Binghamton Mets 2014 Game Notes

Binghamton Mets (47-33) at

Altoona Curve (29-51)

(Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)

RHP Matt Bowman (5-5, 3.72) vs. RHP Pat Ludwig (0-2, 5.54)

Sunday, June 29, 2014 • Game #81 • Road Game #40

Peoples Natural Gas Field • Altoona, PA • 6:00 PM

LAST GAME: The Binghamton Mets scored the first seven runs of the game and held on to beat the Altoona Curve, 8-7, on Saturday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The Curve scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to one and left the tying run at third base in the ninth. Dilson Herrera went 4-for-5 with a home run and tallied  in five RBI. Xorge Carrillo managed three hits and scored twice. Steven Matz picked up his first Double-A win, while going six scoreless innings and striking out nine.

BINGHAMTON STARTER: RHP Matt Bowman makes his 14^th start of the season and first against Altoona. The Chevy Chase, Maryland native is coming off a hard-luck loss on Sunday, June 29 at Bowie. Bowman went seven innings allowed two runs and struck out three in a 2-0 Binghamton defeat. The game was the fourth time the righty had gone seven innings in a start. He’s allowed a total of four runs in the last 20 innings. The Princeton product was taken by the Mets in the 13^thround of the 2012 draft

ALTOONA STARTER: RHP Pat Ludwig makes his fourth appearance of the year for Altoona and his third straight start. The 24-year-old is coming off a loss in his last outing. He went five innings and allowed four runs on three home runs in a 5-2 defeat to New Britain on Tuesday, June 24. Ludwig started the season with Bradenton (High-A). He was 2-1 with a 3.96 ERA and two saves in 15 games. He started four of those outings. The Yale product was drafted by Pittsburgh in the tenth round of the 2012 draft.

COMING IN HOT: B-Mets INF Dilson Herrera went 4-for-5 at the plate on Saturday and drove in a career-high five runs. It’s his fifth multi-hit game since joining Binghamton on June 19. He’s hitting .389 (14-for-36) in nine outings with the B-Mets. He has seven runs and nine RBI. The five RBI tie the second most a Binghamton player in a game this season and it’s the eighth time a player has had at least four hits in a contest.

STREAK ON THE LINE: With a win on Sunday, Binghamton would guarantee it’s sixth straight series win. The last time they lost a series was June 6-8 against New Britain. The team is 15-4 over the course of the last five series, That includes separate six-game and five-game winning streaks.

KYLE CAPITALIZES ON CURVE Binghamton OF Kyle Johnson continued his hot hitting against Altoona on Saturday. The righty went 2-for-4 and scored three times. Johnson is 5-for-10 through the first three games of the series with four runs and three RBI. On Friday night, he finished just a home run shy of the cycle. Overall, the righty is hitting .478 (11-for-23) through seven games against the Curve.

OUT OF THE ELEMENT: The four B-Met errors on Saturday isn’t something they do often. It’s only the fourth time Binghamton has had more than two errors in a game and the first since May 5. The team has committed the second fewest errors in the league with 54.

THEY ARE WHO YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE: The first three games of this series have gone exactly how you would assume a matchup of the team that strikes out the most against the pitching staff that tallies the most strikeouts would go. Binghamton has K’d 27 batters through the first three games. That includes nine by starter Steven Matz on Saturday.

PILL PINCH HITS: Binghamton stating pitcher Tyler Pill has been getting recognition for his play at the plate of late. The righty tallied a base knock while pinch-hitting on Saturday. Pill also went 2-for-3 on Friday night with two runs scored. He is hitting .636 (7-for-11) this season with a home run, five runs and four RBI.

NEXT GAME PREVIEW: Binghamton continues their road trip and starts a series at New Britain on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

June 29th 2014 -- Pirates 5, Mets 2

Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, Pedro Alvarez hit a two run homer (13) and added an RBI double and Edinson Volquez blanked the Mets through 6, the Pirates beat the Mets 5-2.  Bartolo Colon started for the Mets and fell behind from the get go.  Former Met Ike Davis got his first hit ever against his former team in the first inning, poking an opposite field 2 run single to left  and Alvarez’s RBI double made it 3-0 after 1. In the 4^th Alvarez hit a long homer to right center to cap the Bucs scoring.  The Mets staged a mini-rally in the 9^th off Jared Hughes. Juan Lagares singled and then went to third on a double by Travis d’Arnaud. Lagares scored on a grounder by Chris Young. A bloop single by Ruben Tejada plated d’Arnaud with the Mets 2^nd run. In the loss, the Mets managed to scatter 13 hits, 8 of them off Volquez who went 6 while walking 1 and striking out 7.  Daniel Murphy had 3 hits on the day, Tejada, Eric Young Jr,  Lucas Duda and Eric Campbell each had 2 hits apiece. d’Arnaud has hit in every game he has played since his recall.  Colon went 6 innings allowing all 5 runs (earned) while allowing 7 hits striking out 2 and walking 1. He gets the loss falling to 8-6. Volquez gets the win he improves to 6-6. Mark Melanson was called upon in the middle of the ninth to stop the Met rally picked up his 15^th save.  Gonzalez Germen and Dana Eveland each tossed scoreless innings in relief. The Pirates take 3 of 4 from the Mets to start this road trip. The Mets now stand at 20-24 on the road and 37-45 overall. Next up the Mets are off to Atlanta to face the Braves Mon, Tues and Wed.  Monday night Zach Wheeler (3-8  4.45) goes for the Mets, Mike Minor (2-5  4.50) goes for the Braves. 

2015 Draft Profile - LHP - Juan Hillman - Olympia (FL) HS - updated 6-10

6-10-14 - Juan Hillman, LHP

Hillman, committed to Central Florida, is one of the top lefties in the class.  He knows how to pitch, showing control and throwing strikes.  His fastball touches 92 and projects for more.  The curve stands out and could be a plus pitch.

6-4-14 - Mack - Olympia (FL) High School is one of those 'zip code' schools that just keep chruning out prospects each year (2014: Nick Gordon). 2015's version will be LHP Juan Hillman, a 6-2 190 pound command pitcher witha 90-92 fastball a 1-7 curve and a + change-up.

Transfer from Haines High School.

2014 stats:  57.2-IP, 79-K, 12-BB, 28-hits.
Back turn delivery with a 3/4 arm slot. Very projectable.

TC is Idiot manager part 1000!!!-Today's line-up

EYJr and his .232-1-11 .322 OBP/.311 SLG leading off.

Tejada does have a .353 OBP but in what universe do you bat two practical automatic outs at the top of the line-up???!!!

Meanwhile buried at 7th and 8th are Lagares with his .291 avg. and .750 OPS  and the white-hot hitting (when called up from Vegas) d'Arnaud where I'm sure he'll see great pitches to hit batting in front of Colon.

Isn't the idea to get your best or potentially best hitters the most ABs in the game??

It's not the players but the manager makes this team so hard to believe in or root for.

Sorry for this impromptu rant post but really it's gone from absurd to ridiculous with the Capt. Queeg of Flushing.

Mets Minor League Report: June 28, 2014

MMLR Player of the Day: Binghamton LHSP Steven Matz.
Matz pitched a great game to earn the MMLR PotD award, but B-Mets SS/2B Dilson Herrera deserves an honorable mention for his 4-5 night with 5 RBI.


Sacramento (47-35) tops Las Vegas (48-34) 7-6 in 10 innings.

Las Vegas tied the game with a run in the top of the 9^th, but the tie was short lived.

Logan Verrett got raked: 3.2 IP, 5 R, 11 H, 2 BB, 3 K.
Ryan Reid: 0.2 IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, 0 K.
John Church: 3.0 IP, R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K.
ZackThornton: (L, 1-4) 1.2 IP, R, 2 H, BB, 3 K.

Matt den Dekker: 2-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI, R.
Danny Muno: 3-5, R.
Wilmer Flores: 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI.
Allan Dykstra: 1-4, HR, RBI, R.

　

　

Binghamton (47-33) holds on to beat Altoona (29-51) 8-7.

Binghamton took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the 7^th, but emerged from the inning leading by only 1 run. Brian Burgamy singled in a much needed insurance run in the top of the 9^th.

Steven Matz (W, 1-0) tossed a gem: 6.0 IP, 0 R, 5 H, BB, 9 K.
Randy Fontanez: 0.2 IP, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB.
Adam Kolarek: 0.2 IP, 0 K, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K.
Cody Satterwhite: (S, 5) 1.2 IP, R, H, BB, K..

Kyle Johnson: 2-4, BB, 3 R.
Dilson Herrera: 4-5, HR, 5 RBI, R.
Xorge Carrillo: 3-4, 2 R.
Pinch hitting, Tyler Pill: 1-1. (Are you kidding me? After a 2 hit night yesterday, Pill is sent up and gets another hit tonight. Pill is batting .538 for the year.)

　

St. Lucie (45-32) clips Bradenton (41-37) 4-3.

A walk-off HR by Eudy Pina, leading off the bottom of the 9^th, wins it, after Bradenton came back to tie it in the 8^th.

Gabriel Ynoa (no decision) pitched well enough to win, left with a lead, but got nothing to show for it: 7.0 IP, R, 7 H, (HR) 0 BB, 5 K.
Robert Coles (BS, 1) faltered: 0.1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, BB.
But T.J. Chism picked him up: 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB.
Paul Sewald (W, 2-1) pitched a perfect 9^th to close it out.

Aderlin Rodriguez: 2-4, RBI, R.
Eudy Pina: 1-4, HR, RBI, R.

 
Savannah (50-26) nips Rome (26-54) 4-3.

After Rome had tied the score with a run in the top of the 9^th, those pesky Sand Gnats pull it out with a walk-off bases loaded single in the bottom of the 9^th.

Chris Flexen (no decision) pitched well and left with the lead: 6.1 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K.
Darwin Frias: 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB.
Bret Mitchell: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, K.
Hunter Carnivale: (BS, 2) (W, 3-0) 1.0 IP, R, H, 2 BB, K.

Jorge Rivero: 2-4, 2 2 RBI, R.
Yeixon Ruiz: 2-2, 2 RBI.

　

Staten Island (9-7) squashes Brooklyn (11-5) 11-5.

Carlos Valdez (L, 1-1) lasted only 0.2 innings: 5 R, 3 H, (HR) 2 BB.
Juan Urbina: 1.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, K.
Gaither Bumgardner: 4.0 IP, 5 R, 6 H, (HR) 2 BB, 2 K.
Brad Wieck: 1.0 IP, R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K.
Edioglis Villasmil: 1.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB. 2 K.

Jhoan Urena: 2-4, 2B, BB, RBI, R.
Michael Katz: 2-5, RBI, R, SB.
Michael Bernal: 1-5, HR, 3 RBI, R.

　

　

GCL Mets (4-4) drub GCL Cardinals (6-2) 7-2.


Jose Celas left after 2.0 innings: R, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K.
Adrian Almeida: (W, 1-0) 3.0 IP, 0 R,0 H, 4 BB, 6 K.
Brent McMinn: 1.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 2 K.
Tyler Badamo: 1.0 IP, R, H, 0 BB, K.
Luis Mateo: 2.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 2 K.

The GCL Mets Marauders keep on hitting.
CF - John Mora: 1-4, BB, 3 R, SB. (.391)
LF - Enmanuel Zabala: 2-5, RBI, R. (.393)
SS - Alfredo Reyes: 2-5, 2 RBI, R, SB. (.367
1B - Dash Winningham: 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, R. (Not yet a “marauder“, but nice name.)
3B - Gregory Valencia: 2-3, BB, R. (.375)

　

　

Johnson City (5-3) leads Kingsport (5-4) 8-1: suspended after 3 innings - rain.


　

Yoryi Nuez: 2.1 IP, 7 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K.
Craig Missigman: 0.2 IP, R, 2 H, BB. K.

Only 2 hits for the K-Mets so far.

　

　

DSL Mets1 (12-13) over DSL Yankees (15-10) 6-4.

Juan Marte: (W, 2-0) 5.2 IP, 3 R, 5 H, (2 HR) BB, 4 K.
Jorge Celis: 2.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, BB, 3 K.
Rafael Encarnacion: (S, 1) 1.0 IP, R, 2 H, BB.

Oliver Pascual: 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R.
Jose Maria: 2-5, 2B.

　

DSL Astros Orange (9-16) trip DSL Mets2 (13-12) 3-2.


Ramon Rodriguez: (L, 0-2) 5.0 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K.
Merandy Gonzalez: 4.0 IP, R, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K.

No offensive highlights tonight.

GOING TO EXTREMES by Tom Brennan

I’m an extremist…when it comes to baseball, that is.  Extremely interested, since I first fell in love with all things Mets.  Extreme highs, and even more extreme lows.  Quite a roller coaster ride.

Other teams have had guys with extreme minor league stats, like Billy Hamilton’s 155 steals in 132 games in 2012 (how’d he manage to get caught 37 times too)?

Minor league HR guys?  How about Joe Bauman of the Roswell Rockets in the Longhorn League, who hit 72 home runs in 1954.  I was more concerned with when Mom was gonna feed me my pureed bananas than how Big Joe was doing back in 1954, but it did intrigue me later on. 

But I love tracking Met minor league guys who go to extremes.  I get a kick out of seeing guys pull off major achievements and milestones, or do extraordinary things.

First tip of the cap goes to Jack Leathersich, who (at 298 thru Thursday)) is flirting with 300 career strikeouts this week in less innings than anyone in Met history. 

A couple of obscure guys whose names you might or might not be familiar with tried to, but couldn't, keep up with the Leather Man’s K rate, namely pickle brine, finger-soaking Nolan Ryan, and my favorite physician, Doc Gooden (well, OK, also I'm pretty partisan about a doctor with a different specialization, one Doctor J, but let's stick to baseball for now).

In fact, Blazing Jack through Thrusday's game had reached 298 career Ks in a mere 174 innings (a ho-hum 15.4 K’s per 9 innings). Nolan Ryan in his first full minor league season, had 307, but for Pete’s sake, it took him 202 innings (yeah, he was only 19, but he clearly couldn't keep up with Jack), and Doc had a pedestrian 300 in 191 innings at 18...maybe it’s just a “late teen” thing and if they were both, say, 20 years old instead, they coulda kept up with the Rocket??  Dunno.)

Jack also has an extreme that hinders him...he is a lefty who kinda struggles a lot against lefties.  Oh, he still mows them down (as of a few days ago, 138 Ks out of 268 hitters faced), but lots of walks (40) and hits (58, for a .270 BAA). Also amazingly, other than K’s, BBs and hits, only 32 of the 268 lefties Jack has faced made out without striking out! How’s that for a batting average on balls in play, Mr. BABIP? Tom Jones may think “It’s Not Unusual”, but I dunno, I find it VERY unusual.

Hey, figure out how to get lefties under your thumb and you will punch your ticket to Citi, Jackie boy.  It would be awesome to start a K Korner when a relief pitcher comes in, don't you think? Why should starters be the only ones to get Ks hung up?

Another pitcher I dig is Akeel Morris. First, with a name like Akeel, what's not to dig?  Second, he is the patron saint of the extreme turnaround.  In 2012, a sliver away from an 8.00 ERA (7.98).  Awful.  So, after that grueling season, what did Akeel have in mind for an encore? 

How about a combined ERA of 0.67 in 80 innings in 2013 and 2014, with 114 Ks and 42 hits? Lethal. From worst to first. Basement to pinnacle. Nadir to apex. Basically, an Akeel vs. Boys scenario.  Two years of dominance is no fluke, so I am looking forward to Akeel hopping on board the Leather Rocket (it's a 2 seater) with Jack to Citi too, within a year or two.  Oh, by the way, Akeel has K’d 253 in 194 career innings.  Even Jack is impressed.  Sweet.

One guy who I'd like to see fix his fairly extreme K problem so his other extreme can shine in Citi is Travis Taijeron.  371 in 1,375 plate appearances, or 1 K every 3.7 times up.  Wow.  When he isn't striking out, though, the 25 year old former 18th rounder is an extra base hit machine, with 160 extra base hits in just 1,176 minor league official at bats. One every 10 at bats is a great threshold for almost any hitter not named Barry to cross...Travis is at one every 7.3 official at bats.  Straw Man’s best such year with the Mets in 1987 resulted in one every 7.0 official at bats, by comparison.  In fact, Travis has had more extra base hits than singles!  Cool! 

We've seen too many high K guys just not make it, but I'd love to see Travis fix his strikeout thing and bring that Taijeron Tree Trunk of a bat to Citi. Slick fielding may win games, but I am enamored with power.  Bring it on!

Some other notable members of the “Extremes”:

• Matt Reynolds, up 140 points over last year’s average.  Extremely attention-getting.
• Cory Vaughn, extremely bad this year in Binghamton (.190), so why not promote him, right? So they do, and he is hitting .284, with a .384 OB%, in Vegas.  Etremely better.
• And Dario Alvarez, a household name in the Alvarez household, has quietly struck out 70 guys in 41 innings in Savannah this year.  Pretty nuts, and very impressive.

So who are your favorite extreme minor league Mets performers, whether for a season or for a career?  Or major leaguers too?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Hey, by the way, the Mets are into extremes…prior to the two 10 run games early this week, they were 2^nd as a team in the majors in walks.  Exciting!  My favorite category is the base on balls.  Less wear and tear on the bats.

6^th in strikeouts (that’s the hitters, folks).  2^nd in all of baseball in sacrifices, despite Bartolo Colon promising to never sacrifice for the cause!   And most exciting, they had left 3.97 runners in scoring position per game this year, leading the entire major leagues. 

OK, the Magic isn’t all the way Back…but hope springs eternal. Even now that spring has turned to summer.

Enjoy your day. Extremely.

Savannah Sand Gnats 4 Rome Braves 3

Game two of the series between the Savannah Sand Gnats and the Rome Braves was played in front of 2,332 fans Saturday at Grayson Stadium.
Fans saw a great game and an exciting finish with Rome tying the game at 3-3 in their 9th inning and Savannah scoring in the bottom of the 9th to win 4-3.
Rome took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning. Gerald Chin,2b reached first on an infield hit and scored when Connor Oliver,cf doubled. The switch hitting catcher, Victor Caratini, singled to drive in Chin.
Savannah scored three runs in the 5th inning. Matt Oberste,dh singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Cole Frenzel,3b singled. Jorge Rivero,2b drove in the first run with a single. Yeixon Ruiz,ss singled to drive in 2runs.
In the 9th inning, Rome scored a run to tie the game at 3-3
Leading off the 9th inning for Savannah, Champ Stuart,cf walked. The next better, Dominic Smith,1b reached first base on a perfectly executed drag bunt between the pitcher and first baseman. Oberste advanced both runners with a sac bunt. Frenzel was intentionally walked to load the bases. Ruiz laced a line drive to center  field to drive in Stuart with the winning run.
Savannah pitching:                 IP.    Runs.    Hits.    K.     BB
Chris Flexen.                          6.1.     2.          7.       3.       3
Dawrin Frias                           0.2.     0.          0.       0.       1                
Bret Mitchell.                         1.0.      0.          2.       1.       0
Hunter Carnevale (W,3-0).      1.0.      1.          1.       1.       2
Game three of the series starts at 2:05pm Sunday at Grayson Stadium.

Matz K's Nine in Win Over Altoona

The Binghamton Mets nearly blew a seven-run lead and held off a furious rally by the Altoona Curve in an 8-7 victory on Saturday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Despite allowing six runs in a disastrous seventh inning, the B-Mets held on to earn their 15^th win in their last 18 games. Steven Matz struck out nine over six scoreless innings to collect his first Double-A victory and Dilson Herrera led the offense with a career-high five RBI.

For the second consecutive night, the B-Mets grabbed the lead in the first. Kyle Johnson poked a single to right to open the game, moved to third on a single by Herrera and came home when Zack Dodson committed a balk on an attempted pickoff throw.

Binghamton doubled their lead with a more traditional run in the third. Xorge Carrillo lined a single to left-center, advanced to second on a sac bunt, took third on a groundout and came home when Dilson Herrera beat out an infield single to short.

Herrera struck again with a resounding two-out blast in the fifth. After a failed sacrifice bunt by Matz and a single by Johnson, Herrera launched a 2-1 pitch down the left-field line. The towering drive stayed inside the foul pole for the Colombia native’s first homer as a B-Met. His long ball gave Binghamton a five-run lead.

Matz fought his way through six scoreless innings to make himself eligible for the win. The lefty stranded seven runners along the way while holding the Curve hitless in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The B-Mets tacked on two more runs against Jason Townsend in the seventh. After loading the bases on three straight singles, including one from pinch-hitter Tyler Pill, Binghamton crossed the plate twice on a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice by Herrera.

Binghamton nearly threw away their comfortable seven-run lead in the seventh inning. Reliever Randy Fontanez allowed the first two to reach before bouncing back with consecutive groundouts. The final out of the inning proved to be elusive as he allowed the next four batters he faced to reach safely on three hits and a walk.

By the time Adam Kolarek entered the game, Altoona had cut Binghamton’s lead down to two. Following an infield single, Jarek Cunningham shot a ground ball to third. Burgamy, who moved to third as part of a double-switch in the inning, booted the grounder, allowing a run to score. Kolarek settled down to get the final out of the inning, preserving Binghamton’s one-run lead.

Altoona kept the pressure on in the eighth with back-to-back one-out singles. With the tying run on third, Cody Satterwhite took over on the mound. Stetson Allie chopped his first pitch to short, generating an inning-ending double play.

With the benefit of an insurance run produced by Burgamy in the ninth, Satterwhite returned for the final inning. The righty loaded the bases before allowing a run-producing fielder’s choice to Alen Hanson. Satterwhite survived the tightrope walk by striking out Kelson Brown looking to secure his fifth save of the season.

Matz (1-0) struck out nine while allowing five hits over six scoreless innings to earn his first career Double-A victory. Dodson (2-4) surrendered five runs on seven hits over six innings in the defeat.

POST-GAME NOTES: The B-Mets bullpen had tossed 11-1/3 scoreless innings before surrendering seven runs on Saturday night…the B-Mets reached a new high-water mark in 2014 at 14 games over .500…Tyler Pill has six hits in his last seven at-bats - team press release

St. Lucie 4 - Bradenton 3

Eudy Pina has been swinging a red hot bat during the month of June, but no hit was as big as the one he launched on Saturday.

Pina lined a walkoff home run just inside the left field foul pole to lift the St. Lucie Mets to a thrilling 4-3 win over the Bradenton Marauders at Tradition Field.

Pina’s rocket over the wall came on a 3-2 pitch from Robby Rowland to lead off the inning. The Marauders immediately protested the homer, arguing that it hooked foul. Home plate umpire Adam MacKay stuck with his original call of a fair ball.

The last three games between the Mets (45-32, 5-3) and Marauders (41-37, 6-3) at Tradition Field have all been decided by one run. Friday’s game certainly had the feel that it would be another close one.

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the first on Aderlin Rodriguez’s two out RBI single that scored Jairo Perez.

Bradenton answered right back in the second when Jordan Steranka led off with a solo homer against Gabriel Ynoa.

That would be the only run scored by the Marauders against Ynoa. The Mets right-hander cruised through seven innings. He allowed seven hits, did not walk a batter and struck out five. He threw 98 pitches.

The Mets had two great chances to blow the game open but couldn’t come up with a big hit. They loaded the bases against John Kuchno in the sixth but only scored one run when Maikis De La Cruz grounded into a double play.

With runners at second and third and no outs in the seventh, Ryan Hafner threw a wild pitch that allowed Gilbert Gomez to score and put the Mets up 3-1. L.J. Mazzilli advanced to third but was stranded after two strikeouts and a fly out.

Ynoa was in line for his ninth win of the season and his sixth win in his last six starts. However, the Mets couldn’t hold the lead. Josh Bell doubled home Max Moroff in the eighth and later scored on a ground out to tie the game 3-3.

T.J. Chism took over for Robert Coles with runners on first and second in the eighth and induced an inning-ending double play ball.

Paul Sewald pitched a scoreless ninth and was credited with the win after Pina hit his heroic homer in the bottom half.

Pina entered the game hitting .377 with five homers in the month of June. - team press release