4/9 Minor League Report! RAMIREZ! (No not Manny, stop that!)

Buffalo 4, Pawtucket 6

Jon Niese's first start of the season was awful, he lasted just 2 innings, surrendering 5 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks, throwing 62 pitches. Niese was in trouble throughout the day, throwing 34 pitches in the first, and 28 in the second. Kyle Snyder worked 3 innings of long relief behind Niese, then 40 year old veteran Japanese lefty Ken Takahashi came in, giving up 2 hits and a run (along with 2 walks) in his 1.2 innings of work. Eddie Kunz followed, giving up Takahashi's IHR, by walking the bases loaded. Connor Robertson pitched a scoreless 9th.

Offensively, Fernando Martinez and Bobby Kielty had multi hit games, while Nick Evans (0 for 4, 2 Ks), and Rob Mackowiak (0 for 3, run, RBI, 2 Ks) took 0-fers.

2b Jon Malo 1 for 5, run, 3b, RBI, 2 Ks
ss Jose Coronado 1 for 4, RBI, BB, 2 Ks
dh Fernando Martinez 2 for 4, 2b, 3b
rf Bobby Kielty 2 for 4, run, K
lf Jesus Feliciano 1 for 4, 2b, 2 Ks
c Omir Santos 1 for 3, run, BB
cf Cory Sullivan 1 for 4, 2b, RBI, 2 Ks
Jon Niese 2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3/2 BB/K, 22.50 era, L (0-1), 62:35:27, 1:3:2
Kyle Snyder 3 IP, 2 H, 2/3 BB/K, 0.00 era, 58:32:26, 3:3:3
Ken Takahashi 1.2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2/1 BB/K, 5.40 era, 41:22:19, 0:4:1
Eddie Kunz 1.1 IP, 3 BBs, 0.00 era, 32:12:20 (yes, that's P:S:B), 4:0:0
Connor Robertson IP, BB, K, 0.00 era, 15:10:5, 1:1:1

Binghamton 4, Trenton 5 in 14 innings

Dylan Owen started this game a long long time ago, and had a ton of control problems, something he cannot afford, considering his lack of an arsenal. Owen walked 5 in 5 innings, and also allowed 3 hits, but just 2 runs, and he actually left with a 3-2 lead, courtesy a Caleb Stewart solo shot. However, John Madden (BOOM TOUGH ACTING TINACTIN!) blew the save in the 8th inning, so we played on. Adam Bostick pitched 2.1 innings in relief, rehabbing from a shoulder issue. He loaded the bases with 1 down in the 12th (with the Mets ahead 4-3, thanks to a DJ Wabick single), and left it up to Nick Abel, who escaped allowing just one run, getting tagged with a BS. Abel pitched into the 14th, where he allowed a run, and Trenton won 5-4.

The BMets offense had 12 hits and drew 5 walks, but left 17 on base, and were 3 for 17 with RISP. Every starter had a hit, with Shawn Bowman, Lucas Duda and Matt Bouchard having multi hit games.

cf Emmanuel Garcia 1 for 7, 2b, 3 Ks, .333
ss Ruben Tejada 1 for 7, run, 3 Ks, .273
c Josh Thole 1 for 6, BB, K, .300
3b Shawn Bowman 2 for 7, 2b, RBI, K, .333
1b Lucas Duda 2 for 4, run, 2 BBs, K, .250
2b Matt Bouchard 2 for 6, run, BB, K, .300
lf DJ Wabick 1 for 6, RBI, 2 Ks, .100
rf Caleb Stewart 1 for 7, run, HR, RBI, 5 Ks, .200
dh Carl Loadenthal 1 for 6, RBI, BB, K, .300
Dylan Owen 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5/2 BB/K, 3.60 era, 8:4:2
Tim McNab 1.2 IP, 2 H, K, 0.00 era
John Madden 2 IP, 2 H, R, 2 Ks, 0.00 era, BS (1)
Adam Bostick 2.1 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, K, 3.86 era, 6:0:1
Nick Abel 2.1 IP, H, ER, 3 BBs, 3.86 era, BS (1), L (0-1), 5:2:0

St. Lucie 3, Sarasota 9

Brad Holt, welcome to high A, here's 9 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks (including 3 homers) to greet you. Ouch. Holt found out pretty quickly this ain't no NYPL, he gave up 3 in the first, followed by 5 in the 3rd, and then 1 in the 4th before leaving with 2 down in the inning. Searching for a positive, he did strike out 5, and chances are he was working on his offspeed stuff, since his fastball is enough to dominate this level (but that would prove nothing). Nick Waechter worked 3.1 innings of 1 hit long relief, and Stephen Clyne pitched the final 2 innings.

Zach Lutz and Brahiam Maldonado took the only 0-fers for the Mets, while every other starter had one hit a piece. Ike Davis, Francisco Pena and Carlos Guzman scored the runs, Hector Pellot drove in all 3.

2b Greg Veloz 1 for 4, 2 Ks
ss Reese Havens 1 for 4, K
cf Kirk Nieuwenhuis 1 for 4, K
1b Ike Davis 1 for 4, 2b, 3 Ks
c Francisco Pena 1 for 3, run
rf Carlos Guzman 1 for 2, run, 2 BBs
dh Hector Pellot 1 for 3, 2b, 3 RBI
Brad Holt 3.2 IP, 7 H, 9 ER, 4/5 BB/K, 3 HR, 22.09 era, L (0-1), 3:3:5
Nick Waechter 3.1 IP, H, 3 Ks, 0.00 era, 4:3:3
Stephen Clyne 2 IP, H, 2 Ks, 0.00 era, 4:0:2

Savannah 3, Augusta 0

Elvin Ramirez was in complete command tonight, generating 12 of his 18 outs via groundball, as he and Manuel Olivares combined on a 4 hit shutout. Ramirez went 6 innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk, striking out 4. Olivares worked the final 3 innings for the save.

Offensively, the only run the Gnats would need came in the first inning. Jordany Valdespin doubled, and scored on Wilmer Flores' sac fly. The Gnats added a pair in the 4th for insurance, with Jefry Marte and Josh Satin getting the RBI. Rafael Fernandez (0 for 4, K), Wilmer Flores, Josh Satin (0 for 2, RBI) and Juan Lagares (0 for 3, 2 Ks) took 0-fers.

2b Jordany Valdespin 1 for 4, run, 2b, K
ss Wilmer Flores 0 for 3, RBI, 2 Ks
cf Sean Ratliff 3 for 4, run, 2b, K
c Kai Gronauer 1 for 3, run
1b Eric Campbell 1 for 4, K
3b Jefry Marte 1 for 4, RBI
Elvin Ramirez 6 IP, 3 H, 1/4 BB/K, 0.00 era, W (1-0), 12:2:4
Manuel Olivares 3 IP, H, 3 Ks, 0.00 era, SV (1), 1:5:3