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MMN Recap: St. Lucie Wins Fifth Straight

By Jack Ramsey

April 15, 2018 No comments

Michael Paez/Photo by Ed Delany

Saturday’s start times carried enough variation to keep your eyes on the system the whole day. The Rumble Ponies had their hands full with the Red Sox’s number six prospect, righty Mike Shawaryn. St. Lucie Mets looked to win their fifth in a row, and the Fireflies were looking to win their third of their last four. Meanwhile, the 51s looked to bounce back from last night’s loss with PJ Conlon on the hill trying to continue his early success.

El Paso (6-4) 11, Las Vegas (3-7) 7   Box Score

The offense got off to a fast start, scoring seven runs in the first two innings off Chihuahuas starter Kyle Lloyd, but the bats fell silent after that. Kelly continued his monstrous start to the season, while Borenstein’s bat has also been heating up lately. Starter P.J. Conlon even got in on the action in the second with a leadoff single. But after an impressive rally in each of the first two innings, the 51s couldn’t get anything going against the Chihuahuas’ bullpen and went the rest of the game without scoring.

  • LHP P.J. Conlon (0-0, 6.75 ERA): 3.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, BB, 3 K
  • RHP Kevin McGowan (L, 0-1, 4.50 ERA): 1.2, 2 H, R, BB, K
  • LHP Matt Purke (0-0, 13.50 ERA): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Tim Peterson (0-0, 0.00 ERA): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
  • RHP Drew Smith (0-0, 0.00 ERA): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, BB, K

Conlon, who may be well on his way to a full-time transition to the bullpen, cruised through two perfect innings before getting hit around in the third. After stopping a four-run rally with an inning-ending strikeout, he came back out in the fourth and immediately gave up a single, triple, and another single to bring the Chihuahuas within a run at 7-6. After that the defense got a little messy with errors by Colton Plaia and Dominic Smith, tying the game at 7 and chasing Conlon after only 3.1 innings. McGowan came in and got out of the inning with a double play, but allowed a run on two hits in the fifth, allowing the Chihuahuas to take an 8-7 lead after once being down 7-0.

Purke continued his early season struggles and has not made a very good case to be the second LOOGY in the bullpen thus far. However, Peterson was lights out once again, and he has been a bright spot in an otherwise ugly bullpen. He now has 12 strikeouts in five scoreless innings this year. Drew Smith, who the Mets got for Lucas Duda, made his Triple-A debut and successfully worked a scoreless inning.

Portland (3-5) 3, Binghamton (3-5) 0  Box Score

  • Levi Michael 2B: 1-4 (.231/.310/.346)
  •  Tim Tebow DH: 1-3, 2K, 2B (.200/.200/.360)
  •  Peter Alonso 1B: 1-2, BB (.370/.469/.815)

The Ponies could not get much going against Mike Shawaryn, the No, 6 prospect in the Red Sox system, according to MLB Pipeline. The Ponies only took in three hits, only one being for extra bases, Tim Tebow’s double. After Shawaryn departed before the seventh, Binghamton mustered only two walks.

  • RHP Nabil Crismatt: 4.1 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K (1-1, 1.74)
  • RHP David Roseboom: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K (0-0, 5.40)
  • RHP Eric Hanhold: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K (1-0, 1.69)

Nabil Crismatt didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday, but battled through and kept the Ponies in the game, which is something you always want to see. David Roseboom gave up one run in 1.2 hitless innings in which he surrendered two walks. Hanhold, coming over in the Neil Walker trade, was hitting 96 mph with his sinker and throwing his slider at 87-89 with sharp break.

St. Lucie (6-4) 7, Dunedin (4-6) 3 Box Score

  • Michael Paez 2B: 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (.280/.379/.560)
  • Luis Carpio SS: 3-5, 2B (.241/.303/.414)
  • Desmond Lindsay CF: 1-4, 3B (.250/.385/.313)
  • Anthony Dimino C: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, 2B (.211/.318/.421)

The Mets kept their streak alive!!! Well, the Port St. Lucie Mets did, winning their fifth in a row. Lead by the Michael Paez show, the Mets scored seven runs in a stress-free win over Dunedin. Paez hit his first two home runs of the year, and drove in four in the act. His three hits, along with Luis Carpio’s three hits, were tied for the most on the team for the day. Desmond Lindsay legged out his first triple of the year.

  • RHP Harol Gonzalez: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R (ER), 3 BB, 4 K (0-0, 0.90)
  • RHP Adam Atkins: 3 IP, 3 H, R, 1 BB, 4 K (1-0, 6.14)
  • RHP Thomas McIlraith: IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K (0-1, 1.80)
  • RHP Matt Pobereyko: IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (0-0, 1.69)

Gonzalez turned in another solid outing for the Mets last night, lowering his season ERA below one. The ‘pen gave up only one run over five innings, effectively keeping Dunedin out of the game. Adam Atkins threw three solid frames in long relief. Atkins needed a strong showing following a shaky start to the season for the Mets.

Columbia (6-4) 7, Ashville (2-8) 6 Box Score

  • Blake Tiberi 2B: 2-4, BB, R (.400/.462/.543)
  • Quinn Brodey RF: 2-3, BB, R (.258/.343/.258)
  • Dan Rizzie C: 2-3, BB, R (.278/.250/.200)
  • Jeremy Vasquez 1B: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, K (.290/.444/.464)

The Fireflies’ bats took care of business against a woeful Ashville squad. Lead by the quartet of Brodey, Tiberi, Vasquez, and Rizzie, the Flies’ compiled thirteen hits while only striking out three times as a team.

  • LHP Anthony Kay: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, BB, 5 K ( 0.0, 2.70
  • RHP Joshua Payne: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 K (2-0 3.86)
  • RHP Trey Cobb: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K ( 2/2 saves, 2.25)

One of the Mets’ top LHP prospects Anthony Kay took the bump for the Fireflies on Saturday. While the stat line may say otherwise, Kay threw a strong six innings for the ‘Flies hitting 96 mph at times. Josh Payne and Trey Conb struggled at times, but ended up shutting the door on a comeback attempt by thr Tourists. Cobb collected his second save of the year whike giving up his first run in the process.

Las Vegas recap done by Mojo Hill