IL1 International League

International League News and Notes

Published on August 10, 2006 under International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS
RALLY FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: On Tuesday night, the Bisons posted the largest ninth-inning comeback in the history of Dunn Tire Park by scoring seven runs with two outs to defeat Ottawa, 12-9. Trailing 9-5, Jake Gautreau and Ramon Vazquez led off the inning with walks but advanced only to third and second with two outs. Franklin Gutierrez hit an 0-2, two-run double to right center to pull the Herd to within 9-7. Ben Francisco followed with a game-tying home run to left. After a walk and an error, Jason Dubois allowed the Bisons to walk off a winner with a three-run bullet home run to left-center.

SPEAKING OF POWER: Outfielder Jason Dubois has homered four times in his last five games. On August 5 against Norfolk, he hit a pair of blasts including one off the batter's eye in straight away center. An RBI-machine, Dubois has driven in 28 runs in his last 19 games. On the year, Dubois leads the Bisons with 20 home runs (T-3rd in the IL), 79 RBI (2nd in the IL) and a .500 slugging percentage (4th in the IL).

STEADY START CONTINUES: Infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff was held hitless in back-to-back games only once in 67 games with Double-A Akron to start the season. So far with the Herd, he doesn't even know how to be held off the bases at all. Kouzmanoff has hit in his first eight games at the Triple-A level, with a .313 (10-32) average, three doubles, four home runs and six RBI. Combined with his time in Akron, he is hitting .380 (105-276) with 19 home runs and 61 RBI.

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS
LUCKY NUMBER TEN: For the first time in Charlotte Knights history, three Knights have now won at least 10 games in a season. Tim Redding notched his tenth win of the season Tuesday against the Durham Bulls during the first game of a doubleheader with an impressive complete game performance, striking out nine batters and giving up only one earned run. Thus far in the season, Redding has a solid 3.62 ERA, and is tied for 2nd in the IL in strikeouts with teammate Stephen Randolph (119). Charlie Haeger has reached 11 wins on the season, to accompany his 3.19 ERA, and has 118 strikeouts thus far in the season. Heath Phillips leads the League in wins with 13, and has a staggering 2.61 ERA. Randolph is one win away from the joining the "10-Win Club", as he sits on nine total wins for the season.

LOOKING BACK: The final weeks of the 2005 season were a different tune compared to this season. By the end of the 2005 season, the Knights were 57-87 placing them 3rd in the IL-South and 22 games behind first, with hopes of going to the playoffs nowhere in the near future. This season, the Knights (69-47) have been sitting in first place since April 21 after defeating the Toledo Mud Hens, 6-3. The 2005 team had a batting average of .267 which was good enough for 8th in the League. The 2006 team is sitting in 1st with a .270 team batting average and is 5th with a 3.55 team ERA compared to the 2005 team who were 13th in the League with a 4.83 team ERA.

A LONG TIME COMING: As it stands today, the magic number for the Knights is 14. This would mark the first time since 1999 that the Knights have earned a spot in the postseason. If this happens, the Knights hope that this ending would be as sweet as the 1999 finish, as the Knights finished the season by winning the International League Governors' Cup Championship, defeating Durham three games to one, and advancing to the second-ever Triple-A World Series in Las Vegas.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS
ONE RUN VICTORIES: The Clippers notched their 20th one-run win on Sunday against Indianapolis. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Columbus rallied for five in the bottom half. Indy ran off seven more runs over the next three innings and the Clippers answered with four runs over the 3rd, 4th and 5th. That would be all the scoring until Carlos Pena's walk-off homer to lead off the 11th inning. Reliever Brian Bruney picked up his first win as a Clipper with two scoreless innings. Columbus is now 12-3 in their last 15 one-run games.

SEASON STREAKS: Monday night marked the end of Andy Cannizaro's and Danny Garcia's season long hit streaks. Cannizaro lasted 10 games, hitting .359 and collecting 14 hits. Garcia finished with a nine-game streak and put up a .364 average with 12 hits. Centerfielder Kevin Thompson currently has a nine-game streak, ongoing since July 31, hitting .421 over that span with 16 hits.

VERAS RECALLED: Jose Veras, currently tied for 7th among single season save leaders in Clipper history, was called up to New York last Friday. It marks the second time Veras has been up with New York after being recalled in June but not appearing in a game. He has saved 19 ball games in 22 chances this season, including saves in each of his last four outings.

DURHAM BULLS
KEVIN CRUSHING: Kevin Witt now has 12 more homers than anyone else in the IL. Witt not only has a League-high 33 homers, but an IL-best 92 RBI (16 ahead of anyone), 60 extra-base hits, and a .596 slugging percentage. Witt also is second in the IL in hits (behind teammate Darnell McDonald) with 125, and has scored 70 runs, two off the League held by departed teammate B.J. Upton (Tampa Bay).

CHASING HISTORY: Witt is only the second Triple-A Bull to hit 30 homers in a single season. Scott McClain hit 34 in the first Triple-A season in 1998, so Witt is one homer shy of tying Durham's single-season Triple-A record. The all-time Durham record of 39 was set in 1930 by Tom Wolfe. Witt leads all of Minor League Baseball with 33 home runs, one ahead of Terry Evans of Arkansas.
GOING DEEP: Despite Witt's prowess at hitting the long ball, Durham now has 91 homers in 117 games. Witt has 35 percent of Durham's home run total. The team's lowest output since going Triple-A was the first championship season in 2002, 105. The Bulls need 15 in 27 games to surpass that total.

MORE CHANGES: Two players returned to Durham from Tampa Bay today. RHP Edwin Jackson will go to the Durham bullpen after pitching in the Devil Rays pen, while LHP J.P. Howell is back in the Durham rotation, after starting for Tampa. Corresponding moves have not yet been made. On Tuesday, INF Luis Ordaz went 1-2 in beginning a Major League rehab assignment with the Bulls.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
HEADING DOWN THE STRETCH: Indianapolis, Toledo and Louisville are separated by just 1.5 games in the International League's West Division heading into Thursday's action. The Indians (64-54) lead the Mud Hens (63-55) by percentage points for first place, while the Bats (61-56) are just 1.5 games off the pace. Rochester (68-51) currently leads the Wild Card race by 4.5 games over Toledo.

DE CASTER FINDS THE STROKE: Indianapolis INF Yurendell de Caster enters Thursday night's tilt with a base knock in seven of his last eight games (.345, 10-29, 3 R, 5 RBI). The 26-year-old is hitting .277 with 11 round trippers and 44 RBI in 97 Triple-A games this season.

THE KID IS ON A ROLL: Indians INF Craig Stansberry enters Thursday evening's contest with a base knock in eight of his last 10 games (.267, 8-30, 8 R, 4 RBI). The 24-year-old is batting .239 with two long balls and 11 RBI in 36 Triple-A games this season.

WE KNOW HOW TO PLAY "D": Indianapolis leads the International League with a .982 fielding percentage (3,103 PO, 1,194 A, 79 E). The Indians have turned in 61 errorless games this season, going 34-27 in those contests.

... AND, WE LIKE TO RUN: Indianapolis also leads the International League with 157 stolen bases to this point in the season. The Tribe has swiped five or more bases on four occasions in 2006. Three Indians have collected at least 10 thefts -- OF Rajai Davis (42-for-54), OF Adam Boeve (17-for-20) and INF J.J. Furmaniak (15-for-17). With 28 games remaining, Indianapolis needs just seven SB to break the Victory Field Era record of 163 thefts (set in 2005).

LOUISVILLE BATS
REPLACE ONE LEADER WITH ANOTHER: OF Norris Hopper took over the top spot in the IL batting average race on August 4; he currently has a .341 average and had not been in the top 10 due to a lack of plate appearances. OF Chris Denorfia had been first in the League for all but a few days since June 1, but was promoted to the Reds July 13 and dropped out of the top 10. Hopper's 23 stolen bases (in 28 attempts) are tied for eighth in the IL and his .377 on-base percentage leads the Bats (12th in IL). The last time Louisville had a player finish a season ranked first in average was in 1996 when Dmitri Young led the American Association with a .333 batting average.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Bats are 24-30 on the road this year and play 17 of their final 27 games away from Louisville Slugger Field. Louisville has not had a winning road record since 2001 when the then RiverBats went 38-34 on the road and won the Governors' Cup Championship. The Bats hitters seem to like the comforts of home with a .275 team batting average at LSF compared to .260 on the road. However, the pitchers don't seem to mind the travel as their ERA is lower away from home with a 3.57 ERA compared to a 3.61 ERA at Slugger Field.

SNYDER TIES SEASON-HIGH STREAK: 3B Earl Snyder tied Louisville's longest hitting streak of the season of 11 games with a 2-3 performance yesterday. Since the streak began July 28, Snyder is batting .366 (15-41) with two doubles, six runs scored and eight RBI. INF Jeff Bannon hit in 11 straight games from April 13- May 20.

NORFOLK TIDES
TUCKER PROMOTED TO NEW YORK: Just prior to Wednesday night's ballgame, the New York Mets purchased the contract of outfielder Michael Tucker from the Tides. Tucker, 35, was hitting .265 with six home runs and 33 RBI in 83 games for Norfolk, and had drawn a team-leading 49 walks this season. He will take the roster spot of outfielder Cliff Floyd, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with tendonitis in his left achilles.

CLOSING TIME: Tides closer Heath Bell has been dominant on the mound with Norfolk this year. The 28-year-old right-hander is 2-2 with a 0.67 ERA, and has gone nine-for-nine in save opportunities. Bell is holding batters to a .192 average against, and has struck out 40 batters while walking just four in 26.2 innings of work. He has appeared in 22 games with the Tides this season, and has finished each and every game he has appeared in thus far.

MULTI-TALENTED: In his last six starts, Chris Basak has hit .458 (11-24) with five RBI and two runs driven in. In the nine games he has appeared in since July 25, the 27-year-old has played third base, shortstop, second base and left field, while also serving as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner. Among players currently on the Tides' roster, Basak leads the club with 88 hits, 20 doubles, three triples, 45 runs scored, 15 stolen bases and 100 games played.

OTTAWA LYNX
TWISTED, SISTER: There have been plenty of record-breaking nights at Lynx Stadium over the years, but the Ottawa Lynx are hoping this one has a twist-ed ending. The Lynx home game Thursday, August 17 against Buffalo will play host to an attempt at the Guinness World Record™ for the world's largest dancing of the twist in the Tropicana Twist-er World Record Attempt, presented by Tropicana Twister and Hot 89.9. After the game, August 17, fans are invited to go down onto the Lynx Stadium field to help dance Ottawa into the record books by performing the twist for six minutes. Fred Astaire Dance Studio will have two dancers on-site to show everyone the correct way to do the twist. The record to beat is 1,681, set by the faculty and students of two British schools.
AUGUST IS HOT HOT HOT!: As the games get more and more important, the Lynx seem to play better and better. After two consecutive winning months, the Cats have jumped out to a 5-2 record in August. The Lynx have the 3rd highest team batting average in the IL in August (.292) and the highest among IL North teams. The team is also 3rd in August ERA (3.02). Leading the way offensively are Luis Terrero's .429 average and Keith Reed's 2 HR and 6 RBI. Andy Mitchell hasn't allowed a run in four appearances and Hayden Penn allowed only one run over his eight-inning start.

ROSTER MOVES: The Lynx have a couple of changes to the roster as RHP Daniel Cabrera was recalled to Baltimore on August 7. To make room for Cabrera, the Orioles optioned RHP Winston Abreu to Ottawa. Abreu made two appearances with the Orioles, allowing only two hits in 2.2 innings.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX
BAD TIMING: The PawSox current 5-game losing streak is their second longest of the year and it comes after the PawSox had pulled to within 6.5 games of 1st place on August 4. They are now -9.5 GB. The Sox need a victory tonight at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to avoid matching their longest losing streak of the season (a 6-game skid from May 28 - June 3).

TOUGH TO TAKE: The PawSox had a chance to make themselves a player in the playoff race this week when they embarked on a 7-game road trip against the top clubs in the IL North. It has been an inauspicious start to the trip to say the least. The Sox were swept in a 3-game series in Rochester (currently the IL Wild Card leader) from Monday through Wednesday. The first two games of the series both ended with two of the more difficult PawSox losses of the season. On Monday night the PawSox rallied late to take an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning, but after a catcher's interference call negated the last out, Terry Tiffee unloaded a game-tying grand slam with two outs, and the Red Wings went on to win in the 10th, 9-8 to send the Sox to the stunning defeat. Tuesday night, the Red Wings scored the game's only run in the bottom of the 1st inning and held on for a 1-0 victory - Pawtucket's third 1-0 loss of the season. So, instead of possibly moving to within 4.5 games of Wild Card leading Rochester, the PawSox fell further behind, and when the Sox couldn't hold a 3-1, 6th inning lead on Wednesday (eventually losing 6-3), Pawtucket's playoff hopes took another huge hit. The PawSox and Red Wings will next meet two weeks from Saturday (August 26) in the historic "Futures at Fenway" game to be played at approximately 6:35 p.m. at Fenway Park in Boston. Pawtucket will try to keep their hopes alive when they begin a four-game series at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (currently the IL North leader by percentage points) on Thursday night. The good news - Pawtucket has won 41 of the last 57 meetings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre since the beginning of 2003.

HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION: After 118 games and four full months of baseball, the PawSox find themselves back below .500 with a 58-60 record. Pawtucket has been exactly at .500 a total of 29 times this season, but they are now 2-games below .500 for the first time since July 21 (at 48-50).

RICHMOND BRAVES
ROAD WARRIORS: The Braves have won three straight road games for the first time this season. They had not won back-to-back road games in 2006 prior to this week. The Braves were 4-1 on the road trip that ended last night. It was their first .500-plus road trip of the year.

BATTING PRACTICE: The Braves have won eight of their last nine games, thanks in large part to a robust offense. The Braves have 97 hits in their last nine games and are hitting .326 as a team over that stretch. They are averaging exactly five runs a game over their last nine contests.

PENA SIZZLING: Brayan Pena has an 11-game hitting streak, equaling Scott Thorman for the longest hitting streak by a Brave this season. Pena is seven for his last nine and is hitting .436 over the course of the streak (20-46).

MOVING UP: LHP Wayne Franklin was promoted to Atlanta Saturday. He is the 17th R-Brave to earn a big league promotion this season. The Braves have made 93 roster moves in 2006.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS
EXTRA, EXTRA: With Monday night's win the Red Wings moved to an International League best 14-3 in extra inning games this season. Rochester has won nine of their last 10 and 16 of their last 20 extra inning games dating back to last season. The 14 extra inning wins are the most by an International League team since the 1989 Syracuse Chiefs went 15-5 in extra frames.

STAN THE MAN: Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn is having a very successful first season as skipper of the Red Wings. With 12 more wins (25 games remaining) this season Cliburn would become the first rookie Red Wings manager to win 80 regular season games since 1971 when Joe Altobelli went 86-54 in his first season at the helm. Altobelli went on to lead the Red Wings to the Governors' Cup Championship and Junior World Series. Since 1942 only Johnny Keane (1949, 85-67 record), Harry Walker (1952, 80-74 record), Earl Weaver (1966, 83-64 record), and Joe Altobelli (1971, 86-54 record) have compiled 80 regular season wins in their first year as Red Wings manager.

THE LONG ARM OF THE IL STILL RESIDES AT FRONTIER FIELD: The Red Wings enter tonight's game leading the International League with a team ERA of 3.24 (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is 2nd with a 3.32 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 team 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, 3.15).

THROWING BLANKS: Tuesday night's 1-0 win vs. Pawtucket was the Red Wings' 13th shutout this season. The 13 shutouts are the most Rochester has had in a season since 1997 when the Red Wings had 13 shutouts. Of the 13 shutouts Rochester has thrown this year five have come on the road, which is the most road shutouts Rochester has had since 1999. This is only the fourth time since 1990 that Rochester has had 10 or more shutouts in a season (2001-10, 1997-13, and 1992-10).

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE
G-MAC APPEARING ON BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT: Former Syracuse basketball star and Scranton native Gerry McNamara will be on hand to throw out the first pitch and sign autographs at the Saturday, August 19 game vs. Rochester. The game is also Gerry McNamara Bobblehead Night. The first 6,000 fans at the game will receive the doll featuring G-Mac in his famous #3 Orangemen jersey.

LOOKING TO EXTEND THE HOME STREAK: Tonight the Red Barons are looking to extend their home winning streak to 12 games. The current 11-game winning streak started with a 14-2 win July 14 vs. Toledo. During the streak they have scored 62 runs while allowing just 17 - a 1.50 ERA. On the season the pitchers ERA at home is a low 2.93. The most consecutive home wins in franchise history is 14 set between May 22 and June 11, 1992. At 37-21 on the season they have the best home record in the IL, slightly better than Toledo's 36-22.

BARONS BITS: The Barons are 44-22 (.667) on artificial turf this season including 14 consecutive wins...........The Red Barons have been especially successful against sub .500 teams this season with the exception of the Pawtucket Red Sox. Against Syracuse, Durham, Richmond, Norfolk and Columbus they are a combined 28-12 (.700) but only 3-6 against Pawtucket.......Since the Red Barons last meeting on July 3 vs. Pawtucket the Red Barons have played extremely well going 22-6 (.786).....The last four series the Red Barons have been in have all been sweeps. Two four-game sweeps over Richmond and Ottawa, a three-game sweep over Syracuse and one four-game lost sweep in Ottawa......Since July 25 the Red Barons pitching staff is 11-4 with a 2.35 ERA........Starting pitchers this season have already recorded 49 wins - 7 more than they had all of last season.

SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS
FILLING THE NEED FOR SPEED: SkyChiefs center fielder Wayne Lydon stole an entire diamond worth of bases Sunday at Pawtucket. His four swipes set a modern Syracuse franchise record, breaking the previous bar of three that was achieved 25 times previously, most recently by Jimmy Alvarez in 2003. With 23 stolen bases and 10 triples on the season Lydon is the first Syracuse player since Derek Bell (12 3B, 27 SB) in 1991 to steal 20 or more bases and record 10 triples.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: With a double on Wednesday versus Scranton/Wilkes-Barre John Hattig joined teammate and current IL doubles leader Kevin Barker (34) in the 30-double club. The last time the SkyChiefs had two players with 30 or more doubles was in 2002 when Chad Mottola collected 35 and Gary Burnham 34. The last time a Syracuse player paced the International League in doubles was 1995 when Robert Perez connected for 38 doubles and teammate Joe Lis finished second with 33.

ROUNDTRIPPERS FOR THE ROOKIES: Triple-A rookies Erik Kratz and Adam Lind connected for their first Triple-A home runs Sunday at Pawtucket. They are the fourth and fifth rookies to launch their first Triple-A HR for Syracuse this season (Rob Cosby, Wayne Lydon, Ryan Roberts).

WRONG END OF THE RECORD BOOKS: SkyChiefs pitcher Josh Banks has allowed 32 HR this season breaking the modern franchise record of 29 set by Jackson Todd in 1982.

TOLEDO MUD HENS
POWER SURGE: Hens OF Alexis Gomez had only three home runs all season entering Monday's game versus the Columbus Clippers. Unfortunately for the Clippers, Gomez was able to take advantage of the wind blowing out by belting home runs in the first, fourth, sixth, and ninth innings, totaling an incredible four home runs for the evening. Alexis became the first International League player to blast four homers in a game since Bubba Trammell on August 9, 1997 versus Richmond in 13-innings; Trammell accomplished the feat as a member of the Hens as well. Gomez finished the night 4-5, with four home runs, five RBI, and four runs scored. Alexis added to those numbers by blasting his eighth home run of the season Wednesday night at Fifth Third Field, making it five homers in three games.

DURBIN GETTING IT DONE: For a pitching staff that has had a lot of changes throughout the 2006 season there has been one constant and that is RHP Chad Durbin. With starters Zach Miner, Wil Ledezma, and Roman Colon all getting the call to the parent club for most of the season, Durbin has been nothing but solid. Chad was named to the IL's mid-season All-Star team and has compiled a record of 9-5, with a 2.91 ERA, and is leading the IL with 123 strikeouts. Recently Durbin has been lights outs; over his last three starts he is 1-0, 1.85 ERA, 24.2 IP, 5 ER, with the Hens winning all three of those games. Chad's next start will come today versus the Clippers at Fifth Third Field, where Chad is 4-2 with a 2.21 ERA.

DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME: The International League West Division race is heating up as the season's final stretch run is at full speed. The Hens are mere percentage points behind the Indianapolis Indians. The Hens and Indians aren't the only team in the thick of the race though; the Louisville Bats sit just 1.5 games behind the pace. The Hens and Indians will face off only two more times this season when Indy travels to Toledo on the 23rd and 24th of this month. Toledo will also take on the Bats at home this month for a three-game set the 25th though 27th. The Hens lead both season series: 8-6 against the Indians, and 8-5 versus the Bats.

FAMILIAR FACE MAKES REHAB START: Former Hens pitcher and current Tiger LHP Mike Maroth made a rehab start for the Hens on Wednesday versus the Clippers, pitching 3.0 IP, allowing three runs on three hits, while striking out two, and firing 60 pitches. Maroth was 5-2, with a 3.56 ERA in nine starts for Detroit this season until being placed on the 15-day disabled list May 26. Maroth was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on June 6 to remove bone chips in his left elbow. In 2002, Maroth went 8-1 in 11 starts with the Mud Hens before being recalled to Detroit. He was with the Hens in 2001 as well, going 7-10 with a 4.65 ERA in his 24 appearances. Mike is scheduled to make at least one more start for the Hens before rejoining the Tigers.

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International League Stories from August 10, 2006


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