Las Vegas vs. Fresno – Still inaction

Our own Jennifer Nieves is at the game, she will provide a full recap in the morning.

Binghamton 2, New Hampshire 1

Robert Gsellman made his fourth consecutive Opening Day start in the organization (BK ’13, SAV ’14, STL ’15) last night after Binghamton was rained out on Thursday night. He was sharp in his first start of 2016 going 5.2 innings allowing only run one which came on a Melky Mesa homerun. Robert surrendered two hits, two walks and struck out seven. He was mixing in his curveball well to go alongside his good sinker.

He was relieved by lefty Kelly Secrest who was making his Double-A debut and stranded two runners for Gsellman in the sixth inning. Secrest came back out for the seventh, pitching a scoreless inning with a strikeout. Logan Taylor would get the win in his B-Mets debut with a scoreless eight inning, he made 24 appearances in 2015 with 22 of them being starts.

Akeel Morris finished off the dominating performance by the Binghamton pitching staff with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his first career AA save.

The B-Mets offense was quiet for most of the night besides the bat of the birthday boy Jeff McNeil who knocked in both runs including the game-winning in the eight inning. McNeil, who put on about 25 pounds of muscle this offseason, hit a homerun and double while throwing in a stolen base for good measure.

Outfielder Kyle Johnson scored the winning run after doubling to leadoff the inning. Victor Cruzado, Matt Oberste, and L.J. Mazzilli each had a single while Stefan Sabol went 0 for 1 with two walks in his AA debut. Dominic Smith was 0 for 4 but would have had a double if not for him missing first base and the Fisher Cats successfully appealing the play. Box Score

Jupiter 5, St. Lucie 3

The St. Lucie bats were quiet for most of the night failing to score for six straight innings before rallying in the eight inning that ultimately fell short. Wuilmer Becerra got his first High-A hit during that rally, a two-run single that brough the winning run to the plate. He moved up to 8th in the lineup but was the designated hitter.

John Mora got the scoring started for St. Lucie in the first inning with a two-out run scoring single, he was 2 for 4 with a run scored. Catcher Tomas Nido went 2 for 4 with his first double of the season but he had two passed balls behind the plate.

Champ Stuart went 1 for 5 with a double, run scored, and one strikeout out of the leadoff spot. Patrick Biondi got the start in right, he was 1 for 2 with a double, walk and made a couple of nice plays in the field. Amed Rosario followed up his heroic Opening Night with a 0 for 5 game. Jhoan Urena reached base twice (1B, BB) and Luis Guillorme was 0 for 4 with a walk.

One of our MMN breakout candidates, Chris Flexen made his St. Lucie debut going six solid innings. He allowed three runs on five hits and struck out five. He was hitting 92-93 MPH with his fastball and got a couple of swing and misses with his curve.

Lefty Alberto Baldonado struggled in relief allowing two runs (one earned) in his inning of work. Tim Peterson was very impressive striking out five in two scoreless innings. Box Score

Charleston 5, Columbia 4

For the second straight night the Fireflies lost in a 5-4 game in walk-off fashion, not the best start for a new franchise. They did score two runs with two outs in the top of the ninth on RBI hits from Vicente Lupo (1 for 4) and Milton Ramos (1 for 4).

Third basemen David Thompson was the offensive star going 2 for 3 with a double, walk, run scored and a RBI. Fellow 2015 draft pick Vinny Siena went 1 for 2 with two walks and a run scored. Ivan Wilson batted leadoff again and was 2 for 5 while playing center field. Kevin Kaczmarski remains hitless on the season after going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

P.J. Conlon made his first professional start going 4.2 innings giving up only one run (first earned run allowed in career) on fours hits and a walk. The lefty did not strike out a batter and was sitting in the high 80’s with his fastball.

The other bright spot on the mound was the return of the hard throwing righty Tyler Bashlor who was on the mound for the first time since August 28th, 2013. He pitched two scoreless innings with five strikeouts and while they never gave a radar reading he was certainly overpowering with his fastball. Box Score