Link Report for Games of Sunday, April 13th

[Mass Haas]

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Sunday's Daily Menu: No doggie bag was needed after Saturday's disaster of a minor league menu...

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Zach Jackson at home vs. Iowa (Cubs), 1:40 PM pre-game; 2:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP Sam Narron at West Tenn (Mariners), 12:50 PM pre-game; 1:05 gametime

 

Audio link via WUMP (game will also archive at this link):

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/audio.jsp?sid=t559

 

Brevard County: RHP Mike McClendon at Palm Beach (Cardinals), 12:05 PM gametime

 

Audio link via Palm Beach broadcast (game will also archive at this link):

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/audio.jsp?cid=503&sid=t503

 

West Virginia: RHP Roque Mercedes at home vs. Greenville (Red Sox), 12:50 PM pre-game, 1:05 gametime

 

Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link):

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

[Mass Haas]

Follow Sunday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Open the Nashville Gameday. For the others, choose "Log" or "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often.

 

Nashville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_04_13_iowaaa_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_04_13_hunaax_wtdaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_04_13_breafa_pbcafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_04_13_capafx_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated several hours prior to gametime.

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Omaha 6 3 .667 - 5-2 1-1 L1 Memphis 5 5 .500 1.5 1-1 4-4 W1 Iowa 4 4 .500 1.5 2-4 2-0 W2 Nashville 1 9 .100 5.5 0-2 1-7 L6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 6 3 .667 - 3-1 3-2 W2 Huntsville 6 3 .667 - 5-0 1-3 L1 Tennessee 6 3 .667 - 3-1 3-2 W3 West Tenn 5 4 .556 1.0 3-1 2-3 W1 Chattanooga 5 5 .500 1.5 2-3 3-2 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jupiter 8 2 .800 - 6-0 2-2 W8 Palm Beach 7 3 .700 1.0 3-1 4-2 W1 Daytona 6 4 .600 2.0 4-3 2-1 W2 Brevard County 5 5 .500 3.0 1-2 4-3 L1 Vero Beach 3 7 .300 5.0 2-2 1-5 L7 St. Lucie 1 9 .100 7.0 1-5 0-4 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hickory 7 3 .700 - 3-1 4-2 W3 Hagerstown 5 3 .625 1.0 2-0 3-3 W2 Greensboro 6 4 .600 1.0 3-3 3-1 L1 Lake County 5 4 .556 1.5 2-1 3-3 L2 Delmarva 4 4 .500 2.0 3-2 1-2 W2 Lakewood 3 6 .333 3.5 3-4 0-2 L2 West Virginia 3 7 .300 4.0 2-4 1-3 L2 Lexington 2 8 .200 5.0 1-5 1-3 L4 

[TheCrew07]

Boy were we spoiled last year with all the teams up near the top of their divisions most of the year...

[jjfanec]

In 2.1 innings Bryson K's 6, walks 0, gives up 3 hits and 3 runs (all unearned). Looks like he was just left in too long, but he seems to have dominating stuff for his league

[molitor fan]

The youngster in my avatar is hitting .123 with 8 errors in 11 games. Get better please.

[Brewer Fever]

The youngster in my avatar is hitting .123 with 8 errors in 11 games. Get better please.

 

You're being pretty hard on him...he's actually batting .132

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 7, Palm Beach (Cardinals) 3

We relish any victory over the Redbirds...

 

Brevard County Box Score

Manatees move back over the .500 mark with four ninth-inning runs to break a 3-3 tie; Chuckie Caufield has 11 RBI; Stephen Chapman triples in the 8th and reaches three times overall, but Chapman also was thrown out with no outs trying to extend the triple to an inside-the-park HR -- that just can't happen, coaches; Andy Bouchie on base thrice and batting .381 in the very early going -- he hit .216 last year with the Power; Taylor Green with a day off, but Jimmy Mojica fills in nicely and stays hot; four Brewer pitchers combine to allow only two earned runs and walk only one; Mike McClendon escaped a 2nd and 3rd, no out jam in the 2nd...

 

Brevard County Game Log

 

Brevard County Top 9th Winning Rally

 

- Yohannis Perez flies out to right fielder Tyler Henley.

- Kenny Holmberg walks.

- Jimmy Mojica singles on a line drive to right fielder Tyler Henley. Kenny Holmberg to 2nd.

- Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Matt Cline replaces Kenny Holmberg.

- Andy Bouchie walks. Matt Cline to 3rd. Jimmy Mojica to 2nd.

- Darren Ford reaches on force attempt, throwing error by shortstop Brendan Ryan. Matt Cline scores. Jimmy Mojica scores. Andy Bouchie to 3rd. Darren Ford to 2nd.

- Lorenzo Cain grounds out, third baseman Isaias Garcia to first baseman Brandon Buckman. Andy Bouchie scores. Darren Ford to 3rd.

- Stephen Chapman singles on a line drive to left fielder Daryl Jones. Darren Ford scores.

- Pitcher Change: Kenneth Maiques replaces Marco Gonzalez.

- Chuckie Caufield lines out to first baseman Brandon Buckman

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Tenn (Mariners) 8, Huntsville 1

Stars drop series finale

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

Ryan Ketchner put together a solid start and combined with two relievers to silence the Stars bats for a second straight day in West Tenn's 8-1 victory on a 41-degree, blustery Sunday afternoon at Pringles Park.

The Diamond Jaxx took four of the five games in the series to improve to 6-4 on the season, while Huntsville fell to 6-4 and a game behind Carolina in the North Division. Huntsville has been held to a single run in each of the last two games on a combined total of 12 hits after exploding for 10 runs on 10 hits in their lone win of the series on Friday night.

Mike Saunders led off the home first with a bunt single, advanced on a groundout, stole third base and scored on a base hit by Adam Moore, who knocked in his third run of the series to give the home team the early edge. Moore then scored on a double by Marshall Hubbard, who knocked in seven runs in the series and at least one in four of the five games.

Sam Narron, who was scored on in the first inning in seven of his 14 turns on the road last season, retired the side in order in the second but ran into more trouble in the third. Moore singled with two outs, moved to third base on another Hubbard double before Prentice Redman's two-bagger, his first extra-base hit of the season, delivered both runners to push the West Tenn lead to 4-0. Narron was removed after four innings and suffered the loss after giving up four runs on six hits and a pair of walks. He has been roughed up for 20 earned runs on 34 hits over 18 1/3 innings in his four starts at Pringles Park over the last two seasons.

Ketchner kept the Stars blanked through the first five frames before Matt LaPorta's bases loaded sacrifice fly got the visitors on the board. Ketchner was then taken out after reaching his pitch limit and replaced by Travis Chick, who retired Chris Errecart to end the inning. Ketchner notched his first win after allowing a run on six hits, while walking one and recording one strikeout. Chick went 2 1/3 shutout frames before Craig James retired the side in order in the ninth to end the game.

Ronnie Prettyman's two-run home run off of Robert Hinton in the sixth inning and Jon Nelson's two-run double in the seventh accounted for the final margin. Nelson drove in six runs in the series after going without one in the first five games of the season. Freddy Parejo had his third two-hit game of the series for the Stars to push his hitting streak to six consecutive games.

The Stars return home Monday night to open a five-game series with Chattanooga as left-hander Steve Hammond will take the hill against Lookouts right-hander Sam LeCure. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score

Stars hit into three double plays, including speedy Alcides Escobar twice -- Escobar had two singles to lift his average to .158...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[TheCrew07]

The youngster in my avatar is hitting .123 with 8 errors in 11 games. Get better please.

 

He has more Strike Outs (11) and Errors (8) than Hits (5) as well.... been tough season on the young man thus far. His BABIP was incredible last year, if he could cut his Strike Outs by just 1/3 he'd be a force at the plate.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Pre-Game Audio with Reid Nichols

Make sure you're on the April 13th WUMP archive, go to the 14:45 minute mark...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Greenville (Red Sox) 3, West Virginia 1

This reeks of West Virginia's Milwaukee affiliation debut in 2005...

 

West Virginia Site:

 

DRIVE RALLY PAST POWER

 

The Greenville Drive were held scoreless through seven innings of Sunday's game at Appalachian Power Park but scored three times in the top of the eighth inning and won their fifth game in a row, defeating the West Virginia Power 3-1.

 

West Virginia scored their only run on John Alonso's inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the second.

 

In the eighth, Mike Jones singled to score Che-Hsuan Lin and tie the game before David Mailman delivered a two-run single later in the inning to put the Drive ahead.

 

Ryne Lawson (1-0) allowed just three hits over three scoreless innings of relief to get the victory and Rob Bryson (0-1) was tagged with the loss. Amaury Rivas started the game for the Power and tossed five scoreless innings of three-hit ball with four strikeouts.

 

The Power are 3-8 after the loss and Greenville improves to 7-4 with the victory. The Drive have used three big innings in the series to push them past the Power. In addition to the three-run eighth on Sunday, they used a five-run sixth inning on the front end of Saturday's double header to beat the Power 7-2 and they plated four runs in the third inning of game two to win 5-1. West Virginia has been held to four runs on 16 hits against the Drive.

 

The Power will finish the four game series with Greenville Monday morning. Right hander Roque Mercedes (0-0, 5.19) will get the start for the Power and the Drive will counter with left hander Jose Alvarez (0-1, 13.50). The first pitch is scheduled for 10:35 AM (9:35 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score

As noted in a few fan comments above, Brent Brewer's start to the season could not have been more brutal; Amaury Rivas with a heck of a five-inning start; John Alonso's lost some weight this season, but is hardly a burner -- inside-the-park HR, wow...

 

West Virginia Game Log

Lee Haydel caught stealing 3rd base in the first inning, then caught stealing 2nd base in the third -- ugh...

 

The WSWW audio link for the 13th opens with Andy "Bull" Barch discussing the Power's tough early start with the Charleston Daily Mail's Jacob Messer, who does a fantastic job providing us with Power coverage all year long.

 

Later, at the 40:00 minute mark, the pre-game audio interview is with new Power hitting coach Jim Lett.

 

OK, the Alonso HR call via the audio link just above -- go to the 01:32:00 minute mark...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 6, Iowa (Cubs) 1

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for new Brendan Katin photo, text follows --

 

Sounds Snap Skid With 6-1 Win Over Cubs

 

The Nashville Sounds got their second win of the season on Saturday afternoon, beating the Iowa Cubs, 6-1, after dropping the first two games in the series at Greer Stadium.

 

Zach Jackson (1-2) got the win for the Sounds after pitching seven innings and giving up only one run on six hits with four strikeouts. He retired the first 10 batters he faced en route to recording Nashville's first quality start of the season and the longest outing by any starter this year.

 

The Sounds scored first after Jackson recorded the first hit of the game with a double to left field in the bottom of the third inning off Cubs starter J.R. Mathes. Jackson scored on the next at-bat when Abraham Nunez hit an infield single that got by Cubs shortstop Andres Blanco, allowing Jackson to score from second.

 

Nashville added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Laynce Nix and Russell Branyan hit back-to-back singles and both scored on Adam Heether's two-out single to right field. Branyan managed to hustle his way all the way from first to score on the play.

 

Branyan went 3-for-4 in the contest and raised his average to .406 on the young season. He has hit safely in nine of his 11 games.

 

Iowa notched their lone run of the game in the top of the seventh when Koyie Hill doubled off Jackson and came in to score on pinch-hitter Tony Richie's infield single to shortstop Ozzie Chavez. Chavez made a tremendous diving grab to keep the ball in the infield but could not complete the throw to first base.

 

The Sounds padded their lead in the bottom half of the seventh inning with three more runs off Iowa reliever Juan Mateo. Branyan led off the inning with a double followed by a Steve Sollmann walk. Brendan Katin then came in to pinch-hit for Jackson and knocked a two-run single to left field. Chavez completed the scoring with a single of his own, scoring Katin from second.

 

AUDIO: Brendan Katin Two-Run PH Single

 

The Sounds were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position, a welcome change of pace from their .175 average to start the season. Saturday's six-run effort was a season high for a club that had scored a PCL-low 24 runs over its first 10 games.

 

Sounds relievers Jason Shiell and Luis Pena both pitched scoreless innings behind Jackson, with Pena finishing the game for Nashville with two strikeouts.

 

Nashville first baseman Brad Nelson had his team-best eight-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-4 afternoon.

 

Mathes took the loss for Iowa and dropped his record to 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA after giving up two earned runs on five hits in six innings pitched.

 

The teams will play the final game of the four-game series on Monday night at 6 p.m. at Greer Stadium. Right-hander Yovani Gallardo (0-1, 4.82) will make his third rehab start with Nashville while recovering from pre-season knee surgery and will face off against right-hander Mark Holliman (0-0, 6.00) for the Cubs.

 

Nashville Box Score

 

Nashville Game Log

[wvpowerblkwel]

Bryson pitched his 2 and 1/3 in the 45 degree rain...I don't think he was left in too long, just conditions and the help of his shortstop that saddled him with the loss. I think he can dominate both with a mid-90's fastball and an offspeed pitch that runs 20mph slower!

 

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/5ca35afa981b7332e832cba9e12222ce2feebfd.jpg

[colbyjack]

Awesome picture John, thanks for sharing!

[hsvstarsfan]

DEUCES WILD

Another chilly day at The Big Chip -- even cooler than last night, 41° with the sun out, no less........ Even a bit of sleet fell 20-30 minutes before the game got underway..... So it's no surprise only 744 showed up for this game. Things aren't going to get any better for West Tenn when they travel to Mobile tomorrow, either. This cold front is deep and has dug all the way down to the gulf. Stars fans, pack your coats and gloves tomorrow night. The game-time temperature will be somewhere in the mid-40s. It doesn't warm up much for Tuesday, either, with a daytime high of 64°........ Sam Narron, Huntsville's starter, was 1-2 with a 6.45 ERA in 4 appearances vs. the Diamond Jaxx last year, but he threw 8 shutout innings, giving up just 4 hits for his 1st win, May 18 at the Joe, for a 4-0 victory...... Nothing like that this time. Narron was gone after four innings.

Michael Brantley started the game off again with a hit -- a one-hopper to center, but that was erased when Alcides Escobar hit into a double play, his 2nd in 3 games. Despite snapping an 0-for-15 slump today, he hit into another DP in the 8th when the game was far out of reach ........ The other DP came in the 3rd inning when Freddy Parejo, who had singled with one out, slid into 2nd base not knowing that Brantley had popped out in foul ground. Parejo, was naturatlly, doubled up. What was he thinking???

The Diamond Jaxx didn't waste their opportunities, though. They scored all but two of their runs on two-out opportunities and it began in the bottom half of the 1st....... Michael Saunders bunted his way on base, moved to second on a ground ball, and stole third on an 0-1 pitch to Adam Moore......... Moore, a .261 hitter, hammered a ball to the alley in center over Freddy Parejo to drive in their first run, then Marshall Hubbard yanked a 2-2 pitch down the first base line past Brantley and slid into second for a double giving the Diamond Jaxx a 2-0 lead..... Hubbard has lit up Stars pitching in this series, going 6-for-14 with 7 RBIs....... Narron was scored upon in the 1st inning last year in 7 of the 14 games he started on the road and had a 1st inning ERA of 8.36.

Freddy Parejo, who has forced Brantley out of his position with his hot start, singled up the middle on a 2-0 pitch in the top of the 3rd to stretch his hitting streak to 6 games, and make him 9-for-18 on the season...... Alcides Escobar led off the 4th with a single, snapping an 0-for-17 stretch at the plate, but Mat Gamel and Matt LaPorta, a combined 0-for-16 at the plate, couldn't move him over. Escobar wound up with two hits, raising his average to .158........ LaPorta, still struggling, was 1-for-15 in the series, dropping his average to .194.

The Diamond Jaxx rallied again in the bottom of the 3rd, stretching their lead to 4-0........ Mark Kiger walked on four pitches, but was caught stealing. So with two out, WT started over again....... Adam Moore reached with an infield single, then Hubbard, after fouling off a 2-2 pitch, with an inside-outside swing pulled the ball into the left field corner for his second double, sending Moore to 3rd....... Prentice Redman followed with another double into the left field corner, scoring both Moore and Hubbard....... The Stars finally got on the scoreboard in the 5th inning on a long sacrifice fly by Gamel, but Adam Prettyman yanked a 2-run HR high over the right field fence off Robert Hinton in the 6th to make it 6-1, and that was pretty much all she wrote for that ballgame..

So, the Stars have lost 4 of their last 5, and the lead in the Northern Division (Carolina beat Montgomery and the Smokies beat Jacksonville). In fact, the Stars are occupying 3rd place at the moment. But there's some positive spin........ The Stars, after 10 games, are off to their best start since 1999. In fact, the Stars, historically, in the past 10 seasons have never done well. After an 8-2 start in 1997, they've done no better than start 6-4 -- this year and 1999....... After ten games, they're hitting .259, their best mark, also since 1999 when they hit .267. That's a 40-point improvement over last year....... However, the bullpen ERA is 4.44, a sorry turnaround after a record 1.27 ERA in their first ten games of 2007.

The Stars are home during the week....... Steve Hammond (1-1) will face Sam Lecure for Chattanooga tomorrow night. Lecure was.7-5 with a 4.17 ERA last year for the Lookouts in 21 starts..... Against the Stars, he lost 3 of his 4 starts (a May 5 game was a no-decision), but had a decent ERA of 3.80...... Lou Palmisano beat him with a 1st inning 2-run HR on June 28, Adam Heether drove in 4 runs to help beat Lecure, 8-2, July 11, and Lindsay Gulin picked up his 10th victory against him, July 30.

Travis Chick came in from the bullpen to relieve Ryan Ketchner in the 6th....... Interesting story I'll interject here...... Ketchner is deaf -- totally. He wears hearing aids in both ears and reads lips well....... Major league baseball has had a few deaf ballplayers, most notably Curtis Pride, who was deaf at birth from rubella (German measles). He has his own web site: http://www.togetherwithpride.org....... William "Dummy" Hoy (1862-1961) was the first. He had a major league career that stretched from 1888-1902, and is the reason umpires give hand signals to signify balls, strikes, safe and out calls. He is one of only 29 players to have played in four major leagues. He had quite a career.

Anyway, the Stars, in various permutations, have seen Chick before -- going back to April 20, 2005 when he was pitching for Mobile...... Once the #2 prospect in the Padres' organization, he's pitched with a suitcase in the other hand, having been through the Reds and now the Mariners organization..... This was his 13th appearance against the Stars. He's 5-4 with a 5.82 ERA over 65 innings facing Huntsville hitters.

Michael Brantley finished the series 6-for-20, but scored just twice and left 10 runners on base....... Cole Gillespie went 2-for-16 in the series. One of those hits, though, was his first home run of the season in the Stars 10-1 victory, Friday.

After Wednesday's day game at the Joe with Chattanooga, you can "Meet the Stars" at O'Charley's on Balmoral Drive from 6-8 pm. Some of the front office people will be there, too, although you may prefer to get your autographs from the players...... Wednesday is a Bookmark Giveaway coinciding with "Three 'Rs for the Stars". That means schoolkids, hopefully in droves, coming to the ballpark.

[Mass Haas]

David, thanks for your Huntsville report as always -- you know Brett Pollock is doing a nice job on the airwaves if you can put together a road game report like that based on his call. Also David, with the way you're quickly able to pull up opposing players' records and such against the Stars, I'd love to visit and see your "database" and your routine some time. Obviously, it's a labor of love for you, and is appreciated here greatly.

 

Jackson Sun coverage of the game

 

The most unusual two-out play came in the third when Huntsville's Michael Brantley hit a pop-up in foul territory where Jaxx third baseman Ronnie Prettyman caught it.

Freddy Parejo, who was on first base for Huntsville during the at-bat, had almost made it to second on a steal attempt when the catch was made, and Prettyman was able to throw the ball to first baseman Marshall Hubbard for the tag-up to end the inning.

The final out of the game came when Chris Errecart hit a hard grounder between first and second for Huntsville. Just as it seemed the ball was going to get into rightfield for a single, Jaxx second baseman Jeffrey Dominguez jumped in the way to make a diving grab and made the throw to first to end the game.

[Mass Haas]

http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20080414&Category=SPORTS0401&ArtNo=804140336&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

 

The Sounds' Laynce Nix slides safely into home to score a run against Iowa on Sunday, when Nashville ended a six-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory at Greer Stadium.

Tennessean Photo by Larry McCormack (The Tennessean)

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

Sounds' bats heat up to end six-game skid

Jackson's arm gives offense opportunity

By MAURICE PATTON
Tennessean Staff Writer

The Sounds snapped a six-game losing streak Sunday with nine hits in a 6-1 victory over visiting Iowa.

"It's not very good weather to hit in," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said regarding the 46-degree temperature at game time. "You've got to be a little tougher mentally, try to stay warm when you're in (the dugout) so when you do hit, your hands aren't frozen."

That didn't seem to be a problem for the Sounds, who scored runs in three different innings and took advantage of Zach Jackson's seven innings of six-hit pitching.

Jackson, who allowed the only run, picked up the first quality start of the year. A quality start is six innings or more with three earned runs or fewer.

"You've got to go out with the mentality of doing your thing; you can't control anything else," said Jackson (1-2), who reduced his ERA to 5.50 from 8.18. "You just keep putting up zeroes, give your team a chance, be the aggressor."

Jackson's two-out double in the third set up the Sounds' first run, as veteran infielder Abraham Nunez followed with a base hit off the glove of Iowa shortstop Andres Blanco that scored Jackson.

The Sounds then scored two in the fourth. Laynce Nix and Russell Branyan each singled with two out before Adam Heether's hit drove them in.

Iowa scored its lone run in the seventh, but Brendan Katin's two-run pinch-hit single keyed a three-run rally in the bottom of the inning.

"These guys are going to swing the bats and score runs. I'm not worried about that," Jackson said.

Jason Shiell and Luis Pena each threw a scoreless inning to close out the victory. But Jackson's outing, the longest of the year by a Sounds starter, was the difference.

"We gave him some wiggle room with the one run in the third and the two in the fourth," Kremblas said. "But he was able to make pitches with runners on and two outs. That's been an Achilles' heel for us as a staff."

What they said: "You never want to give the ball up; at least, I don't. A complete game would be nice. Eight (innings) would be nice. But I'm not going to complain about seven. I'm happy I left in the position I was in." - Jackson.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Gallardo to get rehab start tonight

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

Yovani Gallardo is expected to rejoin the Sounds and make a third rehabilitation start tonight against visiting Iowa.

Gallardo, who was placed on the Milwaukee Brewers' disabled list after injuring his left knee prior to the start of spring training, started the Sounds' 7-5 loss April 4 at New Orleans and took a no-decision. He then worked 5 1/3 innings and took the loss in a 2-1, six-inning game April 9 at Oklahoma.

Following his second start, the 22-year-old joined the Brewers in New York and pitched a bullpen session before the team chose to have him make another Sounds appearance.

With Gallardo's return, the Sounds will utilize a six-man starting rotation for the next time through. Chris Narveson is set to start Tuesday's series opener against visiting Omaha, followed by Richie Gardner on Wednesday and Nic Ungs on Thursday. Lindsay Gulin is scheduled to pitch Friday's series finale on an extra day of rest, with Zach Jackson to pitch Saturday in Albuquerque on an extra day as well.

In 13 starts for the Sounds last season, Gallardo went 8-3 with a 2.90 ERA - leading the Pacific Coast League in wins and all of minor league baseball with 110 strikeouts. The Brewers purchased his contract on June 14. In 20 games (17 starts) with Milwaukee, Gallardo went 9-5 with a 3.67 ERA and was named the team's pitcher of the month for July and September.

More moves: Catcher J.R. Hopf is expected to be activated off the disabled list by Double-A Huntsville and promoted to Nashville prior to today's game. To make room for Hopf, catcher Martin Maldonado is expected to be reassigned to Single-A Brevard County.

All about the streak: Three Sounds players brought hitting streaks into Sunday's game - and the one least likely to be extended, based on the starting lineup, was the only one that survived.

Brendan Katin, who did not start the game, came off the bench with a two-run pinch-hit single in the seventh inning to stretch his streak to four straight games.

Meanwhile, Brad Nelson and Vinny Rottino each started and went 0-for-4 to see their strings stopped at eight and four games, respectively. For Nelson, it was the first game in which he had played this season that he hadn't finished with at least one hit.

Rare back-to-back: The Sounds' doubleheader defeats Saturday marked their first consecutive home losses to Iowa in the same series since dropping three straight to the Cubs on Aug. 11-13, 2001.

Small ball: The Sounds' 10 stolen bases entering Sunday's play were tied for the PCL lead with Round Rock. The Sounds' four home runs are the fewest in the league. Meanwhile, Nashville is hitting just 6-for-33 (.182) with runners in scoring position and two outs, scoring just six runs in that situation while allowing 15. The Sounds' 30 runs are among the fewest team totals in the league.

[Mass Haas]

I will likely have kicked off Monday's Link Report in time, but if not, a reminder that the Power and Roque Mercedes have a morning affair today -- 9:20 AM for the pre-game:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/multimedia/audio.jsp