August 4, 2010
Minors notebook: Big week for LaMura
by Roger Brown/
It may have been the best week of B.J. LaMura’s professional baseball career.
LaMura, a starting pitcher with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week on Monday for his performance in two victories late last month. LaMura, 29, pitched 12 innings and allowed one earned run in the two appearances.
LaMura, who throws right-handed, pitched six scoreless innings in an 8-3 victory over Harrisburg on July 26. He held Harrisburg to one hit, struck out six and walked one.
In his next start LaMura allowed one run in six innings during a 6-1 triumph over Trenton on July 31. He struck out seven, surrendered three hits and walked two.
He finished the week ranked second among all Eastern League pitchers in strikeouts (13) and WHIP (0.58).
The Toronto Blue Jays signed LaMura as a minor league free agent in 2010. He attended Clemson and was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the fifth round of the 2002 draft.
LaMura pitched for Team Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and was sent from the White Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of the Sandy Alomar Jr. trade in 2006.
Name game
Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was added to the Pawtucket Red Sox roster after Boston acquired him from the Texas Rangers in a trade Saturday.
Saltalamacchia, 25, began the season with Texas and appeared in two games with the Rangers before he was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in mid-April. He hit .244 with 11 home runs and 33 RBIs in 63 games with Oklahoma City. He played in 55 games as a catcher and eight as a designated hitter.
Saltalamacchia hit .251 with 23 home runs and 94 RBI in 240 major league games (47 with Atlanta and 193 with Texas). Atlanta selected Saltalamacchia in the first round (36th selection overall) in the 2003 draft. He was acquired by Texas in 2007 as part of the deal than sent first baseman Mark Teixeira to Atlanta. His 2009 season was cut short by shoulder surgery.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Saltalamacchia’s 14-letter last name is the longest in major league history.
Catch and release
The New Britain Rock Cats added 27-year-old catcher Jeff Howell to their roster on Tuesday. Howell was obtained by the Minnesota Twins – New Britain’s parent team − from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations.
Howell had been playing for the Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League. He had a .242 batting average with 12 doubles, four home runs and 25 RBIs in 46 games.
New Britain made room for Howell by sending 22-year-old catcher Tobias Streich to Ft. Myersin the Florida State League. Streich joined New Britain in late July.
Lucky 7
Ronnie LaBrie collected three hits, scored three runs and tied a team record by driving in seven runs to help the Vermont Lake Monsters defeat the Lowell Spinners 13-4 in a New York-Penn League contest played Sunday.
LaBrie had a two-run single in the first inning, a three-run home run in the third and a two-run double in the fifth. The seven RBIs matched the team record set by Francisco Plasencia in the final game of the 2005 season.
