RUMBLE PONIES GAME NOTES: Game #84 - Rumble Ponies (45-37) vs. Yard Goats (37-48) - 7:05 PM

BINGHAMTON RUMBLE PONIES (45-37), 3rd Eastern, 11.0 GB (New York Mets)		HARTFORD YARD GOATS (37-48), 5th Eastern, 20.5 GB (Colorado Rockies)
	Saturday, July 8, 2017 • 7:05 PM NYSEG Stadium • Binghamton, NY RHP Corey Oswalt (5-3, 2.45) vs. RHP Ryan Castellani (6-7, 5.12) NewsRadio 1290 AM WNBF YARD GOATS YANK OPENER IN BINGHAMTON: Hartford collected fourteen hits and led wire-to-wire to beat Binghamton in the series opener at NYSEG Stadium, 6-3. RHP Parker French issued six walks in six innings, but held the Ponies off the scoreboard. The Rumble Ponies offense finished the night 1-for-11 with men in scoring position. BINGHAMTON STARTER: RHP Corey Oswalt makes his 14th start of the season and second against Harford. Two starts ago, on June 26, Oswalt not only tossed 6.2 shutout innings, but hit his first professional home run to break a scoreless tie. Oswalt followed the win, though, with a two inning performance against Harrisburg on July 3 in a 6-4 win. The 23-year-old Double-A rookie has not lost since May 20, seven starts ago. HARTFORD STARTER: RHP Ryan Castellani  goes for the 17th time in 2017 and third against Binghamton. On May 28, the 21-year-old beat the Ponies by tossing a season-best eight innings and allowed a lone run. On June 27, though, Castellani was hit with a loss after giving up one run over six innings. He won his last start on July 2 against Portland with a 6.2 inning effort.. The Double-A rookie is tied for second in the Eastern League with (78) strikeouts. OSWALT ACROSS THE BOARD: RHP Corey Oswalt ranks second in the Eastern League in ERA (2.45), fourth in opponent batting average (.240), and third in baserunners/9IP (11.11). His home run on June 26 at Hartford was Binghamton’s first since Tyler Pill hit one in 2014. BAD BEGINNINGS: Friday’s 6-3 loss sent the Rumble Ponies to their fifth straight series-opening defeat. Binghamton is 1-1-2 in the first four series during that stretch. HIT PARADE: Hartford out-hit Binghamton, 14-4, on Friday, the largest margin in any game this season. The Rumble Ponies are just 9-27 when they have fewer hits than their opponents, but 31-7 when they have more hits. Binghamton has been out-hit in 6 of the last 8 games, with the only positive margins being one-hit advantages. RARE CUSHION: Hartford’s 6-3 win is just the second game in the regular-season series decided by more than two runs.  The Yard Goats own a five games to four lead through nine contests, their first three were decided by one-run. Binghamton’s quartet of victories have come by a combined six runs. MIDDLE-GAME GAFFES: The Rumble Ponies have posted a 1-4 mark in the middle game of their last five three-game series. The lone win came three nights ago in Altoona, when the Ponies earned a 4-3 win, their most recent win. Binghamton won the second game of the prior two Hartford sets.