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MMN Recap: Mauricio Hits First Professional Home Run

By Daniel Muras

June 25, 2018 No comments

Photo by Ed Delany

Las Vegas (33-43) 4, Reno (34-42) 3  Box Score

Las Vegas was held without a run for the first six innings of Sunday afternoon’s game before making a late-inning comeback. Colon got the 51s on the board with a two run home run in the seventh inning, his second homer in the last two games. Patrick Kivlehan tied the game when he brought home McNeil with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and Zach Borenstein hit a walk-off double in the ninth inning.

Gagnon started the game for the 51s and pitched well over seven innings, with the only runs against him coming on a three run home run in the fourth inning. Over his last seven starts, Gagnon has allowed three runs or less in six, which is quite impressive considering he is pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Sewald was making his first appearance with Las Vegas since being demoted and threw a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts.

Binghamton (35-38) vs. Hartford (36-37) 

The Rumble Ponies’ game against the Yard Goats was postponed due to rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on July 31.

St. Lucie (27-43) vs. Lakeland (39-34)

St. Lucie’s game against the Flying Tigers was postponed due to rain and poor field conditions. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 27.

Columbia (36-35) 5, Lexington (37-35) 3  Box Score

Solo home runs by Raphael Gladu, Fermin, Quinn Brodey, and Tiberi in four consecutive innings game Columbia an early lead that they never gave up. Gladu’s home run was the first of his season. Fermin extended his hitting streak to eight games and is hitting .324 over his last ten games. Vasquez has had two or more hits in five of his last nine games as he appears to have completely bounced back from a May slump.

  • RHP Zac Grotz (W, 1-0, 2.30 ERA) 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 6 K
  • RHP Trey Cobb (S, 3-1, 2.16 ERA) 1.0 IP, ER, K

Grotz made his second start with Columbia and pitched deep into the game for the second straight game as he needed just 77 pitches to make it through eight innings. At 25-years-old, it seems like Grotz is advanced for the South Atlantic League and it will interesting to see if and when the Mets push him to a higher level. Cobb pitched the ninth inning and gave up a solo home run, which was the first run he’s given up since May 13.

Brooklyn (8-2) 1, Lowell (4-6) 0  Box Score

The Cyclones to get much production on offense in Sunday’s game as they were held to just one run on three hits. Their lone run scored in the third inning when Lagrange doubled home Angel Manzanarez. Despite the lackluster offensive performance, the Cyclones as a whole are still hitting a solid .273/.345/.412 on the season and their team .757 OPS ranks second in the New York-Penn League.

Vilera started the game for the Cyclones and was very impressive for the second straight start. After allowing just one run and striking out six in four innings in his last start, Vilera needed just 77 pitches to get through six shutout innings. Colon and Selmer combined to throw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to close out the game for Brooklyn.

Johnson City (2-4) 12, Kingsport (5-1) 9  Box Score

  • Mark Vientos 3B: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, K, .318/.423/.545
  • Anthony Dirocie CF: 3-for-3, 3 R, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, HBP, SF, .412/.500/.882
  • Phil Capra C: 1-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI, SF, 2 K, .429/.444/.857

Kingsport lost their first game of 2018 on Sunday, but the loss was not due to a poor effort by the offense. With nine runs and thirteen hits, the Mets continued their huge start to the season offensively. Through the first six games of the season, the team is hitting .363/.435/.547 leads the Appalachian League in all three slash stats. Capra, the Mets 15th round pick in this June’s draft hit his first professional home run, a three run blast in the fifth inning. L.A. Woodard, who was drafted by the Mets in the 16th round of June’s draft, made his professional debut and went 1-for-4 with a double. Dirocie has gotten off to an extremely hot start to the season and, perhaps most impressively, he has just one strikeout through 22 plate appearances after striking out 37% of the time last year.

  • RHP Matt Cleveland (0-0, 9.82 ERA) 3.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 4 K
  • RHP Daison Acosta (0-1, 13.50 ERA) 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Andrew Ryan (0-0, 18.00 ERA) 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, K

It was an ugly game for Kingsport’s pitching staff as they gave up 12 runs (11 of which were earned). Control was particularly lacking for Mets pitchers as they combined to walk 12 hitters and throw just 49% of their pitches for strikes. Ryan was making the first appearance of his professional career after signing as an undrafted free agent.

GCL Mets (4-2) 11, GCL Marlins (3-3) 2  Box Score

  • Ronny Mauricio SS: 2-for-3, R, HR, 4 RBI, K, .364/.308/.636
  • Jarred Kelenic CF: 2-for-5, R, RBI, 2 K, .556/.556/.778
  • Wilmer Reyes 1B: 4-for-4, R, 2 2B, RBI, HBP, .375/.423/.583

The Mets offense exploded for 11 runs and 14 hits in Sunday afternoon’s blowout victory. Mauricio continued his hot start to his career as he smashed the first home run of his career in the seventh inning. The 17-year-old has hit safely in every game he’s played, although, due to his hitting four sacrifice flies without walking, his average is actually much higher than his on-base-percentage. Kelenic played center field in his second game since being drafted and is now 5-for-9 in his professional career. Andrew Ely had two hits while playing in his third rehab game.

Taveras started the game for the Mets and threw six solid innings as he continued his good start to the season. Cespedes threw two perfect innings in his second appearance since being promoted from the Dominican Summer League.

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Written by Daniel Muras

I fell in love with the Mets during the 2006 playoff run and became obsessed with the Mets minor league system while looking for a brighter future during the 2009-2014 era. I hope to provide interesting analysis of the minors and am excited to have the opportunity to write for MMO and MMN.

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