Bus Leagues Express: August 6

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Durham and Gwinnett honor Negro Leagues: Sunday evening, the Bulls and Braves honored the rich history of the Negro Leagues wearing throwback jerseys representing teams from across the country. Some former players were even in attendance, including a member of the former Durham Rams. The Atlanta region also had a history with the Negro Leagues with the Atlanta Black Crackers who played in various leagues for over 20 years. In the game, Gwinnett made a 9th inning comeback to defeat Durham 6-4 to avoid a series sweep at the hands of the Bulls.

Hamilton steals three more: Although he only reached base once Sunday, Billy Hamilton stole three more bases for Pensacola to bring his season total to 125. This is believed to be 3rd all-time in minor league history, and he’s just 20 behind Vince Coleman who stole 125 bases for low-A Macon in 1983. Hamilton has 125 steals in 106 games or 1.18 per game. If Hamilton plays in every remaining game for Pensacola, he’s on pace for 157 steals in 133 games which easily eclipses Coleman’s record. Hamilton has eight steals in his last four games.

Lee starts new on-base streak: A day after his 46 game on-base streak was snapped, Hak-Ju Lee immediately got back to work on a new one by hitting a leadoff homer in Montgomery’s 7-1 loss at Jacksonville. It was his 4th home run of the season, one away from the career high he set last year with Charlotte and Montgomery. Lee’s season got off to a dreadful start after finishing 2011 poorly in AA, but he finally began to turn it around in June. His second half OPS is 230 points higher than his first half, and while his .851 mark may be a bit rich for his ML potential, it’s closer to what he’s capable of compared to his first half OPS of .622.

Cain tames Lancaster in home debut: At the time of the Wandy Rodriguez trade, I predicted that the Astros would promote Colton Cain from high-A to AA to keep him away from homer-happy Lancaster like they did with Jarred Cosart last year, but they chose to send him to the lion’s den. After struggling in his JetHawks debut at Stockton, a solid hitters’ park in its own right, he made his first home start Sunday and pitched well in the no-decision. The big lefty threw scoreless baseball through the first six innings, but he ran into trouble coming out for the 7th. After a leadoff walk, he served up a homer to Mario Martinez. That retied the game and ended Cain’s night. He finished with the two runs allowed on six hits and two walks in 6+ innings while striking out six. Although he got a no-decision in a Lancaster loss, it was still a successful start.

Hernandez taken deep on path back to majors: Roberto Hernandez, formerly known as Fausto Carmona, is probably joining the Indians a bit late for a playoff push, but they always seem to be in need of some pitching help. In his third appearance since his fraud suspension ended, Hernandez pitched a season long 7.1 innings, but he allowed four solo home runs along the way in Lake County’s 9-1 loss to South Bend. The line score suggests he didn’t pitch poorly; he only allowed six hits and walked one with nine strikeouts, but when he made mistakes, they were hit hard. Four different players hit the home runs, and South Bend’s Kerry Jenkins also hit a second in the 9th inning.

Santana sharp in rehab appearance: Johan Santana struggled in just about every start after his June 1st no-hitter, and it wasn’t a surprise that he had to be placed on the DL with what turned out to be an ankle injury. Sunday, he made what’s expected to be his only rehab appearance and was very good. Santana struck out three in three scoreless innings, only allowing one hit and a walk in Brooklyn’s 8-0 win over Auburn. He got some early run support thanks to a pair of three run innings to start the game. Since Santana’s last start, the Mets lost 5.5 games in the standings to division leading Washington.

On tap today

MiLB.TV schedule

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Garrett Richards back with Salt Lake

Corcino, Hellweg meet in top SL matchup

Jhoulys Chacin makes rehab start for Tulsa

Michael Ynoa makes second start for Vermont