International League

Oscar Robles' RBI single in the second inning was the deciding run last night as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs defeated the Rochester Red Wings, 8-2, in the International League.

Scranton's four-run seventh inning wasn't enough to overcome Toledo's lead, and the Mud Hens beat the Red Barons, 6-5, last night in the International League. Frank Gonzales got his second win against no losses this season.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons lost a season-high eighth straight game last night, falling by 10-4 to the Ottawa Lynx in the International League. Ottawa jumped to a 7-0 lead after two innings. Scranton pitcher Brad Brink took the loss, and his record dropped to 1-4.

J.A. Happ struck out 12 batters in seven innings last night to give the Lehigh Valley IronPigs a 2-0 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in the International League. Happ pitched all seven innings to complete a game suspended after two on July 3. The Yankees won the regularly scheduled game, 6-5.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored three times in the first inning and went on to defeat Norfolk, 8-1, last night in an International League game. The Red Barons, who also scored three runs in the fifth inning and two in the sixth, banged out 13 hits in handing losing pitcher Mickey Weston his first loss of the season.

The New York City Council yesterday approved the sale of bonds worth $1.56 billion to finance two new ballparks. The parks, one in Queens for the Mets and one in the South Bronx for the Yankees, are scheduled to be completed in 2009. Major League Baseball denied speculation that commissioner Bud Selig had selected an owner for the Washington Nationals. The Mets signed Michael Tucker, a 34-year-old former Phillies outfielder, to a minor-league contract. The Milwaukee Brewers optioned reliever Mike Adams to triple-A Nashville.

The Chicago Cubs activated closer Antonio Alfonseca from the disabled list yesterday and designated pitcher Alan Benes for assignment. Alfonseca began the season on the DL with a strained right hamstring, which he injured in spring training. He made three appearances for triple-A Iowa in a minor-league rehabilitation assignment, allowing two runs in 3 2/3 innings. Derek Jeter took batting practice on the field for the first time since dislocating his left shoulder on opening day and expects to begin minor-league rehabilitation tomorrow.

The brief and sometimes stormy Phillies career of pitcher Bob Sebra ended yesterday when the Phils dealt the Medford, N.J., product to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later. The Phils have until the end of the fall Florida Instructional League season to settle on the player, indicating that he will be a minor-league prospect and not someone on the Reds' major-league roster. Sebra, 27, who was with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the International League, will join the Reds today.

TYLER CLOYD'S phone rang shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, a day after he was named the Most Valuable Pitcher in the International League for the 2012 season. It was Hall of Famer and Triple A Lehigh Valley manager Ryne Sandberg. He called the 25-year-old Cloyd to deliver him the best news he's heard in what's been an unforgettable summer: Cloyd had been summoned to the big leagues to pitch in place of Cole Hamels, who called out sick. While making the hour-long drive to his first major league game, Cloyd called his parents in Nebraska.

The good news for the Phillies in this season of so much bad is that the minor-league system has had a renaissance of sorts. "I think we had a good year in the minor leagues," said Joe Jordan, the Phillies' first-year director of player development. "There were a lot of good stories and some struggles along the way, but what I see as the most successful part is that we had a lot of good arms that stayed healthy and got their innings. " The better news for the Phillies in this season of so much bad is that a scout from outside the organization agrees and was even stronger in his praise than Jordan.

APPARENTLY, Ilya Bryzgalov was right. Bryz, the Flyers' eccentric and emotive franchise goalie, last week reportedly left his team in Russia in anticipation of an imminent resolution of the NHL lockout. In typical Bryzgalov style, he decried the veracity of the story, denied saying what he said and forced the reporter to recant. Except, Bryzgalov was right. We missed that sort of thing. The transparent gamesmanship; the cruel retributions; the outlandish stew of the only truly international league in America.

CINCINNATI - This September will conjure few memories for a team accustomed to its annual champagne celebration with postseason planning. These Phillies are playing out the string, and a day like Monday is ripe for sleepwalking. They arrived in Ohio shortly after midnight following a wretched defeat in Georgia and faced an early wake-up call for holiday matinee baseball. The leading candidate for National League Cy Young fired against their depleted lineup. The Phillies sent a junk-balling 26-year-old rookie pitcher up against the team with the second best record in baseball.

The good news for the Phillies in this season of so much bad is that the minor-league system has had a renaissance of sorts. "I think we had a good year in the minor leagues," said Joe Jordan, the Phillies' first-year director of player development. "There were a lot of good stories and some struggles along the way, but what I see as the most successful part is that we had a lot of good arms that stayed healthy and got their innings. " The better news for the Phillies in this season of so much bad is that a scout from outside the organization agrees and was even stronger in his praise than Jordan.

TYLER CLOYD'S phone rang shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, a day after he was named the Most Valuable Pitcher in the International League for the 2012 season. It was Hall of Famer and Triple A Lehigh Valley manager Ryne Sandberg. He called the 25-year-old Cloyd to deliver him the best news he's heard in what's been an unforgettable summer: Cloyd had been summoned to the big leagues to pitch in place of Cole Hamels, who called out sick. While making the hour-long drive to his first major league game, Cloyd called his parents in Nebraska.

Restlessness consumed Tyler Cloyd hours before he stepped on a major-league mound Wednesday for the first time. He drove from Allentown to Citizens Bank Park and arrived at 1:30 p.m. only to wait. He rocked in a leather chair and fiddled with his phone, which was plugged in to withstand the constant congratulatory messages. "I liked getting here a little early," Cloyd said, "to settle my emotions. " No one disrupts a pitcher on the day of his start, but Cloyd welcomed it. Jimmy Rollins shook his hand.

If you can hit the ball really far, it will not take long for Charlie Manuel to notice. If you can hit the ball really far and with great frequency, Manuel will do more than notice. If you can do all of this while the Phillies flounder, Manuel will start thinking big things. Such is the case with Darin Ruf, the 26-year-old slugging first baseman at double-A Reading. Manuel has watched recent video of Ruf's assault on the Eastern League. The Phillies manager is interested. "He's had an extraordinary year," Manuel said Tuesday.

Nearly 1,000 people went to DeSales University in Center Valley, near Allentown, on Thursday for the latest stop on the Phillies' winter banquet tour, and there was Ryne Sandberg. He is still a minor-league manager, facing the sixth straight season he will spend with the goal of one day reaching the majors again. So there he was, alongside Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, posing for photos with VIP guests and schmoozing with fans. Another fruitless winter left Sandberg answering the same questions he has fielded for years: Are you disappointed?

J.A. Happ struck out 12 batters in seven innings last night to give the Lehigh Valley IronPigs a 2-0 win over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in the International League. Happ pitched all seven innings to complete a game suspended after two on July 3. The Yankees won the regularly scheduled game, 6-5.

Oscar Robles' RBI single in the second inning was the deciding run last night as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs defeated the Rochester Red Wings, 8-2, in the International League.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays mega-prospect Delmon Young might win an MVP award in the major leagues someday, but he'll always carry an inglorious footnote on the back of his baseball card. He'll always be known as the guy who threw his bat at an umpire. In a roundabout way, he may have also helped settle a labor dispute. As inexcusable as Young's act was - he deserves a long suspension - it shed light on an important issue that hadn't received much attention. Minor-league umpires, some of the most underpaid and underappreciated folks in the game, had been on strike since the start of the season.