Inside Pitch

With Newark out, still no plan for Scranton/WB Yankees' home in 2012

We pause from the daily death watch for the Red Sox -- who look just about cooked after Josh Beckett couldn't beat the Orioles last night -- with this bizarre update on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

The Bisons' IL North rival, you may recall, announced last month they were likely going to barnstorm or at least find one predominant home in 2012 because PNC Field in Moosic, Pa., is being bulldozed and getting a $40 million renovation. The schedules have already been announced but no word where the team would play.

You'd think this would have all been arranged, rather than let the Baby Yankees have the league waiting. An announcement was supposed to come at last week's league meeting in Albuquerque but one never did. How come?

Turns out Newark Star-Ledger columnist Jerry Izenberg, a venerable veteran of New York City sports, uncovered a plan to have Scranton move to Newark for 2012 as a sort of reprisal of the famous Newark Bears teams the Yankees fielded there from  1926-1949. But according to Izenberg, the Mets balked, fearing a Yankees Triple-A team in Jersey would hurt them in Queens.

Negotiations between the teams have broken down and it appears the Scranton franchise is back to square one. Maybe the Mets have valid reasons and maybe they don't but that's really irrelevant. I can't believe the Scranton franchise and the International League have let this fiasco go on this way. 

Somebody better make a decision here. It's almost October.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Beltran, Grantland not so clutch

First things first. I really like Grantland, the new site from espn.com major domo Bill Simmons. There's a ton of great stuff. So much to read, so little time.

The other day I saw a story teased on the espn.com home page: "The Case for Carlos Beltran."

Part of the tagline for the story was a rewrite of the story's subhead, which reads: "The Giants' new right fielder has always been clutch — now maybe he'll be recognized for it."

As a Met fan, my knee-jerk reaction was, naturally: "WHUHHH!?!?!"

It was 2006, during the aftermatch of the epic October Storm that hit Western New York. It was Thursday, Oct. 19, and Game Seven of the National League Championship Series was that night.

As a Met fan, this Game Seven brought with it equal parts hope and an impending sense of anguish. If we win, it will be awesome, but it might even be a bigger relief that we didn't lose. That's because if we lose, it will not only be terrible, there will always be obnoxious Yankee fans who will remind us of it. Normally, I would spend an evening so momentous with two companions: my television and my couch.

Invite people over? What will they do when I start screaming at the TV? Or yelling at Tony LaRussa that he's not as smart as he thinks he is? Or holding my breath for inordinate amounts of time through at-bats?

But with skeletons of trees still strewn across streets and a groaning chorus of generators filling the darker-than-usual Northtown nights -- and my cable still out -- I had little choice but to head to Tully's on Niagara Falls Blvd. I went with a group of friends. We got a table. I told them the situation. I told them not to bother me. 

The game was tense. It was not that pretty. It was tied at 1-1 in the sixth when Scott Rolen hit a ball that scared me to death. That's because it looked like he got all of it. A "yeah!" came from a Cardinal fan somewhere in the Tully's bar area. Then, Endy Chavez made one of the greatest catches in baseball history, and I made sure the rest of Tully's knew about it as I let loose with a anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-louder "YEAHHHH!!!!!!"

We were going to win. Endy made the greatest catch ever. We were home at Shea Stadium, a hunk of concrete we loved even though everyone else said it was a dump. We had been down, 3-2, in the series, but now we were going to win.

Around the horn: Mets, Meals, mound magic

Lots of tasks cluttering my mind that include (gasp) a Bills column for Friday's paper. I'll have some thoughts on free agency, especially how Darcy Regier simply has a much easier road than Buddy Nix at this point in time. But there's never "out of time" when it comes to baseball and I've got a few thoughts here:

---Wish the Mets could have gotten more help for the '12 Bisons in exchange for Carlos Beltran. That said, the word is that Zach Wheeler is a solid pitching prospect and GM Sandy Alderson said today they went for one high-ceiling prospect (Wheeler was the No. 6 pick in 2009), rather than a package of three-lower prospects. Maybe he sneaks to Buffalo in the second half of next year. We'll see. 

---Wonder what, if anything, the Yankees do this week for pitching. Especially since Phil Hughes couldn't even beat the 17-loss-in-a-row Mariners in yet another game that showed the Yankees could use Felix Hernandez.

---How about a suspension when umpires make an obvious mistake? Can't think of any candidates offhand .... Can you, Jerry Meals?

---I love this MLB.com collection of calls on the Meals video from both teams' crews. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh's Greg Brown -- the former Bisons and Bills announcer -- goes utterly ballistic around 27 seconds. Classic.

---What a crazy couple of days in Syracuse. Columbus pitcher Justin Germano tossed just the fifth perfect game in IL history Tuesday over the Syracuse Chiefs but the Chiefs nearly got revenge Wednesday as Brad Peacock took a no-hittter into the eighth before a Beau Mills double broke him off. That was the only Columbus hit in a 2-0 Syracuse win. Crazy year in the Cuse. Ex-Bison Michael Aubrey had a four-homer game in June against Durham and now a perfect game.

---Courtesy of the Clippers, here's the final out of the perfecto and the clubhouse scene as Germano comes off the field.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

 

Bisons take game one, Lujan starts game two

The first home series win of the season is in sight for the Buffalo Bisons.

After opening today's doubleheader against Gwinnett with a 5-3 win, the Herd is now on a two-game winning streak and can take three of four from the Braves with a sweep this afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:35 p.m.

Valentino Pascucci's two-out grand slam into the Bully Hill party deck in right field highlighted a five-run fifth inning for the Bisons in the opener. Pascucci made up for his pair of errors in the first inning that allowed Gwinnett to take a 2-0 lead.

Bisons reliever Bobby Parnell, on injury rehab from the New York Mets, made his best appearance with the Herd. He pitched the final two innings, striking out three batters in a row at one point. Parnell ended the sixth with a 99 mph strikeout of Gwinnett catcher J.C. Boscan.

Starters for the Bisons in the nightcap will be:

Michael Fisher, 3B

Luis Hernandez, SS

Lucas Duda, LF

Pascucci, 1B

Fernando Martinez, RF

Bubba Bell, CF

Chin-Lung Hu, 2B

Raul Chavez, C

John Lujan, P

Lujan is making his first career start for the Bisons and just the eighth of his career (the last came in 2007 with Single-A Winston-Salem) as back-to-back doubleheaders have forced the Bisons to cobble together a staff.

---Jay Skurski

http://twitter.com/jayskurski

Rain washes out Pagan's rehab trip

As I write this at 7:17 p.m., the sun is shining at Coca-Cola Field.

The rain that preceded it, however, was too strong, thus postponing tonight's game between the Buffalo Bisons and Gwinnett Braves. It's the Herd's third postponement of the season at home in what has been a spring made for ducks.

The rainout also cost Bisons fans a chance to see Mets outfielder Angel Pagan take the field in a Buffalo uniform. Pagan was scheduled to bat leadoff and play center field for the Herd. Manager Tim Teufel said no decision has been made on whether Pagan will stay with the Herd and play Friday, or whether he'll rejoin the Mets for their series with Philadelphia.

The Bisons will make up the game as part of a doubleheader today, beginning at 5:35 p.m. The two teams will play two seven-inning games. Gates open at 5 p.m. and the team's Plaza Party will begin at that time.

Fans with tickets for today's game can exchange them for a comparable ticket to any future 2011 Bisons game (excluding special events). All exchanges must be made at the Coca-Cola Field box office.

---Jay Skurski

http://twitter.com/jayskurski

Pagan to hit leadoff tonight for Herd

Bisons manager Tim Teufel has got his instructions for tonight from Mets manager Terry Collins: get outfielder Angel Pagan as many at-bats as possible.

That means Pagan will hit leadoff as the Herd opens a four-game set with the Gwinnett Braves at Coca-Cola Field.

Pagan won’t be long for Buffalo; he’s expected to rejoin the Mets prior to their game Friday against Philadelphia.

He will start in center field on his brief one-game rehabilitation assignment as he comes back from a strained left oblique that landed him on the disabled list April 22.

“When they come down here [on rehab], we just get them ready,” Teufel said this afternoon. “In this case with Pagan, it’s a pretty easy thing to do. Stick him in the top of the lineup and let him do his thing.

“That came from TC [Collins]. He said, ‘hey just stick him in the leadoff spot, get him some at-bats and get him ready to come up here.’ ”

Pagan has played six games with the Single-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League as part of his rehab. With St. Lucie, he hit .261 (8-23) with a double, home run and two RBIs.

This will be the second time in his career that Pagan has rehabbed with the Bisons. The outfielder joined the Herd for a three-game stint, May 12-16, 2009, while recovering from offseason elbow surgery. He hit .286 (4-14) with two triples, two RBIs and two runs scored in those three games. In his Bisons debut on May 12, he hit a two-run, walk-off triple in the bottom of the 11th inning of a 4-3 win over Gwinnett.

 “He said he’s feeling really good,” Teuefel said of Pagan, who will not speak with the media until after the game. “He wants to be more aggressive with the fastball tonight. He’s able to hit breaking balls pretty good, he said, down in St. Lucie. Tonight is about seeing a little bit tougher competition, a little bit better ball movement. … This is a little bit closer to the big leagues than the Florida State League, so this is a good tune-up.”

The Bisons’ starting lineup looks like this:

Pagan, CF

Luis Figueroa, SS

Valentino Pascucci, 1B

Bubba Bell, RF

Michael Fisher, 3B

Jason Botts, LF

Luis Hernandez, 2B

Mike Nickeas, C

D.J. Carrasco, P

We’ll update each of Pagan’s at-bats tonight on the blog, as well as any weather information, so check back closer to game time.

---Jay Skurski

http://twitter.com/jayskurski

Fisher, Owen promoted to Bisons

---The Bisons announced that infielder Michael Fisher and pitcher Dylan Owen were promoted to the team. Fisher was with Double-A Binghamton while Owen was with Single-A Brooklyn. Also, Bisons outfielder Fernando Martinez was sent up to the Mets and pitcher Tobi Stoner has been taken off the Bisons disabled list and transferred to Single-A St. Lucie.

---Rodney McKissic

(www.twitter.com/rodneyjmckissic)

World Series: You make the call

Around the horn: Chapman hits 105!

Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman earned a slice of history last night by throwing the fastest recorded pitch in major-league history, a 105-mph heater -- yes, I said 105 mph -- in an eighth-inning at-bat against Tony Gwynn during the Reds' 4-3 loss at San Diego.

Here's the MLB.com highlights from Chapman's outing, including the 105-mph pitch. I love hearing the oohs and aahs in the crowd as each speed is posted on the left-field wall at Petco Park. The guy has thrown 74 of his 159 big-league pitches at or above 100 mph since being recalled from Louisville. Amazing.

Things are starting to sort themselves out in the National League races. The Phillies have won 11 straight after last night's 3-2 win over the Mets and their magic number is two to clinch the NL East. The Padres' win has them a half-game ahead of the fading Braves in the NL wild-card race. San Diego is a half-game behind San Francisco in the NL West after the Giants' 2-1 win at suddenly-fading Colorado. The Rockies have dropped five straight and are four out of the wild card with nine to play.

So much for the Yankees' 2 1/2-game lead in the AL East, huh? They've lost three straight, including Friday's 10-8 defeat to the Red Sox, and Tampa Bay has won three straight to go back up by a half-game. The Rangers, meanwhile, can clinch the AL West with a win today at Oakland.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

New York, New York: See the video as A-Rod (No. 608) and Duda (No. 1) go deep

Some longballs to remember Friday night courtesy of the Yankees and the Mets:

The Bombers were one strike away from dropping a 3-1 decision at Baltimore -- which would have been their ninth loss in 11 games. And they may have actually done that as Alex Rodriguez took a close 1-2 pitch for a ball. He then uncorked the next offering for a three-run homer that gave the Yankees a 4-3 win and, combined with a Tampa Bay loss to the Angels, put New York back in first place in the AL East.

Here' the Daily News recap on the game, including quite a mystery surrounding A.J. Burnett.

Meanwhile, the Mets lost an 8-4 decision to Atlanta but things are finally looking up for Lucas Duda. The Bisons' MVP, who was named the MVP of the entire minor-league system earlier this week, started his big-league career 0 for 10 and a disastrous 1 for 33. But he had two doubles on Thursday against the Pirates and cracked his first big-league home run last night.

Here's the video of Duda's shot. 

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)