A Fine Night in Scranton, PA

On a night when the big league Yankees looked lost, two Scrantonians made it far more bearable, at least for those of us that follow the farm system.

We'll start with the pitcher, Ivan Nova. I know Sergio Mitre will make at least one start in place of Andy Pettitte, but Nova threw his hat right into the center of the ring for that spot. He pitched one of the best games of any Scranton Yankee all year in a 6-1 win: 8 ip, 1 r, 5 h, 0 bb, 6 k.

His season line is currently: 8-2, 3.06 ERA, 111.2 ip, 106 h, 40 bb, 84 k, 1.6 ground-outs/air-outs.

Here's what Scranton's beat writer tweeted during the game:

- Ivan Nova just struck out Diory Hernandez. 96 mph fastball. He's throwing harder as the season goes on.

- Nova has retired eight in a row. He is looking really, really sharp tonight through 5. 4 hits, 1 run, 0 BBs, 4 Ks.

- Ivan Nova is through 8 now. One run allowed. He has been magnificent since Gwinnett scratched across that run in the first.

- 97 pitches, 62 strikes for Nova tonight. As strong a game as any Yankee has pitched all season.

Wouldn't you rather see Nova starting over Mitre for the next month?

A teammate of Nova is also putting his name into consideration for a (late-season) call up.

Jesus Montero homered twice. Take it away, Donnie Collins:

- Jesus Montero goes opposite field again for his ninth homer and 40th RBI of the season. In Yankee Stadium, he will be a force. He can hit the ball out to all fields.

- Montero is on base again. Todd Redmond barely bothered with him in that at-bat. Montero got ahead 3-0, drew a walk.

- He did it again. Jesus Montero goes deep on the first pitch over the right-center field wall, and it’s 4-1 Yankees. By the way, the kid is going to be great. Just great.

- Montero's last four homers have been to right or right-center. We're watching a really, really good hitter develop before our eyes here.

The best part is that both homers were to the opposite field. For a 20-year-old to display power like that is remarkable. There's speculation he could join the big club to DH later on -

Montero has heated up in a big way of late, batting [.383/.500/.702] in July, and could be worth a late-season shot to shore up the revolving DH situation at Yankee Stadium.

Since June 25th, his triple slash is .395/.500/.645 (9 k, 15 bb), and since nearly being traded for Cliff Lee, he's hit .462/.533/1.000. Clearly...