Barbosa hurls another gem after no-hit start

Six days after turning in arguably the best outing of his career, Andrew Barbosa followed it with another gem in his return to the Eastern League.

The Mets left-hander allowed one hit over eight scoreless innings in Double-A Binghamton's 8-1 win over Erie on Sunday at NYSEG Stadium. He walked two batters and struck out five in his first start for Binghamton since May 18.

"It was awesome to be back," Barbosa said. "I've missed these guys. They were all happy to get me back on the team and it's just a great group of guys here. All of them congratulated me after the game. They were like, 'Hey, it's like you never left.' That's kind of how I wanted it to be like today -- just come back and pick up where I left off."

After pitching seven hitless innings in his previous start on Tuesday for Class A Advanced St. Lucie, Barbosa threw 18 first-pitch strikes to the 26 batters he faced Sunday and did not allow a baserunner to reach scoring position.

"Getting ahead early was huge," he said. "[Catcher] Colton Plaia called a great game back there and knew what I wanted to throw after the first pitches. I just wanted to put myself in the driver's seat and play my game."

The lone hit off the 28-year-old came in the second inning when Connor Harrell led off with a single. Barbosa walked third-ranked Tigers prospect Christin Stewart and eighth-ranked Mike Gerber in the third and seventh, respectively.

"My command was pretty good," the University of South Florida product said. "As always, when I can command my fastball in and out, up and down, that just makes my changeup that much more effective. The breaking ball was pretty good today, too, and I was just trying to pound the zone and establish the strikes."

Barbosa threw 85 pitches in his previous outing due to a cautionary approach toward his recovery from a lat injury, but he had a longer leash from manager Pedro Lopez against the SeaWolves.

"He gave me around 100 pitches," Barbosa said. "I wanted to go all nine, but when I came out after the seventh, he was like, 'You got 13 pitches to work with, so use them wisely.' And I just told him, 'I got this.' "

Barbosa fanned Drew Longley for his final out and ended up throwing 66 of 96 pitches for strikes. As for his lat, it wasn't an issue.

"I didn't even feel it today," he said. "I'm just glad it went well. I was a little curious because that was as deep I've gone all year after the injury, so I was curious to see how I was going to feel. I went out there, it felt great and now I'm feeling nothing at all."

The 2012 36th-round pick pitched across four levels this season, but he spent the most time with Binghamton, where he was 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA and 36 strikeouts over 38 2/3 innings in six starts.

"I felt I did pretty well on the season," Barbosa said. "A lot of the outings were limited to pitch counts and shorter leashes, but I feel like I did well. I was just happy that I was able to end the season because I'll be a free agent after this. I was just hoping to finish strong. Whether it'll be the Mets or other teams -- hopefully, the Mets -- next year, I'm just glad I showed that I finished the season OK."

Kyle Regnault allowed a run on two hits in the ninth for Binghamton, which got a homer and three RBIs from Jayce Boyd. Mets top prospect Amed Rosario went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks, an RBI and two runs scored.