New Orleans (AAA – International League)

Tucson Sidewinders 5, @ New Orleans Zephyrs 3

The Sidewinders got to Ruddy Lugo for three runs in the second and one more in the third and never trailed.

The Sidewinders Max Scherzer struck out seven in allowing just one hit in three innings.

The New Orleans offense collected just four hits. Valentino Pascucci lifted his 21^st homer of the year, a two run shot in the sixth and Gustavo Molina added a solo blast in the seventh.

St. Lucie (A+ – Florida State League)

St. Lucie Mets @ Jupiter Hammerheads

Rained out

Savannah (A – South Atlantic League)

@ Savannah Sand Gnats 4, Hickory Crawdads 0

Eric Beaulac (1-0, 0.00) won his first SAL start by tossing five shutout innings for the Gnats in which he allowed just four hits and struck out seven. Beaulac, the Mets ninth round pick out of Le Moyne this year, fanned 23 and walked six in 19 innings in the Appalachian League.

2B Greg Veloz (.286/.337/.412) was 2-5 with a double and an RBI. Francisco Pena (.257/.306/.386) was 2-4 with a run scored. Both players have showed progress over the course of the season.

Brooklyn (SSA – New York Penn League)

Brooklyn Cyclones 5, @ Vermont Lake Monsters 4 (14 innings)

With two outs in the 14^th, 2B J.R. Voyles doubled and DH Jason Jacobs singled him home with the winning run. SS Matt Smith and CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis each had two hits.

Pedro P. Martinez started, and gave up three runs in 2.2 innings. Eric Turgeon was brilliant in four shutout relief innings, yielding just one hit and a walk, while punching out five. Stephen Clyne worked two scoreless frames of his own, fanning two without giving up a hit.

Kingsport (R – Appalachian League)

Kingsport Mets

Rained out.

GCL Mets (R – Gulf Coast League)

GCL Mets 9, GCL Cardinals 3

20 year-old Jonathan White (1-0, 3.05) was dynamite in his first start. In five shutout innings, he gave up one hit and struck out five without walking a batter.

LF Mark McGonigle, a few days shy of his 23^rd birthday, was 4-5 with a pair of RBI. C Kai Gronauer was 3-5 with two RBI.

After Thursday’s game Dan Murphy was promoted to AAA New Orleans. Reaction and quotes coming later…He leaves the Eastern League hitting .308/.374/.496 with 26 doubles and 13 homers.

Fernando Martinez ran in the outfield and took BP Thursday. In addition to jogging in the OF, he introduced agility drills and some stopping and starting. He’s now scheduled to run the bases Friday. The news is all good in that he felt “no pain.” Again, though, manager Mako Oliveras emphasized that he will be very cautious when it comes to returning Martinez to the lineup. Of course, it’s not solely his call; for a player of Martinez’s talent, this is a decision made in consultation with those higher up the ladder, who are also interested treading with extreme caution.

Martinez’s BP is really special for a guy his age. With his first swing he blasted a homer to right. He stings loud line drives all over the field. In latter rounds, he drilled a few balls to leftcenter and over the wall in that direction showing plus power the other way.

Gabby Hernandez to the Mariners for Aurthur Rhodes.  Hernandez had given up a ridiculous 14 homers in 64.2 innings in the very hitter friendly park in Albuquerque.  The Mets sent Hernandez to the Marlins for Paul Lo Duca.

We’re approaching two hours from the deadline and I can’t wait any longer: I’m grabbing lunch.  Afterwards, I’ll get to work on an Eddie Kunz feature.

Jayson Stark says the Manny-Bay, Sox-Pirates-Marlins blockbuster is dead.  Can the Mets swoop in for Bay?  I’m still hoping.

The Appalachian League named Kingsport Mets second baseman Kyle Suire the as the circuit’s Player of the Week for the week ending July 27^th. For the wek, Suire hit .426/.533/.885. His 12 hits tied him with teammate Dock Doyle for the league lead while his three homers tied him with teammate Doug McNulty for the league in that category, but his 12 RBI paced the field all by himself. Suire joins SS Wilmer Flores as K-Mets to win the weekly award.

Binghamton, NY is famous for one food item: the spiedie (pronounced: speedy). It’s a sandwich, served either on Italian bread or a roll of marinated and grilled meat cubes, usually of chicken or pork or even lamb. Spiedie Fest, which I’ve been told is the best party of the year in Binghamton, begins on August 1st.

I’m a sucker for sandwiches and local delicacies and happily, NYSEG Stadium serves a mean Spiedie. You can buy it at a stand along the rightfield line and eat it leaning over the rail or at a series of picnic tables set up next to the grill. I ordered the pork and slathered it with a special hot/bbq sauce. I heartily enjoyed every juicy bite.