Minors Stuff

The Herd:


Let’s give OF Fernando Martinez props that are due… I’m the first one to criticize him, so the least I can do is recognize his steady increase in BA and slugging in May. For the month: .458/.480/.917/1.397… I’ll take it… for the year now: .298/.333/.536/.869… still hoping to get that slugging up, though…

RP Eddie Kunz’s reformation project from closer to long man continues… win today… 2-1, 2.02, 7G, 13.1 IP… like it…



From the first pitch of the game on Thursday morning, the Bisons made sure they got back in the win column.

Corey Sullivan took the first offering he saw over the wall and Mike Lamb added a three-run double as the Bisons defeated the IronPigs, 6-4, on a morning start from Lehigh Valley on Thursday. The Buffalo bullpen preserved the win with five innings of one-hit baseball.
Sullivan gave the Herd the early lead with his second lead-off home run of the season off Pigs' starter Carlos Carrasco. The outfielder also accomplished the feat April 27 against Syracuse.
The IronPigs responded by scoring in three of their first four times to the plate to build a 4-2 advantage. Luke Donald drove in two of those tallies with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and an RBI-double in the fourth.

Then in the sixth, the Herd pushed across the game-winning rally. Buffalo loaded the bases on singles from Ramon Martinez and Robinson Cancel and a walk to Fernando Martinez. Mike Lamb followed with a three-run double to right to give the Bisons a 5-4 lead. Jason Cooper added the insurance with a two-out RBI-single.

From there, the Bisons bullpen took over. Eddie Kunz allowed just one hit in two innings of relief to earn his second win of the season. Jon Switzer worked the seventh and eighth innings and retired all six batters he faced. Elmer Dessens worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to collect the Herd's first save of the season



B-Mets:


Mike Antonini had his best stuff of the season going 6.2 innings giving up only a run and the B-Mets offense exploded for 9 runs on 12 hits against the Portland pitching staff to win 9-7. The Sea Dogs scored six runs in the eighth to make things interesting, but Julio De La Cruz nailed down his second save of the series with a scoreless 1.2 innings of relief.

Portland (13-13) was first to crack the scoreboard using a two-out RBI double from Aaron Bates to drive home Ryan Khoury to lead 1-0.

After Lucas Duda singled to open the second, D.J. Wabick came up with one out and drove a 1-1 offering from starter Blake Maxwell over the right field wall for a two-run bomb to give the B-Mets the lead for good at 2-1. It was Wabick’s first home run of the season.

In the third, Binghamton (13-12) added three more runs thanks to a two-run double by Duda followed by an RBI single by Shawn Bowman to break it open, 5-1.

Binghamton added singled runs in the fifth and seventh and plated a two-spot in the sixth to lead 9-1 going into the eighth inning. In the eighth, the Sea Dogs would wreak havoc against three B-Mets’ pitchers, scoring six runs, half of which were unearned due to an error by Edgar Alfonzo. This cut the margin down significantly, with Binghamton leading 9-7.

De La Cruz, who had come in to get the final two outs in the eighth, came out to throw the ninth against the meat of the Portland order. Argenis Diaz opened up the inning with a popout to first. Then Lars Anderson and Bates singled back-to-back to put the tying runs on and allow the go-ahead run to come to the plate. It was at that point that De La Cruz buckled down getting Jon Still to flyout to right and Juan Apodaca to ground into a game-ending fielder’s choice to short.

Antonini picked up his fourth win of the season with his longest start to date, going 6.2 innings giving up a run with six strikeouts. The save was De La Cruz’ second.

Maxwell took the loss for Portland giving up six runs on eight hits over five innings to drop to 0-2 for the year.


Friday, May 8 at Trenton 7:05 pm RHP Dylan Owen (0-2, 6.66) vs. TBA

Saturday, May 9 at Trenton 7:05 pm RHP Jose Sanchez (1-3, 7.40) vs. TBA

Sunday, May 10 at Trenton 1:05 pm RHP Ryan Coultas (2-1, 2.60) vs. TBA

Monday, May 11 at N. Hampshire 6:35 pm TBA vs. TBA



Mike Antonini:


2008: Opened season with Savannah (Low-A)...worked 5.2 innings or more in all but three of his 13 starts...RH hitters batted just .204 against him with Savannah (Low-A)...Called up to St. Lucie (High-A) at the beginning of June, working 5 innings or more in all 7 starts...Finished season with Binghamton (AA)...Pitched for Leones de Ponce in the Puerto Rican Winter League (9 G, 8 GS, 2-0, 3.45 ERA, 47 IP)...Los Leones de Ponce won the Caribbean Series.

2007: Appeared in just five games with Kingsport (Rookie) to open career before being called up to Brooklyn (SS-A) 7/25...Worked eight scoreless innings in first four outings with Brooklyn (SS-A) 7/27-8/19.

Personal: 18th round pick out of Georgia College & State University... 7-6, 3.97 ERA in 15 GS as a senior with Division II Georgia C & S Bobcats...41st round pick of Philadelphia in 2006 as a junior...Played two seasons at Gloucester Community College in Sewell, NJ in 2004 and 2005...Gloucester won the NJCAA National Championship in


Lucy:


Roster Move: Place OF - Seth Williams on DL - roster set at 24 active players


Gnats:

The Sand Gnats sparked another ninth-inning rally off the Greenville Drive bullpen to tie the game but they didn’t have one more in them as the Drive won, 6-5, in 12 innings. Manny Olivares (0-1) suffered the loss while Felix Ventura (1-1) earned the win.

It was Eric Campbell again sparking a Sand Gnats rally in the ninth; this time with a leadoff double. Sean Ratliff singled him in to pull the Gnats closer at 5-3. Josh Satin then doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs for Jean Luc Blaquiere. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Blaquiere scored Ratliff from third and brought Savannah within a run. After a Raul Reyes strikeout, Jake Eigsti singled in pinch runner Juan Lagares to tie the game.

Savannah threatened in extra innings but couldn’t find the right combination of hits off Ventura. They got a man on in each of the extra frames but couldn’t bring him around to score.

Zach Gentile drove in the game-winning run for the Drive in the 12th as a pinch hitter for Will Middlebrooks. Gentile’s single found a spot in left field to drive home Oscar Tejeda for the game-winner.

Savannah’s Elvin Ramirez lasted five innings and gave up two runs on three hits. The Sand Gnats used five different pitchers on the evening with Jimmy Johnson being the only one not to allow a run. Johnson worked out of jams in the 10th and 11th innings to help preserve the tie.

Campbell, Ratliff, Satin and Reyes all had two hits apiece for Savannah.


Mets Alumni:

Freddy Sanchez - The hilarious How I Met Your Mother reminded us of how great Murtaugh was earlier this season. Now Freddy Sanchez is trying to get the part of Riggs in the remake. Sanchez has a recurrent shoulder problem that's often described as "popping out." That reads like a dislocation, but it's actually just a subluxation that's significant enough that Sanchez can feel the ball of the joint moving in the shoulder. There's really no additional damage and in most cases no pain; the ligaments and tendons have stretched previously, allowing the "play" in the joint that's been reported. There's no significant loss of function, strength, or range of motion here, so it's just a quirk. It does make him susceptible to a bigger injury, but not by as much as you'd think.
http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8843