Link Report for Wed. 6/18 - LaPorta Leaves Game After Wall Collision

[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 Steve Bray at home vs. Oklahoma (Rangers), 11:45 AM pre-game; 12:00 PM gametime

Audio link:
www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

Huntsville: LHP Derek Miller 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: First, it's the completion of Tuesday's suspended game with Vero Beach up 3-0 after two innings, then RHP Jeremy Jeffress takes the mound in Game Two at Vero Beach (Devil Rays), 11:00 AM gametime start to the day

Audio link, Vero Beach's broadcast (games will also archive at this link):
web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

West Virginia: Idle

Helena: 2008 supplemetal first round LHP Evan Frederickson at home vs. Great Falls (White Sox), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime

Audio link via KCAP (game will also archive at this link):
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/multimedia/audio.jsp

Arizona: Season begins Monday, June 23rd

[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_18_orhaaa_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_18_wtdaax_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County Completion of Suspended Game:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_17_breafa_vbdafa_1

 

Brevard County Regularly Scheduled Game:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_18_breafa_vbdafa_1

 

Helena:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_18_grfrok_helrok_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 41 31 .569 - 23-13 18-18 L1 Memphis 36 36 .500 5.0 15-17 21-19 W1 Omaha 33 37 .471 7.0 15-19 18-18 L4 Nashville 28 44 .389 13.0 15-17 13-27 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 1 0 1.000 - 0-0 1-0 W1 Tennessee 1 0 1.000 - 1-0 0-0 W1 West Tenn 1 0 1.000 - 0-0 1-0 W1 Chattanooga 0 1 .000 1.0 0-1 0-0 L1 Huntsville 0 1 .000 1.0 0-1 0-0 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 42 27 .609 - 26-11 16-16 W1 Brevard County 34 33 .507 7.0 21-14 13-19 L2 Daytona 34 35 .493 8.0 16-18 18-17 L1 Vero Beach 33 34 .493 8.0 21-12 12-22 W1 Jupiter 33 36 .478 9.0 19-13 14-23 L1 St. Lucie 19 50 .275 23.0 9-26 10-24 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 41 29 .586 - 19-19 22-10 L1 Delmarva 38 31 .551 2.5 22-13 16-18 L1 Greensboro 38 32 .543 3.0 17-18 21-14 L3 Lakewood 38 32 .543 3.0 19-15 19-17 W1 Hagerstown 34 35 .493 6.5 16-20 18-15 W1 West Virginia 32 37 .464 8.5 13-20 19-17 W3 Hickory 30 40 .429 11.0 14-21 16-19 L1 Lexington 21 48 .304 19.5 10-24 11-24 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billings 1 0 1.000 - 0-0 1-0 W1 Great Falls 1 0 1.000 - 0-0 1-0 W1 Helena 0 1 .000 1.0 0-1 0-0 L1 Missoula 0 1 .000 1.0 0-1 0-0 L1 

[Mass Haas]

Final, completion of Tuesday's suspended game: Vero Beach (Rays) 3, Brevard County 1

 

Lots to mention here. MiLB.com's box score was incorrect yesterday. Rehabbing LHP Randy Choate threw one scoreless inning to start. It was LHP Chris Cody who surrendered the three-run home run after walking two in the second inning. Since Cody wasn't going to pitch again today, LHP Bobby Bramhall came in and tossed six scoreless two-hit innings, walking none -- wow. Unfortunately, the somewhat punchless Manatee offense couldn't come back to give Bramhall a deserved win. Cody taks the loss.

 

Brevard County Box Score

Charlie Fermaint 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, his 17th in 21 attempts -- he's been in the cleanup spot lately; game was played through nine innings based on the suspension, unlike "usual" doubleheaders, expect Game Two to go seven innings, I believe...

 

Brevard County Game Log

The last 11 Manatees went down in order...

[Mass Haas]

In progress: Oklahoma (Rangers) 9, Nashville 8, bottom of the 3rd in Nashville

And amazingly, both starters are still in the game with this score; Steve Bray with a disastrous spot start, as he's been touched for four home runs, none of them solo shots; overcoming a 4-0 deficit in the 2nd inning, the Sounds had seven base hits in the frame to take a 5-4 lead -- so with a chance for redemption, Bray immediately coughed up the lead allowing five runs himself; Laynce Nix's three-run home run in the 3rd cut the 9-5 lead to the current 9-8 score as the Sounds still bat in the 3rd -- with the Redhawks' Elizardo Ramirez finally knocked from the game just now; wind is only one MPH, so Bray can't blame that...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Oklahoma (Rangers) 13, Nashville 9

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Laynce Nix photo, text follows --

 

RedHawks 'Cruz' Past Sounds, 13-9

NASHVILLE - Nine runs off 14 hits was not enough to give the Nashville Sounds a victory as they gave up six home runs to the Oklahoma RedHawks and lost 13-9 on Wednesday afternoon at Greer Stadium.

 

Every Sounds starter notched at least one hit and the team recorded a season-high six doubles, but they also tied a season-high by giving up six home runs to the RedHawks. Chris Davis belted two home runs and had four RBIs to pace the Oklahoma offensive attack.

 

Steve Bray's first start of the season for the Sounds did not go as well as he had hoped. He gave up nine earned runs over three innings while surrendering four home runs to the RedHawks. It was the first spot start of the season for the reliever, who came into the game with a 1.71 ERA (5 ER / 26.1 IP) in his last 16 appearances.

 

Oklahoma got to Bray early when Davis launched his first two-run home run of the day well beyond the right field wall to plate the first runs of the game in the first inning. The longball was Davis's eighth of the year and came after a two-out double from former Sound Nelson Cruz, who paced the Oklahoma offense with a 4-for-5 afternoon. Another two-run homer in the top of the second inning doubled the RedHawks lead to four after Taylor Teagarden knocked his fifth dinger over the left field wall.

 

Nashville responded with a five-run rally in the bottom of the second inning with the help of seven hits off Elizardo Ramirez. Brendan Katin, J.R. Hopf, and Adam Heether all had RBI hits to give the Sounds their largest scoring output since June 12 in just one inning at the plate.

 

The home run parade kept rolling for the RedHawks in the top of the third after Davis crushed his second jack of the day and ninth on the year to bring Cruz in to score and give the lead back to Oklahoma. After a Teagarden walk and a Nate Gold single, Drew Meyer added his second home run of the year and the fourth in the first three innings for the RedHawks to help extend their lead.

 

Not to be outdone, Laynce Nix belted a three-run homer to right-center field in the bottom of the third inning to score Brad Nelson and Vinny Rottino for the Sounds. The homer was Nix's ninth on the year.

 

AUDIO: Laynce Nix Three-Run HR

 

Nashville then evened up the score at nine in the bottom of the fourth when Rottino knocked his second double of the day to score Callix Crabbe from second. The run came off Oklahoma reliever Yukinaga Maeda after he took over for Ramirez, who gave up eight earned runs off 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings but did not factor in the decision.

 

Oklahoma went up for good though in the top of the sixth inning when Cruz added two more to his team-leading RBI (57) total for the RedHawks with a two-run single off Nashville reliever Chris Narveson (2-8). Narveson was tagged with the loss after giving up two earned runs off three hits in four innings of work.

 

The RedHawks tacked on two more runs off their fifth and sixth home runs of the day when Nate Gold and Cruz knocked solo shots off Sounds reliever Jason Shiell in the eighth and ninth innings respectively.

 

Maeda (2-3) earned the win for Oklahoma after giving up one run in 2 2/3 innings pitched. Kea Kometani, Bill White, and Wes Littleton combined to throw three innings of scoreless relief to close out the game for the RedHawks.

 

The teams will continue the series on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at Greer Stadium. Right-hander Derrick Turnbow (1-1, 10.32) will take the mound for the Sounds and face off against RedHawks righty Kameron Loe (2-4, 5.71).

 

Nashville Box Score

Yeah, nobody better than Derrick Turnbow Thursday to inspire confidence in a miserably slumping club; how Steve Bray did not get tagged with the loss is amazing but numerically correct in baseball terms; Chris Woodward's playing well; you never hear pitchers say one way or the other that they like throwing to Vinny Rottino, not that you would hear them implicitly say they don't -- that being said, the Sounds' staff has been brutal...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final, regularly scheduled game: Brevard County 5, Vero Beach (Rays) 4

Brevard County Box Score

Rehabbing Rocco Baldelli took both Jeremy Jeffress and Casey Baron deep, but the 'Tees prevail; solo home runs for Lorenzo Cain and Taylor Green, but it was the bottom of the order that carried the day; Baldelli's home run was the only run Jeffress allowed in his four innings (2 H, 3 BB, 2 K's) -- we're not used to seeing subdued strikeout numbers from Jeremy, so it's hard to say if he was taking a different approach today or whether Devil Rays' batters (and yes it's still "Devil" Rays on this squad) simply managed to make weak contact (six ground outs, three fly outs vs. Jeffress)...

 

Brevard County Game Log

When Martin Maldonado allowed a man to reach second base on a passed ball in the 2nd inning, he immediately atoned for the mistake by picking the man off; speaking of Martin, he had two big doubles in run-scoring innings; E.J. Shanks came in on the 6th in this seven-inning game and didn't allowed singles to all three batters he faced; Mike McClendon cleaned up wonderfully for the save...

[battlekow]

"Huntsville Stars right fielder Matt LaPorta left the game due to an injured neck/shoulder."

 

Anyone listening to the radio broadcast know what happened?

[NastyTwig]

Apparently Frederickson has an absolutely sick breaking ball. Of his 7 K's on the night, 6 of them were caught looking at the bender.

He also walked two, gave up two infield hits, and a run in four innings.

[PlayerHader]

Both of his walks and one of the hits came in the 3rd inning. Man, if this guy can consistently throw strikes...

[DHonks]

Nice to see all of the Helena starters have a hit in the first two games. It's gotta be tough getting the first hit of the season/career after going 0-fer several games.

 

Frederickson is basically our left-handed, college version of Neugy. Seems like the only guy that'll be able to beat him is himself.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Archived Audio -- Go the WUMP link for June 18th

With two outs and runners on 1st and 2nd in the first inning with a run in, Matt LaPorta makes the catch in right field while hitting the wall.

 

Go the 7:45 minute mark, LaPorta went to the field remained down on the ground as the broadcast went to break; upon returning from the break at the 10:15 minute mark, LaPorta was walking off the field under his own power holding his lower back and side.

[Mass Haas]

As of 10:45 Central if you wish to tune in --

 

Bottom of the 9th in Helena, tied at 5-5

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 7, West Tenn (Mariners) 5

Salome Sends Stars Past Jaxx

 

Huntsville Press Release:

 

Stars Bounce Back to Down Jaxx

OFFENSE BACK ON TRACK WITH 13 HITS IN WIN

 

Angel Salome collected three hits, scored three times and knocked in a pair to lead Huntsville to a 7-5 come-from-behind win over West Tenn Wednesday night in the second of a six-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars squared their second half mark at 1-1 and improved to 42-30 overall, while the Diamond Jaxx dipped to 1-1 and 42-30 overall. The Stars have won five of the 12 games between the teams this season.

 

Mike Wilson's run-scoring double in the first inning staked the visitors to the early lead, as he knocked in a run in the first frame for a second straight night. Jon Nelson's first home run of the season off Derek Miller gave the visitors a 2-0 in the third. It was the first long ball allowed by Miller since May 6 at home against Mobile.

 

The Stars got the game tied in the home fourth when Salome led off with a single and moved to second when Freddy Parejo drew a walk, just his third of the year in 147 at-bats. Cole Gillespie struck out and the runners pulled off a double steal as Chris Errecart fanned for the second out. Mike Bell then delivered a single to right to plate both runners and end a 20 at-bat hitless drought.

 

Nelson's two-run home run in the fifth put the Diamond Jaxx back on top but the lead did not last very long. Alcides Escobar started the home half of the frame with a hit, moved to third on a Mat Gamel base hit and scored on a Salome single to make it 4-3 and knock starter Doug Fister out of the game. Brodie Downs took over and Parejo dropped down a sacrifice bunt try that was fielded by third baseman Matt Mangini, who was run into by Downs as he was throwing to first base. The throw sailed past Johan Limonta into right field, allowing Gamel to score to tie the game, Salome to move to third and Parejo to second. Gillespie then knocked in Salome with a groundout to give the Stars the lead. Fister was charged with all five runs, four earned, on eight hits, and suffered the loss to fall to 5-6. He is winless since May 21 and 1-2 in three starts against the Stars.

 

Miller went six innings for a fourth time this season and improved to 6-2 with the win. He allowed four runs on eight hits, walked four and fanned three. Salome and Gillespie doubled in runs in the seventh to push the lead to 7-4 before a Luis Valbuena long ball in the eighth cut the lead to 7-5. Omar Aguilar opened on the hill for the Stars in the ninth and hit leadoff man Jeffrey Dominguez and gave up an infield hit to Nelson before striking out Wilson, getting Limonta to bounce into a force at second and fanning Greg Halman to end the game. Aguilar earned his third save with Huntsville.

 

The series continues Thursday night with Hunsville left-hander David Welch taking the hill against West Tenn southpaw Justin Thomas. 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

Alcides Escobar three hits, including a double; Freddy Parejo reached all three times up after entering the game for Matt LaPorta (see prior post); Michael Garciaparra got his first start, at third base, as Mat Gamel was the DH; Cole Gillespie is third in the Southern League in doubles with 21, two behind Mat Gamel and the Marlins' Gaby Sanchez; Derek Miller with the win, but allowed 12 baserunners in his six innings as his ERA stands at 4.86...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Great Falls (White Sox) 7, Helena 5, 11 innings

We'll let the Helena press crew provide most of the details in the AM...

 

Helena Box Score

Chris Dennis and Edgar Trejo with home runs; converted catcher Nestor Corredor made his pro mound debut; H-Crew led 4-1 after three innings...

 

Helena Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Focus is on future

Win allows Stars to begin getting over the first half

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

With every at-bat Wednesday night, Huntsville Stars catcher Angel Salome put his team's first-half collapse further and further behind him.

 

By the end of the game, he proved it was already way back in the rearview.

 

It appeared that way for the rest of the Stars, too. Salome went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored as Huntsville beat the Diamond Jaxx 7-5 in front of 1,588 fans at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

"That's over," Salome said of the first half. "We just didn't win it. Tonight, we didn't go up there with that pressure like we've got to be Superman every at-bat.

 

"We're probably going to clinch the second half, but we're not thinking about the second half. We're thinking game to game."

 

The damage was done without one of Huntsville's top run producers as well. Right fielder Matt LaPorta made a running catch going to his left to end the first inning, slamming hard into the wall.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers' top prospect stayed on the ground, writhing in pain for more than five minutes as trainer Dave Yeager and manager Don Money rushed out to the warning track to check on him. LaPorta walked in under his own power but left the game with what Money said was a "bruised back" that would make him day-to-day.

 

When asked if he was going to have it examined further, a sore LaPorta said: "Don't know yet. We'll see after tonight and tomorrow how I feel."

 

Though Stars starting pitcher Derek Miller (6-2) gave up two long home runs, he was the beneficiary of a pair of comebacks to take the win. He went six innings, giving up eight hits and four runs.

 

Relievers Patrick Ryan, Robert Hinton and Omar Aguilar closed out the game with three solid innings (one earned run) to get the second half started right, too. Aguilar put on the first two runners in the ninth before getting three outs, including two strikeouts, for his third save.

 

"He got out of it," Money said. "That's the way we win games. It doesn't matter. Just stay around long enough, and we'll make it interesting."

 

Huntsville (1-1) trailed 2-0 early but tied it up in the bottom of the fourth when Michael Bell ripped a two-out, two-run single off Doug Fister.

 

Miller gave it right back, though, allowing a long two-run homer to Jon Nelson in the top of the fifth to make it 4-2 Jaxx. For Nelson - who'd shown considerable pop during his long minor league career - it was his second homer of the night and his first two home runs in 143 at-bats.

 

"The first one was a good change-up, and the second one was a 3-2 pitch when I didn't want to give in to him," Miller said. "That's one I'd like to have back."

 

After that, the Stars put their recent clutch-hitting woes in the past, at least for a night. Starting the bottom of the fifth, Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel and Salome ripped consecutive singles to pull within one.

 

Fister was taken out after that, and Freddy Parejo reached on a bunt single that West Tenn third baseman Matt Mangini threw errantly to first on after the pitcher ran into him, giving Huntsville a 5-4 advantage.

 

Salome continued his torrid night with an opposite-field RBI double to drive in Gamel, who led off the inning with a walk. Then, Cole Gillespie added another RBI double to make it 7-4.

[Mass Haas]

Another Nashville photo gallery from the Tennessean

The photos are good, even if the brand of baseball isn't...

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Another loss keeps Sounds firmly in PCL basement

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Avoiding another shutout was about all the Sounds accomplished Wednesday, as they lost 13-9 to Oklahoma at Greer Stadium.

 

The defeat, following Tuesday's 6-0 loss, was the 10th in as many games this season against the RedHawks, and the 11th in Nashville's past 12 games.

 

Nashville, which has spent every day this season at the bottom of the Pacific Coast League American Northern Division standings, fell 17 games under .500 (28-45) with the loss. The Sounds were within seven games of the break-even mark following their June 7 win against Albuquerque.

 

"It's been tough mentally because we've played so many games in a short period of time," Sounds pitcher Chris Narveson (2-8) said. "It's tough to stay sharp, inning in and inning out."

 

Narveson relieved starter Steve Bray, who allowed nine runs - on four home runs - in three innings. Narveson avoided giving up a home run in his four innings, but Nelson Cruz's soft grounder through the right side of the infield drove in two runs and snapped a 9-9 tie.

 

The Sounds had overcome two early Oklahoma homers to take a 5-4 second-inning lead on Brendan Katin's two-run double. Laynce Nix's three-run homer in the third and Vinny Rottino's RBI double in the fourth helped to overcome a 9-5 deficit.

 

"We finally got the hits that start rallies, got those hits to fall," said Sounds designated hitter Brad Nelson, who scored twice. "But everything we did, they counter-acted."

 

The Sounds had a season-high six doubles.

 

What they said: "It was one of those days the wind was blowing out, and there were a lot of home runs; unfortunately, they had most of them." - Nelson.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Doubleheaders exhaust Sounds pitchers

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Back-to-back doubleheaders continued to take their toll on the Sounds pitching staff Wednesday, as Steve Bray became the team's seventh different starter in as many games.

 

Richie Gardner started Saturday's game at Iowa, followed by Sam Narron and Derrick Turnbow in Sunday's twinbill. Lindsay Gulin started Monday's opening game, with reliever Zach Jackson pressed into duty for the second game.

 

David Riske, on a rehab assignment from Milwaukee, started Tuesday's series opener against visiting Oklahoma, with Bray coming out of the bullpen for Wednesday's start.

 

Turnbow is slated to be the first repeat starter in nearly a week, as he gets the nod for today's game against the RedHawks.

 

Bray, who made three starts last season for the Sounds, allowed nine earned runs - matching the most by a Nashville starter this season - in three innings. All nine of the runs scored on four Oklahoma home runs, and five of the runs were scored with two outs.

 

"They didn't miss a mistake," Nashville Manager Frank Kremblas said. "And they didn't hit them for singles."

 

The list of starters will likely get longer on Sunday when Steve Hammond is expected to make his first Sounds start. Hammond should be added to the Nashville roster prior to today's game, filling the spot vacated when outfielder Lorenzo Cain was reassigned to Single-A Brevard County.

 

Rehab cut short: Riske, who was originally expected to make a second one-inning start today as he continues to come back from a shoulder injury, was impressive enough in his Tuesday outing to skip today's start. He struck out all three batters he faced on a total of 12 pitches.

 

Last-minute move: Tony Gwynn, originally set to start in center field and bat second for the Sounds on Wednesday, was a late scratch from the lineup. Gwynn was bothered by a stiff left wrist hurt in a slide during Tuesday's game.

 

He was replaced by right fielder Brendan Katin, with Laynce Nix shifting to center. Katin batted in the No. 7 spot, with shortstop Chris Woodward moving up to second.

 

Doubling up: With home runs in his first two at-bats Wednesday, Oklahoma first baseman Chris Davis became the fifth player to post multi-homer games against the Sounds this season.

 

New Orleans' Fernando Tatis hit a pair of homers during an April 4 game, and former Middle Tennessee State standout Brett Carroll did the same for Albuquerque on April 19. Salt Lake's Kendry Morales hit two on May 5, and Dallas McPherson also hit two for Albuquerque on May 30.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Brewers lose in extra innings

By TOM STUBER - Helena Independent Record

 

The Helena Brewers took their foot off the gas and by the time they got it back on it was too late.

 

Great Falls came back for a 7-5 win in 11 innings in front of 1,143 fans at Kindrick Legion Field to keep the Brewers (0-2) winless.

 

The game was the professional debut for Brewers' first-round draft pick Evan Frederickson, who mirrored his team's effort with a hot start before slowing down.

 

Frederickson had an impressive string of four straight called strikeouts, including the side in the second. The big southpaw would walk the first two batters of the third before allowing a run, then gave up a leadoff single in his fourth, and last, inning of work.

 

Johny Celis drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th with a double one out after Eduardo Escobar led off with a double. Nick Mahin gave the Voyagers (2-0) an insurance run with a single before Ronnie Morales retired Helena in order in the bottom of the inning.

 

Helena built 3-0 and 4-1 leads before the Voyagers rebounded.

 

Edgar Trejo capped off a three-run second with a two-run homer to left. After the Voyagers scored a run in the third, Helena's Chris Dennis counter-measured it with a solo blast. Both Helena homers were halfway up the safety screen above the outfield wall.

 

Great Falls eventually found itself up 5-4 in the eighth as Helena was unable to score despite getting runners on base from the fourth through the seventh innings. Cutter Dykstra was nailed trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth with one out only to see Mike Vass follow with a single.

 

The Brewers had the leadoff batter on in the sixth and had runners on first and third in the seventh to no avail. They loaded the bases in the eighth and No. 9 hitter Michael Marseco walked to drive in the tying run.

 

After a scoreless ninth and 10th, the Voyagers rallied in the 11th.

 

Morales pitched 3 1/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief. He struck out five and walked none in his stint.

 

Trejo had two hits and two RBI to pace the Brewers, while Escobar had two hits, two runs and two RBI for the Voyagers.

 

Helena will likely turn to righty Michael Bowman to snap into the win column tonight when the two teams play for the final time of the three-game stand. Great Falls is expected to put Nevin Griffith on the mound.

 

Helena will host Missoula for three games beginning on Friday night.

 

Lisa Kunkel Helena IR Staff Photographer - Evan Frederickson winds up for the pitch during the Helena Brewers' Pioneer League baseball game with the Great Falls Voyagers Wednesday night at Kindrick Legion Field. Frederickson is one the Milwaukee organization's first-round draft picks. He struck out seven batters over four innings.

 

http://www.helenair.com/content/articles/2008/06/19/sports/top/50spl_080619_brewers.jpg

 

Lisa Kunkel Helena IR Staff Photographer - Helena Brewers' John Delaney makes the out at second and attempts the double play as Great Falls' Nick Mahin slides during Wednesday night's game at Kindrick Legion Field.

http://images.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/articles/2008/06/19/sports/top/50spl_080619_brewers-2.jpg

[Mass Haas]

You'll notice in the upper right corner of this link a video section that includes Opening Night Helena game action.

[colbyjack]

I apologize if this was posted elsewhere, but BA has an account from last night's Sally league all-star game that includes an at-bat between Jonathan Lucroy and LHP Madison Bumgarner, one of the Giants top prospects and a first-round pick a year ago:

 

Chacin was followed on the mound in the bottom of the second by Augusta lefthander Madison Bumgarner (Giants), a North Carolina native who said he had a strong contingent of family and friends in the stands in attendance. Bumgarner, who went 6-2, 1.96 in the first half, threw 22 pitches in his inning, and all but one of them were fastballs. Even against the best the league had to offer, it was clear that Bumgarner can be successful in low Class A with just his fastball, which sat at 93-94, allowing him to simply overpower most hitters at this level.

 

Bumgarner began his inning by blowing away Lakewood's Michael Durant (Phillies) on three pitches, but things got much tougher against West Virginia's Jonathan Lucroy (Brewers), a mature right-handed hitter who's been extremely tough on lefties all season, having struck out only five times in 62 at-bats against southpaws. Lucroy fought Bumgarner over a 10-pitch at-bat that saw him get ahead in the count 2-0 and then 3-1 before having to foul off one Bumgarner fastball after another. Lucroy fouled off five consecutive fastballs in all before he finally squared one up and lined it up the middle, but Bumgarner snared it at about waist-level for the second out of the inning.