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IL1 International League

International League News and Notes

August 27, 2009 - International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS (www.Bisons.com)

EVANS RETURNS TO NEW YORK: INF/OF Nick Evans has parlayed a great August into a return trip to the New York Mets. The slugger hit .289 (28-97) in 26 games in the month and showed some great power before a promotion on Tuesday. Fourteen of his 28 hits in August were good for extra bases, including seven doubles, two triples and five home runs. He also had 16 RBI and 16 runs scored in August to go along with a .557 slugging percentage. A different hitter since the All-Star break, 21 of Evans' 41 hits since the break have gone for extra-bases.

FELICIANO THE HIT MACHINE: OF Jesus Feliciano's season has been the model of consistency. He's hit .283 or better in every month of the season and his .306 overall average is currently 6th best in the International League. The Bisons top hitter continues to battle Gwinnett's Barbaro Canizares and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's Austin Jackson for the League lead in hits. Feliciano's 137 hits on the year are now tied with Canizares. Feliciano has 39 more hits than the next closest Bisons player. He also leads the team in doubles (29), runs scored (51) and stolen bases (12).

WHAT A DEBUT!: The newest Bisons player gave them a stellar start on the mound. RHP Chris Mason joined the Herd on Tuesday and delivered seven shutout innings that night in a 4-0 win in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 25-year old was promoted from Double-A Binghamton and allowed just five hits while striking out three. Mason went 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA with the B-Mets in four games after being signed as a free agent in late July. Mason had spent his entire career in the Tampa Bay organization, including 33 games with Durham a season ago (3-10, 6.21ERA).

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS (www.CharlotteKnights.com)

PEAVY ON ASSIGNMENT: RHP Jake Peavy is scheduled to make his fourth rehab start Saturday night at Norfolk. Monday in Gwinnett, the right-hander earned the win as he pitched 5.0 innings, allowing no runs off of four hits. The 2007 NL Cy Young Award Winner was acquired by the White Sox on July 31 in exchange for former Charlotte Knights Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Adam Russell and Low-A pitcher Dexter Carter. Peavy, 28, is 6-6 with a 3.97 ERA (36 ER/81.2 IP), one complete game and 92 strikeouts in 13 starts with the Padres in 2009.

FORMER KNIGHTS ON REHAB ASSIGNMENT: Prior to Wednesday's game, the Knights received INF Chris Getz and OF Dewayne Wise from the White Sox on rehab assignments. Both players played with the Knights last season. Getz spent his only season in Triple-A last year playing in 111 games for Charlotte hitting .302 with 11 home runs, 52 RBI and 24 doubles. Getz was placed on the White Sox DL with a strained right oblique. Wise, a Charlotte resident, played in 55 games for the Knights in 2008 hitting .319 with 9 HR and 23 RBI. Wise was placed on the White Sox DL with a strained AC joint in his right shoulder.

FORGET 9 INNINGS: With taking both games of their doubleheader vs. Gwinnett on Monday, the Knights improved to 8-5 in games that are played in less than 9 innings. The Knights also improve to 3-5 in doubleheaders this season.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (www.ClippersBaseball.com)

MICHAEL BRANTLEY AND THE 40 THEIVES: Last night in Indianapolis, Michael Brantley picked up his 40th steal of the year, taking second base off of Jeff Sues and Robinzon Diaz. Later in the same inning, Brantley struck again, stealing his 41st base of the season and building on his career high. He is the 6th Clipper to reach the 40-steal plateau (Otis Nixon and Jim Walewander did it twice). Brantley currently sits at 8th, five behind Nixon for 7th, for most steals in a season. He is two away from cracking the all-time top ten.

BROWN BACK IN THE BATTING BATTLE: Jordan Brown sits in 2nd place in the League batting race (.328) after having been activated from the DL on Saturday (missed 17 games with an inflamed right shoulder). Former Clipper, Jorge Padilla had been leading the IL in batting at .367, but because he is 39 plate appearances short of qualifying at season's end, his batting average would be calculated as .326 under rule 10.22 (a). That has opened the door for Brown, Kevin Russo (.333, Scranton/WB) and Don Kelly (.327, Toledo) to battle it out over the season's final two weeks. Brown is the only one among the three to have already surpassed the required 389 plate appearances. If he emerges as the IL batting champion, he will be the 7th in Clipper history (most in the League since the Clippers first year, 1977).

MISSING MARTE (STILL): The Clippers are 7-22 (.241) since their Triple Crown candidate, Andy Marte, had his contract purchased by Cleveland on 7/28. At the time of his promotion, he was 3rd in average (.327), 2nd in homers (18) and 2nd in RBI (66). Since his departure, the team has hit .246 with 19 HR and have been averaging just 3.5 runs per game (scored two or less in 14 games). They have seen their batting average drop eight points to .274 (tied for 1st place) and seen their lead in runs scored evaporate (583, 7th place).

DURHAM BULLS (www.DurhamBulls.com)

HIGH POINT: Durham won 4-2 at Norfolk last night to move to a season-high tying 16 games over .500 (74-58). Durham now has been to 16 over five times this season. The last time the Bulls had a shot at 17-over-.500 the team lost on a three-run homer with two out in the ninth, 9-7 to Syracuse on August 7.

GAINING GROUND: Durham moved within a game of Gwinnett in the South Division last night. It's the closest the Bulls have been to first since August 13, when the Bulls won 9-5 at Gwinnett thanks to a six-run ninth. Last night the Braves dropped a 10-7 loss in 11 innings to Charlotte, Gwinnett's third straight defeat. The Bulls and Braves begin a four-game series on Saturday in Durham.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: While the Bulls trail in the division, Durham remains the Wild Card leader. The Bulls are 3.5 games ahead of Syracuse, 6.0 games in front of Norfolk. Durham is 4-1 on a seven-game road trip against Syracuse (4) and Norfolk (3). Durham has 12 games, seven at home, five on the road. All but three against Charlotte are against clubs with winning records. Among the teams in the playoff hunt, Durham has four at home left vs Gwinnett, five against Norfolk (three home/two road).

SLAM CENTRAL: Durham's Matt Joyce gave the Bulls a 4-0 lead on Tuesday at Syracuse in the first inning with the team's eighth grand slam this year, tied for the lead in all of professional baseball. It was the first Durham grand slam since Elliot Johnson went deep on July 6 at Charlotte. Durham and Albuquerque are the only Minor League teams with eight grand slams this year, while the Phillies are the only MLB team to hit that number this year. The Bulls went on to win that game against Syracuse, 9-6.

GWINNETT BRAVES (www.GwinnettBraves.com)

GET BACK TO IT: Gwinnett has dropped three-straight games for the first time since July 12-17, the last game before and the first two games following the Triple-A All-Star break. Since that three-game losing streak, Gwinnett had only dropped consecutive games one other time, in the first and second games of a four-game set at Toledo August 6-7. Two of the three games the G-Braves dropped were in a doubleheader on Monday, in the third and fourth games of a four-game series against Charlotte. Following an off day on Tuesday, Gwinnett dropped the third-straight on Wednesday night, also at the hands of the Knights in a three-game series opener at Charlotte. The last time Gwinnett lost three-straight games to the same opponent was from April 23-25 against the same Charlotte Knights. Gwinnett hasn't lost four consecutive games since April 22-25, the only time this season they have dropped more than three-straight games. Gwinnett and Charlotte square off five more times in the final 12 games of the regular season. Even with the three consecutive losses, Gwinnett has played to a 16-9 record in August, which is tied with Louisville for the most victories in the International League this month.

NOT THE ONLY ONES: Gwinnett is not the only first-place club to have dropped three-straight. Scranton/WB has also lost each of its last three games and only lead Syracuse by 2.5 games in the IL North Division. The Yankees, who have been stuck on 71 wins since Monday, are going head-to-head against the Chiefs on Thursday. The G-Braves' lead in the IL South Division has shrunk from four games to just one game, over the Durham Bulls, following the three-game slide. After two more games at Charlotte on Thursday and Friday, Gwinnett travels to Durham for a pivotal four-game series that begins on Saturday.

DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS: Of the five teams with 70 or more wins, Gwinnett is the only club that doesn't have double-digit wins against multiple clubs. The G-Braves, who have defeated the Durham Bulls nine times this season, need one more victory against Durham to reach double-digit wins against two clubs this season. Gwinnett has defeated Norfolk 10 times this season. Louisville (76-54) is the only IL team with double-digit wins against three opponents, having won 11 games against division-rivals Columbus, Indianapolis and Toledo. Durham (74-58) has 10 wins against Norfolk and 11 against Charlotte. Scranton/WB (71-57) has 10 wins against both Lehigh Valley and Pawtucket. Syracuse (70-61) has 12 victories against Buffalo and 10 against Scranton/WB.

BIG BURKE: Chris Burke has quietly collected hits in nine-consecutive games, batting .314 (11-35) in the streak. Prior to his 0-for-3 game on August 17 vs. Pawtucket, Burke had hits in six-straight games. In his last 15 games, Burke has hits in 14 games and has batted .316 (18-57). Although Burke hasn't gone deep in his last 24 games, he has batted .319 (29-91) with 14 runs and nine RBI. Burke has hits in 44 of his 62 games with Gwinnett this season. His 13 stolen bases leads the active roster. The three other players (Wes Timmons has 12, Brian Barton 11 and Brooks Conrad 11) with more than 10 stolen bases have all played more than 90 games.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (www.IndyIndians.com)

BRIAN ON THE BASES: OF Brian Myrow went 4-for-4 with two solo home runs and three RBI on August 26 against Columbus, becoming the fifth Indians' batter to blast multiple home runs in a game this season and the 10th to collect four base knocks in a single contest. The left-handed slugger joined OF Garrett Jones (June 9 @ BUF), 1B/OF Steve Pearce (June 9 @ BUF), 3B Neil Walker (July 30 @ NOR) and C Erik Kratz (July 31 @ NOR) as Indians with multiple home runs in a game this season, while also becoming the first to accomplish the feat at Victory Field. With his four base knocks, Myrow also becomes the first Tribe player to collect two four-hit efforts this season both of which have come during his current streak where he reached base in 13 of his last 14 games and during which time he is batting .396 (23-for-58) with 11 runs, three home runs and 11 RBI. The 32-year-old also continues to be an on-base machine as he has reached base in 25 of his last 28 games overall and continues to rank among the International League's best in walks (5th, 59) and on-base percentage (3rd, .409).

LOPEZ LIGHTS UP THE COMPETITION: INF Pedro Lopez went 1-for-5 against Columbus on Wednesday and has now collected hits in 11 of his last 12 games, including multiple base knocks in eight of those contests as well. During his current hot streak Lopez has posted an impressive .440 batting average (22-for-50), while he has also scored at least one run in nine of his last 12 contests as well. The right-handed slugger has seen several interesting trends in his play this season as he is batting .415 (17-for-41) against left-handers versus .283 (17-for-60) against right-handers, hitting .413 (19-for-46) in 13 games on the road versus .273 (15-for-55) in 18 games at home, batting .393 (24-for-61) when he plays at second base, hitting a team best .400 (22-for-55) in the month of August, batting .458 (11-for-24) when he leads off an inning and hitting .714 (5-for-7) in the ninth inning.

EXTRA MARKS THE SPOT: With OF Brian Myrow's two solo long balls in the Tribe's 4-1 victory over Columbus on Wednesday, the Indians have now collected at least one extra-base hit in each of their last 47 games dating back to July 8. This streak of 47 games comes after the Indians posted an even more impressive extra-base hit streak of 50 games in-a-row to begin this season, a streak which also extended to 84 games in-a-row dating back to July 29, 2008. In total this season Indianapolis has had only three games in which they have not collected an extra-base hit (June 3, July 5 and July 8).

POWELL CONTINUES TO PERFORM OUT OF THE PEN: Despite taking the loss in the Sunday contest against Columbus, reliever Jeremy Powell still allowed just one run over his four innings out of the bullpen. The right-hander continues to excel in relief work this season as he has posted a 4-2 record and collected four saves to go along with a 2.70 ERA (13 ER in 43.1 IP) out of the Tribe bullpen. Since his last start on July 9, Powell has been nothing short of dominant in relief as he has allowed just two earned runs over 16 innings of work for a 1.12 ERA as well 11 strikeouts and just three walks during that span.

LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS (www.IronPigsBaseball.com)

WINGS WINGERS: With a 4-0 shutout on Wednesday, Rochester's R.A. Dickey became the first opponent to toss a 9-inn SHO vs. LHV in 2009 and just the second all-time -- Rochester's Glen Perkins spun also spun a 2-hit SHO (1 BB, 1 HBP) in a 10-0 rout 4/26/08 at CCP, 251 games ago. The only other pitcher to earn a SHO vs. LHV was also a Red Wing: Tom Shearn in 7 innings 8/6/08 @ ROC-G2.

FORTUNE .500?: The 'Pigs need to go 9-4 in their remaining 13 G to finish at .500; 10-2 to finish above .500 (where LHV's never been). On 8/9, the 'Pigs fell short in their effort to get back to .500 -- as they still have only been at .500 for just two times in LHV history, and they still have never been above .500 in 275 games. It took 220 games for Lehigh Valley to get to .500 for the first time in franchise history -- which the 'Pigs did on 6/28/09 at 38-38 after a 6-1 win vs. Norfolk, but then they lost two-straight games and 7 of their next 9. The 'Pigs then reeled off seven wins in their next nine contests to get back to .500 for just the second time in team history (7/19/09 at 47-47after a 3-2 win vs. Rochester) but then lost three straight and 6 of 8. LHV is 2-8 in opportunities to get to .500 this season; 2-10 in franchise history.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE: The 'Pigs final 26 G are against the North Division -- and they have started 6-6. LHV is 34-32 (.515) vs. the North in '09. This comes after faring just 22-58 (.275) in 2008. Still, the 'Pigs have gone 19-13 (.594) in their last 32 division games vs. the North. LHV has had North Division foes in 50 of the final 66 G (including 10 vs. division-leading SWB). WHO'S HOT: OF Rich Thompson has hit in 11 of his last 12 G (17-43, .395-1-2, 12 R) and has 7 multi-hit G in his last 14 G (20-58, .345)... Although 0-16 vs. Pawtucket, 1B Andy Tracy has still hit in 7 of his last 13 G, batting .341-6-17 (15-44, 12 R, 12 BB). He's also hit in 21 of his last 29 G (32-106, .302-9-25, 3B) after a 2-36 skid... OF Jason Ellison has hit in 10 of his last 14 G (18-53, .340-0-5, 10 R) & in 16 of his last 18 GS (24-74, .324-0-9, 12 R)... LHP Gustavo Chacin has won his last 5 decisions (would've had LHV record 5-start winning streak if not for a BS on 8/2). Even so, he's gone 5-0, 3.02 (62.2 IP, 21 ER, 8 QS) in his last 10 GS... RHP Rodrigo Lopez has won 4 straight decisions for LHV, going 4-0, 3.38 (37.1 IP, 14 ER) in 6 GS. He tied LHV's record of winning 4 straight GS (Chacin, RHP Carlos Carrasco).

LOUISVILLE BATS (www.BatsBaseball.com)

FRANCISCO TREAT: Since Juan Francisco's promotion to Louisville August 15, he is batting .356 (16-45) with three HR & 12 RBI. The Triple-A rookie homered in three straight games (8/17-8/19) and in 11 games he has been held hitless twice while recording seven multi-hit games. Last night's 0-for-4 game snapped his 8-game hitting streak (8/17-8/24, .412). In 109 G with the Mudcats, he batted .281 and at the time of his promotion, led the Southern League with 22 home runs and 74 RBI. He was 2nd in the SL in hits (123) which trailed his former Mudcat teammate and current Bat teammate Todd Frazier who had 127 hits at the time of Francisco's promotion. The slugger was 2nd in the SL with 50 doubles and 3rd in slugging % at .501.

THIS & THAT: Louisville's 3.47 team ERA is 2nd best in the IL and if the pitching staff holds form, it will be the lowest team ERA in franchise history. The 1985 Redbirds had an ERA of 3.51 and last season's West Division winning team had an ERA of 3.96. The staff's 922 total strikeouts is on pace for 1,014 which would be second most to last season's 1,027, and if Bats hitters stay on pace in striking out, it will be the first time since 2006 and the second time since 2003 that the team does not strikeout at least 1,000 times; at 895 strikeouts, they're currently on pace for 984 K.

SHUTOUTS: The Bats are 14-8 in shutout games this season and their 14 shutouts are a new franchise record. Louisville had 13 shutout victories last season and during the 1992 campaign. The 14 wins are also tied for the IL lead with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

BEST TOOLS: LHP Travis Wood and OF Drew Stubbs have been named to the following in Baseball America's annual tools issues: Wood - Best Control, Best Changeup in the Southern League; Stubbs - Best Baserunner, Best Defensive Outfielder, Best Outfield Arm in the IL.

NORFOLK TIDES (www.NorfolkTides.com)

GOING STREAKING: With two more hits last night, Joey Gathright has now set a season-high by hitting safely in 11 straight games. Over that stretch, Gathright has hit .375 (18-for-48) with five runs scored, six RBI and six multiple hit games. Gathright has also now registered enough plate appearances to qualify among the IL leaders, where his .324 batting average ranks 4th in the League. The 28-year-old played parts of three seasons against Norfolk's current opponent the Durham Bulls (2004-2006), where he hit .312 with 70 stolen bases in 128 games.

AFTER YOU BEAT EM, JOIN EM: Norfolk's current series with Durham is the first for Rhyne Hughes against his former team, as he was acquired by Baltimore in a trade with Tampa Bay on August 15 as the player to be named later in the trade that sent catcher Gregg Zaun to the Rays. Hughes hit .313 (67-for-214) with seven homers and 26 RBI in 56 games with Durham this season after he opened the year with Double-A Montgomery. Hughes had posted excellent numbers against Tides pitching this season, as he hit an astounding .533 (16-for-30) with a home run and six RBI in eight games vs. Norfolk.

ANYTHING BUT AVERAGE: Norfolk enters play tonight percentage points ahead of Columbus for the top team average in the IL, a .274 mark. If Norfolk finishes the season with its current team average, it would be the highest mark for a Tides club since the 1999 club batted .280. Since the Tides joined the IL in 1969, only four Tides teams have finished the season with an average of .274 or better: 1969 (.283), 1970 (.280), 1987 (.282) and 1999 (.280).

PAWTUCKET RED SOX (www.PawSox.com)

A SERIES WITH MEANING: The Pawtucket Red Sox and the Buffalo Bisons - who last year at about this time (last August 29 & 30) played a 2-game series at McCoy Stadium that resulted in a 2-game Bisons sweep which officially ended the PawSox chances for 1st-place in the IL North (although the Sox did clinch the IL Wild Card despite that August 30 defeat) - finish another 2-game series at McCoy tonight with a little different meaning this year as the 5th-place PawSox host last-place Buffalo again this evening. Pawtucket's thrilling, 3-2 run-off win last night (Josh Reddick RBI SF in the bottom of the 9th-inning) increased their lead over the Bisons to 3-games in the race to stay out of the IL North cellar. Pawtucket's Magic Number over Buffalo is 11 to insure the Sox will not finish in the basement. Pawtucket has not finished in last-place since the expanded IL East/North was formed in 1991, but Pawtucket did finish in 4th-place (which was last-place) in both 1989 & 1990 in the four-team IL East that consisted of just Rochester, Scranton/WB, Syracuse, and Pawtucket.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH A BUFFALO: The PawSox and Buffalo have played 15 times this season and 13 of those games have been decided by 3 runs or less with 11 by 2-runs or less (8 by 1-run, 3 others by 2-runs, and 2 by 3-runs) with most of those low scoring affairs. The only exceptions to close, low-scoring games are a 9-0 PawSox win on April 10 and a 9-2 Buffalo win on May 18. The last 8 games for instance have been a pair of 4-3 Sox wins on May 19 and July 31 sandwiched around five consecutive Buffalo victories in July by scores of 3-1, 1-0, 2-1, 3-0, and 4-1, and most recently a 3-2 PawSox victory last night. Buffalo has outscored the PawSox by a 42-40 margin as Buffalo is averaging 2.8 runs per game while the Sox are at 2.66 runs per game. Pawtucket does own the season-series lead by an 8-7 count with the finale on tap for tonight.

TWO MUCH TO ASK FOR: Pawtucket has another chance tonight to win back-to-back games for just the third time in nearly ten weeks since a 3-game winning streak all the way back from June 19-21. Since that point in mid-June the Sox have won two games in a row on just two occasions - July 25 & 26 at home vs. Columbus and again on August 10 & 11 in Charlotte. Those are the only two times they have accomplished that modest feat since June 21. They have another chance to do so tonight vs. Buffalo.

PAW-PRINTS: Boston sent INF Jed Lowrie to Pawtucket on an injury rehab assignment Monday. Lowrie, who has been on Boston's disabled list since August 7 with ulnar neuritis of his left wrist, wasted little time in showing he appears ready to rejoin the Red Sox as he blasted a HR in his first game with the PawSox on Monday and then had a 2 HR game the next night vs. Lehigh Valley at McCoy. Jed underwent left wrist surgery in April and has played in just 19 games with the Red Sox after earning the job as Boston's starting SS coming out of spring training.... C George Kottaras is also enjoying his injury rehab stint with the PawSox which began on August 15. In his first 8 games with the PawSox he it hitting .368. George had been with Boston all season and had been Tim Wakefield's personal catcher for the most part. He was placed on Boston's disabled list on August 1 with a lower back strain... Although not on a rehab assignment, veteran RHP Paul Byrd is another current PawSox player the Red Sox are keeping a close eye on. The 38 year-old certainly opened eyes with a strong performance in his second start for the PawSox on Monday vs. Lehigh Valley as he went 7 superb innings allowing just 3 hits and 1 run in a game the Sox eventually won, 3-2...OF Chris Carter has had a strange week. He has not started a game since August 19 (he did pinch-hit on Sunday) while nursing a lower back strain. The PawSox 2009 MVP (as voted by his teammates) has also been rumored to be one of the players to be named later in this week's Red Sox trade with the Mets that landed Boston LHP Billy Wagner. Carter, hitting .279 with 14 HR & 54 RBI (team-highs in all three categories), has still been working out with the PawSox the past few days but has yet to reappear in the line-up. If reports are true, he may be relocating across the McCoy hallway tonight and moving into the Buffalo clubhouse.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS (www.RedWingsBaseball.com)

YOU CAN DO IT!: The Red Wings need to win four of their last five games in August to finish the month with a 19-13 record. If Rochester can finish with 19 wins in the month of August it would only be the third time since 1991 (19-11 record in 2001 and 20-9 record in 2008) that Rochester has had 19 wins in the month of August. It would also be the first time Rochester has had 19 wins in the same month in back-to-back seasons since month-by-month records started being kept in 1980.

GREAT STARTS: The Red Wings starting pitchers have done a great job the last 12 games, going 6-1 with a 1.46 ERA. In 80.0 innings of work, the starters have allowed 20 runs (13 earned) on 56 hits while walking just 15 and striking out 52. Rochester has won nine of the 12 games.

NUMBER 300: Manager Stan Cliburn won his 300th game as the Rochester Red Wings manager last night. Cliburn holds a 300-271 record (.525). Since 1963, only Joe Altobelli (1971-76) with 502 wins and Marv Foley (1995-98, 2000) with 363 wins have compiled more wins than Cliburn.

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

IT'S NOW OR NEVER: Both the Yankees and Chiefs have 13 games remaining in the regular season including four head-to-head meetings. The Yankees magic number to clinch their third straight IL North crown is 11. The three games with SWB are essentially must wins for Syracuse. If the Yankees were to win the finale of the two-game series, the Yankees lead would be 3.5 with 12 to play and even if SWB went 6-6 down the stretch, the Chiefs would need to go 10-2.

10 FROM TIMMONS: Yurendell de Caster extended his SWB Yankees best consecutive games reaching base streak to 38 on Wednesday night against Syracuse hitting a two-run homer in the in the Yankees third. During his consecutive games reached streak, de Caster has had a 15 game hitting streak (7/19 - 8/1) and a 10 game streak (8/11 - 8/21). He has hit safely in 33 of the 38 games during the streak (.319 / 44-138) and has raised his overall average from .256 to .305. de Caster's streak of 38 is 10 behind Wes Timmons' streak set earlier in the season for the Gwinnett Braves who reached base safely in 48 straight games.

MIRANDA BACK IN THE MIX: After missing the entire series with Buffalo, Yankees slugger Juan Miranda returned to the SWB lineup in his familiar number five spot and in the field at first base. Miranda injured his ankle in the series finale at Lehigh Valley on August 21, rolling his ankle after getting tangled up with Lehigh Valley pitcher Kyle Kendrick on a potential 3-6-1 double play attempt by the Pigs. Miranda went 3-4 in his first game back with SWB and is now hitting .417 (15-36) over his last 10 games. With his three-hit night on Wednesday, Miranda has fashioned a five game hit streak in which he is batting .529 (9-17) with a 2B, 3RBI, BB and 2K.

YANKEE DOODLES: Kevin Russo picked up his 100th hit of the season of the season and with Jorge Padilla of Syracuse no longer having the plate appearances to qualify, leads the IL with a .333 average...The Yankees now lead the IL in all three triple crown categories with Russo in batting at .333 and Shelley Duncan leading the League with 27 HR and 87 RBI...The next win for the Yankees at home in August will be the team's ninth which would be the most in any month in 2009. The Yankees went 8-8 in July, while the best month from a home winning percentage standpoint has been April at 6-2 (.750).

SYRACUSE CHIEFS (www.SyracuseChiefs.com)

DESMOND ON THE DIAMOND: SS Ian Desmond was recently cited in Baseball America's Best Tools survey voted upon by League managers as possessing the Best Infield Arm in both the Triple-A International League and Double-A Eastern League. For the season, Desmond is hitting a combined .318 with 21 doubles, 3 triples, 6 homers, 26 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 83 games between Syracuse and Harrisburg.

MT. EVERTS: RHP Clint Everts fired 18.1 consecutive scoreless innings over 14 appearances with Syracuse and Harrisburg from July 12-August 24. For the season, Everts is a combined 8-1 with a 1.44 ERA in 39 G and 56 IP he has walked 20 and struck out 64. With the Chiefs he is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in 6 games.

LETS PLAY BALL IN THE FALL: Next season's Syracuse Chiefs may be tuning up in the Arizona Fall League in October as the Nationals announced this week that number one picks Steven Strasburg and Drew Storen will compete for the Phoenix Desert Dogs beginning October 13. Potomac shortstop Danny Espinosa, who played in this years MLB Futures Game, first baseman Chris Marrero (.295 16 HR, 70 RBI) and catcher Derek Norris, who leads the Nationals farm hands with 23 home runs and 78 RB,I will also take part.

TOLEDO MUD HENS (www.MudHens.com)

K'S A-PLENTY: Here is a stat the Mud Hens are looking to avoid - the franchise record for most strikeouts offensively of 1,206 (in 2008). The current team is on pace for 1,207. Only one team in MLB or MILB has struck out more often than the Hens this season. The Hens have 1,106 K to the Inland Empire 66ers' (Calif. League) 1,163.

THE CLUTCH FACTOR: As recently as July 23, the Hens were batting .222 with runners in scoring position. They have improved since (.237), but are still fourth worst in all of MLB/MILB. Montgomery (Southern League) is worst at .225, then Rome (.231) and Hagerstown (.231) of the South Atlantic League, and Mississippi (Southern, .234).

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE: 2B Scott Sizemore will play for the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League for a second straight year. Rosters were announced today, and six Tigers' prospects will play for Peoria, though Sizemore is the only current Mud Hen. He will be joined by Cale Iorg, Ryan Strieby, Thad Weber, Robbie Weinhardt and Cody Satterwhite.

THE LINEUP CARD: SS Brent Dlugach has improved upon his All-Star season, batting .333/.381/.476 since the break. He had a 12-game hitting streak snapped vs. Louisville on Monday. Before that game, he had also reached safely in 24 straight home games, the second longest home streak in the International League this season (Brad Eldred, Syracuse - 25). In the 24 home games after the streak started on July 9, Dlugach hit .389 (37-95) with a .427 OBP. The streak included 14 extra-base hits, 13 RBI and 13 runs. Dlugach went 0-4 the following night, failing to reach base for the second straight game. The last time that had happened was June 14-15.

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