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Syracuse was rained out in Scranton, but the other three minor-league teams swept all before them, bouncing back from a couple of weak days. Come-from-behind victories were the order of the day.


New Hampshire 7 at Akron 5

boxscore

The Aeros opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Jason Cooper singled home Scott Pratt and then scored on a triple by Corey Smith. Neither team got anything resembling a rally going over the next three innings. In the top of the fifth, Akron starter Jake Dittler lost the lead through no real fault of his own. With one out, Paul Chiaffredo singled and Justin Singleton walked. Danny Solano's grounder moved the runners up, and Pratt's error on a ball hit by Tyrell Godwin allowed Chiaffredo to score. Dominic Rich followed with a single to centre, cashing Solano. Rich and Godwin got a free base when Franklin Gutierrez mishandled the ball, but Aaron Hill fanned to end the threat.

Nate Grindell hit a solo homer off Reimers in the seventh to reclaim the lead for Akron. Brian Luderer followed with a single to left but was thrown out by Godwin trying to take second; that was it for Reimers, who was replaced by Kevin Frederick. The Fisher Cats came back with three runs in the eighth to take a two-run lead. Godwin led off with a double down the left field line, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Rich's sacrifice fly to left. After Hill fouled out, Matt Logan drew a two-out walk and Mike Snyder homered to centre. The New Hampshire bullpen couldn't hold the lead, however. Frederick got the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth but then gave up a single and a double and was pulled for Adam Peterson, who promptly surrendered a game-tying single to Smith, as Godwin's throw to the plate was too late to nail Gutierrez. Smith moved to second on the throw and would advance to third on a wild pitch before Peterson struck out Grindell to end the inning.

Chiaffredo lifted the Fisher Cats' spirits by leading off the ninth with a solo homer . Singleton followed with a double and would score on Godwin's single for a 7-5 lead. Peterson allowed back-to-back one-out singles in the ninth but dodged a bullet when Chiaffredo gunned down Ben Francisco on a stolen base attempt and Pratt struck out.

Recapping the stats for the Fisher Cats: Reimers went 6.1 innings, striking out 4 and allowing 3 runs on 9 hits, including a home run. Frederick pitched 1.1 innings in relief, fanning two and allowing two hits; his two inherited runners both scored on the two-out single off Peterson. Peterson pitched 1.1 innings, fanning two against three hits. None of the three pitchers walked a man. Godwin went 2 for 5 with a double, Singleton went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk, Snyder went 1 for 4 with a two-run homer (his second), and Chiaffredo went 2 for 4 with a homer and two runs scored.

Jupiter 2 at Dunedin 4

boxscore

Another comeback win for the Baby Jays. Dunedin made a bid for the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning when Jayce Tingler drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on Ron Davenport's one-out grounder. Tingler tried to score on Vito Chiaravolloti's single but was cut down at the plate. Kurt Isenberg got the start for Dunedin and was fairly sharp, although Jupiter struck first on a single, a walk, and a two-out double in the third inning. Isenberg struck out Eliezer Alfonzo to strand the runners on second and third. The Hammerheads added another run in the fourth when Charles Frazier walked, stole second, moved to third on an error by Isenberg, and scored on a sacrifice fly. Isenberg left after walking Frazier again with one out in the sixth, and was replaced with Jamie Vermilyea, who shut down the Hammerheads over two innings. Dunedin roared back in the seventh with five singles (Scott Dragicevich, Jason Waugh, Brad Hassey, Jayce Tingler, and Carlo Cota) and a sac fly by Davenport. After Jupiter opened the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles, Vermilyea fanned Alfonzo (who didn't have a good night at the office, fanning four times) and was then pulled for Bubbie Buzachero, who escaped the inning on a strikeout and a pop-up sandwiched around a bases-loading walk. Buzachero allowed two singles in the ninth but escaped with his third save.

Isenberg put up a 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 K line. Vermilyea went two innings with a pair of hits allowed and as many strikeouts. Buzachero pitched 1.2 innings, allowing two hits and a walk while fanning three. Tingler, Cota, and Waugh each had two hits for the D-Jays; no one had an extra-base hit.

Asheville 3 at Charleston 4

boxscore

I've painted myself into a corner, with eight minutes to write up the most exciting game of the night. Anyway, here's the short version. Justin James was for the most part overpowering (10 Ks in 6 innings, including three in the first alone), but Justin, if you're going to allow two walks and a home run, please try not to bunch them all together? With two out in the top of the fifth, James gave up a pair of walks, followed by a three-run homer by Brian Barre, giving the Tourists a 3-1 lead. Charleston scored in the seventh to pull within one, but Asheville got the run back in the eighth and took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth. The wonderfully named Mark Ion took the hill, hoping for his sixth save, but was rudely greeted by the AlleyCats. Joey Wolfe led off with a single to centre and moved to second on Clint Johnston's comebacker. Much-maligned Christian Snavely followed with a double down the left field line to score Wolfe. Ion, clearly rattled, walked Eric Arnold and then uncorked a wild pitch (wild pitches are always uncorked) to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position. Juan Peralta followed with a game-winning single to left.

As previously mentioned, James went six innings, allowing three runs on four hits (including the home run) and two walks while whiffing ten. Joaquin Canizal and Brian Reed followed with three innings of effective relief, the only blemish being a solo homer off Canizal in the eighth. No AlleyCat had two hits, although Ryan Roberts, Joey Reiman, Christian Snavely, and Eric Arnold each reached base twice. David Smith had the only extra-base hit, a double.

Links of the Day

The Auburn Doubledays have renewed their contract with Toronto for four more years.

Kevin Gray has some notes, including speculation that Big Vito will be in New Hampshire by June.

Feel free to add more links in your comments.

Today's Games

Syracuse (Jason Arnold) at Scranton (PHI), 6:00 PM
New Hampshire (Dustin McGowan) at Akron (CLE), 10:35 AM
Jupiter (FLA) at Dunedin (Neomar Flores), 7:00 PM
Asheville (COL) at Charleston (Shaun Marcum), 6:05 PM

Projected starters are unconfirmed.

Three-Star Selection!

When you have three comeback wins in three games, you've got to give credit to some of the guys who got the big hits or the big outs, even if their overall stats on the day weren't overwhelming.

Our Third Star: Juan Peralta, Charleston. Made four outs in five at bats, but delivered a game-winning two-run single with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Our Second Star: Justin James, Charleston. One bad inning (two walks followed by a three-run homer in the fifth) doesn't obscure his ten-K performance. James has now fanned 31 in 20-plus innings, well ahead of Shaun Marcum or Tom Mastny's pace.
Our First Star: Paul Chiaffredo, New Hampshire. Scored the Fisher Cats' first run, hit a solo homer in the ninth for the go-ahead run, and threw out a would-be base-thief in the bottom of the ninth to help preserve a slim lead.
Minor League Update: April 27 | 51 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_MatO - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 08:33 AM EDT (#69619) #
Isn't it really strange that while James obviously has some nasty stuff with his high K rate and low BB rate, his ERA is over 5 and his hits to IP is not what you would expect for someone who misses so many bats.
_MatO - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 08:37 AM EDT (#69620) #
Addendum. I wonder if he doesn't have trouble pitching with men on base since his WHIP and HR rate aren't too bad. It appears that the hits against him have been grouped together in order to produce this ERA.
_Jordan - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 09:18 AM EDT (#69621) #
I think James' ERA at this early stage is mostly a matter of luck. That 5/31 BB/K rate in 20 innings is marvellous, and he's only allowed 2 HRs. James gave up 34 hits in 39 IP in his Auburn debut last year, so he may be one of those guys who's always around the plate, and will occasionally catch too much of it. But in his first 60 pro innings (very small sample size alert), he's walked only 16 and whiffed 73. He's looking very good.
_Mike - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 09:33 AM EDT (#69622) #
You are forgetting one thing when you mention the number of hits
and the high ERA of James, this is a developement league, make your mistakes and learn by it. It is obvious that James like you
say has some nasty stuff , but he always seems to have that one
bad inning This is a typical scenario for one of James outings,
he'll go 3 or 4 innings of one hit or no hit ball with alot of
strike outs and then implode giving up 3, 4 of 5 hits and as many runs, or like last night 2 walks and a home run.
So what's happening, could be mechanical or it could be mental,
but the bottem line is it should be correctable and when it is
correct James could be on the fast track.

One other note about the pitching on the Charleston team, while
the whole staff is pitching brillantly James, Marcum, Mastny,
amd Core are all a little old for this league and need to move up
to Dunedin as quickly as possible.
_M. Green - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 09:48 AM EDT (#69623) #
Perhaps James is uncomfortable pitching from the stretch. I'm not sure who the pitching coach is in Charleston, but as Mike says, this kind of problem should be correctable.

Dunedin's rotation consists of Banks, Rosario, Isenberg, Flores and Ramirez. Banks and Isenberg are likely there for at least half a season. Rosario may well be there for a long time because of health issues. I'd rather see Marcum and one of Mastny or James in the Dunedin rotation rather than Flores and Ramirez, but these are nice problems to have.
_MatO - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 10:08 AM EDT (#69624) #
James has allowed 23 baserunners and 12 earned runs which is a ridiculous rate. I suspect it's just the sample size but it's something to watch.
Coach - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 11:17 AM EDT (#69625) #
The Fisher Cats are playing a morning game in Akron, with Dustin McGowan now pitching in the third inning. You can listen live to our pal Mike Murphy's call at http://www.fishercatsradio.com/search.htm. It's raining and windy there; not the best conditions.

Just one baserunner so far vs. Dustin; I believe it's 1-0 for the good guys.
_Sneeps - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 11:49 AM EDT (#69626) #
For some reason I haven't been able to connect to the Fisher Cats internet broadcasts for the past couple of games.
robertdudek - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 11:50 AM EDT (#69627) #
Try the Windows Media Player link - that one works for me, while the RealPlayer link doesn't.
Coach - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 11:52 AM EDT (#69628) #
Sneeps, I'm getting it just fine using Windows Media Player. The weather's clearing up and McGowan's cruising along with a one-hitter through five.
Coach - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 11:55 AM EDT (#69629) #
Here's one of the shots from our Erie road trip -- it's Robert Dudek, standing on the warning track on Sunday morning, before the rained-out game. Robert took all the player photos, and he even captured some video, which we'll link to shortly, with his digital camera .

Coach - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:03 PM EDT (#69630) #
If you'd like a brief look at Aaron Hill's swing in the batting cage, the file is now available at http://www.battersbox.ca/gallery/hill_cage.avi, and there's another video clip of John-Ford Griffin at http://www.battersbox.ca/gallery/jfg_cage.avi.
_Jordan - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:04 PM EDT (#69631) #
It's too bad to hear Cosby's out for the year; that's a tough break for a guy who might've been ready to take the next step up. Hopefully he can come back strong next season.

Dustin won't be making too many more starts for New Hampshire at this rate.
_MatO - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:10 PM EDT (#69632) #
Media Player works. First thing I hear is 'curve ball strike three called' and Murphy speculating whether McGowan will be on the team bus home as he might just go straight to Syracuse with the way he was pitching. Of course at that point Akron scored a cheap run to tie the game at 1. He had 8 K's thru 5 2/3.
Gerry - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:10 PM EDT (#69633) #
Tim Whittaker has been called up to Syracuse. I assume Greg Zaun has been called up by the Jays to replace Myers.

Whittaker started the year in New Hampshire but was sent down to Dunedin when Zaun was signed.
_Jordan - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:14 PM EDT (#69634) #
Tim Whittaker, Travellin' Man.
Coach - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:17 PM EDT (#69635) #
Here's a shot of Matt Logan, who led off with a double this inning and is now 11-for-25 this season. We had a great chat with the Canadian national team member on Sunday morning.

_Steve Z - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#69636) #
The Scott/Ricciardi philosophy of developing "winning ballplayers" (not only good players) is taking effect in Charleston:

Jack Bogaczyk, Daily-Mail, has another must-read on the Alley Cats' latest come-from-behind win. The Cats' stats during their win streak are detailed as well.
Mike Green - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:28 PM EDT (#69637) #
Thanks, Coach and Robert, for the video. Ah, the magic of technology.
_Mike - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:31 PM EDT (#69638) #
I not sure who is interested but the New Hampshire
Fisher Cats had an early start to todays game 10:30am !
Dustin McGowan started the game and has just come out
after 6 innings his line score is 6 IP 3 H 1 BB 9 SO
He was completely domainate though the whole game.
I can't imagin him not being premoted to Syracuse in
the next week or two
Craig B - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:37 PM EDT (#69639) #
Dominic Rich leads off the 8th with a double, Hill up as the tying run.
Craig B - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:44 PM EDT (#69640) #
Heh. The Jays get two men on (Hill walked), and the skies open up with rain - a downpour soaking all those kids.

Chaiffredo couldn't get a bunt down and struck out, one down.

Ooh, now it's a hailstorm!
_R Billie - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:47 PM EDT (#69641) #
Ack...Hill doesn't have much support in the lineup outside of Rich. I mean you have Chiafreddo and Jova following him. Not quite as bad as batting Pedro Feliz behind Barry Bonds I will conceed but nonetheless.
Craig B - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:50 PM EDT (#69642) #
The Jays had two groundouts to end the inning.

So then the hailstorm turns into a snowstorm... and the kids at the park sounded like the shrieking of the damned.

Now the Appleseed Restaurant guys are talking about how to make fish and chips. This is priceless. It's like I tuned in just as the world was ending!
_Moffatt - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:52 PM EDT (#69643) #
It was snowing this morning in London as well. I blame the environmentalists. ;)

Man, I really wish I had sound on this computer.. it sounds like something worth listening to.
Coach - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:53 PM EDT (#69644) #
More video -- although Brandon League couldn't find the strike zone today, here's a four-pitch sequence of him winning a tremendous Saturday night battle with Maxim St. Pierre. They're all full-count pitches, and the Erie catcher (who later hit a mammoth homer off Adam Peterson) manages to foul off three nasty heaters in good locations before the slider gets him.

league1.avi
league2.avi
league3.avi
league4.avi

That's it for me today; after appointments and work, I'll be lucky if I catch the last couple of innings of tonight's game.
_A - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 12:58 PM EDT (#69645) #
Thanks, Coach. Number 4 was just plain dirty!
_Jordan - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 01:05 PM EDT (#69646) #
Kent, thanks very much for these great videos. Watching League pitch is stunning -- he just flings that ball. With that downward movement, you need a scoop to hit it, not a bat. That motion must be murder on right-handers, too -- another good reason to make him a reliever is that batters don't have time to get used to the release point.

If he can develop decent command of his stuff and an out pitch against left-handed batters, he's going to be lethal.
Gerry - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 01:33 PM EDT (#69647) #
Did Mike Murphy say why League was pulled after walking two hitters? League usually gets a longer appearance than that.
Craig B - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#69648) #
For all that #4 was the Nasterino, I thought the best pitch was #1. 3-2, give him the high heat and make him chase. I'd rather it be a touch closer to the zone, but hey, you can't have everything.
_Brian J - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 02:19 PM EDT (#69649) #
Gerry, are you looking for a reason other than "he walked two straight batters on 8 pitches in a tied game"? I don't think there was any reason other than that.
Gerry - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 02:45 PM EDT (#69650) #
are you looking for a reason other than "he walked two straight batters on 8 pitches in a tied game"? I don't think there was any reason other than that.

Usually top prospects, like League, are on a schedule. So he would be due to throw 30 pitches today. Results come second to development in the minors. I was hoping for an answer along the lines that he couldn't feel the ball with the cold. I know he saw snow for the first time in his life about three weeks ago, so maybe he has never pitched in cold weather before.
_JohnnyS99 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 02:57 PM EDT (#69651) #
http://fanhome.com
Wouldnt Quiroz get the call to the Majors instead of Zaun? Wouldn't they have to remove someone from the 40 man roster to call up Zaun?
Mike Green - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 03:07 PM EDT (#69652) #
The Jays will not call up Quiroz until the service time window opens. That's over a month from now, and they need a catcher immediatement.
_Ryan01 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 03:09 PM EDT (#69653) #
Quiroz needs playing time right now. He's off to a good start at Syracuse but would definitely benefit from at least another few months there. He's still young and learning and it doesn't make a lot of sense to stall his progress by having him sit on the bench. Zaun was brought in specifically for this purpose to be the backup if one of the catchers got hurt. File or Chulk have definitely fallen well back in the depth charts and could possibly slide through waivers. File could also retroactively be put on the 60 day DL to open up a spot.
_Ryan01 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 03:18 PM EDT (#69654) #
I only count 38 on the Jays roster.
_Jordan - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 03:57 PM EDT (#69655) #
The Fisher Cats lost 3-1 in the end. Brandon League, of all people, took the loss: after walking 2 batters, he was yanked; the next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt, but 1B Matt Logan threw it away, bringing one runner home and sending the other to third base, where he subsequently scored on a groundout. Both runs were unearned.
_Steve Z - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 03:58 PM EDT (#69656) #
Mike (not Green),

Welcome aboard! Looking forward to having another insightful minor league afficionado (named Mike) at da Box!

Steve Z
_JohnnyS99 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 05:09 PM EDT (#69657) #
http://fanhome.com
Any News on Mcgowan bieng promoted?
Gerry - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 05:12 PM EDT (#69658) #
Any News on Mcgowan bieng promoted?

I do not think the Jays are in as much of a hurry as we are to promote McGowan. I think one of two things will happen. If Towers is claimed by another team McGowan might get promoted to fill the spot. If not, then he will likely be promoted mid-season, which means June sometime.
_Nigel - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 05:40 PM EDT (#69659) #
I agree with Gerry in terms of timing but I think it will depend more on someone being able to come up and fill in McGowan's spot in AA than on finding room at AAA. Right now the AA squad is alreay using some organizational filler/minor league veterans (Ozias, lee Reimers) to start games. I'm sure that JP does not want to make that any worse by pulling McGowan out of town with no real prospect to fill the spot. I think by June one of Banks, Isenberg or Rosario is likely to be ready to go to AA in which case you see the full cascade effect.
_JohnnyS99 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 06:18 PM EDT (#69660) #
http://fanhome.com
Jesse Harper maybe ready soon, to fill in Mcgowan's spot
_Nigel - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 06:38 PM EDT (#69661) #
Harper will replace Ozias I think. Ozias is a career reliever and is really just emergency starting. Its possible that Harper might replace McGowan but I tend to think he'll seen June 1 in New Hampshire.
_JohnnyS99 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 06:50 PM EDT (#69662) #
http://fanhome.com
Dick Scott was quoted on Baseball America saying the DJ hanson would be ready? Anyone have any inside information? Dunedin will have their hands full very soon with his arrival and Chris Leonard, promotions etc.
Mike Green - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 07:53 PM EDT (#69663) #
Shaun Marcum must be having an off-night! 2 runs and 3 hits in 7 innings, as the Alley-Cats lead 4-2. Going for 12 in a row.
_JohnnyS99 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 08:52 PM EDT (#69664) #
http://fanhome.com
How about Sopko and Reed, with another two scoreless innings. The bullepen has been outstanding.
_JohnnyS99 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 08:56 PM EDT (#69665) #
http://fanhome.com
Baseball America on Sopko

Five-foot-11, 190-pound sophomore-eligible RHP Mark Sopko has limited upside, but he owns two solid pitches, his best being a 90-93 mph fastball
Mike Green - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 09:02 PM EDT (#69666) #
Marcum- 7 innings, 3 hits including a homer, 0 walks, 7Ks. Not quite as dominating as last outing, but it is obvious that he's got the hang of the Sally league.
_JohnnyS99 - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 09:10 PM EDT (#69667) #
http://fanhome.com
The Zero in the walk column seems like a daily occurence for the 2003 draft class ie; Core, Mastny, Marcum, Banks,
_ainge_fan - Tuesday, April 27 2004 @ 09:18 PM EDT (#69668) #
June would be a very conservative promotion schedule for Dustin. In the pre-season, IIRC, JP was quoted saying that he thought McGowan would need about another month of AA-ball - sorry, no link - but this remains a reasonable enough timeline considering how he's doing. No real struggles - even in the 5bb game, he battled.
Craig B - Wednesday, April 28 2004 @ 08:34 AM EDT (#69669) #
The Zero in the walk column seems like a daily occurence for the 2003 draft class

Other than having this mantra constantly drilled into them, part of this is that those pitchers are older and more experienced than the hitters they are facing. They have better stuff, with better command of it, and as a result can pitch within the four corner of the strike zone all the time.

I love to see it. Making sure that these guys throw strikes will give them the confidence they need to throw strikes at higher levels; ingraining good pitching habits means that they will be more likely to trust their stuff later on.
Minor League Update: April 27 | 51 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.