Link Report for Games of Saturday, May 17th

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Saturday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Chris Narveson at home vs. New Orleans (Mets), 5:45 PM pre-game; 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP David Welch at home vs. Carolina (Marlins), 1:50 PM pre-game; 2:05 gametime

 

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

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

 

Brevard County: TBD at home vs. Jupiter (Marlins), 6:00 PM gametime

 

Sorry, no audio for this series...

West Virginia: RHP Evan Anundsen and TBD in a doubleheader at Lakewood (Phillies), 2:50 PM pre-game, 3:05 gametime; both games are scheduled for seven innings...

 

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 Saturday'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_17_nozaaa_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_17_cmcaax_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_17_jupafa_breafa_1

 

West Virginia Game One:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_17_wvaafx_lwdafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Two:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_17_wvaafx_lwdafx_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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memphis 21 21 .500 - 8-10 13-11 W3 Iowa 20 20 .500 - 13-9 7-11 L2 Omaha 18 20 .474 1.0 11-11 7-9 W1 Nashville 17 23 .425 3.0 9-8 8-15 W3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 29 13 .690 - 17-5 12-8 L2 West Tenn 25 16 .610 3.5 12-4 13-12 W2 Carolina 24 18 .571 5.0 11-9 13-9 W2 Chattanooga 22 20 .524 7.0 12-10 10-10 L1 Tennessee 15 27 .357 14.0 6-14 9-13 L7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 26 15 .634 - 17-7 9-8 W4 Jupiter 21 20 .512 5.0 12-5 9-15 W2 Brevard County 20 21 .488 6.0 11-10 9-11 L2 Daytona 20 21 .488 6.0 7-9 13-12 W2 Vero Beach 19 22 .463 7.0 14-7 5-15 L2 St. Lucie 8 33 .195 18.0 5-19 3-14 L9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 26 14 .650 - 10-8 16-6 W4 Greensboro 23 17 .575 3.0 10-12 13-5 W5 Delmarva 20 18 .526 5.0 12-8 8-10 L4 Hagerstown 20 20 .500 6.0 7-10 13-10 W4 Hickory 20 22 .476 7.0 7-12 13-10 W4 Lakewood 19 21 .475 7.0 10-10 9-11 L4 West Virginia 14 24 .368 11.0 7-13 7-11 L3 Lexington 12 28 .300 14.0 5-16 7-12 L4 

[Mass Haas]

Jim Powell's conversation with Mark DiFelice in Boston

[twobrewers]

Now that is the Huntsville I remember...offense exploded again today for 12 runs. (Box Score)

 

Gamel, Escobar and Gillespie had good games.

[BoKnowsBall]

Escobar starting to develop some power- nice to see

[jjfanec]

Escobar starting to develop some power- nice to see

Almost more importantly he is starting to walk a little. 4 walks the past 3 games and 11 on the year. I know it is an extremely small sample size, but for someone who has never walked more than 20 times it is a start. If he can get his OBP up, along with developing some power he is going to become an even more exciting prospect. I was never that excited about him because he was slick fielding and had an ok numbers but the rest of his numbers did not impress me. However, I am now starting to come around

 

[TheCrew07]

Everytime someone brings up Escobar's new found power stroke I have to resist the obvious urge to request he get tested... because it's such an obvious bad joke...

 

On a serious note, the early returns on this season are very encouraging for Escobar, maybe the serious look he got in ST made him re-examine some holes in his game. I'd be thrilled if he can keep his SLG higher than his OBP and float around the 700 OPS range, I agree with Battlekow that he's likely a 7-8 hitter at MLB, but I have no problem with him hitting at the top of the order at AA.

 

It seems to me that Salome is only playing 2/3 of the games this season, but Corporan is doing a servicable job as well. I was surprised that one of the opposing managers mentioned he had serious MLB potential in a game recap recently. He had a really nice season at BC last year, but really tailed off when he hit AA. Back to Salome, my first inclination was that having all those off days doesn't help one work on their game... and Salome needs the work. Then it occurred to me that it's actually easier to get after it on an off day because you don't have to worry about wearing down during the game. I'd be really interested to see what the daily ritual is for Salome, Gamel, and Laporta... great bats with Defensive questions. What are these guys doing everyday to get better, or is the minor league season such that they just tread water and get through it and do most of their work in the off season?

 

It seems that Laporta would have the easiest time getting defensive work in, but tracking fly balls of a fungo is much different than off of live hitting when the ball will tail, which to me is the biggest key to getting a good jump in the outfield. A good friend of mine hosted 4 of the Green Bay Bullfrogs last summer and I wonder how similar the daily routines are? They didn't spend much time working on defense, they were all preoccupied with their bats, and rightly so as the bat is the single biggest tool.

[jjfanec]

You would think guys whose bats are already pretty solid would be able to focus on their fielding more. I would hope Escobar is spending more time with the bat and Gamel and LaPorta are spending extra time with the glove. If just for a purely selfish reason Gamel has to realize how much more he is worth as a third baseman. Salome needs to spend some time with Jason Kendall and whoever helped changed Jason's mechanics in throwing runners out.

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game One: West Virginia 5, Lakewood (Phillies) 2

Final, Game Two: West Virginia 6, Lakewood 4

 

West Virginia Site Doubleheader Summary:

POWER SECURE DOUBLE HEADER SWEEP

 

The West Virginia Power secured their first doubleheader sweep of the season on Saturday night at First Energy Park with a come from behind 5-2 victory in game one and a 6-4 win in game two.

 

The BlueClaws plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning of game one to take their only lead of the doubleheader. Dominic Brown doubled in the first run and he scored later in the first on Mike Durant's two-out single. The Power scored three times in the fourth inning to take the lead for good. Caleb Gindl's groundout plated Jonathan Lucroy before Eric Fryer tripled in Steffan Wilson to tie the game. With two outs and runners at the corners, Lee Haydel singled in Fryer to give the Power the lead. West Virginia added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. Lucroy ripped a two-out RBI single and scored later in the inning on an errant throw from catcher Jesus Sanchez.

 

The Power took the early lead in game two with a three-run first inning. Eric Farris doubled into left-center field to score Haydel and Farris scored later in the first on Zelous Wheeler's two-out base hit. Gindl completed the three-run frame with an RBI double. The Power went up 4-0 in the second when Uly Snijders began the inning with a triple and scored on Haydel's groundout.

 

Joel Naughton reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the second and knocked in Matt Rizzotti to put Lakewood on the board. In the fifth, Lucroy belted his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot to straight away center field to make it a 5-1 Power lead. Lakewood scored twice in the fifth on Michael Taylor's run-scoring double and Karl Bolt's two-out RBI single. Gindl began the sixth inning with a double and scored on Moises Melendez's errant throw before Naughton scored Lakewood's final run in the bottom of the sixth on Brent Brewer's errant relay throw to first.

 

In game one Rob Bryson (1-2) pitched three perfect innings of relief and struck out three to get the victory while Walter Tejada (3-2) allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings and was tagged with the loss. In game two Corey Frerichs (1-4) allowed a run on a hit and struck one out over a third of an inning to get the win while Mike Ramlow tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen and got his first save and Chris Kissock (1-2) gave up four runs on five hits over three innings and got the loss. Bryson and Evan Anundsen combined to retire 18 out of 19 batters in game one.

 

The Power improved to 16-24 with the sweep and the BlueClaws fell to 19-23 with the losses. The Power scored seven of their eleven runs on the night with two outs. Fryer and Lucroy each went 2-for-3 in game one but Haydel paced the Power in the first game with a 3-for-3 performance. Gindl was the only Power player with multiple hits in game two going 2-for-3. West Virginia is now 5-7 in double header games this season.

 

The Power will continue their four game series against Lakewood Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Amaury Rivas (3-1, 2.88) will get the start for the Power and the BlueClaws will counter with right hander Julian Sampson (2-1, 6.27). The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM (12:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Game One Box Score

The amazing Evan Anundsen's groundout ratio is at an astounding 3.80 over 40.1 innings, improving on his already spectacular 3.25 mark over 77.1 innings last year -- in this game he recorded no outs in the air -- it's really something...

 

West Virginia Game One Game Log

West Virginia Game Two Box Score

R.J. Seidel still just kind of making his way through the season -- not getting torched, not dominating...

 

West Virginia Game Two Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 6, Jupiter (Marlins) 5

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

Manatees Win Thriller over Jupiter

By Tyler Stover / Brevard County Manatees

Anderson De La Rosa's game-winning hit was not pretty, but it certainly was effective, as his chopper bounced over the head of Jupiter third baseman Jacob Blackwood and into left field, bringing in Stephen Chapman for the winning run in the Manatees' 6-5 victory. Omar Aguilar (2-0) earned the win for the Manatees by pitching two scoreless innings. Hammerheads starting left fielder Spike McDougall (0-1) ended up as the losing pitcher, as injuries and other strange circumstances led to his move to the pitcher's mound for the ninth inning, where he allowed the winning run.

After falling into an early 3-0 deficit, the Manatees charged back and tied the game on Taylor Green's towering two-run blast to right field in the third inning, his first homer of the season. Brevard County led 5-3 after five innings, but it was then Jupiter's turn to storm back. John Purdom cut the lead to 5-4 with his solo home run in the sixth inning. The Hammerheads tied the game in the seventh inning, when Casey Baron's throwing error allowed a run to score, and left runners on second and third with no outs. However, Baron was able to fight his way out of the jam without allowing any further damage, setting the stage for De La Rosa's heroics two innings later.

The win evens the Manatees record at 21-21, which once again leaves them in a tie for second place with Jupiter and the Daytona Cubs. On Sunday, Brevard County welcomes the Sarasota Reds to Space Coast Stadium for the only series this season. Josh Butler (0-4, 4.74) will pitch the opener of the four-game set for the Manatees.

 

Brevard County Box Score

More "wow" for closer Omar Aguilar; Taylor Green walked twice in addition to that long-awaited first Florida State league home run; Stephen Chapman walked three times...

 

Brevard County Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 12, Carolina (Marlins) 1

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Stars Flex Muscle in Big Win Over Mudcats

Welch Stars on Hill and at Plate

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

David Welch worked into and out of trouble during the early part of his seven innings and drove in the game-winning runs in Huntsville's 12-1 victory over Carolina Saturday afternoon in front of 3,891 at Joe Davis Stadium in the middle of a five-game set. The Stars snapped a two-game slide to improve to 30-13 and push the Mudcats six back in the North Division, while the Mudcats fell to 24-19. The Stars maintain a 3 1/2 game lead over second place West Tenn.

 

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Mudcats in the first inning before Welch induced Lee Mitchell to bounce into an inning ending double play. Alberto Concepcion drew a walk to open the second inning and advanced on an Andy Jenkins infield single. Kris Harvey then doubled into left field to plate Concepcion but Jenkins was thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning. Pitcher Marc Lamacchia, against a drawn-in infield, grounded to first baseman Michael Brantley, who cut down Harvey trying to score to keep it a 1-0 game. Guilder Rodriguez delivered a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to get the game tied.

 

Cole Gillespie singled to lead off the home fourth, moved to second on a deep fly out by Freddy Parejo and remained there with two outs when Carolina gave Rodriguez the unintentional intentional pass to bring up Welch, who foiled the strategy by doubling down the left field on the first pitch to score both runners and knock Lamacchia out of the game. Jeff Gogal took over and hit Brantley before Alcides Escobar launched a three-run home run to right-center to cap off a five-run rally. Lamacchia suffered the loss after giving up four runs on four hits and a pair of walks and slumped to 0-2.

 

Gaby Sanchez singled with two outs in the fifth before Welch issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. However, the southpaw worked out of further trouble by getting Jenkins to bounce into a force out at second base. Parejo and Carlos Corporan belted back-to-back long balls in the home half against Gogal, who was charged with six runs on seven hits over 2 1/3 innings. He had given up only two runs over 16 1/3 innings entering the game.

 

Welch yielded seven hits, walked a season-high six and fanned four to earn his sixth win to match Sam Narron for the league lead. E.J. Shanks finished up with two shutout frames.

 

The series continues Sunday afternoon with left-hander Brae Wright taking the mound for the Stars against Mudcats' right-hander Brett Sinkbeil. Coverage of the game begins at 1:50 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

Alcides Escobar's offensive game is absolutely picking up the pace...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com

 

Stars Go Back To war

Armed Forces Day....... I've seen bigger, more boisterous crowds for this promotion in the past, but for a very sunny 72° Saturday afternoon, this was a nice crowd, in spite of Buck's lamentation....... He had a point. Why put two big promotions -- Friday fireworks and Zooperstars on the same day. If he had his way, Buck would have scheduled Zooperstars for Saturday and drawn say, 6,000+, which was his belief, but former G.M. Tom Van Schaack booked them for Friday Fireworks, thus possibly losing some extra people at the gate........ Zooperstars may not be back, either. Buck had something to say about the cost relative to what they brought in, and from my own view, the act is already beyond stale.

After losing a pair of one-run games, the Stars brought their bats out of the oven today, and only appropriately given the salute to our Armed Forces, that the Stars went on full attack........ In avoiding their first three-game losing streak of the season, the Stars scored in double-figures for the 10th time this season and the first time in a week -- the longest they've gone since the start of the season......... Last year's Stars team had that many almost the same time (May 19)...... More amazingly in this most amazing first-half season, they've had 10+ hits in 12 of their last 14 games -- 25 games so far this season, the most since 1998, which is the record for the first two months of the season. The 1997 Stars had 10 or more hits in 70 games, which is the franchise record....... Speaking of another record, the Stars won their 30th game on the earliest date on record. Only four other teams have won 30 games in the first two months of the season (1986, 1994, 1998, and 2003). The 1986 Stars, who won 20 games in May, didn't get their 30th win until May 25. Same for the 1994 Stars...... That was the old record, and the Stars beat it by nine days........ The record for most first-half wins, by the way, is 43 by the 1992 and the 1994 Stars.

Walks played a big part in this game. There were six on each side, with starter David Welch (6-1, 4.03) registering a season-high six all by himself, the most since Dennis Sarfate walked six against Mobile, July 19, 2005....... Mudcats catcher Alberto Concepcion scored in the 2nd after a leadoff walk. In the 5th, after throwing just five pitches to get the first two outs, Welch managed to load the bases on a single up the middle by Gaby Sanchez and walks to Lee Mitchell and Concepcion. He got out of the inning when Andrew Jenkins jumped on his first pitch and hit into a force play at second. But from the 6th inning on, Welch and E.J. Shanks walked only one batter....... Welch threw 111 pitches, 61 (55%) for strikes.

The Stars returned Carolina's favor in the bottom of the 2nd, scoring their first run after Cole Gillespie hit a leadoff line drive single to center on an Marc Lamacchia's 0-1 pitch. Gillespie went to second when Freddy Parejo was grazed in the chest with a 1-0 pitch, to third on a sacrifice, and home on a sacrifice fly to left by Guilder Rodriguez, making his first start in 10 days....... In the 4th, the Stars batted around to break the game open, and it all happened, as it has so many times this season, with two out....... Gillespie led off again with a single. With two out, G. Rod walked on five pitches....... Welch, one of two of the best hitting pitchers on this team (the departed Sam Narron being the other), ripped a double down the left field line, scoring Gillespie from second and G. Rod from first for a 3-1 lead...... Michael Brantley, whose father, former major leaguer Mickey, was in the crowd Friday, was hit with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Alcides Escobar then hit a 1-0 pitch to right-center to cap off a five-run rally, giving the Stars a 6-1 lead....... In the 5th, Parejo and Carlos Corporan connected on consecutive pitches for home runs off reliever Jeff Gogal to make it 8-1....... Parejo, who had three for Brevard County last year, and five the year before, hit his first, bouncing off the scoreboard in left-center. Corporan hit his deep to center, over the wall and just to the right of the 405 marker.

The Stars now have a 102-101 edge against Carolina since they entered the Southern League in 1991.

If I had to pick a star for this game, it would no doubt be Cole Gillespie, who besides going 3-for-4, driving in two runs and raising his average to .286, made a highlight-reel diving catch of a Chris Coghlan line drive in the 5th....... Going full tilt, Gillespie dove, stretched out all the way, to his right, sliding on his belly with the ball held up in the web of his glove. It was reminiscent of Ron Swoboda's amazing catch in the 1969 World Series........Cole was taken out of the game when he pulled up into second limping slightly after hitting a double off the right field wall in the 6th inning. G. Rod was moved to left and Mike Bell entered the game, driving in the final run in the 8th when Alberto Concepcion, in one of the strangest moves I've seen, moved from catcher to pitcher. The game was already an 11-1 laugher at that point, and he gave the fans more to laugh at when he walked the first four hitters to face him on 20 pitches..... Gillespie is currently the Stars' hottest hitter. He's hitting .379 since May 3, 11-for-22 in his last five games and has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games with four HRs and 16 RBIs....... He's picked up as Matt LaPorta has stalled. LaPorta is 2-for-16 in his last four games, 4-for-26 in his last seven, and 8-for-40 in his last 11. LaPorta has not driven in a run in his last seven games and the Braves' Jason Perry has caught up with him for the league lead in homers (10)........ Mat Gamel, the league's leading hitter, is catching up to him for the RBI lead, trailing LaPorta, 38-36........Mat is working on a nine-game hitting streak after picking up a pair of hits for the 4th straight day. Earlier this season, he had six straight multi-hit games. No one had more than four last year.

Chris Errecart (6, 20, .293) was out for the 4th straight day with back spasms.

Sunday at 2:05, Brae Wright (1-4, 4.17) will face the Marlins' 3rd ranked prospect, Brett Sinkbeil, who has one of the best sliders in their system. Sinkbeil is also well-matched against Wright with a record of 1-5 and a 6.15 ERA, which weighs down the Mudcats' league-leading 3.44 ERA....... Only four of the 17 batters he has walked this season have scored........ Before the game fans can play catch on the field for 30 minutes and Buck will even provide souvenir baseballs (while supplies last) courtesy of our friends at Athens State University and WDRM 102.1 FM....... Immediately following the game kids 14 and under are invited onto the field to Run the Bases, as per Sunday's custom....... It's also Wet 'n' Wild Day at the Joe. One of Buck's creations......... If you've got a super-soaker or an old fashioned water pistol, bring it to the game and annoy your neighbors.

Many fans have asked about the stadium's sorry sound system. Buck is doing something about it, but you can thank the city........ Buck has brought a sound design company to come out and evaluate the system......... Apparently, whenever you get a crowd of over 1,500 in the ballpark, the sound is limited due to the condition of the speakers and stadium sound system layout....... The good news is that the city has agreed to an upgrade of the current system and it should be installed some time this summer....... The design is to have 10 torpedo speakers installed above the seating bowl under the eaves of the stadium, so everybody will then hear EVERYTHING. Maybe even some things you don't want you to hear........ So thank the city of Huntsville for taking a proactive behind-the-scenes step with this......... With the number of stadium issues that Rogers faces, he certainly can't do it alone.

The Stars Booster Club has organized a bus trip to Chattanooga to watch the Stars play the Lookouts, June 1. It's open to all Stars fans, not just boosters. The game starts at 2:15 EDT and the bus plans to depart about 9:15 am, CDT from the Joe, which will allow a pre-game lunch....... If you want to go, and there are still about 10 seats left, the cost is $30, which includes a ticket to the game. You can't even drive to Chattanooga anymore for that price...... See a booster at the stadium or Sue Mauldin.

Marino Salas made his major league debut last Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. He walked three and threw only nine of his 23 pitches for strikes, but he got the win when his team, the Pirates, scored four4 times in the 9th for an 8-4 victory. He pitched the next day, as well, giving up a run on three hits in an inning, but this time threw 19 of his 24 pitches for strikes....... Salas is the 175th former Huntsville Star to graduate to the majors........ Callix Crabbe, who was the final selection in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft during the winter by the San Diego Padres, has been returned to Milwaukee and assigned to Nashville........ The Jacksonville Suns all of a sudden have two former Stars on their roster. Other than Tanyon Sturtze, who is 1-1 with a 6.91 ERA with the Suns after 10 appearances, including one start, Mark Bellhorn, who hit .250 in 131 games for the 1996 Stars, is now with the Suns. After three games, he's 4-for-10 with two doubles........ Bellhorn was originally drafted by the Padres out of high school in 1992 as a 37th round pick, but he chose to go to and play for Auburn, where he helped the Tigers go to the College World Series in 1995. He then was drafted in the 2nd round by the A's in 1994.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville's bats reignite

Stars end two-game slide thanks to pitcher's big hit

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

After two nights of watching Huntsville's league-leading offense run dry, pitcher David Welch hit a two-run, go-ahead double Saturday afternoon to wake them up.

 

His teammates proceeded to pummel Carolina pitching in a 12-1 win in front of 3,891 fans at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

"(Welch's hit) was huge for us," left fielder Cole Gillespie. "Once that happened, the bats came alive."

 

Welch (6-1) only allowed one run in seven innings, but the left-hander dodged trouble like land mines.

 

In the first inning, he loaded the bases before Carolina's Lee Mitchell grounded into a double play.

 

Huntsville threw out two Mudcats runners at the plate on consecutive plays during the second inning, and Gillespie made a diving catch in the fifth before Welch escaped another bases-loaded mess.

 

"I think I made pitches when I needed to," Welch said. "I never should have gotten in those situations. It was me doing things that backed myself up against a wall like overthrowing."

 

The game was tied 1-1 before Welch's two-run double in the fourth.

 

Escobar followed with an opposite-field, three-run homer - his fourth of the season - to make it 6-1.

 

The Stars piled on from there. Freddy Parejo and Carlos Corporan hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, then Gillespie smacked a two-run double in the sixth.

 

Gillespie was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, but rolled his ankle in the late innings and left the game.

 

He is day-to-day.

 

Today's fourth of the five-game series starts at 2 p.m.

 

***

 

Prior to Friday's game, the Stars celebrated several different things, including the promotion of starter Sam Narron to Triple-A Nashville.

 

Narron started the season 6-1 with a 2.77 earned run average, and was in the top three in the league in innings pitched. He will be tough to replace, but Mike Jones - who has had several stints with the Stars - will attempt to as he will be placed in the rotation.

 

Narron takes the place of former Star Mark DiFelice, who was promoted to Milwaukee to take David Riske's roster spot. Narron - a 26-year-old who was briefly up with Texas in 2004 - will start at Nashville and projects as a major league starter if he gets there.

 

"He deserved it," Don Money said of Narron's promotion. "He was the most consistent pitcher all year. This year, he's been on a roll."

 

The oft-injured Jones is a former top prospect of the Brewers who spent portions of 2003, '04, '06 and '07 in Huntsville.

 

Also prior to Friday's game, Mat Gamel was awarded the Brewers' minor league player of the month award, and Money was honored as the Stars' all-time winningest manager.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville lost at home to New Orleans, 4-1, on Saturday

Details on that game, and more from Huntsville, including a Steve Hammond feature, will be posted Monday morning.

 

There are multiple outside commitments among Brewerfan staff today and there will not be a traditional "pre-game" Link Report set-up for Sunday.

 

All the details will be posted by early Monday AM. If you had hoped to listen in or get earlier updates, we direct you to www.milb.com where you will find their schedule and scoreboard links helpful.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience, thanks.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Starting Pitcher Lindsay Gulin

[Mass Haas]

Final: New Orleans (Mets) 4, Nashville 1

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

Sounds Win Streak Snapped In 4-1 Loss To Z's

NASHVILLE - It's not easy being green.

 

Tony Armas, Jr. (2-4) shut down the green-uniformed Nashville Sounds offense and turned in his fifth quality start in a row as the New Orleans Zephyrs defeated Nashville 4-1 on Sounds Go Green Night at Greer Stadium on Saturday night.

 

While Nashville promoted energy conservation at Greer, Armas, Jr. made sure they conserved runs, too. He did not give up a run in seven innings of work while allowing only two hits for New Orleans. Zephyrs reliever Carlos Muniz surrendered the only run for the Sounds on a solo home run by Laynce Nix in the bottom of the ninth inning, the outfielder's fifth blast of the year.

 

The Zephyrs, however, wasted no time getting to Sounds starter Chris Narveson.

 

Jesus Feliciano started things off by grounding a single past Russell Branyan down the third base line and then stealing second in the top of the first inning. Chris Aguila followed with a single to move Feliciano to third, then Raul Casanova cracked a groundball double down the third base line that scored Feliciano and Aguila. New Orleans might have scored again if Adam Heether had not made a leaping catch on a ball hit by Michel Abreu as he crashed into the left field wall to end the inning.

 

Aguila was part of another rally in the fourth inning when he knocked a one-out double to left-center field, and Valentino Pascucci then crushed a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall to bring him in and move the Zephyrs lead to four. The longball was the veteran's second of the series and seventh of the year.

 

Armas, Jr. cruised through seven innings, retiring 18 batters in a row at one point, and turned it over to former Sound Nelson Figueroa, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning for New Orleans.

 

Narveson (2-5) took the loss after giving up four runs in five innings pitched. Steve Bray pitched three scoreless innings of relief and struck out three batters, and Ben Howard pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

 

The Sounds added an amazing highlight in the top of the third when Brendan Katin robbed a home run from Feliciano with an over-the-wall catch in right field. It would have been Feliciano's first home run of the year. Here's the photo and the call:

 

http://www.nashvillesounds.com/images/news/katinrobsjesus.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUDIO: Katin Robs Feliciano Of HR

 

The teams will close out their series on Sunday afternoon at Greer Stadium at 2:00 p.m. Righty Richie Gardner (3-1, 4.50) starts for the Sounds and will throw against southpaw Willie Collazo (1-1, 2.91) for the Zephyrs.

 

Nashville Box Score

Hernan Iribarren 3-for-his-last-24...

 

Nashville Game Log

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Nashville Goes Green Photo Gallery from the Tennessean

Includes Adam Heether defensive gems...

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Offensive disappearance ends Sounds' win streak

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

The Sounds' three-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt Saturday night.

 

The Sounds were shut out for 8 2/3 innings before eventually losing 4-1 to New Orleans at Greer Stadium.

 

Laynce Nix's two-out solo home run off reliever Carlos Muniz saved Nashville from its third shutout loss of the season. However, the Sounds have been held to one run or fewer on 11 occasions.

 

"We've been playing well, to turn the season around from the way it started," Nix said after Nashville lost for just the sixth time in the past 18 games following a 5-18 start. "We're playing with a lot of enthusiasm."

 

Before Nix broke up the shutout bid, the Sounds' best chance to score was in the opening inning, when Nix reached on a fielder's choice and stole second base.

 

From there, though, New Orleans starter Tony Armas Jr. retired the next 17 Sounds before Nix doubled in the seventh and was stranded yet again.

 

"You've got to give a little credit to him for making good pitches," Nix said of Armas (2-4), who had lost three straight decisions and hadn't won since April 19. "He was just missing our bats."

 

In the eighth, Steve Sollmann had a leadoff hit against former Sounds pitcher Nelson Figueroa. However, Figueroa rebounded to strike out Ozzie Chavez before Mel Stocker hit into an inning-ending double play.

 

Meanwhile, the Zephyrs scored a pair of runs in the first on Raul Casanova's two-out double past Sounds third baseman Russell Branyan.

They added two more in the third on Valentino Pascucci's homer.

 

"That was just unfortunate," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said of the early New Orleans scoring play. "The ball got under (Branyan's) glove and with two outs, everybody was running. Then we just got a ball up to Pascucci."

 

Chris Narveson (2-5) had won his past two decisions before losing for the first time in the month of May.

 

The loss marked the third time this season Nashville has been held to four hits, a season low.

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Sounds put on green jerseys to boost energy awareness

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

The Sounds didn't confuse May 17 with March 17 when they donned their green jerseys for Saturday's game with visiting New Orleans.

 

Saturday was "Sounds Go Green Night", as the team has partnered with Nashville Electric Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority Green Power Switch. The Sounds purchase green power each month to "help offset the impact of their energy usage" at Greer Stadium, and also chose to commemorate their efforts in environmental awareness with the special night.

 

A silent auction was held during the game for the jerseys, with proceeds benefiting the Sounds Foundation's charity efforts.

 

Coming and going: Callix Crabbe, re-acquired by Milwaukee from San Diego earlier this week, will be activated by the Sounds prior to today's 2 p.m. game against New Orleans. To create a roster spot, veteran infielder Abraham Nunez will be released.

 

Nunez signed a minor league contract with the Brewers over the offseason after spending the past two years with the Phillies. This was his first stint in the minors since he played five games in May 2002 for the Sounds.

 

In 33 games this season, Nunez batted .210 (22-for-105) with 14 runs, a pair of doubles and five stolen bases - the team's fourth-highest total.

 

"I'm just going to go home and take it easy," said the 32-year-old Nunez, who has been on a major league roster in each of the past 10 seasons.

 

Leaping Katin: Sounds right fielder Brendan Katin prevented a home run during the third inning of Saturday's game, jumping and reaching over the six-foot high fence to bring back a Jesus Feliciano leadoff drive.

 

Two batters later, Valentino Pascucci hit a two-run shot over the double-tiered left-field fence. It was the 51st homer allowed by the Sounds pitching staff, tying Omaha for the Pacific Coast League lead.

 

Whole lot of stealing going on: Laynce Nix's first-inning stolen base raised Nashville's league-leading total to 49. The Sounds have been successful on their past 19 attempts and 24 of their past 25, a string broken only by pitcher Ben Howard's caught-stealing on May 10 at Las Vegas. Katin is the last Nashville position player to be caught, May 7 at Tucson.

 

Making hay in May: The Sounds' 10 victories this month are tied for the most in the PCL. Memphis and Sacramento each took 10 wins into Saturday's play.