Mets Daily Farm Report - 6/13/13: You Can’t Spell ‘Koch’ Without ‘K’

*All results from games played on Wednesday, June 12^th, 2013*

AAA - Las Vegas 51s (34-30)__________________________________

TACOMA 12, LAS VEGAS 5 (Box)

To say that starter D.J. Mitchell was bad last night would be something of an understatement. The lanky Clemson product allowed seven hits, walked five batters, uncorked four wild pitches (including two in a row in the 5^th inning) and allowed seven runs in four innings of work. By the time the 51s came to bat in the 2^nd inning, they were down 4-0. That didn't stop them from trying, though, as they scored two runs in the bottom of the inning. The Raniers offense continued hitting and hitting, scoring another run in the top of the 3^rd, and were just as effective against the bullpen as they were Mitchell. In the top of the 5^th, Tacoma put up another four spot to extend their lead 9-2. How did Las Vegas respond? By scoring another two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Scoring two runs every time your opponent scores four isn't exactly conducive to winning, and the Raniers predictably won the ballgame.

• RF Mike Baxter: 2-5, R, K
• DH Ike Davis: 2-5, R, 2B, K
• 1B Andrew Brown: 1-3, R, HBP
• 2B Wilmer Flores: 2-5, R, 2B, K, 2 RBI
• 3B Zach Lutz: 0-4, K
• C Francisco Pena: 2-3, 2B, BB, K
• RHP D.J. Mitchell: 4 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 4 WP
• RHP Armando Rodriguez: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

AA - Binghamton Mets (40-25)_____________________________________

BINGHAMTON 6, TRENTON 1 (Box)

Our boys in Binghamton took another game from Trenton, scoring six runs just like last night. Unlike last night, though, the bullpen did not threaten to blow the game. The B-Mets jumped out to an early lead, scoring two in the top of the 1^st, and then continued piling the runs on, pushing a run across runs in the 2^nd and 3^rd, and another two in the 5^th. The Thunder were only able to manage run the entire game, an RBI single against Binghamton starter Darin Gorski. Gorski pitched only four innings, throwing 76 pitches, but he looked fine- the lefty allowed four hits, walked one, and struck out five. Scott "Dad" Atchison took the ball from Gorski in the 5^th, and looked good in his rehab stint, striking out two in a scoreless inning. John Church and Adam Kolarek pitched the second half of the game, throwing two innings apiece. Neither reliever ran into much trouble, and the Cesar Puello-less Binghamton Mets cruised to an easy victory, the Eastern League best 40^th win of the season, their sixth in a row, and ninth in ten games.

• 2B Danny Muno: 1-4, BB, 2 K, RBI
• DH Allan Dykstra: 1-4, BB, K, RBI
• RF Travis Taijeron: 2-5, R, 2 2B, 2 K, RBI
• CF Alonzo Harris: 2-5, R, 2B, K
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 2-3, R, 2B, BB, K, RBI
• LHP Darin Gorski: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• REHAB ALERT RHP Scott Atchison: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Hi-A - St. Lucie Mets (33-30)________________________________________

ST. LUCIE 0, CLEARWATER 6 (Box)

For seven plus innings, Thrashers starter Hoby Milner held St. Lucie to one hit, a Robbie Shields single that came in the 3^rd. His replacement, Ryan O'Sullivan, also allowed only one hit, a single in the bottom of the 9^th to T.J. Rivera. Suffice to say, no matter how good St. Lucie starter Rainy Lara might have been, a win would have been virtually impossible. To his credit, Lara wasn't bad, allowing two runs over six innings, walking one, striking out five and generating a strong 9:2 groundball to flyball ratio for the night. His replacement, Wanel Mesa, was much worse, walking five batters and allowing four earned runs over two innings of work. The offense took the night off, so regardless of how good or bad whoever was pitching for St. Lucie, it would have been an uphill and nearly futile effort.

• 2B-SS T.J. Rivera: 1-4, K
• SS Matt Reynolds: 0-3, 2 K
• LF Dustin Lawley: 0-3
• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-3
• 1B Robbie Shields: 1-2, BB, K
• C Albert Cordero: 0-3
• RHP Rainy Lara: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, HR

Lo-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (39-26)__________________________________

ASHEVILLE 2, SAVANNAH 9 (Box)

The Sand Gnats took two of three games from the Asheville Tourists, winning the rubber game in convincing fashion. Savannah got on the board first, scoring two in the bottom of the 3^rd via a sac fly and groundout by middle-of-the-order hitters Jayce Boyd and Kevin Plawecki, but the Tourists got those two runs right back, scoring two of their own in the top of the 4^th. Determined not to be outdone, the Sand Gnats put up a four spot in the bottom of the 4^th, most of those runs coming in one fell swing from Maikis De La Cruz, who cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple. With the lead once more, starter Matthew Koch maintained the lead. He came close to giving up some runs in the 6^th, when a double steal put men on second and third with no outs, but he showed guts by striking out the next three batters. All in all, his start was very successful- the Mets 3^rd round draft pick struck out a career high eleven batters en route to his fifth win of the season. In the bottom of the 7^th, Savannah tacked on some insurance runs on a Cole Frenzel two-RBI double and a Phil Evans sac fly, but the runs would prove unnecessary, as relievers Julian Hilario and Tyler Vanderheiden did not allow a single base runner over the game's final two innings.

• CF Brandon Nimmo: 0-2, 2 BB, K
• RF Maikis De La Cruz: 1-4, 3B, BB, K, 3 RBI
• 1B Jayce Boyd: 1-4, RBI
• C Kevin Plawecki: 1-4, BB, RBI
• LF Stefan Sabol: 1-4, BB
• 3B Cole Frenzel: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI
• SS Phil Evans: 1-3, 2 R, K, RBI
• RHP Matt Koch: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 11 K

Star of the Night

With his eleven strikeout, zero walk performance, Matt Koch is the Star of the Night. Ridiculously, Koch has walked a single batter in 51 innings this season.

Goat of the Night

Can a single positive be gleaned from D.J. Mitchell's start? I mean, usually you can say, "Well, at least our guy struck out more batters than he threw wild pitches", but with his performance last night, you can't even say that.

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