Mets Daily Farm Report, June 11, 2014: Believe in the farm

*All results from games played on Wednesday, June 10^th, 2014

Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (37-28)_______________________________________

LAS VEGAS 9, COLORADO SPRINGS 3 (Box)

The game started about a half hour late because of rain, because it was one of those kinds of nights. Giancarlo Alvarado pitching six strong innings, all both of his earned runs (one of whom was Jason Pridie) plated because of some Zack Thornton pitching difficulties? It happens. Danny Muno being ejected from the game literally minutes into it, arguing balls and strikes? Poor Zach Lutz thought he had the night off. Omar Quintanilla ending his night 3-5, just a single away from a cycle? Didn't think I'd ever type that.

In addition to all of that, Zach Lutz is apparently headed to the Rakuten Golden Eagles, who are looking for a third baseman with Kevin Youkilis having been released of his contract to return to the U.S. to treat his chronic plantar fasciitis. Youkillis hit .215/.342/.323 in 21 games for the defending NPB champions, and it is hard to envision a scenario where Lutz (.291/.386/.449) is not able to match or exceed that level of production. The specific terms of the deal have yet to be reported, but as is the case with such moves, they will be purely financial, and will not result in the Mets receiving a player from Rakuten (which is a shame- don't tell me Loek van Mil wouldn't look good in an XXXXL Mets uniform, or that Kaz Matsui isn't the answer to our shortstop question).

• RF Cesar Puello: 1-4, 2B, K, RBI, HBP; The batting average isn't where you'd want it to be, but his OBP is roughly .100 points higher. With a BB% roughly where it was last season, why isn't the power manifesting, especially in the PCL? Does it have to do with his K%, which is about 5% points lower than last year?
• 2B Danny Muno: 0-1, K
• 3B Zach Lutz: 2-4, R, K
• C Travis d'Arnaud: 2-4, R, BB
• 3B-2B Josh Satin: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
• 1B Allan Dykstra: 1-5, 2B, 2 K, RBI
• CF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, R, BB, K, RBI
• LF Brandon Allen: 0-4, 2 R, BB, RBI
• SS Omar Quintanilla: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, 3B, HR (3), 5 RBI; I have no words
• RHP Giancarlo Alvarado: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• RHP Zack Thornton: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• RHP Miguel Socolovich: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Buddy Carlyle: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K

Double-A - Binghamton Mets (34-30)_____________________________________

GAME ONE

BINGHAMTON 8, AKRON 1 / 7 (Box)

Only minutes into the game, Binghamton built up a commanding lead that the Rubberducks would not be able to overcome. Kyle Johnson led off the game with a home run, and really set the done for the rest of the afternoon. The B-Mets bat around that inning, with Johnson and Darrell Ceciliani both clubbing home runs, Dustin Lawley and Travis Taijeron both hitting doubles, and Kevin Plawecki, Matt Clark, and Jayce Boyd all lacing singles. In the 2^nd, Boyd hit a soft liner into right that plated another run, and in the 3^rd, Ceciliani hit his second homer of the night, making the score 8-1. Angel Cuan was terrific in what would seem to be his best start of the year, blanking Akron inning after inning. Akron was able to preserve some of their dignity, scoring a run in the 7^th inning to prevent the shutout, but Cuan limited their offense to just that one run in his seven-inning complete game.

• LF Kyle Johnson: 1-4, R, HR (2), K, RBI
• 2B Brian Burgamy: 0-1, K; Ejected in the first inning for arguing his strikeout, a borderline called third strike
• 3B Nelfi Zapata: 1-2, R, HBP
• C Kevin Plawecki: 2-4, R
• 1B Matt Clark: 2-4, R
• DH Jayce Boyd: 2-3, R, RBI, HBP
• 3B-2B Dustin Lawley: 1-4, R, 2B, 2 K, 3 RBI
• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR (3, 4), 3 RBI
• RF Travis Taijeron: 1-4, 2B, K
• SS Rylan Sandoval: 0-3, K
• LHP Angel Cuan: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

GAME TWO

BINGHAMTON 10, AKRON 5 / 7 (Box)

This game is a makeup of the game that was postponed on April 30^th.

Hamilton Bennett was greeted to a rude awakening in the 1^st inning of his first ever career start, but settled down to throw a two more innings, both scoreless. T.J. Chism took the ball after him, and pitched threw two scoreless innings. Jon Velasquez came in to finish things up, but ran into a little trouble. He threw a scoreless 6^th, but had problems in the 7^th, necessitating Jack Leathersich to come in and slam the door shut. The story here isn't the relative success of the bullpen. If you hadn't noticed, the B-Mets outscored Akron 10 to 5. The B-Mets scored two in the 2^nd and another in the 4^th, but the big inning came in the 5^th, when they plated seven runs. As they did in Game One, the team batted around, starting with a Rylan Sandoval walk and ending with a Sandoval strikeout. In-between his two at-bats that inning, there were two singles, a walk, a double, and a home run.

With the win, Binghamton won their first back-to-back games since May 26^th to May 27^th, and swept their first doubleheader of the season.

• LF Kyle Johnson: 0-2, 2 BB, K
• 2B Brian Burgamy: 1-4, R
• DH Kevin Plawecki: 2-4, R, K, 2 RBI
• 1B Jayce Boyd: 0-3, R, BB, K
• 3B Dustin Lawley: 2-4, 2 R, HR (6), K, RBI
• RF Travis Taijeron: 2-4, R, 2B, K, 2 RBI
• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 1-3, 2 R, 3B, K, SB (8)
• C Xorge Carrillo: 2-3, R, HR (1), 3 RBI
• SS Rylan Sandoval: 0-2, R, BB, 2 K
• LHP Hamilton Bennett: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• LHP T.J. Chism: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K
• RHP Jon Velasquez: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• LHP Jack Leathersich: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (36-29)________________________________________

ST. LUCIE 6, JUPITER 3 (Box)

St. Lucie stopped their losing streak at three, beating Jupiter 6-3 and keeping pace with the Fort Myers Miracle, who also won their game last night. Jairo Perez got things going with a 1^st inning home run, giving the Mets a two run lead. They tacked on two more in the 4^th, and added one apiece in the 5^th and 6^th. Luis Cessa had been sharp, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the 4^th that resulted in two Jupiter runs. They scored again in the 5^th, but that would be the last run that he, or any Mets pitcher, allowed. Jake Kuebler and Randy Fontanez were both strong in their respective innings.

St. Lucie trails Fort Myers for first place in the Florida State League South Division by 1.5 games, with only five more games left in the First Half.

• SS Yeixon Ruiz: 1-4, K, RBI
• CF Gilbert Gomez: 2-5, R, 2B, 3 K, CS (3)
• 2B T.J. Rivera: 3-5, R, 2B, K, RBI
• 3B Jairo Perez: 2-5, R, HR (8), K, 2 RBI
• C Cam Maron: 3-5, R
• 1B Aderlin Rodriguez: 1-5, R, 2 K
• DH Cole Frenzel: 0-3, BB, 2 K
• LF Maikis De La Cruz: 2-4, R, RBI
• RF Eudy Pina: 1-3, 2B, K, RBI
• RHP Luis Cessa: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, WP
• RHP Jake Kuebler: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K
• RHP Randy Fontanez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (9)

Low-A - Savannah Sand Gnats (42-20)__________________________________

SAVANNAH 3, KANNAPOLIS 2 (Box)

Savannah just had one of those kinds of nights. Despite Intimidator starter Robinson Leyer throwing seven shutout innings, striking out a career high nine batters, the Sand Gnats still got to add a tally in the win column when everything was said and done. Savannah was unable to get much going against Leyer, so we'll just completely gloss over everything that happened while he was on the mound. Fast forward, and here we are, Savannah down 1-0 heading into the 8^th inning. Amed Rosario led the inning off with a triple off of reliever Jose Brito and was driven in by Colton Plaia. Just like that, tie ballgame. The 9^th inning started off just as promising. Jeff McNeil and L.J. Mazzilli singled, putting two men on with no outs. Dominic Smith sacrificed both of them over, setting the stage for Savannah's dramatic comeback victory. Well, they did come back, and they did win, but it wasn't exactly heroic. Kannapolis shortstop Tyler Shryock committed an error, allowing the go-ahead run to score. A second runner scored as well, giving Savannah a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9^th. That insurance run was important, as Robert Coles gave up three hits and a run to make it a 3-2 ballgame. He came through in the end and shut the door, earning his eleventh save of the season.

Savannah can potentially win the South Atlantic League Southern Division First Half title tonight, if they win and the Asheville Tourists lose. Savannah will play Kannapolis in the rubber game of their series, while Asheville will be playing two against Lexington in a doubleheader.

• LF Patrick Biondi: 1-4, 2B, 2 K
• SS Gavin Cecchini: 2-4
• 3B  Jeff McNeil: 0-3, R, BB, E (7)
• 2B L.J. Mazzilli: 1-4, R, 2 K
• 1B Dominic Smith: 0-3, 3 K
• RF Jorge Rivero: 1-4, K, RBI
• DH Amed Rosario: 1-4, R, 3B, RBI
• CF Champ Stuart: 1-4, K
• C Colton Plaia: 1-3, K, RBI
• RHP Ricky Knapp: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• RHP Dawrin Frias: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K, HB
• RHP Robert Coles: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (11)

Star of the Night

It's hard not to give Darrell Ceciliani the SotN. Sure, it was over two games, but he went 3-7 with a triple, two home runs, a stolen base, four runs scored, and three RBI. Not a bad night.

Goat of the Night

Five games scheduled, five wins. The only goats last night were our competition.