The Usual Suspects
AAA - Buffalo (29-23)
- 1B Dan Murphy: 2-5, 2B, R, 3 RBI, SB(1) (.286/.286/.500) Still playing first (for some reason)
- SS Ruben Tejada: 2-5, 2B, 2 R (.296/.345/.364)
- 3B Mike Hessman: 1-5, K (.298/.380/.649)
- RF Jesus Feliciano: DNP (.403/.448/.503) Either he's sitting the rest of the year to ensure his .400 season or he's taking a very suspicious day off; is it too much to hope he's on a plane to SD right now?
- C Josh Thole: 2-3, BB (.252/.333/.407)
- REHAB ALERT: SP Jon Niese: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR; 80 pitches & 57 strikes, he'll start in Queens on Saturday
- In case you didn't hear, the Bisons are set to face off against Nationals super-prospect RHP Stephen Strasburg on Thursday; tickets are already sold out for his major league debut on June 8th in Washington but you can still catch him in his final minor league start at Coca-Cola Field!
AA - Binghamton (24-27)
- CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 1-3, HR(8), 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB (.292/.332/.488)
- 2B Reese Havens: 0-3, BB, 2 E(3) (.345/.406/.586) Ouch
- 1B Nick Evans: 1-3, RBI, R, 2 BB (.287/.361/.538);
- 3B Eric Campbell: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, E(4) (.415/.442/.585);
- SP Eric Niesen: 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 6 BB, 1 K, 1 HR (0-2, 3.43, 21 IP, 14 H, 21 BB, 16 K, 1 HR) Not gonna have too much success with the old "more walks than strikeouts" model
- Big day in B-town tomorrow: Day/night doubleheader vs. Bowie, as always it's a Two for Tuesday drinks night and a Kraft Singles BOGO ticket night and last but certainly not least, Wing Fest. That's a lot of baseball/beer/wings for your buck.
Hi-A - St. Lucie (24-26)
- No game
Lo-A Savannah
- DH Wilmer Flores: DNP (.306/.371/.471); He needed a night to clear his head
- 3B Jefrey Marte: 3-5, 2 R, RBI, K (.234/.324/.338)
- LF Juan Lagares: 2-5, RBI, R, SB(12) (.284/.301/.459)
- RF Cesar Puello: 1-4, RBI (.234/.316/.280)
- 2B Alonzo Harris: 0-4 (.245/.273/.335)
- DH Nick Santomauro: 2-5, R, SB(1) (.153/.184/.181)
- SP Armando Rodriguez: 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 5 K, 1 HR (2-4, 3.42 ERA, 55.1 IP, 41 H, 25 BB, 51 K, 2 HR) Didn't have his best stuff but kept them in this one
Star of the Night
Not many (by which I mean any) stand-out performances last night in the Mets system. So we'll go with LHP Jon Niese, for no other reason than it was nice to see him pitch well and confirm the fact that he'll be back with the big club this week. After Takahashi's performance last night, it can't come too soon.
The goat tonight will be Bingo second baseman Reese Havens; he'd been good since his return from injury but an 0-for-3 with 2 errors can be quite the fly in the ointment.
System Roundup
- Third straight loss for the Herd as they wasted a nice rehab outing from LHP Jon Niese and took the loss to Syracuse, 7-4. When Niese came out in the 7th Buffalo led 4-2 but the bullpen managed to cough this one up, allowing 5 runs over the final 3 innings.
- Binghamton took the loss in a back and forth affair with Akron on Sunday afternoon, 7-6. Ultimately it was sloppy play that doomed the B-Mets as they committed 3 errors on the night and walked 8 Aeros batters. On the bright side Captain Kirk dropped his 8th bomb on the season in his campaign to reach Buffalo at some point this summer.
- St. Lucie took the holiday off. For the record, the Mets went 4-3 against the Hammerheads and the Threshers during Shark Week.
- Savannah managed a 2-2 series split with Rome by winning the finale 5-2. This one was something of a duel between the pitching staffs (though Braves pitchers allowed 15 hits) as it was tied at 2 going into the 9th. However, the Gnats bats finally managed to hit with RISP and scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th. Though 8 of the 9 hitters in the Savannah lineup managed at least 1 hit, the team as a whole was 2-12 with RISP. The Gnats pen was great as usual (3.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K) closing this one out.