IL wins Triple A All-Star game

ALLENTOWN - Through the first half of Wednesday night's Triple A All-Star Game at Coca-Cola Park, you couldn't blame any of the sellout crowd of 10,000 fans if they had started to doze off a bit taking a short nap.

About the only action was when Iowa Cubs infielder Darwin Barney hit an RBI single in the second inning to score Matt Miller of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox giving the Pacific Coast League All-Stars a 1-0 lead.

Needless to say that was all the PCL would get as the International League finally put things together for a 2-1 win.

Andy Tracy of the hometown IronPigs broke up a no-hitter in the fifth inning with a leadoff single against Brandon Dickson of the Memphis Redbirds.

Even though the IL stars didn't score, it provided the spark for a two-run sixth inning. Chris Valaika of the Louisville Bats doubled to left and Chase Lambin of the Syracuse Chiefs doubled him home to tie it at 1-1. Elliot Johnson of the Durham Bulls singled to left driving home the winning run.Rochester Red Wings right-hander Anthony Slama of the Rochester Red Wings pitched a scoreless sixth to get the win. Jonathan Albaladejo of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees got the save retiring the PCL stars in order in the ninth. Albaladejo shares the Minor League lead with 29 regular-season saves.

"I've seen that a lot of times against us," said Durham's Charlie Montoyo, the International League manager, referring to Albaladejo getting the three straight outs. "He's one of the best closers in the league."

Montoyo decided to give Albaladejo the call to close out the victory while bypassing hometown favorite Scott Mathieson.

"It was very tough," Montoyo said. "Thank God I've got Dave (Huppert) here as Mathieson's manager. We did everything as a group. (And) Mathieson threw his last two games here."

Albaladejo was one happy guy after preserving the win.

"It was pretty exciting," he said. "It feels like a little bit of an extra-special moment than during the season. My first Triple-A All-Star Game and I was excited to be here. I wanted to pitch. The whole game I'd been waiting for it.

"I was probably more excited here than my first game in the big leagues."

Scranton/Wilkes Barre catcher Jesus Montero, who is the top prospect in the New York Yankees organization, was glad to be on the receiving end of Albaladejo's tosses.

"It was really good he was closing, because we knew we wanted to win," he said. "It was a great feeling, for me and for him."

Mathieson, on the other hand, was a little disappointed he didn't get the call.

"Oh, I understand why I didn't get in," Mathieson, who was the only pitcher not used by the International League in the game, said.. "But every game is important to me. I go into every game with the same approach, because there are 29 other teams watching these games. My goal is to make it to the next level and stay there."

Tracy and pitcher Nate Bump, the other two IronPigs in the game both made the local fans happy. Tracy went one-for-two and Bump threw one inning, gave up no runs and nine out of 10 pitches were strikes).

Thomas Diamond of the Cubs, who started for the losers, struck out two and walked two over two hitless innings.

Josh Banks of the Round Rock Express gave up the two runs and took the loss.