Category Archives: Game Recaps - Page 5

Lowell Spinners 4, Brooklyn Cyclones 1

Posted by on 8 August 2012 Comments Off on Lowell Spinners 4, Brooklyn Cyclones 1

Luis Mateo and the Ugly, Messy, Foul-Mouthed, Very Bad Game

Box Score

Luis Mateo started the game as a New York-Penn League All-Star and left six innings later in line for a loss after giving up runs with throws from both sides of the plate.  His 9 strikeouts showed a glimmer of the pitcher he is capable of being, but some hard hits and a 2-run throwing error dug the Cyclones into a hole too deep for the light-hitting lineup (missing Brandon Nimmo for the third straight game and Kevin Plawecki) to climb out of.  Plawecki entered the game as a pinch hitter in the 9th, but Nimmo only saw action as a first base coach.

I found Nimmo. And so did Julio Concepcion…

Mateo’s day started getting ugly in the bottom of the 2nd when he hit Mookie Betts with a pitch to start things off.  Betts followed that up with a stolen base on a strikeout, the second of four stolen bases against the Cyclones in the game; after Dreily Guerrero stole second in the 1st inning on what can only be called defensive incompetence, the Spinners knew they had free rein on the basepaths.  The real trouble came when Aneury Tavarez singled to left and Betts was waved home.  Stefan Sabol fired the ball to the plate well in advance of the runner, but also well over the head of the catcher.  Mateo was in place backing up the catcher and had Betts scrambling back to third.  As Betts dove for the bag, Mateo unloaded a pitch up the third base line that missed the third baseman’s glove and kept going deeper into the outfield than the original hit.  With nobody in the vicinity of the ball, Betts and Tavarez scored easily.  Mateo finished the inning with another strikeout and a pop fly, but the damage was done.

Who’s got the ball? None of these guys…

Mateo mixed strikeouts and multiple runs again in the 6th, which he opened with a strikeout, a single to left, another strikeout, and another single to left.  The ball then once more made its way to deep left field, this time by way of an Aneury Tavarez triple, putting the Cyclones down 4-0.  Mateo ended the inning on another strikeout, finishing with 6IP, 7H, 4R (2ER), 0BB, 9K, 1HBP, 1 balk, and 1 error.

When he’s bad, he’s bad, but when he’s good, he’s filthy

The Cyclones weren’t alone in making costly blunders in this game.  With one out in the top of the 7th, consecutive errors put Cyclones runners on second and third.  Jeff Reynolds hit a sac fly for one run, but that’s where the scoring ended for the Cyclones.  The Spinners errors did not end there though.  In the top of the 9th, another Spinners error put runners on first and second with two outs for pinch hitter Kevin Plawecki.  Plawecki watched three called strikes to end the game, much to his disbelief.  The umpire walked away as Plawecki disputed the call and expletives were hurled from the dugout by one of the coaches.  It’s probably a good thing that most of the kids were up on the concourse getting ready to run the bases; I don’t think their parents would have wanted them to witness the action at field level.

They should know better than to leave these where players can find them…

Brooklyn Cyclones 1, Lowell Spinners 0

Posted by on 7 August 2012 Comments Off on Brooklyn Cyclones 1, Lowell Spinners 0

Pitching and defense rule the day

Box Score

On a perfect evening for a baseball game, the Brooklyn Cyclones began a three-game series against the Lowell Spinners amid a sea of bobbling Jack Kerouaks. Those would prove to be the bulk of the bobbles in a game filled with stellar defensive plays by both teams. Despite outhitting the Spinners 9-4 (plus one walk for Brooklyn), the Cyclones only managed to score a single run on Jayce Boyd’s second home run of the year. Gabriel Ynoa went 7 scoreless innings for the Cyclones, giving up 4 hits and striking out 8. He got into a jam in the 6th but stranded runners on first and third. Paul Sewald picked up where Ynoa left off and recorded the final 6 outs to get the save. Sewald was a bit wild at the start of his outing, but the overeager Spinners ran up plenty of 2-strike counts on balls in the dirt. In addition to offense, a notable absence in this game was 2011 1st round draft pick Brandon Nimmo, who signed autographs before the game but did not play. Nimmo missed a second game after taking a pitch to the shoulder on Sunday.

Ks to the left and Ks to the right

Nelfi Zapata gets the first hit of the game and becomes the first of many stranded Cyclones baserunners

Binghamton Mets 7, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6

Posted by on 14 May 2012 Comments Off on Binghamton Mets 7, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6

Jefry Marte comes alive!

Just stand there and take it in.

Box Score

After three games won by wide margins, it made sense that the final game in the series would be a tough back-and-forth match that was up for grabs until the final swing.  The Fisher Cats offense knocked in 5 runs against shaky B-Mets starter Greg Peavey, but the B-Mets offense was back in action after getting shut out on Saturday, knocking in 7 runs on a single, double, and three home runs.  The Fisher Cats rallied back for one run off Robert Carson in the 9th, but Carson ended the inning without further incident for his first save with the B-Mets.

Matt den Dekker, Sean Kazmar, and Jefry Marte all homered for the B-Mets and all three made key defensive plays to keep the game close.  Marte was busy fielding balls at third, Kazmar made a spectacular grab to rob Mike McDade of a base hit, and den Dekker kept busy chasing down anything that dropped in center to limit the damage when he wasn’t driving runs in.  Marte’s 2-run shot in the 7th was his first with the B-Mets and gave them the lead for good.

With so many balls in play, defense and baserunning were key in this game and both teams had their great plays and blunders.  The B-Mets botched their first pickoff attempt when the throw from catcher Juan Centeno went into right field, but they nabbed John Tolisano trying to steal second and picked off Justin Jackson at first.

Juan Lagares reached base twice on bad throws from Fisher Cats third baseman Mark Sobolewski, but he pushed his luck the second time and was caught stealing.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9, Binghamton Mets 0

Posted by on 13 May 2012 Comments Off on New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9, Binghamton Mets 0

Revenge of the Fisher Cats

Yeah, that's how this game went.

After two big wins in Manchester, the B-Mets’ good fortune ran dry on Saturday.  The Fisher Cats hit Darin Gorski for 9 runs on 10 hits before he made his exit with no outs in the top of the 5th.  Kevin Mulvey, Brad Holt, and Robert Carson recorded the final 12 outs without giving up any more runs, but the B-Mets’ offense failed to get a runner past third despite several opportunities.

Box Score

How do you spell relief? M-U-L-V-E-Y-H-O-L-T-C-A-R-S-O-N

If at first you don't succeed...

Now, there were some highlights in this game.  For the second game in a row, Matt den Dekker had leadoff single in the first and reached on a HBP.  He did the former on the first pitch, but it took two attempts to plunk him (the first resulted in a passed ball that sent Zapata from first to third, where he watched the rest of the inning unfold).  The HBP accounted for 20% of the runners put on by Yohan Pino in an outstanding start for the Fisher Cats.

You win some...

The game had its share of close plays and interesting moments, some of which went in the B-Mets’ favor.  Pedro Zapata beat the throw on an infield single, Justin Jackson swung and missed so badly that he was lifted off the ground, Reese Havens applies a tag to end the 4th inning on a stolen base attempt, and Kevin Mulvey slides into first base to make the out.

And you lose some

Not everything turned out for the better though (understatement…).  A throw to the plate didn’t make it in time to prevent one of the four runs in the 4th and the Fisher Cats wrapped up their scoring for the day with a three-run home run in the 5th.

Lots of sad trips back to the dugout today...

Binghamton Mets 11, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4

Posted by on 12 May 2012 Comments Off on Binghamton Mets 11, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4

Den Dekker and the Mets deck Deck (goose?)

I didn’t get to see Zack Wheeler pitch last night, but this game certainly made up for it.  Matt den Dekker set the tone with a leadoff single that would start him on his first of three trips around the diamond in the B-Mets 11-4 victory that had the Mets trying to outdo the fireworks that followed the game.

Alpha and Omega: Matt den Dekker leading off with a single and the final swing in the bottom of the 9th

Fisher Cats starter Deck McGuire gave up 5 runs and was lifted with one out in the first inning.  B-Mets starter Gonzalez Germen looked like he wouldn’t fare much better in the bottom of the inning, but he escaped a bases loaded jam after giving up two runs.

After two uneventful innings, the B-Mets padded their lead with a trio of home runs: den Dekker in the 4th, Josh Rodriguez in the 6th, and Eric Campbell in the 8th.  Edgar Ramirez relieved Germen and pitched the last two innings, ending the game with a swinging strikeout.

Box Score

Den Dekker contemplates home run, den Dekker hits home run, den Dekker celebrates home run

Josh Rodriguez, Eric Campbell, and Matt den Dekker debate who should hit the next home run

And now it's Eric Campbell's turn

More to come…