ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fantasy leaguers hoping to salvage their season with a phenom pitcher who appeared in the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game might want to begin planning for next season, instead.

Strong, young arms were in short supply at Isotopes Park on Wednesday night as the International League took the contest 7-5, winning for the second straight season.



A familiar name walked off with the Most Valuable Player award as former New York Mets outfielder Timo Perez collected three hits and drove in two runs in the victory. Perez, now playing for Detroit's Toledo Mud Hens, also took home the International League Star of the Game honors.

The Pacific Coast League award went to hometown Valentino Pascucci, who homered in the first inning but took a borderline called third strike from Norfolk's Cory Doyne with a runner on in the ninth to end it.

Doyne "made some tough pitches," said Pascucci, a 6-6 first baseman for the Albuquerque Isotopes. "The last one he put right on the corner. I tip my hat to him."

Early on, it looked like the game would be one for which Albuquerque has become known — high-scoring affairs.

In the first, the IL grabbed control of the game, scoring four runs off soft-tossing PCL starter Justin Lehr of Tacoma. The right-handed Lehr's pitches topped out in the mid-80s on the stadium radar gun. And he paid for it, taking the loss after giving up four runs in his only inning.

After Lehr hit the second batter, Perez smacked a run-scoring double to the left-center gap and Toledo's Mike Hessman followed with an opposite-field homer to right. Brandon Moss of Pawtucket followed with an opposite-field homer of his own.

It looked like the rally would continue when Shelley Duncan of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre walked, but Louisville's Joey Votto bounced into a double play, niftily started by first baseman Craig Brazell of Omaha.

The PCL responded with two outs in the first. Tacoma centerfielder Adam Jones, who is expecting a call-up from the Seattle Mariners, sent a liner into left-center that a player with lesser speed would have accepted as a single. Instead, Jones turned it into a hustle-double. Pascucci then turned around a 92-MPH fastball from Bryan Bullington of Indianapolis to shave the lead in half. Other than that hiccup, Bullington was effective, striking out four while walking one in two innings.

Brandon Watson of Columbus added to the IL lead in the second with a double down the left-field line to score Brian Bixler of Indianapolis, who he singled and stole second.

The IL padded the advantage in the fourth when Bixler reached on an error, stole second again, then scored on a single by Rochester's Matt Tolbert, who scored on Perez single.

Brazell, a Kansas City Royals farm hand who leads all Minor Leaguers with 30 homers between Double- and Triple-A, homered to lead off the fourth for the PCL and cut the deficit to 7-3. Terry Evans of Salt Lake added to the rally with a double to the wall in left-center. Evans and Nashville's Vinny Rottino, who followed with a walk, both came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Clint Barmes of Colorado Springs and Iowa's Eric Patterson.

Then it was a parade of relievers who turned in strong performances. But they won't turn anybody's fantasy season around.

Richmond's Manny Acosta threw an effective sixth inning for the IL, striking out two. Willie Collazo of New Orleans and Travis Driskill of Round Rock turned the same trick for the PCL in the fifth and sixth innings.

Rosales is an Albuquerque, N.M.-based sports reporter who follows minor league baseball.

Although Triple-A is now almost a storehouse where Major League teams stash former big leaguers that can recalled and plugged into a vacancy as needed, there are still potential impact players littered among the rosters of the Pacific Coast and International leagues Some of those could even be called up soon. Here are five players who could be in the bigs sooner than later:

SS Indianapolis Indians (Pirates)
Comment: Stole two bases in the PCL-IL All-Star Game, with cheap steals being his biggest asset. He came into the game with a .297 batting average with 20 steals while getting just once. His batting eye still needs some work after striking out 70 times while drawing just 35 walks, but with Pittsburgh constantly looking to deal veterans in a perpetual rebuilding program, Josh Wilson's days as a Pirate could be numbers. Bixler might very well be overmatched at the plate if brought up this season, but he should still provide some steals that could prove important in a close race.

OF Salt Lake Bees (Angels)
Comment: Briefly sipped from the Major League coffee cup in June, amassing four at bats in two appearances. His only hit in was a two-run homer. Although expected to see some more playing time while Garrett Anderson was injured, Evans was quickly sent back done. But sporting a 11-50-.344 line with 13 steals in 19 attempts, Evans has shown a well-rounded game. Although Los Angeles-Anaheim has a crowed outfield situation at the moment, Anderson is old and brittle and Reggie Willits is a rookie who's come from nowhere to grab a spot but has been in a massive slump that could see him returning to the bench. And that could open up a spot for Evans.

OF Tacoma Rainiers (Seattle)
Comment: Drafted as a shortstop, Seattle quickly switched the speedy Jones to the outfield. He came into the game with 21-72-.309 line. While his speed hasn't materialized into success on the base paths yet, it was in evidence in the All-Star Game when stretched a routine single into a hustle double. Then he easily stole second later in the game. Jones was rumored to be going up shortly after the All-Star break, but the Mariners now have seemed to have backed off that move for the time being. However, the longer Seattle stays in the race, the more tempting it will be to see Jones' multi-faceted game on the big stage.

OF Toledo Mud Hens (Tigers)
Comment: That's right, Timo Perez. He almost surely will return to the Big Leagues if Detroit needs some outfield help. Veteran fantasy leaguers may remember his strong 2002 season when he went 8-47-.295 with 10 steals in 444 at bats. He was up briefly with St. Louis season, but hit just .194 in 31 at bats. The 32-year-old probably doesn't have the 2002 kind of production remaining, but he's surely better than last season's performance and can provide a quality, short-term fill in for the Tigers if problems arise in their outfield.

OF Columbus Clippers (Nationals)
Comment: Watson caused a minor stir in June when he built a Minor League-record 43-game hitting streak. Called up to Washington, D.C. shortly thereafter, Watson went 5-for-19 in a brief trial before being sent back down. The Nationals outfield remains an unsettled place, so he almost certainly will get another shot before the season is out. Although Watson has been bouncing up to the Big Leagues since 2005, he's never been given an extended period to prove himself. Still only 25, this could be the year he does, which, again would mean some cheap steals. He had 31 steals at Double A-Harrisburg in 2005 and he had 16 in 20 attempts for the Clippers so far this season while hitting .311 overall.

NOTE: Some other players to keep an eye on for next year and possibly even this season include Joey Votto (1B, Lousville, Cincinnati); Daric Barton (1B, Sacramento, Oakland); Eric Patterson (2B, Iowa, Chicago); Ryan Speier (P, Colorado Springs, Colorado); Bryan Bullington (P, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh) and Brandon Moss (OF, Pawtucket, Boston).