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MMN Recap: Francisco Álvarez Launches Another Home Run

By Nick Rucco

June 17, 2022 No comments

Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Richard Nelson

Francisco Álvarez went yard in the Binghamton Rumble Ponies’ 7-6 loss on Thursday, his 14th home run of the season and his sixth in June. Over in the Dominican Summer League, Simon Juan hit his first home run as a member of the Mets’ organization.

AAA: Syracuse Mets (23-39) 2, Norfolk Tides (31-32) 6 Box Score

The Mets had the chance to tie a season-high with a fourth consecutive victory, but the offense wasn’t able to emulate the success it saw in scoring 33 runs across the previous three games. The Mets took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Mark Vientos, but they didn’t score again until the ninth inning, at which point the game was all but over. No Mets player recorded more than one hit, and the supporting cast around Vientos, Daniel Palka, and Dominic Smith continue to falter.

  • LHP Nate Fisher: (L, 0-1), 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 7.88 ERA
  • RHP Jose Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, K, 9.00 ERA
  • RHP Stephen Nogosek: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 K, 1.32 ERA
  • RHP Michel Otanez IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 3.86 ERA

Nate Fisher gave up four runs in the third inning, signaling the end of his night and the end of the Mets’ chances in this one. Jose Rodriguez has pitched just one scoreless outing in his 12 appearances, and he has an absurdly high 9.00 ERA across 33 innings pitched this season. Stephen Nogosek and Michel Otañez did well to keep the game from getting completely out of hand, but the damage was already done.

AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (22-38) 6, Bowie Baysox (24-36) 7 Box Score

The Rumble Ponies jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the third inning with home runs from Francisco Álvarez and Carlos Cortes, but they scored just one run after that and fell just short of winning on Thursday. Álvarez now has 14 homers on the season and is tied with Palka for the lead amongst minor leaguers in the organization.

James McCann made a start in his first rehab appearance since being placed on the IL on May 13th with a fractured left wrist; he finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Jesús Vargas was given a prime opportunity to secure his first win at the AA level, but he allowed the first five batters he faced in the fourth inning to reach base, squandering a four-run lead. The bullpen shut down the opposing offense from there, allowing just one run over five innings of work. However, that run proved to be the deciding factor in a close loss for a team that has suffered its fair share of them this season.

A+: Brooklyn Cyclones (26-33) 3, Wilmington Blue Rocks (30-28) 2 Box Score

The Cyclones didn’t have a particularly prolific day at the dish, but a three-run fourth inning was just enough to get them over the line for a victory on Thursday. The runs came courtesy of consecutive RBI singles from Shervyen Newton, Matt Rudick, and Justin Guerrera, accounting for three of the team’s six hits on the night. The Cyclones did a great job of keeping the basepaths occupied despite the lack of hits by drawing eight walks.

  • RHP Mike Vasil: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, 5.30 ERA
  • LHP Nathan Lavender: (W, 1-0), 4.0 IP, H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1.00 ERA
  • RHP Sammy Tavarez: (S, 4), 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1.47 ERA

Mike Vasil has had a rough go of it in Brooklyn, and his lackluster performance on Thursday has done little to assuage concerns, as he walked five batters across just 3 2/3 innings. However, he did surrender just two runs and struck out five, and the bullpen behind him was excellent. Nathan Lavender went four incredibly strong innings allowing just a single hit, and Sammy Tavarez secured a four-out save for his fourth of the year.

Photo by Ed Delany

A: Tampa Tarpons (25-35) 14, St. Lucie Mets (39-20) 2 Box Score

Losses have been few and far between for the Mets this season, but this one was particularly notable considering the often-prolific offense managed just three hits and no extra-base hits. The lone runs came in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout from Raul Beracierta and an RBI single for Brady Smith, his first RBI as a member of the organization. Omar De Los Santos added two more steals to his ever-growing tally, and he is up to 32 this season.

Calvin Ziegler’s start lasted just a single inning, but the one run he allowed was enough to see him tagged with the loss. Five Mets pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts, but they also gave up 17 hits and walked seven batters. The bullpen surrendered ten runs across the final three innings as the Mets found themselves on the losing end of a blowout for once.

Complex League: FCL Cardinals (5-3) 4, FCL Mets (6-2) 5 BOX SCORE

The Mets walked it off with two runs in the bottom of the tenth inning, surviving a four-error game and a short outing from their starter Claudio Scotti.

Dominican League: DSL Mets2 (4-4) 5, DSL Mets1 (4-4) 7 Box Score

  • CF Simon Juan: 1-for-4, HR (1), RBI, R, 2 SO
  • DH Willy Fanas: 1-for-3, R, BB

Simon Juan hit the first home run of his professional career and Willy Fanas scored a run in this matchup between the two Mets squads in the Dominical Summer League.

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Written by nickrucco

I'm a graduate student at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a lifelong Mets fan. You can follow me on Twitter @nrucco16, where I tweet about the Mets, international soccer, and pop music.

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