Binghamton’s bats go cold and Brian Burgamy gets burned by the hot corner
It sure seemed like all of Binghamton’s bats were broken last night…
Last month, the Binghamton Mets scored 26 runs over their four-game series in Manchester, leaving with three wins and one loss. That one loss was the game started by Monday’s starter, Tyler Pill. With Pill up against the league’s worst offense, the Mets put on a show of inadequacy at the plate and in the infield that allowed the Fisher Cats to take the game with a 5-0 shutout.
The last time he was here, Tyler Pill couldn’t make it through the 5th inning and was charged with 7 runs, all earned. I guess you could call this an improvement then. The Fisher Cats were batting a league-worst .225 coming into this series, but Pill’s fastball was sitting at only 87mph. What happens when you attack a weak offense with a slow fastball?
And that was only a double…
Yeah, that. Pill made it through the first seven batters without allowing a baserunner, but number 8 sent Pill’s offering high above the right field foul pole to give New Hampshire a 1-0 lead. That would remain their only baserunner until it all fell apart in the bottom of the 5th.
Brian Burgamy fell flat on defense last night. He had trouble in the field too.
It isn’t easy being the oldest player on a minor league team, but Brian Burgamy held his own in last month’s series in Manchester. Last night, not so much. In addition to going 0-4 at the plate, Burgamy was charged with two errors and had several other missed plays in the field. It all started going wrong with one out and a runner on second in the bottom of the 5th inning. A foul pop dropped a baseball into the second row and Burgamy into the first. The next ball put in play went to Burgamy, who swiped at the runner but couldn’t make the tag. The throw to first was late and off, leaving runners on first and third on what should have been the second out and could have been an inning-ending double play. A walk and a failed double play later, Burgamy got another chance to end the inning on a bunt down the third base line. Unfortunately, he was slow to get to the ball and rushed the throw, missing the mark completely and putting runners on second and third with another run scoring. The inning would end with the Fisher Cats padding their lead to 3-0, but fate wasn’t done with Burgamy just yet.
This stadium has a way of evening out luck in a very short amount of time. One day you win by 11 runs, the next you lose by 11 runs. And so it stood to reason that Brian Burgamy would get a shot at redemption sooner rather than later. That would come in the 8th inning with the score still 3-0 Fisher Cats. With one out, Jon Berti sent a line drive just over Burgamy, almost close enough to grab. Almost. The ball glanced off the tip of Burgamy’s glove to give Berti a single, which he quickly followed with a stolen base that had him on third base when Kevin Plawecki threw the ball away. A double brought in another run and, with two outs, a ground ball was hit straight at Burgamy. And got past him on a nasty hop, bringing in another run. Burgamy’s redemption would have to wait for another day.
For Binghamton’s offense, luck was on autocorrect all night. The B-Mets took full advantage of New Hampshire’s fielding deficiencies to put runners on base several times. Three double plays quickly erased most of those. After putting runners on second and third in the first inning, no Binghamton runner would reach third base for the rest of the night. The top of the 5th is a typical example. With one out, Dustin Lawley hits an infield single to third, making up for his broken bat groundout to third in the 2nd inning:
And then Wilfredo Tovar does this:
Bat flippin’ at a major league level – call him up!
Despite the epic bat flip, that’s an inning-ending double play. Tovar would get retribution in the form of a HBP in the 8th, which, of course, was negated by a double play. It’s a vicious cycle…
The top of the 9th left lady luck with a few loose ends to tie up. Matt Reynolds, who started the failed double play in the 5th, would go on to break up a double play in the 9th with a takeout slide. That put Kevin Plawecki on first base with two outs, which quickly became Plawecki on second base with two outs when New Hampshire gave back the base they took on his error in the previous inning. That also gave the B-Mets their first runner in scoring position since the first inning. Cory Vaughn then put the ball in the air for only the fourth time of the night for the entire Binghamton lineup, but this was the result:
The Fisher Cats win points for style. Also, the game.
Final score: New Hampshire 5, Binghamton 0
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