Torres' Tightrope Walk Seals Ponies Victory
RICHMOND, VA - Binghamton reliever Joshua Torres rattled off three straight strikeouts to leave the bases loaded in the ninth inning in the Rumble Ponies' 3-1 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Thursday night at The Diamond. Torres stranded a total of six runners in a four-out save to secure Binghamton's rubber game win.
Torres' strong effort started in the eighth, when he inherited the bases loaded in a two-run game. Torres, the third Binghamton reliever to pitch in the eighth, struck out Jonah Arenado to end the threat.
Richmond opened the final inning with three singles, including bunt hits from John Polonius and Matt Lipka. Following a mound visit from pitching coach Frank Viola, Torres struck out Matt Winn on four pitches, mowed down CJ Hinojosa on three pitches and got Luigi Rodriguez swinging on a pitch in the dirt to end the game.
The four-out save made a winner out of Mickey Jannis for the 19th time in his Binghamton career, putting him tied for eighth in franchise history. Jannis used a pair of stellar plays by right fielder Jhoan Urena to keep Richmond in check. In the fourth, Urena gunned down Hinojosa at the plate as he attempted to score on a fly out. Urena made a tumbling catch on the warning track to end sixth and strand a runner in scoring position.
Binghamton's offense produced three single tallies in consecutive innings to secure the rubber game victory. Andres Gimenez snapped Binghamton's 1-for-23 funk with runners in scoring position by poking an RBI double down the left-field line in the fifth. In the sixth, Binghamton stretched out their lead thanks to four walks by Jake McCasland.
Jannis (8-5) allowed one run on four hits over seven innings. He exited after allowing two hits to start the eighth, ceding to Corey Taylor. Taylor notched two outs, but gave up a double before David Roseboom took over and walked the only man he faced.
The Rumble Ponies (55-61) open a three-game series in Reading against the Fightin Phils on Friday at 7:15 PM. RHP Franklyn Kilome faces his former team in the series opener. The Horizons Federal Credit Union pregame show starts at 7:00 PM and can be heard on NewsRadio 1290 AM WNBF and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies channel on TuneIn.
POSTGAME NOTES: Binghamton improved to 8-4 in rubber games and earned their second straight series victory…Mickey Jannis is now tied with Darin Gorski ('12-'14) on Binghamton's all-time victories list…Jannis made his 65th career start with Binghamton, pulling to within one game of franchise leader Mark Cohoon (66, '10-'13)