Jonah Tong, TJ Shook Combine for Perfect Game for Binghamton

Mets prospects Jonah Tong and TJ Shook completed a combined seven-inning perfect game for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Saturday afternoon, with the Ponies winning 6-0 over the Reading Fightin’ Phils.

In the second double-header game, Tong went close to the distance, allowing no base runners and striking out a new career high 13 over 6.2 innings, giving way to TJ Shook with one out to go. Tong threw 99 pitches, with his fastball blowing by hitters and his curve inducing embarrassing swings during the Ponies’ 6-0 win. Tong, Metsmerized’s No. 4 prospect, owns a season ERA of 2.57 through six starts in Double-A.

Following Tong, Shook struck out Hendry Mendez looking to cap off the effort, completing the perfect game. The feat is the first perfect game at any level in the history of the Mets franchise. Neither the Major League team nor any of the team’s numerous affiliates have ever accomplished the feat. Binghamton had eight no-hitters over the course of its time as a franchise, with Tong and Shook’s feat being the ninth. The most recent was Joander Suarez‘s in September 2023.

Tong’s 13 strikeouts pushed him further into the Eastern League strikeout lead, where he now sits with a ridiculous 51 in just 28 innings. He was in complete command throughout his outing, striking out seven Phils his first time through the order and six the second. When he wasn’t sitting hitters down with nasty curves, Tong kept the ball mostly on the ground, inducing five groundouts and just two flyouts.

Offensively, Binghamton exploded in the fifth inning, scoring all of its six runs in the frame. After struggling to get anything going in the first five innings, Binghamton got their push started with a triple from right fielder D’Andre Smith, who came around to score on a throwing error on an Alex Ramirez stolen base. The fifth was by far the longest wait between innings for Tong, but it seemed to have minimal impact on the former 7th-round selection, if any.

Reading would walk the bases loaded for the top of the order, and Jett Williams capitalized with a towering double to right field, scoring a pair of runs. The line would keep moving when Nick Morabito drove in catcher Matt O’Neill with a single, making it 4-0 Rumble Ponies. The final two runs would be scored when Ryan Clifford lined a single the other way, driving in the pair of speedsters Williams and Morabito to extend the lead to six runs.  On the year, Jett Williams now owns an .837 OPS with eight doubles, steadily leading the top of the Binghamton lineup.

The score opened up for Binghamton, but nerves remained, and tension crept into the air. Tong went back out for the seventh inning, but needed 12 pitches to retire his first two hitters, seemingly taking him to the edge of a pitch limit. Manager Reid Brignac would emerge from the home team dugout to take the ball from Tong, who ended his day one shy of both 100 pitches and perfection. Tong, clearly wanting to finish the outing, reluctantly handed the ball to his skipper and left to a roaring ovation from the home crowd on Mothers’ Day weekend. Tong was replaced by Shook, who closed the door for the Rumble Ponies, who split their doubleheader.

His current K/9 of 16.39 is the highest mark of his career, and a major increase from his 2024 mark of 12.74. Hitters have just a .484 OPS against, highlighted by a .212 slugging percentage against. Binghamton is now 18-12 on the season.

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