Binghamton's Big Blast Sinks Somerset in Subway Series Opener
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Bridgewater, NJ -- On Tuesday night, the Somerset Patriots (60-36) were outlasted by a score of 14-9 in an extra innings battle with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (36-60) in game one of their six-game "Double-A Subway Series."
Somerset deployed a season-high seven pitchers in its longest game of the season, which clocked in at three hours and 57 minutes.
Blake Perkins led the charge for the Patriots offensively, picking up his third two-home run game of the season and plating a career-high five runs batted in.
The career-best RBI performance came en route to Perkins shattering his career-high mark in home runs in a single season with his ninth and 10th.
Perkins' previous career-high mark in home runs was eight (2017, 2019) and the quickest he had reached that total was in 120 games (2019). Tuesday night's performance was the 66th game of Perkins' debut season with the Yankees organization.
BLAKE PERKINS DOES IT AGAIN💣
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 3, 2022
His second home run of the game and tenth of the year is a two-run blast to put us ahead 8-4😤😤 pic.twitter.com/hTPzfbkQuu
Brandon Lockridge also added a home run for Somerset as part of two hits that gave the Patriots their only two leads of the game.
Somerset initially fell behind 3-0 in the second inning when three unearned runs came across off of Patriots starter Deivi Garcia.
The Patriots stormed back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, behind an RBI-double from Mickey Gasper and the first of Perkins' two home runs.
Somerset took its first lead of the game in the fourth inning, when Lockridge plated Elijah Dunham with an RBI-single.
Dunham wound up reaching base five times in the game, doubling his first time up, while also drawing four walks. He became the fourth batter in the Eastern League this season to have walked four times in a game and in doing so, he became the first Somerset Patriot reached the mark since the franchise became the Yankees' Double-A affiliate.
LOCK IT N' ROCK IT🔒
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 2, 2022
Brandon Lockridge gives us a 5-4 lead with a solo blast, his ninth of the year! pic.twitter.com/IWCRfnTxM6
Lockridge gave the Patriots their second lead with a solo home run (9) in the fifth inning that made the score 5-4 Somerset.
That lead inflated to 8-4 with an RBI-single off the bat of Jesus Bastidas, along with the second of Perkins' home runs. Bastidas ended the night 3-for-5, his third three-hit game of the season.
Both pitchers in the ninth inning blew save opportunities, including Carson Coleman, who blew his first save of the season for the Patriots, in his ninth opportunity.
Wyatt Young, who also reached base five times in the game, supplied the Rumble Ponies with a go-ahead single in the top of the ninth inning.
Binghamton's Dedniel Nunez wound up the winning pitcher, as he entered the game in the bottom of the ninth, trying to close out a 9-8 win for Binghamton.
Nunez blew the save, when Perkins plated his fifth RBI on a base hit that sent the game to extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Ronny Mauricio blasted a three-run home run (19) over the right field wall that served as the winning blow off of Tanner Myatt. Nunez pitched a scoreless bottom of the tenth inning.
Austin Wells extended his career-best and Eastern League-best hit streak to 15 games with two hits in the game.
The 2022 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford will continue at home on Wednesday with an 11:05 a.m. game versus the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at TD Bank Ballpark. Tickets are available at somersetpatriots.com.
The Patriots will have RHP Randy Vasquez starting opposite of RHP Alex Valverde for the Rumble Ponies. Fans can follow the action as Steven Cusumano calls the play-by-play on MiLB.tv and FOX Sports New Jersey 93.5 FM | 1450 AM, the Flagship Station for Patriots Baseball, with pregame coverage beginning at 10:50 a.m.
About the Somerset Patriots
The Somerset Patriots are the New York Yankees Double-A Affiliate and develop today’s top minor league talent into the pinstriped superstars of tomorrow for MLB’s winningest team. The Patriots compete in the Double-A Eastern League and play their home games at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ, where fans of all ages and levels of baseball fandom get to enjoy the unique experience that is minor league baseball.