Mark Cohoon Dominates in AA

 Buoyed by a 13-hit attack, Mark Cohoon deftly navigated through seveninnings to help the Binghamton Mets defeat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 8-4Friday night at The Diamond. The rubber match victory was Binghamton’s thirdwin in their last four games and secured their second straight road series victory.

Binghamtonwas forced to play catch-up from the start. Gary Brown led off the bottom ofthe first inning by blasting a 2-1 pitch from Cohoon over the left field wallfor his fourth home run of the season.

Thehome run was the only blemish of the night for Cohoon. The lefty settled in andcapped his night with six straight shutout innings, retiring 13 of the final 15Flying Squirrels he faced. Only one runner reached third against the Texasnative after the first inning. He surrendered just one run on five hits whilestriking out three and walking one.

Trailing1-0, the B-Mets offense jumped on Richmond starter Mike Kickham in the sixth.Allan Dykstra led the charge by launching a double to left center. WilmerFlores followed with a single and Dustin Martin walked to load the bases. Thefree pass, Kickham’s fifth, ended the righty’s night.

Heexited with a chance to win, but the bullpen coughed up the lead. Jake Dunninginherited the bases loaded and allowed all three runners to score. WilfredoTovar tied the game by rolling a single down the left field line and JuanCenteno gave Binghamton the lead by sending an RBI single into right. Binghamtonadded two more runs on a run-scoring double play and a throwing error by thirdbaseman Daniel Mayora.

WilmerFlores kept the offense rolling in the seventh, blasting a 1-2 pitch from Dunningover the left field fence for his second homer as a B-Met.

TheB-Mets padded their lead with a three-run eighth inning. With runners on secondand third, pinch-hitter Jefry Marte stroked an RBI single to right. Binghamtonadded two more runs on another run-scoring double play by Lagares and an RBIsingle by Eric Campbell.

Givena seven-run lead, Binghamton’s bullpen let Richmond get within strikingdistance. Ryan Fraser allowed two hits and uncorked two wild pitches whileallowing a run in the eighth inning. He returned for the ninth, but was pulledafter surrendering a single and issuing two walks.

RobertCarson got the call from the bullpen with the bases loaded and gave up atwo-run single to Russ Mitchell, cutting Binghamton’s lead to four. After Brownflied out, the southpaw walked Nick Liles to re-load the bases. Juan Perezrepresented the tying run, but struck out on a high fastball by Carson to endthe game.

Cohoon(4-7) earned his first win since May 27, while Kickham (6-7) suffered the loss.Dunning was saddled with his third blown save of the season. All eight B-Metsruns scored with a Richmond reliever on the hill.

TheB-Mets (39-46) continue their roadtrip against the Altoona Curve. Thethree-game set starts Saturday night at 7:00 PM. RHP Cory Mazzoni gets the ballfor Binghamton against RHP Kyle McPherson. The Horizons Federal Credit Union pre-gameshow begins at 6:45 PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF.