Mets Daily Farm Report, May 31, 2014: A fallow day on the farm

*All results from games played on Friday, May 30th, 2014

Triple-A - Las Vegas 51s (34-21)_____________________________________

EL PASO 4, LAS VEGAS 3 (Box)

Nine years ago, Jeff Francoeur and Jason Lane hit a combined 40 home runs in the majors. Today, both men are trying to extend their careers by toeing the rubber in the minors for the El Paso Chihuahuas. Lane started opposite Giancarlo Alvarado last night in the Sun City and he struck out a season-high six batters. Lane's biggest K came in the first. The 51s loaded the bases after an Andrew Brown homer, but the former Astros slugger froze Taylor Teagarden to end the frame and Las Vegas's best scoring opportunity of the night.

• 2B Daniel Muno: 1-5, R, 2B, 2 K
• 1B Josh Satin: 3-5, 3B, RBI
• RF Andrew Brown: 1-4, R, HR, RBI
• 3B Zach Lutz: 1-5, 2 K
• LF Cesar Puello: 2-4, R, 2B, E
• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-4, 2B
• C Taylor Teagarden: 0-3, BB, K
• SS Omar Quintanilla: 0-4, RBI, K
• RHP Giancarlo Alvarado: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
• RHP Zack Thornton: 1 IP, 0 H, ER, BB, 2 K

Double-A - Binghamton Mets (30-23)_____________________________________

NEW BRITAIN 4, BINGHAMTON 0 (Box)

If any readers in western New York felt unusually gusty winds last night, you can blame the Binghamton Mets. The team struck out 14 times as they whiffed their way to a shutout loss against New Britain. Lefty Sean Gilmartin, a former first-rounder that the Twins acquired from the Braves in the Ryan Doumit trade, fanned nine in six innings, while a trio of Rock Cat relievers combined to close the game out with three perfect frames. Angel Cuan started for the B-Mets and pitched decently, aside from a rocky fourth inning that saw him allow two singles, walk two batters, and give up a bases-clearing double.

• CF Kyle Johnson: 1-4, 2 K
• 2B Brian Burgamy: 2-4
• C Kevin Plawecki: 0-4, 2 K
• DH Matt Clark: 0-3, 3 K
• 1B Jayce Boyd: 1-3, BB
• RF Cory Vaughn: 0-1, BB, K, 2 HBP
• LF Travis Taijeron: 0-4, 2 K
• SS Rylan Sandoval: 1-4, 2 K
• 3B Neifi Zapata: 0-3, K
• PH Darrell Ceciliani: 0-1, K
• LHP Angel Cuan: 6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

High-A - St. Lucie Mets (31-23)_____________________________________

BREVARD COUNTY 3, ST. LUCIE 1 (Box)

The St. Lucie Mets made marginally more contact than their elder affiliates in New York's Southern Tier, but like the B-Mets, they connected for just five hits en route to a dispiriting loss. Matthew Koch earned his first L of the season by putting a dozen Manatees on base, three of which came around to score, in five-plus innings. Meanwhile, the normally potent St. Lucie lineup has gone limp of late. The team lost four games out of five games this week and were unable to score more than one run in all four defeats. The mini-Mets won't be able to rely on Brandon Nimmo to spark the offense next week, either. Per doctor's orders, he'll be at home waiting out a case of pink eye for at least three days.

• 2B Dilson Herrera: 0-4, K
• C Cam Maron: 1-4, 2 K
• 3B Jairo Perez: 1-3, BB
• DH Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-4, 3 K
• SS Phillip Evans: 0-4, K
• CF Gilbert Gomez: 0-3, R, BB
• 1B Cole Frenzel: 1-3, 2B, BB
• RF Eudy Pina: 1-3, RBI, K
• LF Maikis De La Cruz: 1-3, 2B, K
• RHP Matthew Koch: 5.2 IP, 9 H, ER, BB, 3 K

Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (35-16)_____________________________________

ROME 7, SAVANNAH 6 (Box)

Finally, we come to Savannah. On a day where the entire system struggled to put runs on the board, of course it would be the team that calls one of the most hostile hitting environments home that actually scored more than a handful of times. The heart of the Sand Gnats lineup really clicked last night. Gavin Cecchini, Jeff McNeil, L.J. Mazzilli, and Dominic Smith all reached base at least twice, while all four of catcher Colton Plaia's plate appearances ended with him standing on first (two singles, two walks).

Unfortunately, the Savannah staff proved to be just as hittable as the Rome pitchers that the offense roughed up. First, the good news: Miller Diaz added another nine strikeouts to his line to push his yearly K total up to 53 in 42 innings. That's the seventh-best mark in the Sally League as of this writing. The bad news is Diaz didn't make it out of the fifth inning because it took him exactly 100 pitches to rack up those punch outs. The stout right-hander took a 2-1 lead into the fifth frame, but his 100th and final pitch, delivered with the bases loaded, nicked Rome first baseman Jacob Schrader to force in a run. Savannah answered with three in the bottom half of the frame, but relievers Dawrin Frias and Tyler Vanderheiden coughed up four scores (including a homer from the aforementioned Schrader) over the game's final third to secure the system sweep.

• CF Patrick Biondi: 0-3, R, BB
• SS Gavin Cecchini: 2-3, R, BB
• 3B Jeff McNeil: 2-5, R, 2B, 3 RBI
• 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 2-4, R, BB, SB
• 1B Dominic Smith: 2-5, RBI, K, CS
• LF Victor Cruzado: 1-4, BB, K
• RF Stefan Sabol: 1-4, 2B, RBI, BB
• DH Matt Oberste: 1-5, 2B
• C Colton Plaia: 2-2, 2 R, 2 BB
• PR Champ Stuart: 0-0, SB
• RHP Miller Diaz: 4.1 IP, 4 H 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 2 HBP
• RHP Tyler Vanderheiden: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, BS

Star of the Night
It's slim pickings, but Jeff McNeil had a nice night at the plate, what with his three rib-eye steaks.

Goat of the Night
It feels unfair to single out any one player when every team lost, but that Tyler Vanderheiden line is pretty gruesome.