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MMN Recap: Thomas Szapucki Twirls Gem for St. Lucie

By Christopher Soto

August 22, 2019 No comments

Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

Syracuse (67-61) 2, Lehigh Valley (60-67) 1 Box Score

Alcantara was unable to extend his hitting streak to six games but still had a huge impact as he scored the first run of the game with a steal of home in the first inning. Taijeron did not start the game as he entered as part of a double switch with Daniel Zamora in the bottom of the sixth inning. In his first at-bat of the game, Taijeron drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single thru the left side of the infield to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Brandon Nimmo started in center-field for the second straight game and played four innings in the field before being removed from the game.

  • RHP Drew Gagnon: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K, 2 BB | 6-4, 2.11 ERA, 1.10 WHIP
  • LHP Daniel Zamora: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, Win | 2-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.15 WHIP
  • RHP Tyler Bashlor: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, Save(6) | 3-2, 3.60 ERA, 1.23 WHIP

Gagnon flirted with danger all game but was able to wiggle out of RISP opportunities in almost every inning he pitched, including a bases loaded, one out jam in the fifth inning. Amazingly, he would end up allowing only one run, despite ten base-runners reaching.

Bowie (70-58) 7, Binghamton (61-66) 6 Box Score

  • 2B Gavin Cecchini: 2-for-5, R, HR(3), 2 RBI(21), 2 K | .239/.290/.326
  • 1B Patrick Mazeika: 1-for-2, 2 R, HR(15), RBI(64), 2 BB | .253/.317/.443
  • SS Luis Carpio: 3-for-5, R, 2 2B, RBI(20) | .259/.347/.352

The Rumble Ponies had eight hits on the day but could not get runners into scoring position. Michael Paez entered the game in the top fifth inning as part of a double switch and had an immediate impact with a solo home run to lead off the bottom half of the inning.

  • RHP Tommy Wilson: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 K, 3 BB | 4-5, 4.96 ERA, 1.20 WHIP
  • RHP Stephen Villines: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 K, 0 BB | 1-1, 1.09 ERA, 1.06 WHIP
  • RHP Joshua Torres: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB, Blown Save, Loss | 2-1, 7.77 ERA, 1.73 WHIP

Wilson really struggled with his command yesterday issuing three walks on the day, seven hits (including four extra base hits), and two HBP resulting in a run scoring in every inning he pitched. Despite the short outing by Wilson, the Rumble Ponies bullpen would not be taxed as Villines saved the day with his longest performance of the season. His three shut-out innings allowed the team to take the lead and put him in a position to earn his second win of the season but Torres could not hold the lead. After a tossing a perfect eighth inning, Torres allowed the tying run to score in the ninth inning on a solo home run and a game winning run via a squeeze bunt in the tenth.

Clearwater (63-65) 2, St. Lucie (67-59) 0 Box Score

The St. Lucie offense made plenty of contact in the game but couldn’t find the gaps in the defense as they were limited to only four base hits.

  • LHP Thomas Szapucki: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, Loss | 1-3, 3.25 ERA, 1.33 WHIP

Szapucki was superb in what ended up being a milestone start for him despite the loss. By completing the sixth inning, Szapucki registered his first quality start since July 1st, 2017 which was his final “healthy” start before his Tommy John Surgery.

Columbia (50-74) 6, Hickory (75-48) 5 Box Score

Two big rallies in the sixth and ninth innings helped the Fireflies come back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat the second best team in the South Atlantic League. Mauricio kicked off the first rally with a two out single to right field which was followed up by singles from both Jose Miguel Medina and Chambers (scoring Mauricio). Senger would deliver the big blow in the sixth with a two RBI double to score Chambers and Medina and bring the team within one run. Senger also led the rally in the ninth inning with a one out single and would later score the tying run on a wild pitch. Molina would drive in the go ahead run for the team with an RBI single of his own a few batters later.

  • RHP Bryce Hutchinson: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 K, 2 BB | 4-7, 3.73 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
  • RHP Danny Hrbek: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, Win | 4-0, 2.97 ERA, 1.329 WHIP

Hutchinson had his first bad start since re-entering the Fireflies rotation full-time as he allowed five doubles and a home run resulting in five runs scoring. The offense would bail him out though making reliever Danny Hrbek the beneficiary of the comeback as he shut down the Hickory offense to earn his fourth win of the season.

(SS-A) New York/Pennsylvania League All-Star Game Box Score

Kingsport (30-31) 16, Greenville (23-36) 12 Box Score

The Mets overcame a 10-4 deficit with a huge eight run rally in the top of the seventh inning to give the team the lead and the win. As a group, the Kingsport offense collected twenty-two hits, drew seven walks, and was 11-for-26 with runners in scoring position.

  • LHP Christofer Dominguez: 0.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 K, 1 BB | 3-3, 5.13 ERA, 1.36 WHIP
  • RHP Jender De Jesus: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 K, 0 BB, Win | 4-1, 3.62 ERA, 1.43 WHIP

Dominguez had himself a start he’ll want to forget as he allowed five runs to score without recording a single out. De Jesus would come in to save the day though tossing four plus inning of one hit ball while striking out five along the way. With the win, Kingsport is now half a game out of a playoff spot in the Appalachian League.

GCL Mets (26-22) 13, GCL Marlins (26-19) 4 Box Score

  • CF Kenedy Corona: 2-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI(18), K | .303/.394/.485
  • LF Zach Ashford: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI(21), BB, K | .298/.414/.446
  • 3B Nic Gaddis: 3-for-4, 3 R, RBI(9), BB | .230/.355/.377

The GCL offense was quiet for the first five innings of the game before exploding for ten runs in the sixth thru eighth innings to take the lead and the win. Corona has been red-hot once again with four multi-hit performances in the last five games including two home runs and seven RBIs.

  • RHP Liam McCall: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 2 BB, Win | 3-0, 3.76 ERA, 1.25 WHIP

Starter Adrian Aybar allowed three runs in his three innings of work before giving way to McCall who was nails once again for the team earning his third victory of the season. Since his 0.2 IP, 4 ER performance on July 15th, McCall has held opponents to a .224 AVG/.573 OPS. With the win, the GCL Mets pull within 1.5 games of the Marlins for first place in the GCL East Standings.

DSL Brewers (35-34) 6, DSL Mets2 (31-37) 1 Box Score

It was a quiet day for the DSL Mets2 offense as they could only muster one run on five hits. They had chances to score more runs but the team was a collective 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

  • RHP Ronny Rincones: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 K, 1 BB | 1-1, 2.44 ERA, 1.28 WHIP
  • RHP Eiker Huizi: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, Loss | 5-4, 4.60 ERA, 1.60 WHIP

Rincones bounced back from his worst start of the season to toss three innings of shut-out ball in his fourth start for the DSL2 team.

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