Minors Stuff

Extended Camp:


Savannah sent IF Jordan Valdespin to extended camp… WHAT YOU TALKIN’ BOUT, WILLIS??? This doesn’t make any sense. I cover this team and can’t find out a reason about this one… trust me, I’ll be all over this Sunday afternoon when the team comes home…



The Herd:
The Herd and Red Wings play today at 12;05… it’s Figgy vs. an old friend, Kevin Mulvey…

Vaya con dios, Freddy…

A broken-down pitcher. A broken-down offense. Another embarrassment for the Buffalo Bisons. That's the capsule summary of the latest sorry affair in Coca-Cola Field as the Syracuse Chiefs rumbled past the hapless Herd, 7-1, on Monday night to complete a four-game sweep and improve to 7-0 against the Bisons this season. A paid crowd of 5,140 saw Buffalo fall to 2-15 — the worst record in professional baseball. The Bisons were held to only two hits for the second time this season but that's old news for this punchless bunch. The biggest story in the eyes of the desperate-for-pitching New York Mets is that Freddy Garcia says the front area of his right shoulder is sore. Once an ace for Seattle and the Chicago White Sox, Garcia had shoulder surgery in 2007 and is a shell of his old self. After giving up six runs in the fifth, the last four on Ryan Langerhans' grand slam to right, a downcast Garcia sounded close to calling it a career. "Maybe I want to try it one more time. If I don't feel the way I'm supposed to be feeling right now, I don't know," said Garcia, 32. "I have to make a decision what I'm going to do. I don't know yet. Hopefully next time I'll feel better. I want to wait for tomorrow and see how I feel.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/653693.html


B-Mets:

Roy Merritt blew his first save in nine chances this season and Binghamton gave up a three-run ninth inning to allow Portland to come from behind for a 9-8 victory Tuesday night. The loss comes after Binghamton pounded out a season-high 14 hits and tied a season high with 8 runs. Merritt, who came on in the eighth and needed just one pitch to induce an inning-ending double play, issued a one-out walk to Juan Apodaca and a two-out single to Ryan Khoury before walking Lars Anderson to load the bases. With the bases loaded and two outs, Aaron Bates drove in two with a clean single to right to tie the game at eight. Then Bubba Bell followed with a broken-bat single through the left side to score Anderson from third and walk off with the 9-8 win. With the game tied at two after two innings, the B-Mets struck for five straight singles in the third scoring two runs off of Portland (8-9) starter Adam Mills. Then with the bases loaded and one out, Jonathan Malo and D.J. Wabick followed with RBI singles to make it a four-run inning and give Binghamton (9-7) a 6-2 lead. In the eighth inning, when Fernando Nieve was pulled for Merritt, arguments ensued on the mound between home plate umpire Jon Byrne and the Binghamton battery over the strike zone. This resulted in Thole and Nieve being thrown out of the game. Wabick led the way for Binghamton offensively going 3-4 with 4 RBI including a double. Duda also output a three-hit game going 3-4 with 2 RBI and a walk.

www.binghamtonmets.com



THE SEASON SO FAR: The Mets are off to a 9-6 start and are in second place in the Northern Division, just one game behind New Hampshire.
WHO'S HOT (HITTING): C Josh Thole is batting .362 (17-for-47) with four doubles, three RBis and seven runs scored in 11 games. OF Carl Loadenthal is hitting .333 (17-for-51) with six RBIs and 12 runs scored in 14 games.
WHO'S HOT (PITCHING): LHP Mike Antonini is tied for second in the league with three wins. In four starts, he is 3-0 with a 4.35 ERA and a team-best 17 strikeouts. ... LHP Roy Merritt has eight saves in as many opportunities, having limited opponents to four hits over 10 2/3 scoreless innings. In addition, he has fanned eight batters while issuing only four walks.
DID YOU KNOW?: SS Ruben Tejada hit a bases-loaded double with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to drive in three runs and lead the B-Mets to a 4-3 win Sunday at New Hampshire. He went 2-for-5, improving to .235 (12-for-51) in 14 games.


http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090427&content_id=572046&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp



The Portland Sea Dogs struck for two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and three more in the bottom of the ninth to rally past the Binghamton Mets, 9-8, on Tuesday night. Roy Merritt blew his first save in nine chances to take the loss for the B-Mets, who had owned a 6-2 lead in the third and a 7-2 advantage in the fourth. With Portland down 8-4 entering the home half of the eighth, Lars Anderson led off with a single, and Bubba Bell followed one out later with a double to right. Jon Still's single scored Anderson and Bell, cutting the Binghamton lead to 8-6. Merritt, who is tied for the Eastern League lead with eight saves, then relieved Fernando Nieve, inducing an inning-ending double play with his first pitch. In the ninth, though, Merritt allowed a one-out walk to Juan Apodaca. And then with two outs, Ryan Khoury singled and Lars Anderson walked, before Aaron Bates drove a two-run single to right. Bell then came through with the game-winning single to left, scoring Anderson. Designated hitter D.J. Wabick helped pace the Binghamton offense, going 3-for-4 with four RBI, including a two-run double in the second and an RBI single in the third.
http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090429/SPORTS02/904290342/1118/sports


Lucy:

Ladies and gentlemen… and all the ships at sea… Ike Davis has hit a home run!

Reese Havens made his 9th error so far this season playing shortstop…. We’ve talked about this since the day he was drafted… Havens has no future in the infield and should be immediately converted to the catcher position, which was the original plan when they drafted him…



Kirk Nieuwenhuis singled home Matt Bouchard with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the St. Lucie Mets edged the Jupiter Hammerheads 4-3 on Tuesday at Tradition Field. The Mets got solo home runs from Nieuwenhuis and Ike Davis and Smelin Perez scored on a fielders choice. The Hammerheads tied the score in the ninth on an RBI single by Matt Dominguez. The win went to Stephen Clyne (1-0).
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/apr/28/nieuwenhuis-leads-mets


Gnats:

The Sand Gnats (10-9) came up just short tonight as they fell to the Greenville Drive, 4-3, in front of 3,055 at Fluor Field. Jeff Kaplan suffered (1-1) the loss for Savannah. All of the game’s offense would come in the first two innings but it was Greenville striking first. Mitch Dening hit a two-out double to score Ryan Dent and Oscar Tejeda to give the Drive a, 2-0, cushion in the bottom of the first. Answering right back in the next inning, the Sand Gnats rallied with two away to score three runs to take the lead. Three consecutive hits by the bottom third of the order plated two runs and set the table for Rafael Fernandez. With a tie game, Fernandez hit a weak grounder to first that first baseman Anthony Rizzo flipped to Greenville starter Casey Kelly. Kelly ended up dropping the ball and Jake Eigsti scored on the play to give Savannah the lead. It was short-lived as Michael Almanzar hit a solo home run in bottom of the second to tie the game. Later in the inning, Tejeda singled in what turned out to be the deciding run. Savannah had a chance to tie the game in the fifth when Jefry Marte singled with Wilmer Flores on second base but he was thrown out at the plate trying to score for the final out of the inning.
www.sandgnats.com

Clones:

Baseball America wrote that OF Cesar Puello, who I expected to start in Savannah this year, was left behind in Extended Camp due to a recovering hand injury. As I’ve mentioned before, he’s a real prospect, and the 18-year old will most probably for the Clones this season.

Additionally, John Holdzkom is out for the season with TJS.


PAINT-YOUR-OWN BOBBLE: On Sunday, July 19th, the first 1,500 kids (14 and under) in attendance for the Cyclones' 5pm game against the Auburn Doubledays will receive a free Paint-Your-Own-Sandy Bobblehead, complete with an unpainted version of brooklyn's favorite bird, a paint kit, and a paintbrush. Kids can try to paint the bobblehead to look exactly like the famous mascot...or

www.brooklyncyclones.com