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IL1 International League

International League News and Notes

September 3, 2009 - International League (IL1) News Release


BUFFALO BISONS (www.Bisons.com)

TRIPLE PLAY: The Number-5 play on ESPN SportsCenter on Tuesday night belonged to the Buffalo Bisons. That's because the Herd turned just the second triple play in the history of Coca-Cola Field. With runners in motion, shortstop Argenis Reyes made a diving catch of a line drive from Rochester's Steven Tolleson. Reyes then threw from one knee to second baseman Luis Rivera for a second out. Rivera relayed on to first baseman Mike Lamb for the 6-4-3 triple play. The only other triple play in downtown Buffalo came on July 27, 1997 against Nashville as Jeff Manto, Torey Lovullo, and Richie Sexson completed the 5-4-3 round-the-horn triple play.

FELICIANO NAMED MVP: Last night, the Bisons handed out their end-of-the-season team awards with OF Jesus Feliciano taking home the hardware as Team Most Valuable Player. The outfielder has hit .300 (143-477) with 29 doubles, a triple, a home run and 40 RBI in 125 games. Feliciano leads the Bisons offense in almost every offensive category: games, multi-hit games (35), average, hits (143), doubles, stolen bases (12) and runs scored (51). He is also 2nd on the club in RBI (40). His 143 hits are 3rd most in the International League.

AND THE WINNER IS: Among the other team award winners were RHP Nelson Figueroa as the team's Most Valuable Pitcher. "Figgy" was the most consistent pitcher in the entire IL in 2009, having allowed more than three runs in a start only once. His 2.25 ERA will fall just 3.0 innings short of qualifying as the top mark in the IL this year. Overall, Figueroa was 7-5 with a 2.25 ERA in 17 starts (112.0 IP, 91 H, 29 R, 28 ER, 24 BB, 94 K). RHP Kyle Snyder was named the team's Comeback Player of the year while RHP Tim McNab took home multiple honors as Most Inspirational Player and Community Service Award.

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS (www.CharlotteKnights.com)

SEPTEMBER PROMOTIONS: The Charlotte Knights have had five players called to the Major Leagues this week.  INF Josh Fields, C Tyler Flowers,

RHP Daniel Hudson, RHP Jhonny Nunez and RHP Carlos Torres have been brought up by the White Sox.  For Hudson and Flowers this is their first ever promotion to the majors.  Hudson, 22, has gone 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA (8 ER/24.0 IP) in five starts with Charlotte.  This season Hudson has a combined record of 14-5, 2.32 ERA (38 ER/147.1 IP) in 26 starts.  Flowers, 23, hit .286 (30-105) with two home runs and 13 RBI in 31 games for the Knights.  Nunez makes his second trip to the big leagues this season.  Nunez, 23, leaves Charlotte with a record of 2-0 with one save and a 3.33 ERA (9 ER/24.1 IP) in 16 relief appearances for Charlotte.  Fields, 26, returns to the big leagues after playing in 27 games for the Knights this season.  He leaves Charlotte ranked 2nd on the Knights career hit list with 293, 4th on the RBI list with 155 and 5th on the home run list with 46.  Torres, 26, returns to the White Sox for the third time this season.  Torres, who was named to the IL mid and postseason All-Star teams is scheduled to make his third career big league start today at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. Torres had a memorable season in Charlotte, pitching a 5-inning perfect game on June 18 at Pawtucket and 10 strikeouts on May 15 at Scranton/WB.

REPRESENT YOUR COUNTRY: The Knights have had five players leave the team to play in the Baseball World Cup.  OF Josh Kroeger, RHP Lucas Harrell, and RHP Ehren Wassermann are part of the United States team.  Catcher Cole Armstrong is playing for Canada and OF Miguel Negron is playing for Puerto Rico.  Kroeger has appeared in 124 games with the Knights this season. He is currently batting .268 with 16 home runs, 32 RBI and 23 stolen bases. Kroeger was signed as a minor-league free agent by Chicago.  Harrell was recalled to the Knights in June after starting the season in Double-A Birmingham. In 10 games, Harrell is 4-1, with a 3.17 ERA, 37 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched. He was selected in the 4th round of the 2004 draft by the Chicago White Sox.  Coming out of the Knights bullpen, Wasserman is in his third season with the Knights. He's appeared in 41 games with Charlotte, going 6-3 with 1 save,

3.84 ERA, 55 strikeouts in 61 innings of work.  Armstrong was named to the IL mid-season All-Star Team this season and had 10 home runs and 52 RBI in

69 games for Charlotte.  Negron hit .279 and had 14 stolen bases in 103 games for the Knights.

 

TRIPLE-A ROOKIES: The Knights current roster features 11 new players, 10 of which are Triple-A rookies.  That is by far the highest number of rookies they have had on the roster this season.  The average age of the current roster is 25 and their are currently only three players over the age of 30 on the team.  C Miguel Gonzalez had his first career Triple-A hit on 9/1 vs. Norfolk and RHP Taylor Thompson pitched two scoreless innings last night in his Triple-A debut.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (www.ClippersBaseball.com)

FIGHT TO THE FINISH: With five games to go, Jordan Brown finds himself in 2nd place in the IL batting race after going 1-5 last night to drop to .3317.  Scranton/WB's Kevin Russo went 0-5 to drop his batting average to .3323, giving him a lead of six ten-thousandths of a point.  Brown is attempting to become the Clippers' 8th batting champion (most in the IL since 1977).  If he emerges as the League leader, he would be the first player to win the title on a last place team since Danny Sandoval won it in 2005 (Scranton/WB).

GREAT EIGHT: Tuesday night in Detroit, Carlos Carrasco and Michael Brantley became the 7th and 8th Clippers to debut in the Majors this season.  Carrasco got the start and was tagged with a loss (3.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), while Brantley went 2-4 with a run scored.  Other Clippers to get their first taste of the bigs are: Trevor Crowe, Tony Sipp, Matt LaPorta, David Huff, Chris Gimenez and Wyatt Toregas.  All eight of those players are currently with Cleveland (21 players on Cleveland's roster were with Columbus this season).

APPROACHING INFAMY: With five games left, the Clippers need to win out in order to avoid becoming the worst team in franchise history (59-83, .415, 2002).  They also need to win two more games to ensure a winning percentage above .400.  Columbus' last five games are with Toledo, a team they have lost to six straight times, while being outscored 53-21.

DURHAM BULLS (www.DurhamBulls.com)

PITCHING IN: On Saturday a Bulls team with 18 victories in its final at-bat may have come up with its most impressive victory of the season, 10-9 in 14 innings over Gwinnett.  Reid Brignac belted a two-run homer with two out in the ninth and a 2-2 count to tie the game at seven.  Durham, which started a reliever because Andy Sonnanstine was headed to the majors, ran out of pitchers after 12 innings.  Position player Ray Olmedo worked the final two frames.  After he gave up two runs in the 14th, Durham rallied for three to win in the bottom of the frame.  Jon Weber's three-run double on a 3-2 pitch with two out in the 14th gave Durham the marathon win.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: That win certainly helped Durham's playoff run.  The Bulls are now a game ahead of Gwinnett for the division lead with five games left.  The Braves fell 8-1 to Norfolk last night.  If Gwinnett and the Bulls are tied for first at the end of the season, then Durham will hold the division title for playoff matchup purposes.  Durham and Gwinnett split 22 meetings in the regular season, but Durham will have the better record against division foes.   Durham's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two.  Any combination of two Bulls wins or Syracuse defeats over the last five days of the regular season will put Durham in the playoffs for the third straight year and ninth time in 12 years.

SEEKING STARTERS: Jason Cromer pitched six shutout innings last night for the Bulls.  He is one of only two starting pitchers to remain with the Bulls after September promotions.  The other, Jeremy Hellickson, will start tomorrow against the Knights.  The three to depart are Jeff Bennett, Wade Davis and Andy Sonnanstine.  Davis will make his MLB debut on Sunday against the Tigers at Tropicana Field.  Durham is carrying 22 players on a 24-man roster, 10 pitchers and 12 position players.  The newest Bulls player is Sean Rodriguez, who was acquired from the Angels as the player to be named later in the Scott Kazmir trade.  In 103 games for Salt Lake City (PCL), Rodriguez hit .299 with 29 HR and 93 RBI.  He played second base, shortstop and the outfield.  Rodriguez has played 71 games for the Angels over the last two seasons. He's expected to be in the starting lineup tonight when the Bulls visit Charlotte.

GOING DEEP: Durham now has hit 133 homers this season after Chris Richard and Desmond Jennings went deep yesterday.  That leads the League by four over Toledo.  Durham hit 153 homers last year, and that total was third in the IL, as Pawtucket hit 176 and Toledo 172.  Richard now has 64 homers in three seasons with Durham, the most ever by a Triple-A Durham Bull.

GWINNETT BRAVES (www.GwinnettBraves.com)

TOUGH STRETCH: The Gwinnett Braves wrap up the regular season against three of the teams they have had the most trouble with in 2009. Gwinnett just finished a four-game series with the Durham Bulls. The G-Braves were 11-11 against the Bulls after splitting the final series. Now Gwinnett is in the midst of a three-game set at Norfolk. The G-Braves are 10-9 vs. the Tides this season. Their final series of the season comes in the form of a three-game set vs. Charlotte. The Knights are one of only two teams in the International League that own a better than .500 record vs. Gwinnett. The G-Braves are 8-10 vs. Charlotte and they finished the season series 3-5 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

GRAND SLAM: Alvin Colina blasted a grand slam to left-center field Tuesday night, marking the third Gwinnett Braves grand slam in just two weeks. Brandon Jones hit one on Aug. 23 and Brooks Conrad hit one on Aug. 20. Colina's grand slam on Tuesday night was the fourth for Gwinnett this season and the G-Braves are 4-0 when they hit a grand slam. Gwinnett has allowed three grand slams this season. The first time was on opening night at Gwinnett Stadium, when the Norfolk Tides spoiled the party 7-4. The last was on Thursday, when the same Tides knocked the G-Braves out of first place with an 8-1 win at Harbor Park.

BIG BURKE: Chris Burke continues to contribute of late. He has hits in 24 of his last 26 games and is batting .314 (32-102) with 14 runs, five doubles, a triple and 14 RBI. He has also swiped six bags in that span. Since the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 15, Burke is batting .304 (55-181) with 27 runs, 14 doubles, a triple, a home run and 23 RBI. Burke's primary position this season has been shortstop (40 starts) but he has made 14 starts in left field and 12 at second base. Since his addition to the club on June 19, Gwinnett has won 41 of 70 games.

CANIZARES' CONSISTENCY CONTINUES: In 126 games this season, Barbaro Canizares has not gone without a hit in more than three-straight games. He has hit safely in 93 of 126 games, including multiple hits in 44 games. His 146 hits to lead the League and his 78 RBI are good for fourth in the League. He leads Gwinnett in hits (146), home runs (12), RBI (78) and extra-base hits (45). Canizares has played in 126 games this season, 23 more games than any player on the G-Braves' roster. He made 88 starts at first base and 38 starts as designated hitter. On Tuesday, Canizares was named to the 2009 International League Postseason All-Star Team.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (www.IndyIndians.com)

KRATZ NAMED IL POSTSEASON ALL-STAR: Indians' C Erik Kratz was named the catcher on the International League's 2009 postseason All-Star team. Kratz currently leads all IL catchers with 11 home runs and 42 RBI this season and has collected eight runs, five home runs and 13 RBI over his last 14 games. The Tribe backstop also continues to play a large role in the final outcome of many of the Indians' contests as this season Indianapolis is 44-39 when Kratz starts behind the plate, 17-4 when he collects two hits or more, 7-3 when he drives in two runs or more and 10-1 when he launches a long ball.

AUGUST RUSH: Indianapolis posted a 17-13 record in the month of August to turn in their first full winning month since they went 18-12 in May of 2007. In the month of August the Indians as a team posted an International League best .292 batting average, ranked second with 32 home runs, and sat third with a 3.54 ERA. The Tribe also received several impressive individual performances in the season's second to last month as OF Brian Myrow, INF Neil Walker, RHP Daniel McCutchen and RHP Eric Hacker all ranked among the League's best in a variety of categories. Myrow finished August ranked sixth in batting average (.356), tied for third in RBI (25) and tied for third in total bases (62), while for the second straight month the left-handed slugger also ranked among the League's best in walks as his 18 base-on-balls ranked third. Walker, who turned in one of best offensive months in Indians' history finished with a league best 29 RBI, while also ranking tied for first in total bases (63) and eighth in batting average (.339). From June 30 to September 1, Walker, who was recently promoted to Pittsburgh, collected 34 RBI which tied him with Philadelphia Phillies 1B Ryan Howard for the largest total in all of professional baseball during that period. While Walker and Myrow led the offense during the month, McCutchen and Hacker sparked the pitching staff. McCutchen not only took home IL Pitcher of the Week during the week of August 10-16, but also ranked sixth with a 2.45 ERA and tied for seventh with three victories during the month. Hacker also earned IL Pitcher of the Week honors (August 3-9) during the month and ranked tied for third in the League with 31 strikeouts.

MY OH MYROW: Tribe OF Brian Myrow was named the International League's Batter of the Week for the period of August 24-30 after he led the IL with a .600 batting average (15-for-25), 15 hits, 13 RBI and a .677 on-base percentage, while also finishing second with three home runs, a .960 slugging percentage and eight runs scored. Myrow has also reached base in 30 of his last 34 games, including 18 of his last 20 contests during which time he is batting .413 (31-for-75) with 16 runs, four home runs and 19 RBI. The left-handed slugger continues to be an on-base machine as he leads the IL with a .419 on-base percentage and ranks 3rd with 65 walks. The 32-year-old's recent hot streak has him among the Top 10 in the IL in batting average (6th, .307) and slugging percentage (10th, .496).

EXTRA MARKS THE SPOT: With a double by OF Tagg Bozied and triple by OF Jose Tabata in the Tribe's contest on Wednesday, the Indians have now collected at least one extra-base hit in each of their last 54 games dating back to July 8. This streak of 54 games comes after the Indians posted an 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).

LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS (www.IronPigsBaseball.com)

DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: On August 8, LHV improved to 56-57 -- passing its win total from the inaugural season (55-89) with 31 games still to play. At current, the 'Pigs are 66-72 and guaranteed to finish at least 11.0 G better than in 2008. At this point last season, they had 13 fewer wins at 53-85 -- and were 33.0 GB (a difference of 20.5 games from where they are now).

MYERS REHABS: RHP Brett Myers joined LHV on rehab September 1-2 and worked a scoreless innings back-to-back nights. In his first outing he pitched a perfect 9th with two strikeouts to notch a save in a 3-2 win over Pawtucket. He then had a scoreless 8th inning with one strikeout Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to Syracuse. Out since May 27 (hip surgery on 6/4), he rehabbed in Clearwater (8/7 @ DUN: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 K), Lakewood (8/24 vs. LC: 1 IP, BB, K) and Reading

(0-1, 2.25 in 2 G, 1 GS, 4 IP, 2 H, R, ER, BB, 7 K) prior to joining the IronPigs on Tuesday. With PHI, he was 4-3, 4.66 in 10 GS (QS in 3 of last 4).

 

TAYLOR WINS AWARD: IronPigs OF Michael Taylor and Reading RHP Kyle Drabek were named winners of the 2009 Paul Owens Award for the best pitcher and player, respectively, in the Phillies minor league system. The two players will receive their awards during a pre-game presentation on Tuesday, September 15, when the Phillies host the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Taylor - on the DL (strained oblique) since winning the International League Batter-of-the-Week award from 8/10-8/16 -- combined to bat .320-20-84 with 28 doubles, five triples and 21 stolen bases in 116 games between Double-A Reading and Lehigh Valley. Named the Eastern League's Rookie of the Year, the 23-year-old hit for the cycle on August 12 against Louisville, going 5-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and four RBI.  Taylor finished .282-5-19 (.359 OBP, .491 SLG) in 30 G with the IronPigs.

FORTUNE .500?: The 'Pigs need to go 6-0 in their remaining 6 G to finish at .500. In 282 all-time games, LHV has never been above .500. LHV has won 4 of their last 5 G home to go to.500 (33-33) at Coca-Cola Park. The IronPigs need to go 4-2 in their final 6 home games to finish above .500 at home.

LOUISVILLE BATS (www.BatsBaseball.com)

BACK-TO-BACK IL WEST CHAMPS: Saturday night (8/29), the Bats clinched their second consecutive West Division Title & fourth overall since 2001 ('01, '03, '08, '09).  Despite their loss to the Clippers on Saturyday, the Bats still clinched as Indy defeated Toledo, eliminating the Mud Hens from playoff contention.  Louisville is 2.0 games ahead of Durham in the race for the best record in the IL. The Bats will travel to face the South winner in the first round of the Governors' Cup playoffs for a best-of-5 series. Gwinnett and Durham are slugging it out down the stretch and one of these teams will host games 1 & 2 (9/9-9/10) while Louisville will host games 3 through 5 (9/11-9/13), as necessary. Louisville is 4-4 against the Braves this season, splitting the four-game series at LSF & at Gwinnett Stadium. The Bats are 3-5 against the Bulls, splitting the four-game series at LSF and going 1-3 at DBAP. Durham and Louisville have a history in the playoffs as the 2008 season was the third time since Louisville joined the IL in '98 that the Bats and Bulls met in the Governors' Cup playoffs. Durham defeated the Redbirds in 1998, 3-0, and the Bats in 2003, 3-1. The only IL Championship came in 2001 when the RiverBats were named champs after defeating Norfolk in the first round (3-2) & the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (1-0) in the finals; the finals were shortened that year due to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

BARKER NAMED BATS MVP: For the second consecutive season, 1B Kevin Barker was named the Mary E. Barney MVP for the Louisville Bats. This season, Barker became the franchise leader in home runs (89), extra-base hits (198), doubles (97), multi-hr games (7) and grand slams (6) & is one shy of tying the runs record (record is 280).  Barker shared the honor last season with RHP Jon Adkins. On 8/31 he was recalled by Cincinnati after originally having his contract purchased on 8/13 by the Reds and then being optioned back to Louisville on 8/29. In 9 G with the Reds he batted .364 (4-11) with 3 K. Barker batted .285

(101-354) with 22 HR and 69 RBI in 101 games with the Bats. His .285 average is his 2nd-best at the Triple-A level.

 

JUKICH WINS MONTHLY AWARD: LHP Ben Jukich was named Cincinnati's Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July. After a rough June, where he went 1-2 with a 7.08 ERA, he really turned it around in July.  In five starts, he went 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA, while striking out 30 and walking 11. It's the second time a Bats pitcher has won the award; LHP Matt Maloney won for April (3 GS, 2-0, 1.86 ERA).

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE: RHP Logan Ondrusek & OF Chris Heisey will play for the Peoria Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League this fall. Other Reds players in the AFL this year are LHP Phillippe Valilquette, RHP Sean Watson, 1B Yonder Alonso & IF Zach Cozart.

NORFOLK TIDES (www.NorfolkTides.com)

THIS IS BIRDLAND: With the promotion of Matt Albers, Alberto Castillo and Jeff Fiorentino to Baltimore Tuesday, there have now been 21 different players who have played for both Norfolk and a Major League club this season. There are 13 players currently on Baltimore's active roster who have played in Norfolk this season, including pitchers Jason Berken, Dave Hernandez, Kam Mickolio, Chris Ray, Dennis Sarfate, Chris Tillman, Albers and Castillo, catchers Chad Moeller and Matt Wieters, infielder Michael Aubrey and outfielders Nolan Reimold and Fiorentino. The O's also have three players on their disabled list (Brad Bergesen, Rich Hill and Lou Montanez) who played with the Tides this season, and four others (Jim Johnson, Melvin Mora, Alfredo Simon (DL) and Ty Wigginton) who have played with Norfolk in previous seasons. Added all up, 20 of the 34 players on Baltimore's current roster have spent time in Norfolk.

TIDES TURNOVER: With the addition of Scott Chiasson to the roster Wednesday, there have now been 56 players who have appeared on Norfolk's roster this season, and just seven of the 24 players on Norfolk's active roster were active on opening day: Bob McCrory, Jim Miller, Andy Mitchell, David Pauley, Chris Waters, Ross Wolf and Justin Turner. Robby Hammock and Blake Davis are active now but were on Norfolk's disabled list to start the year, while Radhames Liz was active on opening day but is currently on the DL.

GOING STREAKING: Entering play tonight, outfielder Victor Diaz has hit safely in eight straight games, hitting .393 (11-for-28). Over that stretch, Diaz has also upped his average from .192 to .248. The 27-year-old outfielder has hit much better at Harbor Park than on the road this season, as he's hit .340 (18-for-53) at home compared to .146 (7-for-48) on the road. Diaz is tied with Roberto Petagine for 4th on the Tides franchise list with 43 career home runs.

PAWTUCKET RED SOX (www.PawSox.com)

ROLLING THE DICE: The Boston Red Sox have sent RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka to Pawtucket to continue his latest 30-day injury rehab assignment. Dice-K will start for the PawSox tomorrow (Friday) night vs. Syracuse at 6:15 p.m. at McCoy Stadium. It will be his third start while on this current rehab after being placed on the 60-day disabled list on June 20 with a right shoulder strain. He has spent the bulk of July and August working out and rehabbing in Fort Myers, FL and made one start for the Gulf Coast (Rookie) Red Sox on August 24 and another start for Portland (Double-A) over the weekend. He started G1 of a doubleheader on Sunday in Manchester, NH against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and took the loss, 5-3 - allowing all 5 runs in the 1st-inning before settling down with a

1-2-3 2nd-inning - 2/4/5/5/3/2. Dice-K was originally placed on Boston's 15-day disabled list on April 15 with a mild right shoulder strain. He made 3 rehab starts for the PawSox during the first half of May going 0-1 with a 1.54 ERA. He was recalled to Boston on May 22 and made 6 more starts for the Red Sox until going back on the DL on June 20. Overall in 8 GS for Boston this season he is 1-5 with an 8.23 ERA. His only win this year came on June 2 in Detroit, 5-1. Prior to this year, in his first two seasons with Boston, Matsuzaka had gone 33-15 with a 3.72 ERA in 61 starts. The 33 victories in his first two seasons the most by a pitcher in his first two Major League seasons since Roy Oswalt won 33 games from 2001-02.

BAD MOON AUGUST: The PawSox finished August at 9-23 (.281) for their third-worst month in club-history as they narrowly avoided matching their club-mark for most losses in a single month (24 set in June of 1975). The PawSox were coming off their second-worst month in team-history (winning pct.-wise) this past July when they went 7-19 (.269). Their worst month on record is May of 1985 when they went 7-20 (.259). This August the Sox had a .225 average and a 4.29 ERA. The Sox played 32 games in 31 days in August and were out-scored during the month, 141-92. Overall since July 3 the PawSox have lost 43 of their last 59 games to go from 2½ GB to 20 GB in the standings in two months time.

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER: Like most IL clubs come September 1, the PawSox roster was turned upside down as five PawSox players were promoted to Boston during the first two days of September. OF Brian Anderson, OF Joey Gathright, and INF Chris Woodward - who were all acquired from other organizations during the past month - were recalled to the Red Sox along with C George Kottaras (off injury rehab) and OF Josh Reddick (on Sept. 2). Add in RHP Paul Byrd (August 30) and Pawtucket lost six players to Beantown in four days. The PawSox have had 18 different players promoted to Boston this season (the same amount as last year) and that does not include nine different players who were injury rehab recalls from Pawtucket. The PawSox have used 60 different players this season (35 position players & 25 pitchers) - a healthy number but short of the franchise-record 70 players used in 2007. Of course there are still a handful of days left in the regular-season to add to that number and the call-up list.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS (www.RedWingsBaseball.com)

STREAKS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN: The Red Wings currently have five consecutive winning seasons in a row, but will need to get hot over their last 6 games to keep that streak alive.  The Wings need to go 5-1 over their final 6 games to end the season with a 73-71 record and a sixth consecutive winning season.

OOOOO....PICK ME....PICK ME: If Rochester doesn't have a player selected as Pitcher or Batter of the Week in the International League next week it will go the entire season without an IL weekly award winner.  Since 1985, when it's believed the weekly awards were started, Rochester has never gone a complete season without having at least one winner.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!: Tuesday night's win at Buffalo clinched the 2009 Thruway Cup for Rochester (Competition between Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse).  Both Rochester and Syracuse finished with a 19-13 record but Rochester wins the Thruway Cup on head-to-head results with a 9-7 record vs. Syracuse this season.  Buffalo finished with a 10-22 record.  It's Rochester's 5th Thruway Cup (1998, 2003, 2005 and 2008) and first back-to-back Thruway Cup's since it was established back in 1998.

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

MAGIC NUMBERS: The Yankees magic number to clinch a third straight IL North (fourth overall for the franchise - won in '06 as the Red Barons) is down to two. Any combination of Yankees wins and Syracuse losses that equal two and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will be playoff bound for the fourth consecutive year. If the Yankees stumble to the finish at 2-5 in their final seven games, the Chiefs would have to be perfect at 7-0 to overtake SWB for the division. While the Yankees magic number is two to clinch the IL North, the magic number to win a game in 2009 remains four. When the Yankees score four or more runs in a game in '09 they are 61-11 (.847), when scoring three runs or less SWB is 16-47 (.254).

HIGH WATER AT 19: With Wednesday's win, the Yankees are now a season high 19 games over .500 at 77-58. The previous best mark for the team was 18 over, at 23-5, back on May 8. The Yankees had three previous attempts at getting back to their best mark before reaching it with an 11-4 win at Syracuse on Tuesday night. The Yankees trail Louisville for the best record in the League by two games. If Scranton/Wilkes-Barre can catch the Bats for the top spot, it would become the first IL team since Rochester from 1928-31 to have the top record in the IL for four straight seasons.

ON THE MEND AND TUNING UP: Brett Gardner is expected to join the Yankees for Thursday's game on a Major League rehab to help him get tuned up to rejoin the big club shortly after Labor Day. Gardner fractured his thumb sliding into second base in a game vs. Oakland back on July 25. The speedster out of the College of Charleston was one of the main cogs in the machine for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2008, batting .296 with three homers, 32 RBI and 11 triples in 94 G.

MINUS FIVE, PLUS THREE: The New York Yankees made their first round of September promotions, moving pitchers Mike Dunn, Mark Melancon and Edwar Ramirez to New York. The big league club also grabbed a pair of position players in catcher Francisco Cervelli and infielder Ramiro Pena. SWB did get some help adding pitchers Humberto Sanchez and Eric Wordekemper from Trenton and OF Freddy Guzman from Norfolk in a trade with Baltimore.

 

SYRACUSE CHIEFS (www.SyracuseChiefs.com)

CHIEFS STILL HANGING ON: Despite losing 3 of 4 to Durham August 22-25 and being swept by Scranton/WB August 31 and September 1, the Chiefs are only 3½ games out with 6 to play.  Going back in Chiefs history, the 1977 team had a 3-game lead with 4 to play and proceeded to lose all four games at Toledo while Richmond swept third place Tidewater four straight to sneak into the IL playoffs.  The Chiefs finished in 5th place that season, one game out with a 70-70 record. 

ESTRADA TOPPS IN AUGUST: Right-handed pitcher Marco Estrada was named the Topps IL Player of the Month in August after going 4-0 with a

1.29 ERA.  The 25-year-old allowed only 24 hits in 39 innings, but going back to late June he has allowed only 6 earned runs in 62 innings (0.87 ERA) and has left six games without giving up a run.

THREE MORE JOIN CHIEFS FROM DOUBLE-A: After taking almost their entire pitching staff during July and August the Chiefs decided to dip down to Double-A Harrisburg again and take a few position players as the season ends.  Outfielders Leonard Davis and Mike Daniel where added when the Chiefs released Mike Vento and lost Pete Orr to Washington.  First baseman Matt Whitney joined the team on September 2 when Brad Eldred was placed on the temporary inactive list due to the birth of his first child.  Despite all the promotions from Harrisburg this season the Senators reached the .500 mark on

September 1 at 67-67 after beginning the season at 13-33.  In addition, the Chiefs took catcher Jhonathan Solano in June, shortstop Ian Desmond in mid-July, and Seth Bynum in early April.  In all 18 players were recalled from Double-A this season (7 hitters and 11 pitchers).

TOLEDO MUD HENS (www.MudHens.com)

GIVE HIM A BREAK: As has been the case all season, the Hens' offense gave RHP Brooks Brown little run support. On September 1, Brown (3-12, 4.43) had a quality start (three runs in seven innings), but the Hens were shut out for the sixth time in 17 games with Brown starting. Toledo has given Brown two or more runs of support just twice (one of them being an 11-10 walk-off win over Buffalo) and the team is 4-13 when he starts. Of the Hens' pitchers with 10 or more starts this season, Brown has the second highest "quality start" percentage (64.71), second only to Nate Bump (70).

TAKE I-75 NORTH: September 1 means MLB teams are able to recall players on the 40-man and expand the roster for the stretch drive. Jeremy Bonderman is back with Detroit (finished rehab), while Eddie Bonine, Casey Fien, Dusty Ryan, Wilkin Ramirez and Brent Dlugach will also take I-75 North to join the Detroit Tigers. Ramirez (May 20) and Fien (July 26) made their Major League debuts this season, while Bonine and Ryan have both been with the Tigers for parts of the previous two seasons.

A COMEBACK STORY: SS Brent Dlugach has been one of the Mud Hens better offensive players this season. The mid and postseason IL All-Star has been rewarded with a promotion to Detroit. Since the Break, he has continued his good play to the tune of a .323 average with 17 RBI. Dlugach has overcome several previous injuries and will look to make his Major League debut with the Tigers this month. In 2007, he played in just 22 games with Double-A Erie before a right shoulder injury cut his season short. The following season, he played in just seven games for the Gulf Coast Tigers in July after recovering from shoulder surgery.

POSTSEASON ALL-STARS: The International League announced its postseason All-Star Team and Award Winners as selected by the circuit's managers, coaches, media, and club representatives. Brent Dlugach was named as the shortstop and Don Kelly as the utility player. Dlugach is hitting .294 with 9 HR and 59 RBI, and Kelly is batting .327 with 6 HR and 39 RBI while starting at least once at every infield and outfield spot this season.

Check out the International League Statistics



International League Stories from September 3, 2009


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