Link Report for Mon. 6/2 -- Birthday Boy David Welch a Huntsville No-Hitter!

[uwisfan]

welch finishes no-hitter in under 70 pitches on a K

[Mass Haas]

Hey, who remembers this from three years ago? Let us be the first to remind everyone about that.

[PrimeTime955]

This is so freaking cool. I love it. Even though I didn't end up getting audio to follow it like I did last year with Parra, it's still awesome. Congratulations David.

[Mass Haas]

Hopefully MiLB.com is able to square away the audio archive, despite the fact we had to turn elsewhere for the live feed -- thank goodness for the WUMP link.

[LouisEly]

No-Hitter David Welch!

Way To Go, Mate!

That's my boy!!! That's my boy!!!!!

 

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 5, Iowa (Cubs) 2

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Adam Heether HR photo, text follows --

 

Heether's Homer Helps Sounds to 5-2 Win

NASHVILLE - Adam Heether's go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth inning helped the Nashville Sounds take down the Iowa Cubs, 5-2, on Monday night at Greer Stadium.

 

Heether's sixth longball of the season was the eventual difference maker in the low-scoring affair that saw the teams combine to leave 14 men on base. Hernan Iribarren tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-run, pinch-hit single with the bases loaded to pad the Sounds lead.

 

Sounds starter Richie Gardner (5-1) pitched six innings, giving up two runs on four hits to earn his fifth win in his last seven outings. He threw a season-high 105 pitches on the night before handing the ball over to Erasmo Ramirez, who pitched two scoreless innings. Luis Pena earned his seventh save of the year when he came in and closed the game out in the ninth.

 

Nashville got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Chris Woodward slid around a tag at home to score on an unusual baserunning play. Iowa starter Randy Keisler (4-6) had Mel Stocker picked off at first, but Woodward took off from third and beat the throw home from first baseman Bobby Scales. Stocker eventually wound up at third after an error from catcher Tony Richie on the play at home and later scored on a Tony Gwynn groundout to give the Sounds a two-run lead.

 

Iowa evened the score with a pair of runs in the next frame when Andres Blanco knocked a two-run single to right field with the bases loaded to score Josh Kroeger and Scales. The two-out rally might have continued, but Gwynn gunned down Richie at third base when he tried to go from first to third on the single.

 

Heether's homer in the sixth inning off Keisler gave the Sounds the lead for good.

 

AUDIO: Adam Heether Home Run

 

Iribarren gave Nashville some security with his two-run, pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth. Vinny Rottino and Brendan Katin scored on the play after Rottino singled to extend his season-best hitting streak to 13 games and Katin was hit by a pitch.

 

Keisler pitched six innings and gave up three runs in the losing decision, and Jose Ascanio allowed two runs in two innings of work as the lone reliever for the Cubs.

 

The teams will close out their four-game series on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. at Greer Stadium. It will be a battle of the lefties, with Sam Narron (3-0, 4.05) trying for his fourth straight win for the Sounds against J.R. Mathes (2-3, 2.85) for the Cubs.

 

Nashville Box Score

Richie Gardner's been respectable and has received run support -- not pretty numbers, but give him credit for putting the Sounds "in position" to win so often, as they say; Luis Pena's save was clean with two swinging strikeouts; Mel Stocker 8-for-9 in stolen bases, two tonight -- you'll see him again in September, Brewer fans, unless the Crew isn't in the race...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Welch's photo will be gracing the home page of MiLB.com through Tuesday afternoon. Stories will be added soon.

[tigerbrew]

No-Hitter David Welch!

Way To Go, Mate!

That's my boy!!! That's my boy!!!!!

 

 

I think a performance like that should garner more respect in the P50 http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

CALL HIM UP TO MILWAUKEE!!! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game One: Chattanooga (Reds) 8, Huntsville 6

Final, Game Two: Huntsville 2, Chattanooga 0

Huntsville Press Release:

Welch No-Hits Lookouts to Earn Split of Twin Bill

STARS TAKE OVER FIRST PLACE IN NORTH DIVISION

 

David Welch spun the fourth no-hitter in franchise history to lead Huntsville to a much-needed 2-0 win and a doubleheader split with Chattanooga Monday night at AT&T Field. The Stars improved to 35-23 and opened up a one-game lead over West Tenn, a three-game edge on Carolina and a five-game cushion over Chattanooga with 12 games left in the first half.

 

Three Huntsville hurlers combined to no-hit Birmingham at the Hoover Met in August, 1992, Tanyon Sturtze no-hit the Lookouts in June, 1993 in a game started by Stars' pitching coach Chris Hook and Corey Thurman, David Johnson and Luis Pena kept the Tennessee Smokies hitless in game two of the playoffs last season at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

Welch retired the first 17 batters he faced before pinch-hitter Chris Valaika drew a walk with two outs in the home sixth. He advanced to second base on an errant pickoff attempt by catcher Carlos Corporan before Cody Strait flied out to end the inning. Eric Eymann drew a leadoff walk in the seventh before Sean Henry grounded into a double play on the next pitch. Danny Dorn then cut through a 2-2 pitch that was dropped by Corporan, who threw to Michael Brantley at first to end the game and finish off the no-hitter. Welch needed only 67 pitches to complete the game and earn his league-high seventh win. He struck out five and has thrown 13 scoreless innings in his two starts on the road trip.

 

Matt LaPorta's lead off long ball in the fourth inning broke up a scoreless game and was his league-high 15th of the season. Travis Wood went six innings for the Looks, allowing only that run on five hits but suffered the hard-luck loss. Sean Watson took over in the seventh in his double-A debut and gave up a leadoff double to Welch, who eventually came in to score on a two-out walk to Cole Gillespie that chased Watson from the game.

 

Huntsville Game Two Box Score

Welch's record moves to 7-1; Alcides Escobar reached in all four plate appearances and in six-of-eight for the twinbill...

 

Huntsville Game Two Game Log

Behold...

 

In the opener, Shaun Cumberland led off the home sixth and reached on a fielding error by Alcides Escobar and advanced to second base on a single by Eymann, his third hit of the game. Valaika then missed on two sacrifice bunt attempts before doubling into left field to chase home both runners to get the game tied at six. Escobar then committed his second error of the frame on a Strait grounder that allowed Valaika to score the go-ahead run and Strait to reach first base. Strait stole second and scored on a B.J. Szymanski two-out single to push the Lookouts lead to 8-6. Patrick Ryan, who had allowed only two runs all year, was tagged with the loss after giving up four, only one earned, on three hits.

 

Carlos Fisher took over on the hill in the seventh for Chattanooga and surrendered back-to-back singles to LaPorta and Gillespie before striking out Mike Bell and getting Freddy Parejo to fly out to end the game. Fisher earned his second save.

 

The Lookouts had plated three runs in the second inning against Derek Miller, who was knocked out of the game after taking a line drive off the bat of Eymann that drove in the final run of the frame. Joe Bateman came on to replace Miller and struck out Valaika with the bases loaded to end the inning. Eymann's two-out single in the fourth extended the Looks' lead to 4-0 before the Stars rallied for four in the top of the fifth to force a tie.

 

Escobar singled in the first run and knocked starter Sam LeCure out of the game after 4 1/3 frames. Lee Tabor took over and walked Mat Gamel to force in a run to make it 4-2 and the visitors got the game knotted up on a two-run single by Angel Salome, who has three multi-RBI games on the road trip. Escobar tripled in two runs with two outs in the sixth against Robert Manuel to give the visitors their first lead.

 

The series continues Tuesday night with left-hander Brae Wright taking the hill against Lookouts' right-hander James Avery. 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 Game One Box Score

Chris Errecart was idle all night -- we'll double-check the audio later to find out why; hopefully Derek Miller isn't hurt badly -- perhaps his pride, after a rough outing; Michael Garciaparra with a pinch-hit single for his first Stars' base knock...

 

Huntsville Game One Game Log

[Mass Haas]

As promised, the back-to-back HR's in Charleston --

Make sure you're on the WSWW archive of June 2nd, then go to the 02:24:00 hour/minute mark

 

It doesn't sound like Andy "Bull" Barch was aware of the money giveaway, though, at least not during the calls...

[Mass Haas]

Link includes audio of the final out, text follows:

 

Welch no-hits Lookouts on birthday

By Eric Justic / Special to MLB.com

Huntsville's David Welch gave himself a birthday present Monday, tossing a no-hitter on the day he turned 25.

Welch struck out six and walked two as the Stars blanked the Chattanooga Lookouts, 2-0, in the second game of a doubleheader at BellSouth Park.

The left-hander struck out Daniel Dorn in the seventh inning to complete the second complete-game no-hitter in the Stars' history in the Southern League.

Corey Thurman, Dave Johnson and Luis Pena combined on a postseason no-hitter for Stars last Sept. 7. Tanyon Sturtze pitched Huntsville's other solo no-hitter on June 13, 1993.

Welch won for the fifth time in eight starts to become the Southern League's first seven-game winner. The only downside was being away from his wife and 3-month-old son, Maddox, on his birthday. His family was tracking the game in Texas, though.

"I just thought she's not here so I'm just gonna pitch," Welch said. "I'm kind of out with the boys, but tonight's game made it a special one."

Welch (7-1) was perfect until he walked Chris Valaika with two outs in the sixth inning. The walk drew a reaction from his family.

"[My wife] was over the moon," he said. "But she was mad that I walked a guy and gave up the perfect game. She said 'Dang' and Maddox started laughing. She never heard him laugh before."

Selected in the 20th round of the 2005 Draft by Milwaukee, Welch struck out four of the first seven Lookouts batters and took advantage of their free-swinging lineup.

"You get in a groove. You get that feeling you have everything going when you throw a first-pitch changeup and guys are swinging at it," Welch said.

"Their aggressiveness helped me out a lot," he added. "I was mixing them up a bit with fastball, curveball and changeup."

He allowed only one more baserunner, walking Eric Eymann to start the seventh. But the changeup came through for Welch again, as Eymann was erased on a 6-4-3 double play before Welch fanned Dorn.

"I didn't want to have the tying run at the plate. But the next pitch was a changeup and he hit the ball right to (shortstop) Alcides Escobar," Welch said. "All of a sudden, I'm back in the windup and maybe one pitch away. I'm like 'Oh wow, I've never been here before.' I got ahead of him and he ended up chasing a curveball in the ground."

Welch jumped up in the air, but he still had to wait a few seconds for catcher Carlos Corporan to make the final throw to first base. But the wait was worth it.

"I've never been in the situation where you are one pitch away and one batter away," he said. "I've always been one or two innings away. It still hasn't sunk in yet. I've been close a few times before and it's a great feeling to get it."

The Sydney, Australia native had taken no-hit bids deep into ballgames before, but had never finished one before. While with Brevard County in the Florida State League, he took a perfect game into the eighth last July 26. He also pitched five hitless innings on April 28, 2007.

Matt LaPorta hit his 15th homer to lead off the fourth and Cole Gillespie drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh for the Stars (35-25).

Starter Travis Wood (1-1) yielded one run on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings for Chattanooga (30-28).

In the first game of the doubleheader, Eymann went 4-for-4 with two RBIs in the Lookouts' 8-6 win.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Power blows late lead, wins in 9th

By Michael Polak, Charleston Gazette

 

After his team lost a 2-0 lead with two outs in the ninth, Curt Rindal hit a bases-loaded RBI single to give the West Virginia Power a 3-2 victory over the Lexington Legends Monday in front of a crowd of 1,788 at Appalchian Power Park.

 

"It was good to carry on what we started on the road," Power coach Jeff Isom said of his team's fifth straight win. "We've struggled at home this year, [and] it was good to get the first one. We hope to build on it."

 

The win breaks a seven-game home losing streak for the Power.

 

The Power loaded the bases in the ninth with no outs. Third baseman Steffan Wilson led off with a double and right fielder Caleb Gindl was intentionally walked. Pinch runner Matt Cline came in for Wilson on second.

 

On an 0-1 delivery to shortstop Zelous Wheeler, Legends picher Luis Pardo threw a wild pitch, which allowed the Power runners to advance to second and third. Pardo then intentionally walked Wheeler, loading the bases.

 

Pardo struck out left fielder Eric Fryer, but Rindal won the game with an infield single that scored Cline.

 

The Power took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning and was an out away from victory when Legends center fielder Steve Brown tied the game on a two-run homer off reliever Rob Bryson. After the home run, the Legends put runners on first and second on a single from pinch hitter Maxwell Sapp and on pinch hitter Colin Delome's walk. Bryson induced Legends second baseman Bryan Brown to fly out, ending the threat.

 

Power starting pitcher Chris Cody was dominant, allowing just two hits on seven shutout innings.

 

"Chris was outstanding," Isom said. "He did a great job at locating the strike zone. We made some good plays behind him in the field."

 

Power second baseman Eric Farris made a circus catch for the third out in the sixth inning. A shallow outfield pop bounced out of Farris glove, but he recovered, grabbing it barehanded.

 

"That was one of those ESPN top-five plays," Isom said. "Eric has a great knack for where the ball is. He can make tough plays look easy."

 

The Power used back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Wheeler jumped on a 3-2 pitch, and on the next pitch, Fryer also went deep.

 

"The back-to-back home runs helped quite a bit," Isom said. "We've been winning with outstanding pitching, and we've relied on some big hits like those home runs."

 

The Power wraps up a two-game series with Lexington with the fourth and final Grand Slam School Day today. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35 AM (9:35 Central).

[Mass Haas]

Sounds Photo Gallery from the Tennessean

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Home run lets Sounds end skid

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Adam Heether's leadoff home run in the sixth inning helped the Nashville Sounds snap a three-game losing streak Monday night, as they defeated Iowa 5-2 at Greer Stadium.

 

The Sounds can salvage a split of the four-game series with a win in today's finale.

 

"We felt like we were going to come out and win," Heether said after his sixth homer of the year. "We'd lost the first two, but we don't lose our fire."

 

The victory was also the fifth in as many decisions for Nashville starter Richie Gardner, who hasn't lost since April 28. He has won five of seven starts with two no-decisions.

 

The Sounds took a 2-0 third-inning lead after Chris Woodward scored on the front end of a double steal and Mel Stocker scored on Tony Gwynn's groundout.

 

As quickly as the Sounds took the lead, though, they lost it. The Cubs scored two runs in the fourth inning on Andres Blanco's two-out single off Gardner.

 

Following Heether's homer in the sixth inning the Sounds tacked on two more runs with Hernan Iribarren's pinch-hit single in the eighth off reliever Jose Ascanio.

 

"I knew I didn't get it all, but I hoped it would carry," Heether said of his towering fly ball, which just cleared the second tier of fencing in left field. "I just kept my eye on the leftfielder."

 

After struggling against Cubs starter Randy Keisler, Nashville got the eighth inning started with Brad Nelson's double and also took advantage of two hit batsmen in the rally.

 

"Keisler did a good job pitching around runners in scoring position all day," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said.

 

"He made pitches and did a good job keeping the ball off our (bat) barrel.

 

Erasmo Ramirez pitched two shutout innings in relief of Gardner. Luis Pena came on in the ninth and retired the Cubs in order with a pair of strikeouts for his seventh save of the season.

 

What they said: "It was nice for our relievers to come in late and get the job done. Sunday we didn't get it done, and (Friday) in Albuquerque we didn't get it done." - Kremblas.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Sounds outfielder injures his wrist

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Nashville Sounds outfielder Brendan Katin was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to have his left wrist injury evaluated following Monday night's 5-2 win over visiting Iowa.

 

Katin was hit in the wrist during his eighth-inning at-bat.

 

Two batters later, Katin and Vinny Rottino both scored insurance runs on Hernan Iribarren's pinch-hit single. Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas had intended for Ozzie Chavez to pinch-hit in that slot for reliever Erasmo Ramirez, but after Katin was hit, Kremblas anticipated having to substitute for Katin defensively.

 

"If we had to take Katin out, we could put 'Irie' in for him (in left field)," Kremblas said.

 

Timely hitting improves: The Sounds had been hitless in 16 at-bats with runners in scoring position during the first two games of the series.

 

In Monday's win, they were 2-for-11 in those situations.

 

Crabbe boils: Sounds infielder Callix Crabbe singled during a two-run third inning Monday, giving him hits in 9 of his last 11 games - including five multiple-hit efforts in his last nine games.

 

It's been a significant turnaround for Crabbe, who had just one hit in his first 12 at-bats after joining the team from San Diego on May 18.

 

Rottino rolls: Vinny Rottino's fourth-inning single extended his hitting streak to 13 games - the longest current streak in the Pacific Coast League and the longest of the year for the Sounds.

 

Celebrity watch: Caleb Joseph, the catcher for the Lipscomb team that defeated Georgia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, began his duties as the Sounds' bullpen catcher Monday.

 

Joseph caught former Sounds pitchers Tim Dillard and R.A. Dickey during offseason workouts. He asked about the bullpen assignment and Dillard passed along the request to the Sounds front office.

[TheCrew07]

Lame, I went to bed right after the Brewer game and missed this, I didn't even check the box of game 2.

[jjfanec]

What a great night of pitching obviously topped-off by Welch's no-no. Periard with a nice night and Cody dominated.