Link Report for Fri. 5/9 - Squads Go 2-2, But An Exciting Night Throughout

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF!

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Mark DiFelice at Tucson (Diamondbacks), 8:15 PM pre-game; 8:30 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP Sam Narron at home vs. Mobile (Diamondbacks), 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 Alex Periard at home vs. Tampa (Yankees), 6:00 PM gametime

 

Sorry, no audio for this series...

 

West Virginia: RHP Evan Anundsen and TBD (perhaps LHP Dan Merklinger) in a double-dip at home vs. Hagerstown (Nationals), 4:50 PM pre-game, 5:05 gametime; each game seven innings

 

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

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

[Mass Haas]

Follow Friday'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_05_09_nasaaa_tucaaa_1

Huntsville:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_09_mobaax_hunaax_1

Brevard County:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_09_tbyafa_breafa_1

West Virginia Game One:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_09_hagafx_wvaafx_1

West Virginia Game Two:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_09_hagafx_wvaafx_2

[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 16 16 .500 - 10-7 6-9 L1 Memphis 16 19 .457 1.5 6-10 10-9 W2 Iowa 15 18 .455 1.5 8-9 7-9 W2 Nashville 13 20 .394 3.5 7-8 6-12 W3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 23 11 .676 - 16-3 7-8 L1 West Tenn 22 12 .647 1.0 10-4 12-8 L2 Carolina 19 15 .559 4.0 9-6 10-9 L1 Chattanooga 18 16 .529 5.0 11-8 7-8 L2 Tennessee 14 20 .412 9.0 6-9 8-11 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 21 13 .618 - 14-6 7-7 W1 Brevard County 17 17 .500 4.0 9-7 8-10 L4 Daytona 16 18 .471 5.0 6-8 10-10 L3 Jupiter 16 18 .471 5.0 11-3 5-15 L6 Vero Beach 15 19 .441 6.0 11-7 4-12 L4 St. Lucie 8 25 .242 12.5 5-14 3-11 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 20 13 .606 - 9-8 11-5 W3 Delmarva 18 14 .563 1.5 12-8 6-6 W1 Greensboro 18 15 .545 2.0 5-10 13-5 L1 Lakewood 16 17 .485 4.0 10-10 6-7 L1 Hagerstown 15 17 .469 4.5 6-10 9-7 L3 Hickory 16 19 .457 5.0 7-10 9-9 W1 West Virginia 12 20 .375 7.5 5-9 7-11 L1 Lexington 10 22 .313 9.5 3-11 7-11 L3 

[brewers19]

I guess we can assume that no news was good news with the oblique strain?

[Mass Haas]

Listening to Andy Barch in Charleston -- here's hoping the Brewers have as nice a first inning as the Power did tonight -- six base hits to open the game, up 5-0 after one inning...

 

• - Lee Haydel doubles (6) on a line drive to center fielder Stephen Englund.
• - Brent Brewer singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Jeff Mandel. Lee Haydel to 3rd.
• - Jonathan Lucroy singles on a ground ball to left fielder Aaron Seuss. Lee Haydel scores. Brent Brewer to 2nd.
• - Steffan Wilson singles on a ground ball to left fielder Aaron Seuss. Brent Brewer to 3rd. Jonathan Lucroy to 2nd.
• - Zelous Wheeler doubles (12) on a fly ball to left fielder Aaron Seuss. Brent Brewer scores. Jonathan Lucroy scores. Steffan Wilson to 3rd.
• - Caleb Gindl doubles (5) on a fly ball to left fielder Aaron Seuss. Steffan Wilson scores. Zelous Wheeler scores.
• - Curt Rindal grounds out, shortstop Daniel Lyons to first baseman Bill Rhinehart. Caleb Gindl to 3rd.
• - Eric Fryer grounds out, third baseman Stephen King to first baseman Bill Rhinehart.
• - Scott Houin called out on strikes.

Also, Caleb Gindl with a highlight-reel catch in the 2nd that won't make it into the box score or game summary...

 

EDIT: Reminder to self to link to the moment Andy "Bull" Barch got to call "Back-to-Back Jack-Jackety-Jacks" as Jonathan Lucroy and Steffan Wilson connected in the 4th; Evan Anundsen cruising; the Hagerstown pitcher threw well against the Power last week, but is being fed to the wolves tonight with the twinbill scheduled...

[Mass Haas]

Yikes -- Alex Periard and the Manatees are having the same night as the Power -- only in reverse, down 5-0 after one:

 

Tampa Top 1st

• - Eduardo Nunez grounds out, second baseman Kenny Holmberg to first baseman Stephen Chapman.
• - James Cooper hit by pitch.
• - Mitch Hilligoss doubles (4) on a line drive to left fielder Charlie Fermaint. James Cooper to 3rd.
• - With Jose Gil batting, passed ball by Martin Maldonado, James Cooper scores. Mitch Hilligoss scores. Throwing error by catcher Martin Maldonado.
• - Jose Gil called out on strikes.
• - Seth Fortenberry walks.
• - Josue Calzado singles on a ground ball to third baseman Taylor Green. Seth Fortenberry to 2nd.
• - Kevin Smith doubles (10) on a fly ball to right fielder Lorenzo Cain. Seth Fortenberry scores. Josue Calzado scores.
• - Andres Perez singles on a fly ball to center fielder Darren Ford. Kevin Smith scores.
• - Luis Nunez grounds into a force out, third baseman Taylor Green to second baseman Kenny Holmberg. Andres Perez out at 2nd.

By the way, it will be LHP Dan Merklinger starting the nightcap in West Virginia.

[battlekow]

BC came back and scored five in the bottom of the third to tie it up. Periard's hanging in there.

[And That]

Steffan Wilson has been swinging some good wood ever since a terrible first two or so weeks.

[battlekow]

Wilson's walk rate is tolerable and he's got a great BB/K for a power hitter (11/15). He's gonna be 22 soon, so what do you think about keeping him in WV all this year and then skipping him past BC to Huntsville to begin 2009?

[battlekow]

Gamel hits a tie-breaking HR in the bottom of the eighth. Maybe I'll stop blogging at Brew Crew Ball and open "the Stars Bar" instead.

[pogokat]

Zelous Wheeler's got 13 doubles on the season, which puts him on pace for about 60 along with a dozen or so bombs..he hits like rickie weeks was supposed to hit..

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game One: West Virginia 9, Hagerstown (Nationals) 4

Game Two, Suspended by rain -- Hagerstown 3, West Virginia 0, after two innings

 

POWER OFFENSE ERUPTS BEFORE RAINOUT

 

In the first half of Friday night's scheduled doubleheader at Appalachian Power Park, the Power offense used a five-run first inning to defeat the Hagerstown Suns 9-4 before the rain came and suspended the second contest with the Suns ahead 3-0 in the top of the third.

 

The first six batters in the bottom of the first inning hit safely as the Power scored five times to take the lead and never looked back. Jonathan Lucroy's RBI single scored Lee Haydel before Zelous Wheeler and Caleb Gindl ripped back-to-back two-run doubles. In the fourth, Wheeler's second double of the game plated Steffan Wilson.

 

The fourth inning featured back-to-back two-out homers from Lucroy and Wilson before Curt Rindal capped the three-run rally with an RBI single. The Suns got on the board in the sixth inning when Aaron Seuss' groundout scored Dan Lyons and Bill Rhinehart drove in their final three runs on a homer in the seventh.

 

Evan Anundsen (3-3) allowed just a run on four hits over six innings to secure the victory, while Jeff Mandel (2-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering nine runs on 12 hits through three and a third.

 

West Virginia improved to 13-20 after the win and the Suns fell to 15-18 with the loss. Five Power players had multi-hit games, including Wilson and Wheeler who paced the Power with three hits a piece.

 

The Power and Suns will pick up the suspended game in the top of the third inning at 6:00 PM on Saturday night (5:00 Central). They will finish the game through seven innings. In the second contest, which will also be a seven-inning game, right-hander Rob Bryson (0-1, 5.40) will get the start for the Power and the Suns will counter with right hander Cole Kimball (1-1, 4.39).

 

West Virginia Box Score

Zelous Wheeler and his .915 OPS is primed to make a big Power 50 jump when the June 1st edition is released -- I can't wait until the Alabama native makes his way to Huntsville some day, he'll be a cult hero there; Eric Fryer with his Power debut at DH -- Andy Barch mentioned that Fryer will see outfield action as well as at catcher, as Fryer was in LF to start the suspended game; if the bottom of the Power order can provide even a bit of offense now and then, this lineup will be OK in the long haul; tucked into Evan Anundsen's excellent line is that he plunked three batters -- hey kid, way to establish that plate; closer Wes Etheridge in to get some work with an eventful 7th inning, striking out the side, but not before surrendering a three-run bomb...

 

West Virginia Game Log

 

Peek in on the suspended game with the early partial box score (disregard the linescore portion)

[Mass Haas]

As promised, Jonathan Lucroy and Steffan Wilson prompt a dual version of Andy Barch's signature call --

 

Go to the archived WSWW audio of May 9th, go to the 02:08:00 hour/minute mark

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 4, Mobile (Diamondbacks) 3

Wow, is this team fun...

 

Huntsville Press Release:

 

Stars Survive Another Ninth Inning Rally to Down Mobile

HUNTSVILLE HITS TWO MORE HOMERS IN VICTORY

 

Mat Gamel hit the tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the eighth and Michael Brantley threw Frank Curreri out at the plate in the ninth to help preserve Huntsville's 4-3 win Friday night in the last of a five-game series at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars took four of the five games to improve to 24-11 overall, 17-3 at home and temporarily moved a game and a half in front of West Tenn in the North Division, while the BayBears dipped to 16-19.

 

Juan Sandoval took over on the hill for the Stars in the ninth and promptly walked Curreri to start the frame before he advanced to third base on a Cyle Hankerd single. Orlando Mercado flied out to shallow left-center field on a running catch by Brantley, who came in and to his right to make the play. Hankerd tried to draw a throw by breaking toward second but Curreri was delayed in heading toward the plate and was tagged out after a collision with catcher Angel Salome. Pinch-hitter John Hester flied out to Brantley to end the game, as Sandoval earned his second save since joining the team.

 

Matt LaPorta's run-scoring double in the first and a sacrifice fly by Alcides Escobar in the third staked the home team to a 2-0 lead. Huntsville starter Sam Narron recorded 11 ground ball outs through the first five innings in blanking the visitors on only one hit. Chris Rahl's RBI hit in the sixth got the BayBears on the board before a Cesar Nicolas sacrifice fly tied the game and Rusty Ryals' two-out run-scoring hit gave Mobile its' first lead. Cole Gillespie tied the game in the bottom of the inning with his fifth home run.

 

Narron was removed after allowing three runs on five hits over six frames and replaced by Joe Bateman, who tossed two shutout frames for a third straight outing to grab his first win. Mobile starter Adam Howard also went six frames, yielding three runs on six hits and was followed to the mound by Jose Marte.

 

Gamel blasted the second pitch of the eighth inning over the wall in left field for an opposite field home run to put the Stars ahead to stay. It was his seventh of the season, second in as many nights and fifth at home. The Stars have matched Chattanooga with 34 long balls to lead the league after hitting only 73 all of last season.

 

The Stars begin a five-game series Saturday night in Sevierville, TN with left-hander Steve Hammond taking the mound against Tennessee Smokies' right-hander Jeff Samardzija. Coverage of the game begins at 6:00 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

I'm emotionally spent just reading that account -- what a game -- we'll find the Gamel HR and Brantley throw audio highlights for you later; Matt LaPorta on base three times; Angel Salome with two singles -- how pretty is his line of .375 / .414 / .516; 15 ground ball outs for Sam Narron in six innings -- no room for strikeouts with that effort, and he had none...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Again, as promised, this time from Huntsville --

 

Make sure you're pointing to the WUMP audio archive of May 9th

 

Mat Gamel with an opposite field home run in the 8th for the lead -- 02:31:00 hour/minute mark

 

Center fielder Michael Brantley to Angel Salome for the collision and the out at the plate for the second out in the 9th -- 02:49:00 hour/minute mark

[twobrewers]

Taylor Green - Where is the power?

 

He is only slugging .382 as opposed to .516 last year.

[trwi7]

Taylor Green - Where is the power?

 

He is only slugging .382 as opposed to .516 last year.

 

 

Big difference between hitting in West Virginia and Brevard County. Brevard County is not good for hitters. Even Ryan Braun only slugged .436 in Brevard County as opposed to .645 in West Virginia.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Tampa (Yankees) 6, Brevard County 5

 

Brevard County Box Score

As it turned out, the single run Alex Periard gave up in the 4th was more painful than the five-spot in the Tampa first inning; Bobby Bramhall (three scoreless innings of relief) and Mike McClendon (one scoreless inning) kept it close for the Manatee offense, to no avail; Darren Ford walked once, but suddenly he's down to a .216 / .307 / .291 line, that's hideous, as he's 3-for-his-last-36; Taylor Green's .325 average is 7th in the Florida State League; 90 degrees in Viera (Melbourne)...

 

Brevard County Game Log

The Manatees had just the one big inning, but it was clutch, all with two outs, worth reviewing that; exasperating chances to go ahead or at least tie in the 8th and 9th, Kenny Holmberg and Taylor Green striking out to end those innings, respectively...

[Mass Haas]

In progress: Nashville 5, Tucson (Diamondbacks) 5, 10th inning

Russell Branyan's three-run opposite field home run in the 7th tied the game and took Mark DiFelice off the hook -- it's just a matter of time, Brewer faithful, as Russell's raked since March...

 

EDIT: Ouch! Ten seconds after posting the above, Jason Shiell surrenders a game-losing HR, Sounds fall, 6-5. Will it be Shiell's swan song with Derrick Turnbow arriving Monday?

[Mass Haas]

Final: Tucson (Diamondbacks)6, Nashville 5, ten innings

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Russell Branyan photo, text follows --

 

Sounds Drop Series Finale To Tucson In Extras

 

TUCSON, Ariz. - Tucson first baseman Josh Whitesell belted a one-out home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to propel the Sidewinders to a 6-5 victory over the Nashville Sounds on Friday evening at Tucson Electric Park.

 

The loss snapped the Sounds' season-best three-game winning streak and allowed Tucson to avoid a series sweep. The contest was Nashville's second extra-inning affair of the year (0-2).

 

Nashville grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out, two-run triple off the bat of shortstop Ozzie Chavez. Russell Branyan (single) and Adam Heether (walk) scored on the three-bagger, Chavez's second of the year.

 

Tucson evened the contest in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runs against Mark DiFelice. Trot Nixon and Whitesell opened the frame with a single and double, respectively, and were later driven in on a Trent Oeltjen groundout and a Jesus Merchan sacrifice fly.

 

The Sounds missed a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead in the fifth, when they loaded the bases with one out with three walks against Sidewinders starter Billy Buckner but failed to score. The right-hander recovered to induce consecutive popouts from Branyan and Heether to escape the jam unscathed.

 

Nixon gave the home team a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out, three-run homer to right off DiFelice, his fifth roundtripper of the season.

 

Branyan answered Nixon's three-run blast with one of his own two innings later, taking Tucson reliever Emiliano Fruto deep in the top of the seventh to knot the score at 5-5. A pair of walks came back to hurt the right-hander as Abraham Nunez and Brad Nelson drew free passes before coming plateward on Branyan's team-leading seventh longball of the year.

 

AUDIO: Branyan Game-Tying Three-Run HR

 

Neither team scored again until the home half of the tenth, when Whitesell touched Sounds reliever Jason Shiell for the game-winning blast, his eighth home run of the year.

 

Sidewinders reliever Jailen Peguero (1-1) worked three innings of scoreless, one-hit relief and was awarded the victory. Shiell (0-3) was dealt the loss for the Sounds.

 

Neither starter factored in the decision. DiFelice allowed a season-high five runs on seven hits in his six frames for the Sounds. Buckner, who left in line for the win, turned in a quality start, holding Nashville to a pair of runs on four hits in his six innings of work.

 

Nelson singled in the first inning for Nashville to extend his season-best hitting streak to nine games, matching the best effort by a Sounds player this season (also Vinny Rottino).

 

The Sounds travel to Las Vegas on Saturday to complete their road trip with a four-game series against the 51s (AAA-Dodgers). Left-hander Lindsay Gulin (0-3, 4.19), who spent two seasons with Las Vegas in 2002-03, makes the start against his former club and will face 51s right-hander Miguel Pinango (1-2, 5.17).

 

Nashville Box Score

Sounds were outhit, 13-6; 32-year-old lefty Erasmo Ramirez has been pretty darn effective in his ten outings; you juust know Mark DiFelice knew this was a big game -- it's tough pitching in PCL western ballparks, that's for sure -- he walked his first batter this year, now with a 28-to-1 2008 K/BB ratio...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Charleston Gazette:

Mike Ramlow has positioned himself for a promotion to Brevard County of the Class A Florida State League. The 6-foot-6 left-hander has struck out 28 in 25 innings and has posted a 3.60 ERA. "Ramlow has been just awesome,'' said Power Pitching Coach John Curtis. "I don't expect him to be here a whole lot longer.'' Ramlow, who compiled a 6.11 ERA with the Power last year, also has impressed manager Jeff Isom. "Ramlow's really emerged,'' said Isom. "He's pitching with confidence and running that fastball up there at 90 miles an hour from the left side.'' ... The Power keeps statistics on such things as percentage of fastballs thrown for strikes. Nick Tyson, who has walked just three batters in 21 innings, leads the team at 69 percent. An average of 60 percent is considered good. Some fastballs, of course, are thrown intentionally off the plate in hopes of inducing swings.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Stars take care of BayBears with defense

Brantley turns double play in ninth inning as Huntsville wins 4-3

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

As Michael Brantley hauled in the shallow fly in center field with a runner on third and no outs in the ninth, left fielder Cole Gillespie couldn't believe his eyes.

 

Why was Brantley winding up to fire home? After all, Mobile base runner Frank Curreri isn't the fastest guy, and surely he wasn't trying Brantley's arm from deep shortstop.

 

Mere seconds and a one-hop strike to home plate later, Brantley completed the double play, then made a nice running catch to preserve a 4-3 Huntsville win over the BayBears.

 

Curreri was out by 8 feet, at least.

 

"I was thinking, 'Why is he throwing home?' " Gillespie said with a smile. "Obviously, Brantley saw he was taking off and couldn't have made a more perfect throw."

 

Actually, Brantley was just as surprised as his teammate and the rest of the crowd of 4,128 at Joe Davis Stadium that Curreri was challenging his arm.

 

"That's a big situation right there," Brantley said. "It felt good. I didn't think he'd try to run, but when I saw he was, I knew I had him."

 

In the midst of the moment, Brantley stole a little thunder from teammate Mat Gamel, who didn't mind one bit. The third baseman hit an opposite-field home run off hard-throwing reliever Jose Marte to give the Stars the lead in the bottom of the eighth.

 

Gamel entered the game hitting .364 but was 0-for-3 entering that at-bat. The way he has been hitting, he was overdue.

 

"I knew the guy was kind of wild from watching him, so I was just trying to be patient and get a pitch I could hit," Gamel said. "I didn't want to fall behind him. I put a good swing on the ball.

 

"I didn't think I put that good a swing on it, but it was hit good enough."

 

The Stars (24-11) started the game with a 2-0 lead after single runs in the first and third innings. But starter Sam Narron - who entered the game leading the Southern League with five wins - ran into some sixth-inning trouble, allowing four hits and three runs to squander the lead.

 

The BayBears' advantage was short-lived. Gillespie hit an 0-2 pitch from Adam Howard over the left-center field wall in the bottom half to tie the game again.

 

"That was probably not the 0-2 pitch he was looking for," Gillespie said. "He started me off with a curveball - the first one I'd seen all night - and then he came back with another one."

 

Huntsville reliever Joe Bateman worked two strong innings and earned his first win of the season. But Juan Sandoval's first save of the year was shakier than anyone would have liked.

 

He walked Curreri on four pitches to start the ninth, and then gave up a single to Cyle Hankerd to put runners on the corners, setting up the Brantley Show to complete a series in which the Stars won four of five.

 

"You just never know what's happening," Stars manager Don Money said of Mobile's decision to send Curreri. "It wasn't real deep, but managers take chances, take gambles.

 

"It was a good play on both ends."

[pogokat]

Green's going to have a higher slugging percentage than that at the end of the year...learning to hit for power in the FSL takes some time...Mat Gamel struggled to hit for power there in the girst half last year as well...

 

Taylor's got 15-20 homer power