Thought on the Bisons' rainout against Louisville Thursday night in Coca-Cola Field: On one hand, it's a good thing because it ensures this bunch can't lose again. On the other hand, it's a dangerous thing because the Herd could lose twice Friday night!
The postponement leaves Buffalo's final April record at 2-16, easily the worst record for a month in franchise history. The only thing even close was the 4-12 mark posted in April, 1986.
Bizarre stat of the day: The Bisons finish April with the best fielding percentage (.984) and fewest errors (11) in the IL. Of course, all that goes for naught when your team batting average is .197.
---Mike Harrington
April 30, 2009 - 11:35 AM | Comment
The Bisons have lost eight straight at home and I just realized a loss tonight to Louisville would break the franchise record for futility downtown set in 1988. Frankly, I'm not worried about seeing this team win. At this point, it would be nice if it could just score a run once in a while.
It would be nice if these players would show a little pride about being in a new city. They all seem to be nice enough guys who say the right things about working hard and trying to get the job done but do little to back up those words. At this point, this is one of the worst stretches of baseball in the franchise's 124-year history. It's completely unacceptable.
This isn't the Florida State League. This is Triple-A. One step from the majors. If you can't be motivated to do better when you're that close, what are you doing here?
But hey, if you bother to go to the ballpark tonight to watch this sad bunch, at least you can get some free food out of the deal. The Bisons haven't resorted to Guaranteed Win Night yet and who can blame them? There's almost no chance of this team winning based on what we've seen so far.
---Mike Harrington
NEW YORK -- Amazin'ly enough, the Bisons already lost today in Rochester and their 1-0 defeat was their fifth shutout loss of the season. I was listening in while watching the Mets-Marlins just to see if the words of Mets VP Tony Bernazard on Tuesday had any impact. Not.
The Bisons are 2-16. Say it again: The Bisons are 2-16.
They have just 45 runs in 18 games. They have lost six in a row, scoring just seven runs in those games. They have scored runs in just four of the last 54 innings. They have been shut out five times in 18 games.
Bernazard insisted to me the Mets were not thinking about any staff changes. But you have to wonder how much longer this can go on.
Manager Ken Oberkfell said after Monday's game he's having trouble sleeping. Easy to see why. Oberkfell is a good guy. So is hitting coach Luis Natera. But if I were either of them, I would not be all too comfortable when my cell phone rings from New York unless this thing turns around in a major hurry.
---Mike Harrington
April 29, 2009 - 12:21 PM | Comment
NEW YORK -- You think the Bisons look tight? Come watch the Mets for a couple of days. There's not a lot of joy around Citi Field even though, I'm glad to report, folks who might head down here from Buffalo this summer will thoroughly enjoy the experience. Great place. But on the field, the Mets are just 9-11 heading into today's matinee with the Marlins (check it out at 1 on SNY).
The Mets blew 3-0 and 4-2 leads in last night's 7-4 loss to the Fish. They managed just one measly single over the final three innings and manager Jerry Manuel used the word "anxiety" to describe what his players were feeling at the plate. Uh-oh. That's not good.
Daniel Murphy is back in the lineup in left field today after getting two days off for a mental break, just like his old pal Nick Evans got this week in Buffalo. Murphy is hitting .323 and his break was for yips on defense. The converted infielder is trying to get his feet wet in left field but it's been pretty much a disaster so far and scouts say he should be plying his trade in Buffalo to figure things out.
Fernando Martinez is starting in left field for the fourth straight today for the Bisons in Rochester. Might the Mets be looking at a Murphy-Martinez flip-flop? Not likely. The Mets have adamant Murphy is not in danger of going down. Martinez is in a 1-for-15 rut and batting .243 for the Herd but He's looked good, especially on defense, and I wonder if he's getting tained at all by the Bisons' horrendous play.
The Mets should be loose today because Johan Santana is on the mound. This will be a treat. He's 3-1 with an 0.70 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings. And he's become just the third player in history to have an ERA under .075 and more than 36 strikeouts in his first four starts (Fernando Valenzuela, 1981 and Washington's Tom Cheney in 1963).
UPDATE: So much for loose. Santana gave up two earned runs in the first -- equaling the total of his first four starts. Cameron Maybin tripled, Wes Helms drove him in with a sacrifice fly and Jorge Cantu followed with his third homer in two days to put the Marlins up, 2-0. Yeesh.
---Mike Harrington
April 29, 2009 - 12:00 PM | Comment
NEW YORK -- So I'm walking around outside Citi Field and they have one of those huge buy-a-brick walks that most every place has nowadays. Started reading a few and noticed this one below in about three seconds.
A message to whoever you folks are back home: Check out your brick. You got a prime location right outside the main entrance in front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Nice. Now if you could only do something about your team's clutch hitting, its starting pitching or its Triple-A team.
---Mike Harrington
NEW YORK -- I'm at Citi Field on a multi-task assignment and one of the tasks was to talk to Tony Bernazard, the Mets vice president of player development, about what in the world is going on with the 2-15 Bisons.
(Oddly enough, while I'm in Flushing, Bernazard was starting to head back from Rochester where he had been meeting with the Bisons!)
Like Buffalo GM Mike Buczkowski said last week, don't think for a second the Mets are happy about what's going on with the Herd. Bernazard told me Tuesday afternoon that the Mets expect a lot more from the club and want to see some quick improvement.
Read the full story of Bernazard's reaction here.
"We're very disappointed as an organization. The whole Mets organization is disappointed that this has to happen like this," Bernazard said. "We are doing everything possible to change it around ... This team is not as bad as this. We're in a collective slump and we're trying to bring in some players who can help us."
Wily Mo Pena was scheduled to make his debut in the Buffalo lineup Tuesday although Bernazard was leaving Frontier Field because he figured correctly that the game would be rained out. The Mets are still looking for outside help. They shuffled some players between Buffalo and Double-A. Veteran infielder Ramon Martinez is about two weeks away from coming off the disabled list. Catcher Omir Santos, who belted a grand slam for the Mets last night, could be back with the Herd by Sunday.
So Bernazard says to sit tight. This team is terrible but you can't argue the fact the Mets signed players with a track record who are simply underachieving and that the new parent is trying to do something about it.
What did they say across the parking lot here at turned-to-dust Shea? Ya Gotta Believe. But, wow, it's tough to believe anything about the Herd so far this year.
---Mike Harrington
In today's story on the latest Bisons loss, I had to spend most of my time and space dissecting the performance of Freddy Garcia, whose career looks just about over. Given a night to sleep on it, I would say the four-game series the Bisons dropped to Syracuse was the worst one I've ever seen in the history of Coca-Cola Field. And the numbers back me up.
---The Bisons got outscored, 21-6, and were outhit, 39-21. Yes, they had just six runs and 21 hits in four games!! Syracuse hit .287 in the series, Buffalo hit a paltry .168.
---The Bisons scored runs in just three of their 36 at-bats. They had five of their six runs and six of their 21 hits in the series in the first and second inning Saturday. And even that wasn't good enough as they blew that 5-0 lead and lost, 6-5.
---The Bisons had a lead in that game for five innings. That's the only time in the series they were ahead.
---In seven games overall against Syracuse this year (all losses of course), the Bisons are batting .187 and have been outscored, 37-11. The Chiefs' pitchers have a 1.57 ERA in those games while Buffalo's is at 4.95.
---Season stat Hall of Shame updates: Buffalo is batting .196 as a team. The Bisons are batting .180 with runners on base, .163 with runners in scoring position and a Little League-like .108 (7 for 65) with runners in scoring position and two out.
Maybe a change of scenery will do something. The Herd is 1-11 at home and plays its next two at Rochester, where the Red Wings are 6-10. Both teams are 1-9 in their last 10 games. The Bisons have never had a non-September month with fewer than eight wins since moving downtown but that's already been assured.
They are 2-15. They are 13 games back. The season is essentially over before it ever really got started.
Thanks for nothing, Mets.
---Mike Harrington
How bad is the Buffalo Bisons' offense? A guy just signed as a free agent who joined the team today is batting cleanup for tonight's series finale against the Syracuse Chiefs. Mike Lamb, who has 936 big-league games under his belt, is batting fourth and playing third base for Buffalo. Lamb has 69 home runs in the majors, with a career-high 14 for Houston in 2004.
It's kind of a reunion from the 2005 World Series with Lamb, a former Astros infielder, making his home debut along with starting pitcher Freddy Garcia, the White Sox ace that season. Lamb, in fact, doubled off Garcia in Game Four of the series, the 1-0 Chicago win that wrapped up a sweep. Garcia pitched seven shutout innings and got the win.
This is just Garcia's second start for the Herd but it's a big one. The Mets are desperate for some help in their rotation after Oliver Perez blew up Sunday against the woeful Nationals at Citi Field. Garcia is coming off shoulder surgery and his velocity is a huge question mark but a good outing or two could lead to a quick call to the big leagues.
Also tonight, Nick Evans is back in the lineup at first base after sitting out two games because he's mired in a 5-for-53 abyss to start the season. Jose Coronado, who is 5 for 52, is back in at short. He's also been out of the lineup for two days but pinch hit yesterday. Don't like this one because Jonathan Malo is 5 for 11 in this series and 7 for 18 this year against Syracuse but he's on the bench tonight. Malo is 5 for 41 against the rest of the IL so the Herd should have run him out there again tonight.
The Bisons are 0-6 this year against Syracuse, the new Washington affiliate. Gotta think the folks who run the Chiefs are laughing up this whole situation. Can't blame them a bit. The Herd has been pathetic while the Chiefs have won eight out of nine and have looked good doing it.
Here's the Buffalo lineup:
Cory Sullivan, cf
Andy Green, 2b
Fernando Martinez, lf
Mike Lamb, 3b
Nick Evans, 1b
Jesus Feliciano, rf
Robinson Cancel, c
Jose Coronado, ss
Freddy Garcia, p
---Mike Harrington
The Bisons have the video up for all to see on their Web site that shows how the umpires botched the key rundown in Sunday's 4-0 loss to Syracuse.
Go here to check out the replay. You plainly see Sullivan at third and third-base umpire Paul Conley giving the safe sign. Brutal.
---Mike Harrington
The 2-13 Bisons -- already 12 games out in the IL North -- try to do something to fix some ugly numbers as they again meet the Syracuse Chiefs in Coca-Cola Field. Here's a rundown:
1). The Bisons' starting pitchers are 0-7 this season
2). Buffalo is 1-9 at home
3). The team batting average is .202, the offense has scored 44 runs and homered just seven times -- all IL lows.
4). The Bisons are 0-5 against Syracuse, which has to have the folks who run the Chiefs laughing heartily after all the acrimony last fall over which city would land the Mets. Looks like Syracuse is heaving a sigh of relief thus far.
Here's Buffalo's lineup today:
Cory Sullivan, cf
Andy Green, 3b
Fernando Martinez, lf
Michel Abreu, 1b
Jason Cooper, rf
Rene Rivera, c
Jonathan Malo, ss
Argenis Reyes, 2b
Dillon Gee, p
UPDATE: Apologies for missing the start of the game. An Upstate-wide Internet outage was affecting the ballpark but was just fixed. The Bisons' troubles, however, have not been. Dillon Gee's third pitch of the game was crushed by Chiefs leadoff man Freddie Bynum to the roof of Heron's Landing, giving Syracuse an early 1-0 lead.
---Mike Harrington
