It was a remarkable night of baseball, a baseball game with a little bit of everything topped off with a two run ninth inning walk off rally as the Binghamton Mets edged New Hampshire, 4-3, at NYSEG Stadium last night. Although B-Met heroes resonated from almost every direction, it was Dilson Herrera’s heroics that drew the biggest raves.
With the B-Mets trailing 3-1 in the eighth, Herrera turned on a Tyler Ybarra 96 mph fastball and slammed it over the left field fence to draw the home team within a run. After Binghamton tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, Herrera smacked the first pitch he saw, another fastball even a tick higher than the one he hit in the eighth, lifting a fly ball deep enough to right field to score Kyle Johnson from third base with the winning run.
Tyler Pill gave the B-Mets gave what every team hopes to get from a starting pitcher – quality innings. Pill used 94 pitches to throw 7 2/3 innings surrendering all three Binghamton runs on just six hits while striking out four.
Pill mixed his pitches expertly keeping the Fischer Cat batters off balance for most of the night. The B-Met right-hander had pinpoint control not walking a batter throughout the first seven innings. A 2-2 change-up got away from Pill hitting New Hampshire’s speedy second baseman Jon Berti to lead off the eighth. Berti, who has 33 stolen bases and had already pilfered three bases in the first two games of the series, was off and running again, but B-Met catcher Xorge Carrillo’s throw nailed him at second.
After Matt Newman drew a walk, Pill bounced a curveball in the dirt in front of the plate to Andy Burns that Carrillo blocked. The ball bounded off the Binghamton catcher a few feet back towards the pitching mound. When Newman tried to use the loose ball to advance to second, Carrillo pounced on the ball and gunned him down for the second out in the inning.
Pill appeared to be out of the inning when he enticed Burns to ground out to shortstop but T.J. Rivera’s throw pulled Brian Burgamy off the bag with Burns reaching safely. Chase Hutchinson came on to give Pill a well deserved rest, striking out Mike McDade to end the eighth, then retiring the Fischer Cats in order in the ninth with a pair of K’s sandwiched around a fantastic defensive play by Herrera. The B-Met second baseman barehanded a ball that deflected off the B-Met relief pitcher then somehow got the ball to first to beat the runner.
Pill started slowly allowing back-to-back singles to Berti and Newman to start the game. A Burns sacrifice fly plated Berti and started a string of 11 consecutive batters retired by the B-Met pitcher. That string ended in the top of the fourth when Cory Aldridge took a 1-2 Pill fastball deep over the right field fence for a solo home run.
Binghamton got one run back in their half of the fourth. Dustin Lawley walked to start the frame, and T.J. Rivera followed with a single. One out later Jayce Boyd worked a walk to load the bases, with Dawley scoring on Travis Taijeron’s infield groundout.
Berti led off the New Hampshire sixth with a single, stole second, advanced to third when Newman singled and scored when Burns tapped a slow roller to third. That put the Fischer Cats in front 3-1 setting the table for the exciting finish.
Clinging to a one run lead, the Fischer Cats called on their closer Gregory Infante to shut the door in the ninth. Infante, second in the Eastern League in saves with 15, throws high heat electing to throw 20 of his 22 pitches in the final inning as fastballs that ranged from 94 to 99 mph.
B-Met centerfielder Darrell Ceciliani started things rolling grounding an Infante slider to right field for a single to lead off the B-Met ninth. Pedro Lopez asked Jayce Boyd to bunt Ceciliani to second, but when the B-Met designated hitter struggled with the task, Ceciliani stole second. Boyd redeemed himself grounding out to first base to advance Ceciliani to third.
Travis Taijeron saw nothing but smoke from Infante, five fastballs at 98 or 99 mph, Taijeron lined a 99 mph heater to left center to plate Ceciliani to tie the game. Lopez replaced Taijeron with the speedy Kyle Johnson, a move that would pay dividends moments later.
Xorge Carrillo followed chopping a 95 mph fastball high over the third baseman’s head and into left field for a single. Brandon Nimmo worked a base-on-balls to load the bases bringing Herrera to the plate.
Herrera wasted no time, lifting a 97 mph heater deep enough to right field to score Johnson without a close play at home plate.
Binghamton had 9 hits in the contest with Ceciliani earning a pair and every other B-Met starter reaching the hit column except Dustin Lawley.
In 35 games in Binghamton, Herrera is now hitting .345 with 32 RBI’s. The HR was the B-Met second baseman’s 6th Double-A round tripper.
The win leaves Binghamton five games behind first place Portland but 11.5 games in front of third place New Britain in the chase for the second Eastern Division playoff slot.
(Photo Credit: Mark Olson/MiLB.com)
