Eastern League News
Published on May 7, 2003 under Eastern League (EL1) News Release
Song Tosses First No-Hitter in Senators History
On Monday, April 28, Harrisburg's Seung Song tossed the first no-hitter in Senators franchise history, as Harrisburg edged the Erie SeaWolves 2-1 at RiverSide Stadium in Harrisburg. Song, a native of Pusan South Korea, threw 119 pitches in the first complete game of his career. The 22-year old retired the first 10 batters he faced and following a one-out walk in the 4th inning retired another 15 straight batters.
Song struck out four batters and walked just two, allowing an unearned run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning after committing a throwing error on a bunt by Erie's Nook Loogan.
The SeaWolves' best chance at a hit came in the second inning when Eastern League home run leader, Leo Daigle, hit a grounder in the hole between second and third base, which Harrisburg shortstop Albenis Machado made a diving stop on and threw out Daigle from deep short.
The Senators jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a home run by Jeremy Ware and added the eventual game-winner on a sacrifice fly by Noah Hall in the third inning.
Following his outstanding outing, Song, who was acquired by the Montreal Expos in a trade with the Boston Red Sox on July 30, 2002, was carried off the field by his teammates.
Song's no-hitter was the fifth in the minor leagues this season and the second in the Eastern League. The first no-hitter of the Eastern League season was thrown by Fernando Vargas, Aaron Myette and Jose Vargas against the Harrisburg Senators on April 8.
Montgomery Named Rolaids Relief Man for April
Norwich Navigators right-hander Matt Montgomery has been named the Eastern League Rolaids Relief Man for the month of April. The 6'3", 210 lb. hurler went 2-1 with a 1.26 ERA and six saves last month, giving him a total of 20 points for the month which tied him with Erie's Brian Schmack.
Montgomery was declared the overall winner because he had a lower ERA than Schmack, breaking the tie between the two pitchers. Montgomery was tied for 9th in the overall Minor League Standings.
This is not the first time Montgomery has won the award. The 26-year old also won the monthly award four years ago while pitching for San Antonio of the Texas League as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system.
New Britain's Morneau Promoted to Rochester
On Wednesday, April 30 New Britain's Justin Morneau was promoted to Triple-A Rochester. At the time of his promotion, the 21-year old was batting .329 with 14 runs scored, 13 RBI and a team-leading six home runs.
The 2002 season was a breakout campaign for Morneau. Justin earned Eastern League Chevrolet Player of the Week honors on two separate occasions and represented Canada on the World Team at the MLB Futures Game in Milwaukee. Morneau finished the season batting .298 with 16 home runs and 80 RBI in 126 games for the Rock Cats.
The 6'4", 225 lb. slugger made his Triple-A debut on May 1st as the Red Wings took on the Buffalo Bison in Rochester. In his debut Morneau went 2-for-4 with one RBI and was even more impressive the following day, going 5-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored.
Daigle Finishes April Among Old Navy Leaders
Erie SeaWolves first baseman Leo Daigle blasted an Eastern League best seven home runs during the month of April, placing him in a tie for second place in the Old Navy Home Run Hero Standings for Double-A.
At the end of the season Old Navy will award the overall home run leader in Minor League Baseball with a trophy as well as $200 for each home run he hit during the regular season. The Triple-A, Double-A and Single-A leaders at the end of the season will each receive a $500 Old Navy Gift Card provided they are not the overall winner.
Line of the Week
May 2, 2003
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
9 4 0 0 1 5 0 0.00
Chien-ming Wang, Trenton Thunder
Trenton's Chien-ming Wang tossed a complete game four-hit shutout against the New Britain Rock Cats in their 1-0 victory at New Britain Stadium on May 2. With the win the 23-year old improved his record to 2-1 on the season. Wang has allowed only one run in his last 17 innings of work for the Thunder.
Quote of the Week
"A hot dog at the ballpark is better than steak at the Ritz." Humphrey Bogart, Actor
News and Notes from Around the League
Akron Aeros
Over his last 15 games INF Luis Gonzalez is hitting .362 with 13 runs scored, six doubles, one home run and 12 RBI. Since arriving in Akron on April 21, RHP Jake Robbins is 2-0 with two saves and a 0.00 ERA in 12 innings of work. 2B Maicer Izturis currently has a 16-game hitting streak, over which he is batting .371 with five doubles, five triples, eight RBI, 14 runs scored and five steals.
Altoona Curve
RHP Landon Jacobsen, the only current minor league player from the state of North Dakota and 50th round pick of the Pirates in the June 1999 draft, is 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA in his first six Double-A starts. After winning the first four games of their season-long nine game road trip, the Curve had a record of 9-7 away from home, the best start on the road in franchise history.
Binghamton Mets
2B Daniel Garcia (.364-3rd) and OF Ron Acuna (.355-6th) are both currently ranked in the top 10 in the Eastern League in batting average and the B-Mets are ranked fourth in the league with a .268 team batting average. The B-Mets pitching staff, anchored by RHP Jake Joseph (2-1, 1.97 ERA), has the fourth best ERA in the league (3.48) and is leading the league in shutouts with five.
Bowie Baysox
The Baysox six game losing streak from April 26-May 2 was their longest of the season and their longest such streak since the team dropped seven straight games from June 18-24 last season. Bowie closed the month of April with a 12-10 record, a seven game improvement on last year's 5-17 mark. OF Tim Raines Jr. is tied for the league lead with 12 steals.
Erie SeaWolves
OF Noochie Varner is currently ranked second in the league with a .367 batting average and is the only SeaWolves player hitting over .300. LHP Homero Rivera is tied for the league lead with four wins. Rivera is 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA in 11 relief appearances this season after going 5-3 with eight saves and a 2.05 ERA in 40 games for the SeaWolves in 2002.
Harrisburg Senators
OF Jeremy Ware blasted four home runs last week, including two in a season best 20-hit attack at Erie on Sunday afternoon. RHP Seung Song defeated the Erie SeaWolves twice during the week, including the first no-hitter in modern franchise history, working 15 innings and allowing just one unearned run on two hits.
New Britain Rock Cats
The Rock Cats scored 18 runs against Trenton on Sunday. The last time New Britain scored 18 runs in a game was at New Haven on June 27, 2002. The Rock Cats have hit only two home runs in their last 14 games and have gone 10 straight games without a homer. 1B Justin Morneau, who was promoted to Rochester last week, has hit six of the teams 10 home runs on the season.
New Haven Ravens
Toronto Blue Jays first round draft pick Alexis Rios has 26 hits in his first 16 games as a Raven, including five doubles, two triples, three home runs and 16 runs scored. The 22-year old has hit safely in 14 of the 16 games he has played and is leading the Eastern League in batting average (.426), on-base percentage (.514) and slugging percentage (.721).
Norwich Navigators
DH Alejandro Freire is fifth in the league with a .356 batting average and is leading the âGators in home runs (4), hits (31) and doubles (8). RHP Kevin Vent (3-0, 4.35 ERA) and RHP kevin Correia (3-1, 2.88 ERA) are tied for the team lead in victories, with three each and RHP Matt Montgomery is leading the team and is second in the league with six saves.
Portland Sea Dogs
Over the last 15 games the Portland Sea Dogs starting pitchers have an ERA of 2.45. Over his last six appearances RHP Anastacio Martinez has given up no hits and has two saves in 8.2 innings of work. In their win over the Reading Phillies on April 29th, RHP Tim Kester struck out seven batters and scattered five hits while allowing only one runner to advance past first base in eight innings of work.
Reading Phillies
LF Jeff Inglin has not struck out in his last 73 plate appearances. The last time he struck out was April 16 against Akron. Over that time he is 23-for-63 (.365) with eight multi-hit games. RF Jorge Padilla, SS Anderson Machado and 3B Juan Richardson are all in the midst of 5-game hitting streaks.
Trenton Thunder
3B Brian Myrow has reached base in all 24 games this season and has 18 RBI in his last 10 games, giving him a league leading 26 runs batted in for the season. The Thunder set a season high in runs scored (16) on Thursday against Norwich and runs allowed (18) at New Britain on Sunday.
Chevrolet Player of the Week
JOSH BONIFAY, an outfielder for the Altoona Curve, is the Eastern League's Chevrolet Player of the Week for the week ending May 4th. Bonifay, the son of former Pittsburgh Pirates Senior Vice President and General Manager Cam Bonifay, had an excellent week, hitting .500 (12-for-24) with two doubles, four home runs, 12 runs batted in and five runs scored in seven games. The 24-year old native of Wilmington, North Carolina homered in four straight games (April 30-May 3), falling one game shy of Adam Hyzdu's franchise record for most consecutive games with a home run which the former Eastern League MVP set during the 1999 season. The 6'0", 187 lb. slugger was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 24th round of the June 1999 draft.
Chevrolet Pitcher of the Week
SEUNG SONG, a right-handed pitcher for the Harrisburg Senators, is the Eastern League's Chevrolet Pitcher of the Week for the week ending May 4th. In two starts last week the Pusan, South Korea native went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in a pair of starts against the Erie SeaWolves. In his first start of the week the 22-year old struck out four batters and walked two while tossing the first no-hitter Senators franchise history as the Senators edged the SeaWolves 2-1. The 6'1", 190 lb. hurler scattered two hits and struck out five batters while tossing six shutout innings to improve his record to 3-0 on the season. Seung currently ranks seventh in the Eastern League with a 1.69 ERA. Song was acquired by the Montreal Expos in as part of the Cliff Floyd trade with the Boston Red Sox on July 30, 2002.
Eastern League Stories from May 7, 2003
- Eastern League News - EL1
- Curve Tie Franchise Hit Record in 10-2 Win at Akron - Altoona Curve
- Casillas' Rise through the Ranks is Phenomenal - Reading Fightin Phils
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