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MMN Recap: Kay Solid Again For St. Lucie

By Sam Lebowitz

July 10, 2018 No comments

Anthony Kay/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

Charlotte 3 (43-42), St. Lucie 2 (33-51) Box Score

  • LHP Anthony Kay (L, 1-1, 2.70 ERA): 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K
  • LHP Seth Davis (1-0, 6.35 ERA): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Stephen Villines (1-0, 1.23 ERA): 1.1 IP, 1 K

Kay was solid in his second start since being promoted to St. Lucie. The left-hander allowed eight baserunners but limited the Stone Crabs to just two runs in his six innings. Half of those baserunners were via extra-base hits, as Kay allowed two doubles and two triples in his outing. After going seven and one-third innings in his first start for St. Lucie, Kay has now posted consecutive quality starts since the promotion. Villines made his fifth appearance for St. Lucie and has now allowed just one run in seven and one-third total innings.

Despite nine hits, including four doubles and a Gimenez home run, the Mets could muster just a pair of runs in this ballgame. The offense stranded men in scoring position with two outs five separate times and stranded ten total runners. They went just one-for-ten with men in scoring position. Carpio had that lone hit in the ninth inning, driving home Ian Strom. T.J. Rivera continued his rehab assignment and doubled in his four at bats. He played seven innings at second base.

Columbia 2 (42-43), Charleston 1 (45-40) Box Score

Viall has had a very solid season when you subtract his start on June 16, where he was tagged for an astounding nine earned runs in three innings. Excluding that game, Viall has allowed more than two earned runs just one other time in his last ten starts. He has three games of ten strikeouts or more in that span, including his last start. In this start, Viall punched out seven and allowed just five hits and a run. Maybe more importantly, he limited his walks to only two. Like many tall pitchers, the 6’9” Viall has had some command issues. Limiting those walks will go a long way to improving his success. Ramos posted his fourth consecutive scoreless appearance, tallying three scoreless innings for the save.

Columbia had just five hits and no batter tallied an RBI, but with two runs scratched out in the fifth inning, they had just enough for a tight victory. Those fifth inning runs were tallied on a wild pitch, which scored Quinn Brodey, and a throwing error by shortstop Wilkerman Garcia, allowing Hansel Moreno to reach and Giovanny Alfonzo to score.

Staten Island 2 (11-13), Brooklyn 1 (12-12) Box Score

  • LHP Jason Vargas (0-0, 0.00 ERA): 6 IP, 1 H, 9 K
  • LHP Joshua Walker (L, 0-1, 9.00 ERA): 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 5 K

Vargas made his first start on his rehab assignment as he works his way back from a strained right calf, which occurred on June 20. Vargas struck out nine and allowed just a singular double to start the third inning as the only baserunner against his ledger. Joshua Walker struck out five batters in two innings, but was done in by solo homers by Mike Ford and Miguel Flames in the bottom of the seventh.

  • Anthony Dirocie CF: 2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI, K, .286/.286/.571
  • Jose Miguel Medina RF: 2-for-4, 2B, .313/.387/.494

After raking in Kingsport and earning a promotion, Anthony Dirocie picked up his first two hits with the Cyclones in this one. Both were doubles, and the first one drove in Brooklyn’s lone run of the game. Jose Miguel Media was only other Cyclone with a multi-hit game. Despite that, seven of the nine Cyclones had hits, and the team had nine totals base knocks. However, they could only muster the one run, thanks largely due to their 2-for-11 mark with men in scoring position.

Bluefield 10 (16-4), Kingsport 9 (10-8) F/10 Box Score

  • RHP Matt Cleveland (1-0, 4.05 ERA): 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
  • RHP Nelson Leon (1-0, 8.00 ERA): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 K
  • RHP Andrew Ryan (0-0, 4.50 ERA): 2 IP, 2 K
  • RHP Eric Villanueva (0-0, 8.31 ERA): 1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 K
  • LHP Ivan Jean (L, 2-1, 3.18 ERA): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, K

It was a wild one in Bluefield between the Mets and the Blue Jays. A big storyline on the pitching side of things was the Mets’ inability to field the baseball. They committed four errors and six unearned runs, included two unearned runs in the ninth inning that tied the game.  A two-run homer by Andres Guerra cut the lead in half, and then L.A. Woodard made a fielding error in front of a game tying two-run single. Ivan Jean walked the bases loaded in the tenth before forcing home the winning run with another walk, completing the Kingsport meltdown.

  • Raul Beracierta RF: 2-for-5, HR, 4 RBI, .378/.528/.600
  • Zach Rheams DH: 3-for-5, K, .208/.269/.208
  • Shervyen Newton 2B: 0-for-5, BB, 2 K, .292/.391/.486

Kingsport pounded out 11 hits and nine runs despite the loss. Every man in the lineup excluding Shervyen Newton, who took a tough 0-for, had at least one hit, and everyone got on base. The third and fourth hitters in the lineup, Beracierta and Hayden Senger, each homered. Senger’s homer was his first as a professional. Baracierta’s homer was his third already in 45 at bats. The already-potent Kingsport offense will be getting yet another boost, when Mets’ 2018 first round pick Jarred Kelenic joins the team following his recent promotion from the Gulf Coast League.

GCL Mets 1 (12-7), GCL Marlins 0 (6-12) Box Score

It took just two Mets pitchers to shutout the Marlins in this one. Ramon Guzman was excellent over his six scoreless, and Ronnie Taylor Jr. was even better in his three-inning save. 

The Mets could only muster a single run on five hits, coming on a Anderson Bohorquez RBI triple in the top of the second. However, that little bit of offense proved to be enough to take home the victory.

DSL Mets1 8 (19-13), DSL Rockies 1 (13-19) Box Score

  • LHP Cesar Loaiza (W, 4-0, 0.88 ERA): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Lefty Cesar Loaiza has now failed to allow multiple earned runs in five of his seven outings this year. He backed up a ten strikeout performance in his last start with another solid outing in this one.

The Mets punctuated their big, five-run sixth with a three-run homer off the bat of Adrian Hernandez. It was a ten hit performance by the Mets, with eight of the nine starters getting hits.

DSL Tigers1 5 (13-19), DSL Mets2 4 (15-17) Box Score

Andres German started and failed to last four full innings, as he allowed five runs on eight hits and took the eventual loss. However, Daniel Guzman finished the game with five and one-third sparkling innings of relief.

  • Felix Valerio 2B: 2-for-5, 2B, .280
  • Federico Polanco 3B: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K, .227

The Mets had nine hits, including multi-hit performances from Valerio, Polanco, and Kevin Torres. Their big inning was the sixth, where they plated three runs, largely thanks to a big two-run double by Polanco.

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Written by SLebowitz

Sam Lebowitz is a lifelong Mets fan and stat geek. Sam begin contributing at MetsMinors after the 2017 season. He studies broadcast journalism at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

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