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Saturday, July 4, 2015

Bats Can't Back Gibbons in Erie Finale

Binghamton Mets @ Erie Sea Wolves


July 3, 2015


Michael Gibbons @ Josh Turley


Teams
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

R
H
E
Binghamton
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0

2
10
2
Erie
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
0
X

3
4
1
W: Turley (8-5, 2.75 ERA); L: Gibbons (0-1, 4.26 ERA); Save: Voelker (S, 2, 0.00 ERA)


The Highlights:

Pitchers

Michael Gibbons – 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, BB, 3 SO, HR, 87 Pitches (60 Strikes), 12 GO: 4 FO
Beck Wheeler (4.88 ERA) – 0.2 IP, BB, SO, 1 FO, 2 IR – 1 S
Dario Alvarez (3.81 ERA) – 1 IP, SO, 1 GO: 1 FO

Batters

L.J. Mazzilli – 2-5, 2 R, 2B (7), SO
Michael Conforto – 2-4, RBI (19)
Brock Peterson – 1-4, SO
Brandon Nimmo – 1-4, RBI (12), 2 SO
Dustin Lawley – 1-4
Albert Cordero – 2-4, SO

Recap


            In just his fourth start since being an undrafted free agent from the 2014 class, Michael Gibbons was sent to AA for a spot start, and he was good, but his teammates proved incapable of getting the big hits behind him. Gibbons came out very strong in his AA debut, attacking mostly with good control of his fastball early, and then mixing in what appeared to be at least a curveball and sinking changeup throughout the start (see below for visuals). The B-Mets jumped ahead with a run in the 1st, but they probably felt like they should’ve had more against the lefty Josh Turley in the frame, as they had him against the ropes with some lefty mashers up (Brock Peterson and Josh Rodriguez), and they got hits from both of their lefty-hitting outfielders (Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo). After Gibbons got into some trouble in the 7th, manager Pedro Lopez went to Beck Wheeler to put out the flames, but he’d allow an inherited runner to score, which gave Erie the lead back instead. He’d finish off the frame with it a one run game, and Dario Alvarez worked a perfect 8th to keep it that way, but Binghamton could only scratch out a pair of singles over their final two trips to the plate. They managed 10 hits in the game, but scored only 2 runs thanks for a 2-10 performance with runners in scoring position.
            Gibbons would allow nothing over the first 3.2 IP except for a base runner from an E4 against the first Erie batter. Then with 2 outs in the 4th (aka, after retiring the next 11 straight), he issued his only walk of the game, before grooving a fastball to a lefty for a long homerun to left-center field. Connor Harrell followed with a hit heading towards the LF that Michael Conforto cut off nicely to limit Harrell to a single. Eudy Pina robbed the final batter of the 4th with a shoe string catch on a line drive to shallow RF, falling over after securing the ball, and starting a streak of 8 straight retired from Gibons. The streak was ended abruptly with one out in the 7th, when Harrell and Wade Gaynor picked up back-to-back hits to reach 2B and 3B. Overall, if you watched this game knowing nothing about Michael Gibbons, which isn’t much less than what I knew of him, you’d never guess that he was a 22-year old undrafted free agent making just his 4th pro start. Cyclones manager Tom Gamboa is high on him, and he reportedly had a strong influence in the decision to give Gibbons both spot starts (Friday night and his first pro start for St. Lucie), and suggested he was the top pitching in XST. I have no clue what the Mets plan for Gibbons is, but it looks like it would be a waste of time to send him all the way back down to Brooklyn, so Gamboa might’ve influenced him right off his own roster.
            Next up, the B-Mets head home to face the Portland Sea Dogs over the 4th of July weekend, with Michael Fulmer scheduled to pitch, and a 7:05 scheduled start time.


Scoring Highlights


            L.J. Mazzilli, Michael Conforto and, Brandon Nimmo each singled in the 1st inning to give the B-Mets a 1-0 lead.










            Mazzilli hit a two out double and scored on Conforto’s second hit of the game in the 5th inning.








            Gavin Cecchini added a two-out single in the 9th.




Michael Gibbons Coverage


Table 1 – Pitch stats by inning

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
Total
Total
20
6
10
16
13
11
11
87
Strikes
12
6
7
10
10
7
8
60
Swinging*
0
0
3
0
4
1
2
10
*11.5% Swinging strike rate

            Gibbons picked up his first AA strikeout to start the 3rd inning, getting Drew Longley swinging.







            He struck out Longley in their second matchup as well, this time to leadoff the 5th.





            His final strikeout was of Jason Krizan, and it was the third out of the 6th inning.


Bonus






















































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