Portland 2 - Binghamton 1

The Binghamton Mets fumbled a late one-run lead and missed out on a sweep opportunity in a 2-1 loss to the Portland Sea Dogs on a cold Thursday afternoon at Hadlock Field. Portland plated two runs in the seventh and stiff-armed a late Binghamton rally to snap the B-Mets’ 14-game winning streak at Hadlock Field. Binghamton settled for a pair of victories in Portland, securing their third consecutive series win.

Trailing by a run, Portland’s offense finally clicked against Rainy Lara in the seventh. Tim Roberson laced a double into the right-field alley to start the inning. Rainel Rosario tied the game with a double into left-center. Lara issued a walk to Ryan Court before handing off to Akeel Morris. Tzu-Wei Lin greeted the righty by zipping a go-ahead RBI single into left field.

Forced to play from behind, Binghamton threatened in the eighth, but failed to break through against reliever Simon Mercedes. Maikis De La Cruz singled to open the frame, but was thrown out trying to swipe second. The two following B-Mets reached, but Niuman Romero grounded out and Dominic Smith flied out.

The B-Mets had been kept in check by Portland starter Aaron Wilkerson. The righty retired the first eleven batters he faced before issuing a two-out walk in the fourth inning. He stranded two runners that inning and put down seven of the final eight he faced to carry the game through six innings.

Binghamton pushed their only run across without hitting a ball out of the infield in the seventh. Victor Cruzado dragged a bunt single to start the rally against Mercedes. The B-Met outfielder took second on a groundout, grabbed third on LJ Mazzilli’s broken-bat infield single to short, and scampered home on a two-out wild pitch.

Lara’s rocky seventh spoiled a strong first six innings. He scattered five singles over a half-dozen scoreless innings, matching Wilkerson zero-for-zero. Lara (2-3) took the loss after Morris allowed an inherited runner to score in the seventh.

Mercedes (2-2) walked the tightrope over two innings to pick up the win. Chandler Shephered tossed a perfect ninth to seal Portland’s first win this season against the B-Mets.