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MMN Recap: Vientos’ Power Surge Continues

By Daniel Muras

August 6, 2018 No comments

Photo Credit – Allen Greene Photography

Iowa (42-70) 9, Las Vegas (55-58) 4  Box Score

Kelly had his second straight multi-hit game, with nine total bases in the two games. Alonso’s five-game hit streak ended, but he still drew a walk and is tearing it up in August with an 1.141 OPS. Smith, who’s been in a bit of a slump lately, homered for the second straight game. Colton Plaia also continued his solid hitting with a home run.

  • RHP Cody Martin (3-3, 6.65 ERA): 4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, ER, 4 BB, 3 K
  • RHP Logan Taylor (1-1, 540 ERA): 1.1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, K
  • LHP Matt Purke (L, 2-2, 7.14 ERA): 0.1 IP, H, 4 R, 3 BB, 0 K
  • LHP Buddy Baumann (1-0, 4.71 ERA): 1.2 IP, H, R, BB, 3 K

Martin turned in yet another mediocre start, failing to complete five innings on 91 pitches. His control was iffy as well. He had a 9.00 ERA in July and technically only gave up one earned run last night, but it was still not a very effective start. Taylor came off the DL and made his first appearance for the 51s since May 20 after making three rehab appearances for the GCL Mets. He was very effective in his first outing back.

For awhile Purke seemed to be improving, but he gave up 12 runs in 12 innings in July and has already given up seven runs in just two innings in August. The root of his struggles have usually lied in his lack of control, and last night was no exception as he walked three while throwing only 10 of his 22 pitches for strikes. He left with the bases loaded, and Baumann came in on relief and allowed a grand slam to blow the game open in the seventh inning.

Binghamton (53-60) 7, Harrisburg (57-54) 2  Box Score

  • Andres Gimenez SS: 1-for-2, R, 2B, RBI, BB, HBP, K, .304/.407/.391
  • Will Toffey 3B: 1-for-2, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, .295/.436/.477
  • Jhoan Urena RF: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, K, .246/.302/.369

A six-run sixth inning carried the Rumble Ponies to victory in Sunday afternoon’s game. The offense had just six hits in the game, only three of which came in their big inning, but they made those hits count and took advantage of six walks. Gimenez and Toffey continued their impressive starts in Double-A by reaching base three times each. Toffey has an impressive 12:14 BB:K ratio through 15 games with Binghamton and has seven extra base hits over that same period of time.

McGowan made his second consecutive start since being sent down to Binghamton and it appears that he may be used as a starting pitcher for at least the near future. This was McGowan’s best start as he threw 78 pitches and a season high 5.0 innings while allowing only a single run. Nogosek has struggled greatly since his promotion to Double-A, but this appearance was a step in the right direction as he struck out three in a scoreless inning.

St. Lucie (44-64) 5, Daytona (57-52) 4  Box Score

The Mets offense had five runs on ten hits to take the victory in Sunday’s 12-inning game. Paez extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single in the 11th inning. Anthony Dimino would win the game with a walk-off double that brought home Luis Carpio in the bottom of the 12th inning. After making a cameo appearance as a pinch runner on Friday, Wilmer Reyes made his first start with the St. Lucie and went 1-for-5.

Six St. Lucie pitchers combined to strike out 21 batters over 12 innings in Sunday’s game. Cavallaro started the game and was cruising until the sixth inning, in which he allowed three runs and was pulled from the game. While he hasn’t had the same level of success in the Florida State League that he had in Columbia, Cavallaro is still striking batters out at an exceptional rate of 10.2 K/9. Villines unintentionally walked two batters in a game for the first time in his professional career (57 appearances), but kept the game tied for 2.1 solid innings.

Asheville (49-62) 11, Columbia (51-58) 10  Box Score

  • Matt Winaker LF: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .256/.369/.417
  • Jose Brizuela 1B: 2-for-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB, .133/.182/.333
  • Zach Rheams RF: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, .219/.313/.384

The Fireflies had only eight hits in the game, but six went for extra bases and five cleared the fence, so the offense was able to put up ten runs. Winaker has been heating up over the last month and has had an insane start to August. He is hitting .500/.500/.950 through five games to start the month.

  • LHPJake Simon(0-5, 4.04 ERA) 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB
  • RHP Nicolas Debora (3-3, 3.26 ERA) 5.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, BB, 4 K
  • RHP Joshua Payne (L, 4-3, 4.22 ERA) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HB

Columbia pitchers had a rough night in general, with each of the four pitchers allowing at least one earned run, but they were hurt by poor defense, as well. Four errors resulted in only seven of the eleven runs being earned. Simon started the game, but was pulled after a rough first inning in which he game up two runs and threw 22 pitches. Payne allowed the winning run to score when he hit a batter with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Hudson Valley (29-19) 6, Brooklyn (26-23) 5  Box Score

Brooklyn’s offense had a solid night as they scored five runs on thirteen hits. Chambers got the Cyclones on the board with a first inning two-run homer and Cortes added on two more runs with a home run in the fifth inning. Sharp has had six multi-hit games over his last 10 games, although he has also struck out 13 times over that span.

  • RHP Jaison Vilera (5-1, 1.43 ERA) 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, BB, 7 K
  • RHP Adam Hill (1-1, 3.24 ERA) 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 4 K
  • RHP Yeudy Colon (L, 3-2, 1.25 ERA) 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, K

Brooklyn’s pitchers all had their strikeout stuff in this game as they struck out 16 batters over the nine innings. Vilera had entered Sunday without allowing a run in any of his last four starts, but he couldn’t keep that streak going in this start. Still, even though he allowed four runs, a 7:1 K:BB ratio is still excellent. Colon had allowed just one earned run all season, but allowed double that in this appearance. Hudson Valley ended up winning the game on a walk-off balk in the ninth inning.

Bristol (19-24) 12, Kingsport (23-20) 5  Box Score

The Mets had plenty of opportunities to stage a late-inning comeback, but were just 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position for the game. Vientos continued his incredible hot streak with two more hits, including his ninth home run of the year. The 18-year old third baseman now has an 11 game hitting streak and has homered 7 times in his last 14 games. Kelenic and Beracierta have both been mired in lengthy slumps, but both have shown signs of life in their last few games.

  • RHP Matt Cleveland (L, 1-2, 3.13 ERA) 3.1 IP, 4 H, 8 R, 6 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Andrew Ryan (0-0, 8.68 ERA) 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 K
  • RHP Noah Nunez (1-2, 8.25 ERA) 1.0 IP, H, BB, K

Cleveland started the game for Kingsport and struggled greatly with his command over 3.1 innings. Amazingly, though he allowed eight runs to score, not a single one was earned as the Mets made three errors early in the game. While Cleveland’s ERA is respectable, his 6.82 RA9, 17:30 K:BB ratio, and 1.72 WHIP all paint a less optimistic picture of his season. Nunez made his first appearance with Kingsport since July 7 after dealing with an undisclosed injury.

Las Vegas portion of recap done by Mojo Hill.