Mets Daily Farm Report, April 14, 2014: Filthy pitching means you gotta sweep

*All results from games played on Sunday, April 13th 2014

Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (8-3)_______________________________________

LAS VEGAS 10, FRESNO 4 (Box)

Things started off on the right foot for the 51s, when the rehabbing Chris Young led off the game with a home run. If Las Vegas wanted to win, all starting pitcher Rafael Montero would need to do is keep the Grizzlies off the board, and that one run would be enough. Though improbable, Montero almost did just that. For the second game in a row, the 51s starting pitcher took a no-hitter late into the game. Ydwin Villegas, the Grizzlies shortstop, notched their first hit in the 6^th inning, and later came around to score on a Gary Brown sac fly, ending Montero's no-no and shutout within the span of a few minutes- his night came to an end not too long afterward, with Wally Backman taking the ball from him in the bottom of the 7^th after giving up an Adam Duvall solo homer. Those two runs allowed would mean little, as Las Vegas was already buttressed to a three-run lead at that point, and there were more runs coming. The 51s hammered out another five runs in the 8^th inning, a complete schlubbing of one-time Chicago Cubs closer Rafael Dolis. Highlights include doubles from Matt den Dekker and Eric Campbell, singled by Anthony Seratelli and Chris Young. Dontrelle Willis replaced Dolis mid-inning, managed to navigate out of the inning without allowing catastrophic damage, despite the fact that he and walked Dana Eveland of all people, and uncorked three wild pitches. In the bottom of the 9^th, Erik Goeddel allowed two more runs to score, giving up Adam Duvall's second homer of the night, but Fresno was unable to climb out of their deficit any further than that.

• REHAB ALERT CF Chris Young: 5-5, 4 R, 2B, 2 HR (1,2) 5 RBI
• 1B Eric Campbell: 1-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB
• SS Wilmer Flores: 1-5, E (3)
• LF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-4, K, 2 RBI
• 3B Zach Lutz: 0-5
• RF Cesar Puello: 0-5, 3 K
• C Taylor Teagarden: 2-4, R, BB, K
• 2B/LF Anthony Seratelli: 1-4, R, 3 K, HBP
• LF/CF Matt den Dekker: 1-1, R, 2B
• RHP Rafael Montero: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, HR
• RHP Erik Goeddel: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, HR

Double-A - Binghamton Mets (7-3)_____________________________________

BINGHAMTON 6, NEW HAMPSHIRE 0 (Box)

The B-Mets ruined the Fisher Cats' opening day weekend, taking two of three games against them. Yesterday's game was a sloppy affair, despite neither team committing a single error- New Hampshire pitchers walked ten and hit three Binghamton hitters. Matt Clark played the role of #TrueSABRMan, reaching base five times, all of them via base on balls. Despite all of the trouble Fisher Cat starter Aaron Sanchez was having, the B-Mets didn't capitalize as much as you'd want them to. Two ill-timed double plays left five men on base in the first two innings alone. When Binghamton finally got on the board in the 3^rd inning- as a result of two walks and two hit batsmen- they were only able to scratch three runs across the plate. They would go on to score an additional three more runs, one in the 7^th and two in the 9^th, but those runs would ultimately prove unnecessary. Hansel Robles shut out New Hampshire over his 5 innings, and relievers Cody Satterwhite, John Church, and Jon Velasquez all did the same, allowing only one hit between them in a combined four innings of work. The B-Mets look to continue their winning ways against the Portland Sea Dogs.

• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 2-5, R, 2 K, SB (2)
• SS Matt Reynolds: 1-4, BB, K
• DH Matt Clark: 0-0, 2 R, 5 BB
• 3B Dustin Lawley: 1-4, R, 2B, RBI, HBP
• LF Cory Vaughn: 1-3, R, 2B, K, RBI, HBP
• RF Travis Taijeron: 0-2, 2 BB, RBI, HBP
• 2B Wilfredo Tovar: 2-4, RBI
• RHP Hansel Robles: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K, HBP
• RHP John Church: 1 IP, 0 H, 3 K

Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (6-4)________________________________________

FORT MYERS 2, ST. LUCIE 6 (Box)

The St. Lucie Mets completed the sweep, beating the Fort Myers Miracle yesterday afternoon in balmy Tradition Field. Domingo Tapia tossed five innings of no-hit ball before being removed in the 5^th inning because of a fairly elevated pitch count (85). Though he didn't get the ‘CG SHO', his ‘W' was never in doubt. From the get go, St. Lucie was in command. Gilbert Gomez drove in the first of three 1^st inning runs with a bases loaded single, followed by an error on part of Miracle outfielder Travis Harrison that allowed Eudy Pina to reach base and Brandon Nimmo to score, and a sac fly by Albert Cordero. They scored another run in the 3^rd, when Gomez connected with his first home run of the year, and another two in the 4^th when Aderlin Rodriguez doubled into left field, allowing Maikis De La Cruz and Dilson Herrera to score. The Miracle got on the board as soon as Domingo Tapia left the game, but only one of the two runs were really Seth Lugo's fault- an Aderlin fielding error allowed a run to score. In the end, Lugo recovered and prevented any more damage, and those two runs were all that Fort Myers could muster, increasing St. Lucie's current win streak to five games. They'll look to increase it against the Jupiter Hammerheads.

• 2B Dilson Herrera: 4-5, R, 2B, E (3)
• CF Brandon Nimmo: 1-5, R, 2B, K
• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, RBI, 2 E (3,4)
• LF Gilbert Gomez: 2-2, R, 2 BB, HR (1), 2 RBI, CS (1)
• RF Eudy Pina: 1-4, RBI
• C Albert Cordero: 1-3, K, RBI
• SS Phillip Evans: 0-4
• RHP Domingo Tapia: 5 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (7-3)__________________________________

SAVANNAH 6, ROME 2 (Box)

Starter Chris Flexen put Savannah in an early hole, but it wasn't enough of a deficit to negate any late inning magic- and that's exactly what happened at State Mutual Stadium. Flexen allowed a run in the 1^st and a run in the 7^th, book ending five goose eggs. A rehabbing Mike Minor kept up with Flexen, firing five scoreless frames. The Sand Gnats finally got on the board in the 8^th, reliever Andry Ubiera's third inning of work. Patrick Biondi led off the inning with a triple and was driven in by the very next batter, Gavin Cecchini. A few batters later, Jared King walked and Stefan Sabol drove a ball into left for a double, scoring both runners and giving Savannah a slim 3-2 edge late in the game. Akeel Morris worked around a walk and a lead-off double in the bottom of the 8^th, giving the Sand Gnats offense the chance to add some insurance runs- an opportunity they capitalized on. With two outs, the offense plated three more runs, case of a Cecchini RBI double and a Jeff McNeil two-run homer. In the bottom of the inning, Morris got his first batter to ground out weakly to short, and struck out his last two (bumping his K/9 rate to a completely sustainable 18.9) to complete the sweep.

• SS Gavin Cecchini: 2-5, 2 R, 2B, K, 2 RBI, E (3)
• 3B Jeff McNeil: 1-4, R, K, HR (1), 2 RBI
• 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 1-4, BB
• LF Jared King: 0-3, R, 2 BB
• DH Stefan Sabol: 1-4, 2B, 3 K, 2 RBI
• 1B Dominic Smith: 1-4
• CF Patrick Biondi: 2-3, 2 R, 3B, BB, SB (2)
• RHP Chris Flexen: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• RHP Akeel Morris: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Star of the Night

Rafael Montero took his no-hitter into the 6^th, B-Mets pitchers threw a shutout, Domingo Tapia pitched five scoreless, and the duo of Flexen and Morris were effective if not uninspiring (especially compared to some of the other pitching performances of the day). Still, it's hard not to turn to the offensive side of things and award the Star of the Night to Chris Young for his 5 for 5, 2 HR, 5 RBI afternoon. Get well soon and take all that momentum to the Mets, please.

Goat of the Night

There really weren't any bad performances yesterday. We, like the Chicago Cubs wish, shall remain goatless for the day.