Here's some highlights of last nights minor league action courtesy of Toby's Minor League Report…

AAA

• Royce Ring blew his second save of the season.
• Chris Basak,
  who took over for Keppinger was 2-2, with a solo HR.

AA

• Carlos Gomez doubled twice and has now
  hit safely in 12 straight games to improve his season line to
  .261/.325/.390.  Over his streak he’s
  raised his batting average from .225 to .261 and has doubled six times.
  
• Michel
  Abreu was 3-3 with a double and a pair of walks

A+

• Philip Humber, as we reported yesterday by way of Metsblog, dealt five shutout innings while allowing four hits
  and striking out nine without issuing a walk.

  Kevin Goldstein from Baseball America had this to say about Humber before the start…

  Righthander Philip
  Humber has returned from Tommy John surgery and earned some rave
  reviews. “He has two big power pitches with the fastball, which is 90-94
  mph, and that curve which is just a hammer and a real out pitch,” said one
  National League scout about the third overall pick in the 2004 draft. “He
  also has a power changeup–and I love those–it's not a touch/feel pitch; its
  velocity is in the 80s so it gets there with some speed and just bottoms
  out.” Having just returned after missing nearly a year, Humber
  still struggles with his location, but the scout didn't see it as a long-term
  concern. “It's really going to depend on command and control with
  him,” the scout added. “It has to improve, but that's always an issue
  for guys coming back from TJs–there's no reason it shouldn’t improve.”

• Jesus Flores led St. Lucie’s offense
  with a 2-3 that included a solo HR in the first inning.

Metsblog reports that Baseball America's Matt Meyers profiles Mets LHP Jon Neise

Here are some highlights from Toby's Mets Minor League Report…

AAA

• Lastings Milledge was 2-5 at the top of
  the order while Sandy Martinez was
  2-3 with a solo HR and 2 RBI. Michael Tucker added a solo
  HR of his own.
  

AA

• Carlos Gomez extended his hit streak to 10 games with a 2-4
  night as well.  Gomez is now hitting
  .392/.418/.549 in his 14 July games.  He
  hasn’t drawn a single walk all month

A+

• Mike Carp raised his season line to
  .277/.382/.406 with a 3-5 night that included a double.
• Corey Coles was 4-5 with a double while
  Jose Coronado was 2-5 from the top of the order as well.  Caleb
  Stewart doubled, tripled and drove home three runs in a 3-4 night.

The Great Metstradamus reveals his Hall Of Hate for 2006. I have to admit, i'm quite pleased with the results, but Steve Phillips shouldn't have ranked so highly. There are people far more deserving of our hate.

Jessica laughs at E-Rod over at Chicks Dig The Pitchers Duel.

Faith and Fear In Flushing makes a list.

Bob Sikes has some thoughts on the Mets dealing for pitching on Getting Paid To Watch.

Lonestar Mets talks Fonzie.

Mike's Mets revisits September 2004.

The Metropolitans profiles Carlos Gomez.

Transplanted Mets Fan writes and ode to Clifford.

Mets Geek starts a series that we hope continues, Minor League Boxscores, and provides a preview of the Reds pitchers the Mets will see this week.

Mets Daily has some great Mets news and notes.

In Adam Rubin's Daily News “Blog”, he gives a lengthy rundown on Lastings Millidge

Milledge had the least experience in right, which can be tricky at
windy, on-the-water Harbor Park, the Tides’ home. He slammed into the
wall hard going after one foul ball, but came away unfazed.

GM Omar Minaya has said he wouldn’t hesitate promoting
Milledge if needed, though that’s not expected soon, especially with
Beltran’s MRI coming up clean after being reviewed in New York
yesterday. Had Beltran needed to go on the DL, Willie Randolph said it was more likely the Mets would have recalled Victor Diaz and used Endy Chavez
in center. Still, Milledge could be up before September, though an
injury likely would be required, since he’s not going to sit on the
bench.

Center field has become perhaps the deepest position for the Mets’
organization, with the top three prospects all leadoff hitters, too.
Double-A’s Carlos Gomez, also 20, is a rawer version of Milledge, but thought of just as highly. And 17-year-old Fernando Martinez,
signed for $1.4 million last summer, is hitting .333 at low-A
Hagerstown despite being the youngest player in any organization on a
full-season minor-league team.

Rubin gives updates on some other notable folks in the Mets minor league system including Mike Pelfrey, Henry Owens, Chris Shelton, Willie Callazo, Evan Maclane..

Heres a list of the organizations leaders…

Average: Lastings Milledge, Norfolk, .396; Brett Harper, Binghamton,
.382; Jorge Padilla, Binghamton, .367; Corey Coles, St. Lucie, .340;
Fernando Martinez, Hagerstown, .333.

HR: Nick Evans, Hagerstown, 3; Jorge Padilla, Binghamton, 3.

RBI: Bobby Malek, Binghamton, 11; Nick Evans, Hagerstown, 10; Jorge Padilla, Binghamton, 10.

Steals: Carlos Gomez, Binghamton, 9; Ambiorix Concepcion, St. Lucie, 7; Lastings Milledge, Norfolk, 4.

Wins: Willie Collazo, Binghamton, 2; Evan MacLane, Binghamton, 2;
Jonathan Niese, Hagerstown, 2; Marcelo Perez, Hagerstown, 2; Kevin
Tomasiewicz, Hagerstown, 2.

ERA: Carlos Muniz, St. Lucie, 0.00; Alay Soler, St. Lucie, 0.60;
Orlando Roman, Binghamton, 0.93; Eddie Camacho, Binghamton, 0.96.

Strikeouts: Henry Owens, Binghamton, 21; Mike Pelfrey, St. Lucie, 18; Alay Soler, St. Lucie, 17.

Saves: Carlos Muniz, St. Lucie, 4; Henry Owens, Binghamton, 4; Heath Bell, Norfolk, 3.

Check it the entire article here.

From Baseball America…

ORG LVL PLAYERS                        AB  R  H  BI   AVG
NYM AAA Milledge, Lastings CF  ……   2  1  2   1  .357 - HR (1), 2B, CS,
2 BB; off to .357/.451/.595 start
NYM AA  Gomez, Carlos CF  ………..   4  1  1   0  .191 - SB (8)
NYM AA  Harper, Brett 1B  ………..   4  1  3   2  .421 - 2B (6)
NYM HiA Concepcion, Ambiorix CF  ….   6  3  4   1  .311 - 2 2B, CS
NYM HiA Flores, Jesus C  …………   5  3  4   2  .270 - 3 2B

————————-  Pitchers ———————–

ORG LVL PITCHERS                        IP  H  R  ER  BB  SO    ERA
FLA AAA Petit, Yusmeiro  ………..   5.1  9  6   6   3   3   3.86 - 3 HR,
but 9-to-2 groundouts to flyouts
NYM HiA Soler, Alay  ……………   5.0  3  1   1   1   6   0.60 - W
(1-1)

From NYPost.com…

The Mets are hurrying Gomez, just 20, from the
Low-A Sally League to Double-A, with Minaya claiming Gomez is the
fastest player in the Met organization (”faster than [Jose] Reyes,”
Minaya said.). Another team official gushed that the center fielder's
tools are so explosive that if the choice were between trading Milledge
or Gomez, he was not sure which way to go.