Binghamton Rumble Ponies 5, Erie SeaWolves 4 (box)
One element of the Erie SeaWolves that has carried them through a lot of injuries to their pitching staff this season was the presence of a group of older minor league pitchers that helped tie the roster together. In Game 2 of the Eastern League championship series, they were tasked with taking this game to the house. They couldn’t quite get it done and the SeaWolves failed to cash in a couple of chances at the plate.
Garrett Burhenn did his part. The right-hander drew the start, and tossed four innings
of one-run ball. He got into a little trouble in the first with a pair of walks, but he picked one of them off at first and got a pop-out to escape unscathed. A quick 1-2-3 inning with a pair of swinging strikeouts followed in the second. He gave up a leadoff single and then a two-out double in the top of the third as the Rumble Ponies produced the game’s first run, but Burhenn closed his outing without issue in the fourth.
The SeaWolves came right back in the bottom of the third. John Peck led off with a double that Binghamton’s center fielder got turned around on near the wall, and Kevin McGonigle walked on a wild pitch that got Peck to third. A Josue Briceño grounder forced an out at second as Peck scored to tie the game. Jake Holton followed with a walk, but Thayron Liranzo struck out and Chris Meyers flew out to squander an opportunity.
Austin Bergner took over for the SeaWolves in the fifth and tossed a quick 1-2-3 inning, but the Rumble Ponies’ lefty, Felipe De La Cruz, returned serve. Bergner punched out two in another swift frame in the sixth, and in the bottom half Liranzo unleashed a solo shot against De La Cruz to take a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately, Bergner couldn’t keep it going. He walked the first two hitters in the seventh and gave way to veteran lefty Andrew Magno. He collected a fly out, but issued a walk of his own to load the bases and then another one to walk in a run. A.J. Ewing singled to make it 3-2, and that was enough of Magno. Right-hander Richard Guasch took over and punched out Nick Morabito, but Jacob Reimer reached out on a 1-2 pitch away and lined an RBI single to center to cash in two runs for a 5-2 lead.
Richard Lambert took over from De La Cruz in the bottom of the seventh, and the SeaWolves got to work. Max Clark shot a ball into the left field corner for a leadoff double and then Peck drew a walk to start the inning. McGonigle lifted a deep fly to right that allowed Clark to tag and advance to third. Briceño reached out a flicked a rocket off the left field wall to score him and that moved Peck to third. A passed ball followed to score Peck, and Jake Holton walked to put two on again, still with one out in a one-run game. Unfortunately, Liranzo then grounded into a double play, and they wouldn’t threaten again.
Travis Kuhn gave up back-to-back singles to open the eighth, but got a bunt pop-out and then a double play ball to keep the Rumble Ponies lead slim. The SeaWolves went 1-2-3 in the eighth despite hard hit balls from Meyers and Carlos Mendoza.
Tanner Kohlhepp got into some trouble in the top of the ninth, aided by a McGonigle error, but was able to wiggle out of it. So the SeaWolves had the game in front of them if they could at least push across a run in the bottom half with their best hitters due up.
Instead, Clark and Peck flew out, and McGonigle pulled a grounder to first to end it.
So, a deciding Game 3 will take place in Erie on Wednesday night, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. ET.
Peck: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB
Briceño: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
Liranzo: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, 2 K
Clark: 1-5, R, 2B, 2 K
McGonigle: 0-4, BB, K
Bergner (L, 1-1): 4.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Burhenn: 4.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K
