AAA – International League

Gwinett 1 | Buffalo 2

BATTING
2B: Green, A (11, Ortegano), Padilla, J (5, Ortegano).
TB: Hernandez, Lu; Padilla, J 4; Pascucci; Cervenak, M; Green, A 2.
RBI: Green, A (19), Padilla, J (14).
2-out RBI: Green, A; Padilla, J.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gee; Blaquiere; Duda 2; Pascucci.
Team RISP: 1-for-7.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
CS: Feliciano, J (3, 2nd base by Ortegano/Sammons), Padilla, J (1, 2nd base by Hyde/Sammons).
PO: Feliciano, J (1st base by Ortegano).

Dillon Gee was just masterful today and if it was a shutout probably would have been pitching the 9th for the shutout as he was so efficient with his pitches.  Consistency is the thing that separates major leaguers from minor leaguers and Gee has the potential to put up wonderful performances like this, but then will go out his next time and throw up a stinker. If he can ever find the middle ground he can become an extremely solid 4/5 starter.

AA – Eastern League

Binghamton 2 | New Hampshire 6

BATTING
2B: Ratliff 2 (13, Stewart, Z, Magnuson).
HR: Nieuwenhuis (15, 3rd inning off Stewart, Z, 0 on, 1 out), Fisher (3, 6th inning off Stewart, Z, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Nieuwenhuis 4; Ratliff 4; Satin; Hubbard 2; Nickeas; Fisher 5.
RBI: Nieuwenhuis (53), Fisher (4).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hubbard; Coronado; Reyes, R; Ratliff 2; Satin.
GIDP: Fisher.
Team RISP: 0-for-9.
Team LOB: 10.

Mark Cohoon‘s game went as strangely as his whole season in Bingy has been.  His peripherals continue to be fantastic, but his results continue to look bad.  His game didn’t start of well giving up a home run to slugger Travis Snider, completely understandable, and then it looked like he was settling in.  Then in the third inning he got a quick out before walking the number nine hitter on four straight pitches something you never want to do.  Then the trouble came when the next three batters reached on singles, but the thing is two of the hits were because of poor defense and the other one was a weakly hit bloop.  Not much of Cohoon’s fault.  Right after making Shawn Bowman look silly at the plate he gave up a grand slam to put the game away.  Had their been a better defense behind him and those plays made who knows what happens.  I am not buying into Cohoon’s poor performance in Bingy so far because he is pitching to an inflated BABIP, walking no one, striking out enough, and getting a nice amount of ground balls.  He is having trouble controlling his curve ball, but things should turn around soon for Cohoon. Captain Kirk and Sean Ratliff continue to mash.

HiA – Florida State League

St. Lucie Game Suspended

LoA – South Atlantic League

Greenville 8 | Savannah 4

BATTING
2B: Zapata, P (15, Rivera), Puello, C (18, Batista, A).
TB: Zapata, P 2; Harris, R.J.; Puello, C 3; Marte, J 3; Tovar, W.
RBI: Puello, C 2 (25), Gregory 2 (17).
2-out RBI: Gregory.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Butler; Harris, A 4; Torres, Ju 2.
Team RISP: 4-for-14.
Team LOB: 10.

BASERUNNING
SB: Puello, C (31, 2nd base off Rivera/Thomas).

FIELDING
E: Gregory (6, missed catch).
DP: (Tovar, W-Harris, A-Gregory).

Another not great start from James Fuller and his stock is really falling now.  He was considered the best or second best prospect in the St. Lucie rotation when the season began, but has been passed up by the likes of Cohoon and Brandon Moore.  Next season I would move him Binghamton and try him out as a LOOGY to make a quick move to the majors.  Cesar Puello and Jefry Marte continue to be two of the only baters to do anything lately.

SSA – New York-Penn League

Brooklyn 7 | Tri-City 6

BATTING
2B: Sandoval (10, Gouvea).
TB: Sandoval 3; Vaughn 2; Bonfe; Harrison 2; Cherry 3; Ceciliani, D; Schroeder.
RBI: Cherry 3 (16), Schroeder (3), Vaughn (25), Ceciliani, D 2 (16).
2-out RBI: Ceciliani, D 2; Cherry.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Valdez, A; Ceciliani, D.
S: Schroeder; Nieves.
Team RISP: 4-for-7.
Team LOB: 6.

BASERUNNING
SB: Cherry 2 (4, 2nd base off De Leon, J/Kvasnicka, 2nd base off Gouvea/Kvasnicka), Bonfe (3, 2nd base off Gouvea/Kvasnicka), Vaughn (6, 3rd base off Gouvea/Kvasnicka).
CS: Vaughn (1, 2nd base by Robinson, J/Kvasnicka).
PO: Cherry (1st base by Robinson, J).

FIELDING
Pickoffs: Figuereo (Figueroa, O at 1st base).

a-Singled for Steinhauer, K in the 8th.

Ryan Fraser is just an absolute beast.  It is not very often you get exited about a relief prospect, but still he has been amazing.  Just an all around solid performance from the offense.  They did a good job hitting with runners in scoring position and stealing bases especially by the real prospects on the team; Cory Vaughn, Darrell Ceciliani, and Brian Harrison.

RK – Appalachian League

Kingsport 5 | Johnson City 15

BATTING
2B: Cordero (7, Copeland).
HR: Cordero (3, 2nd inning off Hernandez, H, 0 on, 2 out), McQueen (1, 6th inning off Copeland, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: McQueen 4; Schafer 2; Stewart 2; Rodriguez, Ja; Cordero 6; Hinojosa; Brown, B.
RBI: Cordero (18), Rodriguez, A (22), Rodriguez, Ja (17), McQueen (11).
2-out RBI: Cordero; McQueen.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: McQueen; Cordero 2; Schafer.
Team RISP: 2-for-16.
Team LOB: 11.

BASERUNNING
SB: Schafer (3, 2nd base off Hernandez, H/Castillo, J), McQueen (9, 2nd base off Hernandez, H/Castillo, J).

FIELDING
E: Brown, B (7, fielding), Rodriguez, A 2 (9, throw, fielding), Schafer (6, throw).
DP: 2 (Brown, B-Schafer-Rodriguez, A, Brown, B-Schafer-Stewart).

It’s safe to say the project to convert Jonathan Kountis to a starter is not going smoothly so far.

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

AA – Binghamton Mets

HiA – St. Lucie Mets

LoA – Savannah Sand Gnats

SSA – Brooklyn Cyclones

RK – Kingsport Mets

HiA – St. Lucie Mets

BATTING
2B: Lucas, R (7, Beck).
TB: Valdespin; Barrett; Mollica; Flores, W 2; Lagares 3; Gronauer; Fernandez, R; Lucas, R 2.
RBI: Lagares (10), Fernandez, R (6), Mollica (8).
2-out RBI: Lagares; Fernandez, R.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Fernandez, R 2; Lucas, R; Pellot.
Team RISP: 3-for-9.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
SB: Lagares (6, 2nd base off Crawford, E/d’Arnaud, T).
CS: Flores, W (2, 2nd base by Jenkins/d’Arnaud, T).

FIELDING
E: Lucas, R (16, fielding).

a-Singled for Valdespin in the 9th.

Scott Moviel had a surprisingly good game.   He has been erratic all year, but today he was able to walk no one and strike out 5 piggy backing Eric Beaulac who struggled with his command and had got hurt by a Richard Lucas error.  Juan Lagares is becoming more comfortable at the plate after struggling early on and Wilmer Flores continues to collect his hits with regularity.

LoA – Savannah Sand Gnats

BATTING
2B: Santomauro (8, Britton), Gregory (8, Ebert).
TB: Puello, C 2; Torres, Ju 2; Santomauro 2; Gregory 2.
RBI: Torres, Ju (3).
2-out RBI: Torres, Ju.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gregory.
Team RISP: 1-for-6.
Team LOB: 5.

BASERUNNING
SB: Puello, C (28, 2nd base off Britton/Butler).
CS: Puello, C (7, 2nd base by Ebert/Butler).

FIELDING
E: Torres, Ju (2, throw), Tovar, W (6, fielding).

Darin Gorski had a really good game today and is a prospect I like a lot. I wish the Mets would have used him as a starter all year, but he was actually much better in relief lights out to be exact so that could be his ticket to the big leagues. Yet again the offense did next to nothing o the Gnats picked up another loss.

SSA – Brooklyn Cyclones

BATTING
2B: Sandoval (9, Gaynor, C).
HR: Sandoval (5, 3rd inning off Wetmore, K, 1 on, 0 out), Vaughn (8, 3rd inning off Wetmore, K, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Sandoval 6; Ceciliani, D 2; Vaughn 5; Bonfe 3; Schroeder 2; Centeno; Freeman.
RBI: Sandoval 3 (18), Vaughn (24), Freeman (6), Bonfe (10).
2-out RBI: Sandoval.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Schroeder; Flagg; Ceciliani, D.
SF: Freeman.
GIDP: Harrison.
Team RISP: 2-for-9.
Team LOB: 7.

FIELDING
E: Almonte, Y 2 (2, throw, missed catch), Freeman (1, throw).

Make that back-to-back nights both Rylan Sandoval and Cory Vaughn have hit home runs. The two of them are having their own little home run derby down there. Sandoval is just a product of age to level but Vaughn seems to be legit and much more polished than previously thought off.  Nick Carr is rehabbing and more wild than ever.  He looked like he may have turned a corner last year with his control before getting hurt, but is now back to his old ways walking a batter per inning. Ryan Fraser got 3 of his outs via strikeout and 3 via the ground ball. Couldn’t ask for anything else he has been outstanding.

RK – Kingsport Mets

BATTING
2B: Rodriguez, Ja (5, Baker, D), Zapata, N (4, Baker, D), Cordero (6, Carder).
HR: Stewart (1, 7th inning off Petersime, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Schafer 2; Stewart 4; Rodriguez, A 2; Rodriguez, Ja 3; Cordero 2; Zapata, N 2; Semel.
RBI: Zapata, N 2 (11), McQueen (9), Stewart 3 (6), Cordero (14).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A 4; Van Gurp.
SF: Stewart.
GIDP: Van Gurp.
Team RISP: 2-for-11.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
SB: Van Gurp (1, 2nd base off Baker, D/Hornback), McQueen (5, 2nd base off Strong/Hornback).

FIELDING
E: Semel (1, throw).
Outfield assists: Rodriguez, Ja (Decater at home).
DP: 3 (Schafer-Van Gurp-Stewart 2, Van Gurp-Schafer-Stewart).

Outside of his first start Jacob deGrom has been terrific.  For someone so knew to pitching he has great control of his pitches walking just 2 in 17 innings.  He has also has a great ability of getting ground balls which is harder with metal bats and would explain his poor numbers.  He is one to watch closely going forward. The Rodriguez Bros. have just been filthy this year.

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

BATTING
HR: Duda (7, 7th inning off Chico, 2 on, 0 out), Martinez, F (7, 7th inning off Garate, 0 on, 1 out), Jacobs (11, 8th inning off Villone, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Turner; Padilla, J; Jacobs 4; Pascucci; Cervenak, M 3; Duda 4; Martinez, F 4.
RBI: Cervenak, M (17), Duda 3 (20), Martinez, F (23), Jacobs (44).
2-out RBI: Cervenak, M.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hernandez, Lu.
S: Green, A.
GIDP: House.
Team RISP: 2-for-6.
Team LOB: 5.

FIELDING
E: Cervenak, M (8, throw).
PB: House 2 (5).

a-Homered for O’Connor in the 7th. b-Hit a sacrifice bunt for De La Torre in the 9th.

Fernando Martinez’s pinch hit home run gives him a home run in two consecutive games and 3 in his last 4 games to go along with 6 RBI’s.  After a gigantic 2 games homerless streak Lucas Duda cracked a 3-run in the 7th to help spark the comeback.  Look at his stats from the last 8 days.  The power/patience is just ridiculous.

AA – Binghamton Mets

BATTING
2B: Nieuwenhuis (23, Duke).
TB: Nieuwenhuis 2; Evans, N 2; Satin 2; Fisher; Coronado.
RBI: Evans, N (43).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Fisher.
GIDP: Ratliff; Reyes, R; Malo.
Team RISP: 1-for-4.
Team LOB: 5.

HiA – St. Lucie Mets

BATTING
TB: Flores, W; Beltran; Welch, S; Fernandez, R.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Lagares.
Team RISP: 0-for-2.
Team LOB: 4.

BASERUNNING
PO: Lucas, R (1st base by Jefferies).

FIELDING
E: Carson 2 (3, fielding, pickoff).
DP: (Valdespin-Flores, W-Welch, S).
Pickoffs: Carson 2 (Murrill at 1st base, Velasquez, I at 2nd base).

BATTING
TB: Beltran 2; Flores, W; Gronauer; Lucas, R; Pellot.
RBI: Gronauer (5), Beltran (5).
2-out RBI: Beltran.
GIDP: Barrett 2; Lagares; Flores, W.
Team RISP: 2-for-3.
Team LOB: 1.

FIELDING
E: Gronauer (1, throw).

LoA – Savannah Sand Gnats

SSA – Brooklyn Cyclones

BATTING
2B: Cherry 2 (5, Gonzalez, Sa, Morales, I), Flagg (5, Heatley).
3B: Flagg (4, Gonzalez, Sa).
HR: Sandoval (2, 1st inning off Gonzalez, Sa, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Sandoval 6; Flagg 5; Brown; Cherry 4.
RBI: Sandoval 3 (10).
2-out RBI: Sandoval.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bonfe; Vaughn; Ceciliani, D 2; Brown; Schroeder; Flagg 2.
S: Centeno.
Team RISP: 2-for-13.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
SB: Ceciliani, D (4, 2nd base off Gonzalez, Sa/Gimenez, W).

FIELDING
DP: 3 (Sandoval-Flagg, Sandoval-Brown-Flagg 2).

a-Struck out for Brown in the 8th. b-Intentionally walked for Holliday, C in the 9th.

RK – Kingsport Mets

BATTING
2B: Schafer (4, Cole), McQueen (6, Hagen).
3B: Van Gurp (1, Alaniz), Schafer (1, Hagen).
HR: Rodriguez, A (5, 4th inning off Alaniz, 1 on, 1 out).
TB: Van Gurp 3; Schafer 7; McQueen 3; Stewart 2; Rodriguez, A 6.
RBI: Rodriguez, A 2 (8), Schafer (6), Hinojosa (1), McQueen (3), Stewart (3).
2-out RBI: Schafer.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Schafer; Zapata, N; McQueen; Semel.
S: Cordero.
SF: Stewart.
GIDP: Rodriguez, A.
Team RISP: 1-for-8.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
CS: Schafer (2, 2nd base by Alaniz/McCurdy).

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Schafer-Van Gurp-Stewart, Taveras-Schafer-Stewart).

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

AA – Binghamton Mets

Michael Antonini didn’t pitch great, but he pitched well enough to beat top pitching prospect and former teammate of Mets top draft pick Matt Harvey, Alex White, of the Indians.  Mike Nickeas provided the majority of the offense off White taking him deep for his first home run of the year and hitting a double into the gap.  I think Emary Freederick should get a shot in the Bisons’s bullpen.

HiA – St. Lucie Mets

That’s right 10 runs given up and yet no pitcher’s ERA really gets too inflated and they can thank Wilmer Flores and his 3 errors for that.  2 errors in the second inning ended up getting 4 of the unearned runs for Eric Beaulac and the other error came in the 7th.  How you make 3 errors in one game I do not know.  Carlos Beltran had a nice rehab game getting on base 3 times including a double.

LoA – Savannah Sand Gnats

Thanks to all the transactions Nick Santomauro now has a full time position in left field and is batting clean up despite his terrible offensive season, but he responded to the promotion with 2 doubles.  Cesar Puello who also now gets to take over a much bigger role on the team had a huge night getting on base 4 times with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs and also contributing on defense with an outfield assist.

SSA – Brooklyn Cyclones

RK – Kingsport Mets

Brett Mitchell is a 2010 draft pick that you are going to want to watch f0r and he had a GREAT game today.

GCL – GCL Mets

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

Dylan Owen had his first rough outing in AAA today giving up 4 runs on 6 hits.  His peripherals actually still look really good as he has struck out a batter per inning during his stint in AAA and only walked 4 batters so far.  Today he was victimized by the longball, which will probably be in the only thing holding him back from being able to start in the big leagues and force him into a relief role.

Not that the Mets have any brains in their organization, but Jesus Feliciano went 5 for 5 today with 2 doubles and is now hitting over .400 on the season.  But Gary Matthews Jr. had a walk today so that should be enough to keep him around for another month.  Daniel Murphy had a big day driving in four runs.

AA – Binghamton Mets

Josh Stinson had to pick up the spot start today and did pretty well giving up just 2 hits and 2 walks while pitching into the fifth inning.  Stinson has been a starter in the past, but has been used exclusively out of the bullpen over the last two years so it was nice to see he can still be a long reliever if needed.

Nick Evans teed off on Akron pitching today driving in the go ahead run in the 5th with a solo home run and adding on in the 7th inning with a two-run home run that would account for the winning runs.  Reese Havens joined in the power game belting his first home run of the year.  The 3-4-5 hitters combined to go 8-for-11 with 3 home runs, 4 RBI’s, and 4 runs on the day.

HiA – St. Lucie Mets

After hitting just 8 home runs all of last year 2nd baseman Josh Satin is already up to 5 on the season after a solo shot in the 4th.  Although he is old for the Florida State League he is demonstrating good power in such a hitters league.  When I saw him he had really good gap power, but also a lot of room to fill out and it looks like the added muscle is turning some of those doubles into homers.  Joey August saw his 9-game hit streak come to an end after an o-for-3 performance.

Wesley Wrenn was able to settle down after early trouble, but had to leave early after throwing so many pitches to get through the 2nd inning.  The Mets, however, received some great bullpen work and were able to put up zeroes and give the offense the chance to come back in the late innings.

LoA – Savannah Sand Gnats

The Gnats had no problem holding the lead from yesterday’s suspended game, but things didn’t go so smoothly in game #2.  Darin Gorski was roughed up for 5 runs and John Church had his first bad outing of the year raising his ERA all the way up to 1.76!  Wilmer Flores got on base twice to help get out of a mini slump as he is batting .150 over his last 10 games and drove in a run in the process on a first inning single to score Pedro Zapata.  Jefry Marte and Cesar Puello also had good games as Marte went deep and Puello swiped two more bags.

From First Inning.com:

Savannah 5, Kannapolis 4

May 26, 2010 | SAL (A)

Binghamton 9, Richmond 1

May 26, 2010 | East (AA)

St. Lucie 2, Jupiter 8

May 26, 2010 | FSL (A+)

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charlotte 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 1 Buffalo 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 2 Recap | Box | W: Russell, A (2-2, 3.43); L: Knight (4-8, 4.95) HR: CHA: Restovich (9).

Thanks to the worst offense in AAA Jon Niese took the ND on a game he should have easily won. The only other team who could do this bad offensively for a pitcher is non other than the New York Mets. Niese was masterful throwing just 102 pitches over 8 innings. Niese recorded an outstanding 14 groundball outs to just 6 flyball outs and was consistently in the zone throwing 69% strikes. Superb month of June for Niese. [...]

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charlotte 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 1 Buffalo 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 2 Recap | Box | W: Russell, A (2-2, 3.43); L: Knight (4-8, 4.95) HR: CHA: Restovich (9).

Thanks to the worst offense in AAA Jon Niese took the ND on a game he should have easily won. The only other team who could do this bad offensively for a pitcher is non other than the New York Mets. Niese was masterful throwing just 102 pitches over 8 innings. Niese recorded an outstanding 14 groundball outs to just 6 flyball outs and was consistently in the zone throwing 69% strikes. Superb month of June for Niese. [...]

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charlotte 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 1 Buffalo 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 2 Recap | Box | W: Russell, A (2-2, 3.43); L: Knight (4-8, 4.95) HR: CHA: Restovich (9).

Thanks to the worst offense in AAA Jon Niese took the ND on a game he should have easily won. The only other team who could do this bad offensively for a pitcher is non other than the New York Mets. Niese was masterful throwing just 102 pitches over 8 innings. Niese recorded an outstanding 14 groundball outs to just 6 flyball outs and was consistently in the zone throwing 69% strikes. Superb month of June for Niese. [...] Click here to continue reading

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charlotte 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 1 Buffalo 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 2 Recap | Box | W: Russell, A (2-2, 3.43); L: Knight (4-8, 4.95) HR: CHA: Restovich (9).

Thanks to the worst offense in AAA Jon Niese took the ND on a game he should have easily won. The only other team who could do this bad offensively for a pitcher is non other than the New York Mets. Niese was masterful throwing just 102 pitches over 8 innings. Niese recorded an outstanding 14 groundball outs to just 6 flyball outs and was consistently in the zone throwing 69% strikes. Superb month of June for Niese. [...] Click here to continue reading

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charlotte 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 1 Buffalo 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 2 Recap | Box | W: Russell, A (2-2, 3.43); L: Knight (4-8, 4.95) HR: CHA: Restovich (9).

Thanks to the worst offense in AAA Jon Niese took the ND on a game he should have easily won. The only other team who could do this bad offensively for a pitcher is non other than the New York Mets. Niese was masterful throwing just 102 pitches over 8 innings. Niese recorded an outstanding 14 groundball outs to just 6 flyball outs and was consistently in the zone throwing 69% strikes. Superb month of June for Niese. [...] Click here to continue reading

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charlotte 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 1 Buffalo 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 2 Recap | Box | W: Russell, A (2-2, 3.43); L: Knight (4-8, 4.95) HR: CHA: Restovich (9).

Thanks to the worst offense in AAA Jon Niese took the ND on a game he should have easily won. The only other team who could do this bad offensively for a pitcher is non other than the New York Mets. Niese was masterful throwing just 102 pitches over 8 innings. Niese recorded an outstanding 14 groundball outs to just 6 flyball outs and was consistently in the zone throwing 69% strikes. Superb month of June for Niese. [...] Click here to continue reading

AAA – Buffalo Bisons

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charlotte 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 1 Buffalo 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 5 2 Recap | Box | W: Russell, A (2-2, 3.43); L: Knight (4-8, 4.95) HR: CHA: Restovich (9).

Thanks to the worst offense in AAA Jon Niese took the ND on a game he should have easily won. The only other team who could do this bad offensively for a pitcher is non other than the New York Mets. Niese was masterful throwing just 102 pitches over 8 innings. Niese recorded an outstanding 14 groundball outs to just 6 flyball outs and was consistently in the zone throwing 69% strikes. Superb month of June for Niese. [...] Click here to continue reading