As part of a minor-league-wide promotion, the Patriots rebranded as the OatMilkers for Game 1, a reprieve for lactose-intolerant fans everywhere. Despite the udderly-bizarre promotion, the Ponies proved to be the cream of the crop Saturday, emerging victorious in both ends of the doubleheader by the scores of 4-2 and 1-0.

The Ponies’ offensive strategy was clear from the start: swing early and often to rattle the OatMilkers’ Cam Sclitter in his Double-A debut. Five out of the first seven Ponies’ batters made an out or reached base within the first two pitches of their at-bat. Schlitter cruised through the first, but a Rowdey Jordan double drove in a pair in the top of the second inning to give the Ponies an early 2-0 lead.

https://twitter.com/RumblePoniesBB/status/1822371757568721033

Conversely, Ponies RHP Jordan Geber sailed through his first two frames. During his first time through the order, Geber showcased all of his pitches: a low-90s fastball, a high-80s cutter, and a high-70s curveball. His curveball was his bread-and-butter, inducing early, ugly swings against the OatMilkers.

Last season, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com profiled Geber and his journey from undrafted free agent to Mets minor-leaguer.

He faced trouble the second time through the order, but was rescued by a couple of poor baserunning blunders by OatMilkers.

In the third frame, Cole Gabrielson and rehabbing Major Leaguer Greg Allen smacked a pair of singles for the club’s first base knocks of the day. Somerset then attempted to double steal to induce a throw to second and give Gabrielson a path to score. However, backstop Kevin Parada immediately threw to third, eventually tagging Gabreilson out in a rundown.

Two batters later, with Allen dancing off second, Jesus Rodriguez shot a single through the left side of the infield. As Allen rounded third, Alex Ramirez unleashed a cannon of a throw to the plate, with the ball arriving well before the runner.

The Ponies tacked on their final two runs in the fifth frame. With bases loaded and one out, MMN’s 4th-ranked prospect Ryan Clifford shot a tailor-made double play to Seigler, but the second-base sacker lost it during the transfer, granting Mateo Gil the plate. Despite the Milkers implementing a barely-legal infield shift against shortstop Jeremiah Jackson, Jackson popped a sacrifice fly over the entire configuration, scoring Ramirez.

Geber closed out the rest of his outing without issue. Despite the hard contact against rising with every inning, Geber finished his outing with zero runs allowed during his five innings of work.

In the sixth, former Met Grant Hartwig permitted a two-run homer to Tyler Hardman, putting the Oatmilkers on the board.

TJ Shook relieved him in the seventh, but allowed the first two batters to reach, putting the winning run at the plate in the process. Shook recovered to induce a bunt foul-out from Gabrielson, then struck out Allen and Jones to conclude a suddenly tense Game  1.

Game 2 featured less theatrics, only partially on account of the Patriots’ regular attire and branding replacing the OatMilkers’ garments.

Ponies RHP Jonathan Pintaro got the ball for Game 2. Earlier this season, Pintaro was signed out of the Independent League by the Mets, finding out in the middle of his final outing with the Glacier Range Riders. Pintaro had started his Mets tenure with the Brooklyn Cyclones, hurling 36 effective innings before earning a recent promotion to Binghamton.

Mets have signed right-hander Jonathan Pintaro out of the Pioneer Baseball League.

Pintaro was pulled mid-game from his start with the Glacier Range Riders when he found out.

He’s coming off Pitcher of the Week honors (7 IP, 0 R, 10 K)

Showed off a high spin fastball, slider…

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) June 3, 2024

Despite his relative inexperience with the level, Pintaro held his own. The 26-year-old hurled five scoreless frames, working in-and-out of trouble throughout the night by effectively mixing in a kitchen sink worth of pitches. His fastball was clocked as high as 95.

Both of the Mets’ starters Saturday had experience in the MLB Draft League before signing with New York. These deals have been paying dividends throughout the club’s farm system and it wouldn’t be a shock to see more deals of this ilk transpire.

After Pintaro’s strong start, Jaylen Palmer took care of the offense’s part of the bargain. With one out in the fifth, Palmer broke the deadlock with his ninth homer of the season, pushing the Ponies’ win probability up to 65%.

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Showcasing a mid-90s fastball, Cameron Foster relieved Pintaro. He allowed a single to his first batter, Spencer Jones, but held the Patriots off the board for the final two frames.

The series will culminate tomorrow at 5:05 P.M. Mets’ rehabbing outfielder Starling Marte is expected to play for the Ponies. Binghamton’s Luis Moreno (3-3, 3.82 ERA) will face off against Somerset’s Trystan Vrieling (8-7, 5.22 ERA)