Sproat and Clifford Lead Binghamton to Fourth of July Victory at Hartford

HARTFORD, Conn. – Brandon Sproat had a dominant start and Ryan Clifford homered in a four-hit game to lead the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (3-6, 38-38) to a 7-3 victory over the Hartford Yard Goats at Dunkin’ Park on Thursday.

Sproat (4-0) earned the victory, after striking out nine batters over 6.2 innings. The 23-year-old allowed just three hits and two runs on two solo homers. It marked Sproat’s sixth time pitching at least six frames and seventh time allowing three runs or less in eight Double-A starts.

Clifford went 4-for-5 with a double and a three-run home run, which marked the first four-hit game of his professional career. Clifford hit his 10^th home run at the Double-A level, which is tied with Jeremiah Jackson for the team lead.

Binghamton started the scoring on an RBI single from Kevin Parada in the first inning, which put Binghamton up 1-0 against Colorado Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez (0-1). In the third inning, Alex Ramírez doubled and moved to third base on a fly out from Jackson. Ramírez eventually scored on a passed ball to put the Ponies up 2-0.

In the fifth inning, Hartford (6-3, 44-33) scored its first run against Sproat on a solo home run from Zach Kokoska. It marked his third home run over the last two games.

In the seventh inning, Drake Osborn hit a leadoff single and Wyatt Young followed with a walk. With two outs in the frame, Clifford belted an opposite-field three-run home run to put Binghamton up 5-1. Sterlin Thompson hit a solo homer off Sproat, his college teammate at the University of Florida, in the bottom of the seventh that cut Binghamton’s lead to 5-2.

Binghamton kept on adding. Rowdey Jordan led off the eighth with a single and stole second base to set up an RBI double from Jaylen Palmer, which made it 6-2. Palmer later scored when Ramírez grounded into a fielder’s choice, which made it 7-2.

Thompson hit his second home run of the game in the ninth inning with a solo home run that cut Binghamton’s deficit to 7-3.

Carlos Guzman tossed two innings with three strikeouts in relief and Trey McLoughlin struck out the lone batter he faced to end the game and strand two runners on, while earning his fifth save.

The Rumble Ponies continue their six-game home-and-home series against the Hartford Yard Goats (Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies) with the second of three games at Dunkin’ Park on Friday night. First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on WNBF News Radio 1290 & 92.1 FM.

Postgame Notes: JT Schwartz singled in the seventh inning to extend his on-base streak to 20 games and his hit streak to eight games…Clifford extended his hit streak to six games…Clifford became the sixth different Rumble Ponies player to record a four-hit game this season…Clifford recorded his sixth multi-hit game and eighth multi-RBI game…Osborn recorded his fifth multi-hit game…The Ponies snapped their four-game losing skid.