Minors Stuff

The Herd:

Jonathon Niese’s pitching rebound continued Thursday night.

The Buffalo Bisons left-hander, who started the International League season with six straight losses, won his third consecutive start with a 5-1 victory over the Gwinnett Braves.
The win before 4,445 at Gwinnett Stadium snapped the Herd’s four-game losing streak.
Niese (3-6) pitched six scoreless innings before Gwinnett’s only run was credited against him after he was lifted in the seventh. He allowed six hits, fanned six and walked two. Box score
“It was more of a battle today, but the defense made some outstanding plays behind me and I executed pitches when I needed to,” Niese said. “My last few outings have been pretty good. I’m just trying to build off each outing. I’m trying to work on my fastball command and trying to pitch to contact early.”

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bisons/story/715163.html


B-Mets:

But if all goes according to plan, he'll return to the Binghamton Mets' starting rotation this weekend.

Holt, one of the top pitching prospects in the New York Mets' organization, has recovered from the sprained ankle that has sidelined him since his June 5 Double-A debut. He's on track to start on Saturday night for the B-Mets in Akron.

"It feels good - a lot better," Holt said. "I haven't had any pain when I've thrown in a while. It's been a while since I've pitched in a game, so I'm looking forward to getting back."

Holt, 22, whom Baseball American ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Mets organization, threw 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision against Connecticut in his first start with the B-Mets. He allowed just two hits and three runs with three strikeouts. He sprained his ankle a day after the start while walking down a flight of stairs.

Holt threw a pre-game bullpen session on Thursday, and pitching coach Hector Berrios said the right-hander's control was "game-day" ready. Berrios said Holt will do some pre-game fielding drills tonight to make sure his ankle is ready As long as it is, Holt will start on Saturday.

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090626/SPORTS02/906260336/1118/sports/B-Mets++Holt+eager+to+return+this+weekend


Eric Niesen had his best outing in AA but took the tough-luck loss as Binghamton dropped Thursday night’s game at NYSEG Stadium and the series to Bowie 2-0. Josh Thole had his 26th multi-hit game of the season by collecting two more doubles giving him 21 on the year.

Robert Valido led off the fourth against Niesen with a single and advanced to second on Michael Costanzo’s groundout. Miguel Abreu followed by collecting the game’s only RBI when he doubled to right giving the Baysox a 1-0 lead.

That score stood until the eighth when Bowie scored an unearned run off Edgar Ramirez. Guillermo Rodriguez led off with a triple and scored when Jonathan Tucker hit a sharp grounder to Jonathan Malo at third. Malo was unsuccessful at trying to tag Rodriguez out who was diving back to third and then threw wild to first allowing Rodriguez to score to make it 2-0.

Niesen went a season-high six innings and struck out a season-best six. He gave up one run on six hits and a walk for the loss to drop him to 0-3.


Gnats:


After closing out the first half winning nine of 12, the Sand Gnats (1-0, 36-35) kept things going in the first game of the second half with a, 5-4, win over the RiverDogs in front of 2,015 at Historic Grayson Stadium. Chris Schwinden (4-3) earned the win while Josh Stinson worked a perfect final two innings for his second save of the season.

A sacrifice fly by Jefry Marte in the fourth inning proved to be the winning run for the Georgia boys, who have now won for of their last five versus Charleston. Marte finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Savannah used a four-run first inning to counter a two-run home run by Melky Mesa in the top of the first to take a lead they’d never relinquish. The Gnats sent nine men to the plate in the first getting a two-run double from Sean Ratliff to tie the game. The Gnats took the lead on Kai Gronauer’s RBI-single and Raul Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to left to give the Gnats a, 4-2, lead.

Charleston used four straight singles in the second including an RBI-single by Jose Pirela to cut the lead in half.

Mesa kept the ‘Dogs afloat with his second home run of the game in the top of the seventh off reliever Manny Olivares. It is his third multi-homer game of the season and it left a slim one-run margin for Stinson to protect for the final two frames.

Four Gnats had two hits apiece as Rafael Fernandez laced a pair of doubles while Sean Ratliff had a double and a single. Raul Reyes added a pair of singles with a run scored and an RBI.



Clones:


The Brooklyn Cyclones (5-1) topped the Aberdeen IronBirds (3-3) on Thursday night, by a score of 8-2, thanks to hot hitting and shutdown pitching.RHP Collin McHugh (2-0) won his second straight start, thanks to 6.0 shutout innings in which he allowed just three hits and struck out six. McHugh (pictured, by George Napolitano) also started and won on Opening Day. LHP Matias Carrillo tossed one scoreless frame of his own, as did LHP Darin Gorski, but Aberdeen plated two runs off Gorski in the ninth to avoid being shut out.2B Matt Bouchard continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-5 a night after notching four hits in five at bats. RF Luis Rivera also added two hits, two runs, and two RBI for Brooklyn. DH Nick Santomauro chipped in three RBI with a 2-for-4 performance in his first pro start. 1B Sam Honeck, 3B Nick Giarraputo, and C Dock Doyle also each drove in a run in Brooklyn's winning effort.


K-Port:

It was a “Tale of Two Games.’’ The Kingsport Mets won one, but lost the other.
Kingsport, after opening a 9-0 lead that seemed insurmountable, was beaten 12-11 by Johnson City’s Cardinals on Thursday night in a nine-inning Appalachian League baseball contest.
For those fans who left the ballpark for an early bedtime feeling their team was comfortably ahead, a major collapse came in the seventh inning.
Two K-Mets relief pitchers became disoriented while searching desperately for the strike zone.
The implosion ruined a brilliant pitching performance by K-Mets starter Eduardo Aldama, who turned in near-perfect numbers in the five innings he worked. The Venezuelan right hander allowed just one hit and struck out nine batters, including seven in a row.

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9014805


Mets Alumni:


Where is Maikel Cleto?Nobody can find right-hander Maikel Cleto, the power arm the M's acquired from the New York Mets in the J.J. Putz trade. While I cannot confirm, it's believed that Cleto could be among the 70 or more prospects being held in the Dominican Republic, pending investigation of fraudulent documents.If players are found guilty of such an offense by the FBI - who has been given carte blanche by the Dominican authorities - players may find it difficult to pass through immigration, and potentially could face future problems with getting a visa.Hopefully Cleto is just working out indoors, nursing a hamstring injury or a lingering flu or something, but since the player development department isn't willing to say where Cleto is, exactly, I have to at least consider this a strong possibility.

http://prospectinsider.com/view/aumont-news,-pineda,-cleto,-too