Anderson Hernandez returns to New York a much better player than when Mets fans last saw him.  After the All-Star break he hit .389/.420/.513 in New Orleans.

            Pedro will pitch Monday in St. Lucie. 

With St. Lucie off Sunday, Endy Chavez was 2-4 with a run scored and two more driven home for the GCL team. 

            Mark Kiger was promoted from Binghamton to New Orleans. 

            Saturday, Kelly Stinnett returned to baseball after retiring for a month with an RBI single to right field on an elevated fastball to drive home a run helping Memphis beat my Iowa Cubs.  Yeah, that Kelly Stinnett, the one who made his MLB debut for the Mets in 1994. 

             

             

 

Stars of the Weekend:

AAA: Jon Adkins & Joe Smith/Robinson Cancel ….Robinson Cancel/Ambiorix Burgos

AA: Mike Carp & Caleb Stewart /Carlos Muniz…Miguel Negron & Vince Harrison

A+: Jonathan Malo/Kevin Tomasiewicz

A: Gnate the Gnat…Matias Carillo

SSA: Matt Bouchard

R-App: Philips Orta & Rhiner Cruz & John Holdzkom…Nicholas Giarraputo & Brandon Richey

R-GCL: Omar Perez

 

AAA – New Orleans (Pacific Coast League)

Saturday: Oklahoma RedHawks 5, @ Zephyrs 4

Sunday: Oklahoma RedHawks 8, @ Zephyrs 4 (completion of suspended game from 6/19)

Sunday: @ Zephyrs (66-63) 3, Oklahoma RedHawks (64-63) 1

 

            Saturday, Mike Pelfrey gave up five runs on five hits and four walks in four and two thirds.  He struck out five, but gave up a home run to minor league slugger Nate Gold.  Only 61 of the 101 pitches he threw were strikes.  The bullpen of Jon Adkins and Joe Smith each struck out two.  Smith didn’t allow a hit in his two innings.  Jason Alfaro and Robinson Cancel were each 2-4 with a double. 

            I’m not going to spend much time on the suspended game since they only played an inning Sunday, compared to the eight they played two months ago.  It is funny to see Ben Johnson and Brian Lawrence both appear in the box score, but so it goes with minor leagues suspended games. 

            In the regularly scheduled Sunday game, Robinson Cancel (.286/.336/.436) singled to put the Zs ahead in the eighth and catcher Shawn Wooten added a sacrifice sly for an insurance run.  Jason Vargas started and allowed on run on four hits in 4.2 innings, fanning five.  Ambiorix Burgos worked a perfect seventh, whiffing two. 

 

 

AA – Binghamton (Eastern League)

Saturday: @ Mets 7, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6 (11 innings)

Sunday: New Hampshire Fisher Cats (63-63) 15, @ Mets (53-71) 3

 

            Saturday, a wild pitch brought Rafael Arroyo home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th.  Mike Carp (.262/.339/.393) was the hitting star for the B-Mets going 3-6 with a home run and three RBI.  Hitting behind him, Caleb Stewart (.257/.315/.410) was 4-6 with a double.   Robert Paulk gave up three runs in three and a third innings in his second start of the year.  Carlos Muniz fired two scoreless frames in the ninth and tenth with three strikeouts.

            Sunday, the Fishercats scored eight times in the sixth inning against Bobby Parnell and Lino Urdaneta on their way to a blowout win.  On the positive side, Miguel Negron doubled twice and Vince Harrison doubled and homered. 

 

A+ -- St. Lucie (Florida State League)

Saturday: @ Mets (27-25/60-64) 7, Jupiter Hammerheads (22-30/53-69) 4

 

            With the Mets down a run, Jonathan Malo hit a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to push St. Lucie past the Hammerheads and make it seven in a row for the Mets.  At age 23, he’s hit a solid .283/.340/.442 after the All-Star Break.  Sean Henry was 2-4 with a double.

            Jon Niese started and once again, was hardly overpowering.  He allowed four runs, three earned on seven hits in five innings, walking two and fanning just one.  The ‘Heads hit two home runs against him.  Kevin Tomasiewicz snagged the win for four scoreless relief innings.

            Off Sunday. 

           

 

A – Savannah (South Atlantic League)

Saturday: Kannapolis Intimidators 14, @ Sand Gnats 3

Sunday: Kannapolis Intimidators (26-29/58-67) 8, @ Sand Gnats (19-35/39-85) 3

 

            Congratulations to the Sand Gnats and their staff who surpassed last year’s attendance total with nine home games to play at “historic” Grayson Stadium. 

            Sunday, Jeremy Mizell fell to 3-13 by giving up eight runs in four innings.  Matias Carillo did toss five scoreless stanzas behind him, striking out three. 

 

SSA – Brooklyn (New York-Penn League)

Saturday: Staten Island Yankees 12, @ Cyclones 3

Sunday: @ Staten Island Yankees (34-22) 4, Cyclones (36-18) 1

 

            Saturday, Nicholas Carr (4-1, 4.15) gave up five runs on six hits and a walk in just three innings, taking his first loss in the NYP.  Entering the eighth, down a run, the ‘Clones relievers struggled through a disastrous seven run frame which allowed the Yanks to put the game away.  Matt Bouchard (.247/.305/.309) was 3-4 with an RBI. 

            Sunday, Lucas Duda (.284/.391/.426) was 2-3 with a double on an afternoon when Brooklyn collected just three hits total.   

           

 

SSA – Kingsport (Appalachian League)

Saturday: Mets 1 @ Johnson City Cardinals 0 (11 innings)

Saturday 2: @ Mets 8, Johnson City Cardinals 7

Sunday: Johnson City Cardinals (25-34) 14, @ Mets (30-30) 6

 

            Kingsport and Johnson City played a split location doubleheader Saturday, with game one in Johnson City and game two in Kingsport.  For those of you who need a little refresher on your Tennessee geography, Kingsport is a little over twenty miles north and west of Johnson City. 

            Lets talk pitching in game one Saturday.  Philips Orta (2-1, 4.04) started and gave the Mets six shutout innings.  He yielded just five baserunners – four hits and a walk – while striking out seven.  Rhiner Cruz then walked three and struck out three in three hit-less stanzas.  John Holdzkom, in his first appearance outside the GCL, fanned four in two innings for the win.  Cruz (1-1, 0.77) has given up just six hits in 11.2 innings in the Appy League, fanning 13 and walking a similar number.  He began the year in the DSL and then appeared in four games in the GCL before shipping out to Tennessee.  Greg Veloz doubled, was balked to third and scored on Daniel Stegall’s RBI groundout for the game’s only run. 

            In game two, the Mets rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth for the comeback win.  Jose Jimenez tied the game with a two run single into left and then scored the winning run on Nicholas Giarraputo’s single. Giarraputo (.273/.301/.357) was 3-5 with a double.  Shortstop Brandon Richey (.243/.314/.375 – age 21) was 2-4 with two doubles and drove home three.  Catcher Cesar Cordido (.256/.310/.308 – age 21) was 2-4 with a double. 

            Sunday, starter Elvin Ramirez and the other Pedro Martinez had rough outings while no hitter had more than one hit. 

 

R – St. Lucie (Gulf Coast League)

Saturday: GCL Marlins 7, @ GCL Mets 4

Sunday: GCL Mets (18-31) 11, @ GCL Dodgers (35-15) 1

 

 

Toby Hyde has written Toby’s Mets Minor League Report since 2004.  Please pass this along to friends, family, co-workers, enemies and most importantly Mets fans.  To subscribe to the email newsletter, sign up here: http://groups.google.com/group/mets-minors?hl=en.  Archives are available at http://metsminors.metsblog.com.