IL1 International League

International League News & Notes

Published on June 17, 2010 under International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS www.Bisons.com

HOLY THOLE!: Bisons catcher Josh Thole has been one of the International League's hottest hitters in the last month. Since May 18, the Triple-A rookie has hit .431

(25-58) with nine multi-hit efforts in his last 18 games. Thole has 10 doubles during the stretch and is now tied for 5th best in the IL with 18 two-baggers. After struggling in April, the recent hot stretch has raised Thole's season average almost 100 points from .184 to .283. With 21 extra-base hits and 16 walks on the season, Thole has posted a .354 on-base percentage and a .462 slugging percentage for an impressive .816 OPS.

MARTINEZ RETURNS IN GRAND FASHION: You can't make a bigger splash in a return to the lineup than Bisons OF Fernando Martinez accomplished on Monday night. In just his fourth game after missing more than a month, Martinez hit a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning as the Bisons defeated the IronPigs, 7-6. Martinez was on the disabled list from May 14- June 7 with a left hamstring strain and hadn't played with the Bisons since May 9. In his five games back with the club, Martinez has hit .368 (7-19) with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI.

BUFFALO'S MAINE EVENT: New York Mets RHP John Maine is scheduled to make a rehab start with the Bisons on Friday night against Indianapolis. Maine has been on the Mets disabled list since May 21 with right shoulder weakness. He started on Sunday with the Double-A Binghamton Mets and allowed just one hit and struck out five in four innings of work against the Trenton Thunder. Maine is 1-3 with a 6.19 ERA in nine starts with the Mets this season. He faced just one batter in his start May 20 in Washington, before leaving the game with the injury.

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS www.CharlotteKnights.com

SCORELESS STREAK: Knights relief pitcher Erick Threets has not allowed a run in his last six outings.  The hard throwing left-hander has pitched 7.1 consecutive scoreless innings without allowing a run.  Opponents have been unable to score on him since he came off the Knights disabled list on 5/30.  This season he has compiled a 0.79 ERA (1 ER/11.1 IP) in 10 games.

HOME RUN TEAMMATES: C Tyler Flowers and INF Dayan Viciedo have combined for 26 home runs this season.  The 26 home runs tied them for the most combined home runs by two teammates in the IL.  Buffalo's Mike Hessman (18) and Mike Jacobs (8) have also combined for 26 long balls, Durham's Dan Johnson (16), Chris Richard (10) & Ryan Shealy (10) have hit 26 as well.  The 13 home runs hit by Viciedo is a new career high.

DANIEL DANGEROUS: Knights starting pitcher Daniel Hudson has been perhaps the best pitcher in the International League since the beginning of May.  Hudson has gone 6-1 over his last nine starts and has compiled a 2.29 ERA (14 ER/55.0 IP) over that span.  Hudson enters tonight's action leading the IL in strikeouts (86), strikeouts per 9 innings (10.85) and is tied for the League in wins (8).  He is currently on pace for 185 strikeouts and 17 wins.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS www.ClippersBaseball.com

GOMEZ THE DIFFERENCE: Jeanmar Gomez was the difference for Columbus in an 11-0 shutout win for the Clippers over the Norfolk Tides on Tuesday afternoon. Gomez, in his best start of the season, pitched seven innings allowing just three hits while striking out six in his fourth win of the year.

CLIPPERS OFFENSE COMES THROUGH: The Clippers also had plenty of offense on Tuesday with three home runs and 18 hits, as each Clipper recorded at least one hit. The 18 Columbus hits was just one shy of their season high, last time coming against Charlotte. Jared Goedert led off the scoring in the bottom of the second inning with his third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field after Jordan Brown led off the inning with a single. Goedert added two singles for a three hit day, raising his average to .400 in his short stint with Columbus. Michael Brantley bumped his average up to .306 on the season, going 3-for-4 with a walk in five plate appearances. Brantley recorded his third hit of the day on a triple off the right field wall in the fifth inning, driving home Jose Constanza from second base. Brantley would later score on a Nick Weglarz RBI single, ending the day for Tide starter, Tim Bascom. The home runs continued for Columbus in the seventh and eighth innings, as Josh Rodriguez hit his fourth home run of the season to left field. Then in the five-run eighth inning, Chris Gimenez connected on his eighth long ball of the year, a three run shot to deep left field.

DURHAM BULLS www.DurhamBulls.com

TEN IN A ROW: Outfielder Matt Joyce has been on base 10 straight times over the past two games.  He had eight straight hits, three doubles and five singles, before walking his final two at-bats Monday night.  Joyce was 5-for-5 on Sunday against Gwinnett at home, before the 3-for-3 two-walk effort on Monday on the road against the Braves.

DESMOND DAZZLING: Outfielder Desmond Jennings had two more hits on Monday.  It's his sixth multi-hit game in his last seven starts.  Jennings has raised his average 62 points to .290 over his last seven starts.  He's 16-for-31 (.516) over the past seven games. 

DEFENSE DARN GOOD: Durham committed its first error in June on Saturday.  It started a four-run third that gave Gwinnett the lead for good in an 11-4 win.  The Bulls have now made one error in the team's last 15 games, and 30 overall, one less than Louisville for the fewest in the IL.  The Bats are Durham's opponent starting tonight.

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD: Durham is 0-1 early into a stretch of nine consecutive road games over 11 days.  After one in Georgia (game two was rained out on Tuesday), the Bulls play four at Louisville, and four at Indianapolis.  The Bulls are in the second half of a stretch of 17-of-23 on the road (was 18 of 24).  The Bulls are 11-4 so far. 

GWINNETT BRAVES www.GwinnettBraves.com

TIMMONS ON BASE: G-Braves third baseman Wes Timmons went 1-for-5 with an RBI in Monday night's 7-2 win over Durham, increasing his hitting streak to 11 games - a season high for any G-Braves player in 2010. Timmons has gone 16-for-42 during the streak, which has stretched from 6/4 versus Scranton/Wilkes-Barre until Monday's contest. That's good for a .381 batting average during the span, which is his longest hitting streak since he posted a 12-game hit interval from 5/30/09-6/17/09.

THURSTON HEATING UP: Infielder Joe Thurston's bat is burning like the summer sun on a Georgia porch. Since coming back to the field after Gwinnett's last off day, Thurston has crushed International League pitching from 5/27-6/14 to the tune of a .311 average (19-for-61). During that tract, Thurston has 9 runs scored, 3 doubles, a triple, 2 homers and 16 RBI in just 17 games. He's also raised his batting average from .210 to .245 in the process, and committed just 1 error while rotating at both 2B and 3B (he had 6 errors prior to the current stretch).

MILESTONES: G-Braves SS Luis Bolivar got his 900th career hit in June 13's loss to Durham, doing it in style. Bolivar went 1-for-5, but his one hit was a seventh-inning HR that clinched the milestone. Bolivar is currently in his 12th season in the Minor Leagues. G-Braves skipper Dave Brundage picked up his 900th career managerial win in Thursday's 4-0 win over Norfolk. In his 13-year managerial career (all in the Minor Leagues), Brundage has led his teams to two league championships ('03, '07), a pair of 80+ win seasons ('03, '09) and his squads have finished with a .500 or better record in 8 of his 12 full seasons. He has managed for the Seattle and Atlanta organizations.

RESOP SHINES: More and more of a rarity these days, the complete game has become a little more prevalent around the 2010 Gwinnett squad. Chris Resop's complete-game shutout last night was the second of the season for the G-Braves, as RHP Todd Redmond did the deed with his no-hitter on 5/28. The G-Braves now have a pair of CG shutouts through just 60 games, whereas last season's Gwinnett club produced just one complete-game shutout all season. Charlie Morton threw that squad's only CG shutout at Syracuse in a 6-0 win on 5/29/09. Resop has since been called to Atlanta.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS www.IndyIndians.com

BIG LEAGUE BOUND: On Wednesday INF Pedro Alvarez was promoted to the Pittsburgh Pirates, marking the first time he had made it to the Major Leagues in his professional baseball career. Before his promotion, Alvarez hit .277 (67-for-242) with 15 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 53 RBI and 42 runs scored over 66 games with the Tribe. At the time of his promotion, the left-handed slugger ranked tied for first in the International League in games, tied for second in runs scored, third in RBI, extra base hits (32) and total bases (129) and tied for fourth in home runs. Alvarez, who was Pittsburgh's first round selection in the 2008 draft, entered the 2010 season ranked as the club's top prospect and as the "Best Power Hitter" in the organization according to Baseball America. In his first professional season in 2009, he hit .288 with

32 doubles, 27 home runs and 95 RBI in 126 combined games between Single-A Lynchburg and Double-A Altoona. He also participated in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game, was a member of the gold medal winning Team USA World Cup team and was named the Pirates Minor League Player-of-the-Year after leading all Pittsburgh farmhands in home runs and RBI.

OFFENSIVE EXODUS: The promotion of Alvarez capped what was over a month long mass exodus of offensive talent from the Indians' roster. Alvarez was batting .277 with 67 hits, 42 runs, 15 doubles, four triples and a team best 13 home runs and 53 RBI. INF/OF Steve Pearce batted .349 with 30 hits, 18 runs, 12 doubles, two triples, two home runs and eight RBI before he was called to Pittsburgh on May 4. INF Neil Walker hit .321 with 54 hits, 25 runs, 18 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 26 RBI and 10 stolen bases before he received the call from the Pirates on May 25. Finally, OF Jose Tabata turned in a .308 batting average with a team best 69 hits, 42 runs and

23 stolen bases as well as 13 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 19 RBI before he earned his first Major League call on June 9. Overall this season, these four offensive stars accounted for 41% of the team's total runs (127 of 310), 38% of the team's total hits (220 of 582), 39% of the team's total doubles (58 of 149), 48% (10 of 21) of the team's total triples, 44% of the team's total home runs (24 of 54), 37% (106 of 283) of the team's total RBI and 64% (42 of 66) of the team's total stolen bases.

PITCHING PROWESS: The Indianapolis pitching staff continues to be dominant in the month of June as they have combined for an International League best 2.70 ERA

(35 ER in 122.0 IP), while posting a 9-6 record over the first 15 contests of the season's third month. The Tribe bullpen has been particularly effective in June as Indians' relievers have turned in a 2-0 record, three saves in three opportunities and a miniscule 1.15 ERA (6 ER in 47 IP). Leading the way for the Indianapolis bullpen have been relievers Vinnie Chulk (1-0, 0 ER in 6.0 IP, 6 SO), Anthony Claggett (0 ER in 5.0 IP, 7 SO) and Wil Ledezma (0 ER in 5.2 IP, 10 SO), who have yet to allow a run, while striking out 23 over 16.2 combined innings of reliever during the month of June. Pacing the Tribe's starting staff has been RHP Daniel McCutchen, who has posted a 2-1 record, 2.79 ERA (6 ER in 19.1 IP) 11 strikeouts and allowed just 11 hits in three starts, and RHP Hayden Penn, who has turned in a 1-1 record, 2.35 ERA (4 ER in

15.1 IP), 14 strikeouts and just one walk over three starts.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM: After a RBI double in the contest on Sunday accounted for the first hit and the first RBI in 2B Jim Negrych's Triple-A career, the Indians' rookie was at it again on Monday when he hit his first Triple-A home run in the fourth inning against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The home run was the first of three hits on the night for Negrych, who after collecting a single on Tuesday is hitting .385 (5-for-13) with three runs scored, two doubles, one home run, three RBI and two stolen bases in five games for the Tribe. Before being promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on June 11, Negrych batted .267 (36-for-135) with seven doubles, three triples, one home run and 22 RBI in 49 games for the Double-A Altoona Curve. The Buffalo, N.Y. native was named the Pirates 2008 Minor League Player of the Year after hitting a combined .359 (5th best in MiLB) with 41 doubles, five home runs, 72 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 129 games between High-A Lynchburg and Altoona.

LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS www.IronPigsBaseball.com

THE MIGHTY TRACY: Since his return from the DL on 5/27, 1B Andy Tracy is batting .379-6-20 in 20 G (22-58, 5 2B, 3B, 15 R, 24 BB) -- with a .561 OBP and a .810 SLG. Traditionally a slow starter, the Bowling Green, OH native has also hit .330-7-23 in his last 30 G (31-94, 8 2B, 2 3B, 27 BB) raising his average from .198 (5/4) to a season-high .267. In the month of June in his LHV career: .364-13-53 in 68 G (82-225, 26 2B, 3B, 51 BB, 30 R).

WALK THIS WAY?: With the Fernando Martinez game-winning grand slam in the ninth Monday, the Pigs have now lost 7 games in walk-off fashion this season (and they have yet to win a walk-off). They only had 7 walk-off losses all of last season and just 4 in 2008. It was also the first time LHV ever lost on a walk-off GS; and also the first walk-off HR with LHV leading. Overall, it was the Pigs 3rd all-time walk-off loss on a HR (the other 2 came in tie games). The GS was the first vs. LHV in 2010 (5th all-time) and first since SYR's Ian Desmond (8/29/09 off Chacin).

FROM 'A' TO 'Z': LHP Mike Zagurski now has a 10.1 scoreless IP streak in his last 9 G (4 h, 5 bb, 15 k) and has not allowed an ER in his last 17 G since 4/30 -- going

0-2, 0.00, 5 H, 19.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 10 BB, 28 K). During that time, the Omaha native has lowered his ERA from 7.45 to 2.48. "Z" also leads all IL relievers in K/9 at 13.3 (43 K in 29 IP). Overall from 6/6-6/11, the bullpen had a collective 15.0 scoreless-IP streak which was snapped when allowing 4 R (3 ER) in 3.0 IP on 6/11 vs. Toledo. Even so, the relief corps has combined to go 1-2, 2.61 (31 IP, 9 ER) & 3 SV in the past 10 G.

WHO (ELSE) IS HOT: INF Melvin Dorta has hit in his last 7 G (9-24, .375-0-3, 6 R). In his last 22 G, he's hit .333-1-7 (23-69, 4 2B, 3B). Dorta has not struck out in his last 19 G and 60 AB...... OF Willy Taveras has hit in his last 6 G (8-22, .364, 4 R)...... In his last 19 G, INF Neil Sellers is batting .361-1-9 (26-72, 6 2B)...... OF Rich Thompson has hit in 6 of 9 G (10-34, .294-1-5, 4 R).

LOUISVILLE BATS www.BatsBaseball.com

ADKINS TIES FRANCHISE SAVES RECORD: Bats closer Jon Adkins has tied the all-time franchise saves record of 39.  Monday night, Adkins earned his ninth save of the season and his 39th in a Louisville uniform, which pulls him even with Mark Grater on the all-time list.  Adkins is in his second season as a Louisville Bat.  In 2008, he recorded 30 saves and was named an IL All-Star.  The 30 saves rank second in Louisville franchise history for most saves in a season behind Mike Perez (31).  The 30 saves in '08 were also a single season career high for Adkins.  This year, he is 0-4 with a 6.56 era and 9 saves in 13 opportunities. 

SUTTON'S IL BEST ON-BASE STREAK HITS 33:  INF Drew Sutton went 1-for-3 last night to extend his on-base streak to 33 straight games.  The 33-game streak is the longest this season in the IL and second longest in all of baseball. Currently, Cole Figueroa of Class-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm in the California League has a 47-game on base streak (4/26-present). Sutton is batting .351 (39-111) during his on-base streak. On 5/9, his batting average with LOU reached a season-low .193. Since that point, he has hit successfully in 25 of 31 games and raised his average to .290.  He is batting .369 (38-103) during the 31-game stretch. 

CHOPPIN' WOOD: LHP Travis Wood is quickly climbing up the League leader board in strikeouts.  In his last start (6/15 at PAW), Wood fanned 10 PawSox hitters, bringing his total to 81.  The 81 strikeouts is tied for third highest in the IL with Chris Resop of GWN and is just five back of League leader Dan Hudson of CHA.  In his last two starts, Wood K'd a combined 18 hitters and for the season is averaging just over six strikeouts a game.  On 5/18 at LHV, Wood threw 8.0 innings and struck out a career high 11 batters.  That start in LHV also started a stretch of six consecutive quality starts for Wood which continues to this day. 

GORED BY THE BULLS: It's been no secret that the Bats have had their share of troubles against the Durham Bulls in the past few seasons.  Louisville hasn't had a winning season against Durham since 2006 when the Bats went 7-5.  Since then, Louisville is 10-18 including a 3-5 record in 2009.  Since being an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in 2000, the Bats have made the playoffs four times (2001, 2003, 2008, 2009).  During three of these appearances ('03, '08, '09), the Bats and Bulls have met in the first round with the Durham coming out on top each time.  Louisville has an all-time record of 62-74 against Durham and is just 4-12 in the postseason.  The Bats and Bulls start a four-game series tonight at Louisville Slugger Field where Louisville has an all time record of 31-19 against Durham since the stadium opened in 2001.

NORFOLK TIDES www.NorfolkTides.com

MULTI-HIT MAN: Tides infielder Josh Bell has hit .338 (25-for-74) with a home run, 10 doubles, seven RBI and 14 runs scored over his last 20 games. Bell also has 10 multi-hit games over that stretch, which has seen him raise his average from .237 to .270. Bell's 18 doubles for the season are the 2nd most among O's minor leaguers and are tied for 5th most in the IL, and he leads Norfolk with 17 multi-hit games this season.

HIT MAN: Infielder Brandon Snyder has had a strong stretch at the plate, as he's hit safely in 26 of his last 35 games (including each of his last four). Over that 35-game span, Snyder has hit .303 (36-for-119) with four home runs and 20 RBI, as he's steadily increased his average from .181 to .249. Snyder entered the 2010 season as the number six prospect in the Orioles system according to Baseball America.

WHAT A RELIEF: With 2.1 scoreless innings Monday night, reliever Ross Wolf lowered his ERA to 2.17 for the season. Wolf has not allowed a run in any of his seven appearances in June, as he's allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out four in 8.2 innings over that stretch. 18 of his 24 outings this season have been scoreless.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX www.PawSox.com

NAVA IN A MILLION YEARS COULD YOU MAKE THIS UP: The improbable rise of Daniel Nava become a national story this past weekend as the former PawSox outfielder made quite a first impression in his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox. Nava, who was leading the PawSox in most offensive categories this season including average (.294), runs (28), hits (58), 2B (13), HR (8), and RBI (38), got somewhat of a surprise call to Boston on June 12. He was immediately thrown into the Red Sox starting line-up for their nationally-televised game vs. Philadelphia at Fenway Park that afternoon and in his first at-bat he came to the plate with the bases loaded. The 27 year-old wasted no time in making an impact as he drilled the very first pitch thrown to him in the majors into the Red Sox bullpen for a grand-slam. The switch-hitting California native's incredible baseball story goes back to his high school days when he weighed 135 pounds and did not get many at-bats playing at St. Francis High in Mountain View, CA. Nava tried out for the Santa Clara University baseball team in the fall of 2001 but was cut. The manager, Mark O'Brien, was a graduate of St. Francis and knew Nava, so he invited him to hang around the program shagging balls during batting practice, working on the field, and washing the uniforms on road trips. Daniel did that for two seasons before leaving school for financial reasons and enrolling at San Mateo Junior College. At the same time an unexpected growth spurt saw him grow to 5 feet 10 inches and 170 pounds. Nava hit over .400 in his two seasons at San Mateo and returned to Santa Clara for his senior year - this time on scholarship - where he hit .395. Undrafted after college, Nava remained undeterred. He tried out for the independent Chico Outlaws and was cut the first season before making the team the next year and winning the Golden League MVP. Baseball America named Nava the best prospect in the Independent Leagues and that caught the eye of the Red Sox who purchased Nava's rights from Chico for $1 up front with an additional $1,499 if he made it through spring training in 2008. All Daniel has done since is hit .341 in 2008 at Lancaster (Class-A), .352 in 2009 combined at Salem (Class-A), and Portland (Double-A), and .294 in 54 games for the PawSox this season. So maybe it should not have come as a surprise that he blasted a grand-slam on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues and is 5-for-14 with 2 2B, 1 HR, and 5 RBI in his first 4 games for Boston.

THEY CAN'T BEAT US IF THEY DON'T SCORE: Pawtucket's last three home victories have all been shutout wins by 1-0, 1-0, and 2-0 scores. Those are their three home wins this month thus far - on June 2 vs. Charlotte, June 12 vs. Louisville, and June 15 vs. Louisville. The winning pitchers respectively have been starters Felix Doubront (5.2 shutout innings on June 2), Ramon Ramirez (5 scoreless innings on June 12), and Michael Bowden (7.2 shutout innings on Tuesday). The PawSox are 7-3 in shutout games this season as they lead the League with those 7 shutout victories. In the last three and a half weeks (since May 23) the Sox have been involved in six shutout games (going 4-2 in those with three wins by 1-0 scores and the other by 2-0) after having played in just four shutout games in their first 43 games.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS www.RedWingsBaseball.com

THE BUCKEYE CURSE IS OVER: The Red Wings haven't had much luck on the Columbus/Toledo road trip the last 11 years coming back with a winning record just twice since 1999 (2007 5-3 record and 1999 5-3 record).  However, 2010 was a different story.  Rochester just completed the Columbus/Toledo road trip on Tuesday and finished with a 5-3 record.  You have to go back to July 17-22, 1990 for the last time Rochester won six games on a Columbus/Toledo road trip (6-1 record).

HIT PARADE: The Red Wings offense has caught fire the last 11 games batting .312 (122-for-391) as a team.  Rochester has a 7-4 record in these 11 games and the offense as told the story.  The Red Wings batted .362 (97-for-268) as a team in the seven wins and just .203 (25-for-123) as a team in the four losses.

JUST WIN BABY: RHP Rob Delaney has seven wins (7-3 record) so far this season (28 appearances) which is tied for the 3rd most wins in the IL.  Delaney is just three wins away from becoming only the fourth relief pitcher to record 10 wins in a season since 1976 (RHP Julio DePaula 12-5 record in 2007, RHP Willie Eyre 10-5 record in 2005 and RHP Dave Johnson 11-5 record in 1976).  If Delaney remains the team leader in wins it would only be the third time a Red Wings reliever has led the team in wins since 1960 (DePaula 12-5 in 2007 and RHP Bob Tiefenauer shared the team lead in wins (11) with RHP Willard Schmidt in 1960).

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES www.SWBYankees.com

GAME WINNING YARD WORK: Reid Gorecki extended his hit streak to nine straight games with a game winning homer on Tuesday night to beat Indianapolis 4-1 in the final game of the four game series. It was the seventh homer of the season for the Yankees that came in the seventh inning or later that either tied the game or proved to be the game winner. Prior to Gorecki's blast, the last homer for the Yankees that tied the game or gave SWB the lead was at Gwinnett on June 5th when former Yankee David Winfree hit a two run HR in the seventh in a 2-1 Yankees win. Both Juan Miranda and Chad Huffman lead the club with two homers that have tied a game. Miranda had a ninth inning HR vs. ROC to tie a game on April 12th and a game winning HR on April 28th vs. LOU in the eighth. Huffman has a walk off winner against LOU on April 29th in the bottom of the 9th and a winning HR in the bottom of the 7th vs. CHA on May 15th.

THE SLICK FIELDING VENEZUELAN: Reegie Corona made his first error of the season at second base on Tuesday night snapping a streak of 242 chances at second without an error when he misplayed a grounder with two out in the first inning against Indianapolis. The slick fielding infielder has committed six errors on the season. Corona is still the top fielding second baseman in the IL with just one error in 249 total chances at second. He has two errors in 19 total chances at third base and three errors in 33 chances at shortstop.

CLOSING IN ON FRANCHISE HISTORY: Jonathan Albaladejo continues to be one of the most dominant closers in the International League and in team history. He currently leads the IL in saves with 22, three better than Joel Peralta of Syracuse. Albaladejo has converted all 22 of his save opportunities and dating back to last season he has converted 26 consecutive save opportunities, 13 of which have been in one run games. In the 26 saves, he has posted a 0.62 ERA (2 ER) and struck out 38 in 29.1 innings. Albaladejo now has 33 saves in his Scranton/Wilkes-Barre career and after passing Chuck Ricci (31), he now trails only Jay Baller (39) in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise history. The right-hander is also three away from the SWB single season record of 25 saves set by Ricci during the 1995 season. Albaladejo is also on pace to challenge for the IL record in saves of 38 in a single season set by Matt Whiteside of the 2004 Richmond Braves.

OFFENSE IMPROVING: The Yankees scored in the first four innings on Monday against Indianapolis marking the first time all season the team has scored runs in four consecutive innings. The Yankees had scored in three straight innings twice this season: April 20th @ Buffalo in the 7th, 8th and 9th and May 13th vs. Columbus with runs in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd innings. SWB bats exploded for a season high 17 hits in Tuesday's win over Indianapolis including 10 extra base hits (7 doubles, 2 triples and a home run) doubling the previous season high of five. In addition to the new standard in total extra base hits for a game, the team also set new highs in 2010 for doubles (previous high five on four occasions) and triples (previous high one on several occasions). Every Yankees in the lineup on Monday with the exception of David Winfree had at least one extra base hit and the Yankees picked up at least one extra base hit in every inning.

SYRACUSE CHIEFS www.SyracuseChiefs.com

SCHEDULING ODDITY: The first game tonight is the completion of the suspended game originally began on May 8 in Syracuse. With the completion of this game, Syracuse will be the only team in the International League this season to have a game suspended at home, and the play the remainder of the game on the road.

ONE RUN SPECIALISTS: In the previous series with Charlotte, the Chiefs won three out of the four games. All of the games Syracuse won were by one run. The only game they lost in the series was a by two-run margin of 4-2.

DID YOU KNOW: After hitting three home runs in the previous series, Leonard Davis now has nine on the year between Double-A Harrisburg and Syracuse. He trails only Tim Pahuta (13) of Harrisburg for the farm system lead.

DID YOU KNOW II: Joel Peralta's 19 saves are good for second in the IL behind Scranton/Wilkes Barres' Jonathan Albaladejo (22) and first in the Washington farm system.

TOLEDO MUD HENS www.MudHens.com

MR. MUD HEN: Manager Larry Parrish is just five wins away from becoming the winningest manger in the history of the Toledo Mud Hens. He is 536-507 (.514) since 2003 and is now five wins shy of Cal Ermer, who won 540 games from 1978 to 1984.

HEN EGGS: 2B Scott Sizemore is batting .359 (33-92) with seven doubles, two home runs and six RBI over his last 23 games...... OF Jeff Frazier has hit safely in each of his last seven games, batting .433 (13-30) with three doubles, five home runs and nine RBI...... C Robinzon Diaz is batting .395 (17-43) over his last 14 games......

1B/OF Ryan Strieby is hitting .309 (17-55) with three doubles, four home runs and 13 RBI in 16 games during June...... RHP L.J. Gagnier is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA (17.0IP/4ER) over his last three starts.

BASH BROTHERS: Jeff Frazier and Ryan Strieby hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on Sunday vs. Rochester, marking the fifth time this season Toledo has gone deep in consecutive at-bats. Each occurrence has involved either Frazier or Strieby.

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International League Stories from June 17, 2010


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