IL1 International League

IL News And Notes

August 16, 2007 - International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS

A NEW LEADER: Outfielder Ben Francisco has taken over the top spot in the International League batting race. Francisco is now hitting .327, three points ahead of Rochester's Jose Morales. Francisco has hit in 14 straight games with a .390 (23-59) average, seven extra-base hits and 10 runs scored. He's also getting some help from his teammates as Bisons' pitching has held Morales hitless in the first two games of their four-game set. The last Bisons player to lead a League in average was Mark Ryal (.334) in 1990 in the American Association.

BARTON IMPRESSING: Outfielder Brian Barton has faired quite well in his first Triple-A stint. He has reached base in eight of his first nine games with a .321 (10-32) average and a .450 (6 walks) on-base percentage. Barton is the Cleveland Indians' #5 prospect according to Baseball America and was an Eastern League All-Star prior to his promotion. With Double-A Akron, he hit .314 (6th in EL) with nine home runs, 59 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 106 games.

LAFFEY RETURNS WITH ANOTHER WIN: LHP Aaron Laffey rejoined the Herd after collecting his first Major League win. Laffey was with Cleveland for two games and defeated the White Sox in Chicago on August 9. On Tuesday, in his first game back with the Bisons, Laffey struck out eight in eight innings to defeat Rochester. It was the southpaw's eighth consecutive winning decision. Laffey is 8-0 with a 1.95 ERA and 64 strikeouts in his last 12 games (73.2 IP).

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS

THE PEREZ WATCH: Knights infielder Kenny Perez is someone you root for. Perez struggled early in the year with the Knights and was sent down to Double-A Birmingham on June 24. Perez took the demotion in stride and improved his hitting. He ended up hitting .275 for Birmingham. When he was recalled to Charlotte on July 31 he was asked to play the outfield and is now being used as the team's designated hitter. Perez is currently on a 9-game hitting streak.

KNIGHTS SUFFERING FROM PBR: As White Sox roving baserunning instructor Nate Oliver would say, "the Knights suffered from a case of PBR," in the last few games. The PBR standing for "Poor Base Running". Center fielder Alex Sanchez was picked off at first base and was also caught stealing in Tuesday night's game. Jason Bourgeois was also caught stealing in the game. In Sunday's game against Durham, first baseman Casey Rogowski was forced into a rundown after the Durham catcher threw down to second base when Rogowski had too big of a lead.

SANCHEZ JOINS TEAM: With the addition of outfielder Alex Sanchez, the Knights now have a speedy top of the lineup. Sanchez is a stolen base threat, having 314 career stolen bases in the Minor Leagues and 122 in the Major Leagues. Sanchez stole 44 bases for the Detroit Tigers in 2003. Sanchez is followed in the lineup by outfielder Jason Bourgeois. Bourgeois is hitting .299 for the Knights and is 18-for-22 in stolen base attempts in the IL this season. Bourgeois was 15-for-18 stealing bases at Birmingham earlier this season. There was no better display of the 1-2 combo than on

August 11 against Richmond when Sanchez led off the 3rd inning with a triple that almost turned into an inside-the-park home run. He was then driven in by Bourgeois for the first run of the game.

TIDBITS: Knights DH/1B Ernie Young continues to be bothered by a sore back. Young hasn't played in a game since August 9 against Richmond... Chicago White Sox manger Ozzie Guillen was quoted in the Chicago Tribune saying that we would like tonight's starting pitcher, Lance Broadway, to be promoted in September. Outfielder Ryan Sweeney and catcher Donny Lucy were also mentioned...First baseman Casey Rogowski has hit well over his last five games going 6-18 (.333) with 2 home runs and 3 RBI.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS

WHAT'S LEFT: After tonight's game in Norfolk, Columbus will play their remaining 19 games against the West Division (Toledo - 7, Louisville - 7, Indianapolis - 5).

WASHINGTON WEEK: Last week Columbus had four of their seven games started by a Washington National. Shawn Hill, Micah Bowie and Jason Bergmann all took the hill for the Clippers on rehab assignments, with Bowie making two starts. Columbus lost all four of those games. On the year, the Clippers have had four Washington starters make a total of seven rehab starts, going 1-6 in those games (lost six straight). Their only win came with Jerome Williams on the mound on May 10. Williams has since been released and signed with Minnesota.

POWER OUTAGE: The Clippers have hit just one home run in the past nine games (Juan Brito on August 12 at Richmond), going 3-6 in those games.

LOMBARD JOINS THE CLUB: George Lombard became the fifth Clipper to reach double digits in stolen bases this year with his steal of third base Sunday. He joins Bernie Castro (23), Brandon Watson (17), current Rochester Red Wing Darnell McDonald (14) and Brent Abernathy (11). The last time Columbus had as many as five players with at least 10 SB was in 1997 when they had six (Andy Fox - 28, Matt Howard - 22, Tim Barker - 14, Scott Pose - 13, Homer Bush - 12 and Clay Bellinger - 10).

DURHAM BULLS

BIG FRAME: Durham nearly set a team Triple-A record yesterday, scoring 12 runs in the 5th in a 15-5 win over Charlotte. The 12-run frame was the second most the Bulls have scored in one inning in 10 years at the Triple-A level. On May 13, 2000, the Bulls scored 13 times in the 7th inning against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a 24-8 victory. In yesterday's wild inning, the Bulls collected nine hits and four walks. Justin Ruggiano, Jon Weber and Wes Bankston each scored twice in the inning. Weber and Bankston each had two RBI-hits in the frame.

PLAYOFF PUSH: With last night's win, the Bulls swept a home-and-home five-game series with Charlotte, and pulled within 0.5 games of Richmond in the South Division. It's the closest the Bulls have been to 1st since April 10. Durham has six meetings head-to-head with Richmond remaining. The Bulls remained a full game ahead of Rochester in the Wild Card race, as the Red Wings won 10-4 at Buffalo.

GOING DEEP: With two homers yesterday, the Bulls have a League-high 128. Four Bulls, Wes Bankston, Joel Guzman, Justin Ruggiano and Chris Richard, have hit at least 11. Guzman and Ruggiano each have 16, tops on the team.

SEEKING SIX: With five straight wins, the Bulls have tied a season-high for consecutive victories. The last time the Bulls won six straight was in 2004. That year the Bulls won 11 straight from July 21-31, and went on to win the Wild Card.

PRIDIE POWER: With a double and a homer yesterday, OF Jason Pridie has 50 extra-base hits this season between Durham and Double-A Montgomery. He now has homered five times in his last nine games with the Bulls and has eight on the year.

TOP OF THE HEAP: Mitch Talbot and Jeff Niemann each have 11 wins, which is tied for the International League lead. Durham's Triple-A record is 13, set in 1998 by current Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitching coach Dave Eiland. Niemann, who has missed three starts from right shoulder fatigue, threw a simulated game yesterday. If all goes well, he will start Tuesday against Richmond.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

STAYING ABOVE .500: Indianapolis is three games above the .500 mark at 63-60. In three seasons as a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, the Tribe has spent 428 of 435 days (98%) at .500 or better.

NO. 2 IN THE WEST: Toledo (72-53) paces the International League's West Division, while Indianapolis (63-60, 8.0 GB), Louisville (62-63, 10.0 GB) and Columbus (55-69, 16.5 GB) trail the leader. Durham (69-55) leads the International League's Wild Card race over Rochester (69-57, 1.0 GB), Buffalo (64-59, 4.5 GB) and Indianapolis (63-60, 5.5 GB).

FACING THE DIVISION: Indianapolis will play 16 of its final 20 games against IL West Division opponents. The Indians are 6-6 against Louisville this season, 5-6 vs. Columbus and 3-6 against Toledo. The Tribe posted a 22-26 mark vs. IL West foes in 2006.

BIG GAMES, BIG CROWDS: The Indians have averaged 10,061 fans per game over their last 25 home dates. The Tribe ranks 5th in the 14-team International League with an attendance average of 8,223 through 61 openings this season.

MEET A TALENTED TRIPLE-A ROOKIE: Indianapolis 1B/RF Steven Pearce ranks among the Minor League leaders in slugging percentage (2nd - .642), RBI (T-2nd - 105), total bases (4th - 273), home runs (T-4th - 29) and extra-base hits (5th - 67). Before his first Triple-A promotion on July 30, the 24-year-old batted .347 with 11 HR and 24 RBI in 19 contests for Class-A Lynchburg and .334 with 14 HR and 72 RBI in 81 affairs for Double-A Altoona.

AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS: Indians INF Brian Bixler places among IL leaders in triples (T-1st - 10), runs (2nd - 73), stolen bases (4th - 26) and on-base percentage (10th - .381). OF Michael Ryan ranks among the League's best in slugging percentage (6th - .498) and home runs (T-10th - 15).

INF Luis Ordaz is 6th in batting average (.310), while UTIL Yurendell de Caster is 8th in OBP (.381) and tied for 10th in walks (54).

LOUISVILLE BATS

BELISLE SET TO START FOR BATS: For the first time since the 2004 season, RHP Matt Belisle will start for the Bats in a non-injury rehab assignment tonight. He started and pitched 2.0 innings last season while on ML rehab with the Reds, but made 28 of his 30 appearances out of the bullpen for Cincinnati. In 2004, Belisle led the Bats in wins (9), losses (11), innings pitched (162.2) and tied for the IL lead in starts (28). In 23 starts with the Reds this season, Belisle is 6-8 with a 5.40 ERA; he was optioned to Louisville August 11.

HE'S ONLY 20?: OF Jay Bruce, who won't turn 21 until Opening Day in 2008, is leading all Reds minor leaguers with 23 home runs and 83 RBI. His .321 batting average is 2nd in the Reds system. Bruce's 73 extra-base hits lead all of Minor League Baseball, his 42 doubles are tied for 4th and his

148 hits are tied for 8th. Bruce was promoted to Louisville July 12 and in 35 games with the Bats is batting .307 with eight doubles, eight home runs and 20 RBI. He was drafted as the 12th overall pick in the 2005 draft.

SWEET WINS 200TH WITH BATS: Bats Manager Rick Sweet won his 200th game in a Louisville uniform Friday, August 10. He is the fifth manager in franchise history with at least 200 wins and Sweet is five victories from tying Joe Pettini for 4th place on the all-time managerial wins list with 208. In his three seasons with the Bats, Sweet is 203-209; he is 93 wins from Dave Miley's mark of 296 victories, set during the 2000-03 seasons.

NORFOLK TIDES

HAPPY AT HOME: Tides catcher Alberto Castillo has reached base safely in each of his last 21 home games, a stretch that began on May 18. That 21-game stretch is the 8th-longest consecutive on-base streak at home in the International League this season, with the longest being a 35-game stretch by Durham's Justin Ruggiano. Castillo has also reached safely in 19 of his last 20 games (home or road) hitting safely in 15 of those 20 contests. Over that 20-game stretch, he has hit .290 (18-62) with a home run, nine RBI, and 11 walks.

HOMER HAPPY: The Tides have four players (Mike Cervenak -13, Jason Dubois - 11, J.R. House 10, and Jon Knott - 10) who have hit at least 10 home runs this year, and one player (Terry Tiffee) who has slugged nine. Since Harbor Park was built in 1993, only one Norfolk squad has had five different batters reach the 10-homer mark, when Brian Daubach (16), Mike DiFelice (14), Ron Calloway (10), Victor Diaz (10) and Chase Lambin (10) accomplished the feat in 2005.

GOING STREAKING: Tides outfielder Jason Dubois has hit safely in seven straight games, hitting .407 (11-27) with two home runs, five doubles and five RBI over that stretch. Eight of Dubois' last 15 hits have gone for extra bases (six doubles, two home runs), and a hit tonight would give him his longest hitting streak of the season.

OTTAWA LYNX

CHASE FOR 1,000 WINS: With 48 wins so far this season, the Lynx stand at 994 regular-season wins in team history. Ottawa has played 124 games this season, which means the club needs six wins in their last 20 games to reach the 1,000-win plateau. Twelve of those 20 games will be played at Lynx Stadium: six more games from August 16-21 and then six games to close out the 15th Anniversary season August 29-September 3. In between, the Lynx will play eight games on the road August 23-28.

BURNHAM'S BAT LEADS LYNX: Gary Burnham leads the team with 71 runs batted in. He is 14 RBI short of the team record (85), set by Shane Andrews in 1994. Burnham has already driven in 14 runs in 14 August games and is hitting .316 for the month. He is tied for 3rd in the International League with a .391 OBP, 5th in walks (59), tied for 6th with 30 doubles and he's tied for 6th in hits (126), leaving him 12th in the IL batting race (.296).

SIMON SAYS: The Ottawa Lynx have their eyes set on the record books as the club tries to break the record for the Largest Game of Simon Says after the Lynx Sunday's game against Buffalo. The current record is 1,169 people, set in Glasgow, UK.

TRANSACTIONS IN ACTION: The Lynx have only seen a couple changes in the past week. RHP Geoff Geary returned to the Lynx bullpen over the weekend, while LHP Eude Brito was activated from the Disabled List yesterday. RHP Ryan Cameron was transferred to Double-A Reading and

RHP Brian Sanches was placed on the Temporarily Inactive List.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX

SIX PACK: The Pawtucket Red Sox have currently won six in a row to post their longest winning streak of the season. A victory tonight in Ottawa would give them their longest winning streak in seven years - since a 9-gamer from August 8-17 of the 2000 season. This current 6-game winning streak follows immediately on the heels of a 5-game losing streak from August 6-9. The five losses came vs. Rochester (one) and at Scranton/WB (four). The six wins have come in Syracuse (four) and in Ottawa (two).

THE PENULTIMATE ROADTRIP: The PawSox are 6-4 on their current season-high 12-game roadtrip trip. After this week, the Sox will make just one more roadtrip this season (a 6-gamer from August 22-27 to Buffalo and Rochester). The Sox are back over .500 with an away record of 33-31. Prior to this 6-game road winning streak (matching their longest in over three years since 2004 when they also won 6 consecutive road games from July 28-30 and August 7-9), the Sox had equaled their season-high of 4-games under on the road (27-31 on August 9). On the other hand, the PawSox are 8-games under .500 at home (at 26-34). The Sox will need a win on Saturday vs. Syracuse when they return to McCoy to avoid falling a season-low 9-games below .500 at home.

THIS TRIP: This busy sojourn began with the PawSox suffering a 4-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The PawSox turned the tables in Syracuse with a 4-game sweep of a wrap-around weekend set. Now they are in Ottawa, Ontario for the final time as the Sox are playing this 4-game set against the Lynx (up 2-0) continuing through Friday night. This marks Pawtucket's last trip north of the border as the Phillies' Triple-A franchise will be in Allentown, PA (as the Leigh Valley IronPigs) next year while Ottawa will no longer be part of the IL for the first time since the Lynx were born in 1993. Pawtucket leads the all-time series over their rivals from Canada by a 136-114 margin with two games left to be played.

SWEEP DREAMS: Until last week the PawSox had gone all season without being involved in a 4-game sweep of any kind (either positive or negative), but Monday night they completed their first 4-game sweep in more than a year at Syracuse. They had not swept a 4-game series since June 17-20 of 2006 in Richmond. Ironically, the PawSox were swept themselves in a 4-game series at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last Wednesday & Thursday marking the first time the Sox had suffered a 4-game sweep in over two years since July 22-25 of 2005 at home vs. Ottawa.

RECORDS ON THE HORIZON: With 19-games remaining two individuals are on the verge of setting new PawSox club records. Closer Travis Hughes (20 SV) has tied the team record for Most Saves in a season set by Cory Bailey in 1993 (20 SV), and INF/OF Bobby Scales has tied Chico Walker (1980) for Most Triples in a season by a PawSox switch-hitter (both with 7 triples). Furthermore, the PawSox have never had a player lead the International League in stolen bases. OF Jacoby Ellsbury, who didn't even join the PawSox until May 4 and then missed 15 games while on the DL (groin strain) from July 22-August 4, currently leads the League with 30 SB.

RICHMOND BRAVES

IT'S A HORSE RACE: The Braves' lead over Durham in the South Division is down to a half game. It is the first time the Braves lead has slipped below a game and a half since April 14. Richmond has been in sole possession of 1st in the South every day since April 10. Richmond led by a club record 10.0 games on May 19. Since then the Braves have played exactly .500 ball (42-42). Durham has gained ground despite Richmond winning eight of their last 12 games.

BRAVES BOOMING BATS: The Braves are hitting .316 as a team in 15 August games. Richmond is averaging 5.8 runs a game in August. They have scored five or more runs in all nine August wins and eight or more runs in six August games. Barbaro Canizares (.472 in 14 August games) and Brandon Jones (.419 in 15 games) have led the Braves' August charge. Jones equaled a club season high with a 13-game hitting streak that ended Monday.

THEY SHOULD BE GETTING PAID BY THE HOUR: The Braves are averaging a game time of just under 2:55 for the 22 home games scheduled for nine innings since July 4. 11 of those 22 games have exceeded three hours, including the last two. None of those games extended beyond 10 innings and only two went into extra innings. The Braves played four three-hour plus games in a row July 20-23, their first such stretch since May of 2005. Richmond has also played two doubleheaders since July 1 at home with combined times of 3:55 and 4:04.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS

RED WINGS HALL OF FAME: With the Red Wings celebrating their 50th Anniversary of being community-owned this season, there have been several promotions surrounding that theme. On Friday, August 24 the Red Wings will induct six new members into their Hall of Fame. This year's inductees will include Greg Biagini (Manager 1989-1991), Bill Kirkpatrick (Pitcher 1970-74, 1976), Rick Krivda (Pitcher 1993-1997, 2000), Gary Larder (President, Rochester Community Baseball), Lou Ortiz (2nd Baseman 1950-1954), and Naomi Silver (Chairman of the Board & C.O.O. of Rochester Community Baseball).

REMEMBER THE OLD DAYS: The first 1,500 fans that attend the Red Wings game on Monday, August 27 will get a replica of the Red Wings former home, Silver Stadium. The Wings called Silver Stadium home from May 2, 1929 through September 12, 1996. In 1968, Red Wing Stadium was re-named in honor of Morrie Silver (the father of current Wings COO Naomi Silver), who saved professional baseball in Rochester in the 1950's.

KING OF THE SAVES HILL: Red Wings closer Bobby Korecky has 31 saves which is a new Red Wings all-time record for saves in a season. Korecky is on pace to record 36 saves which would be two shy of the International League record for saves in a season (current record is 38 set by Richmond Braves RHP Matt Whiteside in 2004).

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES

EIGHT IS GREAT: Wednesday night's 8-2 Yankees win over Syracuse was the club's third straight win and eighth consecutive win at PNC Field. During the eight home wins, the Yankees have outscored their opponents 37-17. Going back to July 29, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has won 11 of the last 12 homes games with the only loss coming August 4 vs. Buffalo (4-3). Despite the recent success, the franchise record for consecutive home wins is still safe for the moment. In 1992 the Red Barons won 14 straight at Lackawanna County Stadium from May 22 to June 11.

JUST TWO: When Kevin Reese was designated for assignment Tuesday, it left LHP Ben Kozlowski and C Raul Chavez as the only members of the 2007 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees not to have been involved in a transaction this season.

101-101 CLUB: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees clubbed three home runs last night vs. Syracuse giving them 101 on the season and placing them 7th in the International League. Of the 101 blasts, 42 have been hit by players no longer with the team including Shelley Duncan (25) and Andy Phillips (11). The Yankees have also stolen 101 bases this year, good for 7th best in the IL.

COMING OUT TO THE BALLPARK: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees achieved their 18th sellout of the season Wednesday vs. Syracuse and pushed their season attendance total to 512,698, or 136,141 more than in 2006. The dramatic increase really began after the weather warmed up. In the first 11 games, the Yankees averaged 6,863 fans. Since May 9 in 48 games they have averaged 9,108 fans. With 8 home games remaining, they need to average 5,969 fans to shatter the all-time franchise mark of 560,454 set in 1992. With advance sellouts already this Friday and Saturday, the record could potentially fall on Tuesday, August 21 vs. Rochester - with two home games remaining.

SYRACUSE CHIEFS

GOING, GOING, GRIFFIN: With a three-run homer in the 1st inning Monday night at Alliance Bank Stadium, the home faithful had a chance to see something that had never been done before in the history of the Chiefs. That long ball was John-Ford Griffin's 25th of the season, making him the first Chief to ever have two 25 homer seasons with the club. Griffin hit 30 four-baggers with the Chiefs in 2005.

ON THE LOOSE: Like a burglar making a getaway, OF Wayne Lydon has been stealing everything in sight as of late. Lydon had 15 stolen bases in his first 95 games with the Chiefs but has upped his pilfering with seven swipes in the past 11 games. The switch-hitter is up and over the 20 stolen base plateau for the second consecutive season.

HOMER HAPPY: The Chiefs ended a season-high eight game home run streak last night. During the span Syracuse hit 12 home runs to move into 2nd place in the International League with 115 home runs. The Chiefs received three home runs from John-Ford Griffin, two from Kevin Barker, Ryan Roberts and John Hattig, and one apiece from Chad Mottola, Russ Adams and Sal Fasano.

WELCOME BACK: Blue Jays' #1 Prospect Adam Lind returned to the field Saturday after missing nearly two weeks with a concussion. Lind has played in all five games since his return and he's hit safely in four of the contests. The University of South Alabama product has driven in a run in each of the past two games.

TOLEDO MUD HENS

TIGERS DEAL HANNAHAN TO OAKLAND: The Detroit Tigers announced Tuesday that they traded infielder Jack Hannahan to the Oakland Athletics for another minor leaguer, outfielder Jason Perry. Hannahan, one of the most popular Mud Hens amidst the team's back-to-back International League championship run the last two seasons, has already joined his new organization on the west coast, where he is currently on Oakland's active roster. The St. Paul, Minnesota native was originally selected by the Tigers in the 3rd round of the 2001 draft out of the University of Minnesota. Hannahan made his Mud Hens debut in 2005, playing in 68 games batting .269 with four homers and 28 RBI. In all, Hannahan appeared in 288 games with Toledo in three seasons, batting .283 with 26 home runs and 153 RBI. He is currently enjoying his best season to date, sporting a .295 average with 13 homers and 63 runs driven in. Hannahan also led the IL in on-base percentage at the time of the trade, at a .422 clip. Perry is a 26-year-old outfielder who was playing with Oakland's Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento. Perry began the season at Double-A Midland in the Texas League. The Fremont, Nebraska native resides in Jonesboro, Georgia, and played collegiate baseball at Georgia Tech. Perry has appeared in 78 games at the Triple-A level this year, and 21 in Double-A. With Sacramento, he was hitting .268 with 18 homers and 58 RBI, after hitting .257 with 5 home runs and 17 driven in with Midland. Perry was selected in the 6th round of the 2002 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays before being traded to Oakland in 2003.

MILLER AND ZUMAYA JOIN HENS: Mud Hens fans have been treated to a fair share of star power this season along with quite a few wins. The latest Major League rehabbers to don the Hens red, white and blue are pitchers Andrew Miller and Joel Zumaya. Miller, the 6th overall pick out of the University of North Carolina in last years' draft by the Tigers made his first rehab start with Toledo on August 15 at Richmond after being placed on the disabled list August 4 with a strained left hamstring. The left-handed starter is 5-4 with a 4.42 era in 11 starts this season with Detroit, after beginning the year at Class-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie. After signing on August 8 of last year, Miller made his big league debut just 28 days later in New York against the Yankees. Zumaya meanwhile is coming out of the Toledo bullpen while he rehabs a surgically repaired right ring finger. Zumaya, who played with Toledo in 2005 (1-2, 2.66 ERA in 44.0 IP), returned with 0.2 innings of scoreless relief for the Hens, allowing one hit and striking out one on August 13 at Norfolk. He also pitched on August 15 at Richmond, pitching a perfect, 1-2-3 inning of relief in the 8th. This season for Detroit, Zumaya is 1-1 with a save and a 3.63 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched. This season alone, fans have seen Detroit's big leaguers Jose Mesa, Vance Wilson, Kenny Rogers and Fernando Rodney play for the Hens at Fifth Third Field, while also being treated to superstars such as Jim Thome and Curt Schilling on injury rehab in the Glass City.

POSSIBLE CLINCHER?: With an 8.0 game lead over 2nd-place Indianapolis in the IL West and 19 games remaining in the regular season, the Mud Hens are rapidly closing in on their third straight division championship and playoff berth. In 2005, the first of two consecutive Governors' Cup Championship seasons, the Hens closed out the West title on Monday, August 29, already having clinched at least a wild card spot two days before. 2006 proved to be slightly more difficult, as an end-of-the-season tie atop the West division between Toledo and Indy resulted in a one-game playoff, won by the Hens. In 2002, the Mud Hens wrapped up the division by clinching on Sunday, September 1, their inaugural campaign at Fifth Third Field. As of August 16, the Mud Hens earliest possible date to clinch a playoff berth would be Tuesday, August 21, putting them on pace to easily beat the 2005 date of the 29th.

TOLEDO TO CELEBRATE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1967 CHAMPIONSHIP THIS WEEKEND: Past and present will converge at Fifth Third Field on the weekend of August 17-19, as the back-to-back Governors' Cup Champions will celebrate and remember the team's first Governors' Cup Championship from 1967. The Hens take on the Columbus Clippers during the weekend, the same team the 1967 Mud Hens defeated to win the Governors' Cup. The 40th anniversary celebration will be highlighted by the current Mud Hens players wearing 1967 retro jerseys on August 18, which will be auctioned off during the game. The 1967 Hens were in last place on July 23 but turned things around en-route to an improbable championship. By winning 32 of their last 49 games, they secured a spot in the Governors' Cup playoffs. After ousting pennant-winning Richmond in the first round, Toledo defeated Columbus 4 games to 1 for the Governors' Cup Championship.

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