Mets Daily Farm System Report - 7/10: From the Church to the Palace

AA - Binghamton (47-41)

• CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 2-4, 2B, RBI (.305/.348/.532) That makes seven straight games with an XBH
• LF Sean Ratliff: 0-4, 2 K (.327/.366/.615)
• 2B Josh Satin: 0-4, K (.305/.380/.421)
• SP Eric Niesen: 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K (4-4, 3.63, 52 IP, 40 H, 42 BB, 38 K, 3 HR) He's now got more walks than hits allowed or strikeouts; his control has never been great but he's just lost it all this season
• RP Scott Shaw: .2 IP, 7 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 2 HR (4-6, 7.97, 70 IP, 92 H, 36 BB, 43 K, 15 HR) Geez
• ROSTER MOVES: Finally, Nick Evans has come back to Queens, NY.  It's nice when the Mets make me look smart (though after all that 1.200 OPS talk Big Nick did whiff tonight against a lefty).

Hi-A - St. Lucie (43-41)

• SS Wilmer Flores: 2-4, 2B, 2 K (.437/.452/.535) After over a week of strictly singles, that marks four straight games with a double
• 2B Jordany Valdespin: 1-3, BB, 2 SB(11), CS(8) (.297/.335/.443)
• 1B Stefan Welch: 0-3, K (.290/.360/.429)
• C Kai Gronauer: 0-3, K (.368/.349/.361)
• RF Juan Lagares: 0-3, K (.185/.206/.200) That was a popular line tonight
• SP Brandon Moore: 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K, WP (1-1, 2.65, 17 IP, 16 H, 8 BB, 16 K, 1 HR)
• Beltran-Watch: Tough night for Beltran as he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, only his third hitless game in 14 rehab appearances.  Slash line at .367/.439/.469.
• ROSTER MOVES: RHP Ryota Igarashi was sent down to St. Lucie to sharpen up his command, especially on his breaking pitches after having walked at least one batter in five of his last seven appearances.  He didn't go to Buffalo or Binghamton because their ASB is next week.

Lo-A Savannah (49-37)

• 3B Jefry Marte: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, R, E(22) (.240/.320/.357) Damn, it had been a while since his last error
• SS Wilfredo Tovar: 2-4, K, E(4) (.358/.424/.415) 
• 1B Travis Ozga: 2-4, HR(2), 2 RBI, 2 R, E(1) (.385/.432/.590)  
• 2B Alonzo Harris: 2-4, RBI, BB (.240/.283/.366)
• SP John Church: 6 IP, 0 ER (1 unearned), 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K, WP, HB (5-0, 1.01, 53.1 IP, 37 H, 17 BB, 45 K, 0 HR) Cohoon who? Church pushed his streak of 0 earned runs to 22.2 IP, including all three of his starts since joining the rotation

SS Brooklyn (11-9)

• CF Darrell Ceciliani: 0-3, BB (.378/.433/.585)
• RF Cory Vaughn: 1-4, RBI, K (.250/.333/.513) 2 for his last 16
• DH Joe Bonfe: 2-3, 2B, R (.361/.473/.492) 7 for his last 11
• SS Rylan Sandoval: 2-4, RBI, R, K, SB(2) (.324/.410/.500)
• SP Yohan Almonte: 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K (3-2, 2.79, 29 IP, 25 H, 6 BB, 18 K, 0 HR)
• REHAB ALERT: RP Nick Carr: .1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K; He's on his way up after five appearances in the GCL
• Forgot to mention it yesterday but Angel Pagan was in attendance Thursday night (wearing expensive-looking shades, as usual) as Brooklyn honored the one-time Cyclones star by retiring his #35.
• Also, tonight is the 2nd annual "Bellies & Baseball Night" in Brooklyn where all pregnant women get in free and are encouraged to take part in a whole bunch of pretty funny activities.  My favorite part:  Any expectant mother who agrees to name her child "Brooklyn" or "Cy" gets free season tickets for life.

RK Kingsport (7-11)

• CF ZeErika McQueen: 1-4, 3 K (.370/.390/.452)
• DH Aderlin Rodriguez: 0-3, R, BB, 2 K (.279/.324/.662)
• RF Javier Rodriguez: 0-4, K (.400/.431/.633)
• SP Gonzalez Germen: 5 IP, 2 ER (1 unearned), 5 H, 1 BB, 9 K (1-3, 5.95, 19.2 IP, 26 H, 5 BB, 21 K, 2 HR)
• RP John Holdzkom: 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

RK GCL Mets (7-4)

• Day Off

Star of the Night

As the title states, today's star is going to Savannah's RHP John Church who was excellent once again in his third game since joining the Gnats rotation.  Church has filled right in after the departures of staff aces Brandon Moore and Mark Cohoon after the ASB, posting 0.00 ERA's in June and July.  The '09 23rd rounder out of the University of West Florida is faring much better in his second year in Savannah and is really going a long way to make a name for himself within the organization.

As usual, the Goat last night was a scuffling reliever, Binghamton's RHP Scott Shaw.  Except for a brief reprieve in June, Shaw has had an awful 2010 and has saved his worst work for July as he's allowed 13 earned runs over his last 5.1 innings pitched.

System Roundup

• Binghamton lost last night to the Fisher Cats 10-2.  Once again LHP Eric Niesen danced around trouble, allowing far too many free passes but after about five innings the B-Mets were still in this one.  It was fading reliever RHP Scott Shaw who opened the flood gates, allowing seven runs in the sixth.  New Hampshire starter Kyle Drabek (fresh off his no-hitter) was dominant again, reminding us why we should be pleased he's out of the NL East.  As for the offense, the hitters had plenty of chances to get back into this one but an 0-for-11 with RISP pretty much killed any chance they might have had.   Boxscore
• St. Lucie couldn't quite finish off a sweep of the Fort Myers Miracle as they lost tonight 3-1. Two Fort Myers pitchers held Mets batters to just four hits and a single walk in this one while all three Mets hurlers allowed one earned run.  On the bright side RHP Brandon Moore was once again strong in his third Hi-A start and SS Wilmer Flores continued to flash his doubles power in PSL.   Boxscore
• On their third try Savannah was finally able to beat Rockies top prospect Tyler Matzek and the Tourists last night, 6-2.  And they did it with their early-season recipe of superb pitching and timely hitting as starter RHP John Church and 1B Travis Ozga have filled in very nicely since the promotions.  Church has not allowed an earned run in his last eight appearances, dating back to May 30.  Boxscore
• Pitching was the name of the game in this one as the Cyclones topped the State College Spikes 4-2 last night.  Starter RHP Yohan Almonte was dominant over the first 6+ innings allowing just three baserunners while the Spikes weren't able to get on the board until the bottom of the ninth.  While he contributed an RBI, RF Cory Vaughn is still looking cold at the dish (.125 over his last four games) though the suddenly streaking 3B Joe Bonfe is picking up the slack.   Boxscore
• Kingsport lost this one to Bristol 3-2 in a game that the K-Mets managed just 3 hits.  As the Rodriguez boys go so goes the lineup and last night they were 0-for-7 with three strikeouts.  Kingsport hung around thanks to a 2-for-13 day with RISP from the Sox but ultimately they couldn't quite rally back.  Boxscore