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MMN Recap: Carlos Cortes Homers in St. Lucie Win

By Matt Mancuso

May 29, 2019 No comments

Carlos Cortes – Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

Syracuse (26-24) 16, Buffalo(16-27) 2 Box

Chris Flexen’s up-and-down season continued as the towering righty labored through 105 pitches to get through 4.2 innings. Aside from shortened outing on April 26th, yesterday marked the season’s shortest start from Flexen. Nogosek, who has emerged as a trusted arm out of Tony DeFrancesco‘s bullpen, helped the Mets escape the fifth inning by retiring Richard Urena. Villines uncharacteristically struggled with his command; his four walks marked the most he’s allowed an outing in his professional career. Nogosek has only given up two runs in 24.1 innings this season, all of them coming from his time in Binghamton.

Someone tell the Mets that they’re not in Vegas anymore!! Their 16-2 victory was the team’s third time in three weeks that they’ve scored more than ten runs in a game. Alcantara kicked off the scoring with a home run in the third inning and drew a walk with the bases loaded in the fifth to regain the lead. Two batters after Alcantara’s bases-loaded walk, Ruben Tejada doubled the lead with an RBI single. With a strong start in Syracuse, Tejada has played his way into the conversation if the Mets need another middle-infielder at the Major-League level.

The Mets proceeded to bat around during a five-run seventh inning to put a comeback out of reach. The Mets teed off Corey Copping, smacking five hits, three of the extra base variety. After Alcantara singled to start the frame, Gregor Blanco doubled him in. Ruben Tejada followed with a two-base hit of his own. Three batters later, Herrera slammed a three-run homer, following in the footsteps of former Syracuse Mets Carlos Gomez, Rajai Davis and Adeiny Hechavarría. The Mets would score four additional runs in the following inning.

Former Met outfielder Jordan Patterson pitched the ninth inning, striking out two batters, including Tim Tebow looking!

Binghamton (28-18) 2, Richmond (17-30) 1 Box

Andres Gimenez played the hero as his go-ahead single allowed the Rumble Ponies to stay in first place in the Eastern League. The Rumble Ponies’ offense was relatively silent. They were retired in order the first time through the lineup. In the fourth inning, Patrick Mazieka and Dario Pizzano knocked back-to-back two-out singles, but a Will Toffey strikeout stranded the pair.

Two frames later, the two tablesetters, Gimenez and Haggerty, both got on base to start off the inning, but Ponies were unable to drive them home. Finally, Binghamton finally broke through in the ninth. Down to their last out, Jason Krizan lined a single into right to drive home Toffey. An inning later, with Michael Paez dancing off second base, Andres Gimenez knocked him in what would turn out to be the game-winning run.

Gonzalez got the Jacob deGrom treatment; his seven masterful innings went for naught as his offense was unable to support him. The righty only allowed five hits and one earned run over seven frames, which represented his longest outing of 2019. It’s been an impressive month for Gonzalez. He started his May off by throwing 6.2 hitless innings and ended it by shutting down the Flying Squirrels for seven innings. After an injury-plagued 2018 campaign, Uceta has rebounded to become a reliable late-inning force yet again.

St. Lucie (26-24) 8, Jupiter (13-35) 5 Box

After an up-and-down 2018, Rennie has rebounded with a solid 2019 campaign that’s been ruined by a couple of awful outings. Even though he allowed four runs to score, only one was earned. An inning after  Isael Soto hit a solo homer, the Hammerheads stormed back to tie up the game. After struggling badly in his second appearance with St. Lucie, Mitchell threw 1.2 scoreless frames.

St.Lucie got off to a strong start, scoring four times in the first inning. After the Hammerheads evened the score, Carlos Cortes hit a two-run homer to put the Mets ahead. Jeremy Vasquez and Quinn Brodey tacked on a couple of insurance runs with sixth-inning knocks. Their win resulted in the tenth consecutive loss for the Hammerheads. Five players enjoyed multiple-hit nights, with Manny Rodriguez emerging as the main offensive producer. Rodriguez had two singles, with his first hit being the final RBI knock of the aftermentioned four-run first.

Columbia Fireflies(20-32) 7, Charleston (28-24) 4 Box

  • RHP Jose Butto (1-6, 4.69 ERA): 6 IP, H, 0 R, 6 K, 3 BB
  • RHP Billy Oxford (0-2, 4.34 ERA): 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 R, K,
  • RHP Chris Viall (0-1, 7.47 ERA): .1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, K, 3 BB
  • LHP Jake Simon (0-0, 0.00 ERA): 1.2 IP, H, 1 R, 0 ER, K, BB

Jose Butto twirled one of the best starts of his career last night, shutting down the RiverDogs for six innings. Brandon Lockridge‘s single to kick off the bottom of the first was the only hit that Butto allowed. Despite his struggles this year, the 21-year-old remains one of the more tantalizing prospects in the lower levels of the Mets minor-league system. Viall’s wildness continued as he allowed three more walks; His 7.11 BB/9 is tied for the 10th highest in the SALLY league. Simon recorded his first career save.

Wagner Lagrange opened the scoring with a sixth-inning grand slam. Even though he’s batting 8th, his .758 OPS ranks third on the team. The Mets extended the lead the following inning with a pair of extra-base hits courtesy of Chase Chambers and Shervyen Newton. Chambers, the Mets’ 2018 18th rounder, has anchored the lineup with his 117 wRC+ and .759 OPS. Hansel Moreno left the game with an apparent injury in the top of the third inning.

The Mets’ top three youngsters in the Columbia lineup have heated up all at the same time.  Newton led the charge with a 3-for-5 showing that saw him record his second home run of the season. Ronny Mauricio tallied his second three-hit game of 2019 while Mark Vientos collected two more hits. After slumping to start off the season, the trio is slashing .279/.315/.500 over their week’s worth of games.

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Written by MMancuso

I'm a recent alum of TCNJ, where I graduated with degrees in business and technology. At MMO, I write data-driven player breakdowns, as well as, cover the Mets minor-league system. Follow me on at https://twitter.com/MattyCuso.

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