8/31/09

Minors Stuff




B-Mets:


Ike Davis drove in three of Binghamton’s five runs Sunday afternoon and Eric Brown tossed six, strong innings for the win in the B-Mets 5-3 triumph at Canal Park. Playing in right field for the second straight day, Davis rapped three hits and finished a triple short of the cycle, including his team-leading 12th homer of the season.Binghamton (51-81) wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning. Jose Coronado doubled into the left-centerfield gap off starter Bobby Livingston with one out in the frame. Davis followed with a two-bagger into the right-field corner, plating Coronado. Then, Livingston hung an 0-2 breaking ball to D.J. Wabick with two outs that was spanked into center scoring Davis to make it 2-0 B-Mets.Akron (81-53) responded with a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Jerad Head. The Aeros got the inning started with two outs thanks to an error at first committed by Salvador Paniagua, who was starting for just the fifth time at the position.Paniagua got the run back for Binghamton to start the second inning. He stung a first-pitch fastball from Livingston over the left-center field wall for his second homer of the year.In the fourth, Davis extended the lead to 4-1 with a two-out solo homer to right off Livingston, who had only given up three homers all year previous to allowing two Sunday.The Aeros closed to within two on an RBI double from Armando Camacaro in the fourth. However, Davis would extend the lead back to three with a broken-bat single to center with two outs in the eighth off Livingston, scoring Ruben Tejada, who had walked earlier.




Lucy:


Activate Pitcher Will Morgan from DL
Place Pitcher Salvador Aguilar on DL


Clones:

Starter Collin McHugh, who has been good all year long, was dominant, yielding just three hits in six innings, striking out five and lowering his earned run average to 2.54 while picking up his eighth win of the season. The Cyclones made it easy for McHugh, scoring in the first inning on a Jordany Valdespin bunt single, a Richard Lucas single and a Luis Rivera RBI groundout. After the Lake Monsters tied the score in the third on a double and a single, McHugh settled down, giving up just one more hit. The Cyclones got the winning run in the fourth, thanks to a Rivera leadoff triple and a Sam Honeck SAC fly


Queens:


September arrives this week and something feels different on the local baseball scene.


No New York Mets


The Phillies entered the last two Septembers chasing their neighbors to the north, but this year the Mets are an afterthought in the National League East. The Phillies have a comfortable lead in the division, and barring what would be an embarrassing collapse, should win it for the third year in a row.


Have to be honest here: We miss the Mets.


Baseball came alive again in Philadelphia in 2007 and the Mets, who blew a late, seven-game lead, had a lot to do with it. The drama, excitement and entertainment value created by the Phillies' late surge that season was heightened by the Mets' misery. It's always fun for a team when its fiercest rival becomes its foil, and that's what happened for the Phillies the last two Septembers.



At 25 years old, is Kazmir really finished?From 2005-8, when Kazmir anchored the Rays rotation, he racked up a 45-34 record with a 3.51 ERA in 689.2 innings with a K/BB ratio of 2.39, striking out 742.Out of his 144 career starts, 36 -- or 25 percent of all his starts -- have come against the vaunted Red Sox and Yankees. What has he done in those starts? Try 208.1 innings, 3.20 ERA, 220 whiffs. This was all at the ages of 20-24. That's certifiably insane.Kazmir spent some time on the disabled list early on in 2008 with a strained left elbow then assumed a big workload en route to the Rays' first postseason -- and World Series -- appearance. Kazmir got 2009 off to a fine start before tumbling fast and being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right quad strain May 22. He was activated from the disabled list June 27 and only recently started firing the ball better. You can see here that he's struggled with his K/9 all year, the struggles coming with his injury woes.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/is-scott-kazmir-really-done-as-an-ace

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