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April 19, 2007 - International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS

SHUTOUT STANFORD IN 2007: On Friday night, LHP Jason Stanford made Bisons history by becoming the first person to play for the team in seven consecutive seasons in the Modern Era - but if he continues to pitch like he has already this year, his stay in Buffalo will be brief. The southpaw threw six shutout innings on Friday in Columbus, allowing just three hits while striking out six. He was even better on Wednesday in Toledo, fanning seven in seven innings of one-hit ball. In 56 career games with Buffalo, Stanford is 22-11 with a 3.23 ERA.

FAST START FOR HERD: The Bisons are 8-2 so far, matching the best 10-game start in the team's Modern Era. Since 1985, the Herd has been 8-2 three other years with 2001 being the most recent. Included in their great start has been their first four-game road sweep (April 13-16 in Columbus) since August 16-19, 2004 in Pawtucket. Their 17-1 win over the Clippers on Monday set a new team Modern Era record for margin of victory.

PITCHING STAFF DOMINATING: Through the first 10 games of the season, the Bisons pitching staff has posted a stellar 2.44 ERA. RHP Adam Miller (2.77 ERA) and LHP Jason Stanford (0.00 ERA) have each won their first two starts, while RHP Edward Mujica (0.00 ERA) is a perfect 4-4 in save opportunities. Combined, Bisons pitchers have surrendered just 70 hits in 85.0 innings of work. The team had gone 68.0 innings without allowing a home run until Toledo's Dane Sardinha homered on Tuesday.

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS

LOGAN'S RUN: On Tuesday, the White Sox recalled left handed relief pitcher Boone Logan from Charlotte. Logan made four appearances for the Knights this season going 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA. Logan pitched 8.1 innings allowing 8 hits and 2 earned runs with 11 strikeouts and 4 walks. Logan was one of the last cuts Chicago made out of spring training. He is no stranger to the Major Leagues. In 2006, he broke camp with the White Sox and pitched in 21 games earning one save and sporting an 8.31 ERA. A roster spot was made available after outfielder Scott Podsednik was placed on the 15-day disabled list.

HELP WANTED: The Knights pitching has been stellar so far this season; however, the team is continuing to fall behind early. Charlotte has been outscored 11-2 in the 1st inning this season. Another unfortunate trend is that the team is not hitting well with runners in scoring position. The Knights are hitting just .165 with runners in scoring position and have left more than 10 men on base in 7 of their 11 games.

TIDBITS: Outfielder Luis Terrero is 2nd in the IL in home runs with 4...Speaking of home runs, 1B Casey Rogowski hit his first of the season Wednesday in a 7-4 loss to Ottawa...Having not pitched since the 2005 season, Vladimir Nunez is showing little signs of rust. In two starts, the right-hander sports a 1-0 record, 2.45 ERA and leads the Knights staff in strikeouts with 12.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS

YEPEZ ON THE MOUND: INF Marco Yepez became the first Clippers position player to toe the hill this season with his appearance on Monday night. Yepez came in with two on and two out in the 8th and was able to retire Franklin Gutierrez. He finished with 2 ER in 1.1 IP allowing a home run. His first appearance on the mound was in 2006 with Double-A Harrisburg when he allowed 1 ER in 1.0 IP on August 18 at Altoona.

WELCOME (BACK) TO THE COOP: With the affiliation change in the offseason, Columbus returns only two former Clippers to this year's team (Tim Redding '05 and Brandon Claussen '02-'03). However, 16 players on the roster have come through Cooper Stadium as opponents in the IL. Outfielder Darnell McDonald has enjoyed the most success at the Coop. McDonald is a career .313 (26-84) hitter with 10 RBI in 23 games.

HANRAHAN PITCHING WELL: RHP Joel Hanrahan has been one of the more dominant pitchers in Columbus' rotation despite an 0-1 record. He has 17 strikeouts through 16.1 IP in three starts, giving up only four earned runs. Columbus has scored a total of four runs in his three starts, including being shutout twice.

DURHAM BULLS

SOLID IN THE FIELD: The Bulls have played errorless ball in nine of 14 games, and have allowed only six unearned runs in the first two weeks of the season. The Bulls have only 10 errors in 14 games, five of them in the first two contests.

HAMMEL A HIT: In three starts RHP Jason Hammel has allowed just one run. After picking up his first win on Sunday, he was named International League Pitcher-of-the-Week. Hammel is slated to start the final game of the team's series in Columbus tomorrow.

FIRST NOT ALWAYS BEST: Durham has scored first in nine of 14 games, but is 4-5 in those contests. The Bulls have held the lead in 12 of 14 games. In the other two games, the Bulls were shut out.

BOTTOM'S UP: Durham's 5-4 win yesterday was due in large part to the production from the bottom three hitters in the order. Justin Ruggiano, Raul Casanova and Jorge Velandia each had two hits. The trio was 6-11, scored all five runs and drove in two in the 5-4 victory over Columbus. Casanova now has a hit in all six of his starts, going 8-23 (.348) with two homers and three RBI.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

ANOTHER STREAK FOR BIXLER: Indianapolis INF Brian Bixler enters Thursday afternoon's road trip finale at Norfolk with a 10-game hitting streak. The 24-year-old came into the season with six streaks of at least 10 contests -- one with Altoona in 2006, one with Lynchburg in 2006, one with Hickory in 2005 and three with Williamsport in 2004. The longest streak of Bixler's career -- 14 games -- ran from June 18-July 6, 2005. He is batting .389 with three RBI in 10 affairs this season.

THE YOUNG GUNS: The Indians roster has 25 players with Major League experience, but it's been a pair of Triple-A rookies who have led the club to this point in the campaign. INF Brian Bixler is hitting .389 (14-36) with six runs and three RBI. OF Nyjer Morgan is batting .351 (13-37) with six runs, five stolen bases and four RBI.

TOP-10 HITTERS: Tribe C Ryan Doumit and INF Brian Bixler are among the International League's top hitters to this point in the season. Doumit leads the circuit with a .438 batting average, while Bixler ranks sixth with a .389 average. Doumit also owns team-best marks in on-base percentage (.525, 3rd in IL) and slugging percentage (.719, 4th in IL).

YOU TALK ABOUT SIZZLING: Indianapolis C Ryan Doumit enters Thursday afternoon's road trip finale at Norfolk with a six-game hitting streak (.500 BA, 12-24, 7 R, 11 RBI). The 26-year-old is hitting .476 (10-21) on the road this year.

THIS 'PEN IS ROCK SOLID: The Indians' bullpen has allowed just five earned runs in its past seven games (26.2 IP, 27 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 9 BB, 17 SO). The unit has been credited with seven holds and is 4-for-6 in save opportunities over those same seven tilts.

FIRST PLACE IS WHERE WE HANG OUT: The Indians (8-3) enter Thursday afternoon's affair atop the International League West Division. Louisville (7-5) is 1.5 games off the pace, while Toledo (6-7) is 3.0 games back and Columbus (3-9) is 5.5 games back.

LOUISVILLE BATS

THE STARTERS ARE SPARKLING: The Louisville starting pitchers have allowed five earned runs in the past nine games and 52.0 innings, good for a 0.87 ERA. Overall, the starters are 4-2 with a 1.88 ERA and five quality starts. LHP Phil Dumatrait is 3-0 with a 0.51 ERA in three starts; he's allowed one earned run in 17.2 innings pitched. The Bats are second in the League with a 2.55 ERA.

THE REHAB CAROUSEL: OF Norris Hopper, the 2006 IL Batting Champion, joined the Bats April 13 on a Major League rehab assignment and was activated from the Reds' DL April 18. After bruising his right heel in Spring Training on March 19, Hopper was placed on Cincinnati's disabled list

April 1. He hit .281 in eight rehab games between Class-A Sarasota and the Bats. RHP Jared Burton, selected by the Reds in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft, was placed on Cincinnati's 15-day disabled list April 8 with a strained left hamstring. He joined the Bats April 17 on a Major League rehab assignment and has appeared in one game with Louisville. Burton allowed one run on three hits in one inning of work yesterday versus Richmond.

THUNDER OVER LOUISVILLE: The Kentucky Derby Festival's Thunder Over Louisville is Saturday, marking the two-week kick off to the Kentucky Derby. Thunder boasts the biggest annual fireworks show in the country, with more than half a million people along the Ohio River's waterfront on both the Kentucky and Indiana sides. The Bats will face off versus the Norfolk Tides at 2:15 during which an air show featuring stealth bombers and F-16 fighter jets will roar over Louisville Slugger Field. A live concert on the center field picnic area will begin after the game and fireworks are scheduled to shoot off of the Second Street Bridge at 9:00 p.m.

NORFOLK TIDES

HE'S GOING STREAKING!: Tides catcher/infielder J.R. House has had a hot start in his first stint in the International League. House, who was signed by the Orioles as a free agent during this past offseason, has hit safely in all 11 contests thus far, hitting .405 with two home runs and 10 RBI. House is tied for the League lead with 17 hits, tied for 4th in the League with 10 RBI, and his .405 average also ranks 4th in the IL.

SPEEDY START: Through 11 games, the Tides have stolen 13 bases (tied for 4th in the League) and have only been caught twice, good for an 86.7% success ratio. That ratio is 2nd in the International League, trailing only the Ottawa Lynx, who have stolen 7 bases in 8 attempts this year (87.5 %). Over the last three seasons, the Tides have not gotten off to as quick a start on the base paths, having averaged 14 stolen bases in the month of April over that stretch (15-for-25 in 2006, 16-for-25 in 2005 and 11-for-23 in 2004).

FORMER TIDE BACK IN TOWN: Former Norfolk Tide Jay Payton was added to the Norfolk roster yesterday on an injury rehab assignment. Payton suffered a strained left hamstring on March 26, and had been rehabbing the injury at the Orioles extended spring training complex in Sarasota, Florida. The 34-year-old played in 225 games for the Tides in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999, hitting .287 (234-815) with 26 home runs and 121 RBI over those four seasons. Payton spent the entire 2006 season with the Oakland Athletics, leading the club in batting (.296), at-bats (557), hits (165) and doubles (32).

OTTAWA LYNX

LYNX PITCHERS AT THE TOP OF THE LEADERBOARD: J.A. Happ is tied for the IL lead in ERA. He is one of only four pitchers who have not allowed a run, while pitching at least 0.8 innings per team game. Brian Mazone's 7.0 innings last night tied him for the League lead in innings pitched (18.0), while Zach Segovia is one of only two IL pitchers who have thrown a complete game this season. Segovia turned the trick in the first game of the Lynx doubleheader Saturday in Syracuse (6.0 IP).

THE HITS KEEP ON COMING: Thanks to 13 hits last night against Charlotte, the Lynx took over the IL lead with a .283 team batting average. Gary Burnham is in 2nd place in the League's on-base percentage race (.532) after he notched a hit and a walk last night. Burnham is 10th in the IL with a .364 batting average, while Jason Jaramillo's excellent homestand has vaulted him into a tie for 7th (.375). Chris Roberson's team-leading 9 RBI put him in a tie for 6th in the League.

LYNX STREAKS: The Lynx go into today's matinee matchup against Charlotte on a three-game win streak. Last night, Gary Burnham and Chris Coste equaled Lou Collier's five-game hit streak, which is the longest for the club this season. Jason Jaramillo has now hit in four straight games, one back of the trio of players with the season-high. The Lynx bullpen has also saved each of the three straight wins. Brian Sanches finished off Lynx wins in Syracuse April 14 (Game 2) and at home against Charlotte April 17. Yoel Hernandez came in to notch his first save of the season last night.

PHANTASTIC VISITOR THIS SUNDAY: The legendary Philly Phanatic will make the trip North of the Border to help the Lynx celebrate their new affiliation with the Phillies and highlight Kids Opening Day. The first 5,000 kids through the door will receive a magnet featuring the Phanatic and the Lynx own mascot, Skratch.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX

NEW NAME, NEW RESULT: The PawSox had enjoyed tremendous success against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre recently, but that came while SWB was called the Red Barons (and hence a Phillies affiliate). The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees made their first visit to Pawtucket this past weekend and promptly swept an abbreviated 3-game series from the PawSox to jump to a quick 3-0 lead in the all-time series between these certain rivals. Pawtucket won the final 5 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at McCoy Stadium last season and went 7-1 at home vs. the then-Red Barons last year. Furthermore, the PawSox had dominated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at McCoy in the past 3½ years going 23-4 in their last 27 games vs. the Red Barons at McCoy (and 44-20 in their last 64 meetings overall heading into this season). That all changed this season, however, as the PawSox are now 0-3 vs. the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees at McCoy after dropping 6-2, 5-1, and 5-2 decisions to the Yankees this past weekend.

TWO JUST WON'T DO: The PawSox have scored 2 runs or less in 6 of their last 7 games (going 1-5 in those six games) and have been held to just 7 runs total during their current 4-game losing skid. The Sox have been held to 3 runs or less in 7 of their first 11 games and are 1-6 in those. Furthermore, during their 3-game winning streak to begin the year the PawSox scored a total of 16 runs (in 7-4, 5-1, and 4-3 wins). Since that point they have scored a total of 17 runs in their last 8 games combined.

WEATHER WOES: Wednesday's scheduled game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings at McCoy Stadium was postponed due to rain and wet field conditions. It marked the second straight night the clubs had been rained-out at McCoy and the third time this week the PawSox had been postponed at home (Sunday vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the other). Pawtucket and Rochester will play a make-up doubleheader today beginning at 12:05 pm at McCoy Stadium. That doubleheader was necessitated by Tuesday's rainout. Last night's rainout will be made-up August 3 when Rochester returns to McCoy. Already this season the PawSox have had three home postponements. They suffered 7 home postponements last season - their most in ten years (since 8 home rainouts in 1996).

RICHMOND BRAVES

HONORING VIRGINIA TECH: The Braves are wearing Virginia Tech hats for the last two games of the current homestand. Following today's game Braves players will autograph the hats which will be auctioned off at www.RBraves.com. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid victims of Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech.

TOUGH AT HOME: Braves starting pitchers have allowed just five runs in 23.2 innings at home (1.94 ERA). The Braves have surrendered a total of 12 runs in five home games (six of those in the home opener).

STREAKERS: Bill McCarthy and Gregor Blanco both enjoyed seven-game hitting streaks to open the season. Willie Harris scored runs in his first seven games. The Braves stole at least one base in each of their first seven games.

LET 'EM PLAY: In addition to having their entire season opening four-game series at Buffalo postponed due to weather, the Braves had one rainout in their first homestand. The five games postponed equals Richmond's total for all of 2006.

NEXT STOP ATLANTA: The Braves had two players recalled Saturday. RHP Peter Moylan and LHP Steve Colyer earned the first promotions of 2007. Moylan had two scoreless outings and one save for Richmond. Colyer had one scoreless appearance for the R-Braves.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS

LESS IS NOT MORE: The Red Wings enter today's game having played only five games so far this season. The five games Rochester has played is the fewest number of games played by any team in all of baseball. Eastern League teams Binghamton and New Britain have played just one more game than Rochester (six games). Going into today's doubleheader the Red Wings are likely to play just 17 games in the month of April, their lowest game total in April since 1992 (6-10 record).

THIS IS GETTING OLD: Monday's postponement vs. Charlotte was the Red Wings fourth home postponement in the month of April. It's the first time Rochester has had four postponements in the month of April since 2000. Rochester hasn't had five home postponements in the month of April since 1996. Rochester still has five more home dates in the month of April. Rochester isn't the only team to have weather problems this season. Going into today's games the International League has had 23 postponements so far in April. IL records for postponements begin in 1985 and the record for postponements in the month of April is 31 set back in both 2000 and 2003.

DOUBLE DIPPING: Today's doubleheader in Pawtucket will be the first of eight doubleheaders the Red Wings already have scheduled for the 2007 season. The eight doubleheaders are the most Rochester has had in a season since 2003 & 2005 when the Red Wings played 10 doubleheaders in each of those seasons. The record for most doubleheaders in a season due to weather postponements is 20 (nine at Silver Stadium) set back in 1996.

AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED: Going into the 2007 season the Red Wings starting rotation was predicted to be very good and so far they've lived up to the hype. In their first six starts, the starting rotation has a 1-0 record with a 1.50 ERA. In 30.0 innings of work, the starters have allowed 10 runs (five earned) on 21 hits while walking 12 and striking out 17.

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Yankees outfielder Shelley Duncan has been named the recipient of the first International League Player-of-the-Week honor. During the extended opening week of April 5-15, Duncan batted .375 (9-24) with 4 runs scored, one double, four home runs, 11 RBI and a .917 slugging percentage. When the new week started Monday, he picked up where he left off clubbing his League leading 5th home run at Pawtucket. If he keeps this up he will be etching his name in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre record books for home runs. Wendell Magee Jr. holds the current mark with 24 in 1998.

HAPPY TRIP: After dropping the final three games on the season's opening homestand, the Yankees hit the road and have not lost since. Despite three weather postponements, the Yanks have gone 4-0 winning three in Pawtucket and one in Syracuse. During the four games, the offense has scored 20 runs and clubbed four home runs while the pitching staff has been even more impressive. The staff is 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA allowing 27 hits in 34 innings while striking out 40. Since allowing seven earned runs in the season-opener April 5 vs. Norfolk, the Yankees' pitching staff has not allowed more than five in any one game. Since April 6 the staff is 7-3 with a 2.93 ERA (28 ER, 86 IP).

K KREW: The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees pitching staff is loaded with young power arms and it is showing in the strikeout column. Through 11 games, the staff is averaging 8.43 strikeouts per nine innings - good for 4th best in the IL and has struck out 10 or more batters five times. Over their last eight games covering a span of 66.0 IP, the staff has recorded 72 strikeouts.

SYRACUSE CHIEFS

WACKY WEATHER: With the winter weather making its return to the Northeast, the Chiefs postponed three games from April 15-17 before finally getting back on the field Wednesday. Syracuse hasn't played on back-to-back days since April 9-10 down in Charlotte. The game between the Chiefs and Knights on the 11th was postponed due to rain. The 13th was a travel day and games on the 15th through the 17th were wiped out.

VENTO TEARS IT UP: In the past week Chiefs' outfielder Mike Vento has been red hot. The former Yankee and National hit safely in all four of Syracuse's games going 8-14. Half of those hits have gone for extra bases (three doubles and one home run). In fact all of those extra-base hits came in a doubleheader on the 14th against Ottawa. Vento had a 4-7 twin bill. He has put together his second four-game hit streak in nine appearances this season.

COMINGS AND GOINGS: After essentially not making any roster moves for the first eight days of the 2007 season, the past week has seen a slew of activity for the Chiefs. OF Adam Lind and INF Ryan Roberts were recalled by Toronto. Also, RHP Jamie Vermilyea was promoted to Syracuse's parent club for the first time in his career. To help fill the voids left by the departing players, the Chiefs activated RHP Jason Scobie off the disabled list and recalled INF Brad Hassey from Double-A New Hampshire.

TOLEDO MUD HENS

TONS OF TIMO: Timo Perez, one of the Tigers' most notable off-season pickups, continues to pay dividends for the organization through week two of the IL season. Perez leads the IL with a 12-game hitting streak, and is currently among the League leaders in hits (17) and runs (11), and leads the Hens with a .347 average. The Bani, Dominican Republic native is a veteran of parts of seven Major League seasons with the Mets, White Sox and Cardinals, hitting .262 with 26 home runs and 176 RBI at the big league level.

VERY NICE, VIRGIL: In need of a quality start, Triple-A newcomer Virgil Vazquez came up huge on April 16 against Durham. Vasquez, who prior to this season had pitched just one Triple-A inning with the Mud Hens, threw five shutout innings scattering three hits against the Bulls. In his previous two starts this season, Vazquez was 0-2 with a 7.45 ERA. Vazquez went 7-12 last season in Double-A Erie (Eastern League) with a 3.73 ERA in 27 starts. He was originally drafted by Texas in the seventh round of the 2000 draft out of Santa Barbara (CA) High School but did not sign. After attending the University of California-Santa Barbara he was drafted by Detroit in the seventh round of the 2003 draft.

RECORD CROWD WITNESSES MUD HENS HOME-OPENING WIN OVER DURHAM: The largest crowd in the history of Fifth Third Field saw the Mud Hens beat Durham 5-4 on Friday, April 13. The gathering of 12,600 fans was the 17th crowd of over 10,300 to see a game at Fifth Third. The stadium now boasts 141 sell-outs in its sixth season of existence in downtown Toledo. The Mud Hens are currently averaging 6,403 fans per game, fourth best in the League.

PARRISH STILL ON THE SHELF, ROJAS CONTINUES AS INTERIM MANAGER: Mud Hens Manager Larry Parrish, who underwent ankle surgery on Wednesday, April 4 in Detroit is still on the "DL." His anticipated return to the field was for Toledo's home opener on Friday April, 13, however Parrish remains on crutches. In his absence, Toledo is being led by Mike Rojas, son of former Major Leaguer Cookie Rojas. Most recently, Rojas managed the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League the previous two seasons. Rojas will resume his new duties as Detroit's roving catching instructor once Parrish is back in uniform. He has been with the Detroit Tigers organization for the past 11 seasons.

MUD HENS ON SPORTS TIME OHIO: Due to the pitching match-up on Friday night, the Hens/Buffalo game is going to be seen on SportsTime Ohio (The Cleveland Indians Baseball Network) on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The top prospect in the Cleveland organization, RHP Adam Miller, will face-off against RHP Zach Miner in the final game of the series. This will add more than 2.5 million more homes to the viewing audience for that game.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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