Mets Minors Recap: St. Lucie Mets Clinch FSL East First Half Title, Manaea Struggles

The St. Lucie Mets are playoff-bound after they clinched the FSL East first half title Sunday with their win against Daytona. It’s the first division title for St. Lucie since the first half of the 2022 season (when they last won it all). They will be one of four teams in the FSL playoffs come September.

Sean Manaea endured another tough outing in his second start for Syracuse on Sunday. The 33-year-old southpaw has surrendered eight runs total over just 6 2/3 innings during his rehab stint in Syracuse as he works to regain form following an oblique strain. He’ll look to right the ship before rejoining the Mets’ pitching staff by the end of the month. The left-hander’s return will be crucial for a team that just lost Kodai Senga to a hamstring strain on Thursday.

Triple-A

Scranton Railriders (35-31) 8, Syracuse Mets (29-40) 6

Box Score

• DH Joey Meneses,, 2-for-5, 2 RBI (.781 OPS)
• SS Yonny Hernández, 2-for-3, 3 R (.712 OPS)

Joey Meneses and Yonny Hernández helped Syracuse rally for four runs in the ninth inning with run-scoring singles, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Railriders swept them. Meneses is currently riding a six-game hit streak heading into Monday’s off day.

• RHP Blade Tidwell 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 7  H, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR (4.76 ERA)
• RHP Dedniel Núñez 1.0 IP, 1 BB (3.79 ERA)

Blade Tidwell struggled mightily versus Scranton Sunday, allowing six earned runs, including a home run from Brennan Davis. Tidwell has allowed 12 earned runs in his last three starts. Núñez, on the other hand, is starting to round into form with three consecutive scoreless appearances.

Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels (18-44) 4, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (42-19) 4

Box Score 

•  C Matt O’Neill, 2-for-4, 2B, RBI (.745 OPS)
• SS William Lugo, 1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI (.682 OPS)

William Lugo smacked his sixth homer of the season Sunday, extending his hit streak to three games.

• RHP Jonah Tong  5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 5 K (1.97 ERA)
• RHP Alex Carrillo 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 K (4.86 ERA)
• RHP Ryan Lambert  1.1 IP, 1 H, 3 K (2.20 ERA)

Jonah Tong continues to excel in Double-A, as the 21-year-old struck out five in 5 innings of work. Tong has allowed only two earned runs in 15 1/3 innings of work and could be on the verge of a promotion to Syracuse in the coming weeks.

High-A

Asheville Tourists (27-36) 4, Brooklyn Cyclones (43-20) 5

Box Score

• CF Carson Benge, 2-for-5, 2 RBI (.906 OPS)
• 3B Jesus Baez, 1-for-5, RBI (.755 OPS)
• SS Boston Baro, 1-for-4, RBI (.591 OPS)

Carson Benge continues to rake, hitting his 18th double of the season Sunday. The 22-year-old outfielder is now slashing a fantastic .304/.417/.487 on the year and is emerging as one of the Mets’ best-hitting prospects after being ranked 85th on MLB’s Top 100 prospect rankings.

• LHP  Sean Manaea 2.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K (9.45 ERA)
• RHP Brian Metoyer 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K (1.13 ERA)
• RHP R.J. Gordon 4.2 IP,  2 H, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 HR (2.73 ERA)

 R.J. Gordon picked up the slack for Manaea on Sunday, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out two. Gordon has posted an impressive 16 strikeouts over three appearances in June.

Low-A

Daytona Tortugas (27-36) 5, St. Lucie Mets (34-28) 7

Box Sore

• 3B Colin Houck, 2-for-4, HR, 1 RBI (.804 OPS)
• 2B Trey Snyder, 2-for-5, 3 RBI (.714 OPS)
• SS Jeremy Rodriguez, 1-for-5, RBI (.592 OPS)

Trey Snyder had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Snyder has been hot for the past week, recording hits in seven of his past eight games, and has hit a steady .250 average for the last two months.

• LHP Franklin Gomez 2.1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 K (3.16 ERA)
• RHP Cristofer Gomez 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 K (3.86 ERA)

Franklin Gomez saw his three-outing scoreless streak come to an end on Sunday, surrendering two earned runs on five hits over 2 1/3 innings of work. Despite the bump in the road, Gomez has been a reliable presence for St. Lucie in June. Over his last three outings, he has posted a WHIP of 0.86.

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