Adam Rubin reports on his blog, Surfing The Mets, that Mike Devaney has made the most of his opportunity to step into Mike Pelfrey's spot in Binghamton since being promoted.

With that victory, the Camas, Wash., native – who turns 24 on July
31 – improved to 24-7 record since signing with the Mets as a
23rd-round pick from Concordia University in Portland, Ore., in 2004.

He enjoyed a 32-inning scoreless streak this season at high-A St.
Lucie, was named a Florida State League All-Star, and led his team to
its first-half division title by posting an 8-3 record and a 1.62 ERA
before his promotion. The 6-4 righthander’s biggest win this season
came on the second-to-last day of the first half on June 20, when he
took a no-hitter one out into the eighth inning in a 2-0 win against Brevard County.

Here are some more highlights from Rubin…

• Royce Ring’s
  scoreless-innings streak ended at a Norfolk-record 26 2/3 innings July
  8 against Ottawa. Ring, the Tides’ lone Triple-A All-Star
  representative, pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday at the event.

• Philip Humber’s comeback from Tommy John elbow surgery continues. The third overall pick in the 2004 draft, one slot behind Detroit’s Justin Verlander,
  limited Brevard County to two unearned runs and three hits in six
  innings. Humber has a 3.86 ERA and .208 opponent batting average in
  four starts with St. Lucie

• Alay Soler hasn’t done much since his July 3 demotion to
  Norfolk. The Cuban defector, who complained that right calf discomfort
  affected his last big-league start against the Yankees, had been
  walking around in a boot with the Tides and could be headed to the
  disabled list

• Lastings Milledge has twice been denied first base by plate umpires after getting hit by pitches on his elbow guard since returning to the minors.
• Michael Tucker entered yesterday hitting .333 (19-for-57) in his last 19 games.
• Edgardo Alfonzo joins the Tides tomorrow.

Some highlights from yesterday's minor league action from Toby's Minor League Report…

• In AAA action, Tagg Bozied led an offensive explosion in the nightcap with a pair
  of home runs.

• In AA, Jay Caligiuri tripled to
  lead off the ninth, Ambi Concepcion singled him home to tied the game and then
  Kevin Rios doubled in Concepcion
  for the game winner. Matt Lindstrom (2-2) picked up the win for streaking Binghamton.

• In High A ball, Blake Eager threw one-hit, shut out ball for seven
  innings while Ivan Naccarata slugged three hits, including a home, to lead St.
  Lucie to an easy win Saturday night.

Toby's Mets Minor League Report provides a recap of last nights action. Some highlights…

Mike Pelfrey held New
Hampshire to one run on two hits while striking out 11 and walking
three in seven innings in a 6-4 B-Mets win.

Adam Rubin reports that observers of recent performances say Pelfrey still needs to work on his
breaking pitch, which is in-between a slider and curveball. Pelfrey
said he’s trying to improve the plane on the pitch, getting it to act
more like a true curveball. “I feel like I’m getting better every time
I go out there,” Pelfrey said

Toby reports that Philip
Humber worked four innings yesterday, allowing solo HR to the first two batters he faced,
and nothing after that. He struck out
two and didn’t walk a batter while working around 3 Mets errors in his four
IP.

Toby also reports that with the
Tides down 3-2, Lastings Milledge
came to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Playing his first game in Norfolk since his return from NYC, Milledge
cleared the bases, driving home three with a go-ahead double.  He finished 2-4 and was the only Tide hitter
with multiple hits.

Royce Ring picked up the save, his
seventh for his one scoreless inning of relif. 
Ring has thrown 24 scoreless innings over his last 21 outings and the
Tides website points out that the Norfolk scoreless innings record is 24.1 set
by Ober Moreno in 2003.

Be sure to keep a close watch on Toby's blog for all Minor League Mets action, he does a fantastic job of recapping the events on all levels of the Mets minors on a daily basis.

Philip Humber allowed three runs in five innings Wednesday in his first start for Single-A St. Lucie.

He struck out five and walked one. Humber, the third overall pick in the 2004 draft, is returning from Tommy John surgery.

Baseball Prospectus brings us its first in a series of top 10 lists for prospects at each position in the minor leagues.

Mets minor leaguer Jesus Flores comes in at 8th among all catchers in the minors.

Flores has improved every month he has played offensively and is noted as being very good defensively, with a great arm, throwing out 39% of baserunners.

Henry Owens struck out all three batters he faced Monday in his inning for Double-A Binghamton.

Owens
has given up just six hits and posted a 47/7 K/BB ratio in 22 2/3
innings for Binghamton. If not for an elbow injury that caused him to
miss time last month, he'd be in Triple-A right now. He should be
anyway. The 27-year-old could join the Mets sometime in July or August.

Adam Rubin reports that Royce Ring is en fuego in Triple-A Tidewater. Ring extended a scoreless streak to 21 innings last night with Triple-A Norfolk.

Having taken over the closing role since Heath Bell – the
lone bullpen call-up this season – departed Norfolk, Ring has a 2-0
record, 1.54 ERA and five saves. He hasn’t allowed a run since April
17. Opponents are hitting only .202 against him – lefties .135 and
righties .255.

“I’m getting righthanders out too, which is nice to show,” Ring said.

Ring worked so hard to correct his drop-down mechanics during extra
bullpen work, and spent so much time in the gym early this season, he
was out for two weeks beginning in late April with a strained shoulder.

Ring has not had the opportunity to join the big league club because the Mets bullpen has been so solid there hasn't been any need to request support from the minor league system.

Ring, bypassed for a promotion in September last year, hopes he’ll
earn one this time around. That is, if he’s not summoned sooner.

“That would be nice,” he said.

Philip Humber allowed four runs in four innings for the Gulf
Coast League Mets on Thursday in his first rehab start from Tommy John surgery.

Here are some more highlights from Rubin's blog…

Willie Collazo was named Eastern League pitcher of the week.
He shut out New Britain, then limited Trenton to two runs in seven
innings in a no-decision five days later. After earning the award,
Collazo had a rough start Friday. He became the first B-Met pitcher in
10 games to fail to last five innings – allowing a season-high eight
runs while falling one out shy of that mark

Fernando Martinez, the 17-year-old outfielder who received a
$1.4 million signing bonus last summer, returned from a wrist injury
that sidelined him for a month in early June. But Martinez – a South
Atlantic League All-Star selection, who is hitting .321 at low-A
Hagerstown – played only three games before suffering a knee injury
that has sidelined since June 10

Florida State League All-Star Ambiorix Concepcion, who was tied for the league lead in doubles with 21, was promoted from St. Lucie to Binghamton. Catcher Yunir Garcia was demoted to make room

The only thing cooling off Jeff Keppinger is the birth of his son, which caused him to leave the Tides to be with wife Morgan.
Since June 7, Keppinger has gone 20-for-49 (.408) in 13 games. That
stretch has included seven multi-hit games, and five starts in left
field.

Henry Owens is 1–1 with a 0.83 ERA, sporting seven walks and 41 strike outs in
21.1 innings pitched since returning from an elbow injury.

For a rundown of last nights minor league action, check out Toby's Minor League Report.

Mets Geek brings us the minor league wrap up for last nights action. Here are some highlights…

Evan MacLane six innings and gave up ten hits, only one of which was an extra base hit, and two runs while striking out two.

Mike Pelfrey improved to 3-1 and went seven innings and gave up four hits,
one earned run, and three walks while striking out six. In Pelfrey's
last five starts he has a 3-0 record, 5.91 H/9, 0.28 HR/9, 2.53 BB/9,
10.13 K/9, 0.94 WHIP, and a 1.41 ERA. Overall on the season between St. Lucie and Binghamton, he is 5-2 with
a 8.25 H/9, 0.24 HR/9, 10.25 K/9, 1.22 WHIP, and a 2.24 ERA. Take out Pelfrey's worst start of the year when he gave up thirteen
hits in four innings and gave up five runs, he has a sparkling 1.74 ERA
and a 7.09 H/9 overall between both levels.

Henry Owens made an appearance in the game and threw one inning, gave
up one walk, and struck out one while lowering his ERA to 0.87.

Carlos Gomez went 2 for 5 with a double.

Mike Pelfrey earned the win tonight, pitching his 3rd consecutive gem tonight in Binghamton, giving up just 5 hits and 1 run over 6 innings, walking 2 and striking out 8, lowering his ERA to 2.66

Henry Owens earned the save, his 8th.

Evan MacLane, who was brought to our attention last week nearly threw a one hit shutout and earned his 6th win on Saturday. Our report comes directly from the Norfolk Tides website…

Henry Owens recently returned to action after being sidelined since April 30th. In his return appearance he retired all three batters he
faced, including two strike outs.

In 13 appearances over
15.2 innings this season at Double-A, Owens, 26, has a 1.15 ERA with 35
strike outs compared to just five walks. That is not a typo, he has actually struck out 35 batters in just 15.2 innings.

The Daily News reports that Philip Humber, the Mets #1 pick in the 2004 draft, has begun throwing every 5 days in extended spring training. Humber is recovering from Tommy John surgery that sidetracked him last July.

Along with Mike Pelfrey, Brian Bannister, Alay Soler, Philip Humber, Henry Owens, and rising star Evan MacLane, the Mets seem to have some signifigant depth of young arms in the organization.

Metsblog brings to our attention a rising star in the Mets organization by the name of Evan MacLane. The Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin had this additional information on the blossoming lefty…

Average:
Fernando Martinez, Hagerstown, .322;
Lastings Milledge, Norfolk, 298;
Jorge Padilla, Binghamton, .296;
Bobby Malek, Binghamton, .270;
Jeff Keppinger, Norfolk, .254.

HR:
Jay Caligiuri, Binghamton, 6;
Mike Carp, St. Lucie, 5;
Nick Evans, Hagerstown, 5.

RBI:
Mike Carp, St. Lucie, 22;
Jay Caligiuri, Binghamton, 21;
Shawn Bowman, St. Lucie, 18;
Bobby Malek, Binghamton, 18.

Steals:
Carlos Gomez, Binghamton, 14;
Ambiorix Concepcion, St. Lucie, 12;
Jonathan Sanchez, Hagerstown, 8;
Lastings Milledge, Norfolk, 8.

Wins:
Jon Niese, Hagerstown, 5;
Evan MacLane, Norfolk, 4.

ERA:
Alay Soler, Binghamton, 1.33;
Willie Collazo, Binghamton, 2.28;
Mike Pelfrey, Binghamton, 2.56;
Jeremi Gonzalez, Norfolk, 3.03.

Strikeouts:
Mike Pelfrey, Binghamton, 47;
Alay Soler, Binghamton, 46;
Jon Niese, Hagerstown, 36;
Michael Devaney, St. Lucie, 35;
Henry Owens, Binghamton, 33.

Saves:
Carlos Muniz, St. Lucie, 9;
Henry Owens, Binghamton, 6;
Heath Bell, Norfolk, 5;
Edgar Alfonzo, St. Lucie, 4.

Tides RHP Evan MacLane won the International League’s Pitcher of the Week, allowing just one run over 14 innings while striking out 16.

Pelfrey dropped to 0-1 with the B-Mets and went five innings while
allowing seven hits, five of which were singles, three earned runs, and
three walks while striking out three batters.