Bridgewater, NJ – The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (24-38) drop the series to the Somerset Patriots (34-28), falling in game five of six tonight, 4-3.
Binghamton right-hander Brendan Girton only finished 2.0 innings tonight, throwing 55 pitches and just 28 for strikes.
Somerset used two RBI doubles in the first inning from center fielder DJ Gladney and third baseman Coby Morales to take a 2-0 lead.
Left-hander Kyle Carr flipped his outing upside down after throwing 72 pitches over his first 4.0 innings, as he was pulled in the seventh inning with one out, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.
The Rumble Ponies got on the board in the second inning as Vincent Perozo mashed his fifth Double-A home run. Later in the inning, TT Bowens tallied an RBI single to score Jaylen Palmer, who walked, stole second, and reached third on a throwing error to tie the game at 2-2.
The Patriots took the lead right back in the bottom of the second inning to make it 3-2.
Left fielder Jackson Castillo, who has 10 RBIs in the series, hit his fourth home run of the series with two outs in the inning. Castillo has hit four of his five homers in this series.
In the fourth inning, Binghamton tied the game 3-3, as Bowens tallied a multi-RBI game with a sacrifice fly.
Right-hander Douglas Orellana (5-1) got the ball for Binghamton and pitched the third and fourth inning allowing a run in the fourth as Castillo chalked up an RBI single to give Somerset a 4-3 advantage.
Carr got pulled in the seventh inning with one out for right-hander Chris Veach, but Veach did not throw a pitch and was taken out of the game with an injury during his warmup throws.
Right-hander Chris Kean (H, 3) came in for Somerset and forced third baseman Jacob Reimer to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Then, in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and two on base, right-hander Jordan Geber left the game with an apparent injury. Geber walked five over 2.1 innings.
Right-hander Guillo Zuñiga replaced Geber, and after walking Manny Palencia to load the bases, he got second baseman Connor McGinnis to ground out, ending the frame. Somerset had the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings and didn’t score.
In the eighth inning, Binghamton first baseman JT Schwartz tallied his seventh double of the year with two outs and his second of the night, but Kean struck out Perozo to end the threat.
Zuñiga tossed a scoreless eighth inning, putting Somerset down in order, and finished with two strikeouts and no hits allowed over 1.1 innings pitched.
Somerset right-hander Ben Grable (S, 3) took the mound in the ninth inning. Right fielder Jaylen Palmer walked to lead off the inning, and second baseman Wyatt Young used a sacrifice bunt to get Palmer to second. Somerset held on as Grable got the final two outs and recorded the save.
The Rumble Ponies closed out a six-game series against the Somerset Patriots (Double-A, New York Yankees) on Sunday at TD Bank Ballpark. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on News Radio 1290 AM & 92.1 FM and the WNBF News Radio App.
Postgame Notes: JT Schwartz chalked up his sixth multi-hit game (2-for-4, 2 2B)...Vincent Perozo clubbed his fifth homer (1-for-4, R, HR, RBI)...TT Bowens chalked up a multi-RBI game (1-for-3, 2 RBI)...Guillo Zuñiga (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO).