Minors Stuff

The Herd:

Cue the laugh track: The Buffalo Bisons didn’t lose Thursday— because they got rained out in Coca-Cola Field.

Now the bad news: The Bisons could lose double tonight when they make up the game with a twinbill against the Louisville Bats. The first pitch is at 5:35 (Radio 1520 AM).

Thursday’s rainout officially ended the ugliest month in the franchise’s modern era with a 2-16 record, tied with Double-A Harrisburg for the worst record in professional baseball.

Harrisburg joined the Bisons in the 2-16 club with Thursday’s 9-3 loss at Akron, its 12th in a row. The Senators, who are affiliated with Washington, are 13 games out in the Eastern League South. The Bisons are 14 back in the International League North.

The Bisons finished the month batting just .197 and that’s far and away the worst average of any team anywhere. No big-league club entered Thursday under .230, only four minor- league teams are even under .220 and all four of them are in Class A. None are under .205.

The Bisons have hit an International League-low seven home runs, only one in the last eight games. They have been shut out five times (four at home). Overall, they were outscored in April, 88-45, largely because they hit .157 with runners in scoring position and a paltry .106 in RISP situations with two out.

Buffalo’s historic lack of hitting rendered moot excellent defense and pretty good pitching.
Strangely enough, the Bisons lead the International League in fielding percentage (.984) and in the fewest number of errors (11). Their team ERA of 4.25 is a respectable eighth and their bullpen ERA is a solid 3.08. But the starters began to slip late in the month and finished 0-10 with a 5.18 ERA.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bisons/story/657723.html


B-Mets:

Ryan Coultas threw five strong innings to notch his first AA win and Emmanuel Garcia hammered out three hits including a two-run home run in the B-Mets 8-3 win over Portland Thursday night. Garcia had a night for the record books going 3-4 with two RBI, three runs scored and three stolen bases in the game.

Portland (9-10) got as close as 5-3 through six innings, but the bullpen stunted the Sea Dogs offense giving up just two hits and four strikeouts in the final three innings.

Closer Roy Merritt worked out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the eighth inning with back-to-back strikeouts of Juan Apodaca and Bubba Bell to keep the lead at 7-3. In the ninth, Binghamton (10-8) added a run of insurance on a Josh Thole RBI single to left that scored Garcia.

Merritt threw a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to secure his ninth save of the season in 10 chances, which leads the Eastern League.

Garcia’s two-run home run to right in the fifth knocked in Jonathan Malo and made the score 4-1. The shot spelled the end of the night for Felix Doubront. The lefty went 4.1 innings giving up four runs on seven hits to take his first loss of the season.

Malo has hit in all three games he has played with Binghamton since coming down from Buffalo (AAA), hitting a solo home run over the Maine Monster in the third inning of the game.
With the exception of Garcia, three B-Mets’ hitters had multi-hit days. Josh Thole went 2-5 with a double and an RBI single, Shawn Bowman was 2-4 with two doubles and an RBI and Mark Kiger had a 2-4 day with an RBI.

www.b-mets.com


Lucy:

THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Mets won only one of seven games and took a six-game losing streak into Tuesday's action. They were swept by Charlotte after losing two of three in Jupiter. They also lost the opener of a home series to the Hammerheads on Monday.

WHO'S HOT: Well, not many considering the losing streak, but there are a few bright spots. OF Seth Williams is hitting .300 through 10 games, while Ike Davis has his average up to .273. He has yet to hit a homer, however, in 121 professional at-bats. ... Angel Calero lost his first game of the season, despite allowing only one earned run at Charlotte on Friday. His ERA, however, remains at 1.13 through 16 innings. ... Clemson product Stephen Clyne has allowed one earned run over nine innings while striking out 10.

THIS AND THAT: St. Lucie pitchers have allowed the most homers in the league (11), while its hitters have connected for the most homers, also 11. ... The Mets (2.93) are one of four teams in the league with a sub-3.00 ERA. ... St. Lucie has a league-low eight stolen bases, the only team in the circuit yet to reach double digits in thefts.

www.milb.com


Gnats:

A four-run eighth inning capped by a Jean Luc Blaquiere three-run home run over the green monster at Fluor Filed at the West End lifted Savannah to a, 7-4, win over the Drive Thursday night in front of 4,806. Blaquiere was 4-for-4 with four RBI and ended up a triple shy of the cycle. It was a deadlocked game entering the eighth when Greenville brought in Lance McClain (2-1) to start the inning. With two Sand Gnats on via the walk and one out, Eric Campbell hit a possible double play ball to short but the throw by Ryan Dent to first went up the line and allowed Jefry Marte to score the go-ahead run. After Sean Ratliff singled, Blaquiere followed with his home run. Kyle Allen (1-1) was solid out of the bullpen, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out seven. The Savannah pitching staff struck out a season-high 14 batters. Rhiner Cruz pitched to two batters in the ninth for his fourth save. Cruz had to retire Oscar Tejeda and Anthony Rizzo as the potential tying runs. Ratliff finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored for Savannah while Eric Campbell was 1-for-4 with a home run of his own. Campbell’s blast to left-center field in the second initially gave Savannah the, 2-0, lead. Starting pitcher Eric Beaulac did not factor in the decision as he lasted 3.2 innings. After breezing through the first three innings with no relative trouble, he was unable to finish the fourth.

www.sandgnats.com


THE WEEK THAT WAS: The Sand Gnats went 2-5 and are riding a four-game losing streak after getting swept by Charleston.

WHO'S HOT: Josh Satin has raised his average to .368 with a .439 OBP heading into Tuesday. Fellow INF Jordany Valdespin is doing just a tad better. He's hitting .385 (third in the league) and has hit safely in five straight heading into Tuesday's action. Valdespin is also tied for second in the league with 15 RBIs. The pair is a big reason why Savannah is third in the league in hitting (.272) and second in hits (173).

THIS AND THAT: Thursday's victory against Rome was Savannah's 10th in 14 games. It marked the quickest the Sand Gnats have reached the 10-win plateau in six years. It took 28 games last year and 38 games in 2007 to reach double digits in victories. ... OF Rafael Fernandez had his hitting streak stopped at eight games Thursday against Rome. ... Wilmer Flores had a six-game hitting streak, but missed three games with "general soreness." He returned to the lineup Monday and went hitless in three at-bats. ... Chris Schwinden was 2-0 after two starts with a 0.82 ERA, but has not pitched since April 16. He is on the DL with right elbow soreness. ... Sean Ratliff is second in the league with four outfield assists, trailing only Hickory's Mike Bianucci. Ratliff had three assists in the Charleston series.