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Minors Recap: Clifford Swats Seventh Homer In June

By Matt Mongin

June 23, 2024 No comments

Ryan Clifford. Photo by Bronson Harris of Binghamton Rumble Ponies

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies came back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Akron Rubberducks. Sparked by a fourth-inning Ryan Clifford home run – his seventh in June – the Ponies earned the victory on a two-out, two-run single by Drake Osborn.

Clifford now has a 1.138 OPS in June with seven home runs, four doubles, and a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 18:15. Though he is graded as a pure hitter, Clifford has been a three-true-outcome batter this month, boasting a .226 batting average in that span.

Triple-A

Syracuse Mets (46-27) 1, Rochester Red Wings (37-35) 9

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The Syracuse Mets were defeated 9-1 by the Nationals’ top prospect, James Wood, and the Rochester Red Wings Saturday night. The Mets had no answer for Wood, who went 2-for-4 with a solo blast to left center field. The Mets’ offense was dormant in the loss, going 2-for-8 with RISP and collecting only one extra-base hit.

Luisangel Acuña, Photo by Herm Card

Luisangel Acuña had his sixth multi-hit game of June, lifting his triple slash to .288/.350/.384 (.734 OPS) in the month.

  • LHP Joey Lucchesi (4.61 ERA): 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (83 pitches/ 45 strikes)
  • RHP Wilkin Ramos (0.00): 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Eric Orze (3.48): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Cole Sulser (2.01): 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Yacksel Rios (3.30) 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Yolmer Sanchez (0.00) 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Lucchesi was roughed up in a second straight outing, seeing dips in his year averages in velocity and spin rate for every pitch, which was the case for his last outing. Joey Fuego has allowed six home runs and nine walks in his previous three outings, troubling for a pitcher whose bread and butter is earning ground balls.

Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (35-31) 6, Akron Rubberducks (36-32) 5

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A four-run seventh inning propelled the Rumble Ponies to a win Saturday night over the Akron Rubberducks. Led by another Ryan Clifford home run and a four-hit night from Alex Ramirez, the Binghamton offense strung together hits to complete the comeback. The Rubberducks went up 3-0 in the third inning after a Petey Halpin homer. Still, the Ponies were resilient and chipped away at the Akron lead with the aforementioned Clifford blast in the fourth inning and a Ramirez RBI single in the fifth. Drake Osborn provided the game-winning knock in the seventh with a 2 RBI single to center field.

After a shaky start from Moreno, the Ponies’ bullpen held firm, allowing the team to win in comeback fashion. Montes de Oca continues his rehab following elbow surgery and looked fantastic in his solo inning. Justin Jarvis was dynamic in the final three innings of the ballgame, striking out five Rubberducks en route to his first save with Binghamton.

High-A

Jersey Shore BlueClaws (40-28) 8, Brooklyn Cyclones (33-35) 0 

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Coming off of their tough extra-inning loss, Brooklyn was stymied by the Jersey Shore pitching and was held to one hit in their 8-0 loss. It was a woeful game on both sides of the ball for Brooklyn, who only got four baserunners on and struck out 12 times. In comparison, the Cyclones’ pitching staff allowed 13 baserunners and struck out only two BlueClaws.

William Lugo, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

Despite his offense’s lack of run support, Jawilme Ramirez was solid in long relief for the Cyclones. Ramirez has allowed two runs or less in six of his eight appearances (starts and long relief) for Brooklyn.

Low-A

St. Lucie Mets (22-46) 0, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (33-34) 5

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St. Lucie was held to just three hits and zero runs for the second consecutive game. On the bright side, the Mets only struck out 11 times in their loss on Saturday (13 on Friday night). 

AJ Ewing, Photo by Ed Delany of Mets Minors

Cristofer Gomez gave a solid middle-relief performance for St. Lucie, striking out three and allowing only two hits in his two and two-thirds innings on the mound.

Dominican Summer League

DSL Mets Blue (4-10) 1, DSL Rockies (8-5) 4

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DSL Mets Orange (7-7) 4, DSL Tigers (7-8) 1

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