*All results from games played on Wednesday, April 16th, 2014
Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (11-3)_______________________________________
LAS VEGAS 4, RENO 2 (Box)
The 51s knocked around top Diamondback prospect Archie Bradley, hitting him for four runs on seven hits and two walks in four plus innings. Bradley looked good in the 1st, striking out two batters, but was decidedly more hittable in the 2nd. Two consecutive singles and a walk loaded the bases for Cesar Puello, who hit a line drive into right to drive in the game's first run. Both Logan Verrett and Danny Muno followed with grounders, ending the bases loaded threat. Las Vegas picked up right where they left off when they next came to bat, plating an additional two runs on an Allan Dykstra single. Of note, Dykstra was called out at trying to second trying to stretch his hit into a double, and would have scored an additional run that inning, as Zach Lutz came to the plate next and smashed a fly ball into right for a triple. In the bottom of the 4th, the Aces got on the board when left fielder Alfredo Marte smacked a line drive into center that drove in Mike Jacobs. A few batters later, Archie Bradley hit a line drive into right that would have scored another run had Puello not gunned down the runner at home. The two teams both scored a run a piece in the 5th and held each other scoreless for the rest of the game. Vic Black pitched a clean 8th and handed the ball to Jeff Walters for the 9th, who shut the door, earning his fourth save of the year and locking down the 51s' 11th victory of the season.
- 2B Danny Muno: 0-5, 2 K
- LF/1B Eric Campbell: 1-4, R, BB, K, SB (1)
- SS Wilmer Flores: 1-4, 2 R, 2 K, HBP
- 1B Allan Dykstra: 2-3, 2B, BB, 3 RBI
- 3B Zach Lutz: 2-4, R, 3B, HBP
- CF Matt den Dekker: 1-4, 2 K
- C Taylor Teagarden: 1-3, 2B, BB, K
- RF Cesar Puello: 1-4, RBI
- PH Bobby Abreu: 1-1
- RHP Logan Verrett: 5 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- RHP Vic Black: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
- RHP Jeff Walters: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (4)
Double-A - Binghamton Mets (7-4)_____________________________________
POSTPONED (RAIN)
Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (7-6)________________________________________
JUPITER 8, ST. LUCIE 6 / 10 (Box)
Things started off well enough. St. Lucie put up a four spot in the bottom of the 1st, so you figure there'd be nothing but good times ahead, especially with Gabriel Ynoa on the mound, right? Wrong! After tossing a so-so 2nd inning that saw two runs score, Ynoa fell apart in the 3rd, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk while only being able to record two outs. The Mets scratched out a run in the 4th thanks to a throwing error by pitcher Jake Esch that allowed Dilson Herrera, making it a one-run ballgame. Relievers Paul Sewald, Julian Hilario, and Bret Mitchell all did great jobs of keeping the Hammerheads off the board, but unfortunately, Jupiter's pitchers were just as stingy with the runs. Finally, in the bottom of the 9th, St. Lucie got a little taste of the magic. Back-to-back-to-back singles plated a run and tied the game, and an intentional walk to T.J. Rivera left the bases loaded with less than two outs, giving the Mets the opportunity to walk off. Regrettably, there wasn't enough magic to go around in that inning, as Aderlin Rodriguez and Cam Maron both made outs, so forcing extra innings would have to suffice. Randy Fontanez came in to pitch the 10th and promptly gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, putting St. Lucie back in the hole they so desperately crawled out of only minutes earlier. To make matters worse, in addition to the homer, he gave up two doubles, which allowed another run to cross the plate. Down by two and the bottom portion of the lineup due to bat, St. Lucie folded meagerly into the cloudy night, and with it, their chance to take the series. They'll look to rebound against the Fort Myers Miracle tonight, who they are 3-0 against this season.
- SS Dilson Herrera: 3-5, 2 R, K, SB (1)
- CF Brandon Nimmo: 2-4, R, BB, K, RBI
- 1B T.J. Rivera: 1-4, R, BB, RBI
- 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 2-5, R, 3B, K, 2 RBI
- DH Cam Maron: 2-4, BB, RBI
- 2B Phil Evans: 1-5, CS (1)
- RHP Gabriel Ynoa: 2.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, HR
- RHP Randy Fontanez: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, HR
Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (9-4)__________________________________
SAVANNAH 4, AUGUSTA 1 (Box)
Gavin Cecchini got the party started with a leadoff double and Jared King drove him in with a groundout two batters later, giving the Sand Gnats a quick 1-0 lead. They added to it in the 3rd inning, when they scratched out three more runs on a Jeff McNeil sac fly and a Stefan Sabol single. Of note in that inning, Patrick Biondi drew a walk to start the inning and promptly stole both second and third, his fourth and fifth steals of the year. In the bottom of the 4th, the GreenJackets finally got on the board when Colton Plaia let loose an errant throw attempting to stop a runner that had the unintended side effect of allowing the runner on third to score. Given that Robert Whalen had been sharp until that point, and that Miller Diaz was just as sharp when he relieved Whalen in the 6th, the run was inconsequential.
With the win, Savannah won the series against Augusta and have taken four of six from the GreenJackets this year. They'll look to keep the momentum going tonight, when they take on Teddy Stankiewicz, Tzu-Wei Lin, and the rest of the Greenville Drive at Historic Grayson.
- SS Gavin Cecchini: 2-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
- 3B Jeff McNeil: 1-3, RBI
- 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 0-3, BB
- LF Jared King: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, RBI, CS (1)
- DH Stefan Sabol: 1-4, 3 K, 2 RBI
- 1B Dominic Smith: 0-4, K
- CF Patrick Biondi: 0-3, R, BB, 2 SB (4,5)
- RHP Robert Whalen: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 6 K, WP
- RHP Miller Diaz: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K, WP, SV (1)
Star of the Night
Dilson Herrera and Brandon Nimmo both deserve the Star of the Night honors, so they'll split it amongst themselves. In addition to their admirable performances last night, the pair of prospects are on fire: Herrera is hitting .386/.449/.568 over his last ten games with 3 walks to 9 strikeouts and Nimmo is hitting .390/.479/.488 with 7 walks to 11 strikeouts
Goat of the Night
Gabriel Ynoa was pretty bad last night, but relievers coming into games and mucking things up- especially in extra innings- particularly infuriates me. Randy Fontanez gets the horns for his inning of work last night.