ONEONTA _ Poor field conditions caused by Tuesday's thunderstorms forced the postponement of the Oneonta Tigers' New York-Penn League game against the visiting Lowell Spinners.
The game will made up as part of a doubleheader Sept. 2 at Damaschke Field, O-Tigers general manager Andrew Weber said. The Spinners visit Oneonta one more time this season, from Sept. 2-3.
Oneonta (5-4) split its first two games against the Spinners and is tied atop the Stedler Division with Tri-City (5-4). Lowell and Vermont are each a game back, at 5-6. The Lake Monsters and ValleyCats also were postponed Tuesday.
The O-Tigers open a three-game set at Aberdeen (4-6) at 7:05 tonight. Oneonta will return to Damaschke Field on Saturday to start a six-game homestand, with three against the IronBirds followed by three against Vermont.
Adam Wilk (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will start for the O-Tigers tonight. Clemente Mendoza (0-1, 4.15) is scheduled to start Thursday, followed by Gary Perinar (0-1, 5.79) on Friday and Luis Sanz (0-0, 4.15) on Saturday.
ON THE MOVE: Detroit is getting plenty of mileage out of catcher Keith Hernandez, who joined the O-Tigers for the third time this season Tuesday.
Hernandez, who earned a promotion from the Gulf Coast League Tigers, also has spent time with Triple-A Toledo and Single-A West Michigan this season. Signed in 2008 as an undrafted free agent, Hernandez is batting a combined 2-for-14 (.143) with two runs, two doubles and an RBI.
Detroit gave O-Tigers first baseman Wade Lamont an unconditional release Tuesday, Weber said. Lamont was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and two walks in two games with Oneonta this season.
Selected in the 27th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, Lamont batted .218 (47-for-216) over three professional seasons. The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder had 16 RBIs and one home run in 68 games during that span.
Lamont is the son of Detroit first-base coach Gene Lamont, who played five major league seasons (1970-72, 74-75) for the Tigers.
MAKE-UP DATES: Oneonta will make up two June rainouts against Tri-City later this month.
The teams were postponed June 20 at Tri-City and June 21 at Oneonta. They will make up those games with doubleheaders at 6 p.m. July 12 at Tri-City and 6:05 p.m. July 26 at Damaschke Field.
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: The O-Tigers return home Saturday to host their annual Fourth of July game. Fireworks will follow Oneonta's game against Aberdeen, which begins at 6:05 p.m.
Fans who donate a canned good to benefit the Opportunity for Otsego Community Food Bank will receive a free general-admission ticket.
DAMASCHKE STILL DRY: Weber said the O-Tigers still are waiting for approval from the New York State Liquor Authority to sell beer during home games this season.
Weber added there is no timetable for the approval, which would lead to the first beer sales at Damaschke Field in the 44-year history of the Oneonta franchise.
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P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.
