Minors Recap: Ryan Clifford Swats Seventh Home Run In June

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A) came back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Akron Rubberducks. Sparked by a fourth-inning Ryan Clifford home run, his seventh in June, the Ponies earned the victory via a two-out, two-run single by Drake Osborn. Clifford now has a 1.138 OPS in June with seven home runs, four […]

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The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A) came back from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Akron Rubberducks. Sparked by a fourth-inning Ryan Clifford home run, his seventh in June, the Ponies earned the victory via a two-out, two-run single by Drake Osborn.

Clifford now has a 1.138 OPS in June with seven home runs, four doubles, and a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 18:15. Though he is graded as a pure hitter, Clifford has been a three-true-outcome batter this month, boasting a .226 batting average over that span.

Joey Lucchesi. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Triple-A

Syracuse Mets (46-27) 1, Rochester Red Wings (37-35) 9

BOX SCORE

• CF Luisangel Acuña: 2-for-5 (.687 OPS)
• DH Ben Gamel: 2-for-3, R, 2B, BB (.973 OPS)
• 3B Brett Baty: 1-for-3, BB, 2 K (1.145 OPS)
• C Austin Allen: 1-for-4, RBI (6), 2 K (.840 OPS)

The Syracuse Mets were defeated 9-1 by the Washington Nationals’ top prospect, James Wood, and the Rochester Red Wings Saturday night. The Mets had no answer for Wood, who went 2-for-4 with a solo blast to left-center field. The Mets’ offense was dormant in the loss, going 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position while only one extra-base hit.

Luisangel Acuña had his sixth multi-hit game of June, lifting his slash line to .288/.350/.384 (.734 OPS) in the month.

• LHP Joey Lucchesi (4.61 ERA): 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (83 pitches/ 45 strikes)
• RHP Wilkin Ramos (0.00): 1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
• RHP Eric Orze (3.48): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Cole Sulser (2.01): 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 0 BB, 2 K
• RHP Yacksel Rios (3.30) 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• RHP Yolmer Sanchez (0.00) 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Lucchesi was roughed up in a second-straight outing, seeing dips in each of his pitches’ average velocity and spin rate which was also the case for his last outing. Lucchesi has allowed six home runs and nine walks over his previous three outings; troubling for a pitcher whose bread and butter is earning ground balls.

Alex Ramírez. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (35-31) 6, Akron Rubberducks (36-32) 5

BOX SCORE

• CF Alex Ramírez: 4-for-4, R, RBI (31) (.679 OPS)
• 1B Ryan Clifford: 1-for-4, HR (8), 2 RBI (21), K (.868 OPS)
• C Drake Osborn: 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI (13), K (.698 OPS)
• DH Brandon McIlwain: 1-for-3, R, 2B, BB, K (.648 OPS)

A four-run seventh inning propelled the Rumble Ponies to a win Saturday night over the Akron Rubberducks. Led by another Ryan Clifford home run, and a four-hit night from Alex Ramírez, the Binghamton offense strung together hits to complete the comeback.

The Rubberducks went up 3-0 in the third inning after a Petey Halpin home run. Still, the Ponies were resilient and chipped away at the Akron lead with the aforementioned Clifford blast in the fourth inning and a Ramirez RBI-single in the fifth. Drake Osborn provided the game-winning knock in the seventh with a two-run single to center field.

• RHP Luis Moreno (4.54): 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 7 K (81 pitches/52 strikes)
• RHP Daniel Juarez (4.35): 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
• RHP Bryce Montes de Oca (0.00): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
• RHP Justin Jarvis (3.28) 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 Er), 0 BB, 5 K

After a shaky start from Moreno, the Ponies’ bullpen held firm, allowing the team to win the comeback. Montes de Oca continues his rehab after elbow surgery and looks fantastic in his solo inning. Long-man Justin Jarvis was dynamic in the final three innings of the ballgame, striking five Rubberducks en route to his first save with Binghamton.

William Lugo. Photo by Ed Delaney, MMO

High-A

Jersey Shore BlueClaws (40-28) 8, Brooklyn Cyclones (33-35) 0

BOX SCORE

• SS William Lugo: 0-for-4 (.637 OPS)
• CF Stanley Consuegra: 0-for-4, K (.723 OPS)
• 1B Mateo Gil: 1-for-2, BB, 2 K (.723 OPS)

Coming off of their tough extra-inning loss, Brooklyn was stymied by the Jersey Shore pitching and was held to only one hit in their 8-0 loss. It was a woeful game on both sides for Brooklyn, who only got four baserunners on and struck out 12 times. In comparison, the Cyclones’ pitching staff allowed 13 baserunners and struck out only two BlueClaws.

• RHP Dakota Hawkins (4.20): 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (72 pitches/ 45 strikes)
• RHP Jawilme Ramirez (4.73): 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Despite his offense’s lack of run support, Jawilme Ramirez was solid in long relief for the Cyclones. Ramirez has allowed two runs or less in six of his eight appearances (starts and long relief) for Brooklyn.

Ronald Hernandez. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Low-A

St. Lucie Mets (22-46) 0, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (33-34) 5

BOX SCORE

• 1B Ronald Hernandez: 2-for-4, 2B (.776 OPS)
• 2B A.J. Ewing: 1-for-4, K (.601 OPS)
• C Jose Hernandez: 0-for-2, 2 BB, K (.475 OPS)

St. Lucie was held to just three hits and zero runs for the second consecutive game. On the bright side, the Mets only struck out 11 times in their loss on Saturday (13 on Friday night). 

• RHP Ernesto Mercedes (5.19): 5 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 7 K (95 pitches/57 strikes)
• RHP Cristofer Gomez (5.60): 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
• RHP Miguel Alfonseca (6.61): 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Cristofer Gomez gave a solid middle-relief performance for St. Lucie, striking out three and allowing only two hits in his 2 2/3 innings on the mound.

Dominican Summer League

DSL Mets Blue (4-10) 1, DSL Rockies (8-5) 4

BOX SCORE

• SS Jose Subero : 1-for-3, 2B, RBI (.885 OPS)
• RF Haniel German: 1-for-3, K (.850 OPS)
• LF Vladi Guerrero: 0-for-2, R (.322 OPS)

DSL Mets Orange (7-7) 4, DSL Tigers (7-8) 1

BOX SCORE

• DH Keiver Garcia: 2-for-4, 2B, K (.831 OPS)
• C Arnaldo Montano: 1-for-2, RBI, BB, K (1.167 OPS)
• RF Rocky Solano: 1-for-3, RBI, K (.650 OPS)

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