It was another busy day down on the farm and once again a mixed bag. The highlight of the night definitely comes out of Savannah, where the Gnats wrapped up the first half championship and a playoff spot by beating Augusta. The rundown:
Up in Buffalo, the Bisons dropped a tough one to the Indy Indians in extras, 7-3. Tobi Stoner pitched fairly well to start the game, going 5.1, giving up seven hits, one walk, two earned and striking out seven. The Bisons' bullpen then combined for 5.2 of shutout ball before Adam Pettyjohn gave up four earned in the top of the 12th to lose it. On the offensive side, Justin Turner and J.R. House were the standouts. Turner went 2-5 with two RBI while J.R. House went 4-4 with a double and a run scored.
Sliding over to Binghamton, we saw the B-Mets lose one to the Thunder, 4-3, after leading most of the way. Sean Ratliff got on the board by hitting his first home run since being promoted, a solo shot in the third to put the B-Mets up 2-1. Shortstop Luis Hernandez continued his hot streak by going 2-5 with a run scored and Nick Evans also continued his solid season with a 1-4 night and an RBI. The starter, Mike Antonini, pitched quite well on the night. He went seven innings, gave up four hits, walked one, gave up two earned and struck out six. He was in line for the win until Derrick Ellison came on to start the eighth and promptly blew the one run lead by allowing a two run shot to Austin Krum.
Down in St. Lucie, the Mets salvaged the final game of the series against Palm Beach, 5-3, to avoid the sweep. Eric Beaulac got the win by going 6.2 giving up four hits, three walks, two earned and striking out four. Catcher Juan Torres was the offensive MVP, going 2-4 with two RBI. You could make a case for Joey August, as well, as he went 2-4 with a double and two runs scored. Jordany Valdespin added two hits of his own to extend his hot streak. In total, the St. Lucie Mets saw five different hitters pick up two hits on the day. Very nice.
As mentioned in the beginning of the post, the Gnats wrapped up the first half championship (and a playoff spot) in their last game of the first half. They won 9-5 on the strength of their offense, as opposed to their pitching, which has carried them in the first half. More impressively, they did it against Augusta, who was tied with Savannah coming into that last game. More impressively, every Gnats hitter had one RBI on the day except for 2B Mike Fisher. Don't know if I've ever seen such even run producing up and down the lineup. Wilmer Flores broke out of his slump with two hits, a run and an RBI. Juan Lagares went 3-5 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. He's been very good this year. Jefry Marte finished with three hits, two runs and an RBI of his own to finish the first half strong. James Fuller had a decent start that was marred by bad defense. He went five, gave up seven hits, a walk, five runs (one earned) and struck out two to earn the win. My first half MVP for the Gnats is undoubtedly Mark Cohoon. In 90.1, Mark went 7-1, allowing only 68 hits, 17 walks, and striking out 75. That includes three straight complete game shutouts (tying a Sally league record) and more impressively, only two homers allowed.
Down On The Farm - 6/20/10
