New York Mets Minor League Report: Rumble Ponies Surging Hard Down the Stretch

[Tom Gatto]

Binghamton’s surge after the MLB trade deadline made national headlines last month. Two and a half weeks after they received that recognition, the Rumble Ponies are still charging, and they’re poised to run down the leader in a pennant race.

After a 3-1 win over New Hampshire and a loss by first-place Reading to Hartford on Saturday, Binghamton is 2 1/2 games out in the Eastern League Northeast Division's second-half standings with seven games to play. It's tied for second with Somerset.

Corey Collins had the key hit for the Rumble Ponies, a double to right in the first inning that produced two runs. Collins got credit for one RBI, for knocking in Eli Serrano III, and the second run scored when the right fielder bobbled the ball for an error, allowing John Bay to score from first base.

Jefferson Rojas' solo home run in the fifth made it 3-0. That was enough support for starter RJ Gordon and three relievers, who held the Fisher Cats to four hits.

Binghamton was 11-22 for the second half on deadline day, Aug 3, but imports Rojas, Émilien Pitre, Billy Amick, Gary Gill Hill, Gabe Davis and Luke Gabrysh joined with players promoted from High-A Brooklyn, such as Collins, Mitch Voit and Noah Hall, to turbocharge the squad. The result was a 16-2 run in the first 18 games after the deadline. The beat went on even after Pitre and Amick were quickly promoted to Triple-A Syracuse.

The surge slowed as the Rumble Ponies lost four of six to Reading at the end of August. It’s a series that, in retrospect, may cost them the title. They've four of five from New Hampshire this week to raise their post-deadline record to 22-7.

For the Rumble Ponies to have any chance of making the playoffs, they need to run the table in the final week against Portland and have Reading lose multiple games to Erie, which is on the verge of clinching the second-half Southwest Division championship. But this team is good enough to do its part.

Elsewhere in the organization:

Syracuse lost a seesaw game to Rochester 14-9. The Mets rallied to take leads of 6-4 and 9-7, only to give up seven runs in the eighth inning. Ronny Mauricio and MJ Melendez homered back-to-back in the sixth.

Brooklyn surrendered three runs in the seventh inning of a tie game and went on to lose 7-3 to Frederick. Yonatan Henriquez and Colin Houck homered in the fourth inning for the Cyclones’ runs.

St. Lucie-Jupiter was suspended because of rain with one out in the bottom of the first and the score 1-1. The game will resume at that point beginning at 12:10 p.m. ET Sunday. It will now serve as the regular-season finale for both teams; the regularly scheduled game that was to have followed the resumption has been canceled.

New York Mets Transactions

• Toronto Blue Jays claimed C Shawn Ross off waivers from New York Mets.

Syracuse Loses The Battle Of The Long Balls

How could you tell the ball was flying in Central New York on Saturday? Pitre slugged his first Triple-A home run and the 15th of his career in 1,097 plate appearances. It came in the seventh and tied the game 7-7.

The Mets took a 9-7 lead later in the inning on an RBI single by Jose Ramos and a run-scoring wild pitch.

Mauricio and Melendez’s homers in the fifth sparked a five-run inning, which concluded with a two-single by Nick Lorusso that put Syracuse ahead 6-4.

Rochester went deep six times in the game, including four in the decisive eighth. Joe Jacques served up the first one, and Zack Peek surrendered the next three.

Mets starter Kevin Herget was untouched by the long ball as he allowed just an unearned run over the first three innings. Rochester took Matt Seelinger deep twice in his three innings of piggyback relief.

Syracuse Batting

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
D'Andre Smith	4	0	2	1	1	1
Émilien Pitre	5	1	2	2	0	0
Ronny Mauricio	5	1	1	1	0	2
MJ Melendez	5	2	2	1	0	3
Vidal Bruján	3	1	1	0	2	1
Jose Ramos	4	1	2	1	0	1
Hayden Senger	3	2	1	0	1	1
Nick Lorusso	4	1	2	2	1	1
Zack Short	1	0	0	0	0	0
Eric Wagaman	3	0	0	0	1	1
Totals	37	9	13	8	6	11

Syracuse Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Kevin Herget	3	3	1	0	1	2	0
Matt Seelinger	3	4	3	3	1	2	2
Brian Metoyer	0	0	3	3	3	0	0
Joe Jacques	1	3	3	3	1	0	1
Zach Peek	2	4	4	4	1	3	3
Totals	9	14	14	13	7	7	6

Collins, Rojas Back Gordon In Rumble Ponies’ Win

Collins notched his 25th RBI in 38 games since his promotion to Double-A. His OPS sits at .910 on the strength of eight home runs.

Corey's Way.

Corey Collins delivers a double and brings in ✌️ runs!

Collins has 13 XBH at Double-A.

? x #DefendOurHome x @MetsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/PmFDiUrFu8

— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) September 5, 2026

Rojas hit his eighth home run in his first 25 games as a Mets prospect

WOW.

Jefferson Rojas (@Mets No. 1 prospect) belts a solo home run! ?

It is the 8th for Rojas as a member of the Mets organization.

? x #DefendOurHome x @MetsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/cIN6JBBrMa

— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) September 5, 2026

Gordon made sure those early runs stood up. He allowed a run on three hits, walked two and struck out five over his six innings. Felipe De La Cruz, Cristofer Gomez and Douglas Orellana combined to get the final nine outs, with Orellana earning the save.

Binghamton Batting

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Marco Vargas	3	0	1	0	1	1
Jefferson Rojas	4	1	1	1	0	1
Eli Serrano III	3	1	0	0	1	1
John Bay	2	1	0	0	1	1
Corey Collins	4	0	1	1	0	1
JT Benson	3	0	0	0	1	1
Jamari Baylor	3	0	0	0	0	1
Eddinson Paulino	2	0	0	0	1	1
Vincent Perozo	2	0	0	0	1	2
Totals	26	3	3	2	6	10

Binghamton Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
R.J. Gordon	6	3	1	1	2	5	1
Felipe De La Cruz	2/3	0	0	0	2	2	0
Cristofer Gomez	1 1/3	0	0	0	0	1	0
Douglas Orellana	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
Totals	9	4	1	1	4	9	1

Brooklyn Misses Key Opportunities En Route to Loss

The Cyclones erased a 2-0 deficit in the space of three batters. Henriquez homered with two outs. his 11th of the season. Daiverson Gutierrez walked, and Houck followed with a two-run home run that put Brooklyn ahead 3-2.

Brooklyn was done scoring after that, however. It finished with six hits and five walks, struck out nine times, and left eight runners on base. 

Daviel Hurtado started and worked five innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on four hits, with two walks and four strikeouts. Ryan Dollar, the Cyclones' third pitcher, took the loss after Frederick got to him in the seventh. He went back out to begin the eighth but was removed after allowing the first two batters to reach. Gregori Louis allowed one of his inherited runners to score.

Brooklyn Batting

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Elian Peña	5	0	0	0	0	2
Aiden Robbins	5	0	2	0	0	2
Cole Mathis	3	0	1	0	1	0
Trey Snyder	3	0	0	0	1	0
Yonatan Henriquez	4	1	1	1	0	1
Daiverson Gutierrez	1	1	0	0	2	0
Colin Houck	4	1	1	2	0	2
Antonio Jimenez	4	0	0	0	0	2
Chase Meggers	3	0	1	0	1	0
Totals	32	3	6	3	5	9

Brooklyn Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Daviel Hurtado	5	4	3	1	2	4	0
Ryan Lambert	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
Ryan Dollar	1	4	4	4	2	1	0
Gregori Louis	2	1	0	0	0	1	0
Totals	9	9	7	5	5	8	0

Petrovic Debuts Before Rain Stops Jupiter-St. Lucie

The start of the game was delayed 41 minutes because of inclement weather. Once it got underway, a lot happened in the less-than-full inning that was played.

Alex Petrovic, New York’s sixth-round selection in this year’s MLB Draft, made his pro debut and had a busy frame. He struck out his first batter but allowed a single to his second. That batter stole second, moved to third on a groundout and pulled off a straight steal of home for the game’s first run. Petrovic got another strikeout to end the inning.

First K for Alex Petrovic! pic.twitter.com/9fMBRLmt6U

— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) September 5, 2026

St. Lucie answered in the bottom half. Jake Ogden, the second batter in the inning, hit his first professional homer, a liner toward the left-field corner, to tie the game. As Ogden was jogging around the bases, umpires called for the tarp. The game was suspended about a half-hour later.

As the rain starts to fall, Jake Ogden hits it out! pic.twitter.com/FnIqFED1ob

— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) September 5, 2026

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Jonah Tong: DNP
2. Jack Wenninger: DNP
3. Elian Peña: 0-for-5, 2 K
4. Mitch Voit: DNP
5. Ryan Clifford: DNP
6. Nick Morabito: DNP
7. Jonathan Santucci: DNP
8. Carson Wiggins: DNP
9. Jacob Reimer: DNP
10. Aiden Robbins: 2-for-5, 2 K
11. Randy Guzman: DNP
12. Wandy Asigen: DNP
13. Chris Suero: DNP
14. Jefferson Rojas: 1-for-4, HR, K
15. Will Watson: DNP
16. Shane Sdao: DNP
17. Eli Serrano III: 0-for-3, BB, K
18. Antonio Jimenez: 0-for-4, 2 K
19. Émilien Pitre: 2-for-5, HR
20. Dylan Ross: DNP

View full article