*All results from games played on Tuesday, August 12th, 2014
Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (70-55)_______________________________________
LAS VEGAS 6, IOWA 5 (Box)
The 51s got on the board after Noah Syndergaard and Felix Doubront both tossed scoreless 1st innings. With two outs, Kevin Plawecki got things going with a line drive single into right. Cory Vaughn tripled on a ground ball that got all the way to the left field wall and bounced around some to drive the run in, and he himself was driven in by Anthony Seratelli immediately after. Syndergaard worked around a walk in the bottom of the 2nd, but ran into trouble in the 3rd; Clearly, Loki was working his magic, looking to vex his brother.
After getting the first out of the inning, he fell behind Doubront 3-0 before hitting him in the foot. A few batters later, he found himself facing down top prospect Kris Bryant with men on 2nd and 3rd. Bryant hit a ground ball to deep short that Matt Reynolds got to that should have been the third out of the inning, but instead, Reynolds slipped on the grass, falling in a heap deep in the hole, allowing a run to score. This brought Mike "More valuable than R.A. Dickey" Olt to the plate. He powered a line drive just out of a jumping Reynolds' glove, scoring a run and tying a game. Syndergaard got a groundout to end the inning, but if a break or two had gone his way, he wouldn't have had to pitch through as much adversity as he did, and throw as many pitches as he did.
The silliness continued when he returned to the mound in the bottom of the 4th. Catcher Rafael Lopez looped a soft liner into shallow left that Cesar Puello got a good read on, but improbably missed when he went into a dive to snag it. Lopez wound up on second, and moved over to third on a groundball. Shortstop Elliot Soto lofted a ball into shallow center that the runner tagged on- and note, as a catcher, Rafael Lopez isn't exactly fleet of foot. Cory Vaughn's throw beat the runner by a mile, but Plawecki was unable to handle the throw, and it bounced away from him, allowing the run to score, putting the Cubs up 3-2
Thankfully for Las Vegas, the pendulum swung back in their favor in the top of the 5th. Syndergaard himself got things started with a groundball back up the middle for a single. After Cesar Puello failed to bunt either for a hit or for a sacrifice- he popped up to the catcher in foul territory- Matt Reynolds and Josh Satin lined two consecutive singles, driving Syndergaard in and tying the score at 3-3. After Brandon Allen singled into a vacated left side of the field thanks to a shift, Kevin Plawecki came to the plate with bases loaded. With one swing, he could break the game open. Instead, he struck out, badly fooled on a breaking ball.
The 51s finally got the lucky break they needed in the top of the 6th, with Cory Vaughn leading the inning off. The outfielder walloped a tape measure home run, the only question being whether or not it would be fair or foul. It landed fair, giving Las Vegas a narrow 4-3 lead. They added on in the 7th, when Brandon Allen hit a sac fly to center that scored Matt Reynolds.
Syndergaard was lifted in the 7th, after throwing 108 pitches. He ended his night with a flourish, striking out pinch hitter Jorge Soler on a beautiful knee buckling curve. While his stat line for the night is solid, he pitched a lot better than the numbers would seem. His fastball sat 96-98 early on, and was still north of 95 MPH in his last inning of work. He mixed his change-up in all night, but his over-the-top curveball was really working, and was his primary out pitch- of his eight strikeouts, half of them were on the curve.
In the bottom of the 8th, the momentum of the game shifted once again. With Chase Bradford now on the mound, Kris Bryant did Kris Bryant things and hammered a solo home run- his 17th with Iowa, and his 39th of the year- to make it a one run ballgame. Three consecutive hits later, the game was tied going into the 9th. Puello got things started in the top of the 9th with a single, and was moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Josh Satin, who had been in something of a multi-hit game funk as of late, doubled Puello in for his third hit of the night, giving the 51s a narrow 6-5 lead. After Brandon Allen was intentionally walked and Kevin Plawecki singled, loading the bases, Cory Vaughn narrowly missed breaking the game open with a grand slam. Instead, he flied out to left, short some five feet.
Wally Backman elected to go with Gonzalez Germen to lock down the 9th. Like virtually every single inning of this back-and-forth affair, it did not come easily. Germen got the first two outs fairly quickly, but then things got hairy. With two outs, Kris Bryant singled to left, and moved over to second on a wild pitch with Mike Olt at the plate. Germen eventually lost Olt, walking him and putting the tying and winning runs on the base paths. With tension levels ratcheted to max, Germen got Brett Jackson looking to end the ballgame
- LF Cesar Puello: 1-5, R, 2 K
- SS Matt Reynolds: 1-2, R, 2 BB
- 3B Josh Satin: 3-5, 2B, K, 2 RBI
- RF Andrew Brown: 0-4, BB, 2 K
- 1B Brandon Allen: 1-3, BB, K, RBI
- C Kevin Plawecki: 2-5, R, K
- CF Cory Vaughn: 2-5, 2 R, 3B, HR (4), 2 K, 2 RBI
- 2B Anthony Seratelli: 1-4, 2 K, RBI
- PH Allan Dykstra: 0-1, K
- RHP Noah Syndergaard: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, HB
- RHP Miguel Socolovich: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K
- RHP Chase Bradford: 1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 K, HR
- RHP Gonzalez Germen: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K, WP
Double-A - Binghamton Mets (72-48)_____________________________________
POSTPONED (RAIN)
Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (26-23 / 66-52)_____________________________________
GAME ONE
ST. LUCIE 8, FORT MYERS 6 (Box)
Before the regularly scheduled 7:05 game against the Miracle, the two teams got together and conspired to confuse Greg Karam by resuming a game suspended all the way back in June (June 26th, to be specific, Game Two of the doubleheader held that day). Fort Myers was winning 3-2 thanks to a three-run 2nd inning against Cory Mazzoni, who was then still with St. Lucie. The game had been suspended with one out in the top of the 5th. Eudy Pina led off the inning with a home run, what was his seventh of the season and the Miracle.
After L.J. Mazzilli and Jared King quickly made outs to end the inning, Jake Kuebler took the mound for St. Lucie. He walked Aderlin Mejia, the first batter he faced, and Mejia came around to score a few batters later, making it a 4-2 game. St. Lucie got that run back almost immediately, as Maikis De La Cruz hit a double off the left-center wall- and note, the left field wall is roughly 43 feet high down at Hammond Stadium- to score Gavin Cecchini. Kubler pitched a clean 6th, the Miracle increased their lead in the 7th. With runners on the corners, Cecchini was unable to throw out Adam Walker in what should have been a fielder's choice to end the inning, opening the door for a run to score. Kubler gave up a more legitimate hit that scored a second run immediately after, before getting out of the inning. As had been the case earlier, St. Lucie surged right back immediately after Fort Myers scored. In the top of the 8th, Jeff McNeil doubled in Cole Frenzel to plate a run, and was himself driven in when Eudy Pina homered to right, making it a 6-5 ballgame. Pina, if you recall, hit a home run in the 5th inning of the game, which was played before the game was suspended, meaning that the outfielder can rightly claim to have hit a home run in two different ballparks in the same game.
After Kuebler gave up a one-out double in the bottom of the 8th, Dario Alvarez came in to put out the fire. Though the runner advanced to third on a wild pitch, he was stranded at third, giving St. Lucie three more outs to attempt to come back from a one run deficit. With L.J. Mazzilli on third, and Cam Maron on first, Cole Frenzel got a groundball through the infield into right, tying the game. One batter later, Maikis De La Cruz hit a sac fly that gave St. Lucie the lead. Alvarez walked the first batter he faced in the bottom of the 9th, but induced a double play to end the game.
- CF Gilbert Gomez: 1-5, K
- 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 2-4, R, 2B, BB
- DH Jairo Perez: 0-2, K
- PH-DH Jared King: 1-3
- C Cam Maron: 1-4, R, BB, K
- 1B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-2
- 1B Cole Frenzel: 2-3, R, 2 2B, RBI
- SS Gavin Cecchini: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
- LF Maikis De La Cruz: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
- 3B Jeff McNeil: 1-5, R, RBI
- RF Eudy Pina: 2-4, R, 2 HR (7, 9), K, 3 RBI
- RHP Cory Mazzoni: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- RHP Jake Kuebler: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- LHP Dario Alvarez: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K, WP
GAME TWO
ST. LUCIE 6, FORT MYERS 5 / 7 (Box)
St. Lucie started Game Two out with a bang. After loading the bases in the 1st, Gavin Cecchini hit his fourth home run of the year- and his second grand slam- to give the Mets a quick 4-0 lead. They tacked on an addition run in the 2nd on a L.J. Mazzilli RBI single. But, just as quickly as the offense scored those runs, starter Seth Lugo gave them right back. The Miracle put up a four spot of their own in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to a Tyler Grimes three-run home run and an RBI single off the bat of Adam Walker. Both teams scored a run in the 4th, making it a 6-5 ballgame, a score that would stand for the rest of the game.
- 3B Jeff McNeil: 2-3, 3 R, 2B, BB, K
- CF Maikis De La Cruz: 1-4, 2B,
- DH L.J. Mazzilli: 3-4, R, K, 2 RBI
- LF Jared King: 0-4, R
- SS Gavin Cecchini: 1-3, R, HR (4), BB, 4 RBI
- 2B Phil Evans: 2-4, K
- C Albert Cordero: 0-3, HBP, E (5)
- 1B Cole Frenzel: 0-3
- RF Eudy Pina: 0-3, 2 K
- RHP Seth Lugo: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, HR, HB
- RHP Paul Sewald: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (8)
Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (32-20 / 76-42)__________________________________
ASHEVILLE 3, SAVANNAH 2 (Box)
Savannah loaded the bases in the 2nd inning, and scratched out two runs thanks to a Yeixon Ruiz sac fly and a Champ Stuart RBI single. With the way Robert Whalen was pitching, being staked to a 2-0 might've been enough. Jeff Paternostro, who was scouting the game, clocked Whalen's fastball sitting just a shade under 90 MPH, topping out just a hair over it. He threw a lot of off-speed pitches, particularly his slider and his change-up, both of which were his primary out pitches. His curveball and slider both sat in the mid-to-high 70s, while his change-up sat around 80. The right-hander scattered eight hits over his seven plus innings of work, needing 91 pitches to get there.
In the top of the 8th, after Whalen allowed a handful of one out hits- two singles and two doubles- he intentionally loaded the bases and was pulled from the game. Akeel Morris was brought in, and Virgin Islander was able to limit the damage, allowing only one inherited runner to score. The three runs were enough to give the Tourists the lead- despite Asheville starter Zach Jemiola walking an astounding eight batters in five innings, the best the Sand Gnats could do were those two runs in the second. The Sand Gnats went out listless in the bottom of the 8th and 9th, and that was all she wrote.
- SS Yeixon Ruiz: 0-3, BB, K, RBI, SB (12)
- CF Champ Stuart: 1-4, BB, K, RBI
- DH Dominic Smith: 0-5
- 1B Matt Oberste: 0-2, 2 BB, K
- RF Victor Cruzado: 0-2, 2 BB
- 3B Jorge Rivero: 0-3, BB
- C Colton Plaia: 1-3, R, 2B, BB
- 2B Jonathan Johnson: 0-2, R, 2 BB,
- LF Patrick Biondi: 0-2, BB
- RHP Robert Whalen: 7.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, WP
- RHP Akeel Morris: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, WP
Short-A - Brooklyn Cyclones (30-27)__________________________________
POSTPONED (RAIN)
Rookie - Kingsport Mets (26-26)__________________________________
KINGSPORT 8, JOHNSON CITY 7 (Box)
We had ourselves a wild one down in Johnson City, Tennessee last night. Kingsport got things started on the right foot thanks to back-to-back doubles by Jean Rodriguez and Oswald Caraballo. The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the inning by hammering Yoryi Nuez for five runs, three of which were earned. Kingsport narrowed the gap in the 5th thanks to a three-run home run off the bat of centerfielder Ivan Wilson, but going into late innings, they still found themselves down by one. In the top of the 8th, Kingsport put up a four spot, with Wuilmer Becerra and Vicente Lupo both launching home runs of their own. Granted a new life, Kingsport almost threw it away. Johnson City managed to score two runs in the bottom of the 9th, making it an 8-7 game, before David Roseboom was able to shut the door for good.
- SS Luis Guillorme: 2-5, RBI, CS (4), PO, E (13)
- 2B Jean Rodriguez: 2-4, R, 2B, BB
- LF Oswald Caraballo: 1-5, 2B, RBI
- 3B Eudor Garcia: 0-4, BB, 2 K, E (8)
- RF Wuilmer Becerra: 1-4, R, HR (6), 2 K, RBI
- 1B Luis Ortega: 1-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, E (4)
- DH Vicente Lupo: 1-2, 2 R, HR (3), 2 BB, K, RBI
- C Jose Garcia: 0-4, 2 K, E (7)
- CF Ivan Wilson: 1-3, 2 R, HR (7), BB, 2 K, 3 RBI, SB (4)
- RHP Yoryi Nuez: 4 IP, 2 H, 5 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 4 K, 3 WP, 2 HB
- RHP Bryce Beeler: 4 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K
- RHP Ty Williams: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, HB
- LHP David Roseboom: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (3)
Rookie - GCL Mets (24-22)__________________________________
GCL NATIONALS 1, GCL METS 4 (Box)
- CF Raphael Ramirez: 3-4, R, 2B, RBI, SB (5, 6)
- SS Milton Ramos: 0-4, SB (6)
- RF Enmanuel Zabala: 0-3, R, BB
- DH Dash Winningham: 1-3, 2B, BB, 3 RBI
- LF Arnaldo Berrios: 1-4, K
- 1B Manuel Hilario: 1-3
- C Natanael Ramos: 1-3, R, BB, E (2), PB (3)
- 2B Alfredo Reyes: 0-2, BB, K
- 3B Dale Burdick: 1-3, R, BB
- RHP Brent McMinn: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 0 K; The 2013 18th round pick still barely has 10 innings to his credit for his professional career, but it's hard not to root for a kid that can hit the upper 90s on the radar gun and wears number 99.
- LHP Gabriel Feliz: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
- RHP Erik Manoah: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 HB, PO
- RHP Flabio Ortega: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K
- RHP Alex Palsha: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (9)
Star of the Night
Gotta give it to Eudy Pina, with his two home runs in the same game in two different stadiums. Josh Satin would've gotten it with his clutch 9th inning hit to give Las Vegas the lead, but how can you not honor such a strange quirk?
Goat of the Night
The Savannah offense was pretty bad last night. They should have hammered Asheville's pitching last night and, well, they didn't.