Friday’s News & Notes
| Team | Yesterday | Today | Pitching Probables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | Won, 3-1 | @ Buffalo, 6:05pm | Susana (AAA debut) vs. Van Eyk (6-5, 4.20) |
Rochester 3 Buffalo 1
• Lyon 4IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 4K
• Yean (W, 3-2) 2IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
• King 2-5, 2B, RBI
• Wallace 2-4, R, 2B, RBI
• Pineda 2-4, 2-2B, RBI
Rochester got single runs in 1st, 5th, and 6th in a 3-1 win over Buffalo. Isaac Lyon gave up the lone Bisons run on five hits and two walks over four innings. He struck out four. Eddy Yean had his first clean outing since September 3, allowing three hits, walking none, and striking out one. That was enough to earn the win. Four Red Wings had multiple hits, led by Leandro Pineda who doubled twice and drove in Rochester’s final run. Rochester turned four double plays and Max Romero Jr. threw out all three Bisons trying to steal.
The win kept pace with the Indians, who flirted with a no-hitter for six innings before gutting the Stripers, 15-0 on three hits for their sixth straight win. The Mets also won (third straight) while the RailRiders dropped to three games behind with three to play. They remain mathematically alive but now need nine losses from the three teams in front of them in the I.L. second-half standings. Roster moves: OF Andrew Pinckney optioned from Washington; IF Buddy Kennedy placed on the 7-Day I.L.; C Kyle Hayes activated from the Development List.
So long Wyatt Mills, we hardly knew ya! What a strange acquisition. Mills was acquired on August 6th, and never pitched a game before getting waived yesterday. Somehow he picked up an injury between him pitching for the Dodgers on August 2 and him getting assigned to Rochester. If he was already injured, don’t the Dodgers have an obligation to send him to the IL rather than release him? Otherwise, you’d see guys getting released all the time (especially those on 1 year deals) as soon as they needed TJ or another long IL stint. So how/when did Mills get injured? But then how are the Nats justified in releasing him while injured? Have I made this up, and teams can release players while on the IL?
Also can someone clarify why the International League allocates playoff spots by 1st and 2nd half standings, rather than a seed for the best East and West division teams? Isn’t that kind of antithetical to the ethos of baseball? It is and has always been a long, grinding sport. There’s now a good chance that the Red Wings will have – by far – the best record in the IL, but will not make the playoffs. Currently, across the season the Red Wings are 88-57, 7.5 games better than the next best team, St. Paul Saints. But are presently tied with Indianapolis for the 2nd half champions playoff spot, with Memphis edging out the Red Wings for the 1st half playoff seed. Ironically, St Paul, the 2nd best overall team, will also miss out on the playoffs altogether too. And Indianapolis across the whole season are a massive 15 games behind the Red Wings. It seems a really stupid thing to do to award spots this way, but am I missing something?