Minor League Update — 6/10/09

Buffalo Bisons (AAA):
17-39 (16.5 games back)

All three AAA leagues (International League, Mexican League, Pacific Coast League) were off tonight. The Bisons will resume play on Thursday, hosting the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays).

• Jesus Feliciano leads Buffalo in batting average, .292, for qualified batters; for comparison, Fernando Martinez was batting .291 when he was promoted
• Wily Mo Pena and Michel Abreu are tied for the current club lead with four home runs, Fernando Martinez had eight home runs when he was promoted
• Jesus Feliciano leads the club with eight stolen bases, he was caught stealing twice –Argenis Reyes is 7 for 7 in attempts
• Brandon Knight leads the club in innings pitched, 60.2 innings, and in strikeouts, 58
• Elmer Dessens (1.21 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP) has been terrific as the team’s closer (eight saves in 29.2 innings)

Binghamton Mets (AA):
24-33 (8.5 games back)

HAR 7 @ BIN 10

Binghamton broke open a 6-4 game with a four-run eighth inning, however, the Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals) rallied in the top of the ninth, but came up short –scoring three runs and stranding two base runners to lose the game 10-7. Edgardo Baez had three hits, including a solo home run, for the Senators in the loss.

• Jose Coronado had three hits in four at bats, scored two runs and drove in three
• Nick Evans had two hits, including a home run with a man on, and scored two runs
• Josh Thole had three hits in five at bats and is batting .357
• Shawn Bowman had three hits of his own, scored two runs, drove in two runs, and drew a walk
• Eric Brown allowed four runs (all earned) on seven hits and two walks in 6.1 innings, he struck out six and earned the victory –his fourth of the season (4-4, 4.94 ERA)

St. Lucie Mets (A+):
28-27 (8.0 game back)

DUN 8 @ STL 5

The Dunedin Blue Jays (Toronto Blue Jays) and St. Lucie Mets combined for 27 hits (13 and 14 respectively) in an offensive game that featured nine extra-base hits. Moises Sierra was the star of the game, collecting four hits –two being doubles, and driving in four runs.

• Seth Williams was the only member of the St. Lucie Mets without a hit, the left fielder went 0 for 3 with a hit-by-pitch
• Ike Davis had two hits in five at bats, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth with two outs
• Francisco Pena led the club with three hits and drove in a pair of runs
• Angel Calero gave up five runs (all earned) on seven hits and four walks, the loss drops him to 1-6 on the season with a 4.75 ERA

Savannah Sand Gnats (A):
27-32 (8.0 games back)

ROM 3 @ SAV 4

The Rome Braves (Atlanta Braves) intentionally walked Jefry Marte to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh in a 3-3 game, but reliever Clayton McMillan immediately walked Joshua Satin to bring in the go-ahead, and eventual winning, run before retiring the next three batters.

• Joshua Satin had two hits, including a double, and the bases loaded walk to drive in a run
• Wilmer Flores also had two hits, a single and a double, and drew a walk
• Elvin Ramirez gave up three runs (only one earned) on five hits and a walk, he struck out two and has a 3.36 ERA

Minor League Update — 5/30/09

Buffalo Bisons (AAA):
14-33 (17.0 games back)

Rene Rivera had the biggest hit of the day for Buffalo, a two-run homer in the fourth inning, but his teammates let him down, as the Bisons fell to the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays) 10-2. Emil Brown, acquired from the Oakland Athletics, made his Bisons debut today, and went 0 for 4 –he fits right in with the rest of the lost herd.

• Alex Cora started at shortstop again for Buffalo, he had a hit and, more importantly, appears ready to rejoin the Mets when he is eligible to come off of the disabled list (Tuesday, June 2)
• Rene Rivera, 1 for 4, homered for the second consecutive day
• Brandon Knight lasted just 4.2 innings and gave up four runs (all earned) on five hits and four walks –the former Olympian only struck out two
• Connor Robertson, acquired in the Scott Schoeneweis trade, allowed six runs (all earned) in just 0.2 innings of work; he gave up six hits, two over the outfield fence
• Cory Sullivan extended his hitting streak to eight games
• The Bisons elimination number is now at 80 and free falling

Binghamton Mets (AA):
21-25 (6.0 games back)

Lucas Duda crushed his second home run of the season and Ruben Tejada continued to heat up, but the B-Mets dropped the game, losing 6-5 to the New Britain Rock Cats (Minesotta Twins). The crushing blow for New Britain was a three-run roundtripper for right fielder Rene Tosoni, his seventh of the season.

• Josh Thole had two more hits and is now batting .369; he’s going to stick with Binghamton for a number of reasons, but it’s obvious that he is ready to take on a greater challenge
• Lucas Duda had two hits, a double and the home run, and scored two runs
• D.J. Wabick also had two hits, which raised his batting average to .320
• Dylan Owen’s struggles continued; he allowed six runs (all earned) on 10 hits and three walks while striking out only two over five innings, batters are now hitting .327 against him this season

St. Lucie Mets (A+):
22-22 (7.5 game back)

The St. Lucie Mets trailed the Clearwater Thrashers (Philadelphia Phillies) 3-1 after seven innings, but the Mets scored a run in the bottom of the eighth and won the game on a two-run double by Luis Rivera, just his second hit of the season, in the ninth.

• Reese Havens left the game after the fifth inning; no explanation has been announced
• Francisco Pena continues to improve offensively, he added two more hits in today’s game
• Angel Calero pitched seven innings and gave up three runs (all earned) while striking out five

Savannah Sand Gnats (A):
25-24 (3.0 games back)

The Sand Gnats split a double header with the Asheville Tourists (Houston Astros) today, winning the first game 11-8 and dropping the second game 5-2. Joshua Satin had Savannah’s big day, driving in five runs in victory while being pitched around in the loss.

• Wilmer Flores had three hits on the day, including a double, and is now batting .257 on the season
• Joshua Satin homered, doubled, and walked three times during the two games; he drove in five runs and scored three times
• Jefry Marte had two hits and is climbing away from the .200 mark, now batting .207
• Elvin Ramirez pitched the Sand Gnats to victory in game one; he lasted five innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks

Minor League Update — 5/24/09

Buffalo Bisons (AAA):

The Bisons continued their resurgence with a 5-3 victory over the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians). Buffalo’s hot bat for the night was 25-year-old catcher Rene Rivera, who doubled and scored twice. Jonathan Malo, a late scratch from the starting lineup, pinch hit for shortstop Mark Kiger in the fifth inning and remained in the game at short. There was speculation that Malo’s removal from the lineup was in preparation to fill in for the injured Jose Reyes with the major league club.

• Fernando Martinez had one hit in four at bats and is now batting .294 for the season; if Ryan Church is headed to the disabled list, then the Mets might promote Martinez, although Cory Sullivan is another possibility
• Javier Valentin singled and drew a walk in four plate appearances, his one hit drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning
• Argenis Reyes reached base twice as the leadoff batter, he is now batting .280 for the season and is another possibility for the major league roster

Binghamton Mets (AA):

The B-Mets were dominated tonight by the New Britain Rock Cats (Minesotta Twins) by the final score of 10-1 . The game was scoreless until a six-run top of the fifth inning by the Rock Cats. Binghamton starter Dylan Owen remained in the game through the sixth inning. The bad start was his third extremely poor outing of the year, boosting his ERA to 6.55 for the season.

• Josh Thole had two hits and scored Binghamton’s only run; Thole is now batting .357 and leads the Eastern League in batting average and is fifth in on-base percentage (.419)
• Lucas Duda doubled once in four appearances and is now batting .294; however, the 6 ‘4″ first baseman only has a .382 slugging percentage
• Shawn Bowman drove in Binghamton’s only run with a groundout to third in the seventh inning; Bowman is amongst the league leaders with 23 runs batted in

St. Lucie Mets (A+):

Yonder Alonso homered off of Brad Holt in the first inning to tie this afternoon’s game at 1-1, but that was the last run that the Sarasota Reds (Cincinatti Reds) scored off of the St. Lucie ace. The offense came to life in support of Holt, scoring six runs off of 11 hits, two walks, an error, and a hit by pitch.

• Greg Veloz broke out for three hits in five at bats; the speedy 20-year-old second baseman is beginnig to heat up (10 hits in his last seven games)
• Francisco Pena, who is only 19 despite being in the system for three years, had two hits in four at bats and scored a run; Pena is now bating .333 in day games
• Brad Holt continued his impressive professional debut, striking out 10 batters over six innings of four-hit ball; Holt has only allowed two earned runs over his last three starts (16.2 innings)
• Nicholas Carr completed the game for a three-inning save, allowing only one hit

Savannah Sand Gnats (A):

Brian Pellegrini hit his seventh home run of the season for the Lexington Legends (Houston Astros), a two-run shot that ended up being the game winning hit. Juan Lagares drove in both of Savannah’s runs with infield singles, the Sand Gnats lost the game 5-2.

• Joshua Satin went hitless in three at bats and is now hitless in his last three games; however, he is still batting .338 for the season
• Eric Campbell doubled and scored a run on an infield hit by Lagares
• Wilmer Flores also doubled in front of an infield single by Lagares
• Eric Beaulac allowed four runs, three earned, in six innings; he now has a 3.48 ERA for 2009