Trenton Thunder @ Binghamton Rumble Ponies
Eastern League Division Series
Game Two
September 7, 2017
Teams
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
R
|
H
|
E
|
|
Trenton
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
9
|
18
|
2
|
|
Binghamton
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
12
|
1
|
W: Reeves (1-0, 6.75
ERA); L: Knapp (0-1, 9.64 ERA); Save: Brewer (1)
The Stats:
Pitchers
Ricky Knapp
(L, 0-1, 9.64 ERA) – 4.2 IP, 11 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 19 TB, 1 BB, 1
K (0 K/Sw), 2 GIDP, 11 GB: 5 FB: 4 LD: 2 PU, 87 Pitches (56 Strikes), 4
Swinging, 18 Called, 4.6% SwStr, 10.5% Whiff/Swing, 18.6 Pitches/IP, 24 BF
Drew Smith (13.50 ERA) – 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 HR, 7
TB, 1 BB, 3 K (0 K/Sw), 1 HBP, 3 GB: 1 FB: 1 LD, 45 Pitches (30 Strikes), 8
Swinging, 11 Called, 17.8% SwStr, 42.1% Whiff/Swing, 33.8 Pitches/IP, 10 BF
P.J. Conlon (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 HBP, 1 GB: 2 FB,
14 Pitches (7 Strikes), 2 Swinging, 1 Called, 14.3% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing,
14 Pitches/IP, 5 BF
Corey Taylor (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 TB, 1 K (0
K/Sw), 1 GB: 1 FB: 1 LD, 8 Pitches (7 Strikes), 1 Swinging, 2 Called, 12.5% SwStr,
20% Whiff/Swing, 8 Pitches/IP, 4 BF
Corey Burns (9.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 2B, 3 TB,
1 K (1 K/Sw), 2 GB: 1 FB: 1 LD, 13 Pitches (10 Strikes), 2 Swinging, 2 Called,
15.4% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 13 Pitches/IP, 5 BF
Table 1 – Knapp pitch stats by inning
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
Total
|
|
Total
|
26
|
11
|
26
|
9
|
15
|
87
|
Strikes
|
16
|
7
|
16
|
5
|
12
|
56
|
Swinging*
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
*4.6% Swinging strike rate; 10.5% Whiff/Swing rate
Batters
SS - Luis Guillorme - 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 4.8% SwStr, 11.1%
Whiff/Swing, 4.2 Pitches/PA
RF - Kevin Kaczmarski - 4-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 K,
18.8% SwStr, 30% Whiff/Swing, 3.2 Pitches/PA
DH - Peter Alonso - 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HBP, 1 K, 1 GIDP,
11.1% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 3.6 Pitches/PA
LF - Kevin Taylor - 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K, 4.3% SwStr, 9.1%
Whiff/Swing, 4.6 Pitches/PA
1B - Matt Oberste - 1-5, 2.4 Pitches/PA
3B - David Thompson - 2-5, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K, 20% SwStr,
33.3% Whiff/Swing, 4 Pitches/PA
C - Tomas Nido - 0-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 21.4% SwStr, 42.9%
Whiff/Swing, 2.8 Pitches/PA
CF - Patrick Biondi - 1-4, 1 K, 4.8% SwStr, 12.5%
Whiff/Swing, 5.25 Pitches/PA
2B - L.J. Mazzilli - 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 16.7% SwStr, 50%
Whiff/Swing, 4.5 Pitches/PA
Recapish
The
Binghamton Rumble Ponies dropped game two of their first-round playoff series
with the Trenton Thunder 9-6 Thursday night, which means the two teams will
head to Trenton for what is now a best-of-3 series. The top two EL pitching
staffs of 2017 were far from their best in this one, but the Ponies wasted more
scoring opportunities than Trenton, as Thunder relievers were able to get the
big out when needed. Kevin Kaczmarski led the way offensively for Binghamton,
but his four-hit game was overshadowed by Thairo Estrada’s cycle. The Thunder
also got three-hit games from Dante Bichette (who went deep), Zack Zehner
(who’s now 5-7 in this series), and Rashad Crawford, as they kept the pressure
on the bases all night.
For
Binghamton, Ricky Knapp’s worst Double-A start couldn’t have come at a worse
time. Knapp struggled from the start and just hasn’t had the swing-and-miss
stuff needed to get out tight spots this year.
Thairo
Estrada started his big night with an RBI single in the 1st,
bringing home Jeff Hendrix after he led off with a double. Knapp quickly
retired the next two batters, but then a rare miscue by a Ponies center fielder
opened the door for another Trenton run. Credit Clint Frazier, who hustled
around to score from first base on the misplayed single that reached Patrick
Biondi on a few hops.
Kevin
Kaczmarski connected on his first hit in the bottom of the 1st, but
unlike in game one, the Ponies couldn’t respond with their own rally in the 1st.
The
Ponies turned a nice double play behind Knapp to help him through a scoreless 2nd
inning.
David
Thompson smacked a double to left field in the 2nd, but the Ponies
offense was slow to adjust to Thunder starter Brody Koerner.
Estrada
continued his big night with a leadoff triple in the 3rd – he’d
score on a sac fly. Knapp then struck out Major League rehabber Garrett Cooper
for his only strikeout of the night, but he wasn’t out of the frame yet.
Bichette followed with a solo blast to make this a 4-0 game, and Knapp was
worked for a second 26-pitch inning.
 |
| Knapp's K |
 |
| Thompson at third |
Binghamton
finally broke out against Koerner in the 3rd as they surged ahead.
L.J. Mazzilli and Luis Guillorme started the frame with walks ahead of a
two-run triple from Kevin Kaczmarski. Kacz came home on Peter Alonso’s first
hit of the game to cut the lead to 4-3. Koerner retired the next two Ponies in
a row but couldn’t get through Thompson, who stroked his second double of the
game and came all the way around to score a little league homerun on the play.
Thompson’s hit knocked Koerner out of the game and gave Binghamton a 5-4 lead.
 |
| Kaczmarski |
 |
| Alonso |
 |
| Thompson |
Knapp
worked around a leadoff double from Crawford in the 4th for his
second scoreless frame of the game.
Trying
to make up for the earlier error, Patrick Biondi led off the 4th
with an infield single and worked his way to third base with less than two
outs, but the Ponies couldn’t get him home.
Trenton
took control of this game with a three-run 5th, although it could’ve
been an even bigger inning, as the team combined to go 6-8 in the frame.
Fortunately for Binghamton, only one of those hits went for extra bases (a
ground-rule double from Zehner), and Cooper hit a double play grounder early
on. The Zehner double knocked Knapp out of the game with two on and two outs,
but the Ponies still ahead.
The
game came down to whether the Ponies pen could escape a jam and, for the first
time since their 9-game winning streak started back in August, they couldn’t. They
entered the night with a 29.1 IP scoreless streak, but they couldn’t add one
more key out. Drew Smith took over for Knapp and allowed three straight singles
(two on groundballs) before striking out Jeff Hendrix to finally end the rally.
 |
| K #1 |
Binghamton
had a chance to answer back with a big inning in the bottom half of the 5th,
but the Ponies managed just one run from the situation. Peter Alonso started
the frame with a single, went to second on a Kevin Taylor walk, and then up to
third on Matt Oberste’s hit. The Ponies had the bases loaded with nobody out,
but the only run the scratched out of the situation came on a walk drawn by
Tomas Nido.
 |
| Alonso |
 |
| Oberste |
Estrada
hit the third leg of his cycle when he led off the 6th with a solo
blast. Smith dealt with some control problems in the frame, but he struck out
two more batters to limit the damage. Smith was up to 97 MPH on the NYSEG Stadium gun in this outing.
 |
| K #2 |
 |
| K #3 |
Guillorme
and Kacz started the 6th with singles, but a double play grounder
cut any potential rally short.
 |
| Guillorme |
 |
| Kacz |
P.J.
Conlon took over in the 7th and worked around a pair of two-out
HBP’s for a scoreless frame. If I can take a moment to be a Monday Morning QB,
I thought Conlon should’ve taken over for Knapp earlier in the game and been
asked to go multiple innings – not entirely a MMQB, since I did suggest he
should be long man on call in my series
preview.
Corey
Taylor struck out Bichette during a scoreless 8th.
 |
| Taylor K |
The
Ponies final scoring opportunity came in the 8th, when they
re-loaded the bases but failed to score. Mazzilli reached on an infield single
and then moved into scoring position on a Kaczmarski double. A Pete Alonso HBP
loaded the bases for Kevin Taylor and knocked Andrew Schwaab out of the game.
Colten Brewer took over and he needed just one pitch to escape the jam.
 |
| Mazzilli |
 |
| Kacz |
Brewer had an extra insurance run
to work with when he went back out for the 9th, and he quickly
worked a perfect frame to end the game.
Looking
ahead, this series shifts to Trenton for the final three games. The Rumble Ponies
are scheduled to send Marcos Molina (3-7, 3.92 ERA) to the hill for game three,
which is set for Friday at 7:00 PM. Meanwhile, the Thunder are expected to have
lefty Justus Sheffield (7-6, 3.18 ERA) starting, which could lead to a lineup
shakeup for the Ponies.
CHIME will gather as much data as the world's mobile networks combined & may solve the mystery of Fast Radio Bursts. https://t.co/5y1ZTdG5FU pic.twitter.com/IvQ7B7N41W— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) September 8, 2017
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