International League News and Notes

Published on April 10, 2008 under International League (IL1) News Release

BUFFALO BISONS

GREAT START FOR GONZALEZ: Infielder Andy Gonzalez is off to a monster start for the Herd. In his first six games, Gonzalez has averaged .500 (11-22) with five doubles, a home run and seven RBI. Through the first week of the season, he ranks tied for 1st in the International League in average, doubles and extra-base hits and 2nd in on-base percentage (.577) and slugging percentage (.864). The first-time Bison is also showing his ability in the field as he has already started three different positions for Buffalo (SS, 3B, LF).

WHO TURNED OFF THE POWER?: There haven't been many souvenirs handed out by the Bisons or their opponents in 2008. Buffalo has just two home runs this year. Andy Gonzalez and Brad Snyder both went deep on Tuesday night in Richmond, the team's sixth game of the season, but Buffalo has also out-homered their opponents as Herd hurlers have allowed just one long ball this year. Richmond's Joe Borchard went deep against reliever Edward Mujica last night. Bisons' hurlers had held opponents homerless through the first 303 plate appearances of 2008.

ANOTHER LEVEL, MORE SUCCESS: Early signs show that infielder Jordan Brown won't have any trouble hitting at this level either. In his first six Triple-A games, Brown has averaged .321 (9-28) with three doubles, five RBI and three walks. Last year, Brown led all Double-A hitters with a .333 average with the Akron Aeros. The Eastern League All-Star and Player of the Year hit an unbelievable .333 against both left-handed and right-handed pitching in 2007. Brown was also the 2006 Carolina League Player of the Year with Class-A Kinston (.290, 15 HR, 87 RBI).

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS

BACK END BULLPEN: Ehren Wassermann is now 3-for-3 in save opportunities after picking up his third save last night. Wassermann has faced the minimum number of batters in his 2.2 innings of relief work. Wassermann has not allowed a single batter to reach base in any fashion this season. Set-up reliever Jason Childers has also faced the minimum number of batters in his 1.1 innings of work. Childers has also not allowed a single batter to reach base in any fashion this season. Reliever Adam Russell is the only other Knights pitcher who has yet to yield a hit this season.

KNOCKING IN RUNS: The Knights have scored 31 runs this season, averaging 5.16 runs per game. Only three runs have come via the home run. The Knights have hit only three home runs this season, and all of them were solo home runs. The team has done very well at the plate with runners in scoring position. The Knights are 22-67 (.328) with runners in scoring position. 26 RBI have come in RISP situations. The team also has a .420 on-base percentage in those situations.

ELDRED GETS 400TH RBI: On Tuesday April 8 versus the Toledo Mud Hens, first baseman Brad Eldred got his 400th career Minor League RBI. Eldred currently has 7 RBI this season.

RUNNING START: The Knights have been aggressive on the basepaths this season. The team has stolen 12 bases through 7 games. The team has been led by the number one and two hitters in the lineup. Left-fielder and leadoff hitter Jason Bourgeois has 3 stolen bases, while center-fielder and number two hitter Dewayne Wise has 4 stolen bases.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS

BOOK HIM DANO: Clipper closer Chris Booker tossed 2.0 scoreless innings Sunday, running his scoreless appearance streak to 12 dating back to August 3, 2007 (14.2 IP, 25 K). Since last year's All-Star break, Booker is 1-1 with a 0.41 ERA in 19 games (22.0 IP, 1 ER, 35 K) while converting all seven of his save chances. "Book" has been working on a slider this spring, to add to his repertoire.

NIEVES REACHES A GRAND: Tuesday evening (April 9) marked Wil Nieves' 1,000th game in the Minor Leagues, his 194th as a Columbus Clipper. In his 13-year career, Nieves has amassed 996 career Minor League hits. He has appeared in 63 Major League games over four different seasons with the San Diego Padres (2002) and the New York Yankees (2005-07). Two other Clippers are coming up on career milestones. Ryan Langerhans has 99 career steals at the Minor League level after swiping 2nd base last night. Pete Orr is currently sitting at 98 career steals in the Minor Leagues.

KING OF THE HILL: Nationals ace Shawn Hill will start for the Clippers this Sunday in Charlotte. Originally he was projected to return to the bigs after his rehab appearance in Potomac this week, but Nationals manager Manny Acta wants Hill to throw more than the 67 pitches he threw Tuesday. Hill pitched five shutout innings for Class-A Potomac, which blanked Myrtle Beach, 2-0. Hill, on the disabled list due to a sore right forearm, threw 45 strikes. His fastball was clocked at 90 to 91 mph. At one point during the game, Hill retired 10 consecutive batters.

DURHAM BULLS

ADJUSTING TO CHANGE: Durham (4-3) has won four straight after an 0-3 start. However, the Bulls have been tested thanks to a roster shake-up. J.K. Ryu, today's scheduled starter, went to Tampa Bay because Matt Garza was injured in Tuesday night's start. Ben Hendrickson, activated from the Hudson Valley roster, will start in Ryu's place in today's 12:05 p.m. start in Columbus. Meanwhile, Justin Ruggiano went to Tampa Bay as Cliff Floyd (knee) goes on the DL. OF Jeremy Owens has been added to the Bulls roster. He also was on the Hudson Valley roster. Tampa Bay, Durham's parent club, has eight players on the DL.

FEELING AT HOME: Former Clippers drove in 7 of 10 Bulls runs yesterday as the Bulls beat Columbus for a third straight day, 10-4 in 11 innings. John Rodriguez had a homer, single, and drove home four runs. Andy Cannizaro added three RBI and a pair of doubles. Both were Clippers when they were a Yankees affiliate. Durham begins its home schedule tomorrow against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after an eight-day road trip to begin the year.

TWO-OUT TOUGHNESS: Of Durham's ten runs yesterday, seven came with two outs. The Bulls' six-run rally in the 11th inning started with two outs and none on.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Durham entered this series with Columbus with no homers in four games. With two more long balls yesterday, the Bulls have six in the first three games of this series. (The Bulls also haven't allowed a homer in two games, after giving up nine in the first five games.) Durham scored 10 total runs in the first four games of the season. The Bulls have scored 26 runs in the first three games of this set with Columbus, with at least 10 in two games.

SUPER SAVE: Dale Thayer earned his second save in as many days Tuesday. It also was his second Triple-A save ever. However, he's used to being on the field at the end of a game. Thayer led the Double-A Southern League in saves for three consecutive seasons.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

WORKING WITH THE PIRATES: The Indianapolis Indians have signed a four-year extension on their player development contract (PDC) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The new agreement will run now through the 2012 campaign. Indianapolis posted a 224-205 regular-season mark during its first three years as Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate. Over 30 Tribe players also received big league promotions during that same time frame.

WE'RE ON A ROLL: Indianapolis has won five straight games entering Thursday afternoon's contest at Syracuse. This marks the Tribe's most successful stretch since rolling to six consecutive victories (3 vs. CHR and 3 vs. ROC) June 2-7, 2007. The Indians have won five straight games on the road for the first time since June 7-24, 2003. The Tribe reeled off nine consecutive victories (4 vs. SYR, 4 vs. PAW and 1 vs. SWB) away from Victory Field during that stretch.

TALKIN' BASE KNOCKS: The Tribe has now collected 48 hits over its past five affairs (9.60 per game) after recording just four base knocks in its first two contests (2.00 per game). The Indians have raised their team BA from .080 to .239 during that same time frame.

A BULLPEN THAT WILL SHUT YOU DOWN: The Indianapolis bullpen has allowed just one run over its last 10.2 innings. RHP Jesse Chavez

(1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 SO), RHP Jonah Bayliss (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 SO), RHP Romulo Sanchez (3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) and LHP Sean Burnett (3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 SO) have all registered scoreless outings during the stretch.

LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS

STUCK IN THE MUD: The IronPigs have started their season 0-7, the longest winless streak to start the season since the 2001 Columbus Clippers started 0-8 (the Clippers still wound up finishing 2nd in the West Division with a 67-76 record). This is the longest losing streak for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate since Ottawa lost eight straight games from July 23 to July 28 last season. Going back to last season, the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate has lost 10 consecutive games and nine straight on the road (six at PNC Field against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre).

THESE PIGGIES NOT GOING HOME: The IronPigs have scored just nine runs in seven games, averaging 1.3 per game. The next worst total (SWB, SYR) is 18 -- twice the total of Lehigh Valley. Three players in the IL have as many RBI as Lehigh Valley has runs (Alvin Colina, LOU; Matthew Joyce, TOL; and Jeff Larish, TOL). The IronPigs are last in the IL in AVG (.177) and they are batting just .086 (3-35) with RISP and only .125 (9-72) with runners on base. Further, the team has just a .238 on-base percentage leading off an inning and has drawn just 15 BB. Finally, the cleanup hitters in the Lehigh Valley lineup have 0 RBI and are batting just .077 (2-26) in 2008.

NO WORRIES!: The IronPigs have started 0-7 as manager Dave Huppert looks to win his third consecutive league title. In 2005, his South Atlantic League Champion Lakewood BlueClaws started the season 0-9! Even though the SAL plays two separates halves, the BlueClaws finished the first half at 37-32 and wound up 84-55 for the season.

SCHEDULE SCAM?: The IronPigs' first four series of the season feature three playoff teams from 2007 (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Richmond and Toledo). Including Pawtucket, the four teams combined to go 310-259 last season.

ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON: OF Brandon Watson, who set an IL record with his 43-game hitting streak in 2007, started the season with a six-game hitting streak (9-26). He also had an outfield assist on Opening Day gunning down Brett Gardner at the plate from center field. For Watson, it was his second 8-2 assist since coming up from Florida as he also hosed SS Jimmy Rollins at the plate in the IronPigs exhibition game vs. Philadelphia on March 30.

OTHER BACON BITS: RHP Ron Chiavacci (0-0, 0.79) has been effective in two starts following his strong season with Toledo in 2007. He has run his scoreless streak to 10.1 innings... The IronPigs have four home runs in their first seven games. Last season, Ottawa didn't hit its first until Game 14 (at-bat number 481) and had just one in the first 27 games.

LOUISVILLE BATS

THE LAST TIME: The last time the Bats won back-to-back shutouts, prior to Tuesday and Wednesday, was July 1-2, 2007 at home versus Columbus

(6-0) and Indianapolis (1-0). The last time the Bats swept a four-game series on the road, which they could complete again today, was June 13-16, 2006 at The Diamond in Richmond.

BRING YOUR BROOMS: The Bats, who historically never play well in Moosic, are looking for their first opportunity at a four-game series sweep against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tonight. In 2006, Louisville dropped the first game to the Red Barons, and then went on to take the last three games of the May 27-30 series. The Redbirds in 1998 had the same fate, losing the first game and winning the final three of their series (May 19-22).

IDENTICAL: The Bats have an identical record through seven games from last season. The 2007 team ended the month of April with a record of 11-12 for their fourth straight losing April. The 2001 RiverBats were the last Louisville team to have a 6-2 record through their first eight games, and the last time a Louisville team started better than that was the 1998 Redbirds, when through their first eight games they were 7-1. That year, the Redbirds didn't lose their second game until the 11th contest of the season (9-2).

THE 300 CLUB: With RHP Tom Shearn's two strikeouts last night, he became a member of the 300 strikeout club and is two K's away from moving into 3rd place on the Louisville all-time strikeout list.

NORFOLK TIDES

COMEBACK KIDS: The Tides rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win Tuesday night's ballgame, and the Tides have registered a come-from-behind win in three of their four victories so far this season. Norfolk trailed 1-0 in Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader vs. Buffalo before winning 2-1, and the Tides rallied from an 8-3 deficit in the final inning of Sunday's nightcap to pull out a 9-8 win. The six-run rally in the final inning was Norfolk's biggest comeback in the final frame since August 4, 2005, when the Tides entered the 9th inning at Indianapolis trailing 8-1 but sent 13 men to the plate and scored nine runs en route to a 10-8 win. The Tides rallied for 20 come-from-behind wins in 2007, but the largest margin of victory Norfolk overcame to win a game last year was two runs, which was done on six different occasions.

HIT MAN: With another base hit in last night's win, Tides infielder Oscar Salazar increased his season-opening hit streak to seven games. Salazar, who hit .289 with 22 homers and 96 RBI for Double-A Bowie last year, has hit .321 (9-28) with five RBI over the streak. He is one of three players in the IL to have hit safely in each of his first seven games, joining Pawtucket's Chris Carter and Charlotte's DeWayne Wise.

SMALL BALL: Entering play on Thursday, the Tides were tied with Toledo atop the International League with a .298 team batting average. However, Norfolk is the only team in the League not to have hit a home run this season, as conditions at Harbor Park have been less than ideal during the first seven games of the 2008 campaign.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX

CARTER CARRYING PAWSOX: With one week of the season in the books, the PawSox have begun 2008 with a 5-2 record to match their start from last season. A win this afternoon in their homestand finale against Lehigh Valley would give the PawSox their best start since 2000 when they were 6-2. Leading the way is LF Chris Carter who has hit in all 7 games and is among the International League leaders in a host of categories. He is 8th in the league in batting (.417), 6th in on-base pct. (.500), and T-1st in doubles (5). Carter, 25, had spent the better part of four seasons in the Arizona system including the last two years at Triple-A Tucson (hitting over .300 in both seasons). He was traded to Washington last August 21 but then immediately shipped to Boston in exchange for Red Sox OF Wily Mo Pena. Carter, a Stanford University product, spent the offseason playing for La Guaira of the Venezuelan Winter League where he batted .336 with 27 RBI in 41 games. He continued to impress during big league spring training camp with the Red Sox hitting .359. Mainly a first baseman throughout his pro career, he has made the switch to the outfield with the PawSox this season. But it is his bat that has the lefty-hitter among the top offensive players in the IL after a week of action.

RING TONE: During Pawtucket's 4-1 win this past Tuesday afternoon, PawSox outfielder Bobby Kielty went 1-1 with 2 walks and an RBI SF to improve on his League-leading on base pct. of .650. It was a bittersweet performance for Kielty, however, as at the same time he was playing on the field at McCoy Stadium, his former teammates in Boston were receiving their 2007 World Series rings in pre-game ceremonies prior to Boston's home-opener at Fenway Park. Kielty was on Boston's World Series roster last October and delivered a key pinch-hit HR during Game 4 to provide the winning margin in Boston's sweep of Colorado to clinch the World Championship. The good news is that current PawSox players Kielty, 1B Brandon Moss, OF Jeff Bailey, and RHP Devern Hansack, who all played for the Red Sox at some point last season, will soon receive their World Series rings and be presented those prior to an upcoming game at McCoy.

SMITH CLEANS COLON SPILL: RHP Bartolo Colon was outstanding on Opening Night last Thursday as he fired 5.0 scoreless innings of 1-hit ball to earn a 3-0 victory over Indianapolis. However, a few days later Colon experienced some soreness in his right oblique and was subsequently placed on the disabled list. His spot in the rotation was taken by RHP Chris Smith who was promoted from Double-A Portland. Smith, one day before his 27th birthday, picked up right where Colon left off with 4.0 shutout innings of his own on Tuesday to help the PawSox to a 4-1 win over Lehigh Valley.

RICHMOND BRAVES

OF STREAKS AND MEN: 1B Barbaro Canizares has hits in each of the Braves' six games (10-25, .400). Brandon Jones (7-24, .292) has hits in six straight games. Scott Spezio (7-21, .333) and Clint Sammons (8-19, .421) have hits in five straight games. Josh Anderson has a four-game hitting streak (9-18, .500). Jonathan Rouwenhorst has not allowed a run in four outings over 7.0 innings.

TURNING THE TABLES: The Braves won for the first time this season last night when not allowing a home run. The opposition scored the first run in a game for the first time last night.

NOTABLE NUMBERS: Brent Lillibridge is hitting just .120 but he leads the Braves in RBI (seven) and is tied for the club lead in runs scored (six). . . Braves pitchers have 22 strikeouts in the last two games. . . The Braves have scored at least four runs in all six games.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS

TODAY'S HISTORY LESSON: The Red Wings are off to their first 2-4 start since 2001. However, not all is lost. The last time the Red Wings started a season on an extended eight-game road trip was 1997 when they traveled to Columbus and Toledo. Rochester started that trip with a 2-4 record but went on to finish with an 83-58 regular season record and won the Governors' Cup Championship.

BUTTERFINGERS: The Red Wings have committed an International League-high 13 errors in the first six games. Rochester hasn't led the International League in errors since 2001 when they had 197. The Red Wings aren't the only teams struggling defensively. Buffalo has 12 errors while Durham has 11 (both have played seven games).

EIGHT IS NOT ENOUGH: The Red Wings will open an eight-day, nine-game homestand Friday night when they welcome Syracuse and Richmond. This eight-day, nine-game homestand will be the longest April homestand Rochester has had since April 23-May 2, 1998 when they played 10 games.

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL: Outfielder Garrett Jones hit his second home run of the season Tuesday night (his 60th as a Red Wing). Jones is the first Rochester player to hit 60 home runs during his Red Wings career since John Valle hit 66 home runs from 1980-1984. Jones is just six home runs shy of tying Luke Easter and Valle for 9th all-time (66 home runs) on the Red Wings home run list and 17 away from tying Steve Bilko for 7th all-time (77 home runs).

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES

AN UPGRADE IN PITCHING: The Yankees bats had it much easier with Lehigh Valley in town over the first four games of the season. In the four-game sweep over the IronPigs, the Yankees scored 16 runs and hit .248. Out of the 29 hits the Yankees picked up in the series, 11 (four HR, three 3B and four 2B) went for extra bases. In three games against the Louisville Bats pitchers, SWB has hit .143 with four extras base hits (one HR, three 2B) and has managed just two runs.

FIVE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: In four wins in 2008, the fortunes of the Yankees have gone with the starting pitchers. When the SWB starting pitcher has lasted 5.0 innings, the Yankees are 4-0. When the starter has failed to pitch the minimum innings needed to qualify for a win, the Yankees are 0-3.

BROWN OUT IS OVER: C Jason Brown was on the original Opening Day roster for the SWB Yankees before being transferred to the Staten Island Yankees roster before the season began when the Yankees signed C Chris Stewart. Brown, who remained in Scranton, has been placed back on the SWB active roster with SS Alberto Gonzalez getting recalled to the parent club to help out during the injury to Derek Jeter. In a separate move, outfielder Shelley Duncan has been optioned from New York. In 2007, Duncan set the single season franchise record with 25 home runs before earning a July 20 promotion.

SYRACUSE CHIEFS

PUDGE RETURNS TO UPSTATE NEW YORK: The IL, in conjunction with the Chiefs and Rochester Red Wings, announced this week that National Baseball Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk will be in Cooperstown, NY on Sunday, May 18 as the League and two of its most tenured teams celebrate the circuit's 125th Anniversary season. Fisk played 24 years in the Major Leagues and before that he spent the 1971 season in the IL. The following season he was the American League Rookie of the Year.

B.J. RYAN SET TO REHAB WITH THE CHIEFS: Blue Jays reliever B.J. Ryan is expected to join the Chiefs on Friday in Rochester and pitch every other day during the Chiefs' eight-game road trip to Rochester and Buffalo. Ryan was out all of the 2007 season with Tommy John surgery and has been pitching at the Blue Jays minor league complex in Dunedin, Florida. Ryan spent parts of the 1999 and 2000 season with the Red Wings.

CHIEFS PLAY ALL EIGHT GAMES IN EARLY APRIL: Who would have thought that in Syracuse, New York the Chiefs would get all eight games in from April 3-10 and that the Chiefs would play in weather conditions at game time that included five dates in the 60's and two others in the 50's? Only the April 4 game was postponed, due to rain (not snow).

CHIEFS NEW SURFACE GETS GOOD REVIEWS: The Syracuse Chiefs unveiled their new playing surface on Opening Day (April 3) to rave reviews. New groundskeeper Wes Ganobcik came to Syracuse from Baltimore after he worked for the Orioles at Camden Yards in 2007. The Ohio State graduate, with a degree in turf grass science, is looking forward to making Alliance Bank Stadium the jewel of the International League.

TOLEDO MUD HENS

3B MIKE HESSMAN NEARING MILESTONE: Fourth-year Toledo 3B Mike Hessman is nearing a Mud Hens RBI milestone. As of April 10 Hessman has 229 career RBI with Toledo. The modern-era (1965-present) record is 233 RBI held by Scott Ullger (1982, 1984-86). The all-time Toledo RBI record stands at 388 accomplished by Bobby Veach (1926-1929).

FOSSUM FINDS HOME IN TOLEDO: The Detroit Tigers signed LHP Casey Fossum as a free agent on April 8 and placed him on the Toledo temporarily inactive list. The 6'1" southpaw spent the 2007 season with Tampa Bay (7.70 ERA / 76.0 IP / 109 H / 65 ER) before being released on August 10. He spent the remainder of the season with the Pacific Coast League's Portland Beavers compiling an 8.10 ERA (13.1 IP / 26 H / 12 ER). Fossum was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 1st round (48th pick) of the 1999 draft. On November 28, 2003 he was traded from Boston to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Curt Schilling deal. In February of 2005, Fossum was traded to Tampa Bay for Jose Cruz and cash.

GOING YARD...OR NOT: Throughout this young 2008 season, the entire Toledo Mud Hens' pitching staff has giving up just 2 HR. Last year two home runs were given up to Durham in just the third game of the season. The home run pendulum is swaying in total favor of the Mud Hens. Toledo is leading the International League with 12 home runs and 1B Jeff Larish is leading the way with 4. Larish is also leading the League in RBI with nine (along with teammate Matt Joyce).

A CROP TO BE PROUD OF: The Detroit Minor League system is off to a stellar start. As of April 10 they have a combined 20-8 record, which is second-best in professional baseball. Oakland leads the way at 19-7.

International League Stories from April 10, 2008

• Syracuse Defeats Indianapolis 6-1 - Indianapolis Indians
• Braves Edge Bisons - Gwinnett Stripers
• Norfolk Pitchers Combine For A Six-Hit Shutout - Norfolk Tides
• Indians Open 2008 Home Schedule On Friday - Indianapolis Indians
• International League News and Notes - IL1
• Bisons Notes - Buffalo Bisons
• Indians and Pirates sign four-year PDC extension - Indianapolis Indians

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.