Last night on the farm, the weather of upstate New York strikes again, and only one team bothered to bring their bats to the game.
Rochester 3, Buffalo 1 Game 1
Jenrry Mejia started slow giving up a pair of runs in the first inning, but in his defense, the temperature at first pitch was just a tad above freezing with significant wind, although kudos on the short sleeves for the Dominican native. Mejia did settle down after that and ended up with 6 strikeouts. His ERA remains below one. Taylor Tankersley struck out 3 in 1.1 innings of work; he has yet to give up a run this year. Jason Pridie led off the game for the Bisons with a homerun, but the Bisons managed only three hits the rest of the way, and none of them translated into anything close to a scoring opportunity.
Rochester 2, Buffalo 0 Game 2
It was more of the same in game two as the Bisons got swept in the double header: good pitching, but no offense whatsoever. Dylan Owen finally had a decent outing, giving up just 2 runs on 3 hits through 5 innings, followed by 2 scoreless frames from the bullpen. At the plate, 5 singles is all the Herd could muster. Two of those singles came off the bat of Kirk Nieuwenhuis who is riding a 9-game hitting streak. For the season, Nieuwenhuis is batting .349 and slugging .512.
Portland at Binghamton PPD
Rain in the southern tier will make the B-Mets wait one more day to try for their third-straight win.
St. Lucie 11, Fort Myers 2
The losing didn’t last long in Port St. Lucie. The pitching was there as always, but the bats were out in full force. Scott Moviel won his 2nd game of the season, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned, and pitching into the 7th. Darin Gorski got the final 7 outs of the game, striking out 5, and scattering 4 hits with no runs allowed. Jason Bay is officially ready for his season debut in flushing scheduled for Thursday night, although he could be back tonight. He went 4 for 4 with 4 RBI’s on a pair of 2-run bombs. Ronny Paulino had 2 hits, including a double, although he has a week until he’ll be back in the big leagues. Matt Den Dekker had 3 hits of his own, including a double and 2 RBI’s. Francisco Pena returned to the lineup after sitting out a few days and had 3 hits and 2 RBI’s. Jefry Marte and Rylan Sandoval had 2 hits apiece. Wilmer Flores also had a double and an RBI, but did commit his 3rd error of the season in the field. The only met without a hit was Cesar Puello, whose average dropped to .200. Even without Puello contributing, the Mets totaled 18 hits on the night.
Lexington 2, Savannah 0
Ryan Fraser was the tough luck loser, going strong for 6 innings, giving up just 2 runs, 1 earned, on 4 hits while striking out 4. Taylor Whitenton piggybacked for 3 shutout innings, striking out 5. However, just 3 hits all night for the Sand Gnats. Even Sam Honeck was held hitless, snapping an 8-game hitting streak. If there’s a silver lining, it’s the 2 hits for Cory Vaughn, but Savannah could do nothing else, losing their second in a row.
6 comments
metsfan4decades
4/20/2011-11:34am at 11:34 am (UTC -4)
The affiliate that used to be In Norfolk – Tidewater Tides?….was that the one that was moved to Buffalo?
If so, wonder what they were thinking. It’s hardly ever baseball weather in April in Buffalo.
Bryan
4/20/2011-12:00pm at 12:00 pm (UTC -4)
Yup. When I was growing up they were the Tidewater Tides, and then the Norfolk Tides, and then the Mets switch their affiliate to New Orleans who’s in the Pacific Coast League. I believe that was Omar wanting to be a part of rebuilding New Orleans post Katrina, but it still didn’t make much sense to me. Then a couple years ago they decided to move out of New Orleans, and it was between Syracuse and Buffalo as a way to get the affiliate closer to New York. I really wanted Syracuse since I’m from there, although I was sad to see the Blue Jays leave. NY Senator Chuck Schumer was also pushing hard for Syracuse (clearly a great use of time for a US senator) but in the end it went to Buffalo.
As for the weather, to say that it’s usually warm in upstate New York in early and mid April is a stretch, but the threat of snow that late in the year is rare, although not unheard of. But just about anywhere you go you’re going to have to deal with weather issues at some point during the season. In Florida during the summer there’s always threats of late afternoon or evening thunderstorms that can disrupt things. The same applies for a place like Savannah, which I found out first hand a couple years ago.
metsfan4decades
4/20/2011-2:20pm at 2:20 pm (UTC -4)
Good points about the weather overall. I’ve just been reading this past week or so about some really cold weather in Buffalo.
Thanks!
njstuckintx
4/20/2011-1:27pm at 1:27 pm (UTC -4)
Guess I should have posted it here. Ratliff done for the year. Hit in eye with foul ball.
metsfan4decades
4/20/2011-2:21pm at 2:21 pm (UTC -4)
I read that earlier. Poor kid. Sounds like though he’ll have full use of his eye.
wannybackstra
4/20/2011-2:47pm at 2:47 pm (UTC -4)
The emergence of Moviel would be a very positive development for the farm system.
Won’t be long before Tankersley replaces Byrdak at their current rates.