Link Report for Fri. 6/6 -- Jeffress Seven Scoreless, Nice!

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

Manatees Win in 12

By Tyler Stover / Brevard County Manatees

(Viera, FL) The Brevard County Manatees were held scoreless for the first nine innings, but found their bats when it counted most Friday night. They scored one run in the 10th inning to tie the game, and another in the 12th to beat Fort Myers in a thriller, 2-1, ending their three-game losing streak. Jeremy Jeffress turned in another strong performance for the Manatees, pitching seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and one walk with eight strikeouts. In his last two starts, he has allowed just one run and six hits in 14 total innings. He was matched by the Fort Myers staff, which had four pitchers combine to shut out the Manatees for the first nine innings.

After nine scoreless innings, Fort Myers finally broke through in the tenth, when Yangervis Solarte's sacrifice bunt brought in Juan Portes for the first run of the game. The Miracle brought in Rob Delaney to close things out in the bottom of the tenth, but it was not meant to be. Darren Ford singled, stole second base, and later scored the tying run on Charlie Fermaint's two-out single to right field. The game remained tied at 1-1 until the 12th inning. Lorenzo Cain led off the inning with a single off Michael Allen (0-1). He quickly stole second base, and scored the winning run when Fermaint came through in the clutch once again, hammering a walk-off double to center field.

Travis Wendte entered the game in the 11th inning and pitched two scoreless innings to improve to 3-0. The win moves the Manatees back over .500 at 31-30, while Fort Myers drops to 40-21. Alexandre Periard (5-4, 4.55) gets the start Saturday evening for Brevard County, facing Cole Devries (4-5, 3.50) of the Miracle.

Yohannis Perez turns a double play in Brevard County's 2-1 victory over Fort Myers. (MiLB.com Photo by Dennis Greenblatt)

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2008/06/06/lxqN5tf5.jpg

[Bambis Bombers]

In the Huntsville game, Omar Aguilar is doing his best Guillermo Mota imitation

[brewmann04]

One would think if the brewers needed to call any one up from 3a Brad Nelson should be that man

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Tenn (Mariners) 13, Huntsville 12, ten innings

Details later on...

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Coaches Chat with Manager Frank Kremblas

[battlekow]

Wow, that was a thriller in Huntsville. Two in the top of the 10th for West Tenn, and then one in the bottom for Huntsville, with the game ending on a Mat Gamel groundout with Alcides Escobar on third.

[JoeHova]

Salome with three walks, none of them intentional (at least according to the box score). You've got to love that.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

West Tenn Wins Wild Game in Extras

Stars and Jaxx Share Top Spot, Again

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

Adam Moore drove in the winning runs in the tenth inning to cap off an improbable 13-12 comeback win for West Tenn over Huntsville Friday night in the second of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Diamond Jaxx evened the series at a game apiece and pulled back into a first place tie with the Stars in North Division at 37-25. The Stars dropped to one win and four losses in extra innings games.

 

Brent Johnson opened the tenth with a single and Mike Saunders dropped down a sacrifice bunt attempt that was fielded by pitcher Omar Aguilar but his throw to second base pulled shortstop Alcides Escobar off the bag, allowing Johnson to remain alive on the bases and Saunders to reach. Mark Kiger walked to load the bases before Mike Wilson flied out for the first out. Moore then smoked a one-hopper past Mat Gamel at third to deliver Johnson and Saunders to make it 13-11. Luis Valbuena then bounced into a force at second and Kiger was thrown out at the plate trying to score to end the frame.

 

Michael Brantley singled with two outs in the bottom of the inning, advanced to second base on defensive indifference and scored on a looping single by Escobar to cut the lead to 13-12. Escobar stole second and moved to third on an errant throw by Moore but was left there when Gamel grounded out to end the game. Mumba Rivera got the last five outs to earn his fourth win and was the last of five West Tenn pitchers. Brantley finished with a season-high four hits and four runs batted in, including his third home run.

 

Moore's leadoff home run in the ninth on the second pitch thrown by Aguilar pulled the visitors to within 11-10. Johan Limonta then scorched a double to left field and was replaced by pinch-runner Valbuena, who advanced to third base on a bunt and scored to tie the game on a wild pitch. Kevin Reynolds made a diving catch of a Chris Errecart liner to end the home ninth with runners at the corners and two outs to force the extra frame.

 

Moore's three-run home run off Mike Jones capped off a five-run rally in the fifth that put the Jaxx on top, 8-7, and Limonta singled home a run in the seventh to push the lead to 9-7. Marwin Vega took over on the hill in the bottom of the inning and gave up a two-run single to Brantley that tied the game before Gamel singled in Brantley to put the Stars back on top, 10-9. Mike Bell's run-scoring single in the eighth gave Huntsville an 11-9 edge and set up the save situation for Aguilar, who failed for the first time in 16 chances with Brevard County and Huntsville.

 

Stars' starter Derek Miller gave up six runs on eight hits and three walks in four frames plus three batters, while West Tenn starter Doug Fister was charged with six runs on five hits and three walks. The Diamond Jaxx' 13 runs and 16 hits were the most allowed by the Stars in both categories in a game this season.

 

The series continues Saturday night with southpaw David Welch getting the starting nod for Huntsville against Diamond Jaxx right-hander Rich Dorman. 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

Prepare yourself for lots of crooked numbers, both good (hitting) and bad (pitching)...

 

Huntsville Game Log

If you're up to the challenge...

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

West Tenn's rally deadlocks division

Stars squander ninth-inning lead in 13-12 loss

By MIKE EASTERLING

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, mike.easterling@htimes.com

 

The Huntsville Stars scored at least 10 runs for the 13th time this season Friday night, but it wasn't enough in a battle with West Tenn for the Southern League North first-half title.

 

The teams combined for 31 hits and 20 walks as the Diamond Jaxx took a 13-12, 10-inning win at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

The game took 4 hours, 20 minutes as a crowd of 4,144 saw West Tenn tie Huntsville for division supremacy with eight games left. Huntsville (37-25) and West Tenn (37-25) meet tonight at 7 in the third of a five-game series.

 

The Stars tied it at 9-all in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run single by Michael Brantley, then took a 10-9 lead on Mat Gamel's RBI single.

 

Huntsville's Michael Bell singled home a run in the eighth to make it 11-9, but West Tenn tied it with two in the ninth - on Adam Moore's solo homer and again when Johan Limonta doubled and scored on a wild pitch by Omar Aguilar (0-1).

 

West Tenn scored twice in the 10th, loading the bases on a single, an error and a walk before Moore hit a two-run single.

 

The Stars got a run back in the bottom of the 10th on an RBI single by Alcides Escobar, who took third on a stolen base and throwing error.

But Gamel, the league's leading hitter, grounded out to end the game.

 

Huntsville got a solo homer by Brantley to lead off the bottom of the first and another by Chris Errecart in the second.

 

The Diamond Jaxx broke through against Huntsville starter Derek Miller in the third behind Brent Johnson's two-run double and an RBI double by Mike Wilson to make it 3-2.

 

The Stars drew even in the bottom half when Escobar walked, stole second and scored on Angel Salome's hit.

Huntsville led 7-3 in the fourth, sending up 10 batters and getting RBI singles from Brantley, Escobar and Gamel.

 

The Diamond Jaxx batted around in the fifth, highlighted by Moore's three-run homer, to lead 8-7.

 

West Tenn added an RBI single by Limonta in the seventh.

 

Moore finished with two home runs and six RBIs.

 

Huntsville had 15 hits but left 15 runners on base.

 

Mumba Rivera, the fifth West Tenn pitcher, earned the win (4-1) .

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Bullpen blues threaten to spoil Stars' hopes

Relievers have blown 12 of 30 save chances

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

Huntsville manager Don Money shuffled through box scores from the Stars' recent road trip, rattling off the bullpen's list of nightmarish adventures:

 

- May 28: In Mobile, Huntsville turned over a 2-0 ninth-inning lead to Juan Sandoval, who turns it into a 4-2 loss.

 

- June 2: In the opener of a seven-inning doubleheader at Chattanooga, normally-reliable Patrick Ryan couldn't navigate around two Alcides Escobar errors, allowing three hits in a four-run sixth that turns another two-run lead into a two-run loss.

 

- June 4: Sandoval blew a seventh-inning lead, then Ryan got two outs in the ninth before surrendering three straight hits and the decisive run in a 5-4 loss to the Lookouts.

 

Money cited example after example of his bullpen's late-innings unraveling - a leadoff walk here, a two-out hit there - before he threw his hands in the air.

 

"The bullpen is not getting the job done," Money said. "If you look at our stats, we have 12 blown saves. That tells you right there what's happening.

 

"Right now, you just don't know what you're getting out of your pen."

 

For a team on the verge of wasting a torrid start, the bullpen gets the bulk of the blame. Back on May 14, the Stars were 29-11 and running away with the Southern League North division. They were the best hitting team in the minors, their starting pitchers owned a 3.38 earned run average, and the bullpen was at least holding its own.

 

Since then, things have turned decisively downward - for the bullpen and the team. Through Friday night, Huntsville had lost 14 of its last 22 games, leaving the Stars tied with West Tenn with eight games remaining in the half.

 

During that stretch, the Stars' bullpen was 1-8 with only four saves in 11 opportunities and a 5.37 ERA.

 

By comparison, during the season's first 40 games, the group had a 7-3 record, converted 14 of 19 save opportunities and had a 4.20 ERA.

 

"For whatever reason, it's just happening to everybody at the same time," said Ryan, the pen's ace who didn't allow an earned run until May 19 and still owns a 1.33 ERA. "We're just going through a little slump."

 

Ryan's slump - he has allowed four earned runs in his last 8 1/3 innings - doesn't look dreadful statistically, but he has struggled in several game-deciding situations.

 

Sandoval has given up eight earned runs in 7 2/3 innings. David Johnson has allowed four earned runs in 8 1/3 innings, actually lowering his ERA to 7.77. Robert Hinton is going through a rough patch of 11 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings.

 

"It's not just one guy doing it, and that's the problem," Money said. "I'm just waiting for somebody to step up and say, 'I can do the job in the sixth, seventh, eighth innings.' "Right now, we're searching."

 

The only relievers who have been effective lately are Joe Bateman - who has a 1.91 ERA this season - and newly promoted closer Omar Aguilar. That was the combination Huntsville threw at the Diamond Jaxx Thursday for 2 1/3 shutout innings in a 3-1 win.

 

Members of the bullpen believe this stretch is just a hiccup.

 

"You're going to go through stretches of adversity, and it's about how quickly you can get out of it," Hinton said. "We may go through 20 games and our ERA be zero. That's the way baseball is."

 

Sandoval, one of a cycle of Stars to try to earn the closer role, didn't sound overly concerned, either.

 

"I've been struggling a little bit, but I'm going to turn things around," he said. "It's not even on my mind. I'm positive every day, every game, every inning, every pitch."

 

But the positivity needs to translate on the mound. Money said he wants to see his relievers more focused, more in tune with the game and throwing the right pitches at the right times.

 

More than that, Money and pitching coach Chris Hook said they just want somebody to step up and be reliable, especially now that the first half is down to a one-week season.

 

"I don't think lately our bullpen has been pitching under pressure effectively," Hook said. "They have to do that and do it effectively the rest of their career to get to the big leagues.

 

"We're trying to develop major league players, and if you can't do it in Double-A, where are you going to do it?"

[Mass Haas]

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Sounds finally conquer offensive struggles at home

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

A Sounds offense that has had its issues at home put together just enough Friday to defeat Albuquerque for the second straight night, winning 4-2.

 

Entering the game, the Sounds were hitting .220 in 29 games at Greer Stadium - the lowest mark of any home team in the Pacific Coast League. They finished with 10 hits and stranded eight runners.

 

"I think everybody comes in here and doesn't hit," said Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas, whose team scored six runs combined in the two victories. "Night games here are tough. There's no background - we've asked for a higher batter's eye (in center field), but we can't get it done. It's tough to see early in the game. During the day, it's not as bad."

 

The home batting average is in stark contrast to the team's road performance. Nashville's .297 average in 31 games away from Greer leads the PCL.

 

"You'd like to do more with 10 hits, but you have to give their guy credit," Sounds second baseman Callix Crabbe said, referring to Albuquerque starter Gaby Hernandez. "When there were guys on base, he did a good job putting pitches in a spot where you couldn't do much with it.

 

"But however you win is however you win."

 

Brad Nelson's home run - his ninth of the year, which leads all current Sounds players - followed Crabbe's sixth-inning single and snapped a 1-1 tie. Nashville added a run later in the inning on a pair of walks, a base hit and a bunt single by Jeff Weaver (2-3) that was thrown away by Albuquerque reliever Brandon Villafuerte.

From there, the Sounds managed just two more runners.

 

"We didn't really string anything together," Kremblas said.

 

The win inched Nashville (26-34) closer to the .500 mark following a disappointing series against visiting Iowa in which the Sounds won just one of four games.

 

"We felt against Iowa we let a couple slip away that we should have won," Crabbe said. "Winning a couple in a row here means we're staying with our plan."

 

***

 

"Night games here are tough. There's no background - we've asked for a higher batter's eye (in center field), but we can't get it done. It's tough to see early in the game. During the day, it's not as bad."

 

Given that this was supposed to be year one in a spanking brand new stadium, you have to wonder if Minor League Baseball considers the four-year Player Development Contract through 2010 Milwaukee signed with Nashville iron-clad. -- Mass Haas

[Mass Haas]

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Weaver gets two hits to go with win

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Wins have been rare for Jeff Weaver since joining the Sounds, but the major league veteran's performance at the plate Friday night against Albuquerque was even more unusual.

 

Beating out a two-out bunt in the sixth inning after his third-inning base hit, Weaver's 2-for-3 effort marked the first multiple-hit game by a Nashville pitcher since Adam Pettyjohn went 2-for-3 at New Orleans on July 19.

 

On the mound, Weaver scattered six hits over seven innings as the Sounds defeated the visiting Isotopes 4-2.

"I'll take the 'W' over it all, but if the hits contribute, that makes it better," Weaver said after winning for the second time in five decisions since joining the team May 1. "I do enjoy getting in there and having a chance to do something at the plate. That can change the complexion of the game."

 

Coming into Friday's game, Weaver was hitting .143 (2-for-14) - the third-best average among Nashville pitchers with at least 10 at-bats.

His bunt was misplayed by Albuquerque reliever Brandon Villafuerte, allowing Vinny Rottino to score from second base.

 

"He's got an idea up there; he gives you a pretty good at-bat most of the time," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "He's a pretty good athlete. And that bunt - he did that on his own. He said (Villafuerte) has given him trouble, and he didn't want to just give up an at-bat. It surprised me."

 

Still streaking: Rottino extended his hitting streak to 16 games, tripling into the right-center gap in the fourth inning following J.R. Hopf's two-out walk.

 

The streak is the longest of the season by a Sounds player and is the fifth-longest by a Pacific Coast League player.

 

The last Nashville player to hit in 16 straight games or more was Trent Durrington, who hit in 17 straight from June 7 to Aug. 16, 2005. The triple was Rottino's third of the season.

 

Trio of double plays: The Sounds turned double plays in three consecutive innings Friday night.

 

In the fourth inning, Andrew Beattie's groundball to second baseman Callix Crabbe started a 4-6-3 double play. An inning later, shortstop Ozzie Chavez caught Robert Andino's one-out line drive and flipped to Crabbe before pitcher Gaby Hernandez could get back to second. And in the sixth, right fielder Laynce Nix dived toward the foul line to catch John Gall's fly ball and threw back to Hopf at first base to double off ex-Sound Chris Barnwell.

[deeswan]

I am loving Jeremy Jeffress since his return. Other than the 2 blips (in 5 games, I know) he's been awesome. Not sure what the league BABIP is, but his is .365 right now. As he regresses to the mean in that category his numbers will just get better. Hopefully he stays clean and starts to move up the organizational ladder.

[homer]

Salome with three walks, none of them intentional (at least according to the box score). You've got to love that.

 

Totally agree. I believe he's already surpassed his walk total from last year.

[jjfanec]

Both Salome and Escobar have much better plate discipline than last year. It would seem to me that it is a great sign considering the lineup they are in. Pitchers are not going to be pitching around them to inflate their walk stats. Huntsville's hitting coach or whoever it was has really been able to get those two to buy into taking more pitches. They are walking more and their average is getting better.

[igor67]

I was looking at Huntsville's division and just amazed that they weren't 5 games out in front because of how great the line-up is. Then I noticed they only had 1 sub .500 team in the division and then they were still at .475 winning percentage. I suspect that the teams in the division are quite strong this year in general. Otherwise I just can't imagine them not running away with the division on just average pitching.

[southpaw121505]

I <3 Huntsville