Link Report for Wed. 6/11 -- Weaver Rocked in Nashville Matinee

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Daily Menu:

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

Nashville: RHP Jeff Weaver at Oklahoma (Rangers), 10:50 AM pre-game; 11:05 gametime

Audio link:
www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

Huntsville: LHP Steve Hammond at Jacksonville (Dodgers), 5:50 PM pre-game; 6:05 gametime

Audio link via WUMP (game will also archive at this link):
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/audio.jsp?sid=t559

Brevard County: RHP Jeremy Jeffress at Lakeland (Tigers), 6:00 PM gametime

Sorry, no audio for this series...

West Virginia: RHP Evan Anundsen 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.

 

Gee, do you think a few folks in the Brewer front office might pony up a few dollars to watch this one online? Jeff Weaver hopes so...

[Mass Haas]

Follow Wednesday'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_11_nasaaa_orhaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_11_hunaax_jaxaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_11_breafa_lakafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_11_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):

 

[Mass Haas]

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa 37 27 .578 - 19-11 18-16 W7 Memphis 32 34 .485 6.0 13-17 19-17 L2 Omaha 30 33 .476 6.5 15-19 15-14 W1 Nashville 27 37 .422 10.0 15-16 12-21 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 39 26 .600 - 22-13 17-13 W1 West Tenn 38 27 .585 1.0 21-9 17-18 L1 Carolina 35 30 .538 4.0 17-13 18-17 L2 Chattanooga 35 30 .538 4.0 20-15 15-15 W4 Tennessee 26 39 .400 13.0 13-22 13-17 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 41 24 .631 - 26-9 15-15 W2 Brevard County 34 31 .523 7.0 21-14 13-17 W3 Jupiter 32 33 .492 9.0 18-12 14-21 W1 Vero Beach 32 33 .492 9.0 20-12 12-21 L2 Daytona 31 34 .477 10.0 15-17 16-17 L1 St. Lucie 18 47 .277 23.0 9-24 9-23 W3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 39 25 .609 - 17-15 22-10 W3 Greensboro 36 29 .554 3.5 16-18 20-11 W3 Delmarva 34 29 .540 4.5 20-11 14-18 L2 Lakewood 35 30 .538 4.5 19-15 16-15 L4 Hagerstown 32 32 .500 7.0 16-19 16-13 W3 West Virginia 28 36 .438 11.0 9-19 19-17 W1 Hickory 28 37 .431 11.5 12-18 16-19 L6 Lexington 20 44 .313 19.0 10-24 10-20 L2 

[brewmann04]

say good bye to Mr Weaver so far today he does not look like any kind of option in Milwaukee.

[trwi7]

So far for Weaver 3 innings, 4 earned runs, 8 hits, 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Let's hope he never sees Milwaukee.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Outfielder Lorenzo Cain

Our first chance over the years to listen to one of Lorenzo's archived interviews...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Oklahoma (Rangers) 8, Nashville 6

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Vinny Rottino photo, text follows --

 

Sounds Suffer Third Straight Loss To RedHawks

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Nashville Sounds dropped their third straight game to the host Oklahoma RedHawks, falling 8-6 on Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

 

Nashville (27-38) fell to 0-7 against the RedHawks this season despite out-hitting them 13-12 in the contest.

 

Catcher Vinny Rottino went 2-for-5 on the day to extend the Sounds' longest hitting streak of the year to 20 games. Outfielder Tony Gwynn turned in a season-best 4-for-5 effort in the loss for Nashville.

 

The Sounds took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Laynce Nix led off the frame with his eighth home run of the year, a solo shot to right off RedHawks starter Matt Harrison. Rottino followed with a single and scored Nashville's second run later in the frame on an Ozzie Chavez RBI groundout.

 

AUDIO: Laynce Nix Solo Homer

 

Oklahoma responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the frame against Jeff Weaver to grab a 3-2 advantage. Nate Gold, Travis Metcalf, and Drew Meyer opened the inning with three consecutive doubles to tie the score before Ryan Roberts delivered a go-ahead, two-out RBI single to put the RedHawks in front.

 

The RedHawks added a run in the third when John Mayberry doubled and scored on a Metcalf RBI single. The inning ended with a strange double play that saw Gold thrown out at the plate while trying to score from second on Metcalf's hit, then Metcalf being thrown out by Rottino at second while attempting to advance an extra base.

 

Nashville pulled within a run at 4-3 in the top of the fifth on outfielder Lorenzo Cain's first career Triple-A hit, a two-out RBI infield single that plated Chavez.

 

For the second time in the game, Oklahoma answered the Sounds' score with a rally of their own in the bottom of the frame. After Nelson Cruz singled and Chris Davis walked, Mayberry brought them both plateward with a two-run double to left off Weaver to push the lead to 6-3.

 

The RedHawks tacked on two more runs against Weaver in the sixth as a pair of inning-opening walks came back to haunt the veteran right-hander. Drew Meyer and Kevin Richardson drew free passes before Jason Ellison slapped an RBI single to right and Roberts delivered a sacrifice fly to make it an 8-3 contest.

 

The Sounds got three runs back in the eighth off Oklahoma reliever Brian Gordon to pull within 8-6. Nix led off with a double and later scored on Adam Heether's RBI single. Chris Woodward followed Heether's knock with one of his own, which loaded the bases with no outs.

 

After Chavez struck out and Warner Madrigal took over on the hill, Callix Crabbe lifted a sacrifice fly into the left field corner to plate Rottino, who scored in unearned fashion after reaching on an error. Gwynn followed with a soft single to center, which brought home Heether and put the potential tying run on the basepaths. Madrigal recovered to fan Cain to escape the inning and leave a pair of ducks on the pond.

 

Harrison (1-0) earned his first career Triple-A victory with a quality start in his second Class AAA outing. He allowed three runs on seven hits in six frames.

 

Madrigal recorded the final five outs to notch his fourth save of the year for Oklahoma.

 

Weaver (2-4), who had turned in quality starts in his previous two outings, took the loss after surrendering eight runs on 11 hits over six innings. He walked four batters and struck out four. His ERA through nine starts with Nashville stands at 6.22.

 

The Sounds will look to avoid being swept by the RedHawks for the second time this season when the teams wrap up the series with a 7:05 p.m. finale on Thursday evening. Right-hander Ben Howard (2-1, 3.53) will make his second start of the year for Nashville and face Oklahoma right-hander Steve Rowe (1-2, 4.60).

 

Nashville Box Score

Way to go, Tony Gwynn, keep building up that trade value; Vinny Rottino 27-for-76 (.355) during his hit streak; somehow Jeff Weaver squeezed a lot out of 94 pitches, except what he squeezed was rancid -- 11 hits, eight runs, four walks -- I did listen in and several of the doubles were just inside the lines, and as Chuck Valenches said, "He didn't pitch as bad as the numbers would indicate", but still, that's not a pretty line...

 

Nashville Game Log

[And That]

Steve Bray has given up 4 ER in 23.1 innings since the end of April. I still want to see him given a shot at some point. I know he doesn't have great stuff, but he just keeps getting it done.

 

Edit: Jeremy Jeffress is dealing again... 3 IP and nothing except 7 swinging K's. He's not perfect because of a runner reaching on a passed ball by catcher Martin Maldonado on one of the K's.

[Mass Haas]

Early observations --

Nine up, nine down for Jeremy Jeffress, seven via the K, all seven swinging. Those Flying Tigers must be muttering to themselves given the Braddock - Jeffress back-to-back combo. (Technically ten batters, as one reached on a passed ball as he struck out.)

First nine Stars set down in order -- the prime time lineup is in place.

I'm all for giving everyone their day, but it says something about the Power roster that utility infielder David Fonseca and his .443 OPS (68 AB's) gets the nod at DH tonight -- and that there aren't obvious oversights as options.

All three games are through three innings -- the only run scored by the Power, up 1-0.

[TheCrew07]

Anundsen and Jeffress just dealing. 10Ks thrugh for 4 for Jeffress, 7Ks through 5 for Anundesn. The young pitchers are starting to come around, the've all thrown well lately with the notable exceptions of Bryson, Tyson, and Seidel. Rivas got lit up a bit the other day but he's been solid all season.

 

A couple of years ago there were maybe 2 intriguing pitching days a week, now it seems like we have a good prospect or 2 pitching everyday, and hitters raking at every level. This is a fun time to be following the minors.

[JJHardy7]

Steve Bray has given up 4 ER in 23.1 innings since the end of April. I still want to see him given a shot at some point. I know he doesn't have great stuff, but he just keeps getting it done.

 

He may not have "great stuff", but there are plenty of major leaguers without great stuff. Bray is long, long, long overdue on a Milwaukee call up. Maybe he doesn't work out, but what else does he have to do? I do feel for Steve because he's done everything asked and more in terms of production. I still am a bit shocked DiFelice finally got called up after his great numbers, but I really hope I have that same shock when Steve is called up. There's no way to find out if he's an MLB pitcher without putting him on a MLB team.

[uwisfan]

10 Ks through 4; impressive

[homer]

Jeffress left the gamee after 4 and a third. Hope it's just a pitch count thing.

[brewjihad]

Too bad Jeffress couldn't finish up a nice performance, he winds up giving up 3 runs in 4 1/3 but strikes out 10.

 

Edit: In response to Homer, it might have had to do with pitch count but he did give up 3 hits in the fifth before getting pulled.

[dadofandrew]

No place for Bray in the Crew bullpen. He'll be about #16 in a couple weeks.

[twobrewers]

Jeffress ended up giving up 6 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. (Two HBP)

 

4 amazing innings for Jeffress. 1 horrible inning.

 

But who cares, at this point - it is all about potential. And this kid just oozes potential.

[homer]

I think his bullpen help let most of those runs in - nonetheless it turned out a little sour for him.

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 7, Kannapolis (White Sox) 0

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER RECORD FIRST SHUTOUT OF THE SEASON

 

The West Virginia Power were the only team in the South Atlantic League without a shutout heading into Wednesday's game against the Kannapolis Intimidators at Appalachian Power Park, where they received great pitching performances from Evan Anundsen and Reed Dickert who combined to toss a seven-hit shutout as the Power defeated the Intimidators 7-0.

 

Eric Farris reached on a fielder's choice in the third inning which scored Eric Fryer to give the Power a 1-0 lead. Caleb Gindl hit a two-run homer off Miguel Socolovich one inning later, his sixth of the season, to give the Power a 3-0 edge. Farris singled in Fryer in the fifth inning and Matt Cline reached on Socolovich's error later in the inning which allowed Lee Haydel to score.

 

Haydel began the seventh inning with a triple and scored on Farris's sacrifice fly, giving him three RBI on the night. The Power added another run in the eighth inning when Fryer drove in Gindl on a double.

 

Anundsen (5-4) induced three double plays while tossing six and a third scoreless innings of seven-hit ball and struck out a season high eight batters to get the victory. In his last two starts he's allowed two runs on 11 hits over 11 and a third with 14 strikeouts. Reed Dickert did not allow a run or a hit over the final two and two-thirds. Socolovich (0-3) gave up five runs on six hits over five innings and was tagged with the loss.

 

The Power improved to 29-36 with the win and the Intimidators fell to 28-38 with the loss. Six Power players hit safely. Haydel paced the Power with three hits and Gindl chipped in with two. Lucroy extended his hitting streak to nine games with a base hit in the fourth inning and Zelous Wheeler singled in the fourth as well to bring his hitting streak to 11 games.

 

The Power will begin a four game series with the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Appalachian Power Park on Thursday night. Left hander Chris Cody (2-0, 1.08) will get the start for the Power and the Grasshoppers will counter with right hander Brett Durand (6-3, 4.57). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score

What a fine start for Evan Anundsen, as noted above -- the groundout ratio for the just-turned 20-year-old grows to 2.54 with a few more K's sprinkled in as of late; Reed Dickert, 24 years old later this month, is one who needs to find his way back to Brevard -- he stranded two of Anundsen's runners when he entered; Caleb Gindl has his OBP up to .354; Lee Haydel hitting .343 over his last eight games; we didn't help David Fonseca's cause with our earlier comment -- he was 0-for-4 with four K's...

 

West Virginia Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Lakeland (Tigers) 7, Brevard County 4

 

Brevard County Box Score

Jeremy Jeffress with a start uncannily remiscent of his start on May 26th, when things just snowballed after a dominant effort -- actually, dominant doesn't do Jeffress' first four innings justice, please be sure to review the game log below; Rafael Lluberes did Jeremy no favors, allowing a bases-loaded triple to the first man he faced; Jeffress hit two batters -- that'll leave a mark; Taylor Green is getting more than a little break in the field with these DH stints lately (four games in a row), somthing must be keeping him from playing defense -- the last time he did, he was pinch-run for in the 9th inning after reaching on a single;

 

Brevard County Game Log

The Manatees had the tying run at the plate with none out in the 9th -- not to be...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 5, Jacksonville (Dodgers) 0

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Stars Stay on Top in Division

Hammond Helps Stars Subdue Suns

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

Steve Hammond tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings and combined on a two-hit shutout with two relievers, as Huntsville blanked Jacksonville 5-0 Wednesday night in the opener of a five-game set at the Baseball Grounds. The Stars improved to 40-26 on the season and maintained their one-game lead over West Tenn in the North Division with four left to play in the first half. Huntsville has won all six games between the teams this season and won for just a second time in 11 tries in Jacksonville since the start of their lone visit during the 2006 season.

 

Suns' starter B.J. LaMura retired the first nine hitters he faced before Michael Brantley and Alcides Escobar opened the fourth with singles. Mat Gamel then followed with a base hit to score Brantley to make it 1-0 Huntsville and advance Escobar to third base. Gamel became the first player in minor league baseball this season to reach 100 hits and he also reached that plateau faster than any other player in Stars' history. Angel Salome delivered a scoring fly ball to plate Escobar to make it 2-0.

 

Escobar reached with one out in the sixth on a throwing error by fellow shortstop Ivan DeJesus, Jr., stole second base and remained there when Gamel walked. Salome advanced the runners a base with a ground ball out before Matt LaPorta doubled to deep left-center field to chase home both runners to make it 4-0. Cole Gillespie then singled into right field to drive in LaPorta to knock in his first run in eight days and complete the three-run rally. LaMura was tagged with the loss after yielding five runs, two earned, on six hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked two in his third start of the season.

 

Hammond gave up a one-out single to DeJesus, Jr. in the third and then walked James Tomlin before striking out Jamie Hoffman and getting Mark Bellhorn to line out to third on a diving catch by Gamel. The southpaw did not allow another hit and did not permit another runner to reach second base before being removed after issuing a walk to Gabriel Gutierrez with two outs in the seventh. Juan Sandoval took over and struck out Matthew Berezay to end the inning and retired the side in order in the eighth. Hammond improved to 7-3 after allowing two hits, walking four and fanning three. He has yielded only one unearned run over 13 1/3 frames in his last two starts.

 

Omar Aguilar opened the ninth on the hill and retired Bellhorn before issuing a walk to Russell Mitchell. The young right-hander got Shane Justis to bounce into a force out at second base before walking Adam Godwin and Gutierrez on eight pitches to load the bases. Aguilar then struck out Berezay to end the game and complete the Stars' fifth shutout of the season.

 

The series continues Thursday night with left-hander Derek Miller taking the hill against Suns' southpaw Cody White, making his second double-A start. 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

Steve Hammond walked four but was otherwise outstanding; not many shutouts occur when you walk seven, as Hammond and Aguilar combined to do...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[LouisEly]

Way to go, Tony Gwynn, keep building up that trade value

 

With Cameron due a $10M option next year (and at this point not deserving of it), if they can't bring back Kapler they could be hurting for CF depth at the ML level. Hart might be able to slide over (and ultimately that might be the plan), but they wouldn't have anyone to back him up. Again, I don't think he's going to be a star, but TGJ's total value including offense, defense, and speed makes him an average major leaguer IMO, and if given regular playing time I think he would perform adequately at the plate. If they go with Braun and LaPorta at the corners, they could be in need of a late-inning defensive replacement in the OF.

 

Kind of odd that Stetter and Narverson split an inning... I could see if it was lefty-righty, but with two leftys splitting an inning I hope that it wasn't necessary because of injury.

 

And That - I posted a similar comment about Bray a couple of days ago. He's done everything asked of him, and I think part of the slow start this year was disappointment that his stellar year last year did not result in a call-up or roster spot this year. His GO/AO is a little concerning, but he has struck out a batter per inning so his stuff can't be that bad. I think that Tavarez will be gone when Riske comes back (I'm not optimistic that he will be back as soon as he is eligible though), and Gagne could use a nice long rehab stint to try to find his mojo. I'm not sure if I'd prefer Gagne or Pena at this point. Heck, I'd prefer Tavarez gone now and give Bray a shot. Or Stetter another shot.

 

After three rough outings in a row, nice to see Hammond put together a second stellar start in a row. Despite those three games, over his last 10 starts he has given up only 49 hits in 62.2 innings with 51 Ks and a 3.02 ERA. He and Narron are legitimate candidates for a #5 starter/long relief role next year.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Stars pitchers steal thunder

By Jeff Elliott,

The Florida Times-Union

 

Hitting is a big reason why Huntsville is on top of the Southern League's North Division. But a dominant pitching performance by Stars left-hander Steve Hammond stole the show in Wednesday's 5-0 victory over the Jacksonville Suns at the Baseball Grounds.

 

Hammond turned in his 11th consecutive outing of at least six innings as he held the Suns scoreless on just two hits over 6 2/3 innings.

 

Hammond's share of the shutout was preserved by Stars relievers Juan Sandoval and Omar Aguilar, who finished the victory with 2 1/3 hitless innings in relief.

 

While former Bishop Kenny standout Mat Gamel and ex-Florida All-American Matt LaPorta drew the most attention from family members and friends among a slim turnout of 1,910, Hammond drew the most raves.

 

He allowed a first-inning double to Jamie Hoffmann and a third-inning single to Ivan DeJesus Jr., but little else.

 

"I had good fastball command and I had a pretty good working changeup," said Hammond, a 26-year-old lefty who's in his second season at the Double-A level. "I got a lot of early-count outs tonight and that helped."

 

It was the second strong outing for Hammond against the Suns this season. He went six innings on April 24 and allowed just five hits and one run, but didn't gain the win in the Stars' eventual 11-3 win.

 

"It's nice because when we come out and score first; that's always a good thing for a pitcher," he said. "That enables you to relax a little bit. It's something we've been pretty consistent at all year."

 

The win kept the Stars, hitting .303 as a team, one game ahead of West Tenn with four games remaining in the North Division's first-half pennant chase.

 

Birmingham, which has already clinched the South Division first-half title, ended third-place Carolina's slim hopes of catching Huntsville with a 7-2 win over the Mudcats.