Binghamton 12 - Erie 2

 Mickey Jannis carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Binghamton Mets offense backed him with 17 hits in a 12-2 win over the Erie SeaWolves on Thursday night at Jerry Uht Park. The knuckleballer struck out five and retired 16 straight SeaWolves in his first start of the season.

With a breeze coming in from center field, Jannis used his knuckleball to keep the SeaWolves off balance. The righty walked Tyler Bortnick in the first, but erased him by inducing Jeff McVaney to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

The twin-killing was the start of a six-inning cruise by Jannis. The righty needed just seven pitches to work a perfect second. He fanned the last two batters in a 1-2-3 third and added another strikeout in a blank fourth. Jannis started a spotless fifth by fanning cleanup hitter Dean Green with a knuckleball and used three groundballs to keep Erie in check in the sixth.

Offensively, Erie left fielder Jason Krizan opened the door for the B-Mets in the second by dropping a fly ball to start the frame. After a walk by Victor Cruzado, Colton Plaia laced a two-run double down the right-field line. LJ Mazzilli capped the three-run inning by scorching an RBI single off Tyler Bortnick’s glove at third.

Binghamton chased Myles Jaye from the game by hanging four more runs on the board in the third. Dominic Smith collected his first career Double-A by one-hopping a double off the right-field wall, plating Niuman Romero from second. Cruzado, Stefan Sabol and Maikis De La Cruz each tacked onto the lead with run-producing singles.

Jannis’ no-hit bid came to an end in the seventh. Gustavo Nunez threaded a grounder past the dive of Romero at short to lead off the inning. Jannis exited the inning without further harm, but watched his shutout bid come to an end when he surrendered a two-run homer to Krizan in the eighth.

Mike Hepple took over after the blast and carried the game to the finish line. The righty fanned four in two scoreless innings of relief.

Binghamton added five more runs in the eighth against Erie relievers Confesor Lara and Kurt Spomer.

The B-Mets (3-2) continue their first visit to Erie on Friday night at 6:35 PM. RHP Robert Gsellman makes his second start of the season against RHP Tommy Collier. The Horizons Federal Credit Union Pregame Show can be heard starting at 6:20 PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF and the Binghamton Mets channel on TuneIn.

POSTGAME NOTES: Niuman Romero tied a franchise record with three doubles…every B-Mets position player collected a hit, six B-Mets recorded multiple hits…Binghamton has scored at least three runs in an inning in three straight games

Season tickets and mini packs are on sale now and may be purchased in person at NYSEG Stadium or by visitingwww.bmets.com or calling (607) 723-METS.