Eastern League Eastern Division Playoffs Game 3 Preview

GAME 3 (Best of 5 series)
Trenton leads series 2-0

Trenton Thunder (Manny Banuelos 0-1, 3.52)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Scott Richmond 0-0, 2.70) @ 6:35pm

Preview - It's do-or-die time for the Fisher Cats tonight! The pitching has obviously not been an issue for either team. In 21 innings of play, the two staffs combine have only allowed 3 runs and 23 hits and have struck out an astonishing 54 batters. Unfortunately for New Hampshire, they have not plated any of those 3 runs and now find themselves with their backs against the wall. Manny Banuelos will look to shut the door on the Cats as he takes the mound for Trenton tonight. Much like Game 1 starter Dellin Betances, Banuelos has only had 3 AA starts after spending much of his fantastic season in Single A. Banuelos did face the Fisher Cats in his first AA appearance and the Cats bats showed up that night, popping 7 hits and plating 6. But Banuelos did not allow a run in either of his following two starts and is seemingly back on track. The Fisher Cats were the convenient recipient of Scott Richmond who was sent down to "rehab", in what was an obvious salvo to the Thunder starting Andy Pettitte yesterday. Earlier today the Cats benefited from another "timely" move when they announced that Edwin Encarnacion would start his rehab stint in New Hampshire tonight. So, the Cats can no longer complain about the "Pettitte factor", which was not a factor at all, seeing as Zach Stewart went toe-to-toe with him and then some! But the main core of the lineup is what is needed tonight. Darin Mastroianni has to set the plate from the top of that order, Hechavarria needs to chip in as well and in turn the slumping meat of the order (Eric Thames, Shawn Bowman and David Cooper) may snap out of it and put some wood to the Thunder sweep effort.

LINEUPS
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
CF - Darin Mastroianni
SS - Adeiny Heccavarria
LF - Eric Thames
3B - Edwin Encarnacion
DH- Shawn Bowman
1B - David Cooper
C - Jonathan Jaspe
RF - Adam Loewen
2B - Callix Crabbe

Trenton Thunder
CF - Austin Krum
3B - Justin Snyder
RF - Daniel Brewer
C - Austin Romine
1b - Marcos Vechionacci
DH - Rene Rivera
LF - Damon Sublett
SS - Luis Nunez
2B - Matthew Cusick

You can listen to all the Playoff action LIVE at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Eastern League Eastern Division Playoffs Game 2 Preview

GAME 2 (Best of 5 series)
Trenton leads series 1-0

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Zach Stewart 8-3, 3.63)
vs. Trenton Thunder (Andy Pettitte NR) @ 7:05pm

Preview - Last night Trenton pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and did not allow an earned run in Game 1 and tonight they have Andy Pettitte on the hill in a rehab start. Seeing the potent New Hampshire offense unable to produce and being that Pettitte is one of the games greatest postseason pitchers of all time is all bad news for the Fisher Cats. The good news is, according to sources, Pettitte is slated to only throw about 4 innings or 60-65 pitches. So it's up the likes of Eric Thames, Shawn Bowman and Adam Calderone (a combined 0 for 12 with 6 Ks last night) to get swinging and produce like they did in the regular season. The other good news is that the Fisher Cats send Zach Stewart to the hill to counter Pettitte's big league pedigree. Stewart is only 1-1 over his last 10 starts, but he has notched a 2.25 ERA, allowing only 12 earned runs over 48 innings of work. He faced Trenton as recently as August 24th and tossed 5 innings where he only allowed 1 earned run on 2 hits. Stewart should be well rested as he was held to only 3 innings of work in each of his last two starts and there is no doubt that he has the ability to stifle the Trenton bats. If New Hampshire can just get over the fact that Pettitte is pitching, instead of looking at it as a disadvantage, then they can even things up here. First and foremost, they need to get the offense rolling and a few early hits off of a rusty major leaguer will certainly boost their confidence.

LINEUPS
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
CF - Darin Mastroianni
SS - Adeiny Heccavarria
DH - Eric Thames
3B- Shawn Bowman
1B - David Cooper
LF - Adam Calderone
C - Matt Liuzza
RF - Adam Loewen
2B - Jonathan Diaz

Trenton Thunder
CF - Austin Krum
3B - Justin Snyder
RF - Daniel Brewer
C - Austin Romine
1b - Marcos Vechionacci
DH - Rene Rivera
LF - Damon Sublett
SS - Luis Nunez
2B - Matthew Cusick

You can listen to all the Playoff action LIVE at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Eastern League Eastern Division Playoffs Game 1 Preview

GAME 1 (Best of 5 series)

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Kyle Drabek 14-9, 2.94)
vs. Trenton Thunder (Dellin Betances 0-0, 3.77) @ 7:05pm

Preview - Eastern League Pitcher of the Year Kyle Drabek will look to get the Fisher Cats started on the right foot in Round 1 of the playoffs, and they'll need it. With Andy Pettitte looming in Game 2, the Fisher Cats wants to secure one game on the road and with their ace on the hill, they have the advantage. Dellin Betances gets the nod after starting only 3 games for the Trenton Thunder. Betances did not pick up a decision in those starts, but struck out 20 batters in 14 1/3 innings, including 8 against New Hampshire back on August 24th. Betances did post an 8-1 record with a 1.77 ERA in Single A Tampa prior to joining the Thunder. Drabek finished the regular season with a rough 3 innings of work against Harrisburg on September 2nd. In that game Drabek 4 hits, 2 of them home runs, but his prior work and numbers tell the real story, including a 6-1 record over his last 10 starts with a 2.45 ERA. His last loss was on July 17th and he's hoping to keep it that way. David Cooper brings an 11 game hit-streak into the playoffs for the Cats.

LINEUPS
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
CF - Darin Mastroianni
SS - Adeiny Heccavarria
DH - Eric Thames
3B- Shawn Bowman
1B - David Cooper
LF - Adam Calderone
RF- Adam Loewen
C - Matt Liuzza
2B - Jonathan Diaz

Trenton Thunder
CF - Austin Krum
3B - Justin Snyder
RF - Daniel Brewer
C - Austin Romine
1b - Marcos Vechionacci
DH - Rene Rivera
LF - Damon Sublett
SS - Luis Nunez
2B - Matthew Cusick

You can listen to all the Playoff action LIVE at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Today's Pitching Probables 9/6/10

AAA
Syracuse Chiefs (Eric Arnesen 6-7, 3.94)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Ramon Ramirez 4-5, 5.03) @ 1:05pm

AA
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (B.L. LaMura 5-6, 3.72)
Portland Sea Dogs (Alex Wilson 3-5, 6.63) @ 1:00pm

Trenton Thunder (Andrew Brackman 4-7, 3.21)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Tyler Robertson 4-12, 5.39) @ 1:35pm

You can listen to all games at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Quick Hits

Yesterday was the last day of the regular season for our New York-Penn teams and today closes out the regular season for the rest. Once the season is done, we will run a recap for each individual team, but until then, let's take some cuts and look at how things panned out for the two teams in playoff contention.

- The Connecticut Tigers were in the driver's seat with two games to go. They had a 1/2 game lead over Tri-City, but lost Saturday night, putting them down 1/2 a game. Then came Sunday. The Tri-City Valley Cats lost, so all the Tigers had to do was win and they were in. They went up 1-0 in the first and Aberdeen answered with a 4 spot in the bottom of the second inning. The Tigers clawed back and tied things up at 4 by the fourth inning, which is where the score stayed until the 11th inning when the Tigers plated a run in top half of the inning. Then the IronBirds answered and tied things up at 5. So they played on until the Tigers put up 2 in the top of the 13th and looked to be in complete control. Unfortunately the IronBirds were not ready to roll over and play dead and they turned right around and ended the game with 3 runs in the bottom of the 13th, therefore ending Connecticut's playoff hopes. So New Hampshire is the only New England team to reach the post season.

- Speaking of New Hampshire, they have announced that their 1-2 combo of Kyle Drabek and Zach Stewart will start Games 1 & 2 respectively against the Trenton Thunder in round 1 of the Easter League playoffs starting Wednesday night. Trenton has not announced their starters yet, but rumors are floating around that New York Yankee legend Andy Pettite may pop in to make a rehab start for the Thunder. Considering his amazing post-season career, this could be a very bad thing for the Fisher Cats, especially after watching yesterday's game where they surrendered 11 walks to the Portland Sea Dogs. The Cats pitching staff was second in the Eastern League with 535 free passes on the season. This is obviously something they'll need to reign in if they hope to advance past the Thunder. We'll have a playoff preview and break it all down on Tuesday.

Field of Dreams Day

Here are some pics of Portland's Field of Dreams/Fan Appreciation Day Promo...(click on photo for larger view)

Iowa or Hadlock Field?

Sea Dogs radio announcer Mike Antonellis is the emcee for today's events

Jorge Padron (19), Jose Iglesias (10) & Juan Carlos Linares (17) take it all in

Manager Arnie Beyeler gets on the mic to thank the fans

Jason Rice reaches out to give a little love back

Some more fan appreciation

Kyle Weiland saying hello to the faithful

Tonight's Probable Pitchers 9/5/10

AAA
Syracuse Chiefs (Shairon Martis 8-7, 4.04)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Fabio Castro 7-9, 4.96) @ 6:05pm

AA
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Clint Everts 4-1, 5.58)
Portland Sea Dogs (Stephen Fife 7-6, 4.80) @ 1:00pm

Trenton Thunder (Cory Arbiso 5-4, 4.37)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Matthew Williams 1-3, 5.84) @ 1:35pm

A
Connecticut Tigers (Clemente Mendoza 6-5, 4.26)
vs. Aberdeen IronBirds (N/A) @ 2:35pm

Vermont Lake Monsters (Ryan Mattheus 1-0, 0.00)
vs. Staten Island Yankees (N/A) @ 4:00pm

Lowell Spinners (Madison Younginer 3-7, 4.79)
vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (N/A) @ 7:05pm

You can listen to all games at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Tonight's Probable Pitchers 9/4/10

AAA
Pawtucket Red Sox (Rich Hill 3-0, 3.23)
vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre (David Phelps 3-2, 3.32) @ 7:05pm

AA
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Randy Boone 5-9, 3.81)
Portland Sea Dogs (Jeremy Kehrt 2-11, 5.27) @ 6:00pm

Trenton Thunder (Adam Warren 4-2, 2.88)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Kane Holbrooks NR) @ 7:05pm

A
Vermont Lake Monsters (Tyler Jordan 2-2, 5.08) GAME 1
vs. Staten Island Yankees (N/A) @ 5:00pm

Vermont Lake Monsters (N/A) GAME 1
vs. Staten Island Yankees (N/A) @ 30 minutes after conclusion of GAME 1

Lowell Spinners (Chris Hernandez NR)
vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (N/A) @ 7:05pm

Connecticut Tigers (Brennan Smith 1-6, 3.34)
vs. Aberdeen IronBirds (Tyler Sexton 1-6, 6.64) @ 7:05pm

You can listen to all games at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Game of the Day - Tigers vs. Aberdeen - After last night's exciting 7-6 victory, the Tigers moved into sole possession of first place, one half game ahead of the Tri-City ValleyCats. So with two games left to play, tonight could be the night for Connecticut to punch their ticket to the post season. A win, coupled with a ValleyCats loss, earns the Tigers a playoff spot in their first season in their Connecticut digs. The game lies in the hands of two pitchers with 1-6 records, so it's fair to expect some offense in this one. It's also fair to expect that it will be another close one after the Tigers have taken down the IronBirds by one run over the last four games. Despite a 1-5 record over his last 8 starts, the Tigers Brennan Smith has lasted 5+ innings in all of those outings. His only win on the season came back on August 25th against Vermont. Aberdeen's Tyler Sexton has also earned his only "W" on the year against Vermont, but his came back on July 16th. Since then he has gone 0-4 over 7 starts and has allowed 23 earned runs. If Connecticut can keep their one run win streak over Aberdeen in tact, then they'll be in the driver's seat for a little fall ball.

Hitting the Links

This Sunday the Portland Sea Dogs have their annual Field of Dreams/Fan Appreciation Day against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The Dogs will don the 1926 unis of the Portland Eskimos, emerge from the outfield through a corn field and enter the stands to personally thanks all of the fans. Recently Portland Assistant General Manager Chris Cameron and Sales & Marketing Administrator Brian Murphy went on Fox 23'd Good Day Maine to discuss this great event. FOXMaine.com

Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal catches us up on the progress of Lowell starting pitcher Madison Younginer. This is a nice piece about the 19 year-old and how he went about making some in-game adjustments in a recently outing against Tri-City. ProJo.com

Kevin Gray puts a spotlight on Fisher Cats manager Luis Rivera in his weekly "On Baseball" segment in the Manchester Union Leader. The former Boston Red Sox infielder has done a remarkable job in his first year in New Hampshire. He is receiving great praise for the work he has done so far this season and much like the talented prospects he currently skippers, he could be making the jump to "The Show" in the very near future. Kevin Gray's On Baseball

When does a 39th pick in the draft pick get a $2.55 million dollar signing bonus? When that draft pick is Anthony Ranaudo and the team is the Boston Red Sox. The 6'7" righty out of LSU recently joined the Lowell Spinners after signing back on August 16th and even more recently sat down with Baseball Prospectus for a little Q&A. Baseball Prospectus

Final Shot - We'll be up in Portland this weekend covering the final weekend of the season, so if you can't make it to Sunday or Monday's games, keep an eye right here for constant updates. If you're at any of the games, feel free to hit us up on Twitter or via email.

Tonight's Probable Pitchers 9/3/10

AAA
Pawtucket Red Sox (Adam Mills 4-9, 5.06)
vs. Scranton Wilkes-Barre (D.J. Mitchell 1-0, 2.84) @ 7:05pm

AA
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Zach Stewart 8-3, 3.71)
Portland Sea Dogs (Blake Maxwell 6-0, 2.32) @ 7:00pm

Trenton Thunder (Dellin Betances 0-0, 2.61)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Bruce Pugh 0-1, 10.12) @ 7:05pm

A
Vermont Lake Monsters (Bobby Hansen 3-2, 4.47)
vs. Staten Island Yankees (N/A) @ 7:00pm

Lowell Spinners (Hunter Cervenka 1-4, 3.63)
vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (Nate Garcia 3-1, 1.91) @ 7:05pm

Connecticut Tigers (Josue Carreno 5-6, 4.55)
vs. Aberdeen IronBirds (Tim Adleman 2-4, 3.57) @ 7:05pm

You can listen to all games at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Game of the Day - Tigers @ Aberdeen - With Vermont shooting themselves in the foot over the last week and stumbling out of the playoff hunt, Connecticut becomes New England's only chance to make the post season in the New York-Penn League. They currently sit a half game back of Tri-City in the Stedler Division as they head to Aberdeen for the final three games of the regular season. The Tigers are 7-2 over their last 9 games and are fresh off of a sweep of the IronBirds in a three game set at home. Now they will look to do the same in Aberdeen, while hoping for a little help along the way from Brooklyn who are hosting Tri-City for three. Josue Carreno hits the hill for Connecticut in tonight's battle. Carreno is coming off of a hard fought victory over the Brooklyn Cyclones on August 29th when he tossed 5 innings, allowing 3 runs and 3 hits while striking out 5 batters. Aberdeen counters with Tim Adleman who is 1-2 over his last 5 starts. The last three games played by these two foes were all one-run victories by the Tigers and although they'll gladly accept the same results again, they'll certainly be looking to create a little more breathing room if possible.

Tonight's Probable Pitchers 9/2/10

AAA
Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Ty Taubenheim 2-3, 4.36)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Kris Johnson 5-13, 5.08) @ 7:05pm

AA
Binghamton Mets (Eddie Kunz 7-7, 5.14)
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Blake Maxwell 6-0, 2.32) @ 6:00pm

Harrisburg Senators (Aaron Thompson 4-13, 5.89)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Kyle Drabek 14-9, 2.89) @ 6:35pm

New Britain Rock Cats (Mike McCardell 3-12, 5.32)
vs. Reading Phillies (Yohan Flande 9-8, 4.52) @ 7:05pm

A
Vermont Lake Monsters (A.J. Cole NR)
vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (N/A) @ 7:00pm

Tri-City ValleyCats (Carlos Quevedo 6-3, 3.29)
vs. Lowell Spinners (Miguel Celestino 2-1, 2.27) @ 7:05pm

Aberdeen IronBirds (Aaron Wirsch NR)
vs. Connecticut Tigers (Rayni Guichardo 3-5, 4.26) @ 7:05pm

You can listen to all games at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Tonight's Probable Pitchers 9/1/10

AAA
Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Drew Carpenter 7-11, 4.16)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Ramon Ramirez 4-4, 5.15) @ 7:05pm

AA
Harrisburg Senators (Tanner Roark 1-1, 2.63)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (B.J. LaMura 5-6, 3.98) @ 6:35pm

Binghamton Mets (Dylan Owen 4-4, 4.38)
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Alex Wilson 3-4, 6.14) @ 7:05pm

New Britain Rock Cats (Tyler Robertson 3-12, 5.47)
vs. Reading Phillies (Drew Naylor 11-9, 4.90) @ 7:05pm

A
Vermont Lake Monsters (Matthew Grace 0-1, 10.80) GAME 1
vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (N/A) @ 7:00pm

Vermont Lake Monsters (N/A) GAME 2
vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (N/A) @ 30 minutes after completion of GAME 1

Tri-City ValleyCats (James Robinson 2-2, 3.19)
vs. Lowell Spinners (Tyler Wilson 3-3, 3.54) @ 7:05pm

Aberdeen IronBirds (Justin Moore 3-2, 2.57)
vs. Connecticut Tigers (Patrick Lawson 3-3, 2.87) @ 7:05pm

You can listen to all games at:
MiLB Gameday Audio

Game of the Day - Lehigh Valley @ PawSox - This was a questionable call here because I do not want to go down as the jinx on this one. Regardless, we're picking the IronPigs/PawSox bout as the GotD because Pawtucket is on the brink of a little history here. With a win tonight, the PawSox will tie a franchise record with 9 straight victories. Ramon Ramirez takes the hill for Pawtucket tonight looking for his third victory over his last four starts. His best outing of the season came against Lehigh Valley back on August 18th when he went 5 innings and allowed no runs, no walks and only one hit while collecting the "W". IronPigs starter Drew Carpenter enjoyed his best outing on the season against Pawtucket back on July 5th when he tossed 6 2/3 innings of 2 hit ball, allowing no runs and whiffing 8 batters. However, that was the last win that Carpenter has earned, going 0-5 over his last nine starts. It'll be a muggy night in Pawtucket, but the PawSox are certainly providing plenty of excitement for the fans in an otherwise stuffy season. Let's see if they can continue their trend.