Here's the latest news and buzz on the Mets' top prospects...

1B/OF Ryan Clifford, Double-A Binghamton

The organization's fourth-ranked prospect, who began the year in High-A Brooklyn, had himself a 3-for-3 performance on Sunday for the Rumble Ponies, including a home run, a walk and two RBI.

The solo shot was Clifford's 14th of the season in 74 games (251 at-bats) with Double-A.

Since his promotion, the 21-year-old has an .807 OPS despite hitting just .223. A lot of that has to do with his impressive .353 OBP, as he's worked 48 walks.

Athough Clifford's average could be considered below average, he's making his hits count. Of his 56 hits for the Rumble Ponies, 30 have been for extra bases (16 doubles, 14 home runs) and he's driven in 43 runs.

3B Brett Baty, Triple-A Syracuse

After a forgettable month of July and slow start to August, Baty has started to find his form once again, homering on Sunday for the third time in his last five games. In fact, all five of the infielder's home runs this month have come in his last eight games.

In Sunday's contest, the third baseman-turned-second baseman finished 3-for-5 with a homer, double, two RBI and two runs scored. It was his second multi-hit performance in his last three games.

Baty's home run -- a towering 411-foot blast -- drove in two and extended Syracuse's lead to 4-1 as they eventually won 8-4 over the Rochester Red Wings.

By all accounts, the 24-year-old has handled the transition to second base well, with president of baseball operations David Stearns saying earlier in the week that the organization now views him as a multi-positional player.

With that, it'll be interesting to see if he gets the call back to the big leagues when rosters expand on Sept. 1.

OF Carson Benge, Low-A St. Lucie

Making his organizational debut this week after being selected No. 19 overall in this year's MLB Draft, Benge made a solid first impression.

A two-way player in college at Oklahoma State, Benge made the switch to just hitting as a professional and in two games for Port St. Lucie he went 2-for-5 with four walks, a run scored and added two stolen bases.

The 21-year-old is already considered a top 10 prospect for the Mets, coming in at No. 8 in Joe DeMayo's updated Top 30 prospect list.

RHP Blade Tidwell, Triple-A Syracuse

Since making the jump to Triple-A in the middle of the year, Tidwell has struggled to find the level of consistency he had in Double-A.

However, the 6-foot-4, 207-pound right-hander turned in his best performance with the Syracuse Mets on Friday, going 6.1 innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five.

Tidwell's bugaboo has been the home run ball, as he's already served up 14 dingers in just 60 innings.

RHP Nolan McLean, Double-A Binghamton

Speaking of turning in their best performance, McLean had his best outing since joining the Rumble Ponies, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings on Wednesday -- allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out three.

McLean has had a similar year to Tidwell, just further down the farm system. After an amazing stretch with High-A Brooklyn earned him a promotion to Double-A, the 23-year-old has struggled with the Rumble Ponies.

Just like Tidwell, McLean has struggled to keep the ball in the yard. Unlike Tidwell, McLean has allowed a .280 opponent's batting average to go along with a 1.47 WHIP.

Maybe Wednesday's outing can be a springboard for him to finish the season strong.

RHP Jonah Tong, High-A Brooklyn

Aside from Brandon Sproat, Tong has had perhaps the best season by any Mets prospect this season.

In 17 starts for Brooklyn, Tong has a 3.70 ERA and has struck out 98 batters in 75.1 innings.

The 21-year-old's latest start on Saturday was more of the same as he went six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out five.

In a season that began in High-A, Tong has a 2.97 ERA across 94 innings overall.

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