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MMN Recap: Cortes Walks it Off for St. Lucie

By Ryan Kolakowski

April 26, 2019 No comments

Syracuse Mets (13-8) 8, Buffalo Bisons (5-12) 7 Box Score

Casey Coleman took the mound for the mets, and the 31-year-old easily worked through his first three innings. In the top of the fourth, Coleman allowed a leadoff walk to Jordan Patterson and a two-run home run to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. After inducing two outs, Coleman surrendered a double, but stranded the runner by forcing a flyout to end the inning. Coleman was replaced by the left-handed Ryan O’Rourke to start the fifth inning. O’Rourke started the inning strong, striking out his first two batters, but then surrendered a solo home run. O’Rourke struck out a third batter to end the inning. The lefty continued pitching into the sixth inning but allowed a two-run home run to give Buffalo a 5-4 lead.

Tyler Bashlor loaded the bases in the seventh inning but got a flyout to get out of trouble. He then pitched a clean eighth frame. Arquimedes Caminero came on in a save situation but coughed up two runs before eventually slamming the door on Buffalo.

The Mets offense combined to collect 12 hits, four of which went for extra bases. Rene Rivera led off the third inning with a double, and he eventually came around to score on a Danny Espinosa force out. Adeiny Hechavarria drove home the second run of the inning with a ground ball single. The Mets scored one run in each of the next two innings and held a 4-3 lead after 5 innings.

Trailing 5-4 in the eighth inning, five straight Mets got on base to lead off the inning and drive in four runs. Syracuse held an 8-5 lead entering the final frame, allowing the bullpen to close out the game.

Portland Sea Dogs (5-11) 2, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (9-6) 0 Box Score

The Binghamton pitching staff dominated the Portland lineup. Three pitchers combined to allow eight hits and two earned runs while striking out 13 batters. Michael Gibbons started the game, and the 26-year-old allowed one earned run in six innings of work. Ryder Ryan posted two clean innings. Matt Blackham allowed a one-out single, and a pair of wild pitches advanced the runner to third base. Blackham allowed a sacrifice fly to give Portland a 2-0 lead in the ninth inning.

The Binghamton offense was dominated and failed to get a hit in their shutout loss to Portland. Giménez was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first inning, and he reached second base on a groundout. The inning ended when Giménez was caught stealing third base. Will Toffey walked in the fifth inning but was left stranded at first base. Giménez was hit by another pitch to lead off the seventh inning. He stole second base with two outs and advanced to third on a throwing error. Will Toffey flied out to strand Giménez at third base.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Sam Haggerty drew a one-out walk to reach base. Giménez struck out and Michael Paez flied out to end the game.

St. Lucie Mets (11-10) 10, Florida Fire Frogs (7-14) 9 Box Score

Luc Rennie took the mound for St. Lucie and struggled in his brief start against Florida. Rennie pitched three scoreless innings before encountering trouble in the fourth inning. In the top of the fourth, Rennie allowed a leadoff single and a two-run home run. In the fifth inning, Rennie allowed a pair of hits to put runners on second and third. Two runs scored on a single and an error by left fielder Jacob Zanon. Rennie then allowed a single and a walk to load the bases.

Marcel Renteria came on in relief of Rennie, and he allowed all three inherited runners to score before getting out of the inning. The St. Lucie bullpen allowed three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work.

The St. Lucie offense combined to collect 14 hits an score 10 runs in a high-scoring affair against Florida. The Mets were led by third baseman Blake Tiberi, right fielder Quinn Brodey and second baseman Carlos Cortes. Tiberi reached base four times and crossed home plate three times for the Mets. Brodey collected four hits and drove in three runs. Cortes collected three hits, including a triple and a home run, and drove in four runs.

St. Lucie jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first three innings on Thursday. Trailing 7-4 in the seventh inning, Tiberi walked to lead off the inning. Brodey tripled to drive Tiberi home and cut the deficit to two runs. Luis Carpio walked, and Carlos Cortes tripled to drive in two runs and tie the game. Quinn Brodey slugged a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth inning and later scored on an error to cut the deficit to one run. With a runner on base, Cortes mashed a two-run walk-off home run to give St. Lucie a 10-9 win.

Charleston RiverDogs (9-12) 5, Columbia Fireflies (7-13) 3 Box Score

After Columbia took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, the Fireflies surrendered three runs in the bottom half of the frame. A fielding error by third baseman Mark Vientos led to a pair of unearned runs. Bryce Hutchinson surrendered a solo home run in the sixth inning to give Charleston a 5-2 lead.

The Columbia offense struggled against Charleston, collecting only 5 hits and striking out 14 times on Thursday night. Two batters reached on errors to lead off the third inning, and a wild pitcher allowed a run to score. Ronny Mauricio singled to drive in the second run of the inning. In the seventh inning, first baseman Brian Sharp tripled on a ground ball to right field, and he scored on a groundout by Jose Miguel Medina.