Brandon Moore shut down the Sea Dogs offense for six innings, and Brahiam Maldonado led the Mets bats in a 7-2 win over the Portland Sea Dogs.
Moore shook the cobwebs out in the first inning, giving up a lead-off triple to Jeremy Hazelbaker, and hitting Chih-Hsien Chiang with one out. However, as a telling sign for the Sea Dogs all night, they couldn't push a run across, as Will Middlebrooks flew out to left and Tim Federowicz struck out looking to end the inning.
Moore allowed a base runner in every inning, but it wasn't until his sixth and final inning that he allowed a run. He scattered 6 hits, and only gave up one walk, while striking out 4.
Binghamton meanwhile, had no problem finishing rallies. Back to back one-out doubles by Salomon Manriquez and Raul Reyes in the second gave the Mets an early 1-0 lead. They would double that lead in the third when Jordany Valdespin doubled to left-center, and advanced to 3rd when Hazelbaker misplayed the hit. He would then score on an RBI groundout by Josh Satin.
Portland starter Michael Lee only lasted 3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. It was his first start since July 5th, which was also against the Mets.
Junichi Tazawa replaced lee, and was shaky in his first inning of work. He gave up a lead-off double to Manriquez. Reyes then dropped a sacrifice bunt down the 3rd base line that Tazawa got to, but threw wide of Jon Hee at first base, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Maldonado then hit a sacrifice fly to right to make it 3-0 Mets. After giving up a single to Eric Campbell, Tazawa would settle down and retire the next 10 batters.
The Sea Dogs finally got themselves on the scoreboard in the sixth. After Moore got two quick outs, Federowicz and Oscar Tejeda hit back to back doubles to make it 3-1. Mitch Dening then grounded out to end the inning, and the outing for Moore.
Binghamton would pull away with a big eighth inning, as they knocked around reliever Kyle Fernandes. Satin led off with a single and Allan Dykstra followed with a double to put runners in scoring position with no outs. After Dusty Ryan struck out, Fernandes intentionally walked Manriquez to load the bases. Reyes then hit a weak fly ball to Dening in right for the second out, giving Fernandes hope of getting out of the inning unscathed. Maldonado had other thoughts, as he lined a bases-clearing triple past a diving Dening. Fernandes then got Campbell to fly out to prevent any further damage.
The Sea Dogs gave the fans something to cheer about in the bottom of the eighth, even if it was not enough in the end. Chiang led off with a double to left-center, which broke the franchise record for career doubles. It was Chiang's 33rd double of the season, and 68th of his Sea Dogs career. The record was formally held by Brandon Moss. Chiang would be rewarded, scoring 2 batters later on an RBI single by Federowicz.
The Mets would score another run in the seventh for good measure, finishing off a forgettable performance by Fernandes.
With the win Moore evened his record at 7-7. he also lowered his ERA to 3.97 in the process.
Lee took the loss, dropping his record to 1-5. He only threw 52 pitches over his 3 innings, trying to increase his pitch count after spending time in the bullpen.
Save his first inning of work, Tazawa showed further improvement from Tommy John surgery. A perfect example was when he struck out Matt Den Dekker in the seventh inning on 3 pitches, with strike 3 being a filthy off-speed pitch.
The two teams will play the rubber game of the 3-game series tomorrow at noon. Brock Huntzinger is slated to take the mound for the Sea Dogs.
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