8/17/09

Minors Stuff



The Herd:


Tobi Stoner came into his start against Lehigh Valley struggling just a bit. Sunday, despite the 90-degree temperatures, Stoner breezed through six scoreless innings as the Herd beat the IronPigs, 3-0, at sun-drenched Coca-Cola Field.

Stoner allowed just four hits and struck out three as he snapped a personal three-game losing streak and picked up his first victory since July 26.


The triple-A rookie, cruised through the first five innings, retiring the side in order three times. In the sixth, two singles and walk loaded the bases with two outs for Lehigh Valley, but Stoner got Terry Tiffee to hit a weak grounder to first basemen Mike Lamb to retire the side and escape trouble.


Jon Switzer and Adam Bostick combined to complete the shutout. Switzer went two innings allowing just one hit and Bostick worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to pick up his third save of the season.


Tuesday, August 18 New Britain 6:30 pm RHP Jenrry Mejia (0-4, 4.38) vs. TBA

Wednesday, August 19 New Britain 7:05 pm RHP Dylan Owen (4-8, 5.42) vs. TBA

Thursday, August 20 New Britain 6:30 pm RHP Brad Holt (3-6, 6.21) vs. TBA

Friday, August 21 at Connecticut 6:35 pm LHP Mike Antonini (5-3, 5.08) vs. TBA


Domonic Brown scored the game-winning run on an error by Binghamton Mets' shortstop Jose Coronado with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the Reading Phillies to a 1-0 victory in the finale of a four-game Eastern League series at First Energy Stadium.

Brown led off the ninth inning with a double to left-centerfield off B-Mets' reliever Roy Merritt (4-5). With one out, Merritt intentionally walked Neil Sellers to set up a potential double play.
Merritt was relieved by side-armer Emary Frederick, who got Ryan Mahar to hit a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Coronado, moving to his left, fielded the ball but fell over. He tried to throw Mahar out at first but overthrew the bag, allowing Brown to score the game-winning run.

Gnats:

In Game 1, Savannah starter Chris Schwinden (8-6) retired the first 13 Shorebirds before allowing a triple in the fifth. He yielded four runs and five hits in 6.1 innings in the loss. Delmarva starter Ryan O'Shea (8-5) escaped a first-inning game and settled down to retire 12 in a row at one stretch. In the nightcap, Delmarva's Oliver Drake (8-7) got out of trouble in the sixth inning for the win. Savannah starter Eric Beaulac left with the game tied 3-3, and Brad Burns (0-1) took his first loss.

QUOTABLE: "(The Sand Gnats) have good pitching and a good ballclub. Everybody goes through tough times. They play well against us." - Delmarva manager Orlando Gomez.

GNATS GNOTES: Savannah, which entered with the top ERA (3.21) in the South Atlantic League, has lost seven of eight games .. Home-plate umpire Jeff Klinghoffer left after four innings for hospitalization after getting hit by a foul ball and field umpire Shea Gipson assumed the position. Savannah second baseman Imbewer Alvarez (Game 1) and first baseman Jose Jimenez (Game 2), and Delmarva pitcher Cole McCurry filled in as field umpires.


Sean Ratliff continued to show power with a towering two-run home run which landed just short of the scoreboard to the right of dead center field. His next extra base hit will be his 50th of the season. There are some things to like about his 2009 season, but a 5.9 BB% and 27.6 K% is going to require significant improvement if he wants to up his prospect status. I still see his .303/.353/.527 line versus righties worthy of a possible platoon split at the big league level.Eric Beaulac turned in his second consecutive fringy outing working consistently in the 87-88 range with a few pitches registering 90 or 91 MPH. He turned to his slider early and often, and used it almost exclusively in key situations. The pitch sharpened as the outing wore on and was able to miss a few bats for strikeouts. In continuing to work on his change up, Beaulac threw it more than usual. While it wasn't very effective, he was working the outside edges of the plate with it which was a positive.

The Brooklyn Cyclones' (36-21) pitching staff helped secure another win against the Oneonta Tigers (29-24) on Sunday night, by a score of 2-1. Wes Wrenn (2-0) got the win in his fifth start of the season. Wrenn had pinpoint control throughout his 7.0 innings, with six strikouts and no walks. He surrendered one run on four hits, lowering his ERA. to 3.11. The Cyclones' lineup got started early as RF Nick Santomauro hit an RBI double to center in the first inning to score 2B Jake Eigsti, who reached base on a single. Eigsti came up to the plate again in the third inning and hit a double to left. All-Star 1B Sam Honeck followed up with another double, this one to right field, scoring Eigsti making it 2-0.That was all the insurance the bullpen would need as Matias Carrillo came in to pitch a perfect eighth. All-Star closer Michael Powers earned his league-leading 13th save of the season, throwing a perfect ninth inning with two strikouts.
Ryan Church, who arrives at Citi Field with the Braves tomorrow, exchanged text messages with David Wright on Saturday night. Church's advice to his former teammate: Don't hurry back, no matter what.
"He's going to need to rest," said Church, who twice suffered concussions last year while with the Mets. "I don't know how bad it was, but a concussion is a concussion. You need time. Don't try to be a hero. Don't let anyone make you play.
"I told him the same thing," Church added.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2009/08/17/2009-08-17_former_met_ryan_church.html#ixzz0OS6SmCRM

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