Minor League Game Results

Syracuse survives rain-soaked slugfest in Charlotte with 11-10 Mets win

The Syracuse Mets hit three home runs and held off a late Charlotte comeback as the Mets beat the Knights, 11-10, on Thursday night in a game delayed by rain before the start of the seventh inning for one hour and 34 minutes. The series thus far has been an absolute scoring bonanza, with the two teams combining for 53 runs in the first three games and each of the three games decided by just one run.

For the first time in the series, Syracuse (50-64) got on the board first with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Travis Jankowski reached on a fielding error to start the game, promptly swiping second base. Francisco Álvarez then walked to put two on base with nobody out, bringing Dominic Smith to the plate. Smith lined a sharp drive into the right-field corner, scoring Jankowski and advancing Álvarez all the way to third. However, Smith was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double, making it just a runner on third with one out and a 1-0 game. From there, the Mets tacked on another run. After a Mark Vientos strikeout and a Daniel Palka walk, Travis Blankenhorn blooped a single into center field that scored Álvarez and made it 2-0 Mets right out of the gate.

From there, Charlotte (44-70) raced in front with a run in the bottom of the first and two more in the bottom of the second. In the first, Mark Payton led off the frame with a walk, followed by a Yolbert Sanchez groundout that moved Payton up to second base. A Jake Burger single into center field scored Payton and knotted the game up, 1-1. In the second, the Knights scored via the long ball. Blake Rutherford and Zach Remillard each hit solo home runs to propel the home team in front, 3-2.

In the fifth, the Mets roared back with their own pair of long balls. JT Riddle and Travis Jankowski started the inning with singles, followed by an Álvarez strikeout that made it two runners on base with one out. Smith then did it again, lacing a three-run home run over the right-field wall for his fourth RBI of the night and a 5-3 Mets lead in a flash. Smith has now homered on back-to-back nights. Syracuse wasn’t done there. Mark Vientos singled and Daniel Palka then crushed a home run of his own, a two-run shot to left-center field, that pushed the Mets cushion up to four, 7-3.

The Knights, however, had a big inning right up their sleeve to crawl right back in the ballgame. In the bottom of the sixth, it all started for the home team after two quick outs to begin the inning. Then, Adam Haseley walked, followed by a Blake Rutherford double that plated Hasely and made it a 7-4 game. The next batter, Craig Dedelow, smacked a home run that turned it into a 7-6 game just like that.

The rain came soon after, delaying the game by an hour and 34 minutes. When the game finally resumed just shy of 10:30 p.m., the Mets got right back to scoring runs in the top of the seventh. After a one-out Smith single, Mark Vientos launched his 21st home run of the season, a two-run shot that vaulted Syracuse back up by three, 9-6. Vientos and Palka are tied for the team lead in round-trippers so far this season with 21 apiece.

The Mets scored two more times in the top of the eighth inning to seemingly put the game out of reach. Gosuke Katoh started the inning with a double but was stuck on second after consecutive outs. Francisco Álvarez walked with two outs to keep the inning alive, followed by another walk to Smith that loaded up the bases. Vientos and Palka followed up with back-to-back singles to score two more runs, make it 11-6, and put Syracuse in the driver’s seat.

Charlotte would score one run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it an 11-7 game, and then it got really interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning. Phillip Diehl came out of the bullpen and got the first out of the frame quickly, but then gave up a walk and two straight singles to load up the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly scored one run and made it 11-8, but it also put the Mets one out away from a victory. However, back-to-back singles from Adam Haseley and Blake Rutherford plated two more runs, put runners on first and second, and all of a sudden made it a one-run game at 11-10. Craig Dedelow came to the plate with a chance to be a hero, but Diehl mercifully struck Dedelow out to end a wild game with Syracuse winning, 11-10.

The middle of Syracuse’s lineup had a feast at the plate on Thursday night as the 3-4-5 hitters (Dominic Smith, Mark Vientos, and Daniel Palka) each finished the game with three hits. The trio combined to drive in ten of Syracuse’s 11 runs on the night, and they also had nine of the team’s 14 hits.

Truist Field is known for being a hitter’s paradise, and this week has been no exception. The two teams have combined for 14 home runs in the first three games of the series, including six in Thursday night’s game alone.

Syracuse continues its six-game series against the Charlotte Knights on Friday night with the third game of the series. First pitch is slated to start at 7:04 p.m.

Ponies Take Down Squirrels Thursday at The Diamond

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies got off to a quick start in the first and added insurance in the ninth to defeat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 7-4 on Thursday night at The Diamond. The Ponies have won two of the first three games in the series.

Binghamton (14-27, 42-68) was led by Ronny Mauricio and Zach Ashford, as Mauricio got the Ponies on the board in the first with an RBI double and smashed a long two-run homer to right in the fifth, his 23rd of the year, that put Binghamton up 5-1. In between, Zach Ashford had a two-out RBI single in the second and a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Mauricio finished 2-5 with a run scored and three runs batted in, as he now has 73 RBI on the season.

Richmond though would claw back into the game with a solo homer in the fifth from Riley Mahan that cut the Ponies lead to 5-2. Armani Smith added an RBI double in the sixth to make it a two run game and Brandon Martorano blasted a solo home run to begin the eighth to make it 5-4.

Later in the eighth, Richmond (13-28, 53-57) would have a runner on third with one out, but Dedniel Núñez struck out Brett Auerbach for the second out of the inning. Two batters later, with runners on second and third, Grant Hartwig got Carter Aldrete to line out to short, with Mauricio making a jumping catch to end the inning.

Holding on to a one-run lead in the ninth, the Ponies tacked on two insurance runs with two out RBI singles from Luke Ritter and Carlos Cortes to give the Ponies a 7-4 lead. Grant Hartwig pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save since joining Binghamton.

Jose Chacin (2-8) allowed two earned runs over six innings with no walks and four strikeouts to earn his second consecutive win. Kai-Wei Teng (5-9) allowed five runs and seven hits over five and a third frames with four walks and seven strikeouts.

The two teams continue their series on Friday night with first pitch at 6:35 PM.

Renegades Rough Up 'Clones, 11-4

The Hudson Valley Renegades roughed up the Cyclones on Thursday night by the score of 11-4. Brooklyn surrendered a season-high 16 hits and tied a season-high by issuing nine walks. Tommy Hunter made a Major League Rehab appearance with the Cyclones and tossed 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and a walk in the start.

Brooklyn jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when William Lugo worked a one-out walk and was able to score all the way from first on a Jose Peroza RBI double to give the ‘Clones the early edge.

In the top of the third Hudson Valley scored three times against RHP Junior Santos (6-12) to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The ‘Gades had five straight hits in the frame leading to the three runs.

Brooklyn answered back in the bottom half of the inning, again courtesy of Jose Peroza. The Cyclones infielder plated Matt Rudick with an RBI single that cut the deficit to 3-2.

But that’s as close as the ‘Clones would get as the Renegades scored one in the fourth and again in the fifth to push their lead to 5-2 at the halfway point of the ballgame.

Alex Ramirez had an RBI double in the fifth, and William Lugo added an RBI single in the seventh to account for the rest of Brooklyn’s runs.

For Hudson Valley, the top five batters in their lineup had multi-hit games led by Jasson Dominguez who went 3-for-6 with three runs scored, a home run, and two RBI, while Tyler Hardman posted a 3-for-5 effort with three runs scored, four RBI and a home run.

The Cyclones will look to rebound on Friday evening and get even in the series when they send RHP Christian Scott to the mound for the 7:00 start.

Dominguez hits 20th homer in 7-2 loss at Lakeland

The Lakeland Flying Tigers pulled away for a 7-2 victory against the St. Lucie Mets on Thursday at Joker Marchant Stadium.

The Mets scored their only runs on a two-run homer by Carlos Dominguez in the fourth inning. The home run, which traveled 433 feet, was the 20th of the season for Dominguez. He becomes the first St. Lucie Met since Dustin Lawley in 2013 to hit 20 home runs in a season.

Dominguez is now part of the 20/20 club as well (20 homers, 20 stolen bases).

The Dominguez long ball briefly gave the Mets a 2-1 advantage. However, the Flying Tigers scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Manuel Garcia hit a RBI single to make it 2-2, then Iverson Leonardo crushed a two-run triple off Jordan Geber to put the Flying Tigers up 4-2.

Lakeland added two more runs against Geber in the seventh inning to pull away. Peyton Graham and Justice Bigbie hit RBI singles for a 6-2 lead. The Flying Tigers added an insurance run in the eighth on a sac fly by Leonardo.

Lakeland’s bullpen used four pitchers to throw five shutout innings. Tyler Mattison (1-0) pitched a perfect fifth inning to get the win. The Flying Tigers bullpen has allowed just four runs in 20 innings in the series.

Tyler Stuart, the Mets sixth round draft pick from Southern Miss, made his team debut. He struck out the side in the first inning. Overall Stuart allowed one run on one hit in 1.1 innings. He walked one and struck out four.

The Mets were held to four hits. Eduardo Salazar went 2 for 4.

The Mets (65-45, 25-20) and Flying Tigers (53-56, 21-22) play the fourth game of their series at Joker Marchant Stadium on Friday at 6:30 p.m.