On a brisk late-summer night in Somerset, Binghamton Rumble Ponies right-hander Dominic Hamel outdueled the Patriots’ Richard Fitts to earn a 2-0 win and send the Mets Double-A affiliate to the Eastern League Championship series.
Hamel needed just seven pitches to get through the first inning and that was much of how things went for the 24-year-old as he cruised to an efficient, dominant performance blanking Somerset over a career-high 7.2 scoreless innings on 97 pitches.
Hamel allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out eight before Paul Gervase, who began the season at High-A Brooklyn where he had a 1.72 ERA, got the game’s final four outs with two strikeouts to earn the save.
Fitts, a six-foot-four burly right-hander, was the hard-luck loser in the deciding game of the best-of-three series. The No. 12 prospect in the Yankees' system, he set the tone early for his start by sending down the Mets' top three prospects – Luisangael Acuna, Jett Williams and Drew Gilbert - swinging in the top of the first. Fitts would get six of the first seven batters he faced on strikes.
But the Rumble Ponies got on the board with one out in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Acuna, scoring Hayden Senger, who singled ahead of Rylan Thomas’ double off the wall in deep right.
Senger, whom the Mets named the farm system’s Platinum Glove winner for his work behind the plate, doubled Binghamton’s advantage launching a solo homer to left with one gone in the fifth.
Hamel had a streak of eight straight batters retired in the sixth inning when he allowed a leadoff double down the right field line to Mickey Gasper before a four-pitch walk put two on and one out. It was the first jam he faced, but Ben Rice popped out to short and Spencer Jones, the Yanks' top prospect, popped out to shallow right center to end things.
After getting his seventh strikeout of the night to end the seventh, Hamel turned to admire the centerfield scoreboard before strutting off the field. He would get his final strikeout in the eighth and appeared to have his second strike-em-out throw-em-out double play of the evening, but an obstruction call awarded the runner second base and led to his exit with two out and a runner on third.
A third-round pick by the Mets in 2021, he is now the No. 16 prospect in the organization’s system, according to MLB Pipeline. The righty extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak in the month of September to 21.2 over four starts.
Gilbert finished the game with two hits, but Acuna and Williams went hitless on the night.
Fitts gave way after six innings allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts of his own.
Somerset finished 1.5 games ahead of Binghamton in the regular season standings and had a plus-131 run differential compared to the Rumble Ponies' plus-18, but were eliminated after losing two straight. They dropped Tuesday night’s series opener 9-2.
Binghamton will face the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers) who swept the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants) in the Eastern League Southwest Division round.
The best of three series is set to begin on Sunday, Sept. 24. With Game 2 on Tuesday, Sept 26, and a Game 3 (if necessary) on Wednesday, Sept. 27.