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MMN Recap: McNeil Homers For Third Straight Game

By Matt Mancuso

May 18, 2018 No comments

Jeff McNeil/Photo by Jennifer Nieves

Las Vegas (17-24) 8, Tacoma (20-21) 3 Box Score

It was an all-around productive day for the 51s offense, particularly from den Dekker and Smith. Den Dekker has quietly put up a very good season, especially with his increase in power. Smith has also put up a really solid season down in Vegas despite some concerns over his power stroke. These two carried the offense, driving in seven of the 51s’ eight runs, with Johnny Monell recording the remaining RBI on a double that scored Nido in the fourth. Kelly got on base three times despite having come back down to Earth after an outstanding start.

  • LHP P.J. Conlon (W, 2-3, 5.89 ERA): 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, BB, 3 K
  • RHP Kevin McGowan (1-1, 5.75 ERA): 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Logan Taylor (1-0, 5.63 ERA): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB
  • RHP Tim Peterson (0-1, 2.70 ERA): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Conlon had his second straight solid start since his demotion from the Majors. Two of the three runs he gave up came on a two-run home run by veteran big leaguer Jayson Werth in the first inning. The bullpen did a fantastic job, pitching 3.1 hitless innings while striking out seven to comfortably close out the game. Peterson, who dominated April, had gotten off to a shaky start in May but seems to have regained his form and is putting together easily the best overall season out of anyone in the Las Vegas bullpen. Last night he faced five batters and retired all of them, four of which were via the strikeout.

Binghamton (20-18) 11, New Hampshire (23-14) 1 Box

Their offensive slaughter began at the beginning of the game and didn’t let up until the end. The Rumble Ponies absolutely destroyed the Fisher Cats and surprisingly it wasn’t Peter Alonso who did the heavy lifting. Instead, Jeff McNeil continued his hot hitting with four hits and hit a homer for the third consecutive game. Kevin Taylor also had a strong game with three hits and two dingers and recorded an outstanding 10 total bases. Despite Tim Tebow‘s golden sombrero, his OPS still sits at a strong .742.

McNeil now has a 16-game hitting streak and his 1.141 OPS is third in the Eastern League behind Alonso and Cavan Biggio.

Nabil Crismatt handled an strong Fisher Cats lineup (led league with .788 OPS coming in) with ease, not allowing a hit through the first five and a third frames. This is his fifth start of the season giving up less than one run while pitching six innings. He recorded seven strikeouts while only walking one. He’s set himself as a prospect to keep an eye on if the Mets need more starting pitching depth. Joshua Torres continued his breakout season with a scoreless seventh inning. Tyler Bashlor pitched the last two frames to close out the game. He has 19 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.

Columbia (21-18) 2, Charleston (17-22) 1 Box

Things were looking bleak entering the eighth inning, but some late offensive magic pushed the Fireflies to their second straight win. Edgardo Fermin hit a ball deep down the left field line to score Rigoberto Terrazas with the game-tying run. Fermin ended up on third base, but was quickly driven in by Raphael Gladu to give the Fireflies the lead. Blake Tiberi singled in the sixth inning; he’s been looking much better this season after the past two seasons have been marred by injury.

In the beginning, it looked like another tough-luck loss for Tony Dibrell. Dibrell threw another gem, pitching seven innings of one-run ball. However, thanks to clutch hitting by the bottom of the lineup, Dibrell was able to walk away with his first win of the season. Connor O’Neil and Stephen Villines held the RiverDogs hitless in the final two innings to ensure Dibrell’s strong start would not go without a reward.

Villines has one of the more bizarre stat lines you will see for a pitcher, he’s allowed 16 runs in 22 innings but has struck out 37 compared to only three walks.

Game 1 and Game 2 of the St.Lucie Mets vs the Florida Fireflies were both cancelled and will not be replayed.

Las Vegas portion of recap done by Mojo Hill.

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Written by MMancuso

I'm a recent alum of TCNJ, where I graduated with degrees in business and technology. At MMO, I write data-driven player breakdowns, as well as, cover the Mets minor-league system. Follow me on at https://twitter.com/MattyCuso.

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