The Herd:
Shelley Duncan, the International League's home run leader, beat the Buffalo Bisons on Saturday night — with a single, not the long ball.
Duncan's single to left in the sixth inning sent Ramiro Pena home with the winning run as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees defeated the Bisons, 1-0, before 8,019 at PNC Field. The game was interrupted briefly by rain in the top of the third inning.
Right-hander Josh Towers (6-6) and relievers Mark Melancon and Jonathan Albaladejo shut out the Bisons on a two-hitter. The only hits for Buffalo came against Towers — a leadoff single in the second inning by Mike Lamb and a one-out single in the sixth by Jesus Feliciano.
It was the second 1-0 loss by the Herd this week. Buffalo lost by the same score last Monday at Syracuse. The Bisons are 4-3 in 1-0 games this season.
Buffalo starter Kyle Snyder (3-6) pitched into the sixth. He left in favor of Jon Switzer after Duncan's RBI single in that inning. The Bisons posed no threat after that. The Herd went down in order in each of the last three innings against Melancon and Albaladejo.
The B-Mets led 3-2 heading into the ninth inning for the second straight night, but Saturday evening, the bullpen could not hold it. Ramon Castro launched a two-run home run to straightaway center off reliever Emary Frederick to erase the deficit and give Connecticut the second game of the four-game set 4-3 at Dodd Stadium Saturday night. Emmanuel Garcia led Binghamton offensively with a 3-4 showing, including an RBI.
Binghamton (48-76) got out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to a run in the first and two in the fourth. Josh Thole got the B-Mets on the board in the first with a sacrifice fly to center scoring leadoff man Ruben Tejada, who started the frame with a single.
In the fourth, D.J. Wabick and Caleb Stewart reached to open the frame against Connecticut (72-53) starter Geivy Garcia thanks to a walk and a single. With one out, Mark Kiger walked to join them on the bases. B-Mets starter Jenrry Mejia came up next and worked the count full before drawing a walk to force in Binghamton’s second run. Then with two outs, Emmanuel Garcia singled to center to score Stewart, but Kiger was thrown out trying to score from second, leaving the score at 3-0.
The Defenders responded in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff triple from Brad Boyer off Mejia. Eddy Martinez-Esteve drove him in with a one-out groundout to first, cutting the margin to 3-1. Mejia worked four-plus inning and allowed a run on three hits with three strikeouts to notch the no-decision.
Jake Ruckle followed Mejia and tossed three innings of hitless work before passing the ball to Edgar Alfonzo.
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Lucy:
No. 2 KIRK NIEUWENHUIS, CF - Team: high Class A St. Lucie (Florida State)
Age: 22 - Why He's Here: .355/.444/1.000 (11-for-31), 5 HR, 3 2B, 1 3B, 13 RBIs, 8 R, 5 BB, 6 SO, 0-for-1 SB
The Scoop: Sorry Kirk, but we just blew the lid off your stealth campaign in the Florida State League. Only a five-homer showing by Brett Wallace in Triple-A stood in the way of a No. 1 ranking. Batting .259/.346/.441 with 15 homers, 27 doubles, 64 RBIs and 16 steals (in 20 attempts), Nieuwenhuis leads the FSL in home runs, extra-base hits (46) and runs scored (81). And he's just four off the leaders for RBIs and doubles. Don't be fooled by that age; the physical, lefty-swinging Nieuwenhuis celebrated a birthday two weeks ago and actually spent most of the season as a 21-year-old. An '08 third-round pick, he skipped right over low Class A on his way from NAIA Azusa Pacific (Calif.) to the FSL this season. It's hard to argue with the results.
Age: 22 - Why He's Here: .355/.444/1.000 (11-for-31), 5 HR, 3 2B, 1 3B, 13 RBIs, 8 R, 5 BB, 6 SO, 0-for-1 SB
The Scoop: Sorry Kirk, but we just blew the lid off your stealth campaign in the Florida State League. Only a five-homer showing by Brett Wallace in Triple-A stood in the way of a No. 1 ranking. Batting .259/.346/.441 with 15 homers, 27 doubles, 64 RBIs and 16 steals (in 20 attempts), Nieuwenhuis leads the FSL in home runs, extra-base hits (46) and runs scored (81). And he's just four off the leaders for RBIs and doubles. Don't be fooled by that age; the physical, lefty-swinging Nieuwenhuis celebrated a birthday two weeks ago and actually spent most of the season as a 21-year-old. An '08 third-round pick, he skipped right over low Class A on his way from NAIA Azusa Pacific (Calif.) to the FSL this season. It's hard to argue with the results.
No. 11 DEOLIS GUERRA, RHP TWINS Team: Double-A New Britain (Eastern)
Age: 20 - Why He's Here: 2-0, 0.71, 12 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 15 SO
The Scoop: Guerra was roughed up in Akron on Aug. 8, giving up eight runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, but he's bounced back well. Six days after the Aeros hammered him, Guerra faced them again and threw six hitless innings, striking out nine. He beat lowly Binghamton in his next start Thursday night, allowing only one earned run over 6 2/3 innings. Guerra is still battling inconsistency with his command, but he's shown he still has the stuff to be effective. His renaissance at Double-A has produced a 6-2 record, albeit with a 4.89 ERA, although that's somewhat inflated by the Akron start.
And so, prior to Saturday’s game, a few members of the bullpen expressed surprise to learn that the Red Sox had claimed Mets reliever Billy Wagner on waivers.
...“What has he done?” wondered Jonathan Papelbon. “Has he pitched this year?”
...“Is he ready to pitch or is he not? You know what I mean?” asked Papelbon. “I think our bullpen is good where we’re at right now. Don’t get me wrong. But I guess you could always make it better. It’s kind of like the Gagne thing, I guess.”
...His arrival was unsettling for Gagne and, to a degree, the rest of the Sox bullpen in ‘07. Some of the members of the bullpen seemed leery that a move for Wagner might have a similar effect now, on a bullpen that ranks third in the A.L. with a 3.67 ERA.
“We loved Gagne coming over here, just the stuff that he had, but it was an awkward situation this late in the season,” said Delcarmen. “I think our bullpen is fine right now.
“It is what it is. If (Wagner) comes and helps us win, that’s what we want. But sometimes, shaking things up this late might work out different. We’ll see what happens.”
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/weei_speier_red_sox_relievers_puzzled_about_wagner_claim
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