Portland, ME - The Eastern League is pleased to announce that Akron Aeros starting pitcher Adam Miller has been selected as the Eastern League Player of the Month for the month of July. The 21-year old was outstanding in his five starts during the month for the Aeros, compiling a perfect 4-0 record to go along with 30 strikeouts, nine walks, a 0.29 ERA and a .232 opponent's batting average in 30.2 innings of work. Miller, who was ranked by Baseball America as the top best prospect in the Cleveland organization entering this season, threw at least five innings in each of his five starts during the month and went seven innings twice. In all but one of those starts the McKinney, Texas native did not give up an earned run, and he gave up six hits or less in each of his appearances.
Miller, who was ranked second in the league in ERA (0.29) and was tied for fourth in wins (4) during the month of July, continued his success in his first start during the month of August, striking out 11 batters while giving up one run on three hits in six innings of work to earn a victory against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Canal Park.
The 6'4", 175 lb. right-hander is currently tied for the league lead in wins, with 12, and is also ranked among the league leaders in strikeouts (128-2nd), innings pitched (125.2-tied 6th), ERA (3.01-7th) and WHIP (1.16-10th). Earlier this month, Miller was also named to the United States team for the 2006 Major League Baseball Futures Game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, but was unable to participate due to injuries.
Adam was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the June 2003 draft as the 31st overall pick after going 10-2 with 117 strikeouts and a 0.56 ERA in 75 innings of work during his senior year at McKinney High School in Texas.
Today's Game... Today is the final game of the Senators six-game homestand. They enter play today 3-2 on the homestand having taken two of three from Altoona and so far a split with Reading. With a win today the Senators would win back-to-back series for the first time since June 6-11 when the Senators took two of three from Connecticut and swept New Britian here at Commerce Bank Park. The Senators and Phillies will play again next weekend in Reading. Following the off day tomorrow the Senators start a three game series in Portland on Tuesday night.
Last Time Out... In front of 6,411 at Commerce Bank Park on Saturday night the Senators fell to the Reading Philles 4-2. Zach Segovia (10-5) pitched eight strong innings in the win for the Phillies. Justin Echols (5-7) pitched seven innings for the Sens allowing just three runs, but for the fourth straight start, received no offensive support. In his last four starts the Sens have scored just three total runs in games he's started. Trailing 3-0 into the bottom of the sixth the Senators scored on an RBI double off the bat of Dan DeMent scoring Melvin Dorta. In the bottom of the eighth, trailing 4-1, pinch hitter Salomon Manriquez homered to left to cut the lead to 4-2. The Senators started the ninth looking like they were going to rally late again. Dan Dement singled, his third hit of the game, leading off the inning. Kory Casto grounded into a fielder's choice, but then Prentice Redman singled sending Casto to second. Frank Diaz then flied out to the fence in right field, narrowly missing a game winning home run. Pinch hitter Cristian Guerrero grounded into a fielder's choice to end the ballgame. Chris Key earned his 14 save of the season for the Phillies one night after not retiring a batter.
Nationals Senators Players of the Month... INF Josh Whitesell and RHP Justin Echols were selected as the Senators players of the Month by the Nationals. Whitesell was 27 x 80 (.338) with 7 HRs and 14 RBIs. He had a slugging percentage of .613. Echols had an ERA of 3.86 in six starts. In 32.2 innings he struck out 31 and walked 19 and opponents batted just .246 off of him. RHP Chris Thompson was the Potomac Nationals pitcher of the month for July. He went 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 10 games. In 13.1 innings he struck out 10 and held opponents to a .205 batting average.
Harrisburg vs. Reading... This is the third series between the two teams. The Phillies have won seven of the nine games played this year including a four-game sweep at Commerce Bank Park in mid July. The two teams play six more games this season beginning tonight.
4/28 Away L 0-2 Sens managed only five hits and Bouknight pitched well in loss
4/29 Away W 5-4 Senators rally for four runs in eighth inning for win. Dorta had three hits.
4/30 Away L 1-3 Diaz has three hits and Sens out hit Reading 7-5 but can't rally late
7/13 Home L 3-11 Phillies score seven times in the third inning en route to 11-3 win
7/14 Home L 6-7 Phils take 5-0 lead, Sens rally to tie, teams trade runs, the Phils score in ninth for win
7/15 Home L 2-5 Phils score 5 two-out runs and Senators can't capitalize stranding 7 in scoring position
7/16 Home L 1-8 Ryan Drese and Randy Wolf started pitchers duel until Phils score 5 in 8th and 3 in 9th
8/4 Home W 8-5 Sens trail 5-0 into the 7th then score 4 in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th for win
8/5 Home L 2-4 Echols has another strong start but Zach Segovia shuts down Sens in Phillies win
8/6 Home
8/11 Away
8/12 Away
8/13 Away
Playoff Chase... Beginning play today, the Senators and Reading Phillies are tied for third place and both trail Altoona by 9.5 games for second place. The "magic number" for the Senators to be eliminated by Altoona from the playoff race is 22. That number is the combined number of Altoona wins and Senator losses.
Erie salvages final game of series with 9-6 win over Fisher Cats
(Erie) - After losing the first two games of the weekend series, Erie (49-64) salvaged the finale with a 9-6 win over New Hampshire (50-64) Sunday afternoon at Uht Park. New Hampshire took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd on a double by DH Ryan Patterson and an RBI single by 2B Ryan Klosterman.
Erie tied the game at 1-1 in the 2nd on a solo by RF Christopher Maples (3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI) off Fisher Cat starter Ismael Ramirez. Maples homered again off Ramirez in the third to give Erie a 2-1 lead. Maples also added a game-tying RBI double in the 5th.
New Hampshire SS Manny Mayorson hit a three-run homer in the 4th to make it 5-2. For Mayorson, it was his second homer of the season, and he finished the Erie series with 10 hits in 14 at bats (.714).
The SeaWolves took the lead for good in the 7th with three runs off reliever Kyle Yates (5-8). DH Kurt Airoso had an RBI double, 3B Kody Kirkland doubled in a run, and SS Adam Haley singled.
RF David Smith hit a solo homer to make it 8-6 in the 8th. Smith hit a home run in each game of the Erie series, driving in 6 runs.
Erie added an 8th inning run on an RBI single by LF Jackson Melian.
Ian Ostlund (7-3) worked 1.1 scoreless innings in relief to gain the win and Mike Nannini worked the final 2 innings to earn his first save.
New Hampshire finished 3-3 on its roadtrip to Akron and Erie and will open a six-game homestand on Tuesday night at 6:35pm against Akron (Cleveland AA). For tickets, visit www.nhfishercats.com.
The Altoona Curve today announced the following roster moves, effective Sunday, August 6:
RHP Ron Chiavacci has been promoted to Indianapolis (AAA), RHP Jason Roach has been added to the Lynchburg (A) roster and P's Dave Davidson and Romulo Sanchez have been added to the Curve roster from Lynchburg (A).
Thunder win, 5-4, in Cano's final rehab game in Trenton
(Trenton, NJ)- Omir Santos delivered an RBI single in the 8th Inning to help the Thunder to a 5-4 win over Bowie on Sunday afternoon. Robinson Cano, in his final rehab game with Trenton, went 0-for-3 with two walks.
Cano walked in the 1st Inning, struck out against Bowie starter Radhames Liz in the 3rd Inning, was intentionally walked in the 5th Inning and then grounded out in the 6th and 8th Innings. He went 5-for-10 with two RBI in his three game rehab with the Thunder.
With the game tied at 4-4, CF Justin Christian led off the 8th Inning with a walk against Baysox reliever Jason Pearson. After a sacrifice bunt moved him to 2nd Base, Christian stole 3rd Base and scored on Santos' single off Marino Salas. Christian had two stolen bases in the game, giving him 55 of the year. Pearson (3-4) was charged with the loss allowing the go-ahead run in 2 1/3 innings of relief.
The Thunder (62-52) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd Inning on a solo homer by SS Felix Escalona off Bowie starter Radhames Liz, but the Baysox (52-60) plated four runs off Trenton starter Matt DeSalvo in the 3rd Inning, including a two-run homer by CF Todd Donovan and an RBI triple by LF Noah Hall, to take the lead. DeSalvo worked five innings and allowed four runs on five hits. He walked six and struck out three. Trenton came back to tie the game in the 4th Inning as they loaded the bases with one out. LF Matt Carson then delivered a three-run double to tie the game at 4-4.
The Trenton bullpen worked four scoreless innings on the afternoon with J.B. Cox going the final 1 1/3 innings for the win. Cox (6-2) had a pair of strikeouts.
Trenton begins a 1st Place battle with the Binghamton Mets on Tuesday at 11:35 AM. Phil Hughes (6-3, 2.67) starts for the Thunder against Binghamton's Willie Collazzo (6-5, 2.86).
Travis Ishikawa homered in the ninth to tie and Todd Jennings drove in the winning run with a fielder's choice in the top of the 13th, giving the Connecticut Defenders an 8-7, extra-inning victory over the Binghamton Mets at NYSEG Stadium Sunday.
Binghamton dropped two of three in the series.
Connecticut (52-62) got to B-Mets starter Miguel Perez in the first when Brian Buscher hit a two-out double before Ishikawa scored him with a single. However, the B-Mets answered in the bottom of the frame. Wilson Batista and Bobby Malek opened the inning with back-to-back singles before Jorge Padilla reached on a fielder's choice. Michel Abreu walked, loading the bases for Carlos Gomez, who hit a two-run single to left that scored Batista and Padilla for a 2-1 B-Mets lead.
The Defenders opened up a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four times on a Dan Ortmeier homer, RBI singles by Jennings and Foster and a Nate Schierholtz run-scoring double.
Binghamton (60-52) pulled within 5-3 on Andy Wilson's solo shot in the bottom of the fourth before re-taking the lead in the fifth. Padilla and Abreu singled and Caligiuri followed with a walk, loading the bases. After Padilla scored on a wild pitch, Gomez singled home Abreu and Caligiuri for a 6-5 B-Mets lead. Binghamton made it 7-5 in the seventh when Caligiuri singled home Malek, who'd walked.
Schierholtz led off the top of the ninth by reaching on a throwing error by second baseman Wilson Batista. That set the stage for Ishikawa's two-run homer off closer Henry Owens, which sent the game into extra innings.
After loading the bases on a walk and two singles in the 13th against Kevin Rios, Connecticut's Jake Wald struck out before Jennings reached on a fielder's choice that scored Ishikawa from third. It was the first career mound appearance for Rios (0-1), an infielder.
Connecticut's Oscar Montero (1-1) tossed two scoreless innings for the win, while Billy Sadler worked around a single to notch his 17th save.
After an off-day Monday, the Binghamton Mets begin a three-game series in Trenton Tuesday. Lefthander William Collazo (6-5, 2.86) will start for Binghamton against Philip Hughes (6-3, 2.67) of Trenton. The first pitch is slated for 11:35 at Waterfront Park with the radio broadcast starting at 11:20 on Talk 1360 WYOS.
Knight ties franchise record for saves, Curve defeat Rock Cats 4-3
Brandon Knight picked up the final two outs of the Curve's 4-3 win on Sunday night over the New Britain Rock Cats to earn his 22nd save of the season. The right-hander is now tied with Justin Kaye for the most saves in a single season in franchise history.
The Altoona Curve scored the deciding run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a throwing error by Rock Cats' pitcher Justin Olson. Ray Sadler tapped a ground ball back to the mound, but the right-hander's throw to the first baseman was wide of the bag and Dave Parrish raced around to score from first to break a 3-3 tie.
New Britain scored three times in their first at-bat, but was held scoreless through the final 24 outs as the Curve slowly chipped away at the lead.
Landon Jacobsen was denied his league-leading 13th victory, earning a no-decision for just the second time in 21 appearances this season. The right-hander allowed three runs on five hits in seven innings and struck out five.
Two pitchers that were added to the Curve roster earlier in the day, Romulo Sanchez and Dave Davidson saw action in the game. Sanchez pitched the first two outs of the eighth inning before Davidson came in to finish the frame and start the ninth. Davidson would earn the victory despite facing just two batters.
Olson was the losing pitcher, surrendering the game-winning run after his errant throw to first base in the eighth inning. Olson struck out the side in the only inning he worked, but issued a walk to Parrish before committing the error.
The Curve scored a single run in the second and third innings to narrow the gap, and tied the game in the sixth. Altoona loaded the bases in the sixth after back-to-back singles to start the frame and a walk by Sadler. Brandon Chaves delivered a run-scoring single to left field, but Parrish was caught up between third and home and was tagged out on the base path. Javier Guzman would then ground into the rally-killing 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Vic Buttler and Simon Pond had three hits each in the ballgame as the Curve out-hit the Rock Cats for the third time in the three games series.
Altoona continues its homestand on Monday night when it welcomes the Connecticut Defenders to Blair County Ballpark for a 7:05 p.m. contest. Mike Connolly will start for the Curve against Geno Espinelli for the Defenders.
Seats are still available for the game and can be purchased in person at the Blair County Ballpark box office, over the phone by calling the Curve toll-free at 877-99-Curve or by CLICKING HERE.
Eastern League news 8/07
Eastern League news 8/07
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