Great things often evolve from adversity. That aptly describes the just finished week of baseball from the Binghamton Mets. From an immediate perspective, the B-Met completed a successful week of baseball with a five game winning streak and overall they were 5-1. From a more long-term vantage point, Pedro Lopez’s gang survived some hairpin baseball turns and they are beginning to show the same grit and resolve of last summer’s franchise record setting baseball team.
A 5-1 week of baseball improves the B-Mets overall record to 23-16 and narrows the gap between the second place B-Mets and first place Portland Sea Dogs in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division to only 2.5 games.
The manner in which the B-Mets forged their five win week, spoke equally as well about Pedro Lopez’s team as their win/loss mark. The week actually started quietly when the B-Mets dropped a 10-3 decision Tuesday night to Altoona Curve at NYSEG. After retiring the first six batters he faced, Hansel Robles imploded on the mound surrendering a string of long balls that included three home run shots in a seven-run Curve third inning. Although the B-Mets would get a pair of hits in the contest from Matt Reynolds, Dustin Lawley and Travis Taijeron; Binghamton never recovered.
Greg Peavey got the B-Mets back on track the following evening with a quality start throwing seven innings of seven hit ball, striking out eight and walking only one, as the Binghamton evened the series by downing Altoona, 5-3. Peavey used a healthy pitch mix and pinpoint control throwing over 70% of his pitchers for strikes and staying ahead of Curve batters all night long to garner his third win of the year.
The B-Mets fell behind 2-0 against Altoona, but hot hitting Matt Reynolds got things started in the home fourth with a lead-off double. An opportunistic Reynolds, picked up his first stolen base of the season, swiping third then scored on Kevin Plawecki’s sacrifice fly to left field. Curve shortstop Alen Hanson aided the B-Met cause committing two errors the following inning when Binghamton scored three times. Cory Vaughn, Wilfredo Tovar and Kyle Johnson all had singles in the inning with first base slugger, Matt Clark, ripping a double.
On Thursday night, with the score tied 2-2, Cory Vaughn greeted Altoona relief pitcher Quinton Miller with a walk-off home run and the B-Mets took the series two games to one. Cody Satterwhite pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to pick up his second win of the season without a loss. Satterwhite also lowered his ERA to 0.82.
Binghamton ace Darin Gorski, turned in another sparkling performance going six innings, while striking out six, and allowing four hits and one walk. For the second outing in a row, the only runs Gorski allowed have come via solo home runs, this time a fourth inning shot by Altoona shortstop Alen Hanson. Binghamton’s Brian Burgamy hit a solo blast of his own, his sixth of the season in the bottom of the first.
The B-Mets showed the same kind of grit and resolve they had in their record setting season last year sweeping the weekend series in New Hampshire. On Friday night, after spotting starter Matt Bowman with four runs in the first three innings, the right hander out of Princeton University, ran into trouble in the New Hampshire third. The inning started when Fisher Cats Peter Mooney reached base on an infield error and it all went down from there culminating with an Andy Fermin grand slam home run to right field.
Bowman would settle down nicely, striking out two batters in each of his next three innings of work, while facing only one hitter above the minimum. Bowman fanned 12 Fischer Cats in his six innings of work.
The B-Mets battled back to score four times in the eighth to wrest the game away from New Hampshire. With one out Jayce Boyd walked, then Wilfredo Tovar grounded a single to left field to advance Boyd to second. Kyle Johnson’s single to center field loading the bases. Next, Brian Burgamy laced a double in the gap in left center field to clear the bases and give Binghamton back the lead. Kevin Plawecki, who went 3-3 on the night, singled to score Burgamy later in the inning.
Chase Bradford pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his eighth save of the year.
The B-Mets scored three times in the third inning and then held on edging New Hampshire, 6-5, on Saturday as Rainy Lara won for the fourth time this year. Lara allowed all five runs, three in the seventh inning, but got great help from the bullpen to preserve the victory. John Church and Cody Satterwhite threw combined, 2.2 innings of scoreless relief for Binghamton with Church earning his fourth hold and Satterwhite his first save.
Plawecki continued to rake at the plate going 2-for-4 with two RBI’s. Travis Taijeron showed signs of emerging at the plate going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
After allowing a 7-0 lead slip from their grasp on Sunday, Binghamton showed the resilience needed to stay with the script edging the Fischer Cats, 9-8, in fourteen innings to sweep the series.
Tyler Pill turned in his third impressive outing in a row, tossing 5.2 innings and only allowing a pair of runs. Pill struck out six and walked only one New Hampshire batter. But, T.J. Chism, who got the final out in the sixth, couldn’t hold the B-Met lead in the seventh allowing five runs on three consecutive singles to load the bases, then he walked in a run, and hit a batter to force home the second run. Chism was replaced by Jon Velasquez who surrendered a bases clearing double to Gabe Jacobo even the score 7-7.
A Matt Reynolds triple and Darrell Ceciliani’s first home run of the season, helped the B-Mets build their early lead. RBI singles by Wilfredo Tovar, Kevin Plawecki, and Reynolds also aided the cause.
Plawecki single in the top of the eighth scored Brian Burgamy as the B-Mets reclaimed the lead. But, Jack Leathersich allowed a run in the bottom of the same frame and the score was knotted once again, 8-8. With the leading runner on third and only one out Leathersich would fan Ryan Schimpf and Jacobo to get out of the jam.
New Hampshire missed an opportunity to put the B-Mets away in the home 12th when with one out ,the speedy Kenny Wilson walked then stole second and third. But, Adam Kolarek fanned Pierce Rankin swinging and enticed Jon Berti to fly out in foul territory to Cory Vaughn in right field.
Binghamton finally plated the game winning run in the 14th. With one out, Kyle Johnson doubled, then the B-Met outfielder advanced to third on Burgamy’s single and scored when Matt Reynolds went the other way, grounding a single to right field.
John Church struck out two of three Fischer Cats in the 14th to pick up his first save.
Reynolds, Johnson and Plawecki had great offensive weeks for Binghamton. Reynolds is hitting .331, Johnson has raised his average to .330 and Plawecki is batting .321 for the B-Mets. Wilfredo Tovar continues to impress at the plate. The little middle infielder is batting .316 with 19 RBI’s for Binghamton and has stuck out only seven times in 114 at bats.
