IL1 International League

International League News And Notes

Published on June 18, 2009 under International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS (www.Bisons.com)

DONE LIKE DESSENS: Thirty-eight year old RHP Elmer Dessens entered the 2009 season with 10 saves in over 1,800 innings as a pro. The veteran already has 11 for the Bisons this year and has anchored a Herd bullpen that has posted a 3.05 ERA. Dessens has converted his last 11 save opportunities and is 3-0 with those saves in his last 21 games. He has been scored upon in only five games this season. Overall, opponents are hitting just .179 against Dessens with just five extra-base hits in 117 at-bats.

FIGGY KEEPS ROLING: Bisons RHP Nelson Figueroa is the reigning International League Pitcher of the Week. The veteran was 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA in two starts last week. On the season, Figueroa's 2.90 ERA is the 12th best mark in the League. In 10 starts, Figueroa has delivered seven quality starts, having allowed more than two runs in only two of his outings this season. Figueroa has given up just 51 hits in 62.0 innings of work, with the 7th-best WHIP (1.10) in the entire International League.

FEELIN' SULLY: One of the hottest bats in the Bisons lineup belongs to OF Cory Sullivan. "Sully" has hit in 18 of his last 23 games, averaging .361 (30-83) since May 22. During the streak, Sullivan has thrown in five doubles, eight RBI and 11 runs scored. The stretch has raised his average 71 points to .273. Sullivan is 2nd on the Bisons team in hits (51) behind only OF Jesus Feliciano (59).

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS (www.CharlotteKnights.com)

POSSIBLE ALL-STARS: With the Triple-A All-Star Game less than a month away, several Knights players are making their pitch to represent the club for the International League squad.  OF Michael Restovich has played in 60 games for Charlotte and is currently leading the team in hitting at .281 (61-217), RBI with 30, and tied for the lead in home runs with 8.  RHP Jack Egbert has pitched very well since moving into the starting rotation as he is now 4-2 with a 5.10 ERA.  RHP Carlos Torres has a 2.55 ERA and is leading the IL in strikeouts amongst active players.  RHP's Jon Link and Adam Russell have pitched very well out of the Knights bullpen.  Link leads the club with 7 saves and has 39 strikeouts in 29.0 innings pitched.  Russell has given up just 26 hits in 35.0 innings of work.

 

ROSTER MOVES: Tuesday the Knights placed RHP John Van Benschoten on the club's disabled list.  Van Benschoten had just pitched in the first game of the doubleheader, going 5.0 innings giving up no runs off of 3 hits.  On the season Van Benschoten has a 2-5 record with a 5.16 ERA in 13 games, with 11 starts.  The Knights also activated C Corky Miller from the team's disabled list.  Miller has not played in a game yet with the Knights.  Miller accepted his assignment to Charlotte on June 5 and was placed on the team's DL on 6/7.  The Knights also placed INF Brian Myrow on the team's disabled list.  He is hitting .277 with

7 home runs and 25 RBI.

 

KROEGER SWINGING IT: The only run scored by the Knights in Tuesday's 1-0 win in the first game of the doubleheader vs. Pawtucket came from OF Josh Kroeger.  The Knights right fielder hit a game winning solo home run in the top of the 8th inning.  It was Kroeger's second hit of the game and he later added double in the second game of the doubleheader.  Kroeger is hitting .265 on the season and the home run was his 8th of the season.  His 8 home runs tie him with teammate Michael Restovich for the most on the team.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (www.ClippersBaseball.com)

HIT PARADE: On this home stand, the Clippers have hit only .257 (61-237), but still lead the IL in hitting at .278, four points higher than 2nd place Norfolk.  Not counting Tuesday night's 16-hit outburst, the Clippers have hit .227 (45-198) in the other six games.  Immune to the slump are the Clipper catchers, Wyatt Toregas (.400, 8-20) and Damaso Espino (.320, 8-25), who have combined to hit .356 (16-45) in the last 11 games.  As of today, the Clippers lead the IL in both hits (607) and hits allowed (628).

WHAT A RELIEF: The Clipper bullpen has been magnificent in June, posting a 1.31 ERA through the first 15 games (48.0 IP, 7 ER).  That has pulled their collective ERA down to 3.82, nearly a run better than the starters' 4.74.  Vinnie Chulk has led the charge since assuming the closer role, throwing 5.0 scoreless innings in five games, notching a win and three saves in three opportunities (4 H, 4 K).  Masa Kobayashi has also had five scoreless games (5.0 IP) while picking up a win.  Newly acquired Mike Gosling has allowed 1 ER in 8.0 IP in three games (1.13 ERA). The starters have posted a 5.29 ERA this month (85.0 IP, 50 ER).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME (PLATE): The Clippers scored in double figures Tuesday night for the 8th time this season (scored 10+ runs in eight games all of last season).  Despite leading the League in hitting, the Clippers still rank a distant 2nd in runs scored with 306 (Scranton/WB, 355).  Scranton/WB and Columbus are the only IL teams to have scored more than 300 runs this year.

DURHAM BULLS (www.DurhamBulls.com)

SEEKING SUPPORT: Durham lost 4-0 to Lehigh Valley in 11 innings yesterday.  Jason Cromer pitched a terrific game, working shutout ball over eight innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five.  Cromer now has a 0.91 ERA in five Triple-A starts, allowing just three runs in 29.2 innings.  However, Cromer has just a 1-2 record.  While Cromer has been on the mound Durham has scored just three total runs. 

JUNE SWOON: Durham has dropped seven of eight and four straight, a season-high.  Before this run, the Bulls were a season-high 16 games over .500.  In four of the seven defeats the Bulls have allowed at least eight runs.  In the three games prior to yesterday Durham had allowed 32 runs (10.67 per game).  Durham is 6-10 in the month of June, but remains one game behind Norfolk in the South Division.  Durham had lost one series prior to June first, and has now has dropped back-to-back four-game sets to Buffalo and Lehigh Valley.

LOOKING FOR THE LEAD: In the four-game skid Durham has yet to lead.  In fact, it's now been 38 innings since the Bulls have led.  On Saturday at Buffalo, Durham scored five runs in the 9th to break a 2-2 tie, a 7-2 win over the Bisons.

HOME SWEET HOME: Despite the recent losing streak, Durham still leads the IL in home victories, and is 21-13 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park this year.  After four games against Lehigh Valley, Pawtucket comes to town for four games.  Durham has dropped five of its last six home games.

GWINNETT BRAVES (www.GwinnettBraves.com)

ANTACID: Both games in Wednesday's doubleheader at Indianapolis were decided by one run. The Indians won the first game by a score of 3-2 and the G-Braves won the second by a score of 4-3. Eight of the G-Braves' last 10 games have been decided by one run. Gwinnett is 4-4 in those eight games and is 4-6 in its last 10 games. Overall this season, the Gwinnett Braves are 9-11 in one-run games... The G-Braves are 11-11 in games that are decided by two or three runs and are a combined 20-22 in games decided by three runs or less. The two teams ahead of the G-Braves in the IL South, Norfolk and Durham, are 21-16 and 23-14 respectively, in games decided by three or fewer runs... The G-Braves played their second doubleheader on Wednesday. Just as they did in the first doubleheader, the G-Braves dropped the first game and regrouped to take the second. The team is 2-2 in doubleheaders.

WELCOME BACK, WES: After missing seven games with a strained hamstring, Gwinnett Braves infielder Wes Timmons picked up where he left off in his first game back Wednesday at Indianapolis. Timmons was 1-3 in part one of the doubleheader with the Indians, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. During the streak, Timmons is batting .452 (19-42) with 11 runs, six doubles and nine walks. When the streak began on May 30, Timmons was batting just .206. His average has now risen to .281 for the season. Timmons has batted second in the order in each of his last 12 games and is batting .373 (31-83) with 19 runs, eight doubles and 16 free passes when batting second this year. He is batting just .143 (8-56) from anywhere else in the lineup. Timmons' 12-game hitting streak is 2nd among G-Braves this season. Only Barbaro Canizares' 13-game streak from April 25-May 8 is longer. Timmons owns the International League's 2nd-longest active hitting streak. Steven Tolleson of Rochester has a 13-game hitting streak.

WELCOME BACK, BARBARO: Gwinnett Braves first baseman Barbaro Canizares is back from the major leagues with the activation of Atlanta first baseman Casey Kotchman from the Disabled List. Canizares was 4-17 (.235) with a run and a double in four games with the big club. At the Triple-A level, Canizares leads the International League with a .417 on-base percentage. His 78 total hits are 2nd only to Austin Jackson of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's 81. Canizares ranks 4th in the IL in slugging percentage with a .533 mark. Canizares also leads the G-Braves with a .344 (78-227) batting average, 17 doubles and 38 RBI.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (www.IndyIndians.com)

INDIANA JONES: OF Garrett Jones continues to make a push for Triple-A All-Star honors as the slugger improved his average to a team best .291 with his 2-3 effort in game one of Wednesday, June 17's doubleheader against Gwinnett. Jones has also homered four times in his past nine games to tie with 1B Steve Pearce for the team lead with 10 long balls on the season, and in doing so has become one of just six players in all of Minor League Baseball and the only player in the International League with double digit home runs (10) and double digit steals (12). Jones also ranks among the IL's best in several offense categories, including RBI (T-3rd, 42), home runs (T-5th, 10), hits (T-5th, 68) and total bases (7th, 113). The speedy slugger Jones has also already surpassed his original season-high of 10 steals that came back in 2004 when he was with the New Britain Rock Cats, Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

RELIEVING SOME PRESSURE: Though the Indians bullpen was not used in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader and received the loss in Game 2, they have still dominated as of late. The Tribe bullpen has now posted a 1.64 ERA in their last 12 games, allowing just nine earned runs in their last 38 innings, while striking out 32 and walking just 22. RHP Chris Bootcheck and RHP Mike Koplove anchor the bullpen and continue to prove that they are two of the best relievers in the IL as Bootcheck has not allowed a run in his last eight outings (7.2 IP) and has struck out 12 and walked just two during that stretch, while Koplove has yet to allow a run in his four outings (5.0 IP) with the Tribe this season. Bootcheck also leads all hurlers in the IL with at least 30 strikeouts in strikeout to walk ratio with an 8.2 to 1 (41 SO vs. 5 BB) ratio and along with Koplove is tied for 4th in the League with 25 appearances.

PITCHING PROWESS: The Indianapolis pitching staff has posted the 2nd-best ERA (2.56) in the International League in the month of June. So far in the season's third month, Tribe hurlers have allowed just 39 earned runs in 137 innings, while striking out 94 and posting an 8-8 record. Starters Ty Taubenheim and Eric Hacker have led the way for the Indians in June as Taubenheim has been nearly flawless with a 2-0 record and 0.53 ERA in his three starts and Hacker has been nearly as dominant with a 2-0 record and 1.46 ERA in his two starts so far this month. Starter Virgil Vasquez has also pitched well in the season's third month as the right-hander tossed the Indians' second complete game of the season and picked up his team-leading fifth win in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader as the California native allowed only two runs on five hits in seven innings of work to move to 5-2 on the year.

FANTASTIC FIELDING: The Tribe defense has turned 20 double plays in their last 15 games, as well as recording at least one double play in 12 of their last 14 games. The Indians currently sit atop the International League with 22 double plays turned in the month of June and rank 2nd in the IL with 69 double plays turned so far this season. 1B Steve Pearce also continues to convert more double plays than any other first baseman in the IL with 54 so far this season, while also ranking 2nd with 442 putouts. The Indianapolis defense has played impressive all-around defensive as they currently hold the International League's best team fielding percentage with .981.

LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS (www.IronPigsBaseball.com)

FORE!: The 'Pigs have a season-best, four-game winning streak -- tying the franchise-record set 6/25-6/28/08 and later tied 7/27-7/30/08. The Phillies' Triple-A affiliates have not won 5 straight since the Scranton/WB Red Barons won 5-straight games 8/11-8/15/06.

BACK IN CERVICE: Since returning from the DL, Mike Cervenak has hit in 5 of 6 games, batting .320-2-7 (8-25, 2B). He missed 23 games after being placed on the DL on 5/18 with a right wrist fracture suffered on a HBP by RHP Tommy Hanson. Cervenak has also hit in 20 of his last 24 G (34-94, .362-3-20, 13 R) and reached in 38 of 41 games in 2009.

BOWERS POWERS: LHP Cedric Bowers has allowed just 1 R in his last 12 G (1-0, 0.52, SV, 6 holds, 17.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 16 K). He had an 11.0 scoreless IP streak snapped 6/8 @ Louisville (1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER) during which opposing batters were 0-29! The run scored after a one-out triple by Drew Sutton which snapped a string of Bowers not allowing an extra-base hit in a span of 16+ G, 20.2 IP & 66 AB. It was just the third extra-base hit that Bowers had allowed and his first since 4/19 on an Alex Ochoa solo HR.

 

THAT'S HOW THEY DREW IT UP!: Since winning his first ML start 5/16 @ Washington, RHP Drew Carpenter has gone 5-0 with a 1.35 ERA in 6 G, 5 GS with Lehigh Valley (40.0 IP, 36 H, 6 ER, 28 K). Amazingly, Carpenter has taken a shutout into the 8th inning in 3 of his last 5 G -- and into the 7th in another. On Tuesday he set a franchise-record by winning his 6th straight decision (Brian Mazone, 5, 2008). The 'Pigs are 9-3 when he starts. His win in his lone ML appearance was in Game 2 of a DH vs. the Nationals (4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K); credited with a win due to Rule 10.17 (b) (2).

LOUISVILLE BATS (www.BatsBaseball.com)

HOMER IS DEALING: Since being optioned from Cincinnati on May 24, Homer Bailey has been absolutely filthy.  In four starts, he is 3-0 with a 0.29 ERA, allowing only one earned run in 31.1 innings of work.  He has struck out 30 and walked only five and has gone at least eight innings in three of those four starts.  After his first two starts of the season, he had an 0-2 record with a 11.25 ERA.  Since then he has gone 7-3 with a 1.93 ERA, reducing his overall earned run average to 2.83.  On April 26 at Toledo he tied a franchise record by striking out 15 Mud Hens in the 10-3 victory.

BANKSTON'S BACK ON TRACK: After a very productive April for OF Wes Bankston (.316-6-17), he cooled off considerably in May when he batted .173 with one home run and 10 RBI. However, in the month of June, Bankston has rediscovered his stroke, batting .364 (20-55) with four home runs and 15 RBI. On April 26, his batting average reached a season-high at .354; however, it fell all the way to .217 on June 6.  In the ten games since June 6, he is batting .429 (18-42) with two home runs, 12 RBI, five runs scored and four doubles; he's raised his average to .257.  Bankston was named the IL Batter of the Week for the period of June 8-14 as he led the IL with a .462 batting average and 12 hits. He tied for the League lead with five extra-base hits and eight RBI, and finished 2nd with an .808 slugging percentage. Bankston collected multiple hits five times last week, two of which were home runs, pushing his long ball total on the season to 11

(T-2nd in the IL). He has now driven in runs in ten of his last 13 games, giving him a team-best 42 RBI this season.

HOT BATS: The Bats have won 13 of their last 16 games (5/31-present) and starting pitchers are 11-2 with three no-decisions, two CG, nine quality starts and a 2.74 ERA (105.0 IP, 32 ER) during that time. Bats pitchers have allowed two earned runs or less 11 times and four times the starters have left the game allowing no runs (6/1, 6/2, 6/7, 6/17). On offense, batters are hitting .280 (157-560) with 19 HR and 82 runs scored (5.13 runs/game) while the pitching staff's ERA is 2.57 (143.1 IP, 41 ER). The hottest bat belongs to Drew Stubbs, who is on a nine-game hitting streak (6/7-present) and is batting .410 (16-39) with eight runs, three doubles, two RBI and seven stolen bases during the streak. His nine-game streak is tied for his longest of the season; he also did it from 5/5-5/13.  In Stubbs' last four games he has stolen five bases and he leads the IL in that category with 25.  He has successfully stolen ten straight bases and has not been caught stealing since May 22 versus Syracuse.

SWEET TO MANAGE IL TEAM: Bats Manager Rick Sweet has been tapped to manage the IL team in the 2009 Triple-A All-Star Game at PGE Park in Portland, Oregon on July 15 at 10:00 p.m. (EST). Sweet will be the first three-time manager in Triple-A All-Star history and will join Marc Bombard as the only other person to be on the All-Star field staff four times.

NORFOLK TIDES (www.NorfolkTides.com)

ROAD WARRIOR: Outfielder Jeff Fiorentino has reached base safely in 20 consecutive road games, a streak that is tied for the 2nd-longest in the IL this season. Over that 20-game stretch, Fiorentino has hit .364 (28-77) with three homers and 17 RBI and he's posted an on-base percentage of .437. Since being moved to the heart of the lineup the 26-year-old has thrived, as he's hit .319 (15-47) when batting third and .480 (12-25) when batting cleanup.

YOUNG GUNS: Over the last week, Norfolk has added pitching prospects Jake Arrieta and Troy Patton to the starting rotation. Arrieta was ranked as the #4 prospect in the O's system by Baseball America prior to the season, while Patton was rated by the same publication as the #8 prospect in the Baltimore organization. The duo joins Chris Tillman (#2 O's prospect) in the Tides rotation, and Norfolk's current rotation of Arrieta (23), Patton (23), Tillman (21), Dave Hernandez (24) and David Pauley (26) now averages just 23.4 years of age.

WHAT A RELIEF: Norfolk's bullpen has performed exceptionally all season, posting a 3.17 ERA while amassing 22 saves, a total that is tied with Pawtucket for the most in the IL. Several relievers have pitched tremendously as of late, led by Kam Mickolio, who has posted a 1.04 ERA (2 ER, 17.1 IP) with 22 strikeouts in his last 15 outings. Bob McCrory has posted a 2.25 ERA (4 ER, 16.0 IP) over his last 13 appearances, registering 17 strikeouts while allowing 13 hits, while Jim Miller has not allowed an earned run in 22 of his 26 outings this season while leading the IL with 14 saves. Chris Ray has also performed well since being optioned from Baltimore, as five of his six relief outings have been scoreless.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX (www.PawSox.com)

HIRED GUNS: The Pawtucket Red Sox sent one of baseball's legendary veterans (John Smoltz) to the mound last night and then followed him up with one of the game's top young prospects (Clay Buchholz) as PawSox fans got to witness a rare combination of "old" and "young" pitching talent at McCoy Stadium last night in Pawtucket's, 9-3 victory over Charlotte. Smoltz made his final rehab start going 4-innings in his last tune-up before making his Boston Red Sox debut one week from tonight (Thursday, June 25 in Washington). The 42 year-old former Cy Young Award winner allowed just a solo HR to former PawSox 2B Keith Ginter in the 3rd inning and departed trailing, 1-0. The 24-year-old Buchholz, owner of the best ERA this season among active IL pitchers (1.90), made his first-ever relief appearance for the PawSox when he entered in the 5th inning for Smoltz and got credit for the victory as the Sox scored 5 times in the 5th and 4 more in the 6th inning en route to the 9-3 triumph. Buchholz, who improved to 5-0, did allow a 2-run HR to Cole Armstrong but those were the only runs he gave up over his 4 innings with 6 strikeouts.

MAKING ROOM AT THE B&B: Two of the top young hitters in the Red Sox organization were promoted from Double-A Portland in the past week and a half. 1B/OF Aaron Bates, 25, was batting .340 in 52 games for the Portland Sea Dogs with 7 HR & 39 RBI. At the time of his promotion to Pawtucket on June 8 he led the Eastern League in hits (70) and runs (41) and was 4th in batting (.340). He was the Eastern League Player of the Month in May when he hit .370 with 6 HR & 28 RBI (tying the Portland club-record for most RBI in a month). Last year Bates led Portland in RBI (69) and hits (126) while batting .276 in 124 games. In 2007 he led the Red Sox system with 28 HR - 24 for Lancaster (A) where he hit .332 in 98 games along with 88 RBI and 4 more for Portland. He immediately made an impact with the PawSox hitting .355 in his first 9 games including a 2 HR game on June 13 in Syracuse to help the PawSox to a 6-2 victory. OF Bubba Bell, 26, was hitting .275 in 53 games with 5 HR & 20 RBI for Portland when he was promoted this past Monday. He spent last year with Portland (.285 in 79 games with 13 HR & 49 RBI) but his season ended on July 21 with a stress fracture in his leg. In 2007 he was the California League MVP for Lancaster when he hit .370 in 76 games with 22 HR & 83 RBI even though he spent the last two months of '07 in Portland (.265 in 34 games with 4 HR & 22 RBI). Bell, who can play all three outfield positions, had 3 walks in his first two games for the PawSox and then had 2 hits and 2 RBI in Wednesday's win over Charlotte.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS (www.RedWingsBaseball.com)

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES: The Wings roster has undergone numerous changes over the last week.  The Twins optioned RH reliever Jesse Crain to the Red Wings Tuesday to make room for Glen Perkins who came off the Twins DL.  The 27-year-old Crain was 2-3 with an 8.15 ERA in 23 games for the Twins.  This will be his first time in the Minor Leagues since he went 3-2 with 19 saves and a 2.49 ERA for the Wings in 2004.  The Twins also recalled OF Jason Pridie after Tuesday night's game while placing Twins OF Denard Span on the disabled list.  Pridie, who spent last September with the Twins, was hitting .255-2-19 with 16 stolen bases in 61 games for the Red Wings this season. Infielder Alejandro Machado was activated from the DL yesterday. He hasn't played since late April after undergoing knee surgery.  Third baseman Luke Hughes, who has been hampered the last three weeks by a strained oblique, was placed on the DL last Thursday. Pitcher Anthony Swarzak was optioned back to the Wings on Saturday, immediately following his 4-hit victory against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Taking his spot on the Twins roster was catcher Jose Morales who was promoted from the Wings. Infielder Alexi Casilla was also optioned to the Red Wings from Minnesota this past weekend.

RESUME BUILDER: Tommy Watkins has become one of the most popular players in recent memory in Rochester because of his community service in representing the Red Wings off the field and because of his great attitude, constant hustle, and willingness to play wherever he's needed to help the ballclub. He has played all over the infield and the outfield but Tuesday did something he'd never done in professional ball. Watkins added to his resume last night when he caught the final three innings.  It was the first time Watkins has ever caught in a regular season game.  With Drew Butera the only true catcher on the current Red Wings roster, Watkins has been the emergency catcher.

STAY HOT: Steve Tolleson has hit safely in 17 of his first 18 Triple-A games and currently has a 13-game hitting streak. Tolleson is the son of former Columbus Clipper and NY Yankee Wayne Tolleson.  He has also made some spectacular defensive plays since becoming a Red Wing. Predominantly an infielder, Steve has played the last two games in left field.

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE YANKEES (www.SWBYankees.com)

BELIEVE IT OR NOT JUST THE SECOND TIME: The Yankees picked up their fourth consecutive win with a 7-3 victory over Toledo in the second game of the current four game series on Tuesday night. Despite owning the IL's best record at 40-25, the four game winning streak is the first for the Yanks since they set a franchise record ripping off 11 straight wins to open the season. Since the record setting start, SWB had won three in a row on four different occasions including the team's current streak, before finally picking up a fourth straight win on Tuesday night.

 

AJ PUNISHING IL PITCHERS: Austin Jackson continues his assault on International League pitching in his first full season one step shy of the Majors. The Yankees top prospect is 2nd in the League with a .348 average, is 1st in the IL with 81 hits, 2nd with a .416 on-base percentage, tied for 5th in triples with four, and he leads the Yankees with 12 stolen bases and 23 multi-hit games. Jackson has gone hitless in consecutive games on only two occasions in 2009; a doubleheader at Indianapolis on May 7 and his longest dry spell of the season, both games of a DH on May 15 vs. Charlotte and the first game of a DH vs. Columbus May 17.

 

PRODUCTION: Nine players in the International League have 40 runs batted in or more. Four of the IL's most productive players have worn Yankees uniforms this season, with three playing in the current series vs. Toledo. Shelley Duncan leads the League and all of Minor League Baseball with 61, Juan Miranda and former Yankee Todd Linden (now playing in Japan) are tied for 3rd with 42 and John Rodriguez, who knocked in four runs on Tuesday night, is 9th with 40.

 

YANKEE DOODLES: Dating back to the 2008 season, SWB has won four straight games over Toledo at PNC Field... With his sixth win of the season on Tuesday night, Kei Igawa is now one win behind former Red Baron Evan Thomas' franchise record of 26 career wins... At 40-25 the Yankees have the best record in the International League and are one half game behind Sacramento (41-25), their opponent from the 2008 Bricktown Showdown, for the best record in Triple-A Baseball. The Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox) of the Double-A Southern League has the minor's best record at 44-20... When the Yankees homer in a game the team is 29-7 (.806), when SWB hits multiple HR in a game the winning percentage improves to .850 (17-3).

SYRACUSE CHIEFS (www.SyracuseChiefs.com)

OCONNOR TRADED TO PADRES: Left-handed pitcher Mike O'Connor was traded to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday after appearing in 11 games for the Chiefs this season.  He was 2-5 with a 5.45 ERA.  He began the season on the Nationals 40-man roster and was outrighted to Double-A Harrisburg in spring training.  He had spent the past eight seasons in the Nationals organization after being selected in the 7th round of the 2002 draft.  O'Connor will be assigned to Triple-A Portland.

BERGMANN RETURNS...AGAIN: Right-handed reliever Jason Bergmann was added to the Chiefs roster after being optioned from Washington.  He left the Chiefs for a second time on May 20 and was 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA in 12 relief appearances for the Chiefs this season.

RAMIREZ JOINS CHIEFS: Left-handed pitcher Horacio Ramirez was claimed by the Nationals earlier this week when the Kansas City Royals designated him.  The 28-year-old former Atlanta Braves prospect will join the Chiefs starting rotation.

SCOTT OLSEN MAKES JUNE 19 REHAB START: Nationals left-handed pitcher Scott Olsen will make his second rehab start on June 19 vs. Columbus at Alliance Bank Stadium.  Olsen made his first start on June 9 at Class-A Potomac and followed that up with a 3-inning appearance on June 14 vs. Pawtucket in Cooperstown, NY.

TOLEDO MUD HENS (www.MudHens.com)

GREAT SIGNS: The Hens have gone 8-5 in their last 13 games and their pitching has been phenomenal during this stretch. Pitchers have posted a 2.62 ERA

(33 ER / 113 IP) in the last 13 games. Prior to June 1, the Hens were 11th in the IL with a 4.42 ERA - they have since lowered that to 4.07. The real indicator of how well the pitching staff has been comes from the starting rotation. Toledo had eleven consecutive quality starts (six or more innings with three or less earned runs) from their starters from June 2-15. During that stretch, the rotation had combined for 72.1 IP and only 14 ER (1.74 ERA). In addition to the quality performances, the starters have also held opponents scoreless in three of those games.

NEW LOOK LINEUP: Infielder Scott Sizemore was promoted to Toledo from Erie. In November 2008, Sizemore was ranked by Baseball America as the #7 prospect in the Detroit Tigers organization. He was also dubbed as the Tigers best prospect in hitting for average. So far this season with Erie (59 games), Sizemore has hit .307 (.402 OBP) with 9 HR, 33 RBI, and 7 SB.

THE SKIPPER: Hens manager Larry Parrish has now managed 899 games with Toledo for a 454-445 (.505) record. The 899 games ties him with Charles Strobel (899 games from 1896-1902) for 3rd-most all-time.

GIVE THEM A BREAK: The Hens' offense could not support LHP Luke French on Monday night. French threw his first complete game against the Yankees, but took the loss despite only surrendering one run in eight innings; his team was shut out 1-0. Also, before last night Brooks Brown had pitched well in all five of his starts, but only received 0.80 runs/game of run support.

Check out the International League Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from June 18, 2009


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central