Luisangel Acuña, Kevin Parada Heat Up at Plate

Sunday in the Mets’ minor leagues featured several fantastic performances, headlined by two struggling prospects, Luisangel Acuña and Kevin Parada. Acuña and Parada are considered top prospects for a reason, but they haven’t lived up to that while part of the Mets organization. On Sunday, though, they flashed their ability in their respective games.

While Acuña and the Syracuse Mets enjoyed a victory, Binghamton, Brooklyn, and St. Lucie suffered losses despite a strong pitching performance in Binghamton and an offensive explosion in St. Lucie. Let’s look at all the action from the Mets’ minor league affiliates on Sunday.

Triple-A

Syracuse Mets (22-15) 6, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (13-23) 0

BOX SCORE

• CF Luisangel Acuña: 2-for-5, 2 R, BB, K
• RF Ben Gamel: 2-for-4, 2B (9), 2 RBI (21), BB, 2 K
• 3B Mark Vientos: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, K
• 1B Luke Ritter: 2-for-5, 2 RBI (18), 2K

The Mets had a great day at the plate on Sunday against the IronPigs, recording 14 hits and six walks to score six runs. Every batter had at least one hit, while five players had multiple hits. While guys like Ben Gamel, Mark Vientos, and Luke Ritter turn in great performances daily, it was good to see Luisangel Acuña have a good day at the plate.

Acuña has struggled on the offensive side of things early in the year, but he reached base three times and scored two runs in Sunday’s game. Mike Brosseau and Hayden Senger were the two other batters, including Acuña, Gamel, and Ritter, to record two hits in the game.

• RHP Tylor Megill (W, 1-0): 5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 6 K
• LHP Danny Young: 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, K
• RHP Yacksel Ríos: 1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Grant Hartwig: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, K
• RHP Dedniel Núñez: 1 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, K

The Syracuse pitching staff gave up ten hits in total, but they were able to keep Lehigh Valley off the board with a shutout. Tylor Megill led the effort with 5 1/3 shutout innings, and he has looked solid in his rehab assignments thus far. Following Megill, four relievers combined for 3 2/3 shutout innings, with Danny Young and Grant Hartwig allowing no baserunners in their appearances.

In both facets of the game, it was a thoroughly dominant victory for the Syracuse Mets on Sunday.

Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (18-13) 2, Portland Sea Dogs (17-14) 4

BOX SCORE

• 3B Rowdey Jordan: 2-for-4, 2B (7), K
• C Kevin Parada: 1-for-4, HR (4), R, RBI (17), 2 K
• LF Brandon McIlwain: 2-for-3, K
• 2B Mateo Gil: 1-for-3, HR (1), R, RBI (2), K

The Rumble Ponies fell 4-2 to the Portland Sea Dogs on Sunday. It was a slow offensive day for Binghamton, whose two runs came on a pair of solo shots from Kevin Parada and Mateo Gil. For Parada, it was his fourth of the year in what has been a really sluggish start in Double-A. His batting average still sits below .200, and his OPS following Sunday’s game is .634.

Rhylan Thomas and Alex Ramírez, two of Binghamton’s better hitters to start the year, went hitless in the effort.

• RHP Tyler Stuart: 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
• RHP Cam Robinson: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 0 K
• RHP Andre Scrubb (L, 0-1): 1 IP, 2 ER, H, BB, 0 K
• RHP Junior Santos: 1 IP, 0 ER, H, 0 BB, K

Despite the loss, the pitching staff didn’t pitch poorly. Tyler Stuart allowed a first inning run before again allowing the Sea Dogs to take the lead in the fifth inning. Stuart’s outing ended after five innings, and he allowed two runs. His ERA on the season is 3.86. The Rumble Ponies tied the game again, but Andre Scrubb allowed the game-losing blow with a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.

High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones (18-15) 2, Rome Emperors (17-14) 8

BOX SCORE

• CF Nick Morabito: 3-for-4, 2B (2), R
• 1B Nick Lorusso: 1-for-4, R, RBI (16), 2 K
• SS William Lugo: 1-for-4, 2B (3), RBI (10), K

The Cyclones also had a slow offensive game in their loss against the Rome Emperors on Sunday. One of the lone highlights was Nick Morabito, who had a three-hit game, including a double in just his fifth game in Brooklyn. He recorded three of Brooklyn’s six hits.

Both of Brooklyn’s runs came in the fourth inning. The first on a single from Nick Lorusso and a double from William Lugo. Brooklyn’s eight other frames were scoreless, making it nearly impossible to put up a fight.

• LHP Felipe De La Cruz (L, 1-4): 2 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K
• RHP Dakota Hawkins: 2 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
• RHP Joey Lancellotti: 1 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Jeffrey Colon: 1 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, BB, 0 K

The performances of Brooklyn pitchers, particularly Felipe De La Cruz and Dakota Hawkins, contributed to the loss. Together, they combined for five innings and gave up seven earned runs. The big blow of the game was a bases-clearing double surrendered by De La Cruz to put the Emperors ahead 4-0. Joey Lancellotti also surrendered a run, while Jeffrey Colon had the only scoreless outing of the day.

Low-A

St. Lucie Mets (12-21) 11, Bradenton Marauders (15-18) 12

BOX SCORE

• SS Marco Vargas: 2-for-5, 2B (1), 3 R, BB, K
• DH Jesus Baez: 2-for-6, HR (4), R, 2 RBI (18)
• 3B Boston Baro: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI (12), BB, K
• CF Yohairo Cuevas: 4-for-5, R, 3 RBI (9), K
• LF Estarling Mercado: 1-for-4, 2B (4), R, 2 RBI (9), BB, 2 K

The St. Lucie Mets and Bradenton Marauders participated in a shootout on Friday. The two teams combined for 23 runs, and the Marauders came out on top. The Mets added five runs in the top of the second inning, but that lead was quickly erased by the third when Bradenton took a 7-5 lead. The two teams continued to go back and forth before heading to extra innings tied at 10. While St. Lucie scored a run in the top of the 10th, Bradenton scored two in the bottom of the inning to walk it off and secure the win.

Jesus Baez knocked his fourth home run of the year in the loss, and his OPS for 2024 is now .800. Marco Vargas and Boston Baro also found success at the plate, but the most unexpected performance came from Yohairo Cuevas. Cuevas has had a mostly unremarkable start to the season, but he recorded four hits and three RBIs in this game. Despite his efforts, it wasn’t enough to put St. Lucie over the top.

• RHP Austin Troesser: 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, H, 3 BB, 2 K
• RHP Layonel Ovalles: 1 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 K
• RHP Miguel Alfonseca (BS, 1): 1 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, K
• RHP Alan Perdomo: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Wilson Lopez (BS, 1): 1 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K
• RHP Jimmy Loper: 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K
• RHP Jawilme Ramirez (L, 1-1) (BS, 1): 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, BB, 0 K

It was an ugly day for the St. Lucie pitching staff. While some pitchers, such as Alan Perdomo and Jimmy Loper, pitched well, others such as Layonel Ovalles and Wilson Lopez, pitched poorly enough to discount St. Lucie’s fantastic day at the plate. Austin Troesser started the game and allowed two earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. He entered the game with a 3.04 ERA and exited with a 3.55 ERA.

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