After a couple of dramatic victories in the opening games of each of their respective series, Las Vegas and Binghamton followed up with a pair of stinkers.
*All results from games played on Thursday, September 4th, 2014
Triple-A - Las Vegas 51's (81-63; 1-1)_______________________________________
GAME TWO: RENO 6, LAS VEGAS 0 (Box)
After a dramatic victory in game one of this series, the 51s eliminated pretty much all intrigue very early in last night's affair. Specifically, after a strong season where he seemed to punch his ticket as a legitimate major league arm, Vegas starter Matthew Bowman appeared to crumble under the pressure of his first playoff start. In fact, here's how the night began with Reno batting in the top of the first: Single, walk, walk, grand slam. Bowman would then allow three more hits in the frame before Cesar Puello bailed him out with an inning-ending outfield assist at home plate. Fortunately, Bowman settled down for the next three innings before he got the hook.
Reno's eventual victory was never really in question again after two-time Mets first baseman Mike Jacobs hit the first inning slam. Even so, the 51s bats were remarkably quiet in this game against Reno lefty Andrew Chafin. Not considered a top tier arm in the Arizona organization, Chafin had faced one over the minimum heading into the ninth and that owing to an infield error. Further, only one Las Vegas baserunner found himself in scoring position all night. Let's just agree that this was not an effort for the record books and be glad that we can turn the page to game three later tonight.
- LF Cesar Puello: 0-4, E, OF Assist
- SS Matt Reynolds: 0-4, 2 K
- RF Andrew Brown: 0-4, K
- 1B Taylor Teagarden: 1-3, K
- C Kevin Plawecki: 1-3
- CF Cory Vaughn: 0-3, K
- 3B Danny Muno: 0-3
- 2B Anthony Seratelli: 2-3,E
- PH Allan Dykstra: 0-0, HBP
- PH L.J. Mazzilli: 0-1
- RHP Matthew Bowman: 4 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
- RHP Giancarlo Alvarado: 2 IP, BB, 2 K, HB
- RHP Ryan Reid: 2 IP, K
- RHP Zack Thornton: 1 IP, H, K
Double-A - Binghamton Mets (83-59; 1-1)_____________________________________
GAME TWO: PORTLAND 7, BINGHAMTON 0 (Box)
This one was over early as well as Binghamton was simply outplayed in every facet of last night's game. Frankly, it's never a good sign when your starting pitcher allows more home runs than strikeouts. And it's sort of a weird sign when he allows fewer earned runs than homers -- owing to a shoddy stretch of defense in a rough second inning.
That said, the B-Mets bats never made much noise against Sea Dogs starter Justin Haley. Boston's 2012 sixth-rounder followed up on his very strong season (10-6, 2.35 ERA) with six more innings of shutdown ball. In fact, Binghamton never made it past second base in this one. Additionally, another former Mets first base prospect did some damage on this night as Stefan Welch knocked a pair of homers. Binghamton starter Steven Matz will look to regain the momentum tonight in game three.
- LF Brandon Nimmo: 1-4, K; Now 1-for-9 with four strikeouts thus far and hitting just .146 over his last ten games.
- 2B T.J. Rivera: 0-4, K
- 1B Brian Burgamy: 1-4, 2 K, E
- DH Jayce Boyd:0-3, BB, K
- CF Darrell Ceciliani: 1-4, 2B, K
- RF Travis Taijeron: 1-3, HBP
- 3B Dustin Lawley: 1-3, 2 K
- C Xorge Carrillo: 1-2, K
- PH-C Cam Maron: 0-1
- SS Wilfredo Tovar: 0-2, E
- PH-SS Gavin Cecchini: 1-1
- RHP Greg Peavey: 2 IP, 8 H, 2 ER (4 unearned), BB, 2 K, 3 HR, HB; Such a strange line -- stranger still that he threw 41 of 56 pitches for strikes
- RHP Matt Koch: 3 IP, 2 H, ER, 0 BB, K
- RHP Jon Velasquez: 2 IP, H, K
- LHP Adam Kolarek: 1 IP, K
- RHP Randy Fontanez: 1 IP, BB
Advanced-A - St. Lucie Mets (36-33 / 76-62)_____________________________________
SEASON ENDED
Low-A -Savannah Sand Gnats(84-51; 0-1)__________________________________
SCHEDULED DAY OFF
Savannah trails best-of-three series after dropping game one, 8-3 (Box).
Short-A - Brooklyn Cyclones (42-34)__________________________________
SEASON ENDED
FINAL STATS
Rookie -Kingsport Mets(34-34)__________________________________
SEASON ENDED
Rookie -GCL Mets(33-27)__________________________________
SEASON ENDED
Star of the Night
In principle alone nobody is really deserving of a gold star on a night where both clubs were pretty much rolled up and smoked; however, some credit is due to the Las Vegas bullpen who supplied five scoreless innings of relief work -- allowing just one hit in that span -- as they mopped up after Matthew Bowman's mess.
Goat of the Night
It's been a very strong season for Matthew Bowman. The 23-year-old from Chevy Chase, Maryland posted a 3.47 ERA in his first go-around in a very difficult run-scoring environment in Triple-A after producing similarly strong results in his first shot at Double-A. His 124 strikeouts in 134 innings looks especially strong when paired with just 36 walks over that span. In short, the undersized righty proved that his depth of secondary offerings, excellent pitching IQ, and very strong command of a just-enough fastball might just be a viable repertoire at the next level. All that said, he just didn't have it last night.