Fulmer Strong, Bats Explode in the 6th

Binghamton Mets @ Akron Rubber Ducks

May 9, 2015

Michael Fulmer @ Cody Anderson

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Binghamton	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0		5	9	1
Akron	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3		4	11	1

W: Fulmer (1-0, 3.60 ERA); L: Suarez (0-1, 14.54 ERA); S: Velasquez (7, 3.12 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Michael Fulmer – 5 IP, 5 H, R, 2 BB, 4 SO, HBP, 95 Pitches (60 Strikes), 3 GO: 2 FO

Adam Kolarek (6.46 ERA) – 2 IP, 3 SO, 3 GO

Matt Koch (4.23 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, 2 GO

Paul Sewald (1.62 ERA) – 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, BB, 1 GO

Jon Velasquez – 0.1 IP, 1 FO, 2 IR – 0 S

Batters

Jared King – 1-5, 2B, GIDP

Brandon Nimmo – 1-5, R

Jayce Boyd – 1-4, R

Dustin Lawley – 1-4, R, 2B (10), 2 RBI (13), SO

Xorge Carrillo – 2-3, R, BB

Aderlin Rodriguez – 2-4, 3B (1), 2 RBI (13), SO

Eudy Pina – 1-4, 2 SO

Recap

            Michael Fulmer had a very strong start for the B-Mets, and the offense exploded for 5 runs after he left, which turned out to be just enough for the bullpen. It didn’t seem like Fulmer had his best secondary stuff Saturday night, but it was more than enough to carve his way through the Akron lineup, although he had to deal with at least one base runner in every inning. Cody Anderson looked very good for the Rubber Ducks, allowing only 3 hits and a walk over 5 IP – he left after only 70 pitches thrown because of a 19-minute rain delay. Binghamton would jump all over replacement Benny Suarez, who was charged with all five runs, and recorded only one out in the 6^th. Adam Kolarek was the first in from the Binghamton, and he worked two perfect innings, which extended his scoreless innings streak to 8.1 innings, a span of 4 appearances. Matt Koch was able to work through his trouble in the 8^th, but Paul Sewald would not have the same success in the 9^th, allowing an earned run for the first time this season. With Sewald struggling to get the final out of the game, Pedro Lopez went to the recently returned Jon Velasquez, who has just been closing out games wherever he pitches this year.

            Per the Akron announcer, Fulmer was 93-95 MPH with his fastball, and he was locating it well for most of the game, which was enough to work around a base runner in each inning. The one stretch when his control left him was after allowing a single with two outs in the 3^rd inning. Fulmer ended up walking the next two batters, but then recovered to overpower Anthony Gallas with a 95 MPH fastball. That strikeout was the start of his best stretch, as he’d retire 5 of 6, picking up all 4 of his strikeouts – only base runner came when a breaking ball got away from Fulmer for a HBP leading off the 4^th. Todd Hankins 5^th inning double was well struck, but it was a grounder just fair down the 3B line. The next batter was Jordan Smith, and he was fooled on a 1-2 offspeed pitch, but got his bat on the ball for a single into CF. Nimmo’s throw home beat Hankins, but Carrillo couldn’t corral it to apply the tag.

            The series wraps up Sunday at 2:05 PM, with John Gant scheduled to make his 5^th start as Bingo goes for the sweep. After allowing 5 ER over 3.2 IP in his first start, Gant has allowed only 5 ER over 17.2 IP (2.55 ERA) during his last 3 starts.

Scoring Highlights

            Aderlin Rodriguez hit a one-out single in the 3^rd, and then Jared King doubled him over to 3B two batters later, but Brandon Nimmo could not bring either home.

            Nimmo would get the 6^th inning rally with a single slapped into LF. Nimmo would advance to 2B on a wild pitch, on to 3B when Jayce Boyd singled into RF, and then score on an errant pick off throw to tie the game. The next pitch after the errant throw led to a Josh Rodriguez walk, and Dustin Lawley ripped the pitch after that into the LF corner for a bases clearing double. A 4-pitch walk to Xorge Carrillo led to a pitching change, but that backfired when Aderlin tripled into the right center field gap to make it a 5-1 game.

Fulmer Coverage

K1 (95 MPH)

K2 (95 MPH)

K3

K4

Adam Kolarek

K1

K2

K3

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