I was relieved on Tuesday night when I checked the box scores, not from the big leagues but from the Florida State League.  In Dunedin, the St. Lucie Mets beat the Blue Jays snapping their 12-game losing streak.

            Stepping back a bit, I’d encourage all Mets fans to use Mike Piazza’s retirement as a prompt to celebrate the career of the best offensive catcher of all-time.  Piazza wasn’t my first favorite Mets catcher, Todd Hundley was.  Sportscenter identified Piazza as “former Dodger, Mike Piazza.”  While that’s correct too, he’ll always be a Met to me, and one of my favorites at that.

            Brady Clark is done for the season after undergoing micro fracture surgery, the New Orleans Zephyrs announced Tuesday. 

 

Stars of the Day:

AAA: Argenis Reyes

AA: Rain

A+: Christopher Fournier & Salvador Paniagua/Eric Niesen

A: Angel Calero/Francisco Pena

 

New Orleans (AAA – Pacific Coast League)

@ Oklahoma Red Hawks (26-20) 8, New Orleans Zephyrs (21-24, -4.5) 2

 

            The Red Hawks won their second straight against the slumping Zs on Tuesday, handing New Orleans its third straight defeat.  Brian Stokes (4-5, 5.04) gave up four runs in the third, and five runs overall in six innings. 

            In losing their eighth game in nine tries, 2B Argenis Reyes gave the Zs a nice night at the top of the order with a 3-4, 2B performance.  Raul Casanova had a couple of hits and LF Chris Aguila was 1-3 with a two-run HR.

            This series pauses Wednesday for the Big 12 Championship, but resumes Thursday at 12PM with Adam Bostick taking on Eric Hurley. 

 

Binghamton (AA - Eastern League)

Binghamton Mets @ Connecticut Defenders: Ppd

 

            The Mets and Defenders were postponed by rain for the second time.  Tuesday’s game will be made up on July 8th, while the previous rainout, from May 9th will be played on May 31st. 

            Jon Niese is scheduled to take on Joey Martinez on Wednesday. 

 

St. Lucie (A+ - Florida State League)

St. Lucie Mets (9-36, -19.0) 7, @ Dunedin Blue Jays (24-21) 4

 

            The Met offense mounted an 11 hit attack to help snap the team’s nearly two-week long losing streak.  RF Chris Fournier, playing his fourth game with the club, begane the scoring with a three run blast in the second.  DH Salvador Paniagua also went yard in a 2-4, 2 RBI night in his third game for St. Lucie. Lucas Duda, Luis Rivera and DJ Wabick all had two hits as well.

            Eric Niesen (1-5, 5.67) allowed three runs on six hits in six innings to collect his first win.  Tim Stronach and Ryan Coultas combined on the final three frames. 

 

Savannah (A – South Atlantic League)

@ Augusta Greenjackets (26-19) 5, Savannah Sand Gnats (18-27, -12.5) 3 (7 innings)

 

            Angel Calero fell to 0-5 despite another strong performance on the hill in a rain shortened game.  The lefty lasted 5.1 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits, but the impressive part is that he struck out six without walking a batter.  Calero has strong peripherals (49 IP, 38 H, 2 HR, 11 BB, 45 K) to go along with an impressive 2.76 ERA. 

            C Francisco Pena (.290/.317/.391) continued his hot May (.345/.350/.397 in 15 G), going 2-3 with a double and a run scored.  RF Casey Craig and SS Jacob Eigsti each contributed two hits. 

 

Toby Hyde has written Toby’s Mets Minor League Report since 2004.  Please pass this along to friends, family, co-workers, and Mets fans of all types.  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.