7/21/09

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The Herd:

International League Nelson Figueroa, Buffalo1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SOMets farmhand Nelson Figueroa threw a seven-inning, complete-game shutout in his July 18 start to earn Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this season. Figueroa also pitched a scoreless inning in the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 15. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native has a 6-4 record and the second-best ERA in the league, 2.32. He has won six straight decisions and has allowed more than two runs in only two starts this season.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090720&content_id=5959614&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp


Justin Lehr, the International League's winningest pitcher at 12-3, added to the Buffalo Bisons' offensive woes Monday night.

The 32-year-old right-hander pitched eight strong innings in leading the Louisville Bats to a 5-1 victory over the Herd before 7,661 in Louisville Slugger Field.

The Bisons have not scored more than three runs in any of their last nine games.

The Bats, who lead the IL West by eight games over second-place Indianapolis, had five single-run innings, including solo home runs by Chris Valaika off loser Lance Broadway (2-6) in the fourth and Darnell McDonald off Eddie Kunz in the seventh.

Eastern League Brad Holt, Binghamton2-0, 1.32 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 13.2 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 14 SOBrad Holt threw seven shutout innings on July 13 allowing four hits and one walk while fanning seven. Holt, who was the Mets' first-round selection in the 2008 Draft, has won his past two decisions after losing his first three with Binghamton. Between the St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League and the B-Mets, Holt has complied a 6-4 record and 3.88 ERA.


Lucy:
Florida State League - Tim Stronach, St. Lucie 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SOMets prospect Tim Stronach was terrific in his second start of the season. The 6-foot-5 hurler threw 8 1/3 scoreless innings on July 15 to pick up his first win of the year. The strong outing caused his ERA to drop from 6.59 to 4.09.
The Brooklyn Cyclones (21-10) were topped by the Vermont Lake Monsters (16-14) on Monday Night, by a score of 8-2.RHP Brandon Moore (4-1) took his first loss of the season, surrendering six runs on six hits, although only two of the runs were earned. Moore (pictured, by George Napolitano) walked one and struck out two in 4.0 innings of work. His ERA on the season now stands at 1.32, good for fifth-best in the New York-Penn League.Moore was relieved by RHP Sam Martinez and RHP Mike Lynn, who each allowed one earned run in 2.0 innings of work.Brooklyn's offense mustered just two runs on five hits, with three of those hits coming from LF Nick Santomauro. The red-hot Santomauro has six hits in his last seven at-bats. C Ralph Henriquez and 1B Sam Honeck also contributed hits, and CF Justin Garber chipped in with an RBI.The Cyclones return to KeySpan Park on Thursday, July 23rd to take on the rival Staten Island Yankees. The first 2,500 fans in attendance receive a free lunch box, courtesy of Verizon. In addition, the Cyclones will be honoring New York's Finest on NYPD night, presented by Municipal Credit Union.

Click here to get your tickets, or call 718-507-TIXX


During the sixth inning of Sunday evening's Brooklyn Cyclones game, the following announcement came over the PA: "If any fans in attendance are ready to have their baby, please report to the info booth immediately." Welcome to "Bellies and Baseball," the Cyclones' all-encompassing salute to pregnancy. The evening didn't result in any births at the ballpark, but it wasn't for lack of trying. One of the Cyclones' many special offers was lifetime season tickets to any woman who went into labor while in the confines of KeySpan Park (expectant Moms can still score some free ducats, however, just by naming their child "Brooklyn" or "Cy").
After two nights of double-digit scoring, the Kingsport Mets needed far fewer runs on Monday, relying on superb pitching to beat the Greeneville Astros 4-1 and complete the Appalachian League series sweep.

Panamanian left-hander Angel Cuan (1-1) had his best outing of the season, allowing just one run on two hits and no walks in six innings of work.
Zachary Von Tersch provided two innings of hitless middle relief and Robert Gagg pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his first save.

Cuan got his mistakes out of the way early, giving up a leadoff home run to Jose Altuve before hitting the next batter. Cuan proceeded to retire 17 of the next 19 batters he faced, including 14 in a row.

There is great debate somewhere in the baseball theatres of which franchise you would rather be. One that has no expectations that eventually succeeds, or a franchise with great expectations that unexpectedly fails. The Nationals have a long way to go before they can truimphantly announce success. A Stephen Strasburg signing would be nice. The Mets seem to be doing a good job of providing Met’s fans more disappointment.

The Mets came into this season with the highest payroll in the National League at $136 million. They had solved their bullpen problem with the signing of Francisco Rodriguez as a free agent and the trade for J.J. Putz. Many expected them to win their division but few could forsee the injuries that have hobbled the team through another lost season. Instead of Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, the team has to be satisfied with Daniel Murphy, Angel Pagan and Alex Cora. That is a recipe that has left the Mets with no offense, last on the road and at home in homeruns with $58 million sitting on the disabled list.

International League - Lastings Milledge, Indianapolis.529 (9-17), 4 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 0 SO, 0 SB, .647 SLGLastings Milledge has settled in nicely with his fifth Minor League team of the season -- he was traded from the Nationals to the Pirates on June 30 and has played at multiple levels in both organizations. The former first-rounder had three multiple-hit games this week, including a 3-for-4 performance on July 17.

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