B-Mets Overcome An Early Deficit For The Win Over Trenton

Trenton Thunder @ Binghamton Mets

July 17, 2015

Jaron Long @ John Gant

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Trenton	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		3	7	0
Binghamton	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	1	X		6	10	2

W: Gant (4-4, 4.17 ERA); L: Long (0-2, 4.09 ERA); S: Velasquez (12, 2.41 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

John Gant – 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, BB, 7 SO, HR, HBP, 98 Pitches (67 Strikes), 4 GO: 3 FO

Adam Kolarek (H, 6, 4.91 ERA) – 1 IP, 3 FO

Josh Smoker (H, 1, 0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, H, 3 GO

Jon Velasquez – 1 IP, H, 3 SO

Batters

Gavin Cecchini – 3-4, R, 2 RBI (37)

L.J. Mazzilli – 1-4, R, RBI (6), 3 SO

Michael Conforto – 2-4, 2B (11), SO

Josh Rodriguez – 1-4, R, HR (14), RBI (56), SO

Joe Benson – 2-4, 2 R, 2B (1)

Xorge Carrillo – 1-3, R, BB, 2 SO

Recap

            The B-Mets evened their series with Trenton Friday night behind big nights at the plate from Gavin Cecchini, Michael Conforto, and Joe Benson, and a strong start from John Gant. After retiring the side in order during the 1^st inning, John Gant ran into trouble in the 2^nd, as Trenton jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but then he’d settle in for a very nice start. The B-Mets jumped ahead in the 3^rd, when they scored 3 runs on 4 singles and a bases loaded walk, and then kept tacking on against the Thunder. The B-Mets bullpen took over in the 7^th and gave the Thunder 3 different looks over 3 scoreless innings – Adam Kolarek offers a ¾-arm slot lefty with a ~90 MPH sinker, Josh Smoker is a lefty who sits in the mid-to-upper 90’s, and Jon Velasquez is a righty with low 90’s heat – continuing their recent run of dominance.

            After a quick 1^st inning, Gant would allow a leadoff double to Gary Sanchez in the 2^nd inning, and then got a little wild in the frame, issuing a walk to Tony Renda before hitting Francisco Arcia with a pitch with one out. Cito Culver followed with the RBI single to LF that gave Trenton a 2-0 lead. The inning would end with a pitcher’s (unusual) best friend, the classic 3-2-5 double play. Starting with that last out of the 2^nd, Gant would set down 10 off 11 Thunder batters through the 6^th inning, but that streak ended when Ali Castillo launched a solo blast just over the wall in left center field. Other than the homerun allowed, Gant finished very strong, picking up 4 of his strikeouts over the final 2 frames, and setting a AA career high with 7.

            Check out more details and highlights from the offense below. This series continues Saturday night at 7:05 PM, with Robert Gsellman (3-5, 4.31 ERA) scheduled to pitch for the B-Mets.

Scoring Highlights

            Xorge Carrillo sparked the B-Mets first rally of the game with a single lined into CF leading off the 3^rd inning. Gavin Cecchini followed with the first of 3 hits two batters later, with Mazzilli’s single bringing home Carrillo, and Conforto’s single loading the bases up.

            Joe Benson led off the 4^th by reaching on an infield single, and then came around to score on an RBI single from Cheech.

            Conforto led off the 5^th with a double, but he'd be stranded at 2B in the frame.

            Benson led off the 6^th with a ground-rule double lined to right-center field. He’d come around to score on an RBI groundout from Cheech.

            Josh Rodriguez led off the 8^th with his 14^th homerun of the season. Gavin Cecchini's first hit of the night is shown below the homerun.

Bonus Defense

            Gavin Cecchini wasn’t really tested Friday night, but Xorge Carrillo made two excellent plays – he’s been really good defensively as of late.

Pitcher Coverage

Table 1 – Pitch stats by inning

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Total
Total	19	28	10	11	8	22	98
Strikes	13	16	7	8	8	15	67
Swinging*	0	4	1	1	4	4	14

*14.3% Swinging strike rate

First strikeout came on a 0-2 curveball (swinging).

Second strikeout came on a 1-2 curveball (swinging).

Third strikeout came on a 1-2 breaking ball (looking).

Fourth strikeout came on a 0-2 curveball (swinging).

Fifth strikeout came on a 0-2 curveball in the dirt (swinging).

Sixth strikeout came on a 1-2 pitch below the zone (swinging).

Seventh strikeout came on a 2-2 pitch below the zone (swinging).

His second strikeout

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— Beyond The Matter (@BeyondMatter) July 17, 2015