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June 21, 2007 - International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS

NOT YOUR EVERY DAY PROMOTION: Outfielder Jonathan Van Every provided a huge spark for the Bisons this past week. Promoted from Double-A Akron on June 10, Van Every has hit .423 (11-26) with a triple, four home runs, four RBI and a .962 slugging percentage in 10 games. He homered in both games of Wednesday night's doubleheader against Louisville, including a walk-off shot in the 10th inning of Game 2. With the Aeros this year, Van Every hit .344 (52-151) with four home runs and 34 RBI in 44 games.

THE JOKE IS STILL ON THE HITTERS: Pitcher Aaron Laffey has been downright filthy this month. After going 0-3 with a 8.64 ERA in May (his first three Triple-A games), he has gone 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA in four June starts (26.0 IP, 16 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 23 K). The southpaw was at his best on Wednesday, throwing a complete-game two-hit shutout against Louisville in the first game of a doubleheader. He allowed just two balls to reach the outfield and struck out six. Overall, Laffey is now 4-3 with a 3.80 ERA.

ALMOST MILLER TIME: The Bisons saw some encouraging signs from pitcher Adam Miller on Tuesday. The Cleveland Indians' #1 prospect threw 21 pitches in a simulated game. If all goes well in another simulated effort on Friday, Miller could be back on the active roster early next week. Miller, who has not pitched since May 12 because of a bruised ligament in the middle finger of his throwing hand, is 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA in seven starts with Buffalo this season.

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS

OWENS COMES BACK TO CHARLOTTE: Prior to last night's game the White Sox optioned outfielder Jerry Owens back to Charlotte. Owens was recalled to Chicago on June 1 after White Sox outfielder Darin Erstad injured his ankle. Owens hit .170 in 15 games with the White Sox. He had no home runs or RBI, but was 3-for-3 in stolen bases. Prior to joining the White Sox, Owens hit .303 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI in 48 games with the Knights. Owens was 23-for-30 in stolen bases and is still 2nd in the IL in stolen bases. Owens had set a Charlotte Knights record by reaching base safely in 32 consecutive games. Owens is the Knights prime candidate to represent them in the Triple-A All-Star game.

COMINGS AND GOINGS: The Knights have had some new players join the team over the last week. Infielder Earl Snyder joined the club last week and made an immediate impact. In just his second game with the Knights, Snyder hit a game winning walk-off home run against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It was his fist hit since joining the Knights. Snyder played with Louisville earlier this season. The team also got infielder Danny Richar from the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

TIDBITS: Reliever and spot starter Shaun Babula will likely start one of the games played on Friday or Saturday. The Knights will play six games in four days against the Rochester Red Wings, making up games that were snowed out in April...Newcomer Danny Richar also picked up his first hit with the Knights, a triple...This Saturday is Cal Ripken Jr. Day at Knights Stadium. There will be 2,632 Cal Ripken Jr. bobble heads given away. Ripken played for the Charlotte O's during the 1979-80 seasons and helped lead the 1980 club to the Southern League championship...With the addition of Owens to the roster, the team now has the maximum 24 players plus Scott Podsednik on a Major League rehab assignment ...

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS

RECORDS = PROMOTIONS: Three days after setting a new International League record for longest hitting streak, Brandon Watson had his contract purchased by Washington. Watson is taking the place of INF/OF Robert Fick, who was placed on the Bereavement List. During the streak Watson hit .360 (63-175) with 15 multi-hit games. The streak started on May 1 versus Jeremy Cummings of the Rochester Red Wings and was snapped against Cummings and the Red Wings on Monday. Last year Watson was the starting center fielder for the Nationals out of spring training before being optioned to New Orleans on April 16.

NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND: After throwing out two would be base stealers on Tuesday, Brandon Harper has moved up to 2nd in the IL in caught stealing percentage behind Richmond's Corky Miller. Harper has nailed 19 runners in 45 attempts (42.2%) and five of the last seven. He has caught two runners stealing in a game three times and on April 8 in Indianapolis he caught three runners.

VAN BUREN FINDING HIS GROOVE: Relief pitcher Jermaine Van Buren has made six consecutive scoreless appearances for the Clippers (11.0 IP) to lower his ERA from 6.59 to 4.70. He had only had eight scoreless appearances through his first 19 games to start the year. Over his current scoreless streak he has given up only five hits while striking out 12 batters. Recently recalled Chris Schroder is the only Clipper to have a longer streak without allowing an earned run this season (18.2 IP).

DURHAM BULLS

HOMER HAPPY: Durham has hit 80 homers with one yesterday, tops in the International League. Chris Richard now has 11 to lead the team. Joel Guzman and Justin Ruggiano each have 10.

HOME SWEET HOME: Durham is 4-3 during a stretch of 16-of-20 games at home. Despite all the home games, it's a tough stretch, as each game involves a team that currently has a winning record. The only game the Bulls have remaining before the All-Star break that involves a club with a sub-.500 mark is Charlotte on the 4th of July.

CHANGES: The Bulls had a relatively static roster the first two months of the season. The team had just 19 transactions through May 31. The Bulls have made 19 transactions this month.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: Durham has outscored Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 31-29 in the seven games between the two teams, but has lost five of seven meetings. Two defeats were 2-1 losses, and the others were 6-4, 7-5, and yesterday's 7-4 contest. The Bulls have outscored the Yankees 16-5 in the two wins. The two teams wrap up the season series tonight.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

NO. 1 IN TRIPLE-A BASEBALL: Indianapolis (43-28, .606) enters Thursday night's affair with the best winning percentage in all of Triple-A Baseball. Richmond (42-28, .600) places 2nd in the International League, while Nashville (42-30, .583) has the best mark in the Pacific Coast League.

ATOP THE WEST: The Indians (43-28) enter Thursday evening's game atop the IL's West Division, while Toledo (42-31, 2.0 GB), Louisville (37-35, 6.5 GB) and Columbus (32-40, 11.5 GB) trail the leader. Thursday is the Tribe's 66th consecutive day atop the West Division. In 2006, Indianapolis spent 119 days in either 1st place or tied for the top spot. Indianapolis was the first IL team to reach 40 victories this season. Toledo (42-31) and Richmond (42-28) climbed to that plateau after the Tribe did.

TURNING INTO A POWER TEAM: The Tribe whacked just 16 roundtrippers in its first 42 games of the season (0.38 per game), but has nailed 33 long balls over its past 29 contests (1.14 per game). The Indians are tied for 2nd in the IL with 20 homers in the month of June.

"BIG COUNTRY" IS BACK: Indians 1B/RF Brad Eldred has clobbered three home runs over his last five games. The 6'5", 275-pound slugger is up to six long balls in 22 Triple-A contests after being optioned from Pittsburgh on May 20. The 26-year-old missed most of 2006 with a fractured left thumb, but launched 40 roundtrippers between Double-A, Triple-A and the big leagues in 2005.

SCORE SEVEN AND WE'RE GOOD: The Tribe is 19-0 when scoring seven or more runs in 2007.

HOLDING ON TO THE LEAD: The Indians are 37-1 on the season when leading after seven innings and 40-1 when holding an advantage after eight frames.

LOUISVILLE BATS

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END: 1B Joey Votto had his consecutive game on-base streak end in the second game of last night's doubleheader in Buffalo. Votto safely reached base in 42 straight games, one shy of Brandon Watson's 43 consecutive games. During the streak, which began May 4, Votto's on-base percentage was .458 and he was batting .377. His overall on-base percentage of .414 is good for 4th in the IL.

SHACK ATTACK: LHP Brian Shackelford is closing in on the Louisville franchise record of games played by a pitcher. Shackelford has appeared in 161 games with the Bats, which ranks him 3rd on the all-time list. In his fifth season with Louisville, Shackelford is five appearances from tying the record of 166 games, set by Rich Batchelor during the 1994-97 seasons. For his Louisville career (including the '07 season), Shackelford is 11-10 with three saves and a 3.66 ERA.

HOME STRETCH OF GAMES: The Bats are about to play an incredible amount of games at Louisville Slugger Field beginning Friday, June 22. Louisville will play at home in 22 of the next 28 games; three of those non-home games are during the All-Star Break. After July 19, the Bats have 17 home games left during the season.

NORFOLK TIDES

OUR HOUSE: With three more hits in yesterday's win, J.R. House has now reached base safely in 13 straight games, and he has recorded a hit in 10 of his last 11 games. The 27-year-old backstop is hitting .476 (20-42) with three home runs and 14 RBI over his last 11 games, and he leads the Tides with a .317 average and 46 RBI this season. House now ranks 2nd in the International League with 83 hits (behind former Tide Timo Perez' 88 hits), and he is 5th in the League in RBI and 10th in the IL in batting average.

GOING STREAKING: Jon Knott has hit safely in a season-high nine games, hitting .419 (13-31) with three home runs and seven RBI during the streak. Knott has raised his average from .152 to .210 over the nine-game stretch, and with another hit today the 28-year-old would register Norfolk's eighth 10-game hitting streak of the season, joining six other Tides' players: J.R. House - 14 games, Terry Tiffee - 11 games and 10 games, Eider Torres - 11 games, Luis Montanez - 10 games, Mike Cervenak - 10 games, and Alberto Castillo - 10 games.

HIGH FIVE?: The Tides enter today's contest having won a season-high four games in a row. During the four-game stretch, Norfolk has outscored its opponents 22-5, and the Tides have out-hit their opponents 43 to 19.

OTTAWA LYNX

THURSTON TOPS PHILLIES FARMHANDS: Joe Thurston tied a team record this week and the Philadelphia Phillies noticed. The Lynx second baseman has been named the Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for the week ending June 17. Thurston, 27, hit .455 with three runs batted in and six runs scored for the Lynx last week, including a team-record-tying five hits Sunday afternoon against Columbus. He is hitting .266 with 1 HR and 28 RBI in 64 games with the Lynx this season. Thurston is the third Lynx player to be named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week this season. Jason Jaramillo got the nod for the week ending April 22 and the now-retired Lou Collier took home the honor for the week ending May 13.

TRANSACTIONS IN ACTION: The revolving door to the Lynx roster kept spinning this week. 3B Brennan King and RHP Kane Davis were activated from the disabled list and RHP Heath Totten, RHP Clay Condrey and RHP Fabio Castro joined the club while RHP Zack Segovia was transferred to Double-A Reading and RHP Brian Sanches was promoted to Philadelphia. RHP Rick Bauer was released.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX

BY GEORGE HE DID IT AGAIN: He had just one home run all season - a less than memorable 2-run HR during a 5-2 loss at Rochester on April 24 - but that was before PawSox catcher George Kottaras decided to morph himself into a combination of Reggie Jackson, Joe Carter, and David Ortiz with a pair of walk-off HR during the same homestand last week. Kottaras struck first on June 11 when he drilled a dramatic 3-run HR with one out in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the PawSox a 6-5 win over Ottawa. Then he delivered in the clutch again on June 16 at home vs. Richmond when he hit the first pitch of the bottom of the 9th inning for a game-winning walk-off solo HR in a 4-3 PawSox victory. Kottaras, 24, was acquired from San Diego last September in exchange for LHP David Wells. He helped Portland (Double-A, Red Sox) win the Eastern League championship last season and this year has been Pawtucket's everyday catcher. He is hitting .219 in 42 games, but two of his hits have been the most dramatic of the PawSox season.

THE HOME/ROAD DIVISION: Sox pitching has been outstanding on the road going 15-16 with a 2.82 ERA. LHP Abe Alvarez is 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA in 5 GS on the road while LHP Kason Gabbard is 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in 5 away starts and reliever Bryan Corey is 0-1, 1.62 in 12 RA on the road. On the other hand, Sox pitchers are 16-21 with a 4.15 ERA at home as Alvarez is 1-4, 5.88 in 7 games at home and Corey is 2-2, 4.74 in 16 home games.

VINTAGE BASE BALL: The Pawtucket Red Sox are pleased to play host to a Vintage Base Ball game that will be held at McCoy Stadium prior to the Sunday, July 1 game with the Charlotte Knights. The Vintage (old-time) game will feature the Providence Grays against the Cornish Game Hens of Providence beginning at 11:00 a.m. The PawSox game follows at 1:05 p.m. Eight different Vintage Clubs from around the northeast will also be in attendance and recognized in special pre-game ceremonies. Vintage Base Ball is base ball (it was spelled two words prior to the 1880s) played by the rules and customs of the 19th Century. The Providence Grays were formed as a tribute to the 1884 Grays and play by 1884 rules and style of play. Vintage Base Ball clubs such as the Grays and the Game Hens attempt to recreate that historical time period as accurately as possible.

RICHMOND BRAVES

BRAVES TO WELCOME 10 MILLIONTH FAN TO THE DIAMOND: The Richmond Braves expect to welcome their 10 millionth fan to The Diamond during their upcoming homestand starting Friday. The Braves need 13,889 more fans to reach 10 million at The Diamond since the park opened in 1985. The 10 millionth fan will receive two vouchers from Delta Airlines for a round trip anywhere in the U.S., two season tickets for 2008, a voucher for $100 at the Braves souvenir shop, a Braves jersey, a tailgate party courtesy of Outback for 20 people, and a visit from the Braves grounds crew to aerate and seed the 10 millionth fan's yard. There are seven Minor League parks now in use that have hosted 10 million fans. Of those, only Dunn Tire Park in Buffalo is newer than The Diamond (1988). All of the current parks to hit 10 million fans are in Triple-A. Also this season the Double-A Reading Phillies will reach 10 million fans. Their park opened in 1952. Three parks that are no longer in use also hosted over 10 million spectators. The other IL parks to hit 10 million fans are: Cooper Stadium, (Columbus Clippers), McCoy Stadium, (Pawtucket Red Sox), and Dunn Tire Park, (Buffalo Bisons)

CORINTHIAN LEATHER: The Braves have now played a season-high 10 consecutive errorless games. The Braves have stretched their streak of errorless innings to a season-high 89. They have committed just one error in their last 14 games. Over that span they have turned 10 double plays, racked up four outfield assists, thrown out seven runners trying to steal, and picked two runners off. Martin Prado has not committed an error in 214 chances at second base this season. Braves outfielders have 18 assists. Richmond had 21 outfield assists all of last season. Three Braves (T.J. Bohn with six, Doug Clark, and Gregor Blanco with four each) are among the 16 IL outfielders with four or more assists this season). The Braves are now tied for 2nd in the IL in fielding percentage, one percentage point from the lead.

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS: The Braves have the best road record in the IL (25-13 .658) and a better record on the road than at home (17-15 .531). The Braves have won five straight road games and seven of their last eight.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS

CHICKS DIG THE LONG BALL: The Red Wings offense has produced just one home run in their last 60 innings (seven games). That home run was hit by Triple-A rookie Korey Feiner on Sunday. Rochester has hit just 35 home runs this year which ranks 13th in the International League (Ottawa is 14th with just 20 home runs). Rochester is on pace to hit just 74 home runs which would be the fewest home runs they've hit in a season since 1989 when they hit 66.

REVENUE DOWN AND PROFITS UP: The Red Wings enter Thursday's game with a 35-33 record despite being outscored by their opponents 267-262. Rochester has outscored opponents 81-50 in the 5th & 6th innings but is being outscored 217-181 in all the other innings. The 81 runs scored in the 5th and 6th innings accounts for 31% of the runs the Wings have scored.

STOP KORECKY TIME: Red Wings closer Bobby Korecky recorded his 16th save of the season Wednesday night and is on pace to record 34 saves this season, which would be a new Red Wings all-time record for saves in a season (RHP Travis Bowyer holds the record with 23 set back in 2005). The Red Wings bullpen has 24 saves this season and needs just 18 more to tie the 1997 Red Wings for most saves (42) by a Red Wings team in one season. Saves became an official stat in the International League in 1969.

IN ORDER TO BE THE MAN YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE MAN: The Red Wings have struggled against teams with winning records this season. Rochester has just a 16-20 record vs. teams with a .500 or better record (Buffalo, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Richmond, Indianapolis, Toledo, and Louisville). Rochester has a 19-13 record vs. teams with a below .500 record.

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES

SETTING IT UP AND SLAMMING IT SHUT: Behind RHP Steven White's first win of the season for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday was a solid performance by the bullpen, especially by RHP Edwar Ramirez and RHP Jim Brower. The set-up man and closer combined to allow no runs and just two hits while striking out two in the 8th and 9th innings. In their last five appearances, the duo has pitched in the same game four times. In those four games (June 10 vs. Durham, June 16 at Charlotte, June 18 at Durham and yesterday), neither Ramirez nor Brower allowed a run and the tandem has compiled a 1-0 record with three saves. Over that stretch, Ramirez and Brower have combined to allow just three hits and three walks and have whiffed 17 batters in 10.0 innings of work.

PHILLIPS BACK TO THE SHOW: INF Andy Phillips' solid season has turned into the fourth year in which he'll don the pinstripes in the Major Leagues. Phillips, who appeared in games for the Yankees in 2004, 2005 and 2006, was promoted to New York Monday. In his big league career, Phillips has compiled a .228 average (67-294) with nine home runs and 35 RBIs in 142 career games. He spent the entire 2006 season with New York. In 65 games with SWB this year, Phillips has been one of the team's most consistent offensive players in terms of both average and power, batting at a .301 clip with 11 homers, 36 RBI, 32 walks and a team-leading 75 hits. He was a leading candidate to make the IL All-Star team.

DUNCAN MOVING TOWARD SWB HISTORY: 1B/OF Shelley Duncan connected for his team-leading 18th homer of the season Wednesday vs. Durham. His bomb was significant in another way as well: he's now just six homers shy of tying OF Wendell Magee Jr. for the single-season SWB record of 24, set in 1998. Duncan is currently on pace for 37 homers and 104 RBI. Buffalo Manager Torey Lovullo holds the SWB single-season record for RBI, when he drove in 106 in 1999.

SYRACUSE CHIEFS

LYDON ON BASE: Chiefs OF Wayne Lydon saw his season-high nine game hit streak come to an end this past week on Monday, But the switch-hitting speedster has been able to prolong his on-base streak to 16 games and 29 out of the last 30 contests. It comes as no surprise that Lydon leads the Chiefs with 40 runs scored despite spending the first two weeks of the season with Double-A New Hampshire.

GRIFFIN: John-Ford Griffin has been tearing it up for the Chiefs over the past six games. Griffin has hit safely in all six contests and is 11-18 (.611) in those games. The Florida State product has raised his batting average from .230 to .258 during the streak. He's also turned up the intensity in the last four. Griffin has picked up at least two hits in each of the last four games (clubbing a double in three of them).

MOTTOLA'S MARK: To say the least it was a memorable Father's Day for Chad Mottola. Not only did the proud papa get to celebrate with his family, but Mottola reached two career milestones. The veteran outfielder drove home Russ Adams in his first at-bat June 17 against Toledo for his 1000th career Minor League RBI. Mottola joined Ernie Young of Charlotte as the only active players to have reached the millennium mark. Two at-bats later Mottola smacked a single to right field for his 1,800th Minor League hit. The former first round draft pick leads active minor leaguers in that category.

TOLEDO MUD HENS

HOT HITTING HENS: Three Hens are currently hot at the plate and many are on hitting streaks. Jack Hannahan just ended a seven-game hit streak. Since June 11, when his hitting streak began, Hannahan has batted .519 (14-27) with three home runs, 10 RBI and 11 runs. His season-long hit streak is eight. Henry Mateo is currently on an eight-game hit streak, a season long. During the streak he has batted .484 (15-31) with a triple, four RBI, seven runs and three doubles. Timo Perez ended his 11-game hit streak on Tuesday, June 19 at Ottawa. In that streak, Perez batted .333 (15-45) with eight runs, six RBI and four doubles. Perez hit in 18 consecutive games from April 5-24, holding the 2007 high so far for the club's longest hitting streak.

WINNING SERIES: The Hens have not lost a series in more than a month. The last series they lost was at Pawtucket from May 11-14. Since that date, the Hens have won series against Louisville, Charlotte, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and took two series from Syracuse. The Hens have also split series against Columbus, Buffalo and Norfolk.

BATTLE FOR THE WEST: The Hens will host the Indianapolis Indians June 22-25 for the first meeting between the two teams this season in Toledo. The Indians currently lead the IL West with a record of 42-28. The Hens are 2.0 games behind. The Indians are 6-6 in their last 12 games, after winning six straight games from June 2-7. Since the 2nd of June, the Hens are 12-6.

LEAGUE LEADERS: The Hens are dominating the IL offensively. The Hens have individual players that lead the IL in several categories, including home runs, RBI, hits, doubles, slugging percentage, extra-base hits and runs scored. 3B Mike Hessman leads the League in home runs (20), RBI (63), and extra-base hits (40). OF Ryan Raburn leads the League in slugging percentage (.564) and runs scored (50). Timo Perez, who is currently ranked 8th in the IL with his .320 batting average, leads the League in hits (86) and in doubles (25).

THE NEW GUY: The Detroit Tigers acquired RHP Anastacio Martinez from the Washington Nationals on June 19 in exchange for a player to be named later. He was assigned to Toledo by Detroit. Martinez was previously playing for the Columbus Clippers and in his nine appearances, he started five games and had a record of 2-3 with an ERA of 4.73 in 32.1 innings pitched. He allowed nine runs at Toledo against the Hens on May 27.

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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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