Minors Stuff

The Herd:

SP Brandon Knight pitched great Friday night (8.0 IP, 1ER, 3.27)… remember, this is a team one starter short (Niese) and another starter short soon (Redding rehab)…

CF Fernando Martinez (.300) went 2-3 and hit the “3” mark… I honestly wasn’t sure if he’d come back this time…

1B Nick Evans went 0-3 amd is now batting .097… God, what a nightmare..

The pitching and defense has been a daily staple for the Buffalo Bisons. The bats are finally joining the party and, lo and behold, the Herd is actually on a winning streak.

With some two-out magic rarely seen this season, the Bisons erupted for three runs in the bottom of the eighth Friday night to pull out a 4-1 win over the Norfolk Tides at Coca-Cola Field.
A paid crowd of 7,002 saw the Bisons get their second win in a row for the first time in 2009.
Red-hot Fernando Martinez got what proved to be the game-winning hit, a looping RBI single to left off reliever Kam Mickolio that scored Cory Sullivan. Michel Abreu followed with a booming two-run double to right to put the game away.

That made a winner of Brandon Knight (2-2), whose eight innings were the most by a Buffalo pitcher this season. He allowed just one run on four hits and that's the only run the right-hander has allowed in his last 19 1/3 innings.

Knight silenced a high-scoring Norfolk attack that came into the game second in the International League in batting (.286).

"That's a really good team. Their 3-4-5 guys can hurt you bad, so you definitely have to get your focus going and keep it," Knight said. "I just tried to mix things up, keep the ball down and basically let them hit it. Our defense did a heck of a job."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bisons/story/665740.html



B-Mets:


Dylan Owen threw a pitched a season-high six innings giving up five unearned runs and Jonathan Malo hit a two-out, two-run single in the ninth to avoid the shutout as the B-Mets fell 9-2 at Waterfront Park to the Trenton Thunder Friday night.

Owen retired the first six men he faced before allowing the first two to reach in the third on a walk and a double. After notching two popouts on the infield to keep the runners at bay, Owen walked Reegie Corona to load the bases. With the bases full, Colin Curtis grounded to shortstop Ruben Tejada, but Tejada could not handle the roller allowing a run to score and Curtis to reach. The next hitter, Jorge Vazquez, launched a hanging breaking ball out of the yard to right-center for a grand slam. This gave the Thunder all they would need, leading 5-0.

In the seventh, the Thunder added four more, reaching with four straight hitters against reliever John Madden culminating with a three-run home run from Corona making it 9-0.

In the ninth, Trenton (12-13) reliever Josh Schmidt got the first two outs easily before allowing a walk to Ruben Tejada and a single to Emmanuel Garcia. The two moved up to second and third on a wild pitch before Malo drove them home with a two-run single up the middle to break up the shutout. Schmidt had not given up a run all season until Binghamton (13-13) struck for two in the ninth.

Thunder lefty Wilkin De La Rosa starred in his AA debut on the mound giving Trenton six scoreless innings while striking out nine men to pick up the win. In Owen’s six-inning stint, he gave up four hits and walked three.

Binghamton will toss RHP Jose Sanchez (1-3, 7.40) tomorrow and Trenton will counter with RHP Zach McAllister (1-1, 2.53). The game is slated for a 7:05 first pitch and the radio broadcast on Newsradio 1290 WNBF begins at 6:50 with the Horizons Federal Credit Union Pre-Game Show.

Notes: Ruben Tejada’s walk in the seventh extended his league-high on-base streak to 18 straight games…Lucas Duda stretched his hitting streak to a team-high eight games with a double in the eighth, it tied Emmanuel Garcia’s eight-game streak to start the year for the longest on the team this season.



Saturday, May 9 at Trenton 7:05 pm RHP Jose Sanchez (1-3, 7.40) vs. RHP Zach McAllister (1-1, 2.53)

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

Tuesday, May 12 at N. Hampshire 6:35 pm LHP Mike Antonini (4-1, 4.88) vs. TBA


Sooo… Nieve pitched 5/6… Antonini pitched 5/7… Owen last night… Sanchez will pitch the 9th… followed by Coultas… followed by… err… “TBA” on 5/11???... then back to Antonini on 5/12…
Guess Nieve is on his way to Buffalo…


Dylan Owen:

2008: Opened season with St. Lucie (High-A) making 24 starts, including 2 complete games: 6/17 at Jupiter in Game 1 of a doubleheader and a shutout 7/9 at Tampa in Game 1 of a twin bill...Led the Florida State League in wins (12), shutouts (1) and complete games (2)...Finished fourth in FSL in strikeouts (116) and eighth in ERA (3.43)...Made three starts for Binghamton (AA) after being called up 8/20...Won his AA debut with six innings against New Hampshire 8/20.

2007: Spent rookie season with Brooklyn (SS-A)...Led the New York-Penn League in wins (9) and ERA (1.49)...Finished the season with 13 consecutive scoreless inning spanning starts against Aberdeen 8/31 and Lowell 9/5...Named the Brooklyn Sterling Award winner...Member of the New York-Penn League All-Star Team...Named Pitcher of the Week for the week ending 8/26.

Personal: 20th-round pick of the Mets out of Francis Marion University in Florence, SC...2006 Peach Belt Pitcher of the Year finishing with a 10-1 record and 2.02 ERA for the Patriots...Led team to the Division II College World Series in 2006...Played against fellow B-Mets starter Mike Antonini in the Peach Belt Conference.



Lucy:

Right-hander Scott Shaw is leading the St. Lucie Mets in strikeouts, but he says that's only by chance. Despite the fact he isn't known as a strikeout king, Shaw had 29 strikeouts going into his sixth start Friday night in Fort Myers. "If it happens, it happens, but I am not trying to be the guy that strikes everyone out," Shaw said. "I don't throw 100 mph, and I don't have the best slider in the league. I just try to be efficient. "If I am striking guys out and it's in three or four pitches, that's fine. I am just trying to be in the strike zone and trying to get guys out in four pitches or less so I can pitch deeper into the game." Shaw (1-2, 3.41 ERA after five starts) has learned a lot since the Mets drafted him out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign last year. He went to Brooklyn for short-season ball after signing in June and finished 6-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 15 games. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound pitcher has the same four pitches he left college with — a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup — but hasn't done anything differently as far as retooling pitches

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/may/08/no-headline---200905082108-09tslmetsnotes/?partner=RSS


Gnats:

I think we’ve had about enough of Wendy Rosa (9.69)… a blown save, three runs in, and a loss for the team… Rosa stands out on a team of very good pitches and this might be the time to bring someone else up from the Extended Camp…

SP Jeurys Familia continues to impress… 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1.21 ERA… I’m telling you, he’s fourth in line behind Niese, Holt, and Mejia…



A three-run seventh by the Greenville Drive gave them a one-run lead they would not surrender as they downed the Sand Gnats, 4-3, in front of 1,928 on Friday night at Historic Grayson Stadium. Wendy Rosa (0-1) took the loss in relief for the Sand Gnats while Fabian Williamson (2-1) won his second game of the season.

After Rosa struck out Kade Keowen to start the seventh, he gave up a double to David Marks and then walked the next two hitters to load the basses with just one out. He battled with lefty Anthony Rizzo to strike him out and it seemed he might get out of the inning unscathed. Catcher Tim Federowicz had other plans as he singled in two to tie the game. After Rosa fell behind Michael Almanzar, he was lifted in favor of Erik Turgeon.

Turgeon didn’t fare much better as he walked Almanzar to re-load the bases and then walked-in the eventual winning run with a walk to David Mailman. He would strikeout Zach Gentile, the ninth batter of the inning, to end the seventh.

The Sand Gnats (15-13) threatened in the ninth when Juan Lagares walked with two outs and moved to second on a wild pitch by Williamson. With the tying run on second, Rafael Fernandez struck out to end the game.

Savannah couldn’t ask for more from 19-year-old starter Jeurys Familia who turned in a six-inning, one-run performance. He walked just one and struck out five in his six innings of work.

Jefry Marte and Raul Reyes each had two hits to lead the Gnats while Sean Ratliff was 1-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. First baseman Eric Campbell had his team-leading 11-game hitting streak come to an end tonight as he was 0-for-3.


Clones:

With the 2009 Brooklyn Cyclones season about a month away, Dem Brooklyn Bums discusses a few of the things the Mets organization could do to make sure the team keeps their nine-year winning season stretch alive, as well as a few sure-fire ways of keeping fans in the seats.

Get a few big bats- Over the three seasons that I’ve covered the team, the Cyclones have rarely had a bona fide power hitter [too bad I missed Caleb Stewart] and have relied on pitching to ensure their winning ways. Sure guys like Jason Jacobs, Dustin Martin and Kirk Nieuwenhuis have had great years, but they are far from the type of offensive seasons some other players in the NYPL have put up over the past few seasons.

I’m sure the injuries and inconsistencies of Reese Havens and Ike Davis last season played a part in that trend continuing as well. I mean, would could have predicted Davis could have had that much of a problem with NYPL pitching? No one, that’s who. The same thing goes for the array of injuries Havens was forced to deal with. Perhaps I’m looking into this too much, but I think Keyspan Park plays a huge role in this, as the wind kills a large percentage of the fly balls hit. Nonetheless, a good extra-base hitter with solid speed, in the mold of an Ambiorix Concepcion, with a bit more power, would be a perfect addition to the team.

http://www.dembrooklynbums.com/2009/05/08/thoughts-on-the-upcoming-season


General:

Former Phillies manager Danny Ozark, who led Philadelphia to three consecutive National League East titles but fell short of the World Series each time, died at his home in Vero Beach on Thursday. He was 85. Ozark twice led the Phillies to more than 100 wins, tallying back-to-back 101-61 records in 1976 and 1977. The Phillies went 90-72 under him in 1978 for their third straight NL East title, but lost in the National League Championship Series each time.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/may/08/ozark-led-phillies-to-3-nl-east-titles