Inside Pitch

Around the horn, Sunday edition

----Give it up for former Canisius College pitcher John Axford, who's made four September relief appearances for the Brewers this month to cap the long road back from Tommy John surgery. Had a great phone interview with Axford Thursday as he's the subject of Sunday's Inside Baseball column. The 26-year-old Canadian, who pitched for the Griffs in 2006, started this season in Class A ball and made it all the way to the majors in five months!!

---Andy Pettitte and the Yankees go for the AL East clincher today at 1 against the Red Sox (it's on ESPN).

---The real intrigue starts Monday in Detroit, when the Twins and Tigers start a four-game series that's the only division race left. Meanwhile, the NL wildcard is still in play because the Braves have gotten red-hot. The Rockies are suddenly only 2 1/2 games in front and the Braves have a huge edge in the schedule.

The Braves play one more today at hapless Washington, host Florida for three and finish the year with four at home against the Nats, who are going to lose at least 105 games. The Rockies, meanwhile, might catch a break with the post-clinch hangover Cardinals today. They're off Monday, then open a three-gamer in Denver against the Brewers on Tuesday. They finish with a three-gamer at Dodger Stadium.

Astros call on member of Buffalo Hall

Some odd news late Monday afternoon out of Houston: The Astros have fired manager Cecil Cooper with just 13 games left in the season and have replaced him on an interim basis with third-base coach Dave Clark (right), the power-hitting outfielder who played for the Bisons in 1984, 1987 and 1992 and was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame last summer.

Highly respected Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice says Cooper lost the clubhouse a long time ago and Clark should have gotten the chance much earlier. Usually, you don't fire a manager this late in the season when you're going nowhere but the Astros are 70-79 and coming off an 0-6 road trip. Maybe this is a mini-audition for Clark.

Strangely enough, Clark will be replaced at third base by another former Bison, ex-Herd shortstop Al Pedrique. Clark is a highly respected manager for Houston's Double-A club in Corpus Christi (2005-07) and Triple-A Round Rock (2008). Cooper, the former Red Sox and Brewers first baseman, was a pretty surly type from my dealings with him when he managed Indianapolis. Clark has a reputation for being a solid communicator with players young and old.

Clark, now 47, has a unique distinction in Buffalo baseball lore: He is the only player to play for the Double-A Bisons, the Triple-A Bisons in War Memorial Stadium and the Triple-A team downtown in what's now Coca-Cola Field. 

His 1987 season in the Rockpile's farewell year ranks as one of the best in franchise history. Clark's average of .340 is a modern-era record that still stands and was the highest by a Bison since 1952. He added 30 homers, 80 RBIs and whopping numbers in slugging (.621) and OPS (1.034) that have yet to be matched. You can see Clark's full career stats here.

---Mike Harrington

(Photo: Associated Press)

Around the horn: Ratings roulette

A reminder that my weekly power ratings are done through Thursday's games (on the theory that a new series starts on Friday). I give you that once-in-a-while reminder because I would have certainly put the Twins a little higher up this week if I was doing them at, say, midnight on Saturday.

Whereas it looked like every division race was basically over at the start of the week, we suddenly have a hot one in the AL Central as Minnesota is just two games behind the suddenly skidding Tigers after back-to-back victories over Detroit. A fly ball lost in the Metrodome roof (what else?) keyed a five-run fifth Saturday in the Twins' 6-2 win. And this is all happening wtih Justin Morneau and Joe Crede apparently gone for the year with injuries.

As for the rankings, it's certainly easy to put the Yankees at No. 1. But Nos. 2-6 remain quite a mess. This week, it went Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, Phillies, Cardinals and only the Halos were in the same spot as last week. Pretty unusual for this time of year.

In other diamond doings:

---No Inside Baseball column just for this week due to a double dose of Bills chats and Sabres training camp. We'll be back starting next week and running all the way through the World Series.

---If you didn't stay up to see the Yankees' 10-1 victory in Seattle, they got a huge scare when CC Sabathia took a Franklin Gutierrez line drive to the chest. He was OK but it was a couple inches here or there from a potentially dramatic turn to the Yankees season and some serious damage to their big-money ace. Check out the video here.

---It's Durham (Tampa Bay) vs. Memphis (St. Louis) in Tuesday's Triple-A National Championship Game in Oklahoma City. Formerly known as the Bricktown Showdown, the game will be televised at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

---Cleveland's Double-A team, the Akron Aeros, won the Eastern League title in four games Saturday with a 10-6 win over Connecticut (San Francisco). Lots of nice prospects going up to Triple-A next season for the Tribe. Too bad they're still not coming to Buffalo.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Durham bullish on Governors' Cup again

It took 12 innings and more than four hours but the Durham Bulls completed a three-game sweep of the International League's Governors' Cup finals with Thursday's 3-2, 12-inning win at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Tampa Bay Rays have consistently put good teams in Durham since the Bulls came into the IL with the Bisons in 1998. Durham has won three titles (2002, 2003, 2009) and lost in the finals four other times (1998 to the Bisons, 1999, 2007 and 2008). Pretty remarkable deep playoff runs. When the Rays finally broke through last year it was no surprise because of all the great players who have been in Durham over the years (topped by Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton). Eventually that winning feeling had to translate up top.

The Yankees scored only four runs in the series as IL MVP Shelley Duncan was called up to New York at the start of the playoffs. Seemed like a pretty unnecessary move given how the parent Yankees are in no trouble in the AL East and really don't need Duncan.

Durham plays the PCL winner in Tuesday's Triple-A National Championship Game in Oklahoma City(formerly the Bricktown Showdown). Memphis leads the PCL finals, 2-0, heading into Game Three tonight in Sacramento.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Brewers give ex-Griff the call

Former Canisius College pitcher John Axford made some school history Monday night when he was called up to the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen from Triple-A Nashville. Axford, who started his career at Notre Dame before transferring due to Tommy John surgery, is believed to be the first Canisius player on a major-league roster since the infamous Billy Goeckel played 37 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1899 (yes, 1899).

Axford, 26, had a meteoric rise this year through three levels of the Brewers' chain, totaling a 9-1 record, 2.77 earned-run average and 89 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings. He was at Class A Brevard County (4-1, 1.63 in 19 games), Double-A (0-0, 3.52 in four games) and Nashville (5-0, 3.55 in 22 games).

The Simcoe, Ont., native was planning to play for Canada in the World Cup when the Brewers pulled back his permission to play in the tournament. Axford played for Canisius in 2006 and his numbers (3-8, 5.08) show that he was certainly on the road back from surgery, although he did have 75 strikeouts in 70 innings. He has reportedly pushed his fastball up to 97 mph in Triple-A this season.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Let's make a deal

Who got the best deal at the deadline?

Who got the best deal?

• Pirates (a bunch of prospects)
• Phillies (Cliff Lee)
• Cardinals (Matt Holliday)
• White Sox (Jake Peavy)
• Twins (Orlando Cabrera)
• Red Sox (Victor Martinez)
• Other (tell us with a comment)
• Dodgers (George Sherrill)
• Giants (Ryan Garko, Freddy Sanchez)
• Indians (a bunch of prospects)
• Tigers (Jarrod Washburn)

Created on Jul 31, 2009

View Results

poll by twiigs.com

Around the horn: Perfection and more

---It's pretty easy to overlook this fact about Mark Buehrle's perfect game Thursday against the Rays: It moved the White Sox into a tie with the Tigers atop the AL Central. 

---Huge assist to Dewayne Wise's ninth-inning catch. Has there ever been a better play to save a no-hitter or perfect game? Especially in the ninth inning?

---Great Chicago Tribune column about the scene in the paper's newsroom and spots around the city as the gem was being completed.

---What do Buehrle, Randy Johnson and Sandy Koufax have in common? Perfect game, no-hitter and World Series ring for same team. Pretty amazing company. Buehrle has 133 wins and he's only 30. What if he gets to 230-240? Wins another World Series? No one is getting to 300 wins anytime soon so that many not be the Hall of Fame standard anymore. Buehrle has enough. And don't forget his save -- yes, save -- in the 14th inning of Game Three of the '05 World Series in Houston either.

---The game lasted just 2:03 and Buehrle was on the mound for only 32 minutes of that according to ESPN. Amazing.

---Be sure to check out my column on crazed Mets VP Tony Bernazard, who still has his job as of this morning. Somehow. Daily News columnist John Harper says Bernazard may take GM Omar Minaya down with him or may take the fall for his right-hand man. Bergen Record columnist Bob Klapisch says the Mets need to cut the head off their snake.

---Folks in Binghamton are downplaying the incident in this report from longtime colleague Brian Moritz. Yep, the old the media blew it out of proportion trick.

--Five years ago today -- July 24, 2004 -- I was in Fenway Park covering a Yankees-Red Sox game. It was a Saturday afternoon FOX affair but it looked like a rainout. We were outside the Yankees' clubhouse at 2 waiting to get inside because we were told the game was off. So were the Yankees.

Red Sox players, however, implored the front office to work the field another hour. They did and the game was played. The Sox won it, 11-10, on Bill Mueller's walkoff home run in the ninth off Mariano Rivera that capped a comeback from a 9-4 deficit. But that's not what most folks remember. They remember this scene below, one of the most enduring from Boston's 2004 championship season:

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Bulletin: Bisons to play Scranton 'road' games in Syracuse

The Bisons are just 6-19 at Scranton's PNC Field since 2006 so they probably have no complaints about getting some games against the first-place Yankees out of the picturesque setting of Moosic, Pa. Looks like they're getting such a break.

The Herd's two games in Scranton Saturday night and Sunday afternoon have been moved to Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse due to ongoing problems with drainage in right field at PNC. The teams will play Saturday at 4 and Sunday at noon. The Yankees have had 11 postponements this season, and lost two games over the weekend on sunny days because the field at the 20-year-old stadium is swamped.

The parent New York Yankees sent their head groundskeeper in over the last couple of days to assess the situation. The drainage system needs to be replaced after the season but a temporary fix can be started now by moving Scranton's next four games. That would give the Yankees until July 16 before another home game is scheduled. Here is the team's official release on the move.

IL President Randy Mobley is not happy with the situation at all and made his feelings known to several Scranton media outlets, including this story in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.

Here's a video report on the situation from Scranton television station WNEP. Similiar strong words from Mobley in the piece.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Scranton finally plays, hits town after late night on its wrecked field

They actually played baseball Monday night in Moosic, Pa. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees swept a doubleheader from Pawtucket that ended at 12:22 a.m. because the first game lasted 11 innings and went 4 hours, 4 minutes. But even though the Baby Yanks got those games in, there's still huge concern about conditions at PNC Field.

International League President Randy Mobley weighed in on the issue in this Scranton Times story by esteemed colleague Chad Jennings. Some of you asked in yesterday's post where the Yanks could play and this story seems to indicate the options are Syracuse, Lehigh Valley and Binghamton if games need to be rescheduled.

Reading Shelley Duncan's Twitter space, it looks like the bus didn't pull into the Adam's Mark until about 6:30 a.m. today Yeesh. Maybe an exhausted opponent is what the Bisons need to finally do something at home. We'll see how things go when they meet the Yankees tonight at 7 in Coca-Cola Field.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

.500 is desperation time for Mets

The Mets slipped to .500 at 37-37 with Sunday's loss to the Yankees and the heat is rising in the clubhouse over GM Omar Minaya's inactivity on the trade market. The big problem here is how the Bisons and Double-A Binghamton both stink.

Daily News columnist John Harper is right on it this morning, pointing out there's no way to make a good deal if you have no chips to package. Post columnist Kevin Kernan bangs on Minaya too. Well deserved. And who on the Bisons is another team going to want? Jonathon Niese and Eddie Kunz for sure. Don't know who else.

Good friend and St. Bona grad Mike Vaccaro wonders what kind of shape the Mets' season will even be in when they return from this road trip to Milwaukee and Philly, with a makeup game thrown in Thursday at 12:30 in Pittsburgh. And when they get home, the Dodgers will be waiting. Yikes.

More Mets-Yankees coverage from today:

Fernando Martinez could be returning to Buffalo soon with his .169 average in New York.

Big night for Mariano Rivera, as his first career RBI (on a bases-loaded walk from K-Rod) and 500th career save capped the Yankees' sweep. Great Rivera appreciation shown here by the Post's Joel Sherman.  

Look for $36 million man Oliver Perez to make another rehab start with the Bisons sometime this week after he looked strong Sunday night for Class A Brooklyn. How about Friday night on BPO night? That would add some sizzle for what should be the usual full house.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

AP Photo: K-Rod can't believe he walked Rivera.