Minors Stuff

The Herd:

The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, were joined by Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown today to dedicate the plaza area outside of Coca-Cola Field as “James D. Griffin Plaza.”

As part of the ceremony, Mayor Brown unveiled a commemorative plaque in honor of the late Mayor Griffin that will hang on the ballpark on the side facing Swan Street. Details of a memorial fund were also announced to raise money to commission a statue of Mayor Griffin to be placed on the plaza next season.

“This great ballpark and professional baseball are here in Buffalo largely because of the vision and determination of late Mayor Jimmy Griffin,” said Mayor Brown. “And so it is fitting to join Mayor Griffin’s family, friends, the Buffalo Bisons and others as we dedicate James D. Griffin Plaza in his honor and install a plaque commemorating his contributions to our city.”

“There was no bigger supporter of the Buffalo Bisons than Mayor Griffin,” said Mike Buczkowski, Vice President/General Manager of the Buffalo Bisons. “He was our #1 fan and a driving force to build a downtown ballpark.”

While Mayor of the City of Buffalo (1978-1993), Griffin spearheaded a group that personally invested to bring professional baseball back to Buffalo. In the mid 1980s, Griffin proved himself an innovator in the sports industry. His vision for, and insistence on, a new downtown home for the Bisons culminated with the opening of Coca-Cola Field in 1998 and began a nationwide trend for downtown ballpark construction. For his continued support of the Bisons and baseball in Buffalo, Griffin was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.
Mayor Griffin passed away on May 25, 2008 at the age of 78.


B-Mets:

After an hour and 55 minute rain delay the Binghamton Mets dropped the opening game of a four-game set with New Hampshire 3-2 Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium as Eric Niesen walked four men in the third inning. Josh Thole, the B-Mets leading hitter, left the game in the top of the third with an injury after a passed ball.

New Hampshire scored first by plating three in the third off the erratic Niesen. In the frame, he walked four and allowed two hits. David Cooper delivered a two-RBI single and Brad Emaus was walked with the bases loaded to make it 3-0. Jake Ruckle got the B-Mets out of the inning by striking out Nick Gorneault and then went four more innings of no-hit ball to keep the B-Mets close.

Binghamton (29-47) cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth off Fisher Cats starter Marty McLeary. D.J. Wabick and Shawn Bowman led off the inning with singles and were sacrificed ahead by Ruben Tejada. Jose Coronado, who went 2-3, then lined a pitch into centerfield to bring home Wabick and Bowman.

Niesen worked a season low 2.2 innings allowing three runs on two hits with four walks.

McLeary went a season-best 5.1 innings for New Hampshire (33-44), giving up two runs on seven hits for his first win of the year. Danny Farquhar picked up his second save of the season by working a perfect ninth.



Clones:


Box ScoreThe Cyclones (9-2) closed out their three-game sweep of the Hudson Valley Renegades (4-7) on Tuesday night at KeySpan Park, after brief showers delayed the start of the game until 7:28 PM Brooklyn’s starting pitcher, Jim Fuller (2-0), pitched a solid 7.0 innings, giving up one run on eight hits, while notching six strikeouts. Fuller's ERA now stands at 0.69 on the year, and he has racked up 13 strikeouts. Matias carrillo pitched a perfect eighth for the hold, and Michael Powers shut down the Renegades in the ninth to earn his first save of the year.The Cyclones' heart of the order provided the offense on Tuesday, with the three, four and five hitters going a combined 4-for-10. 1B Sam Honeck (pictured, by George Napolitano) went 1-for 4 with an RBI sacrifice fly and a run scored. 3B Nick Giarrauputo helped spark a fourth inning rally for the Cyclones with an RBI double deep into the right center gap, giving him nine RBI on the year. C Dock Doyle followed up with an RBI single in Brooklyn's two-run bottom of the fourth. The Cyclones begin a three-game series with the Tri-City Valley Cats on Wednesday night. The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a Schedule Pen, presented by 4C.
Click here to get your tickets, or call 718-507-TIXX



K-Port:


The Kingsport Mets collected their fifth straight Appalachian League loss Sunday night, falling to the Bluefield Orioles 10-4 at Hunter Wright Stadium.
But in contrast to Saturday night’s dispiriting implosion, Kingsport fought to the last out. And that made all the difference to K-Mets manager Mike DiFelice.
“I’m proud of my guys. I’m proud of them. They played a nine-inning baseball game,” said DiFelice, whose squad pushed across a run in the ninth inning on an RBI single by Cesar Puello before Michael Moras grounded into a double play to end the nascent rally.
On Saturday, Kingsport obliterated opportunities by rapping into three double plays. But context is everything. Moras’ hard-luck lick in the ninth was a lot more forgivable.
Moras, who had an RBI single in the sixth inning, was trying to make something good happen.
“They battled. That’s part of the learning process,” said DiFelice, whose squad committed three errors — four fewer than the previous night.

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9014864