Link Report for Mon. 6/9 -- Biggest Game of the Year Tonight (Huntsville)

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu: No pesky big league main course to distract you!

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Sam Narron at Oklahoma (Rangers), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Donovan Hand at home vs. West Tenn (Mariners), 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: LHP Bobby Bramhall at Lakeland (Tigers), 6:00 PM gametime

 

Sorry, no audio for this series...

West Virginia: RHP Amaury Rivas at home vs. Kannapolis (White Sox), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

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]

Nashville's game at Oklahoma is also available for subscription viewing at MiLB.TV.

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Open the Nashville Gameday. For the others, choose "Log" or "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often.

 

Nashville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_09_nasaaa_orhaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_09_wtdaax_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_09_breafa_lakafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_09_kanafx_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated several hours prior to gametime.

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa 35 27 .565 - 19-11 16-16 W5 Memphis 32 32 .500 4.0 13-15 19-17 W1 Omaha 29 32 .475 5.5 15-19 14-13 L4 Nashville 27 35 .435 8.0 15-16 12-19 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 38 26 .594 - 21-13 17-13 L1 West Tenn 38 26 .594 - 21-9 17-17 W1 Carolina 35 28 .556 2.5 17-11 18-17 W3 Chattanooga 34 30 .531 4.0 20-15 14-15 W3 Tennessee 26 38 .406 12.0 13-21 13-17 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 39 24 .619 - 24-9 15-15 L3 Brevard County 32 31 .508 7.0 21-14 11-17 W1 Vero Beach 32 31 .508 7.0 20-12 12-19 W2 Jupiter 31 32 .492 8.0 18-12 13-20 W3 Daytona 30 33 .476 9.0 15-17 15-16 L1 St. Lucie 16 47 .254 23.0 7-24 9-23 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 37 25 .597 - 15-15 22-10 W1 Lakewood 35 27 .565 2.0 19-15 16-12 L1 Delmarva 34 27 .557 2.5 20-11 14-16 W1 Greensboro 34 29 .540 3.5 14-18 20-11 W1 Hagerstown 29 32 .475 7.5 13-19 16-13 L1 Hickory 28 36 .438 10.0 12-17 16-19 L5 West Virginia 27 35 .435 10.0 8-18 19-17 L1 Lexington 20 42 .323 17.0 10-24 10-18 W1 

[homer]

Escobar with a walk! Kinda sad when a singlebase on balls is post worthy. At least his walk rate is improving this year.

[Never Outhustled]

Matt LaPorta is hot again. Home Run #17 makes it 1-0 Stars. That pushes LaPorta's OPS back over 1.000, which is silly in that league.

[twobrewers]

Nelson Cruz sure does own AAA.

 

He hit his 19th HR against Nashville tonight. Entering today's game he had an OPS of 1.126

 

It's hard to believe he can't at least be average in MLB.

[bullox]

Matt LaPorta - possibly in response to those who feel he is not living up to expectations in another thread here - has now gone deep for the second time in the game.

 

I, for one, applaud our new Outfield Overlord.

[uwisfan]

alright alright I take it back

[dadofandrew]

Cruz's problem seems apparent, his long swing makes it tough for him to hit a good breaking ball. He might have a future as a platoon guy...or maybe even as a CF. He needs someone to give him 500 AB's and see what happens.

[Bambis Bombers]

Ugh, five errors for the Power tonight - here's hoping they pull things together during the second half.

[brewjihad]

Huntsville wins it, 8-6! Big victory to go 1 game up in the standings. Bateman gets a K to end it.

[Mass Haas]

Link Report Bonuses from Nashville:

 

Getting To Know Your Sounds: Vinny Rottino

 

Hardball Mysteries: TEXAS LEAGUER

[jjfanec]

Is Bramhall starting tonight a signal Cody will be pitching the rotation next week or are they trying to see if he can start? Axford had been pitching in that spot in the rotation. Bramhall did great tonight but tt seems like with Periard, Braddock, Jeffress and Butler already firmly entrenched Cody will take Bramhall/Axford's spot.

On another note Taylor Green with another home run tonight. He is having a great year in Brevard, and he is probably not getting as much love as he should due to Huntsville's great bats.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Oklahoma (Rangers) 5, Nashville 2

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Brad Nelson photo, text follows --

 

Sounds Open Trip With 5-2 Loss to RedHawks

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Nashville Sounds started their road trip on the short end of a 5-2 loss to the Oklahoma RedHawks on Monday evening at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in the opener of a four-game series.

 

Nashville (27-36), which fell to 0-5 against Oklahoma this season, grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a two-out rally against RedHawks starter Dustin Nippert. After the first two batters were retired, Laynce Nix drew a walk and came around to score the evening's first run on Brad Nelson's RBI double to center.

 

AUDIO: Brad Nelson RBI Double

 

Former Sound Nelson Cruz put Oklahoma in front in the home half of the frame when he belted a two-run homer to left off Sam Narron, the outfielder's team-leading 19th longball of the year.

 

The RedHawks increased the lead to 4-1 in the second on Jason Ellison's two-out, two-run double to right.

 

The Sounds pulled within two at 4-2 in the third when Callix Crabbe legged out a triple then scored on an RBI double off the bat of Tony Gwynn, the outfielder's first extra-base knock of the season. Nashville attempted to add another run later in the frame when Vinny Rottino singled to extend the club's longest hitting streak of the year to 18 games, but Cruz gunned down Gwynn at the plate from his post in right to end the inning.

 

Oklahoma plated an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning against Sounds reliever Luis Pena to increase the lead to 5-2. Ryan Roberts drew a leadoff walk and later scored on Nate Gold's RBI infield single to third.

 

Nippert (5-1) got the win after he turned in a quality start for the RedHawks, allowing two runs on four hits over his six innings of action.

 

Paul Komentani followed with two hitless innings before Warner Madrigal worked a scoreless ninth to earn his third save of the season.

 

Narron (3-1) took his first Triple-A loss of the year after giving up four runs on seven hits in six frames.

 

The teams continue the series with another 7:05 p.m. meeting on Tuesday. Left-hander Lindsay Gulin (2-4, 3.10) will make the start for Nashville and face RedHawks right-hander Luis Mendoza (1-2, 8.36).

 

Nashville Box Score

Brendan Katin 62 K's in 162 AB's, he also walked here, just his 6th of the season...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 4, Lakeland (Tigers) 1

 

Brevard County Box Score

Brent Brewer, hitless in his last six games, idle for a second consecutive night -- given the vast wasteland that is Florida State League media reports, anything could be a possibility; the 11 Manatee base hits were spread among all nine starters; clean defense and four double plays turned, outstanding night in that regard; southpaw Bobby Bramhall has been much more effective against right-handed batters this year, so stretching him out may make some sense -- the Brewers like him, he skipped low-A with the exception of one end-of-season appearance in '07; we wouldn't say Taylor Green isn't getting enough love, at least within the confines of the Link Report and Power 50; 309 friends and family in the stands in Lakeland, the least-supported outpost in the FSL...

 

Brevard County Game Log

Not a bad first inning for Bramhall as a starter; finally, the return of E.J. Shanks to 2007 form -- a 1-2-3 save on ground ball outs...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Kannapolis (White Sox) 8, West Virginia 5

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

ERRORS HAUNT POWER IN LOSS TO KANNAPOLIS

 

The West Virginia Power committed five errors at Appalachian Power Park on Monday night and could not recover after they fell behind 8-0 after three and a half innings, dropping the first game of the series to the Intimidators 8-5.

 

The Intimidators sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning and scored four times on three hits. Sergio Morales and Jim Gallagher both scored on wild pitches before Logan Johnson singled in a run and scored later in the inning on Eric Farris's fielding error. Sergio Miranda singled in the first of three runs in the third inning before Lyndon Estill grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to plate Johnson and Joe Persichina scored the final run of the inning on Matt Cline's fielding error.

 

Kannapolis scored their final run in the fourth on Johnson's sacrifice fly. Jason Rice took a no-hitter into the fourth inning where West Virginia cut the 8-0 deficit in half by scoring four runs on six hits. Jonathan Lucroy singled in Lee Haydel, Caleb Gindl reached on a fielder's choice and brought in David Fonseca before Steffan Wilson brought in a run with a sacrifice fly and Eric Fryer completed the four-run frame with an RBI double. Wilson's groundout in the sixth inning plated West Virginia's final run of the game.

 

Rice (2-5) held the Power to five runs on six hits over five innings and got the victory. Henry Mabee (14) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save. Amaury Rivas (5-2) allowed seven runs on seven hits over two innings and was tagged with his first loss since April 24th.

 

The Power fell to 27-36 with the loss and the Intimidators improved to 28-36 with the win. Seven Power players hit safely, including Fryer and Zelous Wheeler who paced the Power with two hits apiece. Wheeler has now hit safely in nine straight games. Lucroy has now hit safely and scored in his last seven games. Haydel also extended his hitting streak to six games. The five errors were the most in a single game this season.

 

The Power will continue the three game series with Kannapolis Tuesday night. Left hander Dan Merklinger (0-5, 7.82) will get the start for the Power and the Intimidators will counter with right hander Charlie Shirek (1-2, 2.81). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score

The Power falls to 8-19 at home, ouch -- not a lot of fun for the Toastman; Dan Merklinger doesn't inspire a lot of confidence for tomorrow's hopeful turnaround -- prove us wrong, Dan; relievers Curtis Pasma and Corey Frerichs did their job over the final seven innings; after committing two errors in the first three innings, shortstop Matt Cline was pulled -- that's tough managing, total speculation, but did Matt come off the field a bit too upset with himself, or could there even be an injury concern? Despite three of his seven runs allowed being unearned, it was still a very rough outing for Roque Mercedes...

 

West Virginia Game Log

Some sort of blowup in the 8th with three Kannapolis folks ejected...

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Pre-Game Audio (from Sunday's game) with reliever Patrick Ryan

From Sunday, so be sure to go the WUMP audio archive of June 8th, right off the top...

[And That]

Matt LaPorta is going to hit 40-45 homers this year if he doesn't get called up the big leagues.

 

Taylor Green is amazing.

[dikapalooza]

I better see LaPorta and Gamel in Memphis/Nashville June 30-July 5 or I will be incredibly disappointed

[TheCrew07]

it was still a very rough outing for Roque Mercedes...

Didn't you mean Rivas? You've been slippin!

 

Good for Huntsville, a race to finish with a 1 one game lead.

[Mass Haas]

it was still a very rough outing for Roque Mercedes...

Didn't you mean Rivas? You've been slippin!

Yeah, even the major leaguers can only go 20 days in a row -- I need better union representation. I am due to ask my fellow staffer pogokat to bail me out for a night soon, although he's quite the world traveler these days...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 8, West Tenn (Mariners) 6

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Stars Take Over Top Spot, Again

Final Series of Half Could Determine Division Winner

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

Matt LaPorta hit two home runs and Joe Bateman helped stave off a late rally to preserve Huntsville's 8-6 win Monday night over West Tenn in the last of a tremendous five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars improved to 39-26 and moved into first place, one game ahead of the Diamond Jaxx, with five games left in the first half. The Stars took three of five in the set, winning each of the odd numbered games.

 

LaPorta's leadoff long ball in the second staked the Stars and starter Donovan Hand to a 1-0 lead before Angel Salome doubled in two runs in the third to push the advantage to 3-0. West Tenn starter Denny Stark was taken out after four frames, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits, while walking two and fanning one.

 

Hand blanked the visitors through five innings before two singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Johan Limonta singled into center field to drive in Mark Kiger to cut the lead to 3-1 and knock Hand out of the game. Patrick Ryan took over and allowed a run-scoring single to Kevin Reynolds and a run-producing fielder's choice grounder that tied the game. Ryan worked out of further trouble when Matt Mangini was thrown out trying to steal and Luis Valbuena fanned to end the inning. Hand was charged with all three runs on eight hits, while Ryan wound up earning his second win with one scoreless inning of work.

 

LaPorta led off the home sixth with a home run off of Craig James, who had retired the side in order in the fifth, to put the Stars back on top at 4-3. Mike Bell singled and Cole Gillespie reached on an error before James threw wildly past third base on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Chris Errecart, allowing both runners to score and Errecart to advance to second base. Michael Brantley doubled home Errecart and scored on a two-out single by Mat Gamel to give the home side an 8-3 edge.

 

Robert Hinton relieved Ryan and was removed after two walks and a strikeout and was followed to the hill by Bateman, who gave up a looping single to Mike Wilson that loaded the bases. Adam Moore bounced into a force out at second to knock in a run and Limonta followed with a single to drive in Kiger to cut the lead to 8-5. Brent Johson's RBI hit with one out in the eighth trimmed the margin to 8-6 before Bateman retired the next five hitters in a row, four with a strikeout, to close out the win and earn his first save since April 16.

 

The Stars begin the final series of the first half Wednesday night in Jacksonville with left-hander Steve Hammond taking the hill against Suns' right-hander B.J. LaMura. Coverage of the game begins at 5:50 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

This just in -- Matt LaPorta is strong...

 

Huntsville Game Log