Butto Impressive Again as Ponies Handle Sea Dogs

 

PORTLAND, ME – Jose Butto pitched five and a third scoreless frames and earned his first win of the year as the Rumble Ponies (4-6) downed the Portland Sea Dogs 6-1 on Wednesday night, to split the first two games at Hadlock Field.

Butto went the deepest into a game he has gone this year going five and a third innings, allowing five hits, two walks, and striking out three, and now holds a 0.66 ERA. Binghamton’s runs came in bunches as they scored a pair of runs in the fifth, sixth, and eighth.

It was a pitching battle between Butto and Portland LHP Andrew Murphy (0-1) for the first four innings. With the game scoreless in the fifth, Murphy issued walks to Matt Winaker and Jake Mangum bringing Francisco Alvarez to the plate. Alvarez promptly drilled a two-run double off the high wall in left field, putting the Ponies up 2-0.

In the sixth, Jeremy Vasquez RBI single made it 3-0 Binghamton and Winaker grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 4-0. The Ponies added insurance with more timely two-out hitting in the eighth as Manny Rodriguez belted a two-run homer over the “monster” wall in left to take a commanding 6-1 lead. It was Rodriguez first homer and RBI’s of the year with Binghamton.

Murphy allowed three hits and two runs in the loss for Portland (5-6). Yeizo Campos replaced Butto and allowed one run over an inning and two thirds of relief. Joe Zanghi pitched two scoreless frames to finish the game.

The two teams continue their series on Thursday night with first pitch at 6:00 PM and pregame coverage getting underway at 5:45 PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF, 92.1 FM, and MiLB.com

Postgame Notes: Brett Baty finished 2-5 and is hitting .395 on the year…All 9 players in the Binghamton starting lineup reached base safely at least once.