Abayeta and Palensky Lead Patriots to Shutout and Series Split of Binghamton
Aaron Palensky and Max Burt both homered, and the Somerset Patriots shut out the Binghamton Rumble Ponies 8-0 on Sunday at TD Bank Ballpark. The victory secured a series split with the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets. The shutout was also the fourth consecutive shoutout between the two teams; the third that went in the favor of the Patriots.
Plaensky’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning lifted Somerset to a 2-0 lead. The Patriots right fielder would later add a RBI double to the proceedings in the eighth inning to cap of a 2-for-3 night with three runs scored and three RBI. Plaensky has crushed a career best 18 homers this season in Somerset.
This 2-0 Patriots lead is powered by Palenksy👨🏻
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 13, 2023
Aaron Palensky smacks his career-high 18th homer of the season in the fourth inning!🚀 pic.twitter.com/LGJ2KrtUrx
Meanwhile, Max Burt got into the action, Sunday when he crushed a two-run bomb in the sixth inning to extend Somerset’s lead to 5-0.
The sultan of swat.
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 13, 2023
The king of crash.
MAX. BURT. pic.twitter.com/JNAElrvSmz
Jesus Bastidas also had a huge night for Somerset, drawing three walks and scoring three times in the victory.
All the runs went to the good of starter Blane Abeyta, who tossed six shutout innings, allowing only a hit, while striking out seven. Abeyta improved to 7-6 on the year. The effort was huge for Abeyta who suffered back-to-back rough outings for Somerset, in which he gave up 11 earned runs to the Akron Rubber Ducks in outings on August 1 and August 6.
Blane Abeyta hurls a GEM in his 9th quality start of the season💎
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 13, 2023
6️⃣ IP | 0️⃣ R | 1️⃣ H | 7️⃣ K | 0️⃣ BB pic.twitter.com/At0dXk4BzN
What the victory means:
Somerset and Binghamton wound up settling for a split of the six game series, with Somerset earning shutouts on Thursday (14-0), Friday (9-0) and Sunday (8-0). Somerset outscored Binghamton 40-17 over the six games. Moreover, the Patriots maintain a two-game lead over Binghamton in the standings for the second half of the year. Somerset is 21-17 in the second half, compared to Binghamton’s 19-19 record. In third place is Portland at 19-20.
Of course, should Binghamton make it to the playoffs to face-off with the Yankees Double-A affiliate in the division series, the Mets Double-A affiliate would need to win the second half title.