In about an hour, the Buffalo Bisons will kick off an eight game homestand starting with a four-game series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
The Herd enters tonight's game 3.5 games out of the wild card playoff spot in the International League.
Pat Misch gets the start for the Bisons looking for his 10th win of the season. He is 0-1 in his first three attempts to grab win No. 10.
Tonight's Bison's lineup:
Luis Hernandez -- 2B
Justin Turner -- 3B
Lucas Duda -- LF
Nick Evans -- 1B
Fernando Martinez -- RF
Jorge Padilla -- CF
Ruben Tejada -- SS
J.R. House -- C
Pat Misch -- P
--- Amy Moritz
Somehow, the Bisons are still in the International League wild-card race (click here for the standings). But it sure doesn't feel like it. The standings say they're certainly in range, being 3 1/2 games out with 39 to play. But there are now four teams ahead of them after an 11-14 July and it's going to be very difficult to get back into contention.
Buffalo fell below .500 for the first time since Opening Day with Thursday's 11-8 loss at Columbus and the Herd is is 11-14 in July. Worse yet, the Bisons (52-53) are just 25-36 since May 23 as callups to New York and the injury to Mike Hessman have really hurt.
Louisvillle has soared to the top of the wild-card heap with a seven-game winning streak and a sizzling 20-6 mark in July. Syracuse has fallen apart with a 9-16 July and a nine-game losing streak.
The division races are just about over as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has a seven-game lead in the North, Durham has a 14-game lead in the South and Columbus is up by 9 1/2 in the West. The Bisons play their road trip finale tonight in Columbus and then open an eight-game homestand Saturday night at 7 against Lehigh Valley.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
Mike Hessman's nice game in his first Mets start Wednesday night -- topped by his two-run double in the first -- has led to a second straight start for the ex-Bisons slugger today. The Mets and Cardinals, who didn't finish their 13-inning game last night until 11:40 p.m, have a 12:10 game today and Hessman will give David Wright the day off and start at third base while batting fifth.
Hessman's double was a couple of feet shy of being a grand slam and started the Mets' long road back from the six-run hole starter Johan Santana dug them in the top of the first. Hessman then scored the tying run in the eighth on Ike Davis' two-run pinch single.
Here's a couple Hessman stories today out of New York. No new ground broken here if you've read our Bisons coverage all season but interesting nonetheless to see how quickly the Crash Davis references came out.
New York Times
MLB.com
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
(AP Photo: Hessman clubs his two-run double Wednesday night).
You can argue the best season ever put up by a Bison was Dave Clark's .340 campaign in the 1987 War Memorial Stadium swan song (.340-30-80-.621 slugging). Or maybe Al Martin's 1992 season (.305, 16 doubles, 15 triples, 20 homers, 20 steals). I'll take Jhonny Peralta's 2004 campaign over both of them.
Peralta was the International MVP six years ago for the champion Bisons, batting .326 with modern-era records of 181 hits and 44 doubles. He also had 15 homers, 86 RBIs and played decent shortstop. He was Buffalo's first MVP since 1961 and graduated to Cleveland, where he's been a starter at short and third for five straight seasons.
That run ended Wednesday night, when Peralta was traded to the Detroit Tigers. Peralta has three 20-homer seasons and three seasons of at least 78 RBIs in Cleveland but never really endeared himself to Tribe fans. The soft-spoken Dominican was average defensively at best and was a lightning rod for criticism because of some lax play at the field and at that plate, where he's having his worst year (.246-7-43). Still, he was 7 for 15 in the 2007 division series against the Yankees and homered twice against the Red Sox in the ALCS.
He's owed a $7.25 million option after this year so he's clearly a rental for the injury-riddled and reeling Tigers, who need infield help. Peralta, who is making $4.6 million, will have to pick things up the next two months if he wants to keep earning real money next year.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
(Photo: Associated Press)
I know the reasons for this but it's odd to yet again compare Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Here's A-Rod going for his 600th career home run -- something only six players in history have done -- and it really hasn't been that big a deal until he got to about 598.
When Jeter was pushing for his 2,722nd hit last season -- which, remember, was only a franchise record and nothing more -- it was celebrated like a monumental national event.
I know, I know. Steroids. Steroids. Steroids. I get it. But it's personality too. A-Rod has a certain smugness to him. The Yankees will always be Jeter's team and The Captain was breaking a record held by Lou Gehrig.
And A-Rod is about to join a club whose members also include No. 25 of the Giants whom we don't name here and Sammy Sosa. I get it.
What a shame our home run records mean so little nowadays. So odd. Just sayin'.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
CLEVELAND -- Lots of chatter in the press box here over a potential worst-case scenario for the Nationals: Stephen Strasburg was scratched from making his start tonight against the Braves and will be undergoing an X-ray and MRI exam on his golden right arm. Oy vey..
Nats GM Mike Rizzo made the call when he was told by pitching coach Steve McCatty and trainer Lee Kuntz (the trainer of the '97 championship Bisons, no less) that Strasburg wasn't able to get loose in the bullpen.
"I pulled the plug on it," Rizzo said. "Precautionary move. Erring on the side of caution, I just didn't want him to go out there when he was struggling to get loose in the bullpen pregame. There's no pain. There's no shooting pains or anything like that in the shoulder or elbow. He was just struggling to get loose."
The way this guy has been babied this year with innings and pitch counts, what will teams do now if he's hurt? Jeez.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: The Nationals say Strasburg's MRI was clean and he's day to day. Bet he sits for a couple weeks.
CLEVELAND -- In this season of no-hitters, another growing subplot is the (apparently) dangerous postgame celebration. Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan might need knee surgery after injuring his meniscus Sunday while doing the obligatory pie-in-the-face routine to Wes Helms following a Florida walkoff win. Combine that with Kendry Morales' walkoff home run/broken leg earlier in the season and you have yourself a funny afternoon pregame diversion.
The Yankees, of course, are the kings of pie so reporters crowded around piemaster A.J. Burnett before tonight's game against the Indians. It's all kind of funny at first glance but two serious injuries say otherwise too.
"I always try to somewhat think safety first -- unless I’m the one snapping," joked Burnett, who cut his hand recently punching a plastic wall ornament in the Yankees clubhouse. "We’re always thinking about safety. Even when I’m 'pieing.' "
Manager Joe Girardi said he has not issued any directives to his players to tone things down (Marlins skipper Edwin Rodriguez has banned his team from any more pies).
"It's a shame it happened that way," Girardi said of Coghlan. "AJ has had a lot of practice at it and seems pretty efficient at it. I want to be careful not to take the enthusiasm away. It's a fine line."
It will be all-ARod all the time again tonight as he's batting fourth and trying for home run No. 600 on his 35th birthday. He went 0 for 4 last night but showed no ill effects from getting hit on the hand Sunday against Kansas City.
"Alex is in pretty good shape for 35," Girardi said. "No problems with his back, his knees, just the hip. With the way conditioning is now, 35 is really younger than it used to be."
It's CC Sabathia on the mound against Cleveland's Josh Tomlin, just up from Columbus for his big-league debut. Hmmm. Starting tonight against the Bisons or making this start and possibly landing in the history books next to A-Rod. Quite a time for a debut.
"I know in the right situation, probably a lower-profile team would have been better for him [to debut against]," said Tribe manager Manny Acta. "But these guys are in the league too. Somebody has to face them today and it's his turn. Based on all we've heard about his makeup, it's not going to bother him."
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
CLEVELAND -- We're in the house for the opener of tonight's Yankees-Indians series (it's on YES at 7) and Alex Rodriguez is in the lineup trying for his 600th home run, despite getting hit by a pitch on the hand in his final at-bat yesterday against Kansas City.
"Hand's good, hand's really good," A-Rod said, brushing past reporters inside the Yankees clubhouse at about 4:40 this afternoon.
Some pregame chatter from the Bombers:
---"It's a lot, lot, lot of home runs," manager Joe Girardi said of No. 600. "A lot of production. It's being consistent and staying healthy. It's an amazing accomplishment."
---A-Rod has continued to produce even though he hasn't homered the last three games (he had three RBIs yesterday).
"Usually when you go for it, you don't get it," Girardi said. "It's just going to happen. ... He can't get away from it. People are screaming the flasbulbs are going off. He can't get away from it. But I would bet he'll get one more."
---One issue figures to be how the Yankees get possession of the ball. Girardi said he's hoping it goes into the Yankees' bullpen and joked about A-Rod maybe getting an inside-the-parker to save the club the trouble. It's not going to be a packed house here (probably no more than 25,000 or so). But that's an issue.
---In other Yankees news, Girardi said Dustin Moseley will start Thursday's series finale here instead of Sergio Mitre, who will move to the bullpen. CC Sabathia start Tuesday against Josh Tomlin, making his big-league debut and Wednesday's game is A.J. Burnett vs. Fausto Carmona.
---I chatted with Sabathia before the game about the state of sports in Cleveland for an upcoming column and he had plenty of thoughts on LeBron James' move to Miami
"He made the best decision for him to try to win a championship," Sabathia said. "Teaming up with those two guys (Wade and Bosh), they got a pretty good chance. I'm sure he's aware (that people say his legacy will be stained). and people making a big deal of that. At the end, he wants to win. If you have to have a 1 and a 1A, take that all day."
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
The Mets signed veteran catcher Michael Barrett as a free agent on June 29 and stashed him at Class A St. Lucie while he was getting in game shape. Barrett was called up today and added to the Bisons' roster for tonight's game against Toledo. He will form a solid tandem of veteran catchers with J.R. House, which certainly shows the Mets full intend to keep youngster Josh Thole in the big leagues.
Barrett only played 17 games in the Toronto system during an injury-plagued 2009 campaign and was a free agent heading into 2010. During his 12-year career with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Blue Jays, Barrett batted .263 with 98 homers and 424 RBIs in 1,054 major league games. He had three straight 16-home run seasons for the Cubs (2003-05).
Barrett is best known, however, for a pair of confrontations while with the Cubs. On May 20, 2006, he punched White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, sparking a brawl between the crosstown rivals. On June 1, 2007, he got into a dugout confrontation with pitcher Carlos Zambrano and got stitches in the lip after his pitcher punched him. There's a few pitchers on the Bisons' roster who could use a couple shots to the head the way they've been throwing lately.
The Bisons returned catcher Jean Luc Blaaquiere to St. Lucie and pitcher Dylan Owen has been promoted from Double-A Binghamton for the second time this year.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
Stayed up past 1 a.m. Thursday night/Friday morning for some full-moon baseball. Take your pick: It was the morose Mets sleepwalking through a 2-0 loss at Dodger Stadium or the reeling Red Sox pulling out an 8-6, 13-inning win at Seattle after blowing a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth.
The Mets are 1-7 on their West Coast road trip and, remember, should be 0-8 if not for umpire Phil Cuzzi's blown call at home Sunday in San Francisco. They're 7 1/2 out in the National League East, horrific Jason Bay was benched last night and the Jerry Manuel Watch is on again. GM Omar Minaya was in LA and said his manager was safe last night. Uh-huh. Hey Omar: Are you safe too?
The Mets, by the way, designated reliever Fernando Nieve for assignment and called up Manny Acosta from the Bisons after the game. Memo to Mets: Acosta won't help. Throws hard and straight and barely gets Triple-A hitters out. The Bisons have also put Andy Green on the (phantom) DL to make room for Justin Turner's return. Sure, Green will be listed with some injury but he looked fine getting three hits Wednesday night.
As for the Red Sox, their relievers are a bunch of phantoms. John Lackey was actually four outs from a no-hitter before Manny Delcarmen and Jonathan Papelbon imploded in the ninth. Among other things, Boston needs bullpen help if it has any hope of staying afloat in the AL East. At least the Sox get Josh Beckett back tonight.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
