The Buffalo News - Bisons and Baseball

Indy hangs on to edge Bisons

Sat, 25 May 2013 00:04:26 -0400

It was a fantastic start for Claudio Vargas. He retired the first 10 batters he faced with four strikeouts.

Then things started to get away from him.

And while the Buffalo Bisons rallied in the eighth, it wasn’t enough against a solid Indianapolis staff as the Indians hung on for a 6-5 win over the Herd before 6,090 at Coca-Cola Field Friday.

Vargas sat down the first 10 batters, then gave up a double off the centerfield wall to Alex Presley in the fourth. Then he surrendered a two-out, two-run home run to Matt Hague to break the scoreless tie.

The Herd responded in the bottom of the inning as starter Kris Johnson gave up a one-out single and then walked Mauro Gomez on four pitches. Andy LaRoche doubled to the gap in left center to cut the lead to 2-1. Gomez scored from third on a wild pitch from Johnson to tie the game.

In the sixth inning, Indianapolis surged ahead thanks to a lead-off walk and stolen base by Presley to work himself into scoring position. An RBI double from Hague gave the Indians a 3-2 lead. With the bases loaded, Vargas walked in a run to make it 4-2, ending Vargas’ outing.

Dustin McGowan didn’t fare much better in relief, giving up a bases-loaded single then an RBI groundout. By the end of the inning, the Indians had a 6-2 lead.

Vargas took the loss, his fourth in his last five starts, giving up all six runs on four hits with four walks in 5∑ innings.

“When we need a shutdown inning, we struggle with that,” Bisons manager Marty Brown said. “It’s a situation where you just want to go out there and be aggressive ... it is a little bit about focus and it’s about thinking about the pitch. You can’t get three outs with one pitch. So I think that’s the thing. The concentration has to get back to one pitch and make sure you execute a pitch at a time.”

In the eighth two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs. Ryan Langerhans drew a pinch-hit walk to bring in a run and cut the lead to 6-3.

Josh Thole came off the bench to pinch hit next and delivered a single up the middle which scored two runs and brought the Herd within one. With runners on the corners, Mike McCoy struck out to end the rally.

“They’ve got good arms,” Brown said of the Indianapolis bullpen. “They’re not scared to tell you from their dugout either. Right now, they’re feeling real good about themselves and I was proud of the way our guys battled to get something going in that inning.”

...

In the seventh inning with no outs, a runner on second and a full count, Felix Pie stepped out of the batter’s box. He reacted to something said to him from the Bisons’ dugout and started to angrily walk over. That’s when the teams spilled out of their respective dugouts.

There was a lot of talking and holding back but at the end of the scrum only Pie was ejected.

...

The series continues this afternoon (1:05 p.m., 1520) with a potential future big league pitching matchup.

The scheduled starter for Indianapolis is Gerrit Cole, the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011. He spent last year moving through the Pirates system, playing in Class-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona before making one start with Indianapolis. The 22-year-old top prospect is 3-2 with the Indians this season with an ERA of 3.75.

For the Herd, righty Josh Johnson will start as his Major League injury rehabilitation assignment continues.

The 29-year-old has been on the disabled list since April 29 with right triceps inflammation. In four starts with Toronto earlier this season, Johnson is 0-1 with an 8.86 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 19 innings of work.

Johnson, a two-time National League All-Star, was part of the 12-player deal between Toronto and the Miami Marlins. He won 15 games with the Marlins in 2009 and 11 in 2010.

...

Today’s game is “Dog Day at the Ballpark” where fans may bring their dogs to Coca-Cola Field. Dogs will be allowed in the pavilion area, on the right-centerfield berm and in the last two sections of the first-base side seating (Sections 126 and 128). Dogs and their owners are invited to be part of the Dog Parade, which will begin at the right-centerfield gate and proceed around the entire warning track before the game.

Leading the parade will be Phoenix, the Jack Russell terrier who was burned and abused by teenagers last fall.

email: amoritz@buffnews.com

Fallen confidence knocks Bisons’ Gose off track

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:34:19 -0400

Marty Brown didn’t hesitate to make the comparison again Sunday. Brown was managing in Buffalo in 2004 when Grady Sizemore continued his ascension up the Indians’ farm system. He was 21 years old and already considered a can’t-miss center fielder when he spent a season with the Bisons.

Sizemore, if you remember, had an abundance of talent with his speed and range in the outfield. He had a strong arm and was a complete hitter. Nearly a third of his 120 hits nine years ago were for extra bases, including eight homers. He could steal bases. His greatest strength, however, was his ability to compete. Anthony Gose is blessed with everything Sizemore had and more. If anything, perhaps he was born with too much talent. He hasn’t been through enough batting slumps to understand how to crawl out of them. He hasn’t learned the importance of getting the most out of each plate appearance regardless of the outcome.

He has had little experience in overcoming failure.

“It’s harder for Anthony than it was for Grady, but the talent is off the charts,” Brown said. “He runs better than Grady. He has more range than Grady. He has a better arm than Grady. Grady was a grinder. He never gave at-bats away. He wouldn’t fail the same way twice. That’s what made Grady, Grady. And that’s what Anthony has to learn.”

Before this season, failure was a foreign concept for the wonderfully talented 22-year-old center fielder from Southern California. Gose was on baseball’s fast track, ticketed for Toronto next year if he put together a good season with the Bisons. He instead has been confronted by the roughest stretch, and toughest test, of his career.

Suddenly, the same kid who landed on ESPN’s highlight reel after stealing home couldn’t get out of his own way. He was in a miserable 6-for-40 slump in 10 games before Sunday’s matinee against Charlotte in Coca-Cola Field. He was 1 for 4 with a walk in the Bisons’ 11-6 victory Sunday, leaving him with a .227 average through 40 games.

“Right now, I’m probably at the lowest point I’ve ever been in my career,” he said. “It’s been frustrating. It has felt like the longest month of my life, honestly. It’s part of baseball. They say everybody goes through it, but I see guys hitting .390 and it doesn’t look like they’re going through it. It’s definitely back to the learning stage again.”

Clearly, the Blue Jays weren’t overly troubled by his slump. Gose was promoted to the big leagues this morning. But he’ll need to swing the bat much better in Toronto than he did in Buffalo if he wants to stay in the majors.

How he responds over the next few months will determine the timeline on his big-league career. Now that he’s headed for Toronto, he needs out to figure out how to overcome inner demons that have shaken his confidence. It’s yet another necessary layer to stay in the majors and an integral part of the growth process.

Of course, there’s no easy way to mature. Often, major leaps are made when players are forced to overcome adversity. It takes time, sometimes a full season, sometimes more, sometimes never. First, he needs to get his head cleared. Then, he’ll need to start hitting the ball hard again. It will eventually lead to consistent production.

“Can I play? Yeah, I can play,” Gose said. “I’ve put myself into a hole mentally to where I have taken myself out of the equation. This is me battling, searching for what I need to do and how I need to do it. Out of 100 percent, it was 1 percent physical and 99 percent mental. I’ve beaten myself into a hole. Now, I’m trying to climb out of it.”

Gose batted leadoff Sunday. Two pitches into the game, the left-handed hitter opened too soon, swung at a pitch high in the strike zone and popped to short. He twice bounced out to second and did not hit the ball out of the infield. He picked up a single in the third with a drag bunt. When you’re in a slump, any hit is a good hit.

Sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Gose is a pleasant kid with a good sense of humor. He’s brutally honest with himself. He has big-league tools but would be the first to say it means nothing without production. He relied on his natural ability before this season, and why not? It pushed him through the minors and gave him a sniff of the big leagues last season with the Blue Jays.

“Look where tools got me – Triple A in Buffalo,” he said. “That stuff is overrated. That whole prospect stuff, they can save it. It’s all a gimmick. Hey, you either perform or you don’t. Right now, obviously, I’m not. Things change. It’s easy to read into a guy’s numbers and say he’s this or he’s that. It’s a big waste of time.”

Now comes the hard part. Baseball came so easy to him that he didn’t need the same work ethic as others to gain the same results. His quick bat covered deficiencies in his swing and poor pitch selection. He really didn’t know himself as a hitter and never really had a plan when stepping into the batters’ box.

It had seemed too simple.

And it was.

Gose didn’t just fall into a hole. He grabbed a shovel, dug it himself and slipped into a burlap sack. He allowed a four-game hitless streak to seep into his head, essentially talking himself into the slump that lasted three weeks. His biggest problem was drawing up an exit plan because he never needed one.

Gose hit .286 with 10 triples last season in the Pacific Coast League. He was hitting .309 through his first 14 games this season before inexplicably going into a funk. Lately, he’s been simply trying to put his bat on the ball after striking out 15 times in 36 at-bats before Sunday. Earlier this month, he struck out four times twice in a four-game stretch.

His toughest opponent isn’t pitching.

Lately, it’s been himself.

“To some degree, that’s what keeps guys out of the big leagues,” he said. “I could have all the talent in the world, but if I’m not there mentally it’s never going to show up on the field. That’s what’s happening lately. I’ve beat myself down so bad that I haven’t given myself a chance to play on the field.”

email: bgleason@buffnews.com

Video: 'Bucky & Sully Show'

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:13:25 -0400

News Sports Columnists Bucky Gleason and Jerry Sullivan host a live weekly show at 10 a.m. on BuffaloNews.com. Here is a replay of this week's show:

Golf banter:

On Bills OTAs and EJ Manuel:

On Pettine's approach:

On Mario Williams' mental state:

On Bruins-Rangers:

On Tortorella/Richards:

On Pens surging:

On Blackhawks-Red Wings:

On King's Quick:

Math lesson:

On Lebron's winner:

Spurs the favorites?:

Athletes' generosity:

Recent firings:

Quick Hits:

Good Reads:

Bozos of the Week:

Germano’s struggles continue in Herd loss

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:45:42 -0400

If only Justin Germano could go back to 2012.

That’s when no one could figure out the right-hander who started the season with a 1.69 ERA on his way to being named to the International League All-Star Team. But on Thursday Germano dropped his third consecutive start as the Buffalo Bisons fell to the Indianapolis Indians, 7-3, at Cola-Cola Field.

Umpires were determined to finish this matchup between the Bisons, tied for first with Pawtucket coming into the game in the International League’s North Division, and the IL West Division-leading Indians. After a rain delay at the start that lasted nearly an hour, the teams played under a constant downpour.

The Indians (33-15) got to Germano early which has been a recurring theme since the start of the month. He suffered through his shortest outing of the season, giving up six earned runs on six hits in just three innings.

Germano, the club’s Opening Day starter, went 3-1 in April although his ERA was a not-so-flattering 6.65. That’s fine when the Bisons’ bats were producing runs as effortlessly as they did in April, but on nights like Thursday when the Herd couldn’t piece together any timely hits, he needs to pitch with more consistency.

He hasn’t won since April 22’s victory at Lehigh Valley, going 0-3 with a no-decision. After Thursday’s game, Germano’s ERA grew from 6.37 to 7.16.

“He pitched in better, I thought, the second time through but it was a matter of him locating all his pitches and allowing him to pitch ahead in the count,” Bisons manager Marty Brown said. “Anytime we’ve struggled with our rotation that’s been the problem.” ... Every pitch has to mean something.”

The Bisons found themselves in a hole early when Alex Presley parked an 0-2 offering from Germano into Bully Hill in left. Then with one on, Germano threw a belt-high fastball to Matt Hague and he crushed it over the fence in left-center to give Indy a 3-0 lead.

“When you’re not a hard thrower, there’s a small room for error,” Brown said. “Justin’s not a hard thrower. Dave Bush is not a hard thrower. Claudio Vargas isn’t a blower, but he pitches it 90 where those guys are pitching it 86. The mistakes that they make, they usually end up paying for them.”

“He was trying to get the balls inside to them and he couldn’t get them in there,” Herd catcher Josh Thole said.

The Herd sliced into the Indy’s lead quickly, pulling within 3-1 after one on Thole’s hit to center with runners at first and second.

Germano loaded the bases in the third and gave up a run when he plucked Brett Carroll with a fastball up and in. Then a pop up out of play summed up a frustrating night for the Bisons. Tony Sanchez’s shot went high in the air behind home plate and was caught in the lights. Jimenez appeared to have a beat on it at first then Germano ran toward the dish but the ball landed harmlessly behind Thole.

Sanchez hit a line drive to center that was caught by Sierra who had to jump to make the play. But he was charged with an error after his throw sailed wide of the plate and handcuffed Thole, allowing a run to score. Jerry Sands followed with a two-run single to center and the Bisons trailed, 7-1.

“I don’t think anyone saw it but it’s a play, you make that and nobody scores and you never know what’s going to happen after that,” Thole said.

The Tribe’s Gerrit Cole, one of baseball’s top prospects, is scheduled to pitch against the Herd at 1:05 p.m. Saturday. MLB.com ranked Cole the ninth best prospect in the minors.

Indianapolis 7, Bisons 3

The pitch: Germano loses his third consecutive game. ... Nanita homers in his Bisons debut. ... Thole hits solo homer.

Fast fact: The Bisons are 1-4 against the Indians this season.

Next game: 7:05 p.m. vs. Indianapolis at Coca-Cola Field (fridaynightbash!)

email: rmckissic@buffnews.com

Blue Jays’ Johnson will rehab in Buffalo

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:34:01 -0400

The parent Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday announced that right-hander Josh Johnson will have his major league injury rehabilitation assignment transferred to Buffalo on Saturday when the Bisons host the International League West-leading Indianapolis Indians at Coca-Cola Field.

The Blue Jays placed Johnson on the disabled list on May 2 retroactive to April 29 with right triceps inflammation. He made his first MLB rehab start with Single-A Dunedin of the Florida State League on Monday and allowed one run on three hits in three innings of work. He struck out five with no walks.

In four starts with the Blue Jays this season, Johnson is 0-1 with a 6.86 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 19 innings.

The Bisons, the IL North leaders, return to action against the Indians at 7 tonight at Coca-Cola Field (Radio 1520 AM).

The Bisons (26-18) are scheduled to start Justin Germano against Indy’s Brandon Cumpton.

Bisons rally after Romero’s strong outing deep-sixed

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:37:24 -0400

The Rebuilding of Ricky Romero made its Buffalo debut Tuesday night in Coca-Cola Field. And for the first time in a good long time, there was some good news to send to Toronto.

But only some.

Romero, the bedraggled former Blue Jays ace, put together by far his best five innings in three Triple-A appearances but got a no-decision in the Bisons’ 8-7, 10-inning win over the Charlotte Knights. After blowing a 7-1 lead, Buffalo won the game and earned a split of the four-game series on an RBI single down the third-base line by Andy LaRoche. He went 3 for 5 and drove in four runs.

Romero, the 28-year-old left-hander in a huge battle with his mechanics and mental outlook on the mound, had the six-run lead through five innings and recorded 11 groundball outs. He had walked just two men – after issuing 11 free passes over 7∑ innings in his first two starts.

Romero overcame adversity in the outing, yielding a trio of two-out doubles and allowing none to score while also being unfazed by a 15-minute rain delay. But some of the good feelings went away in the sixth inning when he walked the first four men he faced and threw just four of his 20 pitches for strikes before being relieved.

“A lot of groundball outs, which is good,” said Romero, a 15-game winner and All-Star in 2011. “It just shows the four-seamer and sinker are working, the change-up is working pretty good. I just got into trouble in the sixth inning and that’s a frustrating way to end the night and put the team in a hole there. The biggest thing right now is try to focus on the positives and not the negatives so much.”

Manager Marty Brown agreed. Take the first five innings and build off them.

“Overall it’s very positive and that’s what I told Rick, too,” Brown said. “You can’t look at that last inning and say the outing was a failure. It really wasn’t. I really liked what I saw. He’s on the right track. It’s more a mental thing than a physical thing. He’s got to work through it. With him, it’s one step at a time and I think tonight was a big step.”

Three of the walks in the sixth scored, leaving Romero with a final line of 5-plus innings, four runs on four hits, six walks and two strikeouts. His ERA with Buffalo dropped from 9.82 to 8.76.

He finished at 96 pitches and just 47 strikes after being at 49-31 through three innings.

Romero was clearly frustrated as he left the mound but still got plenty of applause from fans behind the first-base dugout in the crowd of 4,727.

“Nobody takes it harder than I do,” Romero said. “Because it’s something that I take serious and I prepare for every outing as hard as I can. It’s tough to sleep at night. The good thing is I’m surrounded by a bunch of great guys on this team and a great coaching staff.”

“He doesn’t want to let the team down, and not just the Toronto Blue Jays,” Brown said. “He doesn’t want to let our team down and that’s his mentality. Couldn’t have a better guy in the clubhouse.”

There were some 55-foot change-ups Tuesday but also just one baserunner apiece against Romero in innings 2-5.

“He fights himself. If he can avoid doing that, he definitely has the stuff,” said pitching coach Bob Stanley. “He’s in a big rut. Everyone has been there. I’ve been there.”

Stanley, remember, threw the historic wild pitch to Mookie Wilson and got the groundball that Bill Buckner booted to end Game Six of the 1986 World Series for the Boston Red Sox against the New York Mets in Shea Stadium.

The next year, the Red Sox turned him into a starter and he had a nightmarish 4-15 season before recovering to go 6-4 back in the bullpen in 1988.

What did he tell Romero about that experience?

“You just try to block everything out. Don’t read the papers,” Stanley said.

“Don’t listen to what other people say. Do your thing. Sorry about the not-reading-the-paper part. You can read it when it’s good. He’s had some great years. He is in a rut. He has to fight himself out of it.”

And not think about Toronto.

“I can’t really focus on what they’re thinking, what they’re going to do,” Romero said. “My job is to get the innings in and get quality outings. That’s the biggest thing.”

...

Prior to the game, the Blue Jays released veteran Miguel Batista (1-2, 8.36) and replaced him with Thad Weber, a waiver claim from San Diego who threw 2∏ innings of shutout relief Tuesday. Also, reliever Chad Beck (1-0, 9.45) has been placed on the disabled list and 31-year-old Dominican outfielder Ricardo Nanita was promoted from Double-A New Hampshire.

email: mharrington@buffnews.com

Jays show their faith in Gose

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:15:31 -0400

If Anthony Gose needed a confidence boost, he got one Monday morning.

The 22-year old outfielder was recalled by the Toronto Blue Jays and was a defensive replacement in their afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was a bit of a surprise move considering that Gose has struggled at the plate lately for the Buffalo Bisons, who dropped a 5-1 decision to the Charlotte Knights at Coca-Cola Field on Monday night.

In May, Gose was hitting just .200 (14 of 70). For the season with the Herd, he is batting .227 with 36 runs scored, two home runs, 12 RBIs and five stolen bases.

“It’s not necessarily what those numbers say on the board, because Anthony’s numbers aren’t great but it’s about the battle that you put in each and every at-bat,” manager Marty Brown said.

“You see what kind of energy Anthony brings to the table. We didn’t have a lot of it tonight. I don’t know whether that’s because Anthony’s gone or we just didn’t have somebody doing the same kinda things that he can do. So other people are going to have to step up.”

Brown got the call from Toronto at 6:30 a.m. Monday. Gose then went to Toronto in time for the Blue Jays’ 7-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. In the afternoon game, Gose replaced Melky Cabrera in left field in the eighth inning. He batted in the bottom of the inning, flying out to left.

Meeting with reporters in Toronto before Monday’s game, Gose said the last few weeks have been difficult for him.

“The early part of the month was rough for me, definitely,” Gose said. “Definitely mentally, definitely rough. I’d worn myself out mentally so bad that I made everything to be extreme.”

During the last two days, Gose has scored five runs to push his International League-leading total to 36.

“I’m delighted he got the opportunity to go up,” said Charlie Wilson, the Blue Jays director of minor-league operations who was in Buffalo for Monday’s game. “He had a good spring training and started off the year here very well. The last couple days, Marty and the staff have been really happy about everything with him, about his work ethic, his overall play. ... So it was good timing for him.”

In Monday’s game in front of 5,427 at Coca-Cola Field, Charlotte took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on two solo home runs from Jordan Danks and Lars Anderson. Angel Sanchez had a single in the fourth that drove in two runs to extend the lead to 4-0.

Buffalo got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single from Ryan Goins, but the Knights added another run in the eighth on another solo homer from Danks for a 5-1 advantage. Starter Dave Bush gave up four runs in six innings.

...

The series concludes tonight in Coca-Cola Field (7:05 p.m. Radio 1520 AM) with lefty Rickey Romero scheduled to start for the Herd (0-0, 9.82 ERA) against righty Simon Castro (0-6, 5.36).

email: amoritz@buffnews.com

Sierra clubs three hits in Bison romp

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:19:51 -0400

If it was only about talent and roster spots, Moises Sierra could be in the big leagues right now.

But it’s not about getting to the show: It’s about creating a major league career. That comes through consistency and maturity. And Sierra is slowly but surely learning those lessons.

The 24-year-old right fielder had a plan Sunday afternoon and executed it each time at the plate. He finished the day going 3 for 5 with an RBI and one run scored in an 11-6 victory by the Buffalo Bisons over the Charlotte Knights at Coca-Cola Field.

For the season, Sierra is batting .326 with 18 runs batted in.

But it’s not just about the numbers. It’s about being consistent.

“He’s a very talented player and really brings a lot to the table in all aspects; defensively, offensively, he’s got power, he can hit for average,” said Bisons manager Marty Brown, who also had Sierra on his club last year in Las Vegas.

“It’s a maturity thing where he’s consistent with his plan. He knows there’s a proper way to play the game. It goes off of common sense more than anything. Some people look at it differently. So he’s really trying to just mature his game. That’s all. He has the ability right now to be in the big leagues … but it’s about being consistent with his game plan every day.”

Has Brown seen signs of maturation?

“I see it. But I see times of immaturity as well,” Brown said. He’s 24 years old with all that talent and people telling him he’s good all the time. And he is good, but not all the time. Because he makes mistakes. But consistency is what takes you to the big leagues for a long period of time. You can get to the big leagues on just plain talent. A lot of guys do but we’re trying to make him get there and stay there.”

Sierra was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007. One of the two top prospects on the Bisons this season (along with Anthony Gose), Sierra made his major league debut last July 31. He was part of the club’s September call-up as well and hit .224 in 49 games for the Blue Jays.

Sierra kicked off this season helping his native Dominican Republic win the World Baseball Classic Championship. He made a highlight reel catch in a semifinal win over the Netherlands where he dived into the stands to make a catch.

He’s played well for the Bisons, making spectacular grabs and throws in right field and producing at the plate.

“I try to concentrate and help my team,” Sierra said. “I had a couple of good swings. That’s all you need, you know, to swing good. The thing is you’ve got to continue to work and that’s the key. Work.”

The key for the Herd on Sunday was better at-bats. They scored 11 runs on 14 hits and went 7 for 15 with runners in scoring position — a world of improvement over their 2-for-12 showing in the home stand opener Saturday night.

Charlotte took a 3-0 lead, but the Bisons answered with a four-run third inning. The Knights again took a lead, this time on a two-out, three-run homer by Blake Tekotte, in the fourth. But the Herd again answered, tying the game, 6-6, in the bottom of the fourth when Jim Negrych and Luis Jimenez each had two out, RBI singles.

A solo shot to center field from Ryan Langerhans in the fifth gave the Herd the lead for good. They pulled away by adding two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth.

Negrych went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and three runs scored, raising his batting average to .398. Jimenez went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs. Josh Thole and Langerhans also had multi-hit days.

“I think everybody had a better plan,” Brown said. “We had discussions about how to approach these situations and a lot of it’s mental more than physical. … The guys that have that plan going from the on-deck circle up to the plate and follow through with it are more successful than not. It was a good day.”

email: amoritz@buffnews.com

Bisons notebook: Rehabbing McGowan passes early test

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:01:06 -0400

It’s been a long and winding road for pitcher Dustin McGowan.

He was a first-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2000 and worked his way through the system to become a major league pitcher.

He made his big league debut July 30, 2005, and by 2008 was with the Blue Jays full-time.

But he missed three of the next four seasons with injuries.

Even with all those injuries, the 31-year McGowan isn’t ready to turn in his cleats. His rehabilitation process brought him to the Buffalo Bisons this weekend. He pitched one inning Saturday in the Herd’s 11-6 loss to Charlotte.

He threw just 11 pitches, six of them for strikes, getting the first two batters he faced to ground out and striking out the third.

“I thought he looked strong,” Bisons manager Marty Brown said. “He was down in the zone, a really heavy ball. I thought he pitched ahead in the count. He didn’t have anybody on base so we’ll have to see how he holds runners but I was really impressed with how he threw the ball. I mean he’s a pro. He’s been around. It’s just unfortunate he hasn’t been healthy over the last few years.”

Since 2008, McGowan has pitched only 21 innings in the big leagues. He missed all of 2009 recovering from debridement (fraying of the labrum) surgery. He missed 2010 after surgery to repair a torn right rotator cuff.

He returned to the mound in 2011 with rehab stints in Single-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire. In 12 combined starts he had a 2.80 earned run average. With Toronto in 2011, he went 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA in five games, four starts.

McGowan then missed all of 2012 with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

This year, he stayed in extended spring training and is looking to convert from starter to reliever. He used a weighted-ball throwing program to enhance his recovery so that he can pitch on back-to-back days.

The real concern for McGowan isn’t necessarily in his performance. It’s in the way he recovers.

“So far it’s been good. Everything’s been going good,” McGowan said. “The most important part is how I feel. That’s been key so far.

“It’s been quite a process. This year I had to find that way to bounce back, I guess you could say, after each outing. I felt good when I pitched but not so good two, three days after. It was just finding that way to get it to where I could pitch and feel good the next day. That’s been happening so far lately.”

“The main concern we have is we want to make sure Dustin gets an opportunity to be healthy,” Brown said. “Whether he needs two days off or whether he needs to go one inning at a time for a while, that’s what we’re going to do. But I think he’s got a bright upside.”

...

Sunday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays claimed righty Thad Weber off waivers from the San Diego Padres and assigned him to Buffalo.

The 28-year-old Weber started the season with the Triple-A Tucson Padres of the Pacific Coast League. In six starts he went 4-1 with 26 strikeouts and a 3.93 earned run average. In April he was promoted to San Diego, allowing two runs in nine innings of relief work over three games.

...

Todd Redmond made his first start after spending the first 41 games on the Bisons’ disabled list with a right shoulder impingement. He gave up five runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 3∑ innings and didn’t get a decision.

Chad Beck picked up the win, giving up one run on two hits in 1∏ innings with two walks and a strikeout.

...

Blake Tekotte and Gordon Beckham combined to drive in five of Charlotte’s six runs. … Sunday’s attendance was 8,720. … The series continues tonight (7:05 p.m., Radio 1520 AM) with the Bisons scheduled to start Dave Bush (4-3, 5.25) against Charlotte’s Andre Rienzo (2-2, 8.27).

email: amoritz@buffnews.com

Inside Baseball: Giants on track despite Toronto debacle

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:23:54 -0400

TORONTO — I don’t know who kidnapped those guys in the San Francisco Giants uniforms who came to Rogers Centre but it sure seemed like a two-game blip on the radar the way this season has opened for the defending World Series champions.

The Giants struggled for most of the 2010 season, which ended with their first Series title in 52 years out West. And they were 7½ games out of first place in their division last May before sweeping to their second Series crown in October in Detroit. This season has been a different story.

The champs look good right out of the gate, especially at home (15-7). They entered the weekend atop the NL West and with only St. Louis and Cincinnati owning better records among National League teams. The talk of a Yankees-like run of three titles in four years is certainly legitimate.

“It’s always good to get off to a good start but you have to remind yourself it’s just that, a start,” manager Bruce Bochy told this corner. “Sometimes it hasn’t been our best baseball and we know that. Our pitching hasn’t been quite as sharp as we’d like but guys have been doing a great job of grinding every day trying to find a way to win ballgames.”

The Giants were outscored, 21-9, in dropping the two games against the Blue Jays. Starting pitchers Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong got pummeled in the first inning as the Blue Jays batted around both nights to score 11 runs while the Giants were committing four errors.

“That’s unlike us,” Bochy said. “I can’t think back to when we had two games, identical games, where we made mistakes there in the first inning. The big number there killed us, took us out of our game. It’s hard to explain.”

The Giants hit the road Wednesday night for Denver and fell behind the Rockies, 6-0, in Thursday’s series opener. They then roared back to win, 8-6, beating the Rox for the 10th straight time.

At the plate, Marco Scutaro and Pablo Sandoval are both batting over .300 and Sandoval entered the weekend with seven home runs. So did Hunter Pence. Sandoval had 30 RBIs and Buster Posey had 25. The middle relief has been solid and closer Sergio Romo has converted 13 of 15 saves.

The starting pitching is the area of concern, and that’s where the Giants looked strongest on paper coming out of spring training. Tim Lincecum (4.07) and Matt Cain (5.43) both entered the weekend at 3-2 with poor ERAs. Vogelsong is 1-4, 8.06, the highest ERA among NL qualifiers. Bochy said Vogelsong, an all-star in 2011, will stay in the rotation for now.

Only Madison Bumgarner (4-1, 2.18) is pitching at or above what was expected at the start of the year.

“These guys are veterans. They’ve been around. They know what they need to do,” Bochy said. “If it’s something mechanical or something really out of sync, sure. We’ll help them. But it’s just more a matter of time and concentration too for these guys to get on track.”

The biggest thing Bochy said he liked about his team was its attitude. No complacency. No early-season boredom after the push through last October. Many of these players have now gone through two World Series and understand the long grind it takes to get there.

“They’re fighting hard. We have so much baseball left but I really like the attitude they have right now,” he said. “That’s play hard every day and try to find a way to win a game. You can look at all these guys and it seems like it’s somebody different most of the time doing something different to win the game for us. That’s been the way we’ve gone through it before.”Speaking of the Giants, they brought Melky Cabrera’s World Series ring to Toronto and presented it to him in a private meeting in the clubhouse tunnels with Cabrera and Bochy. The Giants skipper said that was Cabrera’s preference rather than an on-field presentation like teams often do for players who move on after a Series title.

After the game, however, Cabrera said it was Bochy’s decision to do the ceremony that way. Giants reporters jumped on Cabrera for that, pointing out he lied to them when asked about PED accusations last season a couple of weeks before his 50-game suspension.

The Giants, of course, never returned Cabrera to the roster for the postseason and he left town without ever acknowledging his teammates. His credibility rating isn’t the highest.Jordany Valdespin is part flash and dash and part spoiled brat. We saw it last year in Buffalo and so did the Mets. And the Amazins are getting a huge dose of it again this year. For a guy who can’t hit .250, Valdespin has an awful lot of mustard on his hot dog.

He pimped a pinch home run last weekend against the Pirates with the Mets in a 7-1 hole, drawing ire in both dugouts. The next day, he reportedly tried to get out of a pinch-hitting appearance fearing reprisal and finally strode to the plate with an elbow guard to take his plunking. He went quietly to first after he was hit but threw a dugout tantrum after the inning and didn’t talk to the media afterward, again earning no points in his own dugout.

Mets manager Terry Collins is certainly tiring of this bunch and a part-time player being in the middle of the New York maelstrom was a little much for Collins to take. Especially when talk radio lit up with fans complaining the Mets didn’t back a teammate.

“I don’t answer to fans,” Collins said in St. Louis. “They don’t play this game. They have no idea what goes on. They have no idea what goes on in there. They have absolutely no idea what it means to be a professional teammate at this level.”

Ouch. That’s just not going to end well for the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer in the lame-duck year of a contract. Especially if the Mets keep playing like, well, the Mets.The biggest-early season chatter in Philadelphia was about Roy Halladay’s drop in velocity that finally resulted in shoulder surgery on Wednesday. Another hot-button item is Ryan Howard’s alarming lack of speed on the bases.

Howard, remember, blew out his Achilles tendon with his swing for the final out in the 2011 division series against St. Louis and needed surgery. He struggled at times last year with his footwork, and the 33-year-old is regularly getting pinch-run for after manager Charlie Manuel did it just five times combined in 2010 and 2011 prior to the injury.

Said one veteran scout to the Philadelphia Inquirer: “It looks like he’s running on pieces of glass.”• Great Sports Illustrated cover story this week on Mets phenom and former Bisons ace Matt Harvey, who continues to prove how bored he was in Triple-A last year by the way he’s throwing in the big leagues. Still, the story is also a lot of New York City hype early in the season. There are other young pitchers thriving too and Harvey doesn’t get that kind of pub if he pitched in, say, Milwaukee. Let’s talk again in July before anointing him some kind of Dark Knight of Gotham. Yeesh.

• When the Indians beat Justin Verlander last weekend in Detroit, it gave them a stunning 6-1 record this season against former Cy winners. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 2013 Tribe is the first team ever to do that prior to June 1. The Indians have beaten Verlander, Toronto’s R.A. Dickey, Tampa Bay’s David Price, Philadelphia’s Halladay and Cliff Lee, and Oakland’s Bartolo Colon. The lone loss was to Jake Peavy of the White Sox.

• All-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson is a fan of Louisville center fielder Billy Hamilton, who leads the International League in steals one year after setting the all-time single season record in 2012 with 155 between Class A and Double-A. Said Henderson to the San Francisco Chronicle: “He reminds me so much of me, I had to go hug him. At Stockton, we did everything to stop him, but he’s just going to steal when he wants to.”

• The Gwinnett Braves snapped a 14-game losing streak with last Sunday’s 7-6 IL win at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which broke an 0-10 run in May that included Jason Heyward’s rehab stint. Too bad the Bisons didn’t catch them in their cold spell. Buffalo meets Gwinnett eight times in a 12-game span from June 17-28. And get this: The G-Braves had a 15-game skid last year. Ouch.

email: mharrington@buffnews.com

Power rankings for May 19

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:23:24 -0400

(Through Friday night’s games, last week in parentheses)

1. Texas Rangers. Solid starters, incredible pen. You pitch, you win. (3)

2. St Louis Cardinals. With Motte down, ex-Bison Mujica is 11 for 11 as the closer. (2)

3. New York Yankees. Thanks to Pettitte, Google and WebMD get a run on “trapezius.” (4)

4. Cincinnati Reds. Old friend Phillips takes over NL RBI lead. (14)

5. Boston Red Sox. Major elbow surgery is tough news for Hanrahan. (6)

6. Pittsburgh Pirates. Snider’s 458-foot bomb bounces into the Allegheny. (15)

7. Baltimore Orioles. Incredible to think Machado can bat .340-plus and still be 20. (5)

8. San Francisco Giants. Champs’ game never got across border en route to Toronto. (8)

9. Cleveland Indians. Reynolds mashing like his glory days in Arizona. (11)

10. Detroit Tigers. Verlander blew up in showdown with Darvish. (7)

11. Atlanta Braves. Played 26 of first 40 on road and still led NL East. (1)

12. Arizona Diamondbacks. Corbin is club’s first lefty to open 6-0 since Big Unit. (9)

13. Kansas City Royals. Won series in Anaheim. Everybody does these days. (10)

14. Colorado Rockies. Blowing 6-0 lead no way to start series vs. Giants. (12)

15. Washington Nationals. Memo to Harper: WALL APPROACHING! (13)

16. Minnesota Twins. This is one of Gardenhire’s best managing jobs to date. (16)

17. Seattle Mariners. Ibanez picked up in Bronx where he left off in October. (21)

18. Tampa Bay Rays. Major crisis with Price headed to DL. (19)

19. Oakland Athletics. Losing touch with Rangers. (17)

20. Philadelphia Phillies. After surgery, hope is Halladay is back in August. (23)

21. Chicago White Sox. Slow start no real issue in ultra-tight AL Central. (24)

22. San Diego Padres. Shut down in Strasburg’s homecoming. (18)

23. Toronto Blue Jays. Dickey vs. CC today in the Bronx. (27)

24. Los Angeles Dodgers. Who goes first in Tinseltown: Mattingly or Scioscia? (25)

25. Chicago Cubs. New contract makes Rizzo the building block. (26)

26. Milwaukee Brewers. Segura a huge bright spot in rollercoaster season. (20)

27. New York Mets. Dysfunction Junction. Poor Collins. (22)

28. Los Angeles Angels. See what happens when you turn the press box into luxury suites? For shame. (28)

29. Houston Astros. Reid Ryan a solid choice for new club president. (29)

30. Miami Marlins. Last week, they got relegated in this space. Go one more. Contract them. (30)

Pitching woes doom Herd, again

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:22:32 -0400

The problem as Marty Brown sees it is that his team needs to have a better plan, and stick with the plan.

The Buffalo Bisons certainly need something better to happen from its starting pitchers. The Herd’s rotation has been inconsistent as its earned-run average has blown up in May.

Saturday night, it was Claudio Vargas who struggled, giving up six earned runs in three innings during an 11-6 loss to the Charlotte Knights in front of 7,486 at Coca-Cola Field.

That brings the Bisons starters’ ERA to a horrendous 7.88 for the month and 5.85 for the season. It was the fourth time in the last seven games Buffalo has given up double-digit runs.

The damage came in the third inning when Vargas allowed six runs as the Knights took a 7-1 lead. Back to back singles led off the inning, and a deeply hit ball to centerfield by Carlos Sanchez scored a run that broke the tie. The Knights added runs on an RBI double from Jordan Danks, a ground out by Lars Anderson, an RBI single from Angel Sanchez and a two-run home run by Bryan Anderson.

“Tonight, the second time through in that third inning he got some balls up over the plate and pitched a little bit more behind in the count than he has,” Brown said. “I think maybe he’s got to regroup and figure out what he needs to do to get that command back that he had four or five starts before that.”

Brown noted that starters Justin Germano and Dave Bush have pitched well in spots and that Vargas started the season well. He also noted that they’ve gotten some solid performances from the bullpen.

“I look at Germano and last time out he pitched well. And then Bush would pitch well and have a couple bad ones,” Brown said. “It’s just some inconsistencies I think. Overall I think our bullpen has done a pretty fair job. … There’s a lot of positives in our bullpen, it’s a matter of our starters going out, having a game plan and following through and being able to understand that they have to stick with that thing. If they don’t have command of that fastball early, they’re going to have to come to it and get command of it.”

The lack of a plan also frustrated Brown offensively. The Herd managed five hits but went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position as the team returned to Buffalo after an eight-game road trip.

“I just don’t think we had a very good plan today,” Brown said. “We didn’t have a lot of focus. Everybody’s a little bit tired from the road trip we had … but our plan wasn’t real great and we all talked about that and I think we’ve got to better at it.”

Part of the Herd’s struggles came against Charlotte starter John Danks.

The 28-year old major leaguer might have made his last rehab start. He gave up only two hits, but one of those came after he walked three straight to score two runs. That two-run single to Luis Jimenez ended Danks’ outing.

Danks has 57 big-league wins for the Chicago White Sox, but had shoulder surgery on Aug. 6 last season and is working through a rehab stint.

On Saturday, he gave up three runs (two earned) on two hits in 4∏ innings with four walks, five strikeouts and two hit batters.

The Herd got one run in the first inning when, with one out, Danks hit Anthony Gose and Moises Sierra. Luis Jimenez grounded to second, but an error on the first baseman allowed Jimenez to reach safely while Gose scored from second, tying the game.

In the fifth, Danks issued three straight walks with one out. Jimenez’s two-run single pulled the Herd within 7-3

The Knights got on the board in the first inning. Gordon Beckham’s hit to left field was a single but he took third on an error by Eugenio Velez after he slipped trying to play the ball. Danks had a soft hit to third and he beat the throw, allowing Beckham to score for a 1-0 Charlotte lead.

In the sixth, Bryan Anderson hit his second two-run homer of the game for a 9-3 lead. Reliever Jeremy Jeffress gave up a bases-loaded walk as the lead ballooned to 10-3.

A solo shot by Velez with two outs in the eighth made it 10-4 and the Herd rallied in the ninth, scoring two runs on a single by Andy LaRoche but Jim Negrych grounded out to end the game.

Negrych went 0 for 2 with a pair of walks and a strikeout. That dropped his batting average to .393 – the first time it has dipped below .400 all season.

email: amoritz@buffnews.com

Ballpark treat faces national food challenge

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:14:17 -0400

Time for a good, old-fashioned food fight. With a social media and technology twist of course. And a healthy dose of civic pride.

For the next week and a half, fans can vote on the best ballpark food in minor league baseball. The Buffalo Bisons have put up their fried bologna in the scrumptious sandwich category. They are up against 16 other sandwiches in the category.

To vote, fans can go online at www.milb.com. Fans can also vote on Twitter by including #FoodFight

Fans can go to www.buffalobisons.com and print out a coupon for a free soft drink with the purchase of a fried bologna sandwich this homestand. Showing your vote via Tweet at the ballpark’s guest relations center will also earn you a free drink.

Voting closes on May 29.

Other entries include Fang’s Venom Burger of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (two quarter-pound patties with Cajun seasoning, pepper jack cheese, salsa and jalapenos on a Kaiser roll); the Chukar Clukar of the Idaho Falls Chukars (chicken breast topped with hot sauce, cheddar cheese, French fries and chipotle ranch coleslaw) and the Knucksie of the Gwinnett Braves, which contains house-smoked pulled pork covered in two types of BBQ sauces served open-faced on skillet corn bread with pickles, caramelized onions and coleslaw. The Knucksie was created by former Braves pitcher Phil Niekro and fans who eat one are entered into a nightly drawing to win an autographed Phil Niekro baseball.

There are four categories in the Food Fight online event, sponsored by minor league baseball. Along with scrumptious sandwiches are gut busters, hogs ‘n’ dogs and local legends. Fans can vote in each category.

The most entertaining (and slightly disgusting) entries are in the gut busters category. There is the 5,000-calorie Fifth Third Burger of the West Michigan Whitecaps. On an 8-inch bun there is half a cup of chili, five one-third pound burger patties, five slices of American cheese, crushed corn chips, nacho cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and optional jalapenos.

Rochester put up its famous Garbage Plate with either two cheeseburgers or two hot dogs served over macaroni salad and home fries, covered in a meaty hot sauce and smothered in onions and ketchup or mustard.

The Norfolk Tides have a Salute to Pork Challenge that includes four pulled-pork BBQ sliders, four cajun-smoked sausages, 12 pork wings and back and chili cheese tots. If someone can eat the five-pound feast in one hour, the meal is free and they get four tickets to a future game.

In the Hogs ’n’ Dogs category is the VooDoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Brat of the Eugene Emeralds. The bratwurst is served in a Bacon Maple Bar doughnut.

The Local Legends category includes fried asparagus by the Stockton Ports, roasted corn of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and, from the Missoula Osprey, Bats and Balls, which are deep-fried bull calf testicles that are peeled, coated in flour, pepper and salt and pounded flat, and served with French fries.

...

Before the game, right-hand pitcher John Stilson was transferred to the Bisons from Double-A New Hampshire while righty Clint Everts was released from the club.

The 22-year old Stilson was drafted by the Blue Jays in the third round in 2011. He has made two relief appearances in New Hampshire this year with one save, six strikeouts and a 3.86 earned run average in 2∑ innings of work. Last season he had 30 appearances and 22 starts between Single-A Dunedin and New Hampshire. He went a combined 5-4 with a 3.88 ERA.

Everts was 0-2 with the Herd in six relief outings. He had 9.39 ERA and gave up 10 walks and seven hits in 7∏ innings.

...

The series will continue this afternoon (1:05 p.m., Radio 1520) with Todd Redmond, coming off the disabled list, scheduled to start for the Herd against Charlotte righty Zach Stewart (2-4, 3.81 ERA).

email: amoritz@buffnews.com

Herd seeks to brighten home mark

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:01:48 -0400

INDIANAPOLIS — The road has been good to the Buffalo Bisons this season. That explains why the Herd holds a share of first place in its division despite having only a .500 record at home.

That 9-9 mark at Coca-Cola Field is something the Herd will try to improve upon beginning tonight against Charlotte as they open an eight-game homestand (7:05, TWCSN, Radio 1520 AM).

Buffalo returns home off a 4-4 road trip that concluded with Friday night’s 2-1 loss to Indianapolis before 10,147 at Victory Field. The loss dropped the Bisons to 15-7 on the road – the top mark in the International League.

Indy starter Brandon Cumpton and two relievers held the league’s top-hitting team to just three hits. Cumpton gave up two hits and one unearned run, while striking out seven and walking four in six innings.

Luis Jimenez gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead in the second, leading off the inning with a walk and eventually scoring on a throwing error with two outs. Buffalo got its hits in the second, sixth and ninth innings.

Jared Goedert homered to tie it in the bottom of the second off Justin Germano. Germano did give the Herd a boost by pitching seven innings. Buffalo starters had failed to pitch more than four innings in the first three games of the series here.

Indy pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Jerry Sands’ one-out triple brought home Tony Sanchez.

Jim Negrych (St. Francis) remains the IL’s top hitter but went 0 for 4. His averaged dipped to .400.

Video: 'Bucky & Sully Show'

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:56:58 -0400

News Sports Columnists Bucky Gleason and Jerry Sullivan host a live weekly show at 10 a.m. on BuffaloNews.com. Here is a replay of this week's show featuring guest Christian Laettner:

On possible golf outing:

On Buddy Nix's legacy

On Doug Whaley's vision

On Bills' needs

On NHL playoffs:

Leafs choke?

On Roger Neilson & rally towels:

Guest Christian Laettner:

On Mets manager Terry Collins:

On Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia:

Quick Hits:

Good Reads:

Bozos of the Week:

Wagner closes out Herd triumph

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:26:14 -0400

INDIANAPOLIS — Closer Neil Wagner stayed perfect in 11 save opportunities by getting the final two outs with runners at second and third as the Buffalo Bisons held off the Indianapolis Indians, 6-4, Thursday afternoon before 12,587 at Victory Field.

In the Indy ninth, Wagner gave up singles to Alex Presley and Josh Harrison before striking out Matt Hague. The runners then executed a double steal but Wagner induced a fly ball to right by Jared Goedert and got Brett Carroll on a liner to left to end the game.

Wagner combined with Buddy Carlyle (3-0) and Jeremy Jeffress on 5 ∑ innings of strong relief work after another struggling start from Ricky Romero. The relievers allowed one run on four hits to restore order after the Bisons had given up 24 runs in losing the first two games of the series.

Romero, meanwhile, allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits in 3∏ innings. But he walked six, struck out just one and threw only 44 of his 86 pitches for strikes. He has a 9.82 ERA in two starts with Buffalo since returning from Toronto to continue to work on his erratic mechanics.

The Bisons won the game with a two-run seventh to snap a 4-4 tie. Luis Jimenez tripled to deep center to score Anthony Gose and then came home on a Mauro Gomez single. Buffalo tied the game in the sixth on Eugenio Velez’s solo home run.

The teams complete their series tonight with Justin Germano (3-2) pitching for the Herd before returning home Saturday (7:15, Radio 1520).

Bisons fall to Indianapolis in matinee

Wed, 15 May 2013 23:55:21 -0400

INDIANAPOLIS — Ineffective pitching by the Buffalo Bisons led to three big innings by Indianapolis and a 14-7 loss to the Indians before 5,240 at Victory Field Wednesday afternoon.

After Bisons starter Dave Bush retired the first two batters in the first inning, he gave up four straight hits, including a two-run homer by Brett Carroll, as the Tribe took a 4-0 lead.

Things got worse in the fifth. The Indians scored seven times to wipe out a 6-4 Buffalo lead.

Indy’s first four batters hit for a team cycle against Bush to start the inning. Ivan DeJesus led off with a home run followed by four straight hits, including two doubles, a triple and a single before Chad Beck relieved. The onslaught continued when Jared Goedert doubled home another run and Carroll homered again to make it 11-6.

Clint Everts of the Bisons faced seven batters in the Indy seventh. He walked four, three of them after two were out, to force home a run. Reliever Juan Perez walked another with the bases full, then gave up an RBI single to Matt Hague to make it 14-6.

Felix Pie went 4 for 4 for Indy with a pair of triples.

The Bisons, who lead the International League with 48 home runs, hit two more. IL RBI leader Luis Jimenez connected for his ninth with a man on in the fifth and Moises Sierra hit his fourth with the bases empty in the ninth. Jimenez has 36 RBIs and is batting .367, second on the team to Jim Negrych.

Negrych went 2 for 4 to raise his batting average to. 414 and had a pair of RBIs, giving him 20 on the season.

The Bisons (23-15) remained in a virtual tie for first place tn the North Division of the IL because of Gwinnett defeated Pawtucket (24-16) on Wednesday night. Indy has the best record in the IL — 29-12.

Ricky Romero (0-0, 14.73) will start for the Bisons today against Andy Oliver (3-1, 2.82) in a morning game (11:05, Radio 1520.) The teams will close the four-game series on Friday night before Buffalo returns home to face Charlotte in the opener of a four-game series Saturday night, the start of an eight-game home stand.

Dickey flashes old form

Wed, 15 May 2013 01:34:14 -0400

TORONTO – The Blue Jays are 16-24 and just one regular who started Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants was batting over .250. Pretty easy to see why they’re last in the American League East.

They’ve had all kinds of problems at the plate but they’ve also had plenty of trouble on the mound. Their starting rotation is a mess, with Josh Johnson and J.A. Happ both on the disabled list and Ricky Romero toiling with the Bisons. Mark Buehrle has one win and a 6.19 earned-run average.

But a key point to all the winter optimism was they had traded with the Mets for a Cy Young Award winner. But where has R.A. Dickey, circa 2012, and his dancing knuckleball gone?

Dickey took the mound Tuesday at 2-5, 5.06 in eight starts. He left it following a strikeout to end the sixth, pumping his fist after his season-high 10th whiff and getting a standing ovation from more than 31,000 Rogers Centre fans. The Blue Jays won, 10-6, and Dickey felt a lot more like himself.

“You just feel like it’s about time that you’re getting the swings and misses you’re accustomed to getting and you’re ahead of hitters the way you normally are,” Dickey said of his outward emotion. “I have not been as efficient as I’m accustomed to being with my pitch counts. I’ve been behind hitters a lot and not feeling the knuckleball.”

Dickey has had several issues this year. Neck and back soreness have haunted his delivery and cut back on his velocity. Yes, it’s a knuckleball but Dickey has been known for throwing one of the harder ones, in the mid-70s. And his fastball was in the mid-80s. Those numbers have dropped from 3 to 5 mph and that has made a major difference.

Dickey found that extra oomph again Tuesday because he said he’s feeling healthier. It kind of mirrors his team. The Blue Jays bolted to a 6-0 lead in the first off Barry Zito, piled up a season-high 18 hits and have their second three-game winning streak of the season. They’re 6-3 in their last nine and have collected 25 runs and 38 hits in three games since getting one-hit Friday in Boston by Jon Lester.

“The offensive output was great,” Dickey said. “It’s great to see a lot of guys get involved. It was a real community win tonight and it can be fun when that happens.”

Dickey had one of his best innings as a Blue Jay in the sixth. Hunter Pence led off with a double – but it came two pitches after he swung wildly and sent his bat helicoptering 15 rows over the third-base dugout.

It was a sign how much Dickey’s ball was moving. Brandon Belt, Gregor Blanco and Nick Noonan followed with strikeouts and Dickey clenched his fist in celebration.

Prior to the game, General Manager Alex Anthopoulos pretty much called a breakout outing by Dickey – even though the 38-year-old’s last two trips to the mound resulted in a seven-run meltdown against Seattle and a five-walk outing in a loss at Tampa Bay.

“Prior to the Seattle outing, he had a 2.84 ERA in four starts and we just weren’t scoring any runs for him,” Anthopoulos said. “He had pitched really well and continued to give us innings. Seattle was obviously a bad outing. Tampa was solid but not as sharp as he can be. You don’t expect him to walk five. I’m not concerned.

“I think R.A. is going to get on track, pitch really well and be able to provide a lot of innings for us.”

Last year Dickey averaged 14.4 pitches per inning, the lowest rate in baseball. That number was 16.7 this year and it was 19.2 on Tuesday in a 115-pitch outing. So he’s still got work to do.

There were plenty of rumblings in New York about Dickey taking a little too much of the focus on to himself with his revealing autobiography, with his climb up Mount Kilimanjaro and with last winter’s trip to India to visit a Christian missionary group that fights sex slavery.

You don’t hear similar chatter around here – yet. But Dickey spent spring training getting followed by a crew from “60 Minutes” and has been profiled in the New Yorker. Just Monday, Dickey was awarded an honorary doctorate of Sacred Letters from Wycliffe College, the University of Toronto’s Anglican theological school.

“I gotta say the way the Blue Jays have been playing early on this year, it’s nice to come to a place that abounds with grace,” Dickey said during his acceptance speech, drawing big chuckles from the crowd.

All the outside attention is fine, so long as Dickey is the ace he needs to be. He hasn’t been so far and it’s no coincidence where the Blue Jays are in the standings. More nights like Tuesday will get both Dickey and his team back to their spring billing.

“I certainly think it can be a jumping-off point for us,” Dickey said. “But we’ve tried to take the mentality of just win today. Don’t try to get eight games back in one night and that’s what we’re going to try to stick to going forward.”

email: mharrington@buffnews.com

Hot bat puts Negrych on Jays’ radar

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:12:05 -0400

TORONTO – Jim Negrych leads all of professional baseball in batting average but continues to be the regular second baseman in the Buffalo Bisons’ lineup.

What does the St. Francis product have to do to get his first call-up to the big leagues? Hang tight and keep putting up numbers.

That was the word Tuesday from Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, who discussed Negrych in depth during a dugout meeting with reporters prior to the Blue Jays’ game against the San Francisco Giants in Rogers Centre.

“This is a great problem to have,” Anthopoulos said. “You’d always rather see players perform like this and doing as well as he is. It can solve itself. … At any point in time, if we have somebody getting hurt in terms of a middle infielder and we can give him a two-week look, he would be right there at the top of the list.”

Negrych was in the No. 2 slot in the Bisons’ lineup on Tuesday, going 1-for-4 with an RBI single in a 10-4 loss at Indianapolis. Negrych is batting .411. The top average in the big leagues entering Tuesday was the .376 of Tampa Bay’s James Loney.

Through Tuesday, Negrych was leading the International League in on-base percentage (.468) and OPS (1.093) and was third in slugging (.625). He batted .394 for the Blue Jays during major-league spring training and now has hit safely in 25 of his 29 games.

“Being completely candid, there’s obviously the point of are you expecting someone to hit .400 for the entire year when they haven’t done it in their career? No. But it’s been a great surprise,” Anthopoulos said. “We were encouraged he was the surprise in camp and I don’t think we expected him to get off to this type of start. So he’s starting to make his way in the conversation more and more as he continues to do this.”

Anthopoulos said he’s checked in regularly with Bisons manager Marty Brown and has talked to several players in Toronto who have played in Buffalo to get their thoughts on Negrych. The biggest issue with Negrych is that he’s a second baseman and lack of arm strength doesn’t really allow him to fill in at third or at shortstop in the big leagues. In addition, he would need to be added to Toronto’s 40-man roster.

The Blue Jays are set at second with Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio, although they have struggled much of the year. Izturis, however, was hitting .290 in May before going 1-for-5 Tuesday and Bonifacio, stuck at .198 for the season, had a three-hit game Sunday in Boston and two more hits Tuesday.

“You can make 40-man roster spots,” Anthopoulos said. “A 25-man spot is something else.

“He’s the type of guy that if he came up, you’d want to play him just to see. You really want to find out about the bat.”

At Victory Field in Indianapolis, Bison starter Miguel Batista (1-2) had a rough outing, giving up five runs in the first inning and eight runs on 10 hits in three innings.

Moises Sierra gave the Herd a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Indians answered with five in the bottom of the inning, getting two runs on a homer by Tony Sanchez.

Indianapolis added four runs in the fourth to extend the lead.

The Herd got solo home runs from Sierra, Josh Thole and Andy LaRoche.

Indianapolis belted out 15 hits, a season high.

It wasn’t the type of matchup expected to start this four-game series. Buffalo owns the best offense in the IL (.294 batting average, 43 home runs) while the Indians have the best pitching (2.72 ERA). The Bisons continue the series with Indianapolis today (1:35 p.m., Radio 1520) with righty Dave Bush (4-2, 3.86) scheduled to start for the Herd against righty Brooks Brown (1-0, 2.33).

email: mharrington@buffnews.com

Bisons top Bats on Gomez HR in eighth

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:02:28 -0400

LOUISVILLE – Mauro Gomez launched a three-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Buffalo Bisons over the Louisville Bats, 5-4, Monday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

The victory enabled the Herd to clinch its season series with the Bats, five games to three. The teams won’t meet again during the International League regular season. Buffalo is 14-4 on the road, a .777 percentage.

After twice taking one-run leads, Buffalo fell behind 4-2 when Louisville scored twice in the seventh inning, Billy Hamilton, who singled three times, stole two bases and scored three of the four Bats runs, was in the middle of the Louisville rally.

Buffalo, however, turned things around quickly against Louisville reliever Jose Diaz. Jim Negrych led off by striking out – he was 0 for 4 with one intentional walk and saw his batting average drop from .433 to .417 – before Moises Sierra doubled. Luis Jimenez drew a walk before Gomez homered to right field.

Bisons reliever Buddy Carlyle set the Bats down in order in the eighth, getting the pesky Hamilton on a bunt attempt for the third out. Neil Wagner retired three straight Bats in the ninth after giving up a leadoff single to Henry Rodriguez.

The Herd took a 1-0 lead in the first when Anthony Gose doubled, moved up on Negrych’s ground out to the right side and scored on Sierra’s single to center. Hamilton’s speed allowed the Bats to tie it in the third. The Indianapolis center fielder singled, took second on his 20th steal and went to third on catcher Josh Thole’s overthrow. He scored as Rodriguez grounded out.

Buffalo went back in front in the fourth when Luis Jimenez, Gomez and Josh Thole hit consecutive singles after two were out, but Hamilton scored on Neftali’s single in the fifth to tie it.

Buffalo moves on to Indianapolis for a four-game series against the Indians starting tonight (Radio 1520, 7:05 p.m.). Miguel Batista (1-1, 6.38) is slated to start for the Bisons against right-hander Gerrit Cole (2-1, 2.23), a former UCLA star who was the first overall pick by Pittsburgh in the 2011 baseball draft. The teams will play day games on Wednesday and Thursday before closing out with a Friday night affair.

Herd victimized by big-hitting Bats

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:03:16 -0400

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No long ball Sunday for the Buffalo Bisons.

After hitting eight home runs in winning the first two games of their series against Louisville, the Herd saw the Bats supply the power this time as they took a 12-2 victory before 7,457 at Louisville Slugger Field.

The Bats broke open a tight game with a six-run sixth inning for a 9-0 lead. A three-run homer by Emmanual Burriss in the seventh made it 12-0.

Every batter in Louisville’s lineup had a hit and Henry Rodriguez drove in five runs with three hits, including two doubles.

Veteran Armando Galarraga (2-1) shut out the Herd on five hits through seven innings, walking none and striking out six.

Losing pitcher Justin Germano (3-2) allowed just one run until the Bats erupted in the sixth.

International League RBI leader Luis Jimenez of the Bisons went 3 for 4 but never had an opportunity with runners on base. Jim Negrych, who is leading all batters in professional baseball with a .433 average and has hit safely in his last 10 games, sat out the game, as did Anthony Gose and Josh Thole.

The teams will complete their four-game series tonight (6:30 p.m., 1520 AM) as they meet for the final time this season before Buffalo heads to Indianapolis to begin a four-game set on Tuesday night. Claudio Vargas (3-2, 3.86) is due to start for Buffalo tonight against Greg Reynolds (3-0, 2.98).

Inside Baseball: replay not fool proof, but needed

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:09:46 -0400

Regular readers of this space know I’ve been a big advocate of instant replay in baseball. I’ve always felt it was an excellent move to allow a second look at disputed home runs to get calls right (like Alex Rodriguez’s doink off the FOX camera in Philadelphia during the 2009 World Series). I want to add one NFL-style manager’s challenge per game for things like a play at the bases, a fair or foul call or a trap/catch in the outfield.

I think the system can work and teams would likely hold on to their challenge for the late innings, so the game time would hardly be affected. The home run calls for the most part work just as intended right now. But then we have a situation like Wednesday night in Cleveland. That one is just completely inexplicable.

If you missed it, let’s reset the scenario: Indians lead Oakland, 4-3, with two outs in the top of the ninth, and Adam Rosales takes Tribe closer Chris Perez deep to left atop the 19-foot wall at Progressive Field. The ball hits near the top and bounces back on the field as Rosales stops at second with an apparent double.

A’s manager Bob Melvin comes out and requests a replay look, which the umpires easily give him. The replay is clear: The ball hit a railing atop the bleachers above the yellow home run line and bounced back on the field. Zero doubt. Zero gray area. Home run. Tie game.

But nooooooo. The umpires come back and rule the play a double. Crew chief Angel Hernandez quickly ejects an irate Melvin (technically correct by the rules, since you can’t argue a replay decision) and the A’s go on to lose, 4-3.

Hernandez is universally hailed as one of the worst umpires in the game. He was one of the worst in the American Association when he came through Buffalo 20 years ago and was one of the most reviled in that league. People back then were floored he got a promotion to the big leagues and observers can’t believe he’s still on the field two decades later.

You want the height of Hernandez’s arrogance Wednesday night? He did an interview with a pool reporter, veteran Athletics beat writer Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. But prior to taking questions he told Slusser – who is the president of the Baseball Writers Association of America – that he would not do the interview unless she turned off a tape recorder.

Legally within his rights, sure. But not really done much anymore. Unless you want to be able to later deny your words and say you’re misquoted. Terrible. Hernandez, by the way, said the views the crew saw were inconclusive. Sure. Nice accountability.

Retired Braves third baseman Chipper Jones took to Twitter on Thursday in a series of tweets ripping Hernandez that ended with “I can see the powers that be in the MLB offices, rolling their eyes, thinking to themselves, ‘oh no, Angel is at it again’!”

Jones won’t be fined, but some Athletics players probably will be for violating MLB’s social media policy against criticizing umpires. Tweeted reliever Pat Neshek: “Was going to go to the casino tonight but don’t feel like getting robbed again.” Added fellow pen mate Jerry Blevins, “There is a need for accountability of MLB w/ blown call tonight. We are clearly not on same level as NFL, NBA, NHL on replays. No excuses.”

He’s right. There are none. It’s fairly obvious MLB needs to either go the NFL route with a replay umpire in a booth above the field to make calls or an NHL-style war room in New York that has multiple angles on big screens in HD to ferret out the decision.

I’ve never worried about the time to make these choices. The umps leave the field now and it takes time. And ultimately, a replay decision often goes faster than all the gyrations a manager will do to protest a call that never gets changed on the field. At least MLB executive vice president for baseball operations Joe Torre admitted the umpires goofed.

Said Torre, “We recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right.”

Umpire supervisor Randy Marsh was sent to Cleveland Thursday to discuss the play with the umpires and to find out if all replay equipment was working. It was. No kidding. The men in blue blew this one.

Now they should fix it for the long term. Take replay out of the umps’ hands.At least the Blue Jays aren’t hard-headed. They basically admitted a wrong when they sent former ace Ricky Romero to the Bisons Thursday, which is where he should have been sent following his work in Class A to start the season. Now it will be up to Bisons pitching coach and former big-league veteran Bob Stanley to see if he can help Romero recapture the delivery that was suddenly lost last season and never came back this spring.

The arms in the top levels of the Blue Jays organization are in shambles right now. Josh Johnson is hurt while R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle have struggled with ineffectiveness. Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchinson are still coming back from Tommy John surgery. The Bisons entered the weekend with a starters ERA for May over 6.00 and scouts are chuckling at how they had the oldest rotation anywhere with 40-year-olds Miguel Batista and Ramon Ortiz on the roster.

One bright light to follow: Marcus Stroman, Toronto’s No. 1 pick last year, is just about ready to go to Double-A. The 21-year-old was suspended 50 games for testing positive for a stimulant last summer and has been stretched out as a starter in extended spring camp. He’s a viable option for the Bisons and even as a spot starter in the big leagues.• The amazing run of the Pawtucket Red Sox sending radio announcers to the big leagues has continued with word that new PawSox voice Bob Socci is leaving July 1 to replace legendary Gil Santos as the voice of the New England Patriots. Socci had called Navy football since 1997. Dan Hoard, who called PawSox games from 2006-11, left last year for the Cincinnati Bengals.

On the baseball side, the PawSox have an all-star lineup of big-league voices that graduated from Rhode Island that includes Gary Cohen (Mets), Don Orsillo (Red Sox), Dave Flemming (Giants), Andy Freed (Rays), Dave Jageler (Nationals) and Aaron Goldsmith (Mariners), who worked in Pawtucket last season. I spent several winter nights with Freed as well because he was also the voice of Rider University basketball, a MAAC rival of Canisius and Niagara, at the start of this century.

• Best team the Bisons have seen so far has easily been the Norfolk Tides. Baltimore’s affiliate came to town last week and won three out of four. And who’s the Orioles’ director of minor-league operations? Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Brian Graham, the manager of the Herd from 1995-1997 and the holder of the franchise’s modern-era record for most victories until Marty Brown broke it in April.

• Quite a run of rehab assignments in the International League of late. Michael Bourn returned to Cleveland from Columbus on Thursday, the same day Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson opened a stint at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Braves slugger Jason Heyward got into the lineup at Gwinnett. Bisons officials are hoping to see Jose Reyes in Buffalo sometime after the all-star break.• With Eduardo Nunez hurting and a short bench after needing to make pinch-hitting moves with no DH, the Yankees used Vernon Wells at third base Wednesday at Colorado. When was the last time the veteran outfielder had come into the infield? “I got hit in the mouth when I was 12 at second base and I moved to the outfield,” Wells said. “In high school, report cards came out and our entire infield failed, so I had to go play short.”

• The NHL’s Kings and Ducks are saving what’s otherwise a black hole of sports in Los Angeles, especially since Mike Scioscia of the Angels and Don Mattingly of the Dodgers are vying for first manager to be fired. They’re easily the most disappointing teams in baseball, non-Blue Jays division.

• The open disgrace that is the Miami Marlins continued Wednesday with the announcement the Fish will be closing the upper bowl at Marlins Park for six dates during a nine-game homestand that begins Tuesday. That will cut capacity down to about 27,000, which is no big deal with the average paid crowd at 18,864 and the reported in-house crowds much smaller. All this in a publicly-funded park in its second year of existence. What a mess.

email: mharrington@buffnews.com