B-Mets Game Notes

LAST GAME:


Binghamton got out to an early 5-0 lead in the
first two innings against Portland starter Jarod Plummer, only
to see that lead disappear thanks to eight unanswered runs
from the Sea Dogs’ hitters. Portland got a three-run home run
of B-Mets closer Roy Merritt from Reid Engel to give them the
lead for good at 7-5. The 11-6 loss spoiled starter Jose Sanchez
solid start. Sanchez threw 5.2 innings and left the game
with a 5-1 lead in the sixth innings, but ended up with a nodecision.
The bullpen imploded allowing nine runs. D.J.
Wabick recorded his second three-hit performance of the
season going 3-5 with three RBI.


STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP:

Converted infielder RHP Ryan
Coultas will go for the B-Mets in game two of the series tonight.
Coultas is coming off his first win of the season at Portland’s
Hadlock Field April 30. In that start, Coultas threw five
innings giving up just one run on six hits. For the season, he is
1-1 with a 3.05 ERA in 20.2 innings of work. Last year he
worked as reliever for St. Lucie (High-A) and appeared in 47
games with a 4.17 ERA. He was a utility infielder with the BMets
in 2007. Coultas was a sixth-round pick of the Mets out
of UC-Davis in the 2004 draft.

LHP Felix Doubront makes the start for the Sea Dogs. In his
last start, he was roughed up for four runs by Binghamton in
4.1 innings including two home runs from Jonathan Malo and
Emmanuel Garcia. The B-Mets hung him with the loss in that
outing April 30 giving him a 2-1 record and a 4.34 ERA. The
Venezuelan-born lefty is a member of Boston’s 40-man roster
at age 21. He made 23 starts for Greenville (Low-A) with a
3.67 ERA in 115.1 innings striking out 118. Doubront ended
the season with Lancaster making three starts. He was signed
by the Red Sox as a 16-year old from Carabobo, Venezuela.


DIAMOND DEFENSE:

The B-Mets have been the class of the
league so far in 2009 defensively, committing just 11 errors in
22 games which puts them atop the league in team defense
with a .987 fielding percentage. Binghamton has played five
straight games of errorless ball entering tonight; their best
such streak of the season. Shawn Bowman’s .967 fielding
percentage is top of among third basemen in the league


THREE IN THE WRONG DIRECTION:

The B-Mets have been
middling all season in the win/loss columns, but as of recent
have trended downward losing three in a row for the first time
and five of seven overall. The difference at this point is the
pitching. Though the B-Mets have started to hit, averaging
over five runs in their last seven games, the pitching has given
up an average of seven runs per game. The bullpen alone has
given up 18 runs in the last three games.