B-Mets Game Notes

LAST GAME:

Last night defined the term pitchers’ duel for six
innings. Neither Tobi Stoner nor Junichi Tazawa allowed a
baserunner until the fifth inning. To start the B-Mets fifth,
however, Lucas Duda smashed a solo home run deep to rightcenter
to put Binghamton in front 1-0. Having thrown five nohit
innings, Stoner came out in the sixth and proceeded to
allow the first two to reach on a walk and a single. After Ryan
Khoury sacrificed the two up to scoring position, Mark Wagner
drove them in with a double down the third base line to give
Portland a 2-1 lead. They would add another run two batters
later when Aaron Bates doubled to center, scoring Wagner
and putting the Sea Dogs in front 3-1. Binghamton got the
first two hitters of the inning on base in the seventh with a
Thole single and a Duda double, but the B-Mets would score
only one on a D.J. Wabick sac fly to make it 3-2. Richie Lentz
and T.J. Large finished things off with scoreless eighth and
ninth innings. Tazawa picked up the win with a season-best
seven innings of two-run work. Stoner went 6.2 innings allowing
three runs and four walks.

STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP:

RHP Ryan Coultas will make
his 10th start of the season tonight for the B-Mets. He is coming
off his best start of the year May 29 at New Britain when
he threw eight shutout frames allowing two hits and two walks
to win 6-0 over the Rock Cats. Entering the game tonight,
Coultas is 4-2 with an ERA of 2.55, which ranks seventh in the
Eastern League, in 53 innings. He has pitched well against
Portland this season going 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 17.1 innings.
Coultas is a converted infielder who began his pitching
career as a reliever last season for St. Lucie (High-A) appearing
in 47 games with a 4.17 ERA in 69 innings. He was the
Mets’ sixth-round choice in 2004 out of UC-Davis, where he
starred as a shortstop.

RHP Ryne Lawson is slated to make his sixth start of the season
tonight, and first against the B-Mets. In his last start,
Lawson gave up a season-high eight runs in 4.2 innings at
Connecticut May 29. He walked five in the start and was hung
with the loss. For the year he is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 25
innings. Lawson spent most of 2008 with Greenville (Low-A)
making 30 appearances, mostly in relief, with a 3.40 ERA in
79.1 innings before making six starts with Portland to end the
season. He was Boston’s 30th-choice in 2006 out of West
Alabama.

DUDA HITTING STRIDE:

B-Mets first baseman Lucas Duda is
starting to heat up as the cleanup hitter with hits in four
straight games (6-13) including two home runs and two doubles
with 6 RBIs. He has also walked six times during the
current stretch.