BINGHAMTON, New York — Andrew Benintendi went 4-for-5 with two home runs and a career-high five RBIs, as the Portland Sea Dogs beat the Binghamton Mets 8-1 in an Eastern League baseball game Sunday afternoon at NYSEG Stadium.
Portland took three of four games from the Mets, clinching their second road-series win of the season.
Benintendi, a top prospect the Boston Red Sox organization, put the Sea Dogs on the board with a two-run homer in the first. He added a two-run shot in the fourth and a run-scoring double in the sixth. Benintendi is hitting .295, is tied for the team lead with eight homers, and leads the club with 44 RBIs.
Keith Couch (7-4) returned to Portland after three starts in Triple-A Pawtucket and earned the win. Couch worked six innings on four hits, one run, four walks and five strikeouts. The lone run came in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk to Dominic Smith.
Portland had nine of its 10 hits from the first three batters in the lineup. Leadoff hitter Yoan Moncada went 3-for-4 with four runs scored, finishing a homer shy of the cycle. No. 2 batter Mauricio Dubon clobbered his first Double-A homer in the third.
Taylor Grover worked two scoreless innings of relief for Portland. Ben Taylor closed out the game with a scoreless ninth. The Sea Dogs finished 13-16 in July, picking up a franchise record 16 triples.
On Saturday night, Binghamton’s Phillip Evans snapped a 1-1 tie with a game-winning RBI double in the fifth inning, and the Mets held on to edge the Sea Dogs
Rafael Montero (2-1) fired 6 ⅓ innings on five hits, one run, three walks and nine strikeouts to earn the win for Binghamton. Kevin McAvoy (7-6) suffered the loss for the Sea Dogs. McAvoy pitched five innings, yielding an earned run on three hits, six walks and five strikeouts.
In the ninth, Portland’s Jake Romanski singled with one out, but David Roseboom induced a 6-3 double play off the bat of pinch-hitter Tim Roberson to lock down his eighth save of the year.
Binghamton took a 1-0 lead in the third when Champ Stuart walked, advanced to second base on an error, and scored on a single by Derrik Gibson.
The Sea Dogs tie it in the fifth when Romanski led off with a double and scored on a single by Yoan Moncada.