Proving once again they are road warriors, the Binghamton Mets stunned Richmond, 5-2, in the opening game of the Eastern Leagues Championship Series. Binghamton, who won back-to-back contests in Portland in games four and five of the Eastern Division Championship series, are playing in an Eastern League Championship series for the first time in two decades.
Brandon Nimmo continues to step up big in post season play going 2-for-5 with two RBI’s to spearhead the B-Mets offense. Nimmo singled home Wilfredo Tovar to plate Binghamton’s first run in the second.
Xorge Carrillo led off the frame with a line drive single to left field. Carrillo was forced out at second on Tovar’s infield grounder. Tyler Pill, a good hitting pitcher who won his 10th consecutive victory, helped his cause grounding a single between short and third setting the table for NImmo’s RBI single to right field.
Richmond grouped three singles, one a bunt base hit, in the home second to get the run back and tie the score at 1-1.
The B-Mets scored two times to break the tie in the fifth. T.J. Rivera opened the frame with a ground singe to left field. One out later, Jayce Boyd reached first on an infield single. A Darrell Ceciliani single to right field plated Rivera with the tie breaking run. The RBI was Ceciliani’s 8th in the post season. After Travis Taijeron was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Carrillo lifted a fly ball to left field with Boyd tagging to score the B-Mets second run of the inning.
Richmond answered to get one back off Pill in their half of the inning. Tyler Horan blasted a one out double to centerfield and raced home when Myles Schroder singled to right. Horan beat Taijeron’s throw to the plate but Schroder was gunned down trying to advance to second by Binghamton catcher Xorge Carrillo.
Binghamton almost gave the game away in the seventh. Paul Sewald replaced Pill but struggled to find the strike zone. Sewald got one out but walked two Flying Squirrels before he was replaced by Chase Huchingson. Huchingson followed suit, walking Elliot Blair to load the bases. Richmond used Mitch Delfino as a pinch hitter, but the move backfired when Delfino grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, Rivera to Tovar to Brian Burgamy.
Binghamton added two insurance runs in the eighth. After the first two batters in the inning were retired, Tovar worked a walk. Dustin Lawley’s double to left-center field scored Tovar. Nimmo went the other way with an RBI single to left field to plate the final B-Met run.
Hansel Robles replaced Huchingson to start the home eighth. Daniel Carbonell greeted Robles with a lead-off triple. But, Robles met the challenge striking out Kelby Tomlinson, enticing Blake Miller to tap out on a comebacker to the mound, and retiring Mario Lisson on and inning ending fly ball to Ceciliani in center.
It was three up and three down as B-Met closer Cody Satterwhite finished things up in the ninth. Satterwhite got Devin Harris on a comebacker then struck out Angel Villalona and Tyler LaTorre to end the game.
Tovar and Ceciliani led B-Met batters in post season play, both hitting at a .381 clip. Nimmo is not far behind batting at .370. Robles and Satterwhite continue to impress out of the pen both failing to allow a run in the post season.
