IL1 International League

IL News And Notes

Published on August 23, 2007 under International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS QUITE A FIRST TRIPLE-A CAMPAIGN: Bisons infielder Ryan Mulhern continues to impress as his first season in Triple-A Baseball comes near an end. The slugger ranks in the Top 10 in the League in average (.306 -7th), hits (135 -T-4th), doubles (35 - 3rd), extra-base hits (53 -T-4th), RBI (74 -T-7th) and slugging percentage (.503 -5th). Mulhern also leads the Bisons with 16 home runs and 63 runs scored.

SWEET AND SOWERS: Southpaw Jeremy Sowers has been extremely sharp since late July. In his last seven starts, Sowers is 4-1 with a 2.15 ERA. He has won three consecutive starts, including last night against Pawtucket as the Bisons gave out 4,000 bobbleheads in his likeness. The former 1st round draft pick is now 14-6 in 29 career games with the Bisons (2005-07).

LOOKS LIKE IT'S LAFFEY: With a bunch of off days earlier this month, the Cleveland Indians shifted to a four-man rotation. Now in need of that fifth starter for Saturday, Tribe skipper Eric Wedge has said that LHP Aaron Laffey will be promoted for the game in Kansas City. Laffey is 9-3 with a 3.08 ERA in 16 games with Buffalo this year. He made his first Major League stint earlier this month, collecting his first big league win on August 9 in Chicago (White Sox).

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS PEREZ SETS SEASON HIGH HIT-STREAK: Knights designated hitter Kenny Perez hit safely for the 15th consecutive game. He surpassed teammate Jason Bourgeois for the longest hitting streak by a Knights player this season. Perez is 22-58 (.379) over the course of the streak with 4 doubles, 3 home runs and 12 RBI. In the 15 games, he has been the DH in 13 of them. Perez played left field in the other two games.

THE KID CAN RUN: Jason Bourgeois continues to not only get on base, but steal them when he is out there. Bourgeois stole his 21st base of the season on Sunday against Indianapolis. He also stole 15 bases for Birmingham earlier in the season.

HERE AND GONE IN THE SAME DAY: White Sox utility man and former Knight's infielder Andy Gonzalez was optioned to the Knights on Sunday afternoon. However, the White Sox placed infielder Alex Cintron on the bereavement list and recalled Gonzalez from Charlotte before he arrived.

TIDBITS: Former Knight and current White Sox outfielder Luis Terrero is expected to come back to Charlotte for a rehab assignment. Terrero was with the Knights at the beginning of the season before his contract was purchased by Chicago on May 1...Thomas Collaro will likely play in the Arizona Fall League.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS ROTATION SWAP: With the arrival of Matt Chico, Columbus has now seen 80% of Washington's Opening Day rotation (Jason Bergmann, Chico, Shawn Hill and Jerome Williams). Of Columbus' current starting rotation, three of the five started the season on Washington's roster (Bergmann, Micah Bowie and Chico). All five of Washington's current rotation (Mike Bacsik, Joel Hanrahan, Hill, John Lannan and Tim Redding) have played in Columbus at some point during the season, with three being on the Clippers' Opening Day roster (Bacsik, Hanrahan and Redding).

FIRING BLANKS: Last night the Clippers participated in their 19th shutout of the season (12-7) after playing in a League-low 10 shutouts last year (5-5). Their 12 shutouts are currently tied for 3rd in the League with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Richmond and Durham lead with 13). Columbus, currently 12th in the IL in ERA, is the only team outside of the top five to boast double digits in shutouts. The Clipper starters have yet to throw a complete game shutout on the year, with Joel Hanrahan coming the closest with his 6.2 IP in a 7-inning shutout versus Indianapolis on June 29.

HURTIN' FOR BODIES: Recent injuries to outfielders Michael Restovich (strained oblique) and Brandon Watson (sprained right knee) have put a strain on the Columbus roster. The Clippers have been forced to use pitchers on offense, with LHP Chris Michalak being called on to pinch-hit once (flyout on Tuesday) and pinch-run once (game two of last night's doubleheader). RHP Dan Foli was used as a pinch runner in Game 1 last night, getting thrown out at the plate on Brent Abernathy's single in the 5th.

DURHAM BULLS DIVISION PLAYOFF RACE: The Bulls are 1.5 games ahead of the Braves in the South Division, the largest lead for the Bulls, who hadn't been all alone in 1st since April 9 before the current four-game series between the two clubs. Durham has won the first two games, 8-5 and 8-2. The Bulls were tied with Richmond April 10, and that's the only other time this year the Bulls were in 1st.

GOING DEEP: With a Jason Pridie homer yesterday, Durham now has a League-high 138 this year. Five Bulls (Wes Bankston, Joel Guzman, Elliott Johnson, Justin Ruggiano, and Chris Richard) have gone into double figures, and Pridie now has nine. Ruggiano has 19 to lead the club.

RUGGIANO RAKING: Justin Ruggiano saw his homer streak end at three straight games last night, but he did double twice to drive in a pair of runs. He's hit in all eight games on the current 10-game home stand (Durham is 6-2), going 16-35 (.457), and is riding a nine-game hit streak (17-40, .425). He's now one homer shy of becoming the first Triple-A Bull to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in a season. The last Bull to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in a season was Ron Gant in 1986, who hit 26 homers and stole 35 bases in the Carolina League.

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOK: J.P. Howell struck out nine last night against Richmond, which not only gave him a League-leading 129, but it also gave him the Bulls single-season Triple-A record. Brad Pennington fanned 125 in Durham's first Triple-A season in 1998. PRIDIE POUNDING HITS: OF Jason Pridie now has 55 extra-base hits this season between Double-A Montgomery and the Bulls. A total of 28 of those extra-base hits have come since he joined Durham on June 23. Pridie was a single shy of the cycle last night.

ALL IN DIVISION: Durham has 13 games remaining, all against South Division opponents. The Bulls are a tremendous 24-11 against the South (6-6 vs. Richmond, 10-2 vs. Charlotte, and 8-3 vs. Norfolk).

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS STAYING ABOVE .500: Indianapolis is two games above the .500 mark at 66-64. In three seasons as a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, the Tribe has spent 434 of 441 days (98%) at .500 or better.

THE WILD CARD RACE: Richmond (71-58) leads Rochester (71-62, 2.0 GB), Buffalo (69-61, 2.5 GB) and Indianapolis (66-64, 5.5 GB) in the International League's Wild Card race.

STACKED WITH PROSPECTS: OF Andrew McCutchen, INF Neil Walker and LHP Dave Davidson were all promoted from Double-A Altoona on August 17. The Indianapolis roster now contains half of the Pirates' Top 10 prospects -- McCutchen (No. 1), Walker (No. 2), RHP Josh Sharpless (No. 5), 1B/RF Steven Pearce (No. 6) and INF Brian Bixler (No. 7).

THE 20-YEAR-OLD CAN PLAY: Indianapolis OF Andrew McCutchen has tallied a base knock in each of his first six Triple-A games (.429 BA, 10-26, 3 R, 2 RBI). The 20-year-old prospect hit .258 with 10 home runs and 48 RBI in 118 Double-A contests before his first Triple-A promotion on August 17.

ANOTHER TALENTED ROOKIE: Indians 1B/RF Steven Pearce ranks among the Minor League leaders in RBI (T-1st - 112), total bases (2nd - 290), extra-base hits (T-2nd - 72), slugging percentage (T-2nd - .643) and home runs (T-5th - 31). 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.

THIS ‘PEN IS ON A ROLL: The Tribe relievers recorded 28 consecutive scoreless innings from August 13-22. The unit has also yielded just 20 hits and four walks while striking out 35 over its past nine contests.

LOUISVILLE BATS EXTRA, EXTRA: In Game 1 of Louisville's doubleheader last night in Columbus, the Bats played their League-leading 21st extra-inning game; they are now 8-13 when playing free baseball. Columbus' runs in both games last night were unearned (one in each game), giving Bats pitchers a streak of 17.1 innings without allowing an earned run.

THREE WINNING MONTHS?: With the Bats record now sitting at 12-10 during the month of August, Louisville has a chance of recording three winning months in a season for the first time since they did it in 2003 (April, 15-9; May, 17-12; June, 19-12; Sept., 1-0). This season the Bats went 17-13 in May and 15-14 in June.

VOTTO ON FIRE: OF/1B Joey Votto is on fire this month, blasting seven home runs while driving in 23 runners. He had back-to-back two home run games Aug. 17 and 18, giving him three multi home run games on the season. The Louisville franchise record for most multi home run games in a season is four, set by 3B Brandon Larson in 1999. Votto also has two of the Bats' seven grand slams this season. He was named the International League's Batter-of-the-Week for the period of Aug. 13-19. Votto is five RBI shy of tying his career high of 92, set between Class-A Dayton and Potomac in 2004. He is also one home run shy of tying his home run single season record of 22, set last season in Double-A Chattanooga.

BATS WILL WEAR PINK: The Louisville Bats players and coaching staff will wear special pink jerseys on Tuesday, August 28 when they take on the Toledo Mud Hens. The jerseys will be signed and auctioned off at the Bats website, www.batsbaseball.com, for one week following the game. The proceeds of the auction will benefit The Louisville Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

NORFOLK TIDES HIT PARADE: Over their last 11 games, the Tides have hit .321 (126-392) with eight home runs and 60 runs scored. Norfolk is averaging 11.5 hits and 5.5 runs a game over that stretch, and the Tides have recorded at least 10 hits in eight of their last 11 games. Norfolk is 7-4 over that 10-game stretch, and the Tides are 33-15 this season when collecting at least 10 hits in a game.

STREAKING DUO: Infielder Mike Cervenak has hit safely in eight straight games, which is the eighth time this season he's had a hitting streak of five games or more. Over the most recent eight-game stretch, Cervenak is hitting .371 (13-35) with five RBI, and he now has 144 hits this season, which is just four behind former Tide Timo Perez for the IL lead. Eider Torres has also hit safely in each of his last six games, hitting .464 (13-28) with a home run and seven RBI over that span. Torres has four multi-hit games over that six-game stretch, and the 24-year-old infielder is also tied for 4th among all Orioles' minor leaguers with 22 stolen bases this year.

COLLECTING K'S: Tides pitchers have struck out 953 batters in 131 games this season (7.27 a game), and Norfolk's hurlers are on pace to strike out 1,048 batters this year, which would break Norfolk's franchise mark of 1,043 set in 1998. That 1998 mark is the only time in franchise history that Tides pitchers have struck out more than 1,000 batters in a season, and only four other times has a Norfolk club struck out more than 950 batters (952 in 1997, 957 in 2004, 974 in 2005 and 984 in 1999).

OTTAWA LYNX CHASE FOR 1,000 WINS HEATS UP: With 51 wins so far this season, the Lynx stand at 997 regular-season wins in team history. Ottawa has played 129 games this season, which means the club needs three wins in their last 14 games to reach the 1,000-win plateau. Eight of those 14 games will be played on the road: six games in Syracuse August 23-26 and two games at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre August 27-28. The Lynx finish off the regular season with six games at home: two games against Rochester August 29-30 and four against Syracuse August 31-September 3.

AUGUST POWER SURGE: The Lynx have hit 10 home runs in 19 games this month. That is more than they hit in all of April (1 HR in 20 games) and in May (8 HR in 31 games) combined. Gary Burnham has four of those home runs, while Brennan King has two of his own. Matt Padgett has two home runs this month while Jim Rushford and Gookie Dawkins have the other two Lynx dingers. The pitching staff is pitching well too. Their 3.66 ERA in August is the lowest of any month this season.

TRANSACTIONS IN ACTION: The Lynx bullpen saw some shuffling this week, as RHP Mike Zagurski was recalled by the Phillies. When he was placed on the Phillies' DL, LHP Fabio Castro was recalled to fill his spot. RHP Ryan Cameron was transferred to the Lynx roster from Double-A Reading and RHP Brian Sanches was activated from the Temporarily Inactive list after the birth of his first daughter. RHP Gary Knotts has been transferred to the Lynx roster from Double-A Reading. The Lynx also got OF Chris Roberson from the Phillies while RHP Geoff Geary was recalled by Philadelphia.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX AN ELL OF A STREAK: PawSox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has pulled to within one game of tying the PawSox club-record for longest hitting streak. Ellsbury, who has currently hit in 18 straight games (on July 21 and then from August 5-22), is closing in on the franchise-record 19 game hitting streaks posted by Dave Stapleton in 1979 and Dave Berg in 2005. Ellsbury is batting .374 during his streak (28-75) and, in addition to tying the club-record with a hit today in Buffalo, he would also move into a tie with two others for the third longest hitting streak in the International League this season. The longest in the IL this year belong to: Brandon Watson of Columbus at 43 games, Rajai Davis formerly of Indianapolis at 21 games, and Ben Francisco and Franklin Gutierrez of Buffalo at 19 games.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS: The final 12 PawSox games of the season are against the top three teams in the IL North who all have playoff aspirations. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre leads the division (+5.5 games) while Rochester (-2.0 GB) and Buffalo (-2.5 GB) are both in the Wild Card hunt behind current leader Richmond. Pawtucket's next 7 games are against the Bisons (4) and Red Wings (3) and then their final 5 games will be against IL North leader Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

DAY BASEBALL: The Pawtucket Red Sox - winners of 9 of their last 12 games overall but losers of 9 straight to the Buffalo Bisons - play the middle game of their 3-game series against the Bisons today at 1:05 p.m. in Buffalo. The PawSox - who began the year 3-0 vs. Buffalo but have lost the last 9 meetings since - are 7-games under .500 in day games this season (11-18). Including this afternoon, the Sox have three days game remaining. Pawtucket is over .500 during night games, however (51-50). Last year, ironically, the Sox went 21-10 in day games but were only 48-65 at night.

CHIEF AMONG US: The PawSox finished 12-4 vs. the Syracuse Chiefs during the season-series. The 12 victories will be their most against any IL opponent this year. The Sox last won 12 games during a season-series against Scranton/WB in 2004 (12-4).

"9-3 AND EVEN": The PawSox must go at least 9-3 in their final 12 games to finish at .500 with a 71-71 record. Pawtucket is currently 62-68 on the year and they will play just 142 games this season instead of 144 with two games having been cancelled due to weather. Furthermore, the PawSox need a win today to again pull even in August (currently at 11-12). The Sox are now one game under .500 in 1-run games (21-22) as well after their 7-6 loss on Wednesday. They are .500 vs. right-handed starters at 45-45 but are not scheduled to face a righty during this series at Buffalo.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Sox are back to .500 on the road for the season with an away record of 33-33 with 5 road games left. Their recent 6-game road winning streak (August 10-15) matched their longest since 2004 when they also won 6 consecutive road games (from July 28-30 and August 7-9). Pawtucket last finished over .500 on the road during the 2003 season with a 41-29 away mark.

RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN: With 12-games remaining one individual has already set a new PawSox club record while another is on the verge. Closer Travis Hughes (21 SV) has established a new team record for Most Saves in a season - his 21st SV on Tuesday night broke the mark set by Cory Bailey in 1993 (20 SV). Furthermore, INF/OF Bobby Scales has tied Chico Walker (1980) for Most Triples in a season by a PawSox switch-hitter (both with 7 3B).

TRAGIC NUMBER: Pawtucket's tragic number to be eliminated from the IL North race is down to 1 as any combination of Scranton/WB wins or PawSox losses totaling 1 will eliminate the Sox from 1st place. The PawSox tragic number to be eliminated from any playoff possibility is 4 (as the PawSox trail current Wild Card leader Richmond by 9.5 games).

RICHMOND BRAVES SHUTTING THE DOOR: All four Braves late-inning relief pitchers are pitching extremely well. Zach Schreiber has worked seven consecutive scoreless outings (10 innings). In that span he has allowed just five hits and has 16 strikeouts. Schreiber has allowed just one run over 21.1 innings in his last 15 appearances (0.42 ERA). Royce Ring has not allowed a run in his last six outings over 4.2 innings with eight strikeouts. Chad Paronto has five straight scoreless appearances over 7.1 innings. Joey Devine has allowed one earned run in his last 6.1 innings.

HOT AUGUST BATS: The Braves are hitting an IL-best .297 in August and lead the League in runs per game for August (118, 5.6 per game). Durham is 2nd in August average (.288) and Louisville is 2nd in runs per game for the month (121, 5.5). Five members of the Braves are hitting .300 or better in August: Carlos Mendez (.450 in eight games), Barbaro Canizares (.389 in 19 games), Brandon Jones (.376 in 21 games), Wes Timmons (.346 in 18 games), and Brent Lillibridge (.325 in 21 games). The Braves are 11-10 in August though they have outscored opponents by 24 runs for the month (118-94).

CAN'T TELL THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A PROGRAM: The Braves added LHP Francisley Bueno from Mississippi. He is slated to start Thursday and will be the 56th player used by Richmond this season, the second most in club history (the Braves used 60 in 2005). The addition of Bueno was the Braves 118th roster move of the season. Richmond has had 14 different players promoted to Atlanta this season. Nine members of the current roster are left from the Opening Day roster of 24. Only two players have been on the eligible roster for every Richmond game this season: RHP Trey Hodges and INF Wes Timmons.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS WELCOME TO FRONTIER FIELD DAVE MILEY: The Red Wings enter Thursday's game with an eight-game winning streak (includes the 2006 playoffs games) vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Frontier Field (Rochester has outscored Scranton/WB 45-22 during this eight-game stretch). Rochester has a 10-game winning streak vs. the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate at Frontier Field (4-0 vs. Columbus in 2006 and 6-0 vs. Scranton/WB this year).

THE LONG ARM OF THE IL RESIDES AT FRONTIER FIELD: The Red Wings enter Thursday's game leading the International League with a team ERA of 3.57 (Durham is 2nd with a 3.63 team ERA). If Rochester can finish the season leading the IL in team ERA it would be the first time since 1976 when Rochester led the IL with a 3.51 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 & 1976 - 3.51).

BURN BABY BURN: Outfielder Darnell McDonald is currently 2nd in the International League with 30 stolen bases (Pawtucket's Jacoby Ellsbury leads with 31), including 16-for-17 in stolen bases since joining the Red Wings. If McDonald can finish the season leading the IL in stolen bases he would become the first Rochester stolen bases champion since 1981 when Dallas Williams led the IL with 51. Since 1940 Rochester has had only three players lead the IL in stolen bases (Ora Burnett in 1944 (41), Jackie Brandt in 1955 (24), and Dallas Williams in 1981 (51)).

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES WESTLING LEAVING AFTER 19 SEASONS: Kent Westling, the longtime radio play-by-play voice of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre baseball, has announced his resignation from the team effective at the conclusion of the 2007 season. Westling broadcast the very first Red Barons game on April 6, 1989 in Rochester and has been behind the microphone for more than 2,600 games. "After 19 years as the play-by-play broadcaster for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, I've accomplished all I set out originally to do," Westling said. "Now, I would like to focus on a new professional challenge; one that allows me to spend more time with my wife and daughter. Therefore, I've decided the 2007 season will be my final one. It has been a privilege for me to represent our area in the International League since 1989, and hopefully I have done so with dignity, class and respect our franchise and our fans deserve."

ATTENDANCE RECORD SET TO FALL: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre baseball franchise will see a fifteen year-old record fall on Monday vs. Ottawa. In 1992, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons attracted a regular season record 560,454 fans. With two home games remaining, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are set to shatter the mark. The Yankees have presently drawn 560,288 fans despite having lost six dates to rain. For one lucky fan, the night will be extra special. A fan will be selected at random and receive some cool gifts. He or she will receive a three day/two night stay for two adults in the Champagne Tower at one of the four Caesars Pocono Resorts, dinner for four and four tickets to see The Last Comic Standing live at Caesars Cove Haven on Thursday, September 27, a signed Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees team ball and other Yankees merchandise.

YANKEES SIGN SLUGGER; WELCOME BACK CLOSER: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees received two big additions to the roster with the signing of veteran slugger Jose Cruz Jr. and the return of closer Jim Brower from New York. Cruz spent most of the season with the San Diego Padres but was released on August 2. With San Diego he batted .234 with 12 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR and 21 RBI. He has spent at least part of the last eleven seasons in the Major Leagues with Seattle (1997), Toronto (1997-2002), San Francisco (2003), Tampa Bay (2004), Arizona (2005), Boston (2005), Los Angeles Dodgers (2005-2006) and San Diego (2007). In his ML career he has hit .248 with 204 HR and 623 RBI and recorded 1,161 hits. On April 15 at L.A., he clubbed his 200th career home run off former Red Baron Randy Wolf. Brower was promoted to New York August 6 and appeared in three games for the Yankees going 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA, 3.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Prior to his recall he led the Yankees with 20 saves.

SYRACUSE CHIEFS ANOTHER WEEK ANOTHER CHIEFS HOME RUN MILESTONE: OF Chad Mottola has always been a good math student. Last Thursday Mottola proved his mathematics prowess by proving two is better than one. The slugger bashed his 99th and 100th career Chiefs home runs becoming only the second member of the century club. Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame inductee Dutch Mele is the other member with 111 career homers. Mottola has not gone yard since so he is still at precisely 100 dingers.

BREAKING BACK INTO THE WIN COLUMN: The Chiefs 10-game losing streak came to an end Monday night in Pawtucket. The streak was the longest for the franchise since 2003 when the team lost 10 straight in April. Since busting the bad karma the Chiefs have won two of their last three.

HATTIG HITTING HIS STRIDE: As the Chiefs come down the home stretch for the final 14 games of 2007, 1B/3B John Hattig's bat has come alive. Hattig has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games compiling a .303 batting average (13-43) with three homers and four runs driven in during the stretch.

BULK DISCOUNT ON TRAVEL FROM DUNEDIN TO SYRACUSE?: With the amount of travel the Blue Jays have been arranging for their Minor Leaguers between the team's Class-A affiliate in the Florida State League and their Triple-A club in the International League, Toronto has been buying in bulk. Since Tuesday the Chiefs have received three players from Dunedin. C David Corrente makes his second trip to Syracuse this year after appearing in one game in early July. Also, INF Al Quintana and RHP Aaron Tressler have come to the Salt City to make their Triple-A debuts. Tressler and Quintana have yet to play for the Chiefs.

TOLEDO MUD HENS MUD HENS DRAW CLOSER TO PLAYOFF BERTH: If the Mud Hens can hang on, this will mark the first time in Toledo baseball history a Glass City club will have won three division championships in a row. Since moving into Fifth Third Field in 2002, the Hens have won three of the last five West crowns. A first place finish in 2007 would also be the tenth all time for Toledo, with four coming in the last six seasons. The Mud Hens have three Governors' Cup Championships under their belts in the modern era (1967, 2005 and 2006).

TIGERS' STARS TOUR TOLEDO ON ROAD BACK TO MAJORS: An organization renowned for young pitching talent, the Detroit Tigers are starting to get healthy heading down the homestretch. Two such phenoms, 22-year-olds Andrew Miller and Joel Zumaya spent the last week with the Mud Hens rehabbing injuries. Miller, a left-handed starter, tossed three innings in games at Richmond August 15 and vs. Indianapolis August 20. In all, he gave up six runs and six hits in six innings of work, though his second start at Fifth Third Field was solid. Against the Indians, Miller tossed three innings allowing just a hit and a run while fanning five batters. Miller is rehabbing a strained left hamstring. The flame-throwing Zumaya appeared out of the Hen bullpen three times, August 13 at Norfolk, August 15 at Richmond, and August 18 vs. Columbus. In 2.2 innings, of work, Zumaya certainly had no problems retaining his velocity after surgery to his right middle finger, as his fastball topped out at 100. He allowed two runs on two hits in the stint, walking and striking out two as well.

VASQUEZ CONTINUES TO ROLL: Mud Hens starter Virgil Vasquez, who is tied for 2nd in the IL in wins (11), threw a complete game, two-hit shutout against Indianapolis August 21 at Fifth Third Field. Vasquez allowed just two singles to Indy leadoff man Andrew McCutchen in the 4th and 6th innings, and walked Brian Bixler with two out in the 9th, facing just three over the minimum. It was the only walk he allowed in the ballgame, fanning seven. It was the second complete-game shutout of the season for the 25-year-old right hander, who tossed a five-hitter at Norfolk on July 17 and is 3-2 with a 2.16 ERA since then. It was also the sixth career complete game for the Santa Barbara, California native. Vasquez's now stands at 11-5 with a 3.59 ERA, as Tuesday's shutout dropped his ERA 23 points. In 148 innings pitched, Vasquez has walked just 32 while striking out 123. Vasquez also made his Major League debut this season for Detroit, getting spot starts May 13 at Minnesota and July 24 at Chicago.

30-GAME WINNER DENNY MCCLAIN TO VISIT FIFTH THIRD FIELD: Former Major League pitcher Denny McLain, the last hurler to win 30 games in a season, will be appearing at Fifth Third Field on August 30. McLain, originally signed by the Chicago White Sox, went 31-6 for the Detroit Tigers in their World Series Championship year of 1968. He will sign free autographs for fans on the main concourse from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Mud Hens are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. first pitch that night against the Louisville Bats. McLain is a veteran of 10 Major League seasons, eight of them with Detroit. McClain also pitched for Washington, Oakland, and Atlanta at the end of his career. His career stats stand at 131 wins and 91 losses with a 3.39 ERA. McClain's autobiography I Told You I Wasn't Perfect was released in 2007.

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International League Stories from August 23, 2007


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