International League News & Notes

Published on May 12, 2005 under International League (IL1) News Release

BUFFALO BISONS
GETTING INTO A GROOVE: The Buffalo Bisons have had a very solid May so far, wining eight of 11 games to start the month. A major reason for the turnaround is the ability for the team to settle into a routine. The Herd played on consecutive days just once in the final 11 days in April due to rainouts and postponements. The Bisons have played all their scheduled games in May, and have hit.309 (118-382) as a team with 46 extra-base hits in 11 games.

FINALLY A WINNER: After hanging around in the International League's Top 10 in ERA in April, Bisons starter Brian Tallet finally has a couple of notches in the win column. The southpaw did not have a victory over his first five starts despite a solid 2.25 ERA. That changed last Friday as Tallet earned his first win of the season after allowing just one run on four hits in six innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Bisons 2-1 Win). Yesterday, he won again as he gave up four runs on six hits in five innings in Buffalo's 7-5 victory in Durham. Tallet is now 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA (9th in the IL).

HOMER HAPPY: The Bisons got some great power from their hitters this past week. Infielder Brandon Phillips homered to lead off Buffalo's games on May 8 against Ottawa and May 9 in Durham. He also homered on May 7 against the Lynx. Infielder/Outfielder Mike Kinkade, this past week's IL Batter of the Week, also homered in both games this past weekend. After taking a couple days off, Kinkade went deep in his third consecutive game yesterday in Durham. On May 10, infielder Jake Gautreau and catcher Ryan Garko hit back-to-back homers to lead off the 5th inning against the Bulls.

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN ROOSEVELT BROWN: Newly Knighted Roosevelt Brown has gotten right in the swing of things with the Knights. In his first 7 games he has hit a combined .429 (9-21) with 2 doubles, 1 home run and 3 RBI. Brown has also hit safely in his last 4 games where he has hit an impressive .533 (8-15) including his 2 doubles and 1 home run and his 3-3 performance against Ottawa on May 11.

BURKE RETURNS TO KNIGHTS: After a brief stint with the White Sox, Jamie Burke has rejoined the Charlotte Knights. The Knights were forced to release Jeremy Giambi in order to make a roster space available for Burke prior to yesterday's game against Ottawa. Before being called up to Chicago last week, Burke had hit safely in his previous 10 games, going 16-36 (.444). On the season Burke is hitting .274 with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

HEY RICKKKKY!: The Chicago White Sox recently optioned newly acquired Ricky Gutierrez to Charlotte, where he made his debut on May 11 against Ottawa going 2-2 with a walk. Gutierrez is a .266 lifetime hitter in the Major Leagues with 38 career home runs and 357 RBI. In 712 Minor League games Gutierrez has 7 home runs and 254 RBI while hitting .263. He spent parts of the 2004 season with the New York Mets (24 games, .175) Daytona of the FSL (4 games, .077) the Iowa Cubs (21 games, .368) and the Boston Red Sox (21 games .275)

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS
THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT SUNDAY: Mitch Jones has led the Clippers to a 4-1 record on Sundays this year. By far his best day of the week, Jones is hitting .478 (11-23) while slugging an impressive 1.304. After clubbing two homeruns in a Mother's Day victory against Indianapolis, he brought his season Sunday home run total to five to go along with four doubles, nine runs scored, and 10 RBI.

DE PAULA COMES BACK: On Thursday the Clippers will have the 2003 Kevin Lawn award winner (recognizing the Yankees Minor League Player of the Year) Jorge DePaula on the mound. DePaula had a shot to make the Yankees roster out of spring training last year before being sidelined the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Thus far DePaula is 0-2 with a 4.58 ERA in Tampa this year. In 2003, his last full season, Jorge led the Clippers with 10 wins, 27 starts, 125 strikeouts, 167.2 IP, and he led the IL with three complete games.

YOBAL TO GET FIRST TASTE OF TRIPLE-A: Former Cuban national star Yobal Duenas was recently promoted to Columbus. The 33-year-old native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba defected in October of 2003 after a successful career with the Cuban national team. Starting at age 17, Duenas was a fixture at second base for the Cubans and was the Cuban stolen base champion. The Yankees signed Duenas to a Minor League contract in February of 2004 after Drew Henson decided to play in the NFL.

DURHAM BULLS
GO...GO GATHRIGHT: Bulls centerfielder Joey Gathright continues to wreak havoc in the leadoff spot. Gathright stole four bases against Richmond on May 6. It's the second time Gathright has collected four steals in a single International League game, as he also accomplished the feat July 10 last year against Buffalo. Gathright now has 19 stolen bases in as many attempts, leading the IL.

PETE PACKS A PUNCH: Catcher Pete LaForest has caught fire in the last week. LaForest has collect three hits in four of his last five games, going 13-for-21 with two homers and eight RBI. LaForest now has tied Jonny Gomes for the team lead with 20 RBI.



GOMES ON THE GO: Outfielder Jonny Gomes is on his way back to Durham after being optioned from Tampa Bay when RHP Jesus Colome came off the DL. Gomes, who hasn't played for the Devil Rays since May 1, had hit two homers and 5 RBI and was hitting .305 (7-23). With Durham, Gomes had driven in 20 runs in only 14 games.

NO MAGIC NUMBER THREE: B.J. Upton was moved from second to third in the Durham order on May 4. While he's hit well for average (.303 10-33), Upton has yet to drive in a run in those seven games.

HOME SWEET HOME: Durham is 8-11 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park and 8-7 on the road. Last year Durham had the League's best home record. This season the Bulls have yet to win a home series.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
BULLINGTON BACK IN THE HOOSIER STATE: Indiana native and former Ball State University star Bryan Bullington arrived in Indianapolis on Monday, and made his Triple-A debut against Richmond on Wednesday. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander spent the first month of 2005 at Extended Spring Training in Bradenton, Fla., where he was recovering from right shoulder tendonitis. Bullington was named Indiana's "Mr. Baseball" in 1999 after a record-setting career at Madison High School. He then became the first student-athlete in Mid-American Conference history to be taken with the top pick in any sport when he was selected No. 1 overall by Pittsburgh in the 2002 June draft. During his junior season in Muncie, the 24-year-old broke several school records, earned first-team All-America honors and was also named MAC Pitcher of the Year.

DE CASTER BLASTS WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM: Yurendell de Caster smashed his third home run of the season - a walk-off grand slam - to lift Indianapolis to a 10-6 win over Richmond on Tuesday afternoon. De Caster entered the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the fifth.

LEON'S HITTING STREAK UP TO FIVE GAMES: 3B Jose Leon gave the Indians a 6-5 lead with a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the fifth on Tuesday afternoon against Richmond. Leon, who did not play on Wednesday, has hit safely in five straight games, going 7-for-16 with nine RBI.

ELDRED FINDS HIS TRIPLE-A SWING: Tribe 1B Brad Eldred went 2-for-4 on Monday night against Richmond, hitting his first Triple-A home run on a ball that cleared the left field wall by approximately 50 feet. Eldred, who also smashed a two-run triple off the top of the center-field wall, registered four RBI in the contest.

TOUCH ‘EM ALL: Indianapolis smashed eight home runs in a three-game span from May 4-6. On May 4 against Toledo, Ryan Doumit, Cesar Crespo and Jose Castillo registered roundtrippers. On May 5 against Columbus, Yurendell de Caster blasted a pair of homers and Graham Koonce also went deep. In the May 6 tilt vs. the Clippers, Koonce and LF Nate McLouth hammered dingers.

LOUISVILLE BATS
KELLY STREAKING: OF Kenny Kelly extended his hit streak to 11 games with a single in yesterday's game. Kelly is batting .409 (18-44) during the streak and has raised his average from .241 to .314. 3B Edwin Encarnacion holds Louisville's longest streak of the season at 12 games (April 21-May 5).

SHORT STAFFED: With the recall of RHP Elizardo Ramirez yesterday, who was scheduled to start that game, the Bats pitching staff is very thin with just 10 active bodies available. Right handers Miguel Saladin and Brad Salmon were transferred from Double-A Chattanooga this week. RHP Todd Coffey was recalled by Cincinnati and RHP Joe Valentine was optioned to Louisville Monday. And knuckleballer Jared Fernandez was placed on the DL with tendonitis in his left Achilles May 6 (retroactive to May 4). Of the 11 pitchers who started the season on the Bats' active roster, five are currently with the team (Chris Booker, Randy Keisler, Steve Kelly, Jeriome Robertson and Tom Shearn).

EDUCATION DAYS: Yesterday marked the second of three Education Day Games, with over 7,300 school kids in attendance. It was the second sell out of the season (April 23) with the final Education Day Game already sold out Monday, May 16.

NORFOLK TIDES
DIFELICE DOING DAMAGE: With two hits and a two-run home run in Sunday's ballgame, catcher Mike DiFelice improved his season totals to eight home runs and 24 RBI. Remarkably, DiFelice's career-high in home runs is 9 (accomplished in 79 games with Louisville in 1996) and his career-high in RBI is 38, set last season between Toledo (36) and Detroit (2).

BULLPEN'S BEEN BEAUTIFUL: Through 34 games, the Tides team ERA is 3.66, good for 2nd in the IL. One of the main reasons for the high ranking is the fact that the Tides bullpen has a 2.38 ERA with 11 saves in 34 games. The bullpen has allowed just 31 earned runs in 117.1 innings pitched, and has struck out 92 batters while walking just 27. Thanks in part to the bullpen's success, the Tides are 17-0 when leading after six innings this season.

SHOWING THE OPPOSITION THE CALLOWAY: Tides outfielder Ron Calloway currently has a four-game hitting streak, and has hit safely in 26 of the 30 games he has started this year. Calloway started the season with an eight-game hitting streak, and eclipsed that mark with a ten-game hitting streak from April 24th to May 5th. He is hitting .330 with 2 home runs, 5 stolen bases, and 13 RBI on the season.




OTTAWA LYNX
IT'S DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN: In the past week, three different Lynx players have hit home runs on back-to-back nights. OF Keith Reed was the first to accomplish the task, when he homered against Buffalo on May 7-8. INF Alejandro Freire then hit long balls against Charlotte on the 9th and 10th. Finally, OF Tim Raines Jr. launched his second and third homers of the year on May 10-11, also against the Knights.

WORKHORSES: Through Wednesday, Lynx RHP Dave Borkowski leads the IL in innings pitched with 45.0. Fellow teammate, RHP James Baldwin, is third with 43.0 IP. Baldwin owns a 3-2 record and a 3.98 ERA thus far, while Borkowski has gone 2-4 with an even 4.00 ERA.

NOTHING COMES FOR FREE: Lynx pitchers have allowed the fewest walks of any IL team thus far. With 69 walks, Ottawa has a substantial lead on Syracuse, the team with the next fewest. The SkyChiefs have allowed 84 free passes. The IL walks leader, the Richmond Braves, have walked just over twice as many batters as the Lynx (144). Ottawa also has an impressive team strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.31. Leading the squad in this category are starters, James Baldwin (5.50 K/BB) and RHP Tony Fiore (4.50 K/BB). Among relievers, RHP Aaron Rakers has an outstanding ratio of 10.5 (21 strikeouts and only 2 walks).

PAIR OF LYNX GET THE CALL: Lynx OF Keith Reed and C Sal Fasano both had their contracts purchased by the Baltimore Orioles this week. Reed, 26, was hitting .267 with 4 HR and 11 RBI in 25 games for Ottawa. He made his Major League debut on Wednesday for the Orioles as a defensive replacement in the 9th inning. Fasano, 33, had posted a .267 average as well, with 4 HR and 12 RBI. The veteran catcher already has 254 Major League games under his belt, between Kansas City, Oakland, Colorado and Anaheim. His last taste of big league action was in 2002 with the Angels. The Lynx also received RHP Rick Bauer, who was optioned to Ottawa from Baltimore. Bauer, 28, has pitched for the Lynx in parts of each of the last two seasons, going 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA in 18 games.

A TALE OF TWO SEASONS: The three roster moves made by the Lynx yesterday were their first since the 22nd of April. Ottawa has only made eight roster moves since opening day, which is far different from 2004 when Ottawa had already made 38 roster transactions by May 11.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX
SEE YOU IN THREE MONTHS: The Pawtucket Red Sox and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons play the finale of their 4-game series in Moosic, PA this morning at 11:00 am. Today's game marks the second (and last) morning start of the season for the PawSox – the other came in Rochester on April 27 (11:05 am) in a game the Sox lost in 11-innings, 9-8. After today, these two rivals will not meet again for three months until the PawSox visit Lackawanna County Stadium for a 2-game series on August 11 & 12.

SPLITSVILLE: The PawSox have taken two of the first three games of this set and with a victory today will earn their second series win of the season. The other, ironically, came about a week and a half ago when they took 3 of 4 at home from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (April 28 – May 1). The Sox have split six of their nine series played to date and are 1-2-6 in those with a chance to make it 2-2-6 with a win today.

CLIMBING OUT OF THE BASEMENT: The teams came into their series tied for last-place in the IL North. The PawSox climbed out of the basement after rallying for a 4-3 victory in 10-innings on Monday night. The Red Barons rebounded in a big way on Tuesday night, 13-4 to move back into a tie for last. Pawtucket broke the deadlock again last night with another come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

SOXCESS VS. SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE: The PawSox have now gone 39 consecutive games (today will make 40) against Scranton without losing back-to-back meetings. During that stretch the PawSox have won 29 of the last 39 meetings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since the beginning of the 2003 season including a 5-2 mark thus far this season and 12-4 season-series victories each of the last two years. As a result of their recent success against the Red Barons, the PawSox have pulled ahead in the all-time series between these two rivals by a 153-138 margin.

PLAYING ABOVE .500 OF LATE, BUT...: Pawtucket has won 7 of their last 11 games and 9 of their last 15. The Sox (at 15-17 on the year) are once again within 2-games of the .500 mark. They have not been one-game under .500 since they opened the season with a loss (and eventually an 0-5 record).

NAIL-BITERS: Already this season, 18 of Pawtucket's first 32 games have been either 1-run games (5-6) or 2-run games (2-5). Last season, more than half of the PawSox games (73 of the 144 regular-season games) were decided by either one-run (24-28 in that category) or two-runs (9-12 in those). In 2003 the PawSox were a league-best 22-13 in 1-run affairs.

RICHMOND BRAVES
NO WALK IN THE PARK: Braves pitchers issued 15 walks in a 13-7 loss to Durham May 7. The 15 walks is the most issued in a game by R-Braves pitchers since at least 1991 (as far back as records are available). Durham pitchers walked 11 and the clubs combined to strand 27 baserunners in a game that took 3:45. It was the Braves longest nine inning game since July 21, 1996 when the Braves and Rochester took 3:50 to play nine innings.

A LOT OF BASEBALL: The Braves played four consecutive three-plus-hour games May 3-6. It was the first stretch of four straight contests over three hours for the Braves since July 13-16, 2001. Included in last weeks run of marathon baseball was a 14-inning game, a 13-inning game, and a 3:07 9-inning game that was delayed 47 minutes by rain. The Braves played 45 innings and 14 hours and 45 minutes of baseball in those four days.

HOT BRAVES BATS: C Brayan Pena, the International League's leading hitter at .388, has a seven game hitting streak. He is 14-29 during that streak (.483). 2B Jason Bourgeois has hits in eight straight games, the Braves second longest hitting streak of the year (Tony Pena had a nine game streak). Bourgeois is 10-33 (.303) during his streak. As a team the Braves have hit 34 home runs in 34 games, though 27 have been solo shots. Kelly Johnson's two-run homer at Indianapolis Wednesday was just the Braves' third two-run home run of the season.
ROCHESTER RED WINGS
BUCKEYE BLUES: The Red Wings will embark on an eight-game road trip to the state of Ohio on Tuesday. Rochester will begin the trip with a four-game series in Columbus next Tuesday-Friday before finishing the trip with a four-game set in Toledo Saturday-Tuesday. Why so blue? Rochester hasn't had a winning Columbus-Toledo road trip since July 29-August 3, 1997 when the Wings went 4-2 on a six-game swing through the Buckeye State.

MAY DAY, MAY DAY: The Red Wings are off to a good start in the month of May with a 7-4 record. With a winning month of May, the Red Wings will have their second consecutive winning month of May (2004 16-13) for the first time since 1987 (16-14) & 1988 (17-12).

NO SOUP FOR YOU, AND YOU, AND YOU: RHP Travis Bowyer has been very impressive in his first season at the Triple-A level, going 1-0 with five saves and a 1.42 ERA in 13 games. In 19.0 innings of work, Bowyer has allowed just three runs on nine hits while walking eight and striking out 24. Bowyer has not allowed a run since April 12 (14.2 innings) and opponents are batting just .109 (5-for-46) against him in his last 11 appearances.

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?: Shane Victorino's 1st inning grand slam Tuesday night vs. Pawtucket had people asking, "When was the last time a Red Baron hit a slam at Lackawanna County Stadium? The answer: Jeremy Salazar on June 22, 2003. The blast won a brand new car for Lake Winola's Karen Leber in the 5th inning Grand Slam contest.

WHAT THE HECK: Shane Victorino has been so hot he deserves to dominate these notes. Victorino went the first 11 games of the season without a home run but has now cracked 8 in his last 16 games with 18 RBI. And in his last eight games he has blasted six long balls with 14 RBI. With six at Lackawanna County Stadium he is already halfway to Jason Michael's 2001 home record of 12.

FESH CLIMBING THE RANKS: Before the season is over, it is quite possible Sean Fesh will have pitched in more games as a Red Baron than any other pitcher. He has 13 appearances this season and 103 in his Scranton/Wilkes-Barre career. He was originally with the Red Barons from 1998 through 2000. He just passed Chuck Ricci (102) for 8th place on the career list and is one appearance away from matching Jim Crowell. The all-time record is 132 held by Paul Fletcher. Dan Giese could give him a run for the record, however. Giese enters today's game in 10th place with 101 appearances. Former Baron Geoff Geary had 114 (4th) prior to his Phillies call-up.

SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS
HOMECOMING WEEK: A pair of local hurlers took on the SkyChiefs this week at Alliance Bank Stadium. On Sunday former SkyChiefs pitcher and Liverpool High School Graduate Scott Cassidy earned the victory for Pawtucket against the SkyChiefs. Cassidy threw five innings allowing two runs on two hits and struck out seven batters. Wednesday Baldwinsville graduate Jason Grilli took to the mound for the Toledo Mud Hens. Grilli pitched six innings giving up seven hits and three runs and did not factor in the decision in a game the Mud Hens won 4-3 in 11 innings.

GRIFFIN BRINGING HOME RUNNERS: John-Ford Griffin is second in the IL with 27 RBI. He is hitting .426 with 4 HR and 25 RBI with men on base and .400 with 3 HR and 21 RBI with runners in scoring position. Griffin has registered a pair of 5 RBI games this season.

DOWNS UP, SIDE OUT: The Blue Jays purchased the contract of left-hander Scott Downs and outrighted Matt Whiteside to Syracuse. Downs was 0-3 with an 8.84 earned run average in 18 innings in his first four starts. In his last three, he was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 21 innings. Whiteside began the season appearing in 5 games with Syracuse before having his contract purchased by Toronto. For Toronto Whiteside appeared in two games with no record a 19.64 ERA striking out five and walking five in 3.2 innings.

TOLEDO MUD HENS
DAWKINS MAKES GOOD ON HIS PROMISE: Prior to the game on Mother's Day (May 8) at Fifth Third Field, a Public Relations staff member informed SS Gookie Dawkins that he was one home run shy of his 50th career blast. Dawkins was surprised to hear the news, and promptly informed the staff member that he would hit number 50 that day. Two and a half hours later, Dawkins crushed a Tom Shearn fastball over the left field wall – making good on his promise. Dawkins wasted little time collecting his 51st bomb the very next day in Syracuse.

SPURL-RING...THE TIGERS MAKE A CALL TO THE HEN PEN!: On May 9th, the parent Detroit Tigers re-called RHP reliever Chris Spurling to fill the vacancy left by closer Troy Percival, who was placed on the 15-day DL (retroactive to May 8). This year in Toledo, Spurling has compiled a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 4.12 in 19.2 IP. Spurling is the third member of the Hens to get the call to the Big Leagues this year. OF Marcus Thames was called-up by Detroit after only two games with the Hens, and RHP Andrew Good had his contract purchased on April 15. Thames remains with the Tigers, while Good was optioned to Toledo on April 30.

HENS HURLERS ARE SIZZLING ON THE STAT SHEET: The Hens pitching staff is the best in the International League with a 3.53 ERA. RHP Sean Douglass got the honor of being named the Detroit Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Month in April. RHP Jason Grilli has been equally impressive of late, picking up the win in his last two starts. Grilli struck out nine Louisville batters on May 6, his most since July 7, 2004 against Buffalo. Reliever Vic Darensbourg is leading the way for the Hen pen. Darensbourg has not allowed an earned run in 14 appearances (11.2 IP, five hits) this season.

APRIL SHOWERS BRING...HESSMAN HOT STREAK?: 1B Mike Hessman had a dismal April, batting .164 with only two home runs and 10 RBI. However, the month of May has been much kinder to him. Hessman has smacked six home runs, 11 RBI, and scored six runs while going 9-26 (.346) in his last seven games. He recorded multi-RBI games in five of the seven games as well.

International League Stories from May 12, 2005

• Alejandro Freire - Lynx Player Profile - Ottawa Lynx
• Toledo's park a gem - OSC Original by Marc Viquez
• International League News & Notes - IL1
• Lynx to celebrate Police Week - Ottawa Lynx
• Clippers make roster moves - Columbus Clippers
• Hens Return to Glass City - Toledo Mud Hens

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