IL1 International League

International League News & Notes- 05.01

Published on May 1, 2008 under International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS

MILLER TIME BACK IN BUFFALO: Pitcher Adam Miller has gotten his 2008 season underway with two solid outings. On April 23 at Scranton/WB, Miller allowed just three unearned runs in 5.0 innings of work. On Monday, Miller kept the Yankees off the scoreboard for four more frames. Miller did not earn a decision in either game. Last year, Miller was 5-4 with a 4.82 ERA in 19 games with the Bisons. The Indians #1 prospect (according to Baseball America) began the year on the disabled list as he recovered from a pair of injuries that hampered his '07 campaign.

THE BAUER HOUR: RHP Rick Bauer has been outstanding out of the pen for Buffalo. The reliever has posted a 0.79 ERA in a team-high 11 games. Ten of his outings have been scoreless with six of the appearances hitless. As the team's closer, he has converted five of six save opportunities and is tied for 4th in the International League in saves. Opponents are hitting just .158 (6-38) off of him.

THE 500 CLUB: Bisons skipper Torey Lovullo is approaching a milestone in his managerial career. In only his seventh season on the bench in the Cleveland Indians system, Lovullo is just 18 wins shy of 500. Lovullo has never finished the season with a losing record and is currently 482-386 as a manager (.555 winning pct.). The Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer was twice named Manager of the Year: 2005 with Class-A Kinston and 2006 with Double-A Akron.

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS

WHISLER OFF TO BEST START IN KNIGHTS HISTORY: Knights starting pitcher Wes Whisler is off to the best start in team history. Whisler is now 5-0 on the season, and is the first Knights pitcher to win his first 5 starts of the season. Whisler got win number five with a 5-2 victory over Norfolk. Whisler has a 1.26 ERA with 10 strikeouts over five starts. Pitcher Feliz Diaz started the 2004 season at 4-0, eventually going 8-0 in his first 11 starts. Diaz earned a no decision in his fifth start.

BROADWAY CONTINUES STRONG START: Lance Broadway pitched another great game for the Knights on Tuesday afternoon against Norfolk. Broadway finished with a no-decision as he scattered 5 hits over 8.0 innings allowing only a solo home run to former White Sox infielder Alex Cintron. Broadway struck out 6 Tides batters in the game and is now just 2 away from 300 career strikeouts in the Minor Leagues. Broadway sits at 3-1 with a 1.25 ERA.

WISE GUY: OF Dewayne Wise has had a great month of April. Wise finished the month with a .373 batting average, 5 home runs and 10 RBI. Wise also has an on-base percentage of .448 and an OPS of 1.111.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS

ALMOST THERE: The Clippers come into tonight's game with a chance to reach .500 for the first time since April 5 when they started the day 1-1. The latest the Clippers were at break-even last season was on May 14 when they started the day at 18-18. This year, the Clippers started the day on April 4 above .500 (1-0) for the first time since they were 6-5 heading into play at Buffalo on April 17, 2006. WINDY NIGHT IN LOUISVILLE: On Monday night in Louisville, the Clipper pitching staff notched 20 strikeouts (16 swinging), with 10 of them coming in extra innings. It was only the second time in the last 3+ seasons that a team in the IL struck out 20 or more batters in a game (Toledo struck out 21 at Durham on April 22, 2007 in a 16-inning game). As a staff, the Clippers lead the League in strikeouts (258) and average 9.6 K/9.

OUT OF POSITION: In Sunday's 13-4 loss to Louisville, Larry Broadway became the first position player to pitch for Columbus since Brent Abernathy tossed a scoreless inning versus Indianapolis on July 27 last season. Overall last season, the Clippers had three players (Abernathy, Robin Jennings and Marco Yepez) make five appearances on the mound. While it was Broadway's first time taking the hill as a professional, he is no stranger to having the ball in his hand. As a freshman at Duke University in 2000 he went 1-1 with a 4.68 ERA in his only season as a pitcher. The Clippers also used a pitcher to pinch-hit on Sunday as Dennis Tankersley was called on to sub in the batter's box for the second time this season (2 strikeouts). Last season the Clippers used Chris Michalak to pinch-hit twice (0-1, SAC).

EXTRA INNING BLUES DON'T FOLLOW CLIPPERS TO LOUISVILLE: The Clippers' 17-inning win on Monday was just the third extra inning win (all at Louisville) for the Clippers in their last 11 chances. They have played a total of 25 extra frames and scored a total of seven runs in those 11 games. All seven runs have come in their three wins; a 12-9 victory in 10 innings at Louisville on April 24, 2007, Saturday's 13-inning, 4-3 win and Monday's 17-inning, 5-2 triumph. Overall, they have been outscored 14-7 in extra innings in their last 11 games. The 17 innings played on Monday were the most Columbus has played since June 7, 2005 when they battled the Ottawa Lynx for 17 innings in a 6-5 win in Columbus.

DURHAM BULLS

SHUTOUT STORY: The Bulls have recorded shutouts in back-to-back home games, beating Richmond 4-0 on Tuesday and 2-0 on Wednesday. Durham finished the month with four shutout victories. The back-to-back shutouts at home were the first for Durham since August 14-15, 2003, when the Bulls accomplished the same feat against the Braves.

MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME: Justin Ruggiano has certainly made an impact in the Durham lineup since returning from Tampa Bay. Ruggiano, who went to the Rays when Cliff Floyd got hurt, is 5-10 with three doubles and three RBI in three games since returning to Durham. Ruggiano was a IL Postseason All-Star a year ago.

CHANGES: Durham finished the month of April with an unbelievable 32 transactions. More moves may occur soon as RHP Al Reyes should come off the DL for Tampa Bay within the next week, and LHP Scott Kazmir should return to Tampa Bay's active roster on May 3 or 4. Kazmir started for the Bulls in a rehab assignment on Monday against Richmond, allowing a run on three hits over five-plus innings.

ON THE MOVE: The many transactions so far (32) are primarily because Tampa Bay, Durham's parent team, had at one point nine players on the DL. The number now is down to seven: outfielders Rocco Baldelli and Cliff Floyd, infielders Willie Aybar and Ben Zobrist, and pitchers Kazmir, Chad Orvella and Reyes. In addition, pitcher Juan Salas is on the restricted list because of visa issues that saw him arrive in St. Petersburg 10 days ago.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

I'LL BE ON THE BASE PATHS: Indianapolis OF Andrew McCutchen has reached base in 22 consecutive contests (.300 BA, 27-90, 16 R, 11 RBI). The streak ranks as the International League's longest in 2008.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: The Tribe ranks 3rd in the International League with 54 doubles. OFs Andrew McCutchen and Steve Pearce are tied for 2nd in the League with nine two-baggers apiece.

PLAYING THAT "D": Indianapolis is tied for 1st in the International League with a .985 fielding percentage. The Tribe has committed just 15 errors in 981 total chances (705 PO, 261 A, 15 E). The Indians are 9-7 in 16 errorless games this season.

DON'T MESS WITH THESE THREE AMIGOS: The Indians have three relievers with an ERA under 2.00 -- RHP Marino Salas (0.51), LHP Sean Burnett (1.17) and RHP Jesse Chavez (1.65). The trio has combined to allow just a .170 batting average (29-for-171) this season. Burnett recorded his ninth scoreless outing of 2008 with a perfect 9th inning on Tuesday night. The 25-year-old owns a team-best .154 batting average against this season. The former first-round pick is holding opponents to a .130 clip with runners on base, a .154 average with runners on and two outs, a .172 clip with the bases empty and a .182 average with runners in scoring position.

STAYING ABOVE .500: In four seasons as a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, Indianapolis has spent 466 of 479 days (97%) at .500 or better. The streak includes 281 consecutive in-season days from April 22, 2006 to August 28, 2007. The Indians stayed above .500 for 145 straight days (April 5-Aug. 28) during the 2007 campaign.

LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS

MILB CELLAR: The IronPigs (3-24) continue to own the worst record in Minor League Baseball. St. Lucie (Florida State League) has improved to 5-21 and Mississippi (Southern League) is now at 6-20. Other teams not too far ahead are Tucson (PCL) at 7-20 and Nashville (PCL) at 7-18. In stark contrast, Salt Lake (PCL) is now 23-2. The Phillies farm system is now ranked 30th (last) amongst all MLB organizations in winning percentage with an overall 38-66 record (.365). Double-A Reading (13-12) is the only club in the system above .500. Going back to last season, the Phillies' Triple-A teams (OTT, LHV) have gone 19-55 (.257) since July 20, 2007.

OFFENSIVE WOES CONTINUE: During their past four-game homestand, Lehigh Valley was shutout twice (both two-hitters) and scored just five runs combined. For the season, the IronPigs have scored just 61 runs in 27 games, an average of 2.3 R/G. The next lowest total in the IL is 101 (Durham, Richmond) -- 40 more than the Lehigh Valley total. The IronPigs are still last in the IL in AVG (.214) and the team is batting just .150 (28-187) with RISP. The 'Pigs have already been shutout five times and have scored 0-2 R in 16 of 27 (59.3%) of their games.

HAPP-Y DAYS: LHP J.A. Happ has recorded back-to-back quality starts, going 0-0 with a 0.64 ERA (14 IP, 1 ER) and a .111 OBA (5-45) in those starts while fanning 13 batters. The bullpen blew his 3-1 lead April 23 at Rochester (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K) and then he matched zeroes with LHP David Purcey on April 29 vs. Syracuse (7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K).

STREAKS 'N SUCH: 1B Andy Tracy has hit a home run in 4 of his last 7 games. In addition, he has reached base safely in his last 9 games and hit safely in 7 of his last 8 games (.300-4-9; 9-30)... INF/OF Mike Cervenak has reached base safely in 14 of the last 15 games and hit safely in 6 of his last 8 games (12-32, .375-2-5)... Closer Matt Childers had his scoreless IP streak snapped at 10.1 Tuesday night.

LOUISVILLE BATS

INTO THE WEE HOURS: The Bats' 17-inning, 4:58 game Monday night was the second longest game in franchise history. After a 40 minute rain delay to start the game, Louisville trailed 2-1 heading into the 9th inning. With two on and one out, OF Chris Dickerson singled home INF Andy Phillips to tie the game and send it into the team's League-high fourth extra-innings game of the season (1-3). 1B Kevin Barker was on the mound in the 17th inning, making his fifth career pitching appearance and first since 2005 (New Hampshire). The longest game in franchise history occurred on June 6, 2003 versus Richmond. The Bats defeated the R-Braves, 4-3, in 18 innings and a time of 5:23; there was a 2:15 rain delay to start that 2003 game.

WILD, WILD WEST: The Bats closed out an 11-game stretch against IL West opponents yesterday. They finished the stretch with a 6-5 record and stand a game-and-a-half back of division-leading Toledo. In 2007, the Bats finished 29-19 (.604) versus West Division teams and had the best winning percentage within the Division. Toledo, at 26-22 (.542), was 2nd.

JANISH'S YATZEE: SS Paul Janish had a big day at the plate Sunday as he set a career-high in RBI with six and matched his career-high with four hits (done five previous times). He also blasted his second career grand slam - his first GS came last season which was also his first Triple-A home run (August 9 vs. Indianapolis, Marty McLeary). Last season, the Bats hit seven grand slams which ties the franchise record for most GS in a season.

APRIL TO REMEMBER: Through the team's first 26 games, the Bats are off to their best start since the 2003 season when they also started 16-11 (.593). Their victory yesterday was their 16th of the year and matches the franchise record for wins in the month of April. The then-RiverBats were 16-6 (.727) in April, 2000.

NORFOLK TIDES

HIT MAN: Outfielder Luis Terrero has hit safely in each of his last six games, hitting .455 (10-22) with a homer and six RBI over that stretch. Terrero has hit .342 on the season, and that average is tops among all Orioles minor leaguers and 3rd in the International League. Terrero leads the club with 27 hits this season, and his .441 on-base percentage ranks 4th in the IL. With a hit tonight, Terrero would match Norfolk's season-high hitting streak, set by Oscar Salazar during the first seven games of the season.

RBI MACHINE: Infielder Oscar Salazar has 19 runs batted in this season, a total that leads all Orioles minor leaguers and is tied for 5th in the International League. The bulk of those RBI have come in his last 11 games, as Salazar has driven in 14 runs over that span. The 30-year-old has hit safely in 19 of the 24 games he's played in this season, and he's reached base safely in each of his last 12 contests. Last year, Salazar led all Baltimore minor leaguers with 96 RBI while playing for Double-A Bowie.

APRIL IMPROVEMENT IN '08: Norfolk finished the month of April 11-14, which is four wins and one loss better than the Tides' opening month of 2007, when Norfolk came out of the gate with a 7-15 record. This season, the Tides were 2nd in the League in April with a .266 team average, while the club's 3.93 ERA was 8th in the IL. Last year, Norfolk's team batting average after April was tied for 8th in the League at .240, while the Tides' ERA was last in the League at 4.55.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX

MAY DAY MEANS END OF APRIL: The PawSox concluded a winning month of April as they posted a 15-12 record during the month and wound up playing 27 games - their most-ever in the month of April. The Sox played 26 games in April of 1997 (going 15-11) which had represented their most in April until this year. Pawtucket's best April on record was 1994 when they went 18-5 during the first month of that season. The PawSox had gone 9-13 during each of the last two Aprils. Their last winning April prior to this year came in 2004 (12-10). Some April leaders for the PawSox: CF Jonathan Van Every led the club with a .298 batting average while catcher George Kottaras paced the club with 6 HR & 17 RBI and also had team-highs of 17 walks & 15 runs scored. LF Chris Carter was tops in doubles with 9 (tied for 2nd in the League). On the mound: starter Charlie Zink and reliever Lincoln Holdzkom led the team with 3 victories apiece, closer Lee Gronkiewicz was tops in both ERA (0.79) and saves (5) although he was placed on the disabled list on Thursday with right elbow soreness, while Zink led in IP (29.1) and Chris Smith in strikeouts (22).

COLON ON CINCO: The PawSox are currently 2-3 on their season-high 9-game roadtrip to upstate New York. They play four more games in Syracuse beginning tonight through Sunday before finally return to McCoy Stadium on Monday, May 5 for an 8-game homestand that includes four games with Durham and four more with Norfolk through May 12. Monday night (6:15 p.m.) could feature RHP Bartolo Colon as the PawSox starter as Colon continues to comeback from a strained oblique (DL since April 4). PawSox fans will have the chance to see Bartolo and celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Prior to the game, the first adult fan who breaks a New York Yankee piñata will receive a Bartolo Colon autographed baseball. The same prize will go to a youngster who breaks a child piñata.

RICHMOND BRAVES

OFFENSIVE RECESSION: The Braves have been shutout in back to back games. The last time the Braves were blanked in consecutive games was April 21, 23 of 2006 by Norfolk and Buffalo. The last time the Braves were shutout in back to back games by the same opponent was April 16-17, 2006 by Rochester. Richmond has been held to two or fewer runs in five of their last 11 games. They scored two or less just twice in their first 14 contests.

TAXING THE PEN: Due to a combination of injury rehab assignments, potential promotions, pitch limits, and old-fashioned struggles, the Braves have gone six straight games without a starter working through the 5th inning. The Braves bullpen has pitched 32 innings in the last six games. Braves relievers have allowed five earned runs in their last 25 innings (1.80 ERA).

BAND ON THE RUN: Richmond leads the International League with 39 stolen bases, 11 more than any other IL club. Richmond swiped 16 bases in 16 tries in a five-game series against Norfolk last week. At their current pace the Braves would steal 224 bases, shattering the club record of 195 (1986). The Braves have only been caught six times (86.7%) and lead the IL in stolen base percentage. Nine different Braves have steals.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS

THE LONG ARM OF THE IL RESIDES AT FRONTIER FIELD: The Red Wings enter tonight's game leading the International League with a team ERA of 2.95. If Rochester can finish the 2008 season leading the IL in team ERA it would be the first time since 1976 when Rochester led the IL with a 3.15 ERA. Since 1964, when team ERA records start in the IL office, Rochester has led the IL in team ERA just twice (1974, 3.04 ERA & 1976).

IL NUGGET: Since 1964, when team ERA records start in the IL office, only the 1975 season has had a team with a team ERA under 3.00. Actually there were three teams (Tidewater led the League with a 2.80 ERA followed by Memphis 2.95 and Rochester 2.96).

OH WHAT A RELIEF: The Red Wings bullpen has been tremendous the last 20 games, going, 7-2 with seven saves and a 1.57 ERA. In 74.1 innings of work, the relievers have allowed just 13 earned runs on 51 hits while striking out 64. The bullpen was steady but not spectacular the first seven games of the season, going 1-1 with one save and a 4.07 ERA. The bullpen allowed 14 runs (11 earned) in their first 24.1 innings.

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES

NO APRIL SHOWERS: The Yankees set a franchise mark for the winningest month of April when it picked up win number 17 over Syracuse on Sunday, April 27 in the first game of a doubleheader at Alliance Bank Stadium. The Yankees closed out the month with a win over the Buffalo Bisons to finish April at 18-9. Last season's version of the Yankees went 10-12 during the month of April and did not pick up its 18th win of the season until May 14 with a 9-1 win over Columbus.

STILL STREAKING: Yankee first baseman Juan Miranda had his team-high hitting streak snapped at nine with a 0-3 effort against Buffalo. Miranda drew a walk in the game to extend his consecutive games reaching base streak. Even though the hit streak stopped the on-base streak continued. Through April 30, the former Cuban National team star has reached base in 21 consecutive games, the second longest active streak in the League behind Indianapolis' Andrew McCutchen.

RASTASTIC: Darrell Rasner is the IL's reigning Pitcher of the Week and finished the month of April as arguably the best pitcher in the circuit. His 0.87 ERA was the League's best and his four wins tied him for 3rd. The 27 strikeouts by the right-hander ranked him just outside of the top five and the Yankees are 5-0 in games that he has started.

SYRACUSE CHIEFS

CHIEFS EARLY RISERS: The Chiefs continue to play great baseball during the day, finishing April 13-2 (as opposed to 4-8 at night). The month of May has the Chiefs playing only seven day games.

DIAZ, INGLETT RETURN FROM TORONTO: The Blue Jay made a few roster moves last week that sent catcher Robinzon Diaz and infielder/ outfielder Joe Inglett back to the Chiefs. Both players were hitting over .350 for Syracuse when they were recalled.

ADAM LIND ERA OVER: He played 98 games in parts of three seasons with the Chiefs (batting .341). On Monday the Blue Jays recalled Adam Lind to play left field for Toronto. The Blue Jays top prospect will play everyday, with veterans Shannon Stewart and Matt Stairs sharing the designated hitter duties vacated by Frank Thomas.

17 WINS IN APRIL - MOST EVER IN CHIEFS HISTORY: The Syracuse Chiefs finished April with a 17-10 record and in doing so topped their previous mark of 16-5 set back in 1998 for most wins in the month of April. Of course with the 2008 season starting on April 3 the Chiefs had scheduled 27 games this month and played all 27, without losing any games to weather.

JAPANESE IMPORTS LIKE THE "CUSE": Despite playing baseball in Syracuse since the late 1800's the Syracuse Stars/Chiefs never had suited up a Japanese player before last season when they signed right-handed pitcher Yusaku Iriki and this season recalled left-handed pitcher Jo Matumoto from Double-A New Hampshire.

PURCEY & LIND CAPTURE PLAYER OF MONTH HONORS: Left-handed pitcher David Purcey captured the Chiefs pitcher of the month honors with a 3-1 record and 1.64 ERA in 5 starts for the Chiefs in April. Purcey also struck out 39 batters in 33 innings. Outfielder Adam Lind batted .365 with 16 RBI in 18 games before his promotion to Toronto on April 26.

TOLEDO MUD HENS

HONORING HESSMAN: 3B Mike Hessman was named IL Batter of the Week (April 21-27). Within that week he played in 6 games hitting .348 with 8 hits, 8 runs, 3 HR, 6 RBI and a .870 SLUG.

LEAGUE LEADERS: 3B Mike Hessman leads the League in HR (8), extra-base hits (18), and runs scored (20) and is 2nd in RBI (20) and slugging (.643)...1B Jeff Larish leads the League in RBI (21), is 2nd in HR (7) and extra-base hits (15), and is 4th in slugging (.577)...RF Matt Joyce is tied for 2nd in RBI (20)...RHP Blaine Neal is tied for 1st in the League in saves (9)...RHP Eddie Bonine is tied for the League lead with five wins...RHP Jeremy Johnson is tied for 3rd in the League in wins (4).

ERRORLESS STREAK ENDED: The Mud Hens went seven straight games without an error - their longest stretch of the season and the longest since 2006 when they went 7 straight games without an error (May 26-June 2). The steak ended on April 28 when the Hens committed two errors against Indianapolis. Toledo is tied for the lead the IL in fielding percentage (.985) - 15 errors in 977 total chances.

REHABBING FRANCISCO: RHP Francisco Cruceta has been on MLB Rehab with the Hens. Cruceta has appeared in three games, recording one win. In 6.0 innings, he recorded 16 outs by strikeouts and had given up only one run. Cruceta returns to Detroit today.

HOMERIN' HENS: The Hens have a total of 39 HR, which leads the International League. Scranton/WB is in 2nd with 26. The Mud Hens had 11 multi-home run games in April (26 games).

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International League Stories from May 1, 2008


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