Mets Daily Farm System Report - 9/2: Doubleheader-Mania!

New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - Results from the night of Wednesday September 1, 2010.

The Usual Suspects

AAA - Buffalo (73-66)

• Buffalo played two, so the numbers below cover two games.
• LF Jesus Feliciano: 3-8, R, K (.340/.384/.409)
• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 4-6, K (.214/.287/.327); needed that
• 1B Nick Evans: 2-5, 2B, BB (.320/.392/.578)
• SS-2B Justin Turner: 3-7, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, R, K, (13) (.315/.378/.482); Second straight night with a double and a bomb, his eleventh homer of the season; made that throwing error while playing short
• SP Raul Valdes: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR (2-1, 3.00 ERA, 36.0 IP, 12 ER, 9 BB, 36 K, 3 HR); didn’t pitch great but pitched well enough
• SP Josh Stinson: 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 HR (1-2, 3.32 ERA, 19.0 IP, 19 H, 6 BB, 17 K, 4 HR); been a little homer-prone since his promotion

AA - Binghamton (65-71)

• CF Sean Ratliff: 1-3, R, BB, K (.323/.376/.588)
• 1B Josh Satin: 1-4, R, HR, RBI, K (.311/.399/.487); home run was his seventh
• 3B Eric Campbell: 0-4, K (.272/.317/.426); really struggling now
• 2B Jordany Valdespin: 0-3, RBI, K (.225/.231/.292)
• SP Dylan Owen: 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 HR (4-4, 4.23 ERA, 76.2 IP, 71 H, 35 BB, 63 K, 10 HR)

Hi-A - St. Lucie (61-73)

• St. Lucie completed Tuesday’s unfinished game and played another. Only the second game is listed here.
• CF Pedro Zapata: 1-3, R, BB, K, SB (.253/.276/.293)
• SS Wilmer Flores: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K (.297/.323/.416); seven-game hitting streak
• 1B Stefan Welch: 3-4, 2 R, 2 3B, RBI, K (.251/.320/.385); desperately needed a game like this
• C Kai Gronauer: 0-4 (.313/.364/.398)
• DH Francisco Pena: 0-4, 2 K (.303/.292/.348)
• SP Scott Moviel: 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 HR (3-7, 5.56 ERA, 110.0 IP, 126 H, 55 BB, 90 K, 7 HR); very solid start

Lo-A Savannah (71-63)

• CF Matt den Dekker: 0-6, 4 K (.384/.448/.512); ouch
• SS Robbie Shields: 3-4, 3 R, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, SB (.285/.322/.465); 8 for his last 14 with two homers and a double
• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB (.308/.313/.385)
• SP Collin McHugh: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 0 HR (6-8, 3.46 ERA, 127.1 IP, 138 H, 37 BB, 124 K, 7 HR); keep an eye on McHugh next season: ground ball rate is outstanding and other ratios are all well above average
• RP Mike Hebert: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR; promoted from Kingsport to help shore up the bullpen for the playoffs

SS-A Brooklyn (48-23)

• Brooklyn played two, so the stat lines below are composites.
• CF ZeErika McQueen: 0-7, R, BB (.000/.125/.000); promoted from Kingsport to fill in for Darrell Ceciliani while he’s dealing with an injury
• RF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, 3 RBI, 2 K (.303/.391/.538); didn’t start the second game, just pinch hit
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 1-5, 2 R, 3B, BB (.275/.333/.353)
• C Blake Forsythe: 1-3, 2B, K (.240/.304/.400); sat out the second game
• SP Chris Hilliard: 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR (9-1, 3.74 ERA, 79.1 IP, 79 H, 14 BB, 50 K, 2 HR)
• SP Nelson Pereira: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR (1-0, 2.57 ERA, 35.0 IP, 25 H, 12 BB, 37 K, 1 HR); only his second start of the year

Star of the Night

The Star is Robbie Shields, though Justin Turner deserves a mention, too. But Shields got on base five times, which is enough for me. I still like Shields despite a rough season, though he is coming on strong of late. Next year will be instrumental.

And our Goat is the man who preceded Shields in the lineup: Matt den Dekker, who was the only man not to get a hit for Savannah. Den Dekker went 0-for-6 with four strikeouts.

System Roundup

• It was doubleheader Wednesday with three on the docket. Buffalo played one of those and wound up splitting with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In the first, starter Raul Valdes skirted around nine hits over five innings to hold Scranton to three runs, enabling Buffalo to hold on to win, 4-3. Justin Turner was the offensive standout, with three hits, including a double and homer (Boxscore). The second game didn’t go as well. Buffalo just couldn’t bring any runs home, save on a Russ Adams solo shot in the sixth, and they lost 4-1. Jesus Montero almost single-handedly beat the Bisons, going 3-for-4 with a homer and a pair of runs driven in. On the plus side, Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a much-needed three-hit game. Boxscore
• Six early runs held out despite a comeback attempt from Portland over the final three innings, and Binghamton won 6-5. Josh Satin hit his seventh home run, and catcher Salomon Manriquez contributed a three-run homer of his own. The pitching was just all right until Manuel Alvarez closed the door for the final inning and two-thirds. Boxscore
• St. Lucie and Bradenton resumed their suspended game from Tuesday before starting yesterday’s scheduled affair. They picked it up tied at three in the sixth inning, and the score remained deadlocked until the eighth, when Rafael Fernandez singled home Pedro Zapata for the walk-off victory. (Boxscore). In the second match-up, St. Lucie eked out a 5-4 victory. Reliever Rhiner Cruz made things very interesting by allowing Bradenton to close the gap to one run with runners on second and third and two out. But then he induced Quincy Latimore to fly out to center to end the game. Scott Moviel pitched seven strong innings, and Stefan Welch had three hits, two of them triples. Boxscore
• Collin McHugh pitched six strong innings, Mike Hebert followed with three shutout innings, and the Sand Gnats bats exploded as Savannah won 11-0. It was a team effort: every starter except Matt den Dekker had at least one hit, and Robbie Shields continued his torrid hitting, collecting a double, two singles, and two walks. Boxscore
• Brooklyn played two against Vermont again on Wednesday, this one a true doubleheader. In the first game, Brooklyn had a 4-0 lead through five innings, largely due to luck: the Cyclones only had four hits, and three of those four runs scored on outs. But starter Chris Hilliard ran into trouble in the sixth as two runs came in, and Wes Wrenn allowed the tying runs to score in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings. Wrenn stayed in the game long enough to lose it in the eighth. (Boxscore). The later game was an extra-inning workout, too, with Brooklyn winning 3-2 in eight. Nelson Pereira, making a spot start, only went three innings, but he and four relievers combined to hold down the Lake Monsters. Brooklyn offense, fairly quiet throughout the game, couldn’t even win it without substantial help: Joe Bonfe scored from first when reliever Wilson Eusebio threw the ball into right field fielding Will Cherry’s sacrifice bunt. Boxscore