Yard Goats Tame Ponies in Series Opener, 6-3
BINGHAMTON, NY - The Binghamton Rumble Ponies dropped their fourth straight game on Friday at Dunkin Donuts Park, suffering a 6-3 loss to the Hartford Yard Goats. The Ponies opponent got on the board first and led wire-to-wire for the third straight game, sending Binghamton to their sixth loss in the last seven games.
After tossing two scoreless innings to kick off the game, Rumble Ponies starter Nabil Crismatt worked into third inning trouble. The rally began with a single from Yard Goats pitcher Jesus Tinoco, his first professional hit in nine career tries. After Forrest Wall's double moved Tinoco to third, Mylz Jones' sacrifice fly scored Tinoco to break the seal. Hartford's second and final run of the frame crossed on a routine groundball to shortstop that was dropped by first baseman Joey Terdoslavich.
The Yard Goats offense continued to pour it on just two innings later in the fifth. The first five Yard Goats reached via a hit - the first four being extra base hits. Wall began the frame with a solo shot before three consecutive doubles from Jones, Hilliard, and Mundell. By the time the inning wrapped up, seven Yard Goats came to the plate, four scored on five hits.
Crismatt (7-4) lost back-to-back starts for the first time this season. He went five innings, allowed 10 hits, and six runs (five earned). The Colombian had five strikeouts and issued two walks.
The Rumble Ponies offense, meanwhile, continued to struggle after plating just seven runs in their three-game series against Altoona. Binghamton entered the top of the sixth inning with no runs and just two hits, working against Yard Goats starter Jesus Tinoco. The Binghamton bats came alive though, collecting four straight singles, but scoring just one run. Matt Oberste's two-out single plated Tomas Nido, cutting it to 6-1.
Tinoco (5-5) twirled six strong innings, allowing just the sixth-inning run. He struck out three Rumble Ponies and walked two.
Matt Blackham and Tyler Bashlor combined to toss the final three innings scoreless for Binghamton.
The Rumble Ponies valiantly pushed a pair of runs home in the ninth inning, after trailing 6-1 for three innings. Following singles from Mora and Oberste, Jhoan Urena drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Kevin Taylor's poke into left field, plated two, cutting the deficit to 6-3. Matt Pierpont would induce a line out of the bat of Josh Allen to end the game.
Binghamton (34-32) continues their three-game series in Hartford on Saturday evening. RHP Justin Dunn makes his second appearance with the Rumble Ponies against RHP Peter Lambert with first pitch at Dunkin Donuts scheduled for 6:05 PM. The Horizons Federal Credit Union pregame show starts at 5:50 PM and can be heard on NewsRadio 1290 WNBF and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies channel on TuneIn.
POSTGAME NOTES: Binghamton's first four-game losing streak since May 8-10…Tomas Nido caught all four would-be base stealers…Josh Allen finished 1-for-3 with a walk in his first game in affiliated baseball…Joey Terdoslavich went 1-for-4 in his Rumble Ponies debut