Binghamton 6, Reading 3
The Binghamton Mets scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and held on the rest of the way to defeat the Reading Fightin Phils, 6-3 on Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium. Noah Syndergaard earned his third win of the season, and Binghamton is now back up to their high-water mark of 25 games over .500.
Top-rated Phillies prospect Jesse Biddle started the game for the Reading, but couldn’t find his groove on the hill. The lefty faced just eight batters and threw 42 pitches before being removed from the game with two outs in the first inning. Binghamton got the scoring started against the lefty with a two-run double from Josh Rodriguez. Blake Forsythe singled up the middle to make it a 3-0 game, and Biddle was replaced by Brody Colvin with the bases loaded and two outs in the first.
Colvin’s first batter was Syndergaard, and he walked him on five pitches to bring home the fourth run of the inning. Once Colvin got out of the first, he settled in nicely and shut down the B-Met offense. Meanwhile Reading began to chip away at the four-run Binghamton lead. In the top of the third Syndergaard uncorked a wild pitch with runners at the corners for the first run, and Maikel Franco knocked an RBI single into right field to cut the B-Met lead to 4-2.
Those were the only runs scored against Syndergaard in his sixth start as a B-Met this season. He threw 96 pitches, and struck out seven before handing the ball over to the bullpen. Adam Kolarek was first up, and the southpaw had a rough go of it.
He walked the first two batters he faced on just nine pitches, and followed by surrendering a single to Kelly Dugan to load the bases with nobody out. After a strikeout, Allan Dykstra booted a groundball at first base allowing a run to score. On the play however, Dugan was caught in between second and third base due to a base-running mistake. He was tagged out, and Edgar Duran struck out as Binghamton escaped the sixth with a 4-3 lead.
Chasen Bradford followed in the seventh with a scoreless seventh. The righty worked around an infield single, and the B-Met offense then came through with some insurance in the bottom half. With two outs and nobody on, Forsythe hit a hard grounder at Troy Hanzawa at shortstop; he misplayed it allowing Forsythe to reach on the error. Wilfredo Tovar took advantage of the mistake by crushing an RBI triple into the left-centerfield gap for the fifth B-Met run of the game. Alonzo Harris then followed with an RBI double to give Binghamton a 6-3 lead.
Chase Huchingson took the hill in the eighth for Binghamton, who also got into a bases loaded jam. Closer Jeff Walters was called upon with the bases loaded and two down, and he struck out Hanzawa to end the threat. Walters returned to the mound in the ninth, and finished the game for his league-leading 27th save of the season.
The victory sets the stage for a rubber match between the B-Mets (63-38) and Fightin Phils (43-58) on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM as LHP Mark Cohoon takes the mound for Binghamton against Reading’s RHP David Buchanon.
Key Stats
Daniel Muno: 2-for-4, 1 BB, 1 R
Darrell Ceciliani: 2-for-4, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 SB
Josh Rodriguez: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 RBI, 1 R
Wilfredo Tovar: 1-for-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R
Noah Syndergaard: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 7 K
Jeff Walters: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2 K, 0-3 inherited runners scored
(Team Report)