Mets Minors Recap: Ryan Clifford Homers Again for Binghamton

The Jett Williams show carried the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies while Ryan Clifford homered yet again in an 11-0 win against the Richmond Flying Squirrels, Brandon Sproat struggled in a Syracuse loss and every other Mets full season affiliate fell in a rough Thursday slate of games.

Triple-A

Syracuse Mets (29-37) 1, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (32-31) 6

BOX SCORE

• LF Drew Gilbert – 0-for-3, 2 K (.668 OPS)
• 3B Luke Ritter – 0-for-3, 2 K (.718 OPS)
• C Jakson Reetz – 1-for-3, 1 R, HR (7), 1 RBI (18), 2 K (.629 OPS)

With only four players getting hits Thursday, Syracuse was in for a rough day facing one of the Yankees’ top prospects in Cam Schlittler. Donovan Walton has been pretty consistent every month, but has yet to hit for any average, primarily being helped out by a solid batting eye to keep his OPS at or near .700 for the entire season to date.

• RHP Brandon Sproat (5.31 ERA) 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (61 of 89 pitches for strikes)
• LHP Brandon Waddell (3.71 ERA) 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• RHP Dedniel Núñez (4.00 ERA) 1 IP, 1 K

After coming off of his best outing of the season, Sproat struggled in the fifth inning, allowing two runs on three hits while throwing a wild pitch as well. After walking a batter in the sixth, he was pulled. Sproat is throwing strikes, but the quality of those strikes is not good and when he seems to run into a bad inning, it almost always comes back to haunt him. Waddell did not do much better, allowing three runs himself. Núñez pitched a scoreless inning, and he has only been scored upon in one of his four June appearances.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (40-19) 11, Richmond Flying Squirrels (18-42) 0

• SS Jett Williams – 3-for-4, 2B, 2 3B, 3 R, 2 RBI (23), SB (18), 1 BB, 1 K (.937 OPS)
• CF Nick Morabito – 2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI (28), SB (22), 1 K (.773 OPS)
• DH Ryan Clifford – 2-for-5, 1 R, HR (12), 1 RBI (35), 1 K (.834 OPS)
• 1B Nick Lorusso – 2-for-4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI (24), 1 BB, 1 K (.751 OPS)
• C Kevin Parada – 2-for-4, 2B, HR (7), 2 RBI (19), 2 K (.657 OPS)

Bingo started slow, but put across eight of their 11 runs from the fifth inning on. Williams is playing out of his mind right now, slashing .387/.525/.839 in June with eight of his 12 hits going for extra bases. Clifford has homered in four of his last six games. Parada is having a solid June, slashing .308/.406/.692 with four walks to five strikeouts. He only walked three times in all of April, so seeing him be more disciplined at the plate is a good sign.

• RHP Jack Wenninger (2.93 ERA) 4 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K (38 of 58 pitches for strikes)
• RHP Cameron Foster (1.76 ERA) 1 IP, 1 K

Wenninger had another good, if not brief outing, allowing four hits over four innings with one walk. After his last outing on June 6 where he struggled, he regrouped and got back to what has been working for him all season. Wenninger has shown the ability to recollect himself after bad outings, which is a great trait to see from a young pitcher. Foster has been good out of the bullpen, not having been scored on since May 3 and having allowed four runs the entire season.

High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones (41-19) 2, Asheville Tourists (26-34) 7

BOX SCORE

• CF A.J. Ewing – 0-for-4, 3 K (.825 OPS)
• DH Boston Baro – 1-for-4, 2B, 1 K (.595 OPS)
• SS  Marco Vargas – 1-for-3 (.612 OPS)
• 3B Jacob Reimer – 0-for-4, 1 K (.958 OPS)
• CF Carson Benge – 1-for-3, SB (12), 1 BB (.922 OPS)
• RF Eli Serrano III – 2-for-4, 1 R, HR (6), 1 RBI (29) (.808 OPS)
• 2B Jesus Baez – 1-for-4, 1 R, HR (6), 1 RBI (32), 1 K (.764 OPS)

The Tourists jumped out to an early lead, and the Cyclones could not get ahead. Their first three hitters went a combined 1-for-12 with 5 Ks. Baro in the leadoff spot may be a new thing Brooklyn tries to let A.J. Ewing hit him in and put some traffic on the bases before the combination of Reimer/Benge/Baez gets up to bat. Serrano, who hasn’t played in a few games, came back with a vengeance, going 2-for-4 with a home run.

• RHP Nate Dohm (2.00 ERA) 3 2/3 IP, 1 H, 4 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR allowed (43 of 68 pitches for strikes)
• RHP Dakota Hawkins (3.00 ERA)  2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 K

Dohm was victimized by some wildness and his defense today, letting four unearned runs cross the plate. He has been quite good all season though, having only allowed three or more runs twice. Hawkins keeps humming along as a useful bullpen piece for Brooklyn.

Low-A

St. Lucie Mets (32-27) 4, Daytona Tortugas (26-34) 6

BOX SCORE

• 2B Trey Snyder – 1-for-4, 2B, 1 BB, 2 K (.701 OPS)
• SS Jeremy Rodriguez – 0-for-5, 1 RBI (17), 1 K (.597 OPS)
• 3B Colin Houck – 1-for-4, 1 RBI (31), 1 BB (.739 OPS)
• DH Trace Willhoite – 1-for-4, 1 R, HR (8), 1 RBI (36) (.866 OPS)
• LF Nick Roselli – 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI (18), SB (1), 1 BB, 1 K (.686 OPS)

Snyder pushed his OPS over .700 after a 1-for-4 day, proving to be a solid spark plug at the top of the lineup with a good gap-power swing. The defensive side is a work in progress for him, but he is playing multiple positions and faring well in his first real exposure to full season baseball. St. Lucie stole three bases on the day, with Houck getting caught for only the second time this season.

• RHP Frank Elissalt (3.90 ERA) 4 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (36 of 63 pitches for strikes)
• RHP Ernesto Mercedes (3.86 ERA) 4 IP, 1 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 5 K

The law firm of Elissalt and Mercedes could not keep the Tortugas from scoring, with Elissalt struggling for the first time this season due to some poor control and untimely hits. Mercedes paid the price behind some poor defense with two unearned runs on his ledger despite five strikeouts and only two baserunners.

Florida Complex League

FCL Mets (9-15) 0, FCL Marlins (11-13) 5

BOX SCORE

• 3B Bohan Adderley – 0-for-3, 1 K (.576 OPS)
• CF Edward Lantigua – 0-for-2, 1 BB, 1 K (.733 OPS)

Adderley, after a ridiculous game on Wednesday, came back to earth with an 0-for-4 showing that included a strikeout. The FCL Mets managed one hit and two walks, limiting their run scoring potential. Jeffry Rosa went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and was caught stealing.

Dominican Summer League

DSL Mets Blue (1-7) 2, DSL NYY Yankees (3-4) 4

The DSL Yankees broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning and would score two more runs to put the game out of reach. Yovanny Rodriguez went 1-for-2 at the plate with an RBI and a strikeout. Keiver Garcia went 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and a stolen base. Darling Perez went three innings, allowing two hits, one unearned run and one walk while striking out seven.

DSL Mets Orange (5-3) 5, DSL Cardinals (5-3) 3

Elian Peña played second base and went 0-for-3 with an RBI and a strikeout, struggling in his first few games in the Mets organization. He’s gone hitless in his first 24 at-bats, although he has three steals. Adolfo Miranda went 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored. Deivy Victora earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball, striking out two.

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