Minors Stuff

The Herd:


It looked as if the Buffalo Bisons were ready to turn the corner. They had put together a three-game win streak and started to find an offensive groove.
But after back-to-back defeats, including Wednesday’s rain-delayed 5-3 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Coca-Cola Field, it looks as if the Herd is on the verge of another back slide.
“Hopefully not,” Bisons manager Ken Oberkfell said. “Again tonight there were situations where we had some opportunities and didn’t get the hits we needed. I think we got a little over anxious. A couple of times guys were swinging at the first pitch with runners on base. We had a chance and when you have a chance you hope someone can come through but it hasn’t been that way.”
The Bisons trailed, 5-0, after 5z innin 3/4 1/3 before scoring a run in the sixth and two in the seventh. But they stranded six runners and were unable to make the most of their nine hits. For the game, the Herd went 2 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
Lehigh Valley jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning. It began when the Herd couldn’t turn the double play on a grounder by Miguel Cairo and allowed Lou Marson to score from third. A double by David Newhan to right field drove Cairo around to the plate where he beat the throw from cut-off man Mike Lamb. Another run crossed on a Paul Hoover single up the middle.
A pair of homers in the sixth gave the IronPigs a 5-0 lead before a paid crowd of 4,792. Hoover drove a one-out pitch to center field for his first homer of the season. Jeremy Slayden had a two-out homer to right-center.
The Herd got on the board in the sixth when Cory Sullivan led off with a double and later scored when Michel Abreu hit into a double play.
Buffalo tried to rally in the seventh as back-to-back doubles by Rene Rivera and Jesus Feliciano made it 5-2. A ground out to second by Jason Cooper made it 5-3 but the Bisons failed to get another base runner in the inning.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bisons/story/685138.html


B-Mets:


Once again, the Binghamton Mets found a way to rally and win on Wednesday night.

Nick Evans scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning on a throwing error by Connecticut Defenders' pitcher Dan Griffin to give the B-Mets a 6-5 come-from-behind victory in the opener of a two-game series at NYSEG Stadium.
With two on and nobody out, Griffin fielded a bunt by Shawn Bowman and tried to throw Evans out at third base. But Griffin's throw sailed into left field, allowing Evans to score.
"As long as we're playing, we believe we've still got a shot," said Evans, who was 1-for-6.
It's the second consecutive walk-off victory for the B-Mets, who beat New Britain on Monday on Josh Petersen's bases-loaded, extra-inning walk. Four of the B-Mets' last five victories have come in the team's final at-bat.
"We've got heart," B-Mets manager Mako Oliveras said. "These kids showed a lot of resilience. I've got to tip my hat to my guys. When we play like this, the other teams are going to know that they've got to work hard to get that 27th (and final) out. The one thing is, I wish they'd do it quicker (in the game)."
Evans, who was hitless in his first five at-bats on Wednesday, lined the first pitch he saw from Griffin in the 11th off the left field fence for a double. After an intentional walk to Lucas Duda, Bowman came up with two on and nobody out.
Bowman laid down a bunt - which came as a surprise to Oliveras, who was coaching third.
"I didn't call for that bunt," Oliveras said. "That was all him."
Griffin fielded the bunt on the third-base side of the pitcher's mound and had a chance to get Evans, the lead runner, out at third. But Griffin's throw sailed past third baseman David Maroul, allowing Evans to score easily

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090528/SPORTS02/905280429/1118/Sports/B-Mets+bounce+back+again++win+in+11


Wednesday, May 27 Connecticut 6:35 pm RHP Tobi Stoner (1-1, 1.89) vs. RHP Henry Sosa (3-0, 1.85)
Thursday, May 28 Connecticut 10:35 am RHP Ryan Coultas (3-2, 3.00) vs. RHP Jesse Foppert (0-2, 3.65)
Friday, May 29 at New Britain 6:35 pm RHP Dylan Owen (0-4, 6.55) vs. RHP Jeff Manship (4-3, 5.55)
Saturday, May 30 at New Britain 6:35 pm RHP Jose Sanchez (1-5, 5.88) vs. RHP Jay Rainville (1-2, 4.79)

Mike Antonini:

2009 SEASON OVERALL: Won three consecutive starts 4/15-26...Gave up a season-high six runs in four innings against New Hampshire 5/2...Threw a season-high 6.2 innings 5/7 in a win over Portland...Transferred to Buffalo (AAA) May 15, where he made two starts giving up 10 earned runs in 7.1 innings...Returned to Binghamton (AA) May 22.

2008: Opened season with Savannah (Low-A)...worked 5.2 innings or more in all but three of his 13 starts...RH hitters batted just .204 against him with Savannah (Low-A)...Called up to St. Lucie (High-A) at the beginning of June, working 5 innings or more in all 7 starts...Finished season with Binghamton (AA)...Pitched for Leones de Ponce in the Puerto Rican Winter League (9 G, 8 GS, 2-0, 3.45 ERA, 47 IP)...Los Leones de Ponce won the Caribbean Series.

Personal: 18th round pick out of Georgia College & State University... 7-6, 3.97 ERA in 15 GS as a senior with Division II Georgia C & S Bobcats...41st round pick of Philadelphia in 2006 as a junior...Played two seasons at Gloucester Community College in Sewell, NJ in 2004 and 2005...Gloucester won the NJCAA National Championship in 2005.


Gnats:

WEDNESDAY'S SCORE: Lexington Legends 3, Savannah Sand Gnats 1

ON THE RECORD: Legends 24-22, Sand Gnats 23-22.

SEEING STARS: For eight innings, the Sand Gnats lived on the edge of one run in the first inning and the mighty right arm of starter Jeff Kaplan. Then came an implosion in the ninth, when the Legends scored three times off Savannah's relief pitchers on three hits and three walks for a stunning comeback for Lexington, which swept the four-game series. Savannah, in matching its season-high five-game skid, went 2-6 in the homestand. This loss had to sting more than the others, as it was Savannah's first loss in 18 contests when leading after eight innings. Also, the team left 11 runners on base in the first eight innings, spreading out 11 relatively harmless hits. Batters were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, as cleanup hitter Sean Ratliff (2-for-4) returned to form with the lone RBI ...Savannah second baseman Jordany Valdespin was 3-for-4 with a double ...Lexington looked comparable with nine hits and nine runners stranded, but one-third of each category occurred in the ninth. Brian Pellegrini, a home-run threat, said he turned into "a leadoff hitter" once he got ahead 2-1 in the count and coaxed a walk from Josh Stinson (1-2). More walks and three hits followed, including one that was meant to be a sacrifice bunt.

DECISION MAKING: Kaplan went the longest of any Savannah starting pitcher this season with 7.2 innings, which is his pro career high. He shut out the Legends on six hits, and improved his ERA at Grayson Stadium to 0.52 in 34.2 innings (three runs, two earned) and has an overall ERA of 1.05. "He's a very good pitcher," Lexington's Pellegrini said. "He kept the ball down. He didn't leave pitches over the plate. He didn't give us much to work with."

QUOTABLE: "It's very big for us. We could have very easily put our heads down and think, we took three of four, we're happy. We didn't do that." - Lexington first baseman Brian Pellegrini.

GNATS GNOTES: The Sand Gnats' starting lineup didn't include their hottest hitters over the previous five games. Outfielder Juan Lagares batted .353 with two RBIs, while first baseman/outfielder Eric Campbell hit 400 with one homer and five RBI ... The Sand Gnats' defense got them out of trouble in the fifth. With one out and runners at first and third, speedy Jay Austin grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to preserve a 1-0 Savannah edge. Another double play came in the sixth, when shortstop Wilmer Flores covered ground like a defensive back, closing quickly on Pellegrini's shot to the hole and firing a rocket to first base to double-up Lexington's Matt Diaz.

http://www.savannahnow.com/node/729755


Clones:

The 2009 Roster’s starting to fill out:

Pitchers:

Matias Carrillo Jr.
James Fuller
Pedro P. Martinez
Tim Stronach

Catchers:

Jordan Abruzzo
Cesar Cordido
Ralph Henriquez

Infielders:

Matt Smith
Kyle Suire
J.R. Voyles

Outfielders:

John Servidio

Queens:


That they are just a half-game out of first place, a season high-tying five games over .500 and winners of four out of five speaks well to the resolve of a team whose fortitude has been under bombardment the past two-plus years. It also does not hurt to have played the Nationals the past two days, since they are currently working the hardest to win the 1962 Mets lookalike contest.

That the 2009 Mets have not sunk to such despair owes something to the surprising output by junkyard pickups such as Gary Sheffield, who hit a three-run homer in last night's 6-1 victory, and Livan Hernandez, who induced three double plays in the Mets' first complete game of the season.

The Mets are winning despite little power and too much injury intrigue. It is going to fall on Minaya to solve both problems.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05272009/sports/mets/minaya_must_fix_mets_thin_roster_171180.htm

•The Nationals have been scouting the Mets' Triple and Double A teams, trying to figure out a possible return for Nick Johnson. Names of interest for Washington: Jon Niese, Mike Antonini, Eddie Kunz, and big leaguer Bobby Parnell. The Red Sox also had interest in Johnson, but not for the price of Michael Bowden. Back to the Mets - Joel Sherman of the New York Post has a list of available players they could consider aside from Johnson, including Jermaine Dye, Ben Francisco, Adam LaRoche, and Eric Hinske.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/