Rockland 9, Binghamton 3
The Binghamton Mets failed to find their offensive groove as they fell to the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 9-3 Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium. They failed to solve Chris Gloor on the mound as they could only muster up five hits in the loss.
The loss ended Binghamton’s four-game winning streak, and gave Richmond their first win in eight games.
Angel Cuan made his Double-A debut for the B-Mets, and immediately had to work from behind. Javier Herrera led off the game with a double off the right field wall, and he scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly from Mark Minicozzi. Richmond added to that lead in the third inning when Minicozzi hit an RBI single, and Andrew Susac added with an RBI double down the left field line. On the play, Minicozzi was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the inning, but Richmond took a 3-0 lead into the fourth inning.
Gloor fooled the Binghamton bats the first time through the batting order. Through three innings, the lefty faced only one over the minimum. That changed in the fourth, when Cesar Puello smoked an RBI single down the left field line to score Justin Turner. The B-Mets would later load the bases in the inning, but couldn’t push any more runs across as the inning ended with one Binghamton run.
Cuan settled in and finished his outing with three consecutive scoreless innings. The lefty finished with six innings, but left trailing 3-1.
Chase Huchingson was the first reliever for the B-Mets, but allowed the Squirrels to bat around in the seventh inning. After a bunt single, Huchingson walked the pitcher Gloor to put runners on first and second. He retired the next two batters, but Minicozzi grounded a ball to second base and reached on a fielding error by Danny Muno. That set the stage for the big hit of the game, a grand slam by Angel Villalona to give Richmond a commanding 7-1 advantage.
The B-Mets began a comeback effort in the bottom half of the seventh, when Blake Forsythe hit a two-run home run, but that was the final hit they would tally up in the contest. Josh Osich faced only six batters in two innings of relief, and Edwin Quirarte tossed a scoreless ninth to preserve the win for Richmond.
Gloor (7-5) earned the win, and scattered five hits over six plus innings on the mound. Cuan (0-1) was given the loss in his Double-A debut. Both Huchingson and Ryan Fraser allowed at least two runs in their innings of relief.
The loss sets the stage for a rubber match on Wednesday afternoon. The B-Mets (59-35) will send RHP Noah Syndergaard to the hill to face Richmond’s (43-53) Craig Westcott.
Key Stats
Cesar Puello: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Blake Forsythe: 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 RBI, 1 R
Angel Cuan: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 ER, 5 K
Chase Huchingson: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 1 BB, 4 R, 0 ER, 1 K
Hamilton Bennett: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K
Ryan Fraser: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 2 K
(Team Report)