thursday before beating Altoona on Friday, 3-2. In 2013, Binghamton is 9-6 in one-run games.
PUELLO CONTINUES TO PRODUCE: Cesar Puello is on a five-game hitting streak, and has tallied multiple hits in each of those games. He is 12-for-20 during the stretch, and has three doubles, five home runs, and 11 RBI. Puello leads the league with a .603 slugging percentage, and is third in the league with 17 stolen bases. His batting average has jumped up to .326, which ranks him fifth in the league.
HIGH-POINT SINCE 2008: The B-Mets have won 10 of their last 13 games, and are now a season-high 11 games over .500 at 36-25. This is the first time they have been 11 games over .500 since July 3, 2008. The last time Binghamton was 12 games over .500 was September 4, 2004.
SWIPING BAGS WITH EASE: Binghamton has successfully stolen at least one base in 15 of their las
t 17 games. During that streak, they have stolen a base safely in 26 of 29 chances. As a team, the B-Mets lead the league with 77 stolen bases. That is 14 more than any other team in the league.
THE STREAK CONTINUES: Josh Rodriguez has hit safely in 20 consecutive games, stretching back to May 13. He is hitting .421 (32-76) during the streak, and has 17 RBI. The streak matches the longest by anyone in the Eastern League since Justin Christian (RIC) had a 21-game hitting streak stretching from August 2010 to April 2011.
NEXT GAME PREVIEW: The B-Mets and Altoona Curve finish up their three-game series Sunday night at 6:00 PM. Binghamton will send RHP Jacob deGrom to the mound to face RHPJameson Taillon for Altoona.
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