New York Mets Daily Farm System Report - 7/31

*All results from games played on Saturday, July 30th 2011

AAA - Buffalo Bisons (45-63)_______________________________________

BUFFALO 8, LEHIGH VALLEY 5 (Box) Ever seen that movie 'Man on Wire'? No? It's a good one, check it out. And if you have, you may not have noticed that the guy who walked across that tightrope so gracefully was in actuality Miguel Batista. And last night he continued to ply his trade, allowing eight hits, six walks and somehow only one earned in 5.2 IP. On the other end, the Herd offense looked a little top-heavy -- their 1-4 hitters went 8-for-15, the rest were hitless -- but on a night this fortunate, that was enough.

• RF Fernando Martinez: 0-4, 4 K (.249/.324/.398) Oof
• LF Nick Evans: 0-3, BB, K (.322/.380/.470)
• 3B Josh Satin: 1-4, RBI, K (.343/395/.475)
• SS Ruben Tejada: 0-4, 2 K, E(11) (.243/.317/.362) 5 for 35 since returning
• RF Mike Baxter: 2-3, K; 6 for 18 since joining the club

AA - Binghamton Mets (43-65)_____________________________________

BINGHAMTON 3, HARRISBURG 5 (Box) Starter LHP Robert Carson pretty much sealed Binghamton's fate last night, allowing an incredible 15 baserunners in just 5+ innings. Par for the course from Carson who's allowed Eastern League hitters to bat .304 in 2011, .303 to lefties. Aside from a nice comeback performance by C Kai Gronauer, the B-Mets hitters were quiet, tallying just a couple of singles.

• 2B Reese Havens: 0-4, R, 2 K (.256/.333/.376)
• CF Matt Den Dekker: 0-2, 2 BB, K (.240/.320/.433)
• RF Juan Lagares: 0-4 (.371/.378/.571)
• 1B Allan Dykstra: 1-4, 2 RBI (.262/.388/.446)
• SS Jordany Valdespin: 1-4, R, K (.303/.347/.499)
• C Kai Gronauer: 3-4, 3B, R (.222/.308/.300)
• LHP Robert Carson: L, 5.1 IP, 5 ER, 12 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR (3-9, 4.62, 97.1 IP, 119 H, 41 BB, 71 K, 11 HR) Disappointing season continues for the big lefty

Hi-A St. Lucie Mets (19-16 | 57-48)________________________________________

ST. LUCIE 4, DUNEDIN 5 (Box) Don't blame LHP Darin Gorski, though he did surrender at least one bomb for the fourth straight start. Don't blame LHP Eric Niesen who, despite a 7+ ERA in Binghamton, has posted a 0.56 ERA in 11 July appearances with St. Lucie. Don't blame 1B Stefan Welch who hit his 13th homer in what's been a quietly solid season for the Aussie lefty. For this loss, blame the Mets defense on a night when they made four errors, including two consecutive errors on the final two plays of the game by SS Wilmer Flores.

• RF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, 2B, R (.263/.346/.441) Batting .158 over his last 10 games
• 3B Jefry Marte: DNP (.258/.320/.358)
• SS Wilmer Flores: 0-3, R, BB, K, 2 E(17) (.271/.313/.382) With over a half dozen errors in the last couple weeks the SS train seems to have left the station
• CF Cesar Puello: 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, K (.253/.306/.398) 
• 1B Stefan Welch: 1-4, HR(13), K (.285/.363/.463)
• LHP Darin Gorski : 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR (10-1,2.20, 110.2 IP, 92 H, 27 BB, 115 K, 10 HR)

Lo-A Savannah Sand Gnats (22-13 | 61-43)__________________________________

SAVANNAH 7, GREENSBORO 1 (Box) In his first appearance in over two weeks, RHP Taylor Whitenton continued his strong season, though after three he was gassed. That's when unheralded lefty reliever Adam Kolarek picked up the slack and then some, tossing five, two-hit, one-run innings and striking out seven Grasshoppers. Greensboro talied just three hits total in this one. On the other side of the ledger, fifteen hits -- five of those doubles -- by the Sand Gnats lineup pushed across more than enough on this night.

• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 1-6, 2 RBI, 2 K, SB(15) (.243/.327/.344)
• 3B Aderlin Rodriguez: 3-5, 2B, 2 R, K (.218/.272/.362)
• 2B Wilfredo Tovar: 2-4, 2B, R, BB, 2 SB(9), CS(4) (.231/.293/.282)
• C Blake Forsythe: 2-4, 2 2B, BB, K (.238/.337/.391)
• DH Albert Cordero: 0-4, R , K (.256/.287/.344) 
• RHP Taylor Whitenton: 3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, WP 4-2, 2.61, 82.2 IP, 52 H, 38 BB, 90 K, 6 HR) Posting a .179 AVG against in 2011 with a 9.83 K/9...if he can rein in the walks he may be onto something
• LHP Adam Kolarek: W, 5 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K, 2 HB (5-0, 1.09, 33 IP, 19 H, 10 BB, 38 K, 1 HR) Very nice 6:1, GB-to-FB rate

Short Season A- Brooklyn Cyclones (23-18)_______________________________________

BROOKLYN 1, VERMONT 12 (Box) On July 7th, RHP Eduardo Aldama was riding high with a nice 1.93 ERA, having allowed just six runs over his first six starts. But as they often do, things have taken a turn as he's allowed 12 earned over his last three, including five runs in just three innings last night. 

• SS Danny Muno: 0-2, 3 BB, SB(4) (.351/.450/.541)
• LF Javier Rodriguez: 0-4, BB, K, E(2) (.258/.348/.400)
• DH Brian Harrison: 0-2, K (.266/.362/.328)
• CF Travis Taijeron: 1-4, 2 K (.302/.418/.586)
• 3B Richard Lucas: 1-4, HR(5), K (.346/.442/.566) Batting .429 in his last 10 and repairing his broken prospect status
• 1B Cole Frenzel: 1-4, BB (.233/.329/.315) Rather unimpressive pro debut from the 2011 seventh rounder from Arizona
• RHP Eduardo Aldama: L, 3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K, HR (2-2, 4.05, 40 IP, 38 H, 21 BB, 48 K, 3 HR) Nice peripherals but he's got to find a way to limit the free passes if he's going to make it work

• C Camden Maron: DNP (.287/.388/.330)
• C Jeff Glenn: 0-4, K (.280/.352/.505)
• CF Tillman Pugh: 0-2, 2 BB, K (.248/..327/.416)
• LF Julio Concepcion: 0-4, RBI, K (.312/.333/.433)
• RF Gregory Pron: 0-3, BB, 3 K (.303/.370/.521)
• RHP Akeel Morris: 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 9 K, 1 HR, E(1) (1-2, 4.15, 34.2 IP, 24 H, 21 BB, 49 K, 4 HR, .189 AVG) 

• CF Eudy Pina: 0-4, BB, K (.227/.272/.326)
• CF Joe Tuschak: 1-2, 2B, R, 3 RBI, BB, K (.179/.320/.205)
• RF Gilbert Gomez: 1-2, HR(1), 3 R, 2 RBI (.239/.306/.339)
• REHAB ALERT - LHP Roy Merritt: 1 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 1 BB

★ Star of the Night ★

Let's go with Savannah's LHP Adam Kolarek who stepped up after starter Taylor Whitenton tired early, delivering five very strong innings to preserve Savannah's 7-1 victory. After a tough debut with St. Lucie, the 2010 11th rounder out of the U of Maryland has flown under the radar this season, posting a 1.09 ERA and a .170 AVG against with Savannah. He's struck out well over a batter an inning, he's got a very nice 1.48 GB:FB and hasn't surrendered a home run. Josh Edgin has gotten all the ink as the premier future lefty reliever but pay attention to Kolarek as he climbs the ladder.