Minors Notes

The Herd:

Monday night’s International League baseball game between the Buffalo Bisons and Lehigh Valley IronPigs was rained out and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader tonight at Coca-Cola Park (6 p. m., Radio 1520 AM).

The Bisons (4-18), coming off Sunday’s 4-1 home win over Louisville, will be trying to put together two wins for the first time this season.

Nelson Figueroa (0-1, 2.25 ERA) and Tim Redding (0-0, 0.00) are scheduled to get the starts for the Herd against right-handers Justin Lehr (3-1, 5.06) and Kyle Kendrick (2-1, 2.77). Kendrick was 11-9 for the parent Philadelphia Phillies in 2008.

The teams are scheduled for games here Wednesday and Thursday before the Bisons return to Buffalo where they are scheduled to play 16 of their next 20 games.


B-Mets:

Binghamton cruised out to a 5-0 after two innings only to see it evaporate in the waning innings as Portland went on to an 11-6 win. Starting pitcher Jose Sanchez pitched well enough to win throwing 5.2 innings giving up two runs and D.J. Wabick pounded out three hits including two doubles and brought in three runs.

Through seven innings, Binghamton (11-11) led 5-3 and things were going well from the bullpen. That changed in a hurry as Aaron Bates homered to center to start the eighth against John Madden to cut the margin to one at 5-4.

After Madden walked Jorge Jimenez, he removed in favor of closer Roy Merritt who had a day to forget. After inducing a ground ball from Jon Still to force out the lead runner Jimenez, Merritt allowed a single to Argenis Diaz to put two on with one out. Reid Engel stepped in next and drilled a payoff pitch over the right field wall for a three-run home run which put Portland (12-11) ahead for good, 7-5.

The Sea Dogs would add another run in the eighth and scored three times in the ninth to win 11-6.

In the four-run first inning for Binghamton, Wabick provided the firepower with a three-run bases clearing double after Josh Petersen’s RBI single to propel the B-Mets out to a 4-0 lead. All of the run scoring in the inning came with two outs.

Binghamton added a fifth run in the second on three straight hits from Jonathan Malo, Josh Thole and Shawn Bowman. Malo doubled with one out off of Sea Dogs’ starter Jarod Plummer then Thole singled through the left side to put runners at the corners for Bowman. Then, Bowman slid a single through the left side to score Malo and put the B-Mets on top 5-0.

Merritt was hung with the loss throwing a third of an inning giving up three runs to blow the save and fall to 0-2. Chad Rhoades was the winner throwing a scoreless seventh to improve to 1-0.

Emmanuel Garcia and Thole recorded two-hit days to go with Wabick’s three hits and three RBI.



Gnats:

If Sean Ratliff's teammates seem distant to him, giving the Sand Gnats outfielder a little more space, that's just common baseball courtesy.

You don't mess with a hot hitter, and Ratliff is Roy Hobbs of "The Natural" hot, only he's not a work of fiction.

"He's swinging so good right now, you don't want to even say 'hi' to him," Sand Gnats manager Edgar Alfonzo said. "His concentration is kind of high. You want to keep him there."

It's a wise strategy, as Ratliff continued to torment the Asheville Tourists on Sunday by batting 4-for-4 with three doubles and a homer in the Sand Gnats' 7-0 victory at Grayson Stadium.

Ratliff had as many hits Sunday as the entire Tourists lineup. Two games into the four-game set with Asheville, Ratliff is 8-for-8 with six doubles, one homer, three RBIs and four runs scored. That's seven extra-base hits.

Going back to his last five games, the first-year Sand Gnat is 15-for-21 with two homers, six RBIs, 10 runs scored and eight doubles.

"I'm getting pitches over the plate to hit," said Ratliff, who tied teammate Josh Satin for the highest batting average on the current roster at .354, tied for eighth in the Class A South Atlantic League. "I'm just seeing it well. I'm not really thinking about anything in the box."

Breaking balls, fastballs, inside or on the outside corner of the plate, it doesn't seem to matter. The left-handed Ratliff knew he was on a roll Sunday when, after pulling a homer to right in the fifth, he muscled a double that wiggled inside the third-base line to drive in a run in the seventh.