*All results from games played on Sunday, April 20th, 2014
Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (15-5)_______________________________________
EL PASO 9, LAS VEGAS 21 (Box)
Is this football or baseball? Ruben Mejia toed the mound for El Paso, and that was their first problem- the 22-year-old Dominican was making the first AAA start of his career, having previously pitched as high as Low-A. He lasted all of one out, striking out Anthony Seratelli swinging. During his time on the mound, he allowed four singles and three walks, which tallied four runs for the 51s. Tim Sexon replaced him after Danny Muno singled and drove in a run, but he wasn't much better- he immediately waked Dana Eveland, the opposing pitcher, to force in a run. When all was said and done, Las Vegas batted around, scoring seven runs in the 1st inning, which completely negating the one run that Eveland gave up in the top of the inning. After scoring two runs in the 2nd, the 51s put up another crooked number in the 3rd, plating five more runs on singles a pair of walks, and some sloppy baseball in the form of a passed ball and a wild pitch. The Chihuahuas showed a little spunk, I'll give it to them. Despite being outscored 18-4 going into the 7th inning, they didn't give up. They knocked around the bullpen a tad, scoring a pair of runs off of Giancarlo Alvarado in the 7th and 8th and one run off of Josh Edgin in the 9th. The Las Vegas offense tacked on an additional three runs in the 7th, just to make sure than a game that was already completely out of reach stayed completely out of reach. When all was said and done, every 51s starter had a hit. The top of the order was particularly successful, with Wilmer Flores notching two hits, Cesar Puello and Matt den Dekker each notching three, and Eric Campbell and Allan Dykstra both notching four. Of note, once again, is that Jeff Francoeur found himself on the pitching mound. And, once again, he didn't pitch all that bad. In his inning of work, he struck out Danny Muno (can someone GIF that, maybe?), hit Kai Groaner, got Cesar Puello to fly out to center, hit Eric Campbell, and induced a WIlmer Flores groundout to end the inning. Like his hitting philosophy, no walks.
- RF Cesar Puello: 3-7, 4 R, K
- 3B Eric Campbell: 4-5, 3 R, 2 2B, BB, K, 3 RBI, HBP
- SS Wilmer Flores: 2-7, 2 R, 2 RBI, E (5)
- 1B Allan Dykstra: 4-5, 4 R, 2 2B, HR (3), BB, 5 RBI
- CF Matt den Dekker: 3-4, 4 R, 3B, HR (1), 2 BB, 5 RBI
- LF Anthony Seratelli: 1-3, 2 BB, K, RBI
- C Juan Centeno: 1-5, BB, K, RBI
- 2B Danny Muno: 1-5, R, BB, 3 K, RBI
- LHP Dana Eveland: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 HR
- LHP Josh Edgin: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HR
Double-A - Binghamton Mets (9-7)_____________________________________
PORTLAND 5, BINGHAMTON 3 / 11 (Box)
The B-Mets dropped their game to the Sea Dogs, the second in as many nights, in heartbreaking fashion, losing 5-3 in extra innings.. By all accounts, Binghamton probably shouldn't have been in a situation to tie the game. Starter Hansel Robles somehow only allowed three runs, two earned, in his four plus innings of work despite allowing four hits, a balk, and a whopping seven walks. Binghamton kept pace with the Sea Dog offense, and going into the 9th, the score was tied 3-3. Jon Velasquez came in to pitch the 11th inning and gave up a homer to Portland DH Matt Spring, sealing their fate. Despite getting two men on base, the B-Mets were unable to get anything going.
- CF Darrell Ceciliani: 1-6, 2 K
- SS Matt Reynolds: 1-5, R, BB, 3 K
- DH Matt Clark: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, K
- C Kevin Plawecki: 2-5, RBI, PB
- 1B Jayce Boyd: 1-5, 2 K, RBI
- 3B Dustin Lawley: 1-4, BB, K
- RF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, 2 K
- RHP Hansel Robles: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 7 BB, 5 K, E (1), BLK
- RHP John Church: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K
- RHP Chase Bradford: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (11-7)________________________________________
PALM BEACH 5, ST. LUCIE 6 / 12 (Box)
The Palm Beach Cardinals scored four runs in the top of the 1st. Both teams scored a run in the 6th inning. The St. Lucie Mets scored four runs in bottom of the 9th. Baseball is all about symmetry, right? Aderlin Rodriguez committed an error, his fifth of the year, on the very first play of the game, getting things started in a most inauspicious way. Matt Koch did not do his team any favors, as his pitches were quite hittable that inning- before St. Lucie came to bat, the team was down four runs on a pair of singles and a pair of doubles. Koch settled down after that. He came out of the game after five innings, and his replacement, Bret Mitchell, promptly allowed a run to score. in the 6th. St. Lucie finally got on the board in the bottom of the inning, on TJ Rivera's third home run of the year, so at least they had a pulse going into the game's later innings. And, indeed, that sign of life quickly bloomed, and the Mets put up a four spot in the bottom of the 9th to keep the game going. With two outs, Phil Evans got things going with a two run homer, his first of the year. Malkis de la Cruz and Dilson Herrera both singled and Brandon Nimmo walked, loading the bases. TJ RIvera once again breathed life into his team, plating two runs on a line drive into right. Cam Maron struck out swinging to end the game, but at least St. Lucie was back in it. Both teams had plenty of opportunities to score, including an 11th inning that saw Palm Beach load the bases in their half and Brandon Nimmo steal two bases to get to third in the Mets' half. Finally, in the 12th inning, Phil Evans laced a fly ball into deep center that allowed Eudy Pina to score from second, giving the Mets a very refreshing walk-off extra innings victory.
- SS Dilson Herrera: 3-6, R, K
- CF Brandon Nimmo: 1-4, 2 BB, 2 K, SB (2)
- DH T.J. Rivera: 2-6, R, K, HR (3), 3 RBI
- 1B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-5, 3 K, HBP, E (5)
- SS Phil Evans: 3-5, R, BB, HR (1), 3 RBI
- RHP Matthew Koch: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 3 K
Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (10-6)__________________________________
SAVANNAH 1, DELMARVA 4 (Box)
Kevin McGowan didn't actually pitch all that terribly for four plus innings, and Dario Alvarez was electric piggybacking after him for three plus innings, but it wouldn't make a difference as top prospect Hunter Harvey and the Shorebirds bullpen shut the Sand Gnat offense down for most of the game. Savannah actually got on the board first, scoring a run in the top of the 3rd on a throwing error by Delmarva third baseman Hector Veloz. They weren't able to keep the lead, as McGowan allowed a pair of runs to score in the bottom of the 4th and a pair of runs to score in the bottom of the 5th. They had a few opportunities to score some runs- including a bases loaded situation with less than two outs in the 9th- but every time the Sand Gnats got something going, Delmarva would shut the door in their faces. In that bases loaded situation, for example, LJ Mazzilli grounded into a double play to end the game.
- SS Gavin Cecchini: 1-3, R, BB, SB (2), HBP
- 3B Jeff McNeil: 1-4, BB, SB (4)
- 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 2-5, K, SB (1)
- RF Jared King: 0-3, BB, 2 K, SB (4)
- 1B Dominic Smith: 0-2, 2 BB, SB (1)
- CF Patrick Biondi: 1-3, BB
- RHP Kevin McGowan: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, WP, HB
- LHP Dario Alvarez: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K
Star of the Night
The entire Las Vegas 51s roster. These last couple of games, wow.
Goat of the Night
Jon Velasquez, who gave up the go ahead home run in extra innings to seal Binghamton's fate. I hate when relievers give up home runs in extra innings.