AKRON OUTLASTS BINGHAMTON 2-1

Akron Outlasts Binghamton, 2-1

BINGHAMTON, NY – Nellie Rodriguez cranked a leadoff solo home run in the eleventh inning and the Akron RubberDucks took down the Binghamton Mets, 2-1, Saturday afternoon at NYSEG Stadium. The B-Mets went 0-for-9 with men in scoring position, were blanked over their final nine turns at the plate and are now 0-4 in extra inning games.
With the game tied at one through ten, Mike Hepple was summoned from the Binghamton bullpen. Rodriguez hammered his first pitch deep to center and off of the batter’s eye to give Akron a 2-1 lead. The home run was the first run that Binghamton relievers had allowed since April 25 vs. Portland, a span of nine plus games and 24 1/3 innings.
Binghamton struck first on a big drive from Victor Cruzado in the second inning. He hammered an Adam Plutko offering over the right field wall for a solo homer that put the B-Mets on top 1-0.
The lead held until the sixth inning when Akron finally broke through. Bradley Zimmer blasted on into the parking lot beyond right field, tying the game at one.
Robert Gsellman allowed only one run over six innings with one walk and three strikeouts. He dropped his ERA to 1.77 but was tagged with his fourth no-decision in six starts. 
Louis Head (1-1) struck out four over three shutout innings for the win. Hepple (2-2) took the loss with one run on one hit in his one inning. Ben Heller earned his sixth save for the RubberDucks with a shutout 11^th inning.
The rubber game of the three-game series with the RubberDucks is scheduled for 1:05 P.M. Sunday. The B-Mets will start LHP Andrew Barbosa against Akron’s LHP Rob Kaminsky. The Horizons Federal Credit Union Pregame Show can be heard starting at 12:50 P.M. on Newsradio 1290 WNBF and the Binghamton Mets channel on TuneIn.
POSTGAME NOTES: The loss snapped a five-game B-Mets home winning streak…All three of Victor Cruzado’s home runs have come at NYSEG Stadium…Binghamton batters struck out 13 times, their second highest total this season.
Season tickets and mini packs are on sale now and may be purchased in person at NYSEG Stadium or by visiting www.bmets.com or calling (607) 723-METS.
Be sure to follow the B-Mets on Facebook, Twitter and at the team’s official website (www.bmets.com) for more team information. Fans can also stay up to date with all the action on the field by visiting “B-Mets Buzz with Tim Heiman” at bmets.mlblogs.com