Portland 5 - Bingamton 3

Matt Spring launched a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the eleventh inning to lead the Portland Sea Dogs past the Binghamton Mets, 5-3, on Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium. After striking out in his first four at-bats, Spring sent Jon Velasquez’s 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall to secure Portland’s sixth straight win.

The Sea Dogs wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the first against Hansel Robles. Mookie Betts led off the game with a single, took second on botched pickoff attempt, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out single by Blake Swihart.

Binghamton answered back with their own two-out production. After Matt Reynolds singled and moved to second, Kevin Plawecki dumped a game-tying RBI single to center off Portland starter Mike McCarthy.

Portland broke the tie with two runs in the fifth. Robles surrendered a double and walked Betts to set the table for Deven Marrero. The Sea Dogs shortstop stroked a two-run single down the left-field line, giving the visitors a 3-1 lead.
Binghamton chipped away at the deficit against McCarthy over the next two innings. Cory Vaughn started the fifth with a double, moved to third on a single and scored when Darrell Ceciliani bounced into a double play. In the sixth, Matt Clark led off with a two-bagger and came home two batters later when Jayce Boyd ripped a game-tying RBI single up the middle. The hit chased McCarthy from the game.

With the game tied, the B-Mets bullpen shined. Cody Satterwhite took over in the fifth from Robles and tossed 2-1/3 innings of shutout relief. John Church struck out the side in the eighth and Chasen Bradford tacked on two more scoreless innings.

Michael Olmsted was the first out of the pen for Portland and posted 1-2/3 shutout innings. Aaron Kurcz worked around a one-out single to post a scoreless eighth, his first action since July 2012 following Tommy John surgery.

Binghamton threatened to break the tie game in the ninth. Kyle Johnson doubled with one out against Robby Scott, took third on a groundout, but was stranded when Reynolds struck out to end the inning. History repeated itself in the tenth. Brian Burgamy advanced to third with two outs after a leadoff walk, but was left 90 feet away when Boyd grounded out to end the inning.
After Spring’s blast gave Portland a two-run cushion, the B-Mets had one last push. They put two aboard on a walk and single in the eleventh, but Scott fanned Reynolds to end the game.

Scott (2-0) tossed three shutout innings of relief to earn his second win of the season against the B-Mets. Velasquez (0-2) was tagged for two runs on two hits in his lone inning of work. Robles walked a career-high seven over 4-2/3 innings in the no-decision.


POSTGAME NOTES: It was the first extra-inning game of the season for the B-Mets…it was their first loss when out-hitting an opponent (8-1)…the B-Mets have lost back-to-back games for the first time this year.- team pres release