A glorious Sunday afternoon at Hadlock Field turned out to be something of a nightmare for the highest-rated prospect in minor league baseball.

Yoan Moncada, less than two weeks removed from his MVP performance at the Futures Game, struck out in all five of his plate appearances Sunday, including a game-ending whiff that sealed a 2-1 Eastern League victory for the visiting Binghamton Mets before a crowd of 5,408.

The Mets took three of four from the Sea Dogs and held Portland’s prized second baseman to one hit in 16 at-bats.

“People may look at the 0 for 5 with five punch-outs, but I really believe that this kid is going to be an offensive player with power,” Binghamton Manager Pedro Lopez said of Moncada. “He’s probably a little over his head right now and maybe we just got him at the right time, but the way he goes about his business, he’s going to be a really good player.”

Moncada went down swinging all five times, the first four while batting left-handed and the final time right-handed against Binghamton closer David Roseboom, who earned his sixth save with a hitless ninth inning that included the game’s only error. Moncada managed only three foul balls and a foul tip, and accidentally sent his bat into the stands above the Sea Dogs dugout after one missed swing.

“Change-ups,” said Binghamton starter Tyler Herron (2-1), an Eastern League veteran who has also pitched for Harrisburg and Altoona and who joined the Mets last month out of independent ball in North Dakota. “It seems like the whole series we’ve kind of been getting him with change-ups. That was the plan.”

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Herron scattered six hits, struck out five and walked only one before giving way to Kevin McGowan, who allowed doubles in the seventh and eighth to Tzu-Wei Lin and Mauricio Dubon but stranded both at second base.

Dubon went 4 for 4 with a pair of doubles but was thrown out trying to stretch a one-out single to left in the first inning.

“That was an aggressive play,” Sea Dogs Manager Carlos Febles said. “I have no problem with that. It took them a good relay throw to get him out. I don’t see that as a mistake. I see a guy trying to advance an extra base.”

The Sea Dogs loaded the bases in the second and took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Rainel Rosario. Lin flew out to end the inning, stranding two runners in scoring position. Never again did the Sea Dogs advance a base runner as far as third.

“It was a great game,” Febles said. “Unfortunately, we were on the losing end. It was close. We had some good at-bats, but we just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed to. As a manager, you feel pretty good about your club when you play games like this.”

Sea Dogs starter Mitch Atkins (2-5) held the Mets scoreless through four innings and escaped a second-and-third, nobody-out situation in the second inning, but Binghamton scored twice in the fifth. L.J. Mazzilli homered to left with one out. Atkins appeared to be out of the inning when, with two outs, Champ Stuart bounced one up the middle. Dubon, Portland’s shortstop, ranged in front of second base and gloved the ball but lost the handle when he reached in for the throw.

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“He told me he expected me to be an easier play,” Stuart said of Dubon, “and when he looked up and saw me halfway down the line he kind of rushed it. I guess it got away from him there.”

Stuart, credited with a hit, had the conversation with Dubon after a stolen base made possible by a slide that jarred the ball loose from Moncada’s glove following a one-hop throw from catcher Jake Romanski. Amed Rosario followed with a ground-ball single to left, driving home Stuart with what turned out to be the winning run.

“You’ve got to take the good with the bad,” said Atkins, who struck out five, walked two and allowed eight hits. “I threw the ball well. My job is to keep the game close and give my team a chance to win, and I did that. Sometimes you pull it out and sometimes you don’t.”

The game marked the 236th career start for Atkins, tops among active minor league pitchers. He’s been around long enough to know something about how to handle a day like Moncada’s.

“You can learn a lot from days like that,” he said. “I think you learn more from bad days than good days.”

NOTES: Former Sea Dogs manager Billy McMillon departs Monday morning after four days in town as a Red Sox roving outfielder instructor. That another top prospect, Andrew Benintendi, moved over from center field to left for two games was merely a coincidence, McMillon said.

“But one of my philosophies is that all the outfielders should be able to play all over the place,” said McMillon, who heads to Triple-A Pawtucket next before returning home to South Carolina.

The Sea Dogs open a three-game series with Trenton on Monday night. … The last Sea Dogs batter with five strikeouts in a game was Sean Coyle in 2014 against New Hampshire.


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