Portland, Maine - The Portland Sea Dogs (22-18)(57-51) lost 16-4 to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (18-22)(45-64) on Tuesday night, as the Rumble Ponies collected their eighth straight win.
Nate Baez was two-for-three with a pair of RBI, driving in the Sea Dogs first two runs of the night. Both Brooks Brannon and Jack Winnay had multi-hit games, including a double for Winnay and Brannon’s 19th home run of the season.
Binghamton arrived in Portland on a seven game win streak, having swept Hartford last week. They climbed the standings from 10.0 games back of first place to just 6.0 games back, bolstered offensively by multiple recent callups and prospect acquisitions at the trade deadline.
One of those prospects, the now top prospect in the Mets system, Jefferson Rojas, destroyed a home run over the Maine Monster in the top of the first inning.
Binghamton added four more runs powered by four straight free passes to start the inning in the second. They extended the lead to 7-0 on a walk, two hits and an error in the fourth inning.
The Sea Dogs got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Miguel Bleis led off with a single and Baez drove him in with his first of two RBI singles.
Binghamton put the game out of reach with a seven-run sixth inning on six hits, including a three-run home run by Corey Collins.
The Rumble Ponies added another in the top of the seventh inning with a Rojas RBI double, his third extra base hit of the night. Rojas was three-four four with a home run, a pair of doubles and a walk.
Baez’s second RBI single of the night cut the lead to 15-2, before Binghamton added yet another run with a Kevin Parada sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
After Winnay’s double, Brannon’s 19th home run of the season added another pair of runs to the scoreboard on the Sea Dogs side in the bottom of the eighth, producing the final score, 16-4.
RHP R.J. Gordon (3-7, 5.19 ERA) earned the win, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts in 7.0 innings pitched. LHP Dalton Rogers (1-4, 5.79 ERA) was handed the loss, allowing seven runs on four hits, five walks, and a hit batter with three strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched.
Tomorrow night, the first 1,000 fans at the ballpark will go home with a Cooper Flagg bobblehead, presented by Delta Dental. LHP Jeremy Wu-Yelland (2-0, 5.21 ERA) is set to face RHP Gary Gill Hill (1-0, 0.00 ERA), another recent acquisition by the Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 pm at Delta Dental Park.