Mets Minor League Report: Long Balls Can't Overcome Rough Starts

Ryan Clifford's three-run home run highlighted Syracuse's offense in a 10-4 loss at Worcester, where Jack Wenninger walked five batters over 2 1/3 innings. A.J. Ewing homered and stole a base in Binghamton's 3-1 defeat, and the bullpen tossed four scoreless frames. Corey Collins homered for Brooklyn in a 10-2 setback, and Dylan Ross worked a clean inning in relief. JT Benson and Branny De Oleo each homered for St. Lucie in an 11-3 loss.

Mets Transactions

• New York Mets placed SS Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list. Left calf strain.
• New York Mets recalled RHP Christian Scott from Syracuse Mets.
• New York Mets optioned RHP Austin Warren to Syracuse Mets.
• New York Mets recalled 3B Ronny Mauricio from Syracuse Mets.

Clifford's Three-Run Blast Not Enough As Syracuse Falls Late At Worcester

Syracuse grabbed an early lead but watched it disappear in a 10-4 loss at Worcester. Starter Jack Wenninger worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing one hit, two earned runs, five walks, and four strikeouts. Ryan Clifford provided the offensive highlight with a three-run home run in the third inning that scored Hayden Senger and Trace Willhoite and put the Mets in front 3-0. Clifford finished 2-for-4 with the long ball and three RBIs. Vidal Bruján added two hits, a run, and a stolen base, Cristian Pache went 2-for-4 with a double, and Jackson Cluff pushed the margin to 4-2 with a sacrifice bunt in the fourth that brought home Bruján.

The lead vanished in the bottom of the fifth, when Worcester strung together three consecutive doubles against reliever Mike Baumann to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 advantage. Baumann was charged with the blown save and the loss, giving up four hits and two earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Worcester added three more in the seventh against Ofreidy Gómez on a two-run single and a run-scoring groundout, and Onix Vega closed the frame with the final out. Syracuse collected 10 hits, drew two walks, struck out 13 times, and left five runners on base.

Ewing's Homer And Scoreless Bullpen Not Enough For Binghamton

Binghamton fell 3-1 to Erie despite a strong leadoff performance from A.J. Ewing and a scoreless four-inning effort from the bullpen. Starter Joander Suarez took the loss after five innings in which he allowed eight hits, three earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts. Erie opened the game with two runs in the top of the first on a run-scoring single and a run-scoring double, putting the Rumble Ponies in an early 2-0 hole.

Ewing cut the deficit to one with a solo home run to center field in the bottom of the third, capping a 2-for-3 night that included a walk, a stolen base, a run, an RBI, and a strikeout. Erie tacked on what proved to be the decisive run in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly, and the Rumble Ponies' offense went quiet the rest of the way. Marco Vargas added two hits, and Nick Lorusso tripled and drew a walk. Douglas Orellana, Kevin Gowdy, Matt Turner, and Brian Metoyer combined for four scoreless innings behind Suarez, striking out four batters and allowing just one hit. Binghamton finished with five hits, two walks, 16 strikeouts, and left six runners on base.

Brooklyn Bullpen Unravels In 10-2 Loss At Hudson Valley

Brooklyn dropped a 10-2 decision at Hudson Valley, unable to keep pace after the Renegades pulled away with a two-out rally. Dylan Ross opened the game with a clean inning before handing off to Joel Díaz, who took the loss after 3 2/3 innings in which he gave up six hits, three earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.

Hudson Valley broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the third, stringing together back-to-back doubles and an RBI groundout to take a 3-0 lead. Cleanup hitter Corey Collins pulled one back with a solo home run to right field in the fourth, and Diego Mosquera's sacrifice fly in the fifth scored Yohairo Cuevas to make it 3-2.

The game tilted for good in a four-run bottom of the seventh against Juan Arnaud, when a pair of run-scoring singles and a two-run single chased the margin to 9-2. Cuevas finished 1-for-3 with a double and a run, and Collins went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. Antonio Jimenez and Heriberto Rincon each added a single out of the top and bottom of the order. Brooklyn managed five hits, struck out nine times, and left three runners on base.

Early Damage Buries St. Lucie In 11-3 Loss To Palm Beach

St. Lucie never recovered from a rough first trip through the order in an 11-3 loss to Palm Beach. Starter Conner Ware took the loss, working 4 1/3 innings and allowing six hits, five earned runs, three walks, two strikeouts, and a home run. The Cardinals struck for one in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly and then broke the game open with a four-run second, putting together a run-scoring triple, a run-scoring sacrifice fly, a solo home run, and a run-scoring triple to take a 5-0 lead.

Leadoff hitter Elian Peña went 2-for-5 to set the table, and JT Benson answered in the bottom of the second with a solo home run to left-center field. Benson, Sam Biller, and Branny De Oleo each added hits, but the home offense could not string enough together. Palm Beach added one in the sixth, two in the seventh on a run-scoring groundout and a run that came across on a wild pitch, and three more in the ninth, aided by a throwing error. De Oleo capped the scoring with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the ninth. Benson finished 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs, and an RBI. St. Lucie collected seven hits, drew two walks, struck out 11 times, and left seven runners on base.

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Nolan McLean: DNP
2. Carson Benge: DNP
3. A.J. Ewing: 2-for-3, HR, BB, K, RBI, SB
4. Jonah Tong: DNP
5. Ryan Clifford: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 K
6. Jacob Reimer: 0-for-4, 4 K
7. Jack Wenninger: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K
8. Elian Pena: 2-for-5
9. Mitch Voit: DNP
10. Nick Morabito: 1-for-4, K
11. Jonathan Santucci: DNP
12. Chris Suero: 0-for-4, 2 K
13. Zach Thornton: DNP
14. Wandy Asigen: DNP
15. Will Watson: DNP
16. Eli Serrano III: 0-for-4, 2 K
17. Ryan Lambert: DNP
18. Dylan Ross: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
19. Antonio Jimenez: 1-for-4, K
20. R.J. Gordon: DNP

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