Minor League Game Results

Syracuse drops series finale to Buffalo, 2-0

The Syracuse Mets wrapped up a frustrating week on Sunday afternoon, dropping the series finale, 2-0, to the Buffalo Bisons on a sunny day at NBT Bank Stadium. The Mets lost all three games they played against the Bisons this weekend, scoring just two runs in the process and lost five games during the six-game series.

Buffalo (59-51) scored twice early in the ballgame, plating single runs in the first and second innings. In the top of the first, the Bisons scored quickly after two outs to start the frame. Gabriel Moreno doubled and then scored on Zack Collins’s two-out single into left field for a 1-0 Buffalo lead. Moreno, considered one of the best prospects in Minor League Baseball, was making his return to the lineup on Sunday afternoon. He had not played since August 5th. 

In the top of the second, the Bisons did damage again with two outs. Chavez Young singled and promptly swiped his way up to second base, putting himself in scoring position with two outs. Then, he created a run all on his own. As he stole third, the throw from the catcher Patrick Mazeika sailed wildly into left field, allowing Young to get up and run the final 90 feet home on the throwing error for a 2-0 Bisons edge. Young has now stolen 20 bases this season in 21 attempts.   

From there, David Peterson settled into a solid shorter start for the Mets. By the end of his four-inning outing, the left-hander had struck out seven batters while walking just two. While Peterson did allow eight hits, they all came with two outs, and he stranded seven total runners on base in his four innings of work.  

After Peterson started the show, the bullpen backed him up with five brilliant innings of their own. José Rodriguez, Stephen Nogosek, and Bryce Montes de Oca worked the second half of the game in scoreless fashion, allowing just four hits and three walks while striking out five batters. Rodriguez did the bulk of the work, tossing three of the scoreless frames with no walks and three strikeouts. 

Despite the strong pitching work from Syracuse (48-63) all afternoon long, the work from Buffalo’s pitching staff was better. The Bisons shut out the Mets on six hits, as Shaun Anderson, Nick Allgeyer, Kyle Johnston, Brandon Eisert, Vinny Nittoli, and Matt Gage held Syracuse off the scoreboard on Sunday afternoon. The Mets mustered up just two baserunners in the final three innings of the game. 

The offensive frustration for Syracuse was multi-layered over the weekend. Despite scoring just two runs in the three games, the home team certainly had its chances. The Mets left 24 runners on base in the three weekend games. Syracuse also had 21 combined hits in the three games.   

Some positives: Brett Baty had another two-hit game, his third in his first week in Triple-A. Baty finished his first week 8-for-23 at the plate with the Syracuse Mets. Nick Plummer smacked a single in the sixth, extending his hitting streak to a team-best 11 games. The Mets also have had at least six hits in each of their last 10 games.  

Syracuse now hits the road all next week for a six-game series against the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, the Charlotte Knights. Tuesday night’s game is slated to start at 6:35 p.m.

Ponies Drop Series Finale to Curve

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (12-26, 40-67) fell 6-1 to the Altoona Curve (20-19, 53-55) on Sunday afternoon at Mirabito Stadium as Altoona was able to take five out of six games in the series.

Jared Triolo wasted no time putting Altoona ahead in the first with a first-pitch home run off Ponies starter Alex Valverde (1-5). It was Triolo’s seventh homer of the season and his second leadoff homer of the series.

Binghamton responded with an RBI single from Ronny Mauricio, his 69th of the season, in the bottom of the first scoring Wyatt Young to tie the game. Young led off the inning with a triple to right.

The Curve tacked on three runs in the fourth as Blake Sabol’s solo homerun and Andres Alvarez’s two-run shot put Altoona on top 4-1. The Curve added their fourth homer of the afternoon courtesy of Endy Rodriguez’s solo blast in the fifth. Rodriguez also scored on Malcom Nuñez’s sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Nick Dombkowski (2-1) pitched two perfect innings while striking out four in his second win of the season.

The Ponies will begin a two-week road trip on Tuesday against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM with pregame coverage beginning at 6:20 PM on NewsRadio 1290 WNBF and 92.1 FM.

Matt O'Neill's 9th Inning Homer Propel's Brooklyn to 6-5 Win

Matt O’Neill’s two-run, pinch hit homer in the bottom of the ninth provided the winning margin as Brooklyn won a thriller over Wilmington on Sunday afternoon by the score of 6-5. With the win, the Cyclones salvaged a split of the six-game series against the Blue Rocks.

Brooklyn jumped in front in the top of the third when Gregory Guerrero singled and Matt Rudick doubled to put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. After William Lugo popped out on the infield for out number two, Alex Ramirez singled on a ground ball into left field to score the pair and give Brooklyn a 2-0 edge.

But as was the case most of the series, the Blue Rocks answered right away, and in a big way. Cole Daily reached on an error to start the fame and later in the frame Ricardo Mendez walked to put runners on the corners with one out. Jose Sanchez then hit a grounder to third that William Lugo fielded and threw home, but Daily beat the throw home to give the Blue Rocks their first run. Luis Moreno, Brooklyn’s starter, then uncorked a wild pitch that moved runners up to second and third before Robert Hassell III walked to load the bases. Onix Vega singled to tie the game and keep the bags full. Yasel Antuna then hit what seemed to be an inning ending double play, but Gregory Guerrero couldn’t field it cleanly and had to settle for just one out which allowed the go-ahead run to score. Kevin Strohschein followed with an RBI single to give Wilmington a 4-2 lead before Oscar Rojas came out of the bullpen to record the final out of the frame.

Brooklyn kept the see-saw scoring going in the top of the fourth when Stanley Consuegra singled to start the frame and Jose Mena followed with a walk to put a pair of runners aboard with nobody out. Consuegra moved up to third on a long fly out from Joe Suozzi and came home to score on an RBI single from Jaylen Palmer. Gregory Guerrero then worked a walk to load the bases and Matt Rudick ripped a single into left field to plate Mena and knot the score at 4-4. But William Lugo followed by grounding into a double play to end the frame with the game still tied.

In the bottom of the frame, Wilmington took the lead on an RBI single from Ricardo Mendez that gave them a 5-4 edge.

That’s how things would stay until the ninth, as Brooklyn didn’t collect a hit between the fifth and the top of the ninth when Joe Suozzi led off the frame with a double to instantly put the tying runner in scoring position. After Jaylen Palmer struck out for out number one, Matt O’Neill pinch hit for Gregory Guerrero and connected on a 2-1 pitch and sent it deep over the center field wall for a go-ahead, 425 foot blast.

Daison Acosta then tossed a spotless bottom of the ninth to close out the thrilling, come-from-behind win for the Cyclones.

The Cyclones will now return to Coney Island to open a six-game series with the Hudson Valley Renegades (New York Yankees) with first place on the line.

Mets Beat Threshers 8-2 in Finale, Win Series

The St. Lucie Mets defeated the Clearwater Threshers 8-2 on Sunday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark to clinch a 4-2 series victory over the Philadelphia affiliate.

 

The teams played a scoreless game through the first four innings. The Mets broke through in the fifth when Carlos Dominguez hit a leadoff double and later scored on a two-out infield single by Blaine McIntosh.

 

The Threshers jumped ahead 2-1 in the fifth inning on a two-run homer by Cade Fergus off Mets reliever Joel Diaz.

 

Dominguez hit a sac fly in the sixth inning to bring home Chase Estep to tie the game 2-2.

 

Estep gave the Mets the lead for good with a two-out RBI single that plated Fernando Villalobos in the seventh inning.

 

Tanner Murphy made it 4-2 Mets with a RBI double in the eighth.

 

The Mets blew the game open in the ninth with four runs, all scoring with two outs. Raul Beracierta singled home Estep and Dominguez followed with a three-run homer to right field to make it 8-2.

 

It was the 19th homer for Dominguez, who leads the FSL in long balls. The Mets clobbered 11 home runs in the six-game series.

 

Daniel Juarez (3-1) pitched the sixth, seventh and eighth innings without allowing a hit or run to get the win. He walked one and struck out five.

 

Calvin Ziegler made the start for the Mets and pitched two hitless and scoreless innings.

 

Diaz followed Ziegler for the next three innings, giving up just the two-run homer to Fergus.

 

Estep went 3 for 5 with a double, RBI and two runs.

 

Dominguez went 2 for 3 with the homer, a walk, four RBI and three runs.

 

Murphy finished 2 for 5 with a double.

 

Threshers starter Josh Hendrickson gave up a single to Omar De Los Santos on the first pitch of the game but retired the next 12 Mets in a row to finish with four scoreless innings in a MiLB rehab appearance.

 

The Threshers used five different relievers for one inning apiece to finish out the game. The Mets scored against each one.

 

The Mets (64-43, 24-18) are 21 games over .500 for the first time this season. They are also tied with Palm Beach for first place in the FSL East second half. 

 

The Mets are off on Monday. Their road trip continues on Tuesday when they start a six-game series at the Lakeland Flying Tigers. First pitch Tuesday is 6:30 p.m.