Mack Attack: June 2, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Monday, June 2, 2008

Remember guys.... it's all in the loss column:

Florida: 24

Philadelphia: 25

Mets: 27

Braves: 28

 

OF Moises Alou will be activated before Thursday’s game.

 

Mets Top 10 Draft Picks: - 2000:

#1 LHP Billy Traber - 1 yr. in Mets org. – traded to Cleveland – pitching 2008 in AAA-NYY

#1s RHP Bobby Keppel - 6 yrs. In Mets org. – released – pitching 2008 in AAA-Fla

#2 RHP Matthew Peterson - 3.2 yrs in Mets org. – traded to Pirates – playing 2008 AA-KC

#3 RHP Josh Reynolds - 3 yrs. In Mets org. – career ended after 2003 season

# 4 C Brandon Wilson - 7 yrs. In Mets org as C & P – career poof

#5 RHP Quenten Patterson - who? 2.2 yrs. In Mts org. career ended 2002

#6 SS Chris Basak - 7 yrs. In Mets org. – playing 2008 with AAA-Minny

#7 OF Jeff Duncan - 6 yrs. In Mets org. – 154 Abs for Mets - .154 – career ended 2007

# 8 RHP Chad Bowen - 4 yrs. in Mets org. – released in 2003

#9 RHP Nick Mattioni - 4 yrs. in Mets org. – released in 2004 – serving pizza in Passaic

#10 LHP Travis Veracka – never signed, and never played for no one

(45th round: 1B Brett Harper)

Zephyrs:

The Zephyrs are leading the Pacific Coast League in pitching, but that didn't stop them from adding two pitchers to the roster this week. The team signed right-handers Brandon Knight and Juan Padilla, and both appeared in Friday night's 4-0 loss to Round Rock. Padilla, 31, had been on the disabled list after two surgeries that kept him out for all of the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He last pitched in 2005 with Class AAA Norfolk, going 3-2 with two saves and a 1.42 ERA in 37 games. He was promoted to the Mets and went 3-1 with a 1.49 ERA in 24 games, but he underwent Tommy John surgery the next year during spring training. He threw one inning Friday night against Round Rock, giving up three runs on three hits, including a home run, and walked two. Knight, a 14-year veteran, comes from the Somerset Patriots of the Independent Atlanta League. He was 12-5 with a 4.03 ERA and was the league's Pitcher of the Month in September after going 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 17 innings. He was leading the Atlantic League with 50 strikeouts. He also spent three years in Japan. Knight pitched two shutout innings Friday night against Round Rock, striking out two. The Zephyrs also added a familiar face when they signed catcher Robinson Cancel from the St. Lucie Mets. Cancel spent most of last season with the Zephyrs, hitting .264 with four home runs and 25 RBIs. The Zephyrs lost one pitcher, however. Right-hander Adam Bostick underwent season-ending microfracture knee surgery Tuesday and was placed on the disabled list. He is expected to make a full recovery but will miss the rest of the season. Bostick, 25, was 2-2 in 10 starts with a 6.04 ERA. He was the second Zephyr to undergo microfracture surgery this month. Outfielder Brady Clark had the surgery May 22.

B-Mets:

Salomon Manriquez hit a game-tying triple and scored the winning run in the sixth inning, helping the Binghamton Mets to a 6-5 win over the Connecticut Defenders at Dodd Stadium Sunday. The B-Mets, who swept the four-game series, have won five in a row. Binghamton (29-27) took a 1-0 lead in the first on three straight two-out singles off Adam Cowart. After Daniel Murphy and Caleb Stewart had hits, Mike Carp drove in Murphy with a single. Travis Ishikawa and Eddy Martinez-Esteve drove in runs for Connecticut (25-30) off Jose Sanchez in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 lead before the B-Mets surged ahead again in the top of the second. Manriquez and Emmanuel Garcia led off the inning with a double and single, respectively. After Sanchez bunted Garcia to second, Eric Reed doubled in Manriquez and Jose Coronado’s single scored Garcia for a 3-2 B-Mets advantage. The Defenders took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second, when Ben Copeland drove in a run on a fielder’s choice and Ishikawa singled in another. Sanchez (5-4) gave up Jake Wald’s RBI single in the fifth to make it 5-3 Connecticut. Carp led off the sixth with a single and advanced to second on Cowart’s (4-3) wild pitch. Josh Petersen followed with a double to right to score Carp before Manriquez tripled to right-center, plating Petersen with the tying run. Two batters later, pinch-hitter Ambiorix Concepcion picked up a sacrifice fly that scored Manriquez with what proved to be the winning run. Eddie Camacho followed Sanchez with three shutout innings of relief before Eddie Kunz worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.

 

Lucy:

Dylan Owen has quickly adapted to professional baseball and has gone from mid-round draft pick to promising prospect in less than a year. The New York Mets drafted Owen in the 20th round out of Francis Marion University, and Owen immediately rewarded the franchise by going 9-1 with a 1.49 ERA for Brooklyn in the New York-Penn League. "I was just able to throw a lot of my pitches for strikes and we had a good defensive and offensive team," Owen said. "We definitely put up a lot of runs on the board, so that definitely made it easier as a pitcher." Owen is 2-4 with a 3.52 ERA to go along with 44 strikeouts and 14 walks in 53 2/3 innings. "There's been several pitches that I wish I could take back, but it's something you've got to learn along the way," Owen said. "(The league is) definitely a lot better hitting this year than it was last year. They swing a lot earlier this year, so I have to keep my ball down and they're hitting my better pitches a lot more, so it's basically learning how to pitch right now." Owen said the jump to the Florida State League has not been overwhelming. Most players go from Brooklyn to low-A Savannah, but Owen skipped the step. - TCPalm

 

Gnats:

 

Shane Jordan went 2-for-4 with an RBI double as the GreenJackets held off the Sand Gnats, 7-6, for a series split on Sunday afternoon. With Savannah leading 5-4 in the seventh, Augusta rallied for three runs off Mike Antonini and Josh Stinson. Nick Noonan doubled in a run to end Antonini’s outing and Garrett Baker produced a run with a single to left to hand the ‘Jackets a 7-5 advantage. Savannah pulled within a run in the seventh on an extraordinary play in which Augusta committed three errors. Richard Pena hit a grounder to second that appeared to be an inning-ending groundout before first baseman Angel Villalona mishandled the throw. With Pena trying to reach second base, Augusta catcher Jackson Williams then threw it low to Charlie Culberson and into centerfield. With Pena on his way to third, Jordan threw it past Andrew Davis at third to allow Pena to score. Joaquin Rodriguez, who led the team with 3 hits, singled with one out in the eighth, but the Gnats wouldn’t add a base runner the rest of the way as Daniel Otero pitched the final 1.2 innings for his 14th save. Savannah scored two in the fifth when Greg Veloz, doubled in a pair to pull Savannah within a run. Michael Parker gave the Gnats the lead for a moment in the fifth on a two-run single. Antonini (4-3) worked 6.1 innings in the loss, permitting 7 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits. Daniel Turpen (3-2) would pick up the win in relief, throwing 2.1 innings allowing 1 run on 1 hit.

 

V-Mets:

I’m not sure at this point who Orlando Tovar is, but I hope the Mets are keeping an eye on him. The 6’3” starting pitcher is obviously on a pitch count, but his 4 game stats are simply awesome: 0-0, 0.00 4 starts 19.0 IP 25 Ks 4 BB. And, he’s a lefty.

Minor Mets Bios:

Michael Antonini P R L 6-2 200 8-6-85 Georgia College & State University

Antonino’s senior year stats at GC&SU were 7-6, 3.97 in 15 starts, 91.0 IP, 89 H, 19 BB, and 89 Ks.

The Mets selected Antonini in the 18th round (573rd overall) of the 2007 amateur draft out of Georgia College & State University. He has been assigned to Kingsport to kick off his pro career.

Antonini is a native of Aston, PA. In 2007, Antonini started the season with Kingsport (1-1, 3.71, 1.06 in 5 appearances, 3 starts), but finished it with Brooklyn (0-0, 0.46, 0.92 in 7 appearances, 2 starts).

In late January 2007, Baseball America ranked Mike as the 26th overall Mets prospect, adding: "Paul loduca caught antonini at brooklyn and proclaimed his changeup big league ready"

April: 2 wins | 3.26 era | 1.15 whip | 25/11 k/bb | 30.1 innings

Ex-Mets:

Colorado P Glendon Rusch lost to Cubs… now 1-3, 7.03

David DeJesus doubled, homered, scored 2 runs, and drove in 2 runs

Cliff Floyd hit a solo home run, and Scott Kazmir baffled Chicago hitters with 7 scoreless innings on the mound as the Rays shut out the White Sox, 2-0.

This Day In Mets History:

1995 - Limiting the Mets to one run on two hits in 8+ innings of work, Hideo Nomo picks up his first major league win. The former Japanese All-star was signed by the Dodgers in the off-season.