Chills.  Seriously.  I had real physical goosebumps on my arms moments after 20- year-old shortstop Reid Brignac ended Thursday night’s Visalia Oaks game with a tie-breaking, game-winning bomb of a HR to rightcenter in the bottom of the ninth.  It was his second game ending HR of the year, in a game the Oaks had to have at the end of a seven game homestand. 

            Visalia scored five times in the second against the #2 overall pick in the draft, Stanford product Greg Reynolds, but the Modesto Nuts tied it over the next two innings, and went ahead in the eighth 6-5.  The Oaks tied it at 6-6 in the bottom of the 8th, setting up a dramatic conclusion in a game that had already seen ejections, lead changes, clutch hitting and lots of beer for the fans on a Thirsty Thursday at Recreation Park.  I kinda lost it on the call, and my voice is a little scratchy from a long week, but I think you get the point.  Unfairly, I now I expect something amazing from Brignac (.321/.385/.516 in 349 AB) every night. 

            To cap it off, I couldn’t put the game story or anything about the game on www.oaksbaseball.com because Minor League Baseball’s editing system was completely and totally down Thursday night.  Unbelievable. 

            Excellent cover story in SI this week about the Metropolitans, but I suppose nearly everyone reading this read the story before I did.  If you didn’t, go read it now before you read about a 3-4 night in the minors.  Captain Red-Ass?  Classic.

 

Stars of the Day:

AAA: Michael Tucker

AA: Ambio Concepcion

A+: Mike Carp

A: Nick Pacheco

SSA: Daniel Cummins/Jorge Reyes

R (APP): -
R (GCL): Nicholas Girraputo

 

Norfolk (AAA - International League)

@ Louisville 5, Norfolk 3

 

            Matt Kata’s two run HR off Evan MacLane in the bottom of the sixth changed a 3-2 Norfolk lead into a 4-3 Louisville advantage.  Norfolk scored all of their runs in the top of the sixth to take that one run lead.  MacLane allowed four runs, all earned in 5.1 and after that hot start in AAA his record is now  6-5 with a 3.47 ERA.  Mitch Wylie gave up a run in relief while Anderson Garcia struck out one in a scoreless inning.

            Michael Tucker drove home two runs with a double in a 1-4 night.  Lastings Milledge had one of the Tides 4 hits as Norfolk fell 20 games under .500 to 35-55.

 

Binghamton (AA - Eastern League)

@ Binghamton 6, Bowie 3

 

            Miguel Pinago dealt six two runs innings to earn his fourth B-Mets win.  He walked four and struck out three.  Matt Lindstrom gave up a run in the ninth on two hits and a walk to raise his AA ERA to 4.67.

            Ambio Concepcion (.235/.278/.451 in 51 AB) was one of two B-Mets who had two hits.  Concepcion was 2-2 with two runs scored, a double and a solo homerun in the sixth.   Mike DiFelice was 2-3 while Jay Caligiuri (.236/.364/.442 in 258 AB) added a two run HR, his 13th. 

 

St. Lucie (A+ - Florida State League)

@ St. Lucie 5, Brevard County 1

 

            St. Lucie snapped a six game losing streak Thursday night. After the Manatees scored in the top of the first inning, the Mets scored four runs of their own in the bottom of the first off Sam Narron who reached the big leagues, for one appearance, with Texas in 2004. 

            Mike Carp’s 2-4 with a double and HR and 3 RBI paced the St. Lucie offense.  The 20 year old is now hitting .275/.377/.403 with 17 doubles and 7 HR.  Scouts have been very impressed by the youngster’s power.  Centerfielder Bobby Malek was 2-4 with a pair of doubles from the #2 hole.

 

Hagerstown (A – South Atlantic League)

Hickory 5, @ Hagerstown 1

 

            The Crawdads got to Deolis Guerra for three runs in six innings on six hits.  Guerra fanned three, walked one and gave up a HR raising his ERA to 2.85 in 47.1 SAL innings.

            Nick Pacheco (.265/.326/.364 in 294 AB) had three of the Suns’ five hits in a 3-5 night.  Hagerstown’s only run scored on Will Vogl’s solo HR in the first inning.  Vogl is hitting .304/.407/.543 in 46 SAL AB. 

 

Brooklyn (SSA – New York Penn League)

Brooklyn 2, @ Williamsport 1

 

            The Cyclones broke a scoreless tie with a Dustin Martin bunt in the fifth.  The win is Brooklyn’s third in a row, and the loss is the Crosscutter’s fifth straight.  Catcher Daniel Cummins, who didn’t hit much in 18 games in St. Lucie, was 2-3 with a double.

            Jorge Reyes, who was 4-5 with a 5.20 ERA for Brooklyn last year improved to 1-3, 3.32 with seven shutout innings Thursday.  He fanned five and walked one.

 

Kingsport Mets (R – Appalachian League)

@ Elizabethton 6, Kingsport 5

 

            Elizabethton, down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, scored five runs over the sixth-eighth innings to emerge victorious. 

GCL Mets (R – Gulf Coast League)

@ GCL Nationals 4, GCL Mets 3 (7 innings)

 

            The GCL scoreboard only shows one game, but they played two, presumably to make up an earlier rainout.  Thirdbaseman Nicholas Giarraputo had two hits, including a double in a 2-3 effort.