New Britain 9, Binghamton 3

Despite only a threat of rain, lightning and hail on Tuesday night in New Britain, the Binghamton Mets might have been better off if it had. The B-Mets suffered a frustrating loss, their first in nine games, to the New Britain Rock Cats. It was a game marred by sloppy play on both sides, including base running mistakes, fourteen combined walks and on the Mets side, the inability to get the big hit.

The Mets had a hit in every inning and at least two base runners in six of their nine turns at bat. They managed thirteen hits and eight walks, yet only pushed across three runs while stranding a season-high thirteen runners. Four times a strikeout halted a rally and twice runners got thrown out on the bases, once at home.

It started well enough for the Mets, as the picked up where they left off Monday night. Josh Rodriguez singled with one out and Cesar Puello continued his torrid pace by depositing an 0-2 breaking ball into the forest behind the 400 ft. sign in straightaway center. The Mets missed an opportunity to tack on when birthday-boy Allan Dykstra started a new rally with a double and Darrell Ceciliani later walked, a ground out ended that bid.

Jacob deGrom started for Binghamton, and his night began innocently enough. He faced only seven batters in the first two innings, but it started to come apart in the third. Three of the first four hitters singled to plate one run and after a fielder’s choice, two more hits scored two more runs. And the Mets were lucky three runs were all that crossed. The Rock Cats made no fewer than three base running blunders that inning, each more egregious than the last.

Dan Rohlfing led off with a single. Jonathan Goncalves struck out, and then Danny Santana proceeded to flare one into short center field. Rohlfing inexcusably held up as if he thought the ball might be caught, but it was a poor read as Ceciliani had no chance to catch it. The play was right in front of Rohlfing and he should have been on third with one out. That became moot, however, as James Beresford singled him home and moved Santana to third. The following batter, Deibinson Romero, then grounded sharply to third, and for some reason, Santana took off for home on contact. He was easily thrown out. Another poor read, but this time it cost the Cats a run as Josmil Pinto followed with a single that would have scored Santana. As it was, it scored Beresford who had moved into scoring position on Romero’s fielder’s choice. And to put the icing on the misplayed cake, Daniel Ortiz followed with a double that scored Romero and would have scored Pinto, had he not missed home plate. Credit goes to deGrom who noticed and notified catcher Blake Forsythe who then called for the appeal. Pinto was called out to end the inning and the Cats had run themselves out of at least two runs.

deGrom rebounded in fourth, but lost it for good in the fifth. After retiring the first two hitters, he walked three of the next four batters (one intentionally) with a double squeezed in between. He left with two already in and the bases loaded. Shawn Teufel took over, gave up a double that would have cleared the bases had yet another Rock Cats runner been thrown out at home. This time it was Reynaldo Rodriguez trying to score from first, but strong throws from Puello and Daniel Muno on the relay halted that.

Meanwhile, back on the homestead, the Mets were still filling the bases and failing to score. Cats pitcher Trevor May worked in an out of trouble all day and only allowed two runs in his five innings of work, despite allowing eight hits and five walks.

The Mets pushed across a run in the eighth on a Muno single followed by a Rodriguez RBI double, but by then it was far too late. The Mets couldn’t move a runner past first base in the ninth inning and will try their luck Wednesday night with Erik Goeddel getting the ball for a 6:35pm start.

Key Stats

Josh Rodriguez: 3-for-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R

Cesar Puello: 1-for-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R

Blake Forsythe: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 BB

Jacob deGrom: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 7 ER, 3 K

Shawn Teufel: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 0 BB, 2 ER, 1 K

Chase Huchingson: 1.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 K

Jack Leathersich: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K