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MMN Recap: McNeil Homers Again, Becerra Returns

By Daniel Muras

May 19, 2018 No comments

Wuilmer Becerra/Photo by Ed Delany

Tacoma (21-21) 7, Las Vegas (17-25) 2  Box Score

The 51s took an early 1-0 lead in the second on Borenstein’s eighth home run of the year. After a great April, Borenstein has been slumping this month but looks to get back on track after a very good game last night. The only other scoring came with the 51s down to their final out in the ninth, when Monell hit an RBI single. The newly signed second baseman Christian Colon went 0-4 with two strikeouts in his first game with his new organization.

Another important note about last night’s game was that Tomas Nido was in the starting lineup, but before he even received a plate appearance, he was immediately pinch-hit for by Colton Plaia in the second inning. It was also noted that he did not appear to be on the bench during the game. This could be a hint at a potential promotion.

  • RHP Corey Oswalt (L, 2-3, 7.48 ERA): 4.0 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
  • LHP Kyle Regnault (1-1, 6.10 ERA): 1.0 IP, H, R, 0 BB, 2 K
  • LHP Matt Purke (1-0, 6.62 ERA): 2.0 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, K
  • RHP Drew Smith (3-0, 4.08 ERA): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Oswalt had his second straight bad start, and has a 16.20 ERA in only two starts this month. His control was an issue again, walking five in four-plus innings and taking 90 pitches to get just twelve outs. Despite his very solid April, his ERA for the season sits at an ugly 7.48. Regnault gave up a three-run homer to Jayson Werth in the fifth inning, with two of the runs being charged to Oswalt. Regnault has still had a very good May, striking out 12 in 8.2 innings while holding batters to a .172 average. Purke had a rare scoreless outing, although he did walk two, and Smith continued to pitch well with a scoreless eighth inning.

The Tacoma team featured former Mets Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Daniel Muno and Dario Alvarez. Muno had a two-run single.

New Hampshire (24-14) 3, Binghamton (20-19) 2  Box Score

Binghamton’s offense struggled as a whole, recording just five hits in the game, but McNeil had yet another huge game. He drove in both of the Rumble Ponies runs: the first came on a single to center field; the second came on a solo home run in the sixth inning. McNeil has homered in four straight games and extended his hitting streak to 17 games.

  • RHP Marcos Molina (1-4, 5.97 ERA) 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
  • RHP Corey Taylor (L, 0-1, 3.86 ERA) 1.2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 2 K

Molina had his best start of the season in this game, allowing just two runs and striking out a season-high six batters. While he allowed a high number of baserunners, Molina was able to limit the damage against him against a very impressive New Hampshire lineup that features top prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Corey Taylor came into the game in relief and pitched one scoreless inning before allowing a walk-off single in the eighth inning.

Binghamton (21-19) 6, New Hampshire (24-15) 3  Box Score

The Rumble Ponies’ offense had a good game, scoring six runs on eight hits to take the second game of the doubleheader. The big offensive moment of the game came with Sergakis’ three run home run to give Binghamton the lead with two outs in the sixth inning. Jeff McNeil, went 0-for-4 in the game, ending his impressive seventeen game hit streak. Peter Alonso went hitless in both games of the doubleheader, but continued to draw walks at a very high rate.

Copeland his fourth start of the season for Binghamton and was able to keep the Rumble Ponies in the game despite allowing ten baserunners over five innings. Binghamton’s bullpen was solid in relief and was able to hold onto the three run lead it was given in the top of the sixth inning.

St. Lucie (17-20) 2, Fort Myers (17-24) 1  Box Score

Despite having ten hits in the game, the Mets could push across only two runs. Both runs scored in the third inning, with the first coming on an Anthony Dimino groundout and the second coming on a Kevin Kaczmarski single. Gimenez stole his tenth base of the season, which is tied for second most in the Florida State League.

Prevost had an excellent outing in this game, needing just 82 pitches to make it through 7 innings and allowing just a single unearned run. His first few games back from Tommy John surgery were rough, but Prevost has pitched much better recently. Over his last three starts, Prevost has allowed just four earned runs over 19.1 innings. Blackham and Pobereyko both tossed scoreless innings out of the bullpen to close out the game. Both have been outstanding out of the St. Lucie bullpen in 2018.

Columbia (22-18) 3, Charleston (17-23) 1  Box Score

Columbia didn’t have much offense in this game, scoring three runs on eight hits, but those three runs were enough for the victory. Becerra played in his first game of the season and did well, smacking two line-drive singles and driving in two of the team’s three runs. Tiberi scored the third run of the game on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. Vasquez has cooled off quite a bit since his ridiculously hot start to the season, but had a solid night with two hits.

Cavallaro has been excellent so far in 2018 and he had his best start of the season in this game. He tied his career-high with seven innings pitched and set a new career-high with nine strikeouts. Cavallaro’s strong performance has definitely been a pleasant surprise early in the minor league season and hopefully he can keep it up for the rest of the year. Henry and Cobb combined for two scoreless innings out of the bullpen to close out the game.

Las Vegas portion of recap done by Mojo Hill.

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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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