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MMN Recap: Gimenez With Two Hits in St. Lucie Win

By Matt Mancuso

June 1, 2018 No comments

Andres Gimenez/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

Reno (24-31) 20, Las Vegas (22-33) 3  Box Score

The 51s couldn’t do much offensively last night, collecting only four hits in total. Frazier, in his first rehab start, played his scheduled five innings and was lifted for pinch-runner Christian Colon after singling in the sixth. He also drove in a run on a groundout in the first. They added their only two other runs on a Borenstein two-run homer in the sixth, but by that point the game was out of reach. The other two hits were singles by Ty Kelly and Kevin Kaczmarski, the latter of which went 1-4 to lower his average to .476 in his brief time in Las Vegas. Smith’s bat continued to fade with an 0-4 night. He’s still not hitting for much power, and that OBP isn’t quite as robust as it used to be.

  • RHP Chris Flexen (L, 3-4, 4.20 ERA): 1.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Matt Pobereyko (0-0, 12.00 ERA): 3.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
  • RHP Eric Hanhold (0-0, 27.00 ERA): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, BB, 2 K
  • LHP Kyle Regnault (2-1, 6.23 ERA): 1.0 IP, 2 H, R, 0 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Jeff Glenn (0-0, 54.00 ERA): 1.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, K
  • RHP Patrick Biondi (0-0, 13.50 ERA): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

The 51s’ pitching was ugly from the start, with Flexen laboring through a 43-pitch first inning, walking two and giving up four hits and four runs. After the long inning, manager Tony deFrancesco decided to take him out, opting to go with the recently called up Pobereyko. Pobereyko was a dominant independent ball pitcher who has found success in the Mets organization and was dominating St. Lucie with a 0.95 ERA. However, he struggled through his three innings of work, failing to record a single strikeout, which is unlike him. The defense behind him wasn’t a huge help, however, as Kaczamarski, Frazer, and Kelly all made errors leading to two of the runs being unearned.

Hanhold, who was also just called up from St. Lucie, made his Triple-A debut and struggled as well. Acquired in last year’s trade for Neil Walker, he gave up three runs to bring the score to an ugly 13-1 in the fifth inning. After that, Regnault pitched the sixth and gave up a couple doubles to add another run for the Aces. In the seventh, they had to resort to a position player, and this time it was backup catcher Jeff Glenn. He is the fourth position player to pitch for the 51s this year. Outfielder Patrick Biondi then came in for his second pitching appearance of the season. He finally put the beast to bed, allowing a sac fly before getting two outs as the game came to a merciful end.

Former Met Anthony Recker went 3-for-4 with 4 RBI and a walk, while former Mets farmhand Cesar Puello went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 walks.

Erie (18-32) 11, Binghamton ( 27-23) 10 Box Score

  • RHP Joseph Shaw (0-3, 6.42 ERA) : 6.1 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 5 K, 3 BB
  • RHP Adonis Uceta (0-1, 3.57 ERA) : 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 K, 2 BB

To save his bullpen, Luis Rojas decided to ride with Joseph Shaw for a while. Shaw’s final line wasn’t pretty, but at least he managed to give his team innings. Shaw was given an early lead, but was unable to protect it. Even after he was lit up in the third frame, Shaw still pitched three more innings.  Adonis Uceta came on to close out the game, but he unfortunately gave up a walk-off sacrifice fly.

The Peter Alonso-less Mets had a huge offensive game. Jeff McNeil stepped in for Alonso, recording three hits. Even though the Mets offense trailed for most of the game, they consistently clawed their way back in. Down 6-3 in the fourth inning, Joey Wong ripped a three-run homer. Even though the SeaWolves took the lead in the bottom half of the frame, the Mets were persistent. John Mora hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to tie it, but the SeaWolves’s walk-off ensured it was all for naught.

St. Lucie (20-25) 3, Jupiter (33-19) 2 Box Score

Michael Gibbons had a short outing, but it was still effective, as he scattered six hits and two runs over four effective innings. Matt Blackham relieved him and was credited with the win after holding the Hammerheads off the board for two innings. Blackham now has 27 strikeouts in 22 innings this year. Stephen Nogosek continued his excellent season with two more scoreless frames. Even though he allowed the game-tying run to reach base, Alex Pasha finally closed the game.

The Mets didn’t score a lot, but it was enough to pull off the win. Down 1-0 in the third inning, Andres Gimenez tied the game with a ground-rule double. The next batter, Desmond Lindsay, gave the Mets the lead with a sacrifice fly. After the Hammerheads tied up the game the next inning, Jacob Zanon drove in Dale Burdick on a ground ball for the go-ahead run.

Charleston (24-28) 5, Colombia (28-23) 4 Box Score

  • RHP Joe Cavallaro (6-1, 2.12 ERA): 6+ IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB
  • LHP Aaron Ford(2-0, 2.45 ERA): 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K
  • RHP Darwin Ramos(0-1, 4.78 ERA): 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB

Joe Cavallaro, the Mets 24th rounder last year, continued his breakout campaign with six adequate innings. Even though plenty of baserunners reached against Cavallaro, he limited the damage, only giving up two earned runs. This was his seventh start giving up two runs or less this season. Aaron Ford, the just-dubbed recipient of the Fireflies’ Reliever of the Month Award, permitted a sixth inning run, which allowed the RiverDogs to take the lead. Ramos almost escaped a huge jam in the ninth frame, but an untimely wild pitch doomed him and Fireflies.

It was a seesaw affair between the Riverdogs and the Fireflies. The Riverdogs scored first, but Colombia quickly answered with two runs in the sixth. Charleston rallied in seventh inning to abruptly take the lead, but the following frame, Ali Sanchez singled in Edgardo Fermin to tie the game.  Raphael Gladu extended his team-record hitting streak to 15 games with seventh-inning single. Meanwhile, Wuilmer Becerra recorded his first walk in nine games with Columbia, but still hasn’t had an extra-base hit.

Las Vegas portion of recap done by Mojo Hill.