Link Report for Games of Monday, April 21st -- Honors for LaPorta

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Chris Narveson at Albuquerque (Marlins), 7:15 PM pre-game; 7:35 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP David Welch at Mississippi (Braves), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime

 

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

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

 

Brevard County: RHP Donovan Hand at Vero Beach (Devil Rays), 6:00 PM gametime

 

Audio link, Vero Beach's broadcast (game will also archive at this link):

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

 

West Virginia: Idle

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday'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_21_nasaaa_albaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_04_21_hunaax_msbaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_04_21_breafa_vbdafa_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 10 6 .625 - 6-3 4-3 W1 Memphis 8 10 .444 3.0 2-6 6-4 W2 Iowa 7 9 .438 3.0 2-6 5-3 L2 Nashville 3 14 .176 7.5 2-5 1-9 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 13 4 .765 - 6-1 7-3 W4 Huntsville 11 6 .647 2.0 8-2 3-4 W3 West Tenn 10 7 .588 3.0 6-1 4-6 W3 Chattanooga 8 9 .471 5.0 3-4 5-5 L1 Tennessee 8 9 .471 5.0 5-5 3-4 L5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 11 6 .647 - 6-3 5-3 W2 Brevard County 10 7 .588 1.0 5-3 5-4 L2 Jupiter 10 7 .588 1.0 7-1 3-6 L2 Daytona 9 8 .529 2.0 5-4 4-4 W2 Vero Beach 9 8 .529 2.0 6-3 3-5 W4 St. Lucie 2 15 .118 9.0 2-6 0-9 L6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greensboro 12 6 .667 - 5-3 7-3 W3 Lake County 11 6 .647 0.5 5-3 6-3 L1 Delmarva 9 8 .529 2.5 5-4 4-4 W1 Hickory 9 9 .500 3.0 4-4 5-5 L2 Hagerstown 7 10 .412 4.5 2-3 5-7 W1 Lakewood 7 10 .412 4.5 5-7 2-3 L1 Lexington 6 12 .333 6.0 1-7 5-5 L1 West Virginia 5 13 .278 7.0 3-7 2-6 W1 

[Mass Haas]

Four Sunday game photos in a gallery from the Charleston Daily Mail (Gindl and Crowell)

[Mass Haas]

A Nashville video clip from Sunday, for Ozzie Chavez / Steve Sollmann fans

"The Isotopes' Jay Miller has a gun and he's not afraid to use it..."

 

In other news...

 

Southern League Offensive Player of the Week

Matt LaPorta, Huntsville

.400 (10-25), 5 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO, 0 SB, .760 SLG

The No. 7 overall selection in last June's First-Year Player Draft on the strength of his bat, LaPorta has not disappointed. The Stars have gone 4-1 in their last five games and LaPorta has hit in all of them, including two hits in each of the last three games. He homered in both games over the weekend against Mississippi. LaPorta has been a revelation as a run producer, collecting eight RBIs on the week while hitting .412 with runners in scoring position for the season.

As a side note, Jorge de la Rosa was the PCL's Pitcher of the Week.

 

 

[And That]

RHP Shawn Ferguson starting tonight for Brevard instead of Donovan Hand, according to the box score. Pitching pretty well, too.

 

LaPorta with his 4th jackety-jack of the year in the 4th at Mississippi.

[TheCrew07]

I was browsing around MiLB.com because I'm sure I'm a Villy jinx and I hope by not watching he'll pitch well. At any rate, I just noticed Pena's numbers on the season.. I had assumed he was raking as he did all spring, but umm... he's not. Is he hurting? What's the story? I haven't listened to a single Sounds game all season.

[jjfanec]

LaPorta is raking right now. He started a little slower than I thought he would but his numbers seem great. Nice average, good OBP, the power is there. How long will he be in AA if he keeps hitting like this. Huntsville has such a nice lineup

[twobrewers]

I just noticed Pena's numbers on the season.. I had assumed he was raking as he did all spring, but umm... he's not. Is he hurting? What's the story?

He hasn't been too bad. Just one REALLY bad outing. (1 out/6 ER)

 

Nashville's offense looks much better than it did a week ago. (Adding Irribaren, Gwynn and Dillon)

[TrueBrew]

I noticed the Shawn Ferguson thing too...But now after the game has been completed they have Hand in there and he was the one with the nice start.

 

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hand	6.2	4	0	0	0	5	0	2.59

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 2, Vero Beach (Rays) 0

Brevard County Box Score

Donovan Hand's impeccable control is surely winning fans among the Brewer brass; nice relief stint for the multi-inning save, Omar Aguilar; Taylor Green 12-for-his-last-29, six multi-hit games in his last ten -- Green drives in both runs on two singles; it's not too early to speculate as Green would be a fine choice for the World Team in the Futures Game (Canada)...

 

Brevard County Game Log

Catcher Martin Maldonado had to leave the game after getting hit by a pitch in the 4th...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Mississippi (Braves) 5, Huntsville 2

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Braves End Two Long Losing Streaks

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

Todd Redmond worked eight strong innings and received home run support from Jason Perry in pitching Mississippi past Huntsville 5-2 Monday night in the middle of a five-game set at Trustmark Park. The Stars dropped to 11-7 on the season but remain two games behind front-running Carolina in the North Division, while the Braves ended a franchise record nine-game losing streak to improve to 3-15. The Braves also knocked off the Stars for the first time this season in eight tries and won for the first time in 10 days.

 

Matt LaPorta's home run to left-center field, his third in as many games in the series, broke up a scoreless game to give the visitors the lead in the fourth. Cole Gillespie then followed with a base hit and scored on a triple by Chris Errecart, who collected four hits in his first multi-hit game of the season, to extend the lead to 2-0. The Braves tallied their first run in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring double by Greg Creek that drove in Perry, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning.

 

Redmond doubled with one out in the fifth and moved to third on a base hit by Matt Young. Stars' starter David Welch retired Javier Guzman on a shallow fly to right for the second out before Perry crushed a 3-2 offering over the restaurant on the concourse above the right field wall for his second home run in as many days to give the Braves the lead for good. He had hooked a home run ball foul earlier in the at-bat and has driven in six runs in his first two games with the Braves. Welch was removed after five innings and suffered his first loss of the year after allowing four runs on eight hits.

 

The Braves tacked on an insurance run in the sixth against E.J. Shanks when Young singled home Mark Jurich, who doubled twice in the game. Patrick Ryan surrendered his first hit of the season during two scoreless innings and has now thrown eight shutout frames in relief.

 

Redmond allowed only one single over his final three frames to earn his first win of the season. He allowed eight hits, struck out five, did not walk a batter and has now gone 22 innings in a row without issuing a free pass. Luis Valdez struck out the side in the ninth to notch his second save to help end the Braves' 12-game losing streak to the Stars.

 

The series continues Tuesday night with left-hander and Mississippi native Brae Wright taking the hill for Huntsville against Braves' southpaw Carlos Sencion. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 pm central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com and www.730ump.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score

Michael Brantley now 6-for-8 in SB attempts; Patrick "Beef" Ryan has allowed one hit in his eight scoreless innings of relief thus far...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Pre-Game Audio Interview with infielder Mike Bell

Go to the WUMP archive of April 21st, interview is right off the top...

[colbyjack]

I just noticed Pena's numbers on the season.. I had assumed he was raking as he did all spring...

 

FYI, "raking" = hitting, not pitching.

 

Huntsville's lineup, like the big-league Brewers, is just far too talented to be so lifeless, and you just wonder when both teams are going to explode.

[Mass Haas]

Note from the Mississippi press:

The Stars would have been called for catcher interference in the sixth inning when Jurich's bat hit Angel Salome's glove. But Jurich got enough of the ball and slapped it down the third-base line and off 3B Mat Gamel's glove. The ball rolled into foul territory and Jurich legged out his second double of the game.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Albuquerque (Marlins) 12, Nashville 6

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Brad Nelson photo, text follows --

 

Sounds Doubled Up By Isotopes, 12-6

ALBUQUERQUE - The Nashville Sounds' struggles continued on Monday evening at Isotopes Park as they were doubled up by Albuquerque, 12-6.

 

With the club's fourth straight loss, the Sounds fell to 3-15 on the year.

 

Nashville led through 5 ½ innings of play before the Isotopes rallied to plate nine runs against the Sounds' bullpen. Every starting Albuquerque position player had at least one hit and either scored a run or plated one in the winning effort.

 

Nashville pitchers have surrendered a double-digit run total in three consecutive games for the first time in 10 years, allowing 15, 11, and 12 to the Isotopes over the past three days.

 

The Sounds grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a two-out rally against Isotopes starter Bobby Keppel. With two down, Joe Dillon singled in his first at-bat of the year for Nashville and moved to second when Brad Nelson drew a walk. Laynce Nix followed with an RBI single to left to plate Dillon with the contest's first run.

 

Russell Branyan added a two-run double to center to clear the bases and up the lead to three. The two-bagger extended the veteran's hitting streak to eight games, matching the longest by a Sound all season.

 

Former Middle Tennessee State University standout Brett Carroll, who scored four runs on the evening, continued his solid series against Nashville in the second when he put the home club on the board with a two-out solo homer to deep left field off Sounds starter Chris Narveson. The blast was Carroll's fifth of the year.

 

Nelson got the run back for Nashville in the third when he slugged his team-leading fourth longball of the season, a two-out bomb to right off Keppel.

 

AUDIO: Brad Nelson Home Run

 

A pair of two-out walks came back to haunt Narveson in the fourth as the Isotopes pulled within a run at 4-3. After Tagg Bozied and Carroll reached on the free passes, John Baker and ex-Sound Chris Barnwell rapped consecutive RBI singles.

 

Narveson, who took a no-decision, left in line for his first victory of the year after he worked five innings and allowed three runs on eight hits.

 

Following the Nelson homer, Keppel (3-1), who picked up the win, settled down to retire 10 of his final 11 hitters before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth.

 

Albuquerque grabbed a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning by greeting Sounds reliever Jason Shiell with a four-run outburst.

 

After the Isotopes loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, Shiell struck out pinch-hitter Dallas McPherson before giving up three straight run-scoring hits. Jai Miller knotted the contest at 4-4 when his RBI single to center plated Carroll. Former Sound Andrew Beattie followed with a two-run single to left to put the home club on top for the first time, 6-4. PCL veteran John Gall finished the rally with an RBI single to center that scored Miller.

 

Nashville center fielder Tony Gwynn prevented further damage in the frame by throwing out Beattie at the plate to conclude the play.

 

Shiell (0-2) took the loss after surrendering four runs in his lone inning of action and being charged with a blown save.

 

The Sounds pulled back within a run in the top of the seventh against the Albuquerque bullpen. Catcher Vinny Rottino led off with a double off Chris Mobley and later scored on pinch-hitter Adam Heether's RBI single to right, reducing the lead to 7-5. After Hernan Iribarren singled to put two on, the Isotopes made a pitching change and Gwynn greeted Brandon Villafuerte with a single to right that brought in Heether and made it a one-run contest.

 

With the tying run on third and only one out, Nashville was unable to do any further damage as Villafuerte recovered to strike out Dillon and induce an inning-ending flyout from Nelson to escape the jam.

 

The Isotopes put the game on ice with a five-run eighth inning against Sounds reliever Melqui Torres, bringing the score to its final 12-6. The frame was highlighted by third baseman Jason Wood's three-run homer, his first roundtripper of the year.

 

Joe Nelson worked the final two innings in scoreless fashion for Albuquerque to notch his PCL-leading eighth save of the year.

 

The Sounds will look to avoid a sweep when the teams wrap up the series with a 1:05 p.m. CT matinee on Tuesday afternoon. Right-hander Mark DiFelice, who opened the year on the disabled list while recovering from off-season knee surgery, will be activated to make his first start of the year for the Sounds. Albuquerque right-hander Gaby Hernandez (1-2, 5.71) will provide the opposition.

 

Nashville Box Score

With so many pitchers about to be activated and/or sent to Nashville, veterans Jason Shiell and Melqui Torres picked the worst possible time to blow up with their performances...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

From Kentucky.com:

 

West Virginia Power at Lexington Legends

What: Two-game series

Where: Applebee's Park

When: Tuesday and Wednesday (7:05 each night, 6:05 Central)

Probable starters: (Legends listed first) Tuesday, LH Sergio Severino (1-0, 0.60) vs. RH Nick Tyson (0-1, 3.00); Wednesday, RH Colt Adams (1-1, 4.05) vs. LH Mike Ramlow (1-1, 3.38).

Power to watch: CF Lee Haydel (6-foot, 185 pounds from La Place, La.) ranks second in the South Atlantic League with 13 stolen bases in his first 16 games. Hitting .268, he went 3-for-3 with three stolen bases against the Legends in a West Virginia win Sunday. He is batting .333 against right-handers, .071 versus lefties 91-for-14).

 

***

 

Exciting news, in that you should not be surprised to see LHP Zach Braddock's name in the box scores for this series, perhaps as early as this evening. Look for an official announcement in the next 24-48 hours -- Mass Haas

[jjfanec]

Colby the comparison of the Milwaukee to Huntsville is a great one. That Huntsville lineup looks like it could be starting for the Crew in a couple years if a lot of them weren't blocked, but for some reason they are not scoring a lot of runs. Gillespie is just starting to hit and Escobar and Salome are struggling. But with Brantley, Escobar, Gamel, LaPorta, Gillespie, Salome who are all top prospects along with a guy like Errecart who can hit this team should be hitting a lot better. They are also similar in that at 11-7 we should be happy but we all know they can be a lot better than what they have played.

[TrueBrew]

great news about Braddock. Thanks for the update.

[hsvstarsfan]

CAN ANYONE STOP JASON PERRY?

The Stars closed the books on two streaks for Mississippi, Monday night....... A franchise record nine losses in a row, and 12 straight to the Stars........ That ties the club record for longest winning streak against any Southern League opponent....... The Stars beat Chattanooga 12 straight times in 1985 stretching into 1986....... Former voice of the Stars Steve Kornya pointed out to me that the Stars also lost 12 straight to Orlando over the 1997 and 1998 seasons, and sure enough, the Stars beat Orlando, 11-3 on August 15, 1997, then won 11 straight against them the next season....... Somehow I overlooked that 1997 game.

Anyhow, Braves starter Todd Redmond worked quickly tonight, and more effectively than his last start in the 1st game of a double-header on April 5 in the 1st game of a double-header when he gave up 4 hits and walked 2 in 4 innings...... Using his fastball to set up his curve and slider, he pitched a strong 8 innings, striking out 5 and walking none and shut the door on the Stars in the first three innings........ Previously, the Stars had outscored the Braves, 24-4, in the first three innings of this year's meetings.

In the 4th, Alcides Escobar singled to center, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double........ Matt LaPorta, named the Southern League Player-of-the-Week, sent a home run into the grassy berm area to give the Stars a 1-0 lead, not that the extra run from Escobar would have made a difference........ LaPorta has homered now in three straight games. Brendan Katin did this last year against the Diamond Jaxx at Pringles Park, August 14-16. The record is five games by Mark McGwire........ Cole Gillespie chopped a single to the left side and had thoughts about stretching it, but thought the better of it........Chris Errecart, who picked up a single on a bad call in his first trip to the plate in the 2nd inning, hit a triple off the base of the wall in right field to drive in Gillespie, giving the Stars a 2-0 lead....... Errecart, who came in with a .208 average, and had never had a multi-hit game so far for the Stars, went 4-for-4, raising his mark to .269.

The Braves, who were hitting starter David Welch pretty hard, despite the scoreless result in the earlier innings, finally had something to show in the 4th, then they came alive in the 5th........ Welch started out by hitting Jason Perry with his first pitch inside. Perry had, to this point, had not yet been retired in his first five trips against the Stars...... Perry scored one a one-out double to right by big (6'7") Greg Creek on a 1-1 pitch, but Welch got out of the inning on a grounder by Diory Hernandez that sent Creek to third, then striking out Mark Jurich, who despite a 2nd inning double, was hitting .167 against Huntsville pitching.

In the 5th, Todd Redmond picked up his 2nd hit of the game with a one out line drive double to the gap in left-center that went all the way to the wall. The Braves had only one hit by their pitchers before Redmond delivered tonight....... Matt Young's single through the middle past Alcides Escobar moved him to 3rd......... With runners on the corners now and two out, Welch was ahead on Jason Perry 0-and-2. He fouled off a 1-and-2 pitch deep down the right field line that nearly went yard before he connected on a 3-and-2 pitch for a 3-run HR toward the Crystal Springs restaurant to put the Braves ahead, 4-2. Perry has driven in 6 of the 7 runs Mississippi has scored in this series. For Welch, this was the 4th HR he has given up this season, 2nd-most in the league..... After Kala Ka'aihue walked on a 3-2 pitch, E.J. Shanks started throwing in the pen, then came on in the 6th.

In the 6th, Jurich sent a leadoff double down the line past a diving Mat Gamel. Former Huntsville catcher J.C. Boscan sacrificed him to 3rd. With the infield in, and the Stars trailing by a pair, Shanks struck out Redmond, but Matt Young went the other way on a 3-1 pitch to poke a hit to drive in Jurich to give the Braves a 5-2 lead....... Patrick Ryan came on for the Stars in the next inning and quieted the Braves on one hit. Ryan has thrown eight scoreless innings for the Stars and given up just that one hit, coming to Kala Ka'aihue with one out in the 7th.

Brae Wright (1-1, 1.93) will try to get the Stars a win, Tuesday night facing lefty Carlos Sencion, who started the season striking out 15 in 12 innings in three starts at Class A-Myrtle Beach (Carolina)........ Don Money could pass Casey Parsons as the 2nd winningest manager in Stars history. Both have 213 victories under their belt...... Parsons managed the Stars from 1991-1993, taking the team to the Western Division Playoffs in 1992, losing to Chattanooga in four games.

In the Florida State League, Donovan Hand and Omar Aguilar combined to shutout Vero Beach, 2-0, Monday night. 3rd baseman Taylor Green drove in both runs for Brevard County....... The Brevard County Manatees are in 2nd place, a game behind Palm Beach...... In Albuquerque, the Isotopes pounded Nashville again, 12-6.

The Stars, through 18 games, are hitting .276. This is their best performance this early in the season in 10 years and it's only the 5th time in their 24-year history that they've hit .270 or better this early in the season........ Alcides Escobar has hit safely in 8 of his last 9 games, raising his average from .118 to .211....... Mat Gamel is working on a 7-game hitting streak (10-for-30, 5 XBHs, 5 RBIs)......... Cole Gillespie is slowly getting his bat working. He's 8-for-19 in his last 7 games...... Matt LaPorta is hitting .409 in his last 6 games with 3 HRs, as I mentioned, and 7 RBIs....... Michael Brantley has reached base in every game he's played, except one -- in which he came in, April 18, as a pinch-hitter. he's hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games (that one game being his pinch-hit appearance) and is 4th among Southern League batting leaders with a .350 average