Minors Stuff

The Herd:

Oliver Perez was smiling and happy Friday night. He pronounced himself ready to rejoin the New York Mets if they pull the trigger on a recall so he can face the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night in Citi Field.

But seriously now, if Perez can't throw more strikes than balls and can't beat the Rochester Red Wings, can he really be expected to be ready to face Manny Being Manny and all his friends?
That's the dilemma the Mets face today after Perez's uneven outing in the Buffalo Bisons' 6-2 loss to the Wings before a season-high crowd of 17,380.

Perez's injured knee appears fine. His velocity was good, consistently at 90-91 mph and topping at 93. But he just doesn't throw enough strikes. He threw 92 pitches in five-plus innings and only 46 were strikes. He walked four and went to three-ball counts on five other hitters.

Hardly seems big-league ready. But asked about the balls-strikes ratio, Perez was unfazed.

"The more important thing is I'm feeling real good and I'm not thinking about my knee," he said.

"I was feeling really strong. I think I'm ready. I was a little wild but more important I feel strong."

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bisons/story/723001.html


B-Mets:

Emmanuel Garcia reached base in four of five plate appearances but the Binghamton Mets lost 10-3 Friday night and were swept by the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at NYSEG Stadium. Caleb Stewart reached base three times in four trips to the plate in his third game back from the disabled list.

The Fisher Cats struck for three runs off Mike Antonini in the first inning on two hits and two walks. Brad Emaus, David Cooper and Nick Gorneault collected RBIs in the frame.

Antonini, who made his return to Binghamton’s rotation after two appearances out of the bullpen, gave up four more runs in the second on three hits as New Hampshire took a 7-0 lead. Todd Donovan and Cooper collected RBIs and Cooper scored on a Connor Robertson wild pitch after he came in to relieve the starter. Antonini went a season low 1.2 innings, giving up seven runs on five hits for the loss.

After working a perfect third inning, Robertson allowed one run in the fourth when Brian Dopirak singled in Emaus to give New Hampshire (36-44) an 8-0 lead. Then in the sixth Brian Jeroloman drove a two-run shot to right for his fifth home run of the season off Robertson to make it 10-0.

Stewart led the ninth off with a single and was balked to second by Fisher Cats’ reliever Nate Starner. Shawn Bowman then reached on an error by Cooper moving Stewart up to third. After Salvador Paniagua struck out pinch-hitting for D.J. Wabick, Ruben Tejada walked. Mike Nickeas then drove in Stewart with a single. Garcia followed with his third hit of the game to score Bowman and Tejada chasing Starner. Celson Polanco came on to get the final out of the contest on a Jose Coronado fielder’s choice to second.

After losing three straight starts, Rey Gonzalez only allowed three hits in six scoreless innings of work for his fourth win of the season.

Edgar Alfonzo and Jim Ed Warden pitched two scoreless and hitless innings apiece out of the pen for Binghamton (29-50).



Saturday, July 4 Erie 7:05 pm RHP Dylan Owen (0-5, 6.00) vs. RHP Luis Marte (5-7, 3.97)

Sunday, July 5 Erie 1:05 pm LHP Eric Niesen (0-4, 7.64) vs. RHP Pat Stanley (2-2, 4.85)

Monday, July 6 Erie 1:05 pm RHP Eric Brown (4-8, 5.57) vs. LHP Jon Kibler (4-5, 3.77)

Tuesday, July 7 at Portland 7:00 pm RHP Brad Holt (0-2, 9.90) vs. TBA


The Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, are pleased to announce that they have reached a five-year extension with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Independence Eve celebrations at Coca-Cola Field through the 2014 season.

“We couldn’t be happier to continue this great partnership with the BPO and provide the great fans of Western New York with this marquee event for another five seasons,” said Bisons Vice President/General Manager Mike Buczkowski. “This event has become one of the great annual summer traditions in Downtown Buffalo.”

"The BPO is thrilled to be involved with the Buffalo Bisons on the Independence Eve Celebration. We are so pleased that we will be extending our partnership with the Buffalo Bisons for another five years," said BPO Executive Director Dan Hart.

The Bisons and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra began their relationship in 1995. That year, the BPO’s July 3rd performance drew a capacity crowd, setting the precedent for a series of consecutive Independence celebrations. With tonight’s attendance of 17,380, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has performed in front of 282,538 fans in 15 years at Coca-Cola Field.

This year’s celebration will begin after the Bisons/Rochester Red Wings game and included a special guest appearance by Bob McGrath or “Bob” from Sesame Street. Along with tributes to the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street and the musical Hair, the BPO and Chorus will honor the many servicemen and women in attendance.


Gnats:


Asheville hurler Juan Nicasio struck out 12 Savannah Sand Gnats batters en route to a, 5-1, victory for the Tourists, who drew a split the four-game series with the Gnats in front of 4,136 at Historic Grayson Stadium.

The 12 punch outs for Nicasio were the most for any opposing pitcher against the Gnats since before the 2004 season. He allowed just two hits and Savannah as a club was held hitless from the third inning through the eighth.

Asheville struck first in the fourth with a RBI-double by Ryan Peisel and extended the lead in the fifth on an RBI-Single by Scott Robinson. The Tourists’ leadoff man scored later in the inning when Savannah starter Kyle Allen hit Jordan Pacheco with the bases loaded making the score, 3-0.

The right-hander from Riverview, Fla. lost his second straight start going five innings allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and two hit batters. John Church made his first Sand Gnats debut coming in for the sixth and seventh. He allowed a two-run home run to David Christensen in the seventh to make it, 5-0, Tourists.

The Gnats added a rally in the ninth on an RBI-double by Josh Satin that scored Wilmer Flores. Savannah left the tying run in the on-deck circle, however, as both Kai Gronauer and Stefan Welch struck out to end the ballgame. Gronauer was 0-for-3 and thus ends his hitting streak at 10 games, one shy of tying the season high set by Eric Campbell.



Clones:

The Brooklyn Cyclones (12-2) won their sixth straight game in dramatic fashion to stay undefeated at home with a rally in the ninth inning to defeat the Tri-City Valley Cats (5-7) in front of 8,428 fans. The Cyclones scored twice in the bottom of the ninth, and won the game on pinch-hitter Nick Santomauro’s moon shot off the left field wall, scoring 3B Nick Giarraputo from third base with a walk-off single in the ninth inning. Starter RHP Wes Wrenn pitched 4.0 strong innings, allowing one run on two hits, and struck out six, including four batters (thanks to a dropped third strike) in the second inning). LHP Darin Gorski relieved Wrenn in the fifth inning and pitched 4.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits and had three strikeouts. LHP Lance Hoge pitched a scoreless ninth inning without surrendering a hit. Hoge would go on to earn his first win of the season. The Cyclones first run came from a brilliant baserunning play by DH Ralph Henriquez. He allowed himself to be caught in a rundown in order to allow Giarraputo to score. With Brooklyn down 2-1, 2B James Ewing led off the ninth inning with a double on the first pitch he saw. After being bunted to third by 1B Sam Honeck, Ewing later scored on a single by Henriquez (pictured, by George Napolitano) to tie the game. RF Luis Rivera was then intentionally walked to load the bases which set the stage for Nick Santomauro’s pinch hit walk-off single.


Mets Alumni:

Deolis Guerra knows the expectations surrounding him are high and he showed why on Friday night.

Guerra took a no-hitter into the eighth and ended up striking out six over 7 1/3 innings as the Fort Myers Miracle held on for a 2-1 victory over the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

"I definitely felt stronger today, I feel like all my pitches were working," he said.

Guerra, one of the young arms Minnesota acquired from the New York Mets for Johan Santana in 2008, is in his third season in the Class A Advanced Florida State League. He knows he needs more performances like Friday's if he expects to reach Double-A this summer

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090703&content_id=5678804&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp