Link Report for Games of Saturday, August 2nd

[colbyjack]

Nashville and Sacramento are currently tied 3-3 in the 10th. Scanning the River Cats roster, it seems as though you could replace the entire AAA lineup with the A's big-league lineup and not miss a beat given the number of familiar names. As a personal observation/opinion, that's a great sign of organizational depth, but not good for a team that has desparately lacked impact talent ever since Jason Giambi left town as a free agent.

[Mass Haas]

Link for Zelous Wheeler photo

Wheeler homer lifts Power

By Tommy R. Atkinson

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Power second baseman Zelous Wheeler only had one hit Saturday night, but boy was it a doozey.

 

Wheeler belted a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to cap a nine-run uprising that propelled the Power past the Delmarva (Md.) Shorebirds 12-8 in a wild South Atlantic League matchup. A paid crowd of 4,196 attended at Appalachian Power Park.

 

It was the kind of win the Power sorely needed after enduring a tiring road trip over the past eight days. West Virginia holds a two-game lead over the Lakewood (N.J.) BlueClaws in the Northern Division second-half standings, with the winner earning a playoff berth.

 

West Virginia (29-13) lost to Lake County 6-5 in 13 innings Monday night in a game that required four hours, 11 minutes to complete. After the loss to the Captains, the Power boarded the team bus in the Cleveland suburb of Eastlake, Ohio, and headed for Lakewood, a trip that normally takes eight hours.

 

The Power's bus broke down at 3 a.m. somewhere in Pennsylvania. The faulty engine forced a three-hour delay, forcing the players to either try to get some sleep on the bus or stretch their legs along the highway. The team finally arrived at the hotel at noon Tuesday, which left little time for sleep with a 7:05 p.m. game looming. In addition, the Power faced an 11 a.m. game Wednesday against the BlueClaws.

 

"It sort of looked like we were still on the bus the first six innings,'' said first-year Power manager Jeff Isom of falling behind 8-0 Saturday after the first 3 1/2 innings.

 

"It's big especially the way we won. Once that game was over it was a pretty good feeling. That's a big win for us. We're trying to stay right there at the top of the standings.''

 

Wheeler said it was nice to finally hear the hometown fans.

 

"The crowd was into the game,'' he said. "We got off to a rough start. All we could do was battle [with] good [at-bats].''

 

West Virginia scratched out a run in the bottom of the fourth, but was held in check by Delmarva left-hander Zach Britton, who surrendered just two hits in six innings.

 

The Power's first two hitters reached in the seventh and Uly Snijders laced a run-scoring double down the left-field line. Matt Cline followed with an RBI groundout and Lee Haydel added a run-scoring single as the Power sliced its deficit in half to 8-4.

 

After Eric Farris popped out to shortstop, the Power plated five straight runs with two outs in taking the lead for good at 10-8. Logan Schafer shot a single into left field and Eric Fryer coaxed a walk to load the bases.

 

Haydel and Schafer came home on a throwing error to trim the deficit to 8-6. Gindl had an RBI single, his second hit of the inning, as West Virginia closed to 8-7. Wheeler worked a 2-1 count and deposited the fourth pitch he saw just left of the scoreboard to complete the comeback.

 

"I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,'' said Wheeler. "[The Delmarva pitchers] were leaving the ball up a little bit. I was looking for a pitch I could handle and got a good hit on it.''

 

The Power bullpen held the Shorebirds scoreless through the final five innings. Rob Wooten (1-0) picked up his first win of the season with a scoreless inning in the top of the seventh.

 

Delmarva manager Ramon Sambo was ejected in the bottom of the eighth by home plate umpire Mike Goebel after the Power scored two more runs to go ahead 12-8. Sambo was arguing whether there was interference down the right-field line on Haydel's run-scoring triple.

 

After Sambo was thrown out, he continued to follow Goebel up and down the first base line and field umpire Andy McPherson had to separate the two. On Sambo's way to the locker room, he said something in passing to Goebel.

 

The Power will play host to the Shorebirds at 6:05 PM today (5:05 Central) in the second game of the four-game series.

[Mass Haas]

Stars snap eight-game skid with 5-2 victory

Bill Bryant, Huntsville Times

 

Mike Jones greeted his teammates at the clubhouse door late Saturday night with plenty of fist bumps and hearty handshakes.

 

The Huntsville pitcher had good reason to be happy. Earlier, he had pitched five innings of two-hit ball in the Stars' 5-2 win over the Mississippi Braves in front of an announced crowd of 3,745 at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

It was his first win since April 2007 and helped snap Huntsville's eight-game losing streak.

 

"It's been a while since my last win," said Jones, who has struggled with injuries throughout his career and remains on a fairly tight pitch count (65-75 pitches). But it's more important to pitch well because we've been struggling."

 

First baseman Chris Errecart provided the offensive boost for the recently hit-deprived Stars (19-23), delivering a three-run homer off Mississippi starter Todd Redmond in a four-run first inning. "That put the team in good spirits right away," Jones said. "It was my job after that to bear down."

 

Huntsville left fielder Cole Gillespie went 2-for-4.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Mustangs top Brewers 7-2

By JASON SCOTT - Helena Independent Record

The Helena Brewers escaped the rain, but couldn't get away from the hot bats of the Billings Mustangs Saturday night.

 

Despite pounding out 11 hits, the Brewers fell to Billings 7-2. Helena was unable to capitalize on its opportunities, letting two big rallies slip away.

 

The Mustangs collected 13 hits, six of them for extra bases, and got good pitching throughout the game. Reliever Mace Thurman pitched three strong innings, allowing two hits while striking out six.

 

Mike Konstanty doubled twice for the Mustangs and drove in two. Tony Brown tripled and added two RBI of his own.

 

Both teams committed two errors, though Billings was able to make the most of the Brewers' mistakes.

 

The Mustangs scored twice each in the second and third innings and then had their biggest frame in the fifth. Billings roped four extra-base hits to start the inning, eventually scoring three.

 

Helena, meanwhile, couldn't put hits together when it counted.

 

The Brewers scored one in the second to cut the Billings lead in half and again in the fifth, but the Mustangs coasted for the next four innings.

 

Erik Komatsu hit his seventh home run of the year, a solo shot that led off the fifth inning.

 

"There were situations where we didn't capitalize," said Helena coach Rene Gonzales. "We also had a couple guys beat us when we didn't want that to happen. We've done that quite a lot lately."

 

Helena starter Brandon Ritchie took the loss, but Gonzales said he wasn't worried.

 

"Richie was okay; he had to battle," he said. "He was pitching from behind. Things don't go well when you do that."

 

Gonzales said he planned to work with the Helena offense starting today. "We need to work on changing our approach at the plate and get better at-bats," he said.

 

Billings' Junior Martinez and Mike Bohana came on in the eighth and ninth, respectively, to hold the Helena offense at bay.

 

Helena stranded 12 batters in the loss.

 

The Brewers face the Mustangs again today at 4:05 PM (5:05 Central) in the second game of a four-game series. After that, they travel to Utah to face Orem and Ogden, two of the better teams in the Pioneer League South.

 

"We haven't faced them," said Gonzales. "I think Orem is the better team in that division."

[Mass Haas]

Final: Sacramento (A's) 4, Nashville 3, 13 innings

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Joe Dillon photo, text follows --

 

Sounds Drop Series Finale in Extra Innings

 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A run-scoring, ground-rule double in the bottom of the 13th inning from Casey Rogowski handed the Nashville Sounds a 4-3 loss and a series split with the Sacramento River Cats on Saturday night at Raley Field.

 

Nashville struggled to capitalize on several opportunities, leaving 13 runners on base and going 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The Sounds scored only three runs despite out-hitting Sacramento 13-6 with every Nashville starter recording at least one hit. Sounds pitchers combined to throw a season-high 18 strikeouts, but the team's record dropped to 3-8 in extra-inning games.

 

The Sounds plated their first run in the top of the fourth inning off a pair of doubles from Laynce Nix and Chris Woodward. Nix knocked his ninth extra-base hit in the last 11 games before Woodward notched a two-out hit off Sacramento starter Jake Knox.

 

After no-hitting the River Cats through five innings, things unraveled quickly for Sounds starter Lindsay Gulin in the bottom of the sixth. He lost his no-hit bid when Cliff Pennington hit a single up the middle and lost his shutout immediately after when Eric Patterson and Chris Denorfia followed with back-to-back doubles, with Denorfia's two-bagger scoring two runs to give Sacramento the lead. Denorfia later scored when Landon Powell grounded into a potential double-play ball to second base, but Woodward overthrew Brad Nelson at first base to keep the inning alive.

 

Sounds reliever Joe Bateman came in to close out the sixth inning after Gulin pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up three earned runs off four hits and two walks while striking out eight batters. He allowed five consecutive baserunners in the sixth inning after only allowing one in the previous five.

 

Joe Dillon celebrated his 33rd birthday by belting his second home run of the year for the Sounds in the top of the eighth inning off reliever Keith Foulke, who was making a rehab appearance for Sacramento. Nelson followed with a double to center field and then scored on a single from Adam Heether to tie the game at three.

 

The 3-3 tie was finally broken in the bottom of the 13th inning after Mitch Stetter relieved Luis Pena (2-3) with two outs and a man on second and gave up the game-winning run on Rogowski's double.

 

Sacramento reliever Brad Kilby (5-2) earned the win after pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief while striking out three batters. Knox threw seven innings of one-run ball as the starter for the River Cats but lost out on a win when Foulke gave up the lead in the eighth inning. Foulke gave up two earned runs off three hits in his lone inning of work.

 

Nashville had its best chance to score in extra innings when Nelson crushed a long, fly ball to deep left field in the top of the 11th inning with the bases loaded, but Matt Murton caught the ball at the outfield fence to keep the game tied.

 

Bateman, Randy Choate, and Tim Dillard combined to throw 5 1/3 innings of scoreless ball while adding eight strikeouts to a season-high 18 strikeouts on the night for the Sounds.

 

The Sounds continue their West Coast road-trip with a four-game series against the Fresno Grizzlies starting on Sunday night at 8:05 p.m. CT. Right-hander Richie Gardner (6-5, 5.24) will start for Nashville against righty and former Brewer Victor Santos (5-5, 5.31) for Fresno.

 

Nashville Box Score

Luis Pena's numbers in non-save situations are just scary-bad; Tim Dillard continues to be the man out of the Sounds' pen; Brad Nelson with two doubles, perhaps less than 30 days from his first big-league action if he's rearded with a Septmber call-up...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Notes from the Sacramento Bee:

 

If not for left fielder Matt Murton's fine defensive play, Rogowski might not have had his chance at late-inning heroics. Murton brought back a would-be Brad Nelson grand slam in the top of the 11th with a spectacular grab to end the inning. "Great play," Sacramento manager Todd Steverson said. "The way the game was going, that could have been a wrap."

 

Sounds starter Lindsay Gulin finished with eight strikeouts despite never reaching higher than 84 mph on the stadium radar gun.

 

Sacramento struck out 18 times, tying a franchise record.

 

***

 

So the Sounds and the Arizona Brewers combined to strike out 37 batters, but each lost.

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser made a mid-day Sunday update on his site, including this breakdown, click on the link for the full report on Saturday's action:

The eight-game losing streak is the longest since June 5-13, 2006....... The Stars scored three runs or less in seven games of the streak, losing by a run in five of those games........ They had just 43 hits over those eight games, 15 for extra bases (six home runs) and hit just .184....... The Stars had a lead or tied the game in six of them....... Individually, here's how our boys fared:

[align=center]

		AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Mike Bell		19	4	.211	1	3
Lorenzo Cain		29	5	.172	2	5
Chris Errecart		18	2	.111	0	2
Alcides Escobar		15	6	.400	0	2
Mat Gamel		27	4	.148	1	2
Cole Gillespie		26	4	.154	0	0
J.R. Hopf		5	0	.000	0	0
Martin Maldonado		14	3	.214	1	1
Freddy Parejo		21	3	.143	0	0
Yohannis Perez		6	0	.000	0	0
Guilder Rodriguez		24	6	.250	0	0
Angel Salome		12	2	.167	1	2

 

http://www.starsboxscore.com/[/align]