Mets 4, Mud Hens 2 (box)
So far, the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate has mirrored the big league club to a degree. Wenceel Pérez has the sole home run through five games. Of course that’s a lot more understandable when you’re playing in upstate New York this time of year. On the pitching side, the bullpen has been taxed as several starters are still stretching out in the early going.
Veteran minor league starter Lael Lockhart Jr., who remains one of those solid southpaws with command who just lacks the extra 2-3 mph it would take
to get him to the big leagues regularly, got the start on Wednesday. The Hens went in order in the first, and then the lefty got into a little trouble in the bottom half. Nick Morabito led off with a single back through the box and then stole second base. Ronny Mauricio flew out, and so did Ryan Clifford on a hard hit ball to Wenceel Pérez in right field. Christian Arroyo did better, ripping an RBI double to left to make it 1-0. Lockhart Jr. buckled down and got Jose Rojas to ground out, ending the threat.
Two out singles from Corey Julks and Gage Workman were squandered by a Tomas Nido ground out in the second, while Lockhart Jr. allowed a leadoff single to Vidal Brujan and then walked Ben Rortvedt. However, he bounced back to strike out Cristian Pache and Ji Hwan Bae and got out of the inning unscathed.
Max Clark doubled in the third but was stranded, and neither team scored in the fourth as Clark erased Jose Rojas with an accurate throw as Rojas tried to stretch a single into a double.
In the top of the fifth, the Hens got something started again with a one out single from Nido and a walk to Cal Stevenson, but Pérez and Clark struck out, the latter against RHP Joey Gerber, who entered in relief to face him.
In the bottom of the fifth, Lockhart Jr. issued a two-out walk to Mauricio, and RHP Tyler Mattison took over. He did not do well, allowing singles to Clifford and then Christian Arroyo to make it a 2-0 Mets lead. Mattison punched out Rojas to put a stop to any further trouble, and the Hens finally got the offense going in the top of the sixth.
Jace Jung led off with a drive to right that went for a double, then advanced to third on an Eduardo Valencia ground out. Trei Cruz walked, and after Julks struck out, Workman lashed a single to right to score Jung. Nido pulled an RBI single to left, and it was now a 2-2 game as the Mets went back to their pen. Anderson Severino came on to get Stevenson on a lineout to right field.
Mattison struck out Brujan and Rortvedt to start the bottom of the sixth, but his fastball velocity was down at 92-93 mph, still a long way from recovering his pre-TJ gas. A walk to Pache followed, but Bae flew out to Clark in center to send us to the seventh.
Jonathan Pintaro took over for the Mets and popped up Pérez to start the inning. Clark continued to swing a hot bat early on, smoking a line drive double to left field at 106.2 mph off the bat, but Jung grounded out and Valencia struck out.
Brenan Hanifee took over in the seventh and collecting three outs without much issue, though Clifford did hit another missile into the outfield that Clark hauled in.
With the right-hander Pintaro still on the mound in the eighth, Cruz got an 0-2 fastball on the outer edge and drilled a liner up the left center field gap, beating out a double by a hair. Julks was dusted by a good high fastball, and Workman and Nido grounded out to strand Cruz.
Lefty Sean Guenther took over from Hanifee in the bottom half. He got Arroyo to ground out, but walked Rojas. The Mets pinch-ran Jackson Cluff for Rojas, and while Guenther got Brujan to ground out to Workman, Rortvedt doubled in the run to make it a 3-2 Mets lead. Pache then dumped a flare into center field to plate Rortvedt. Guenther picked Pache off at first to end the inning, but the Mets had a 4-2 lead.
The Hens went down in order in the ninth to end it.
Clark: 2-5, 2 2B, K
Workman: 2-4, RBI, 2B
Jung: 1-3, R, 2B, 2 K
Lockhart: 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H 3 BB, 5 K
Guenther (L, 0-1): 1.0 IP, 2 ER 2 H, BB, 0 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 4:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday as the Hens look to re-take the lead in this six-game set. The other minor league affiliates will get underway on Friday.
