Binghamton Mets 2015 Game Notes

Binghamton Mets (4-3) vs.

Harrisburg Senators (3-4)

(Double-A Affiliate of the Washington Nationals)

RHP Rainy Lara (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Paolo Espino (0-0, 0.00)

Thursday, April 16, 2015 • Game #8 • Home Game #1

NYSEG Stadium •  Binghamton, NY • 6:35 PM

LAST GAME: The B-Mets dropped the series finale, 5-1, against the Erie SeaWolves Wednesday afternoon at Jerry Uht Park. Binghamton went just 1-for-9 when batting with runners in scoring position and hit into a season-high three double plays. Matt Koch allowed five earned runs and eight hits in 4.2 innings pitched. T.J. Rivera extended his hitting streak to six games. Gavin Cecchini drove in his seventh RBI in the last five games. The B-Mets dropped the final two games of the series after winning the opener.

BINGHAMTON STARTER: RHP Rainy Lara makes his second start of the season. The righty allowed just four baserunners in 6.2 shutout innings his first time out. Binghamton beat Akron 1-0 for their first shutout of the season. The 24 year-old had two wins in nine home starts last season, pitching to a 3.47 ERA compared to a 5.01 ERA in 11 road starts. Lara has won both career starts against the Senators.

HARRISBURG STARTER: RHP Paolo Espino makes his second start of the season. The righty allowed just one hit in six shutout innings against the Altoona Curve. The 28-year-old struck out four, while walking just one. He made one start with Syracuse (Triple-A) in 2014, spending the rest of the season with Harrisburg. In total, he was 6-5 with a 3.84 ERA in 25 appearances, 17 starts. He held opponents to a .183 batting average on the road. Espino allowed three runs on five hits in a losing effort in his lone career start against Binghamton.

STALLED OFFENSE: Binghamton has scored just two total runs in their last two games, despite hitting .271 (16-for-59). The B-Mets are hitting .107 (3-for-28) with runners on base and .083 (1-for-12) with men in scoring position during the two contests. Binghamton scored 21 runs in their first five games, hitting .313 (20-for-64) with men on base and .325 (13-for-40) with runners in scoring position.

CAUGHT STEALING: The B-Mets are one for eight in stolen base attempts since beginning the season five for five. Their last four failed stolen base attempts have all come with two outs in an inning. Binghamton is tied for the league lead with 13 stolen base attempts in their first seven games.

HOME OPENERS: Binghamton has lost its last five home openers (since 2010), scoring just 10 total runs in the five games.

FAST START: T.J. Rivera has recorded a hit in each of his first six games of the year, his longest streak to begin a season since a 13 game hitting-streak in 2012. Rivera has hit third in all six games, recording multiple hits in three of the six games. All three RBI have come with two outs in an inning.

CATCHING HIS STRIDE: Brandon Nimmo is 5-for-12 with two home runs after an 0-for-14 start to the season. Nimmo has hit second in the lineup in all seven of the B-Mets games.

RBI MACHINE: Gavin Cecchini has driven in seven runs over his last five games, the third time he’s done so in his four year career. Cecchini also tied his career-high by driving in a run in three straight games (4/11-4/14) for the third time as well.

VS. HARRISBURG: Binghamton hasn’t lost a season series to Harrisburg since 2011, when the Senators won seven of 10 matchups. The B-Mets went 5-2 against Harrisburg a year ago, including 3-1 at home.

SERIES OPENERS: Binghamton is 1-1 in series openers this season after going 25-18 a year ago. The B-Mets are 5-16 in series openers against the Senators since 2008.