Broadway Lights Up Yankees' AAA Club

Lance Broadway, the son of my cousin Lynn Broadway of Cleburne, Texas, turned in his best performance of the 2009 season Wednesday night. Lance's complete game victory against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees, vaults him back into the picture when the New York Mets make decisions about their post-All Star game pitching rotation and the makeup of their bullpen.

Broadway's seven hit, four strikeout outing paced the Buffalo Bisons' 4-1 win Wednesday night. The victory was Broadway's first at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, and his first overall since June 16th. The former Texas Christian University All American right-hander cruised for the first eight innings, but the Yankees looked ready to mount another comeback against the Herd in the ninth. The Yankees put runners on second and third with one out, but Broadway struck out the last two batters he faced to seal the win for Buffalo. The Bisons started the scoring in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly from Chip Ambres, plating Cory Sullivan and giving the Herd the 1-0 advantage. The Bisons would strike again in the third with RBI's from Cory Sullivan and Jesus Feliciano, putting Buffalo up 3-0. Feliciano would make it 4-0 for the Herd as he drove in his team-leading 34th RBI of the season in the seventh inning. Sullivan continued his dazzling offensive efforts of late, going two-for-three with a walk, and extending his hitting streak to seven games. The center fielder came into Wednesday's contest batting .385 since June 24th, and .339 since the start of June. The center fielder also flashed his defensive talents in the fifth. Sullivan robbed Eric Duncan of an RBI with an outstanding diving grab in center to keep Scranton/Wilkes-Barre off the board. Broadway's complete game was the third for a Bisons pitcher in 2009, coming just three days after Jonathan Niese went the distance against the Rochester Red Wings on July 5th. The win was the first for Buffalo over the Yankees at Coca-Cola Field in six attempts in 2009, and the second overall. Buffalo's only other win against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre came April 21st when the Herd gave the Yankees their first loss of the season after an 11-0 start. Lance, who will be 26 years old on August 20th, was the number one draft choice of the Chicago White Sox in the 2005 major league draft. He started the 2009 season with the White Sox's AAA team at Charlotte and was recalled by the major league club in late April. Chicago traded Broadway to the New York Mets on May 29th for catcher Ramon Castro. Lance was 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in eight games, all in relief, for the White Sox (9 strikeouts and 9 walks) prior to being traded to the Mets. He has been pitching for the Bisons, the Mets' AAA affiliate, since New York's National League team acquired Lance from Chicago's American League team. Broadway's Wednesday night performance on the mound was much better than his June 28th start against his former teammates at Charlotte. He was roughed up for eight hits and seven earned runs in five innings of work in that loss to the Knights, the White Sox's AAA team. Since donning the Bisons' uniform (wearing number 26 instead of the 41 he wore for the White Sox), Broadway is 2-3 with a 5.70 ERA in 36 and one-third innings of work with 14 strikeouts and 16 walks.

In the brief time Lance has been pitching in the Mets' system a number of changes have taken place on the major league pitching staff. Starter John Maine went on the disabled list June 12th and pitcher Jon Switzer was recalled from Buffalo. On June 22nd the Mets designated pitcher Connor Robertson for assignment, sent pitcher Ken Takahashi to the minors and recalled veteran hurler Elmer Dessens and younger pitcher Pat Misch from Buffalo. Former Houston Astros starter Fernando Nieve has been another midseason callup who has pitched well for the Mets, presenting yet another road block keeping Lance Broadway from returning to the big leagues as quickly as he would like.

His superb outing against the Yankees' AAA team Wednesday night in Buffalo dropped Lance's ERA from a lofty 7.52 to 5.68 in his 2009 minor league season. A few more sterling moments on the mound like his Wednesday showing will drop the ERA to a more respectable number and open more eyes of the Mets' management personnel. Lance's family members in the West Columbia and East Columbia areas of Southeast Texas, including yours truly, are loudly cheering our relative's efforts to continue to improve.