Binghamton 5 - Bowie 4

 

Bonfe’s Bat Beats Bowie, 5-4

BINGHAMTON, NY – Joe Bonfe smacked a walk-off solo home run over the centerfield wall to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning to send the Binghamton Mets past the Bowie Baysox, 5-4 Sunday afternoon at NYSEG Stadium.

The homer was the first B-Met walk-off home run since August 2011 and it gave the B-Mets their sixth consecutive series victory.

The B-Mets were forced to play from behind three different times throughout the game. Bowie plated a run in the top of the first inning for the third consecutive game. Brandon Waring skipped a single over the Richard Lucas’s glove at third base as Bowie went ahead 1-0.

In the bottom of the first, Josh Rodriguez got the offense going with a one-out single. Travis Taijeron doubled down the left field line to get Rodriguez to third base, and Allan Dykstra tied the game with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

In the third, Bowie took their second lead of the game. Ty Kelly singled to begin the frame against Mark Cohoon, and scored later in the inning when Cohoon uncorked a wild pitch.

Bowie starter Devin Jones worked around a few hits through the first three innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Taijeron singled into left field, Dykstra walked, and Blake Forsythe came through with two outs with an RBI single into right field.

Niuman Romero put Bowie back on top, 4-2 in the fifth with a two-run double. Cohoon worked himself into a jam, but escaped without further damage after getting Waring to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Adam Kolarek was the first reliever for Cohoon. The lefty came in and sent down the Baysox in order in the sixth inning. The B-Mets came back and played long ball in the bottom half against Jones. With one out, Taijeron hit his fourth Double-A home run on a towering fly ball over the left field wall. Two batters later, Richard Lucas tied the game with a home run to centerfield. It was his second homer of the season, and it cleared the batters eye in centerfield.

Kolarek kept the momentum up with a scoreless seventh inning, and John Church followed suit with a scoreless eighth.

Clay Schrader was the lone reliever used for Bowie on the day; the righty made things look easy as he did not allow a Binghamton base hit in the seventh or eighth inning, but made one mistake which cost him the game.

In the ninth, Chase Huchingson threw a perfect frame striking out two in the process to set up Bonfe in the bottom of the ninth. He earned the win on the mound, and moved to 3-1 on the season. Schrader was tagged with the loss, as he allowed Bonfe’s home run in the bottom of the ninth.

The B-Mets (42-26) enjoy an off day on Monday before hitting the road for a three-game series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Tuesday night, Binghamton will send Jacob deGrom to the mound to face Carlos Torres for Richmond. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM with the Horizons Federal Credit Union Pregame show beginning at 6:20 PM on Newsradio 1290 WNBF.

POSTGAME NOTES: Reese Havens was the last B-Met to hit a walk-off home run (August 27, 2011 vs. Altoona)…Joe Bonfe’s last home run was August 21, 2011 with the Savannah Sand Gnats…Binghamton is 11-2 in June