Link Report for Sat. 8/23 -- Jeffress and Scarpetta Among Starters

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Saturday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central except Arizona League; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Round Rock (Astros), 5:45 PM pre-game; 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link via WNSR, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link):

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t556

 

Huntsville: RHP Jeremy Jeffress at home vs. Carolina (Marlins), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link via WUMP, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link):

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/audio.jsp?sid=t559

 

Brevard County: TBD (likely LHP Chris Cody) at home vs. Palm Beach (Cardinals), 6:00 PM gametime

 

Sorry, no audio for this series...

 

West Virginia: RHP R.J. Seidel at Lexington (Astros), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link):

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t525

 

Helena: RHP Cody Scarpetta at Billings (Reds), 7:55 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime

 

Audio link via KCAP, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link):

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t433

 

Arizona: TBD at the Padres' complex in Peoria, 7:00 PM local Mountain Standard Time

 

Never any audio for the Maryvale Crew

[Mass Haas]

Follow Saturday'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 "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_08_23_rreaaa_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_23_cmcaax_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_23_pbcafa_breafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_23_wvaafx_lexafx_1

 

Helena:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_23_helrok_bilrok_1

 

Arizona:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_23_brrrok_pdrrok_1

[Mass Haas]

By the way, the big West Virginia series in Lexington is available on a live or archived basis via MiLB.TV.

 

It looks like $6.95 gets you the next four games, starting Saturday. So there you go, Power player family and friends, West Virginia fans in the Charleston area, Brewer front office staff, etc.

[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 79 54 .594 - 46-22 33-32 W2 Memphis 70 63 .526 9.0 33-30 37-33 L1 Omaha 58 76 .433 21.5 27-39 31-37 W1 Nashville 56 78 .418 23.5 26-40 30-38 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 37 23 .617 - 20-10 17-13 L2 Tennessee 31 29 .517 6.0 13-17 18-12 W2 Huntsville 27 33 .450 10.0 14-16 13-17 L4 West Tenn 25 34 .424 11.5 11-18 14-16 L2 Chattanooga 25 35 .417 12.0 13-17 12-18 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jupiter 35 24 .593 - 18-12 17-12 W2 Daytona 31 22 .585 1.0 20-9 11-13 W2 St. Lucie 30 26 .536 3.5 13-13 17-13 L2 Palm Beach 30 28 .517 4.5 16-13 14-15 W2 Brevard County 27 33 .450 8.5 12-16 15-17 L2 Vero Beach 16 40 .286 17.5 6-22 10-18 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Virginia 40 21 .656 - 21-9 19-12 W1 Lakewood 38 22 .633 1.5 18-12 20-10 L1 Delmarva 34 25 .576 5.0 16-14 18-11 W1 Lake County 28 31 .475 11.0 13-16 15-15 W1 Greensboro 25 36 .410 15.0 12-18 13-18 L1 Hagerstown 22 38 .367 17.5 10-20 12-18 L1 Lexington 21 39 .350 18.5 11-20 10-19 L1 Hickory 19 42 .311 21.0 6-23 13-19 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billings 13 9 .591 - 10-3 3-6 W1 Great Falls 12 12 .500 2.0 6-5 6-7 L1 Helena 7 17 .292 7.0 2-10 5-7 L3 Missoula 6 17 .261 7.5 5-6 1-11 W1 

[Mass Haas]

Arizona League Standings

[Josh23fan]

Brantley really manufactures Huntsville's first run tonight. Micheal walked to start the game. Stole second base. And then stole third base and scored on a throwing error by Carolina's catcher.

[colbyjack]

Tonight's BC game was cancelled as the rain continues to pour in Florida.

 

RJ Seidel pitches in best game in over a month. It's funny because while scanning the prospects today I was thinking of how Seidel's season was probably one of the more disappointing ones out there, so I'm happy to see him remind me/us why he still does have a very bright future.

 

Jeffress also throwing well so far tonight.

[trwi7]

My man crush for Jeffress is huge right now.

 

5.2 innings, 1 earned run, 6 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts.

[jjfanec]

What a great night all around for the pitchers. Jeffress looks good in his transition to AA ball. 5.2 IP, 7 K's, 1 ER. Gulin gives up no runs on 2 hits. Seidel as mentioned pitched great. Scarpetta is also off to a good start with no runs over 3 IP

[And That]

Omar Aguilar has really turned it on recently. Perhaps he's found his slider again.

 

Nice outing from Jeffress. It is gonna be fun watching him in AA/AAA next year.

 

And let's not forget Joe Dillon... he's been real hot lately, and he's likely to have a few big PH at bats for the Brewers before all is said and done.

[DHonks]

Scarpetta's peripheral numbers are awesome. less than a hit per inning, 3 bb, 21 k's in 12 innings. He'll be fun to follow in A-ball next year

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 6, Lexington (Astros) 0

Lakewood loses, Power lead at 2.5 games...

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER BLANK LEGENDS

 

The West Virginia Power took advantage of four Lexington errors and received terrific pitching performances from R.J. Seidel and Corey Frerichs as they recorded their fourth shutout of the season with a 6-0 victory over the Legends at Applebee's Park on Saturday night.

 

Eric Farris set the tone as he blasted his second home run of the season on the first pitch of the game. Logan Schafer walked with one out in the third inning and scored on Steffan Wilson's sacrifice fly to give the Power a 2-0 edge. Matt Cline laid down a bunt single to begin the fourth inning and scored West Virginia's third run on Schafer's sacrifice fly.

 

Anderson De La Rosa ripped a two-out single in the top of the fifth inning and Cline drove him in with his third single of the night. Schafer walked with one out in the eighth inning and Wilson knocked him in on a two-out single. The Power plated their final run of the game in the ninth inning when Zelous Wheeler scored on Cline's sacrifice fly.

 

Seidel (9-5) turned in his finest outing of the season. He tossed seven scoreless innings of four-hit ball and fanned five in a winning effort. Jake Leonhardt (4-14) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs on seven hits over four and two-thirds. Frerichs tossed two scoreless innings of relief. It was West Virginia's first shutout victory since July 22nd when they blanked the Rome Braves 7-0 at Appalachian Power Park.

 

The Power improved to 73-58 on the year and 41-21 in the second half with the win. The Legends fell to 42-88 on the year and 21-40 in the second half with the loss. Three Power players turned in multi-hit games, including Cline who paced the Power with his three-hit performance. Caleb Gindl and Lee Haydel both extended their hitting streaks to nine games. Eric Fryer reached once on a single to bring his on-base streak to 32 games.

 

The Power will continue the four-game series against Lexington Sunday night. The Power will start right hander Wily Peralta (0-0, 0.00) and the Legends will counter with right hander Leandro Cespedes (2-6, 4.18). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM (5:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score

Astros' low-A club at 42-88, yikes (.323 winning percentage); Matt Cline on base all four times up; Eric Farris 31-of-39 in steals, but OBP at .322, only 23 walks in 419 AB's, needs to at least double that walk rate; in addition to his batting title and .929 OPS, Eric Fryer is 15-of-18 on the basepaths, who had noticed that? LaCrosse's R.J. Seidel pitched 41 innings at Helena last season, he's taken the ball each time out in '08 to the tune of 116.1 innings and counting -- awesome job here, kid, in front of nearly 8,000 Lexington fans...

 

West Virginia Game Log

No multiple run innings, six one-run frames; catcher Anderson De La Rosa picked off a runner off first to end the 5th...

[Mass Haas]

The Palm Beach - Brevard County game was cancelled, not postponed, as Palm Beach has already played three doubleheaders in the past week (league rule).

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 9, Round Rock (Astros) 0

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Brad Nelson photo, text follows --

 

Gulin, Sounds Dominate Express In 9-0 Shutout

NASHVILLE - Nashville Sounds starting pitcher Lindsay Gulin didn't need a lot of run support, but he sure got it.

 

The Sounds managed to combine a dominant pitching effort with a breakout offensive performance to beat the Round Rock Express, 9-0, in front of a crowd of 9,414 on Saturday night at Greer Stadium.

 

Gulin and reliever Richie Gardner combined to pitch a three-hitter, the first shutout for Nashville since June 5 against Albuquerque. Gulin (7-7) pitched seven shutout innings and struck out eight batters while only giving up two hits to pick up his eighth quality start of the season for the Sounds.

 

Prior to tonight's game, the Nashville offense only managed to score an average of two runs in Gulin's starts, but a pair of three-RBI nights for Brad Nelson and Joe Dillon and multiple-hit efforts from four different Sounds players gave Gulin plenty of cushion to work with.

 

The Sounds got off to a quick start and plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning off a three-run homer to left field by Dillon. The longball was Dillon's fifth of the year and scored Hernan Iribarren (double) and Tony Gwynn (single). The three runs in the first inning gave Nashville a 24-4 edge in first-frame scoring over its last eight matchups against Round Rock.

 

AUDIO: Joe Dillon Three-Run HR

 

Nashville added two more runs in the bottom of the third inning when Dillon scored on a double from Nelson. The two-bagger was Nelson's team-leading 35th of the season, which ranks him 9th on the Sounds all-time list. Jay Gibbons then singled in the next at-bat to score Nelson and extend the Sounds' lead to five.

 

Nelson's big night continued in the bottom of the fifth inning when he belted a solo home run to right field off Round Rock starter Jack Cassel. The longball was Nelson's 17th of the year and added to his team-leading total of 73 RBIs. Nashville added another run in the inning when Gibbons scored from third base on a groundout from Chris Woodward, who now leads the team with 22 RBIs in August. He also extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games after going 1-for-3 on the night.

 

The runs kept coming for the Sounds in the bottom of the sixth inning when Ozzie Chavez knocked an RBI triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Nelson. With the hit, Chavez is now 6-for-his-last-7 with a home run and four RBIs.

 

Cassel (8-5) took the loss for the Express after giving up seven earned runs in just five innings of work.

 

Gardner pitched two innings and only gave up one hit in relief for the Sounds.

 

Callix Crabbe went 0-for-1 and snapped his season-high 10-game hitting streak, which was only the second double-digit streak for the Sounds this season. Vinny Rottino's streak of 24 games is the longest of the season for Nashville.

 

It was a pretty good crowd for a Saturday as more than 9,400 fans saw the Sounds play their final Purity Faith Night and Saturday night game of the season.

 

The teams will close out their five-game series with their ninth consecutive meeting at 6 p.m. on Sunday night at Greer Stadium. Lefty Sam Narron (8-4, 4.83) will man the bump for the Sounds against right-hander Runelvys Hernandez (7-7, 4.81) for the Express.

 

Nashville Box Score

Jay Gibbons on base all five times up -- see you in September, Jay -- although if Brad Nelson gets his deserved first big league look, that would place Laynce Nix, Nelson, and Gibbons all as LH bats on the Brewer bench; Hernan Iribarren hitting .324 in his last ten games -- will he add to a crowded Brewer dugout after 9/1?

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Buck Rogers, Stars GM:

 

Stars fans complete record first pitch

The Huntsville Stars fans completed a 19-hour World Record First Pitch event sponsored by Cabinet NG tonight with 11,689 Honorary First Pitches thrown.

Gates opened at midnight and fans began throwing for the record books one minute later. Stars Manager Don Money threw pitch number 10,715 and the game's umpires were included in the final 25 pitches. Only two of the umps could find the strike zone, but that's no different than any other day in baseball so why worry about it now?

The youngest pitcher of the night was six-month old Maddux Welch, son of Stars Pitcher David Welch. Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer came out and helped the cause as well. The final pitch, the ultimate world record throw, was raffled off for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. The Stars surpassed the previous pitch mark of 8,304 held by the the Brevard County Manatees.

The baseballs were printed and delivered in a very timely manner by Blue Wave Merchandise Global of Waukegan (contact Ed Trabulsy at 847-785-1355). Ed won't let you down and he'll save you a few bucks on your promo and retail baseballs.

A 24-hour day is just another great way to start a home stand, says I. A heartbeat away from a mutiny says the staff.

Pass the Mountain Dew and No-Doz. And we'll stick to the program implemented in February: the beatings will continue until morale approves.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 4, Carolina (Marlins) 1

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Stars Take First From Mudcats

Huntsville Hurlers Handcuff Carolina

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

Jeremy Jeffress worked 5 2/3 strong innings and teamed with the bullpen to make early offense stand up in Huntsville's 4-1 win over Carolina in the opener of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium Saturday night. The Stars snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 28-33 in the second half, while the Mudcats fell to 37-24 but saw their magic number to clinch the second half North Division title reduced to four.

 

Chris Coghlan reached on an error with two outs in the first and stole second base but was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Freddy Parejo on an Andy Jenkins single. The Stars scored in the bottom of the inning when Michael Brantley led off with a walk, stole second base and then stole third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Brad Davis. Brantley has three steals in the last two games after none since June 26.

 

Martin Maldonado's two-run single in the second inning pushed the home team's lead to 3-0 before John Raynor led off the third with a walk, moved to second base on a balk, to third on a ground ball out and scored on a Coghlan fly ball to cut the lead to 3-1. The Stars added the final run in the bottom of the third on a two-out, run-scoring double by Chris Errecart, who knocked in his 43rd run.

 

Jeffress struck out Raynor to end the fourth with two runners on base and was removed after fanning pinch-hitter Grant Psomas with two runners on in the sixth. Omar Aguilar came on and punched out Raynor to end the inning and struck out the side in the seventh. Jeffress improved to 2-0 after allowing six hits, walking three and fanning seven.

 

Aguilar struck out two more in a scoreless eighth and Juan Sandoval recorded a pair of strikeouts in a perfect ninth to nail down his 18th save. Huntsville's three hurlers combined to strike out a season-high 15 in beating the Mudcats for a second time in six games at home and for only a sixth time in 16 games overall.

 

The series continues Sunday afternoon with right-hander Mike Jones taking the mound against Mudcats' right-hander Willie Glen. Coverage begins at 4:50 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

Jeremy Jeffress 0-for-2 with a K in his first two professional AB's -- oh yeah, but he pitched pretty well -- only one run allowed despite ten baserunners and a balk in 5.2 innings; what a long-term bonus if Omar Aguilar has turned the proverbial AA corner; Stars pitchers struck out 15 Mudcats; with no DH, night off for Angel Salome...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Helena 9, Billings (Reds) 3

 

Helena Independent Record:

 

Brewers blast four HRs, beat Mustangs 9-3

 

The Helena Brewers scored a rare second-half victory Saturday, beating Billings 9-3 in a Pioneer League baseball game at Dehler Park.

 

But, the Brewers didn't make up any ground on Great Falls in the race to reach the league playoffs as Great Falls beat Missoula 3-1.

 

The Great Falls win combined with the Billings loss moved Great Falls to within a game of Billings in the second half standings. If Great Falls wins the second half title, it would face Billings, the first half winner, in the league playoffs.

 

Helena, which improved to 8-17 with just its second win in the last 10 games, is four games behind Great Falls in their overall league records, which would be the deciding factor if Billings wins the second-half title.

 

Today, the Brewers begin a four-game stretch against Great Falls, 13-12, with the first two games being played on the road.

 

Helena plays host to the Voyagers Tuesday and Wednesday at Kindrick Legion Field.

 

The Brewers pounded out 10 hits, four of which went for home runs before a crowd of 3,758.

 

Chris Dennis, David Fonseca, Derrick Alfonso and Miguel Vazquez all homered for the Brewers. Vazquez highlighted a five-run fourth inning with a three-run shot.

 

Cody Scarpetta pitched five innings of two-hit ball to score his first win. He struck out six and walked one batter.

 

Relievers Daniel Meadows and Mark Willinsky combined to strike out six and walk just one.

 

Billings pitchers registered 11 strikeouts, including first baseman Brock Kjeldgaard five times.

 

Helena outfielder Erik Komatsu had a pair of hits to raise his average to .348, third best in the league.

 

Helena Box Score

Chris Dennis' HR his 11th; Cody Scarpetta only turns 20 on Monday -- nice...

 

Helena Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona Padres 8, Arizona Brewers 3

 

Arizona Box Score

Just three hits for the A-Crew, including a Uly Snijders solo home run; rough start for still 17-year-old Canadian RHP Stosh Wawrzasek (18 next Saturday); others fared better, including LHP Kristian Bueno, supplemental first round RHP Jake Odorizzi (boy, are the Brewers working him carefully, his high inning count was four on July 24th, and Jake's worked six scoreless innings over his last four appearances), and still with an ERA of 0.00 over 8.2 innings, 17-year-old Venezuelan RHP Francisco Rivero; 30 errors for shortstop Carlos George, not unheard of in this league; 106 degrees at game time -- do you think Stosh encountered that often north of the border?

 

Arizona Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Helena Pre-Game Audio with Infielder John Delaney

Click on the KCAP archive of August 23rd, it's right off the top...

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Times:

Jeremy Jeffress had struggled in his Joe Davis Stadium debut before tossing a brilliant game on the road at Birmingham last week with a six-inning shutout.

 

On Saturday, he was excellent again. Though he threw 103 pitches, walked three and hit a batter, he was effective with his fastball and curveball in spots.

"From my first start, I'm getting through my delivery much better, throwing more strikes, keeping the ball down and pitching to contact," he said. "That's a big key when you move up to different levels. You can't strike everybody out here unless you feel like Superman that day."

Chris Errecart, Michael Brantley and Michael Bell led the Stars with two hits apiece, and Martin Maldonado added a two-run single.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

1st pitch goes on and on ...

Hurlers on parade for record books at Joe Davis

By MIKE MARSHALL

Huntsville Times Staff Writer, mike.marshall@htimes.com

 

A bartender from a Mexican restaurant showed up after last call. Then a 10-year-old boy with his catcher's gear arrived around sunrise.

 

For an hour, the boy caught baseballs. Then he removed his gear and left Joe Davis Stadium. He had a Pee Wee Football game later in the morning.

 

Said Huntsville Stars General Manager Buck Rogers: "When I saw how many people were out here when we first started, I knew we had a chance to break the record. In my years of doing this, I've never had that many people here when we started - and we started at midnight.''

 

The Guinness World Record for most ceremonial first pitches fell around noon Saturday. The crowd threw 11,689 pitches before time ran out around 7 p.m.

 

A boy in his early teens wearing his youth-league baseball jersey broke the previous record of 8,304, held by the Brevard County Manatees, the Milwaukee Brewers' Class A affiliate in Viera, Fla.

 

Then more people kept breaking the record. Then members of the Stars staff kept writing new record-breaking totals in the dirt near home plate.

 

They used buckets to compile the totals. Each time a bucket was filled, one of the staff erased the numbers in the dirt and added 150.

 

When Mayor Loretta Spencer arrived, there were 9,350 first pitches.

 

"I used to throw out first pitches at the start of Little League season,'' Spencer said. "I was worried I'd hit someone. I'm left-handed.''

 

Just after 1:30 p.m., Spencer moved near the front of the pitcher's mound, reared back and threw to Brian Massey, the Stars' public relations director.

 

The ball took one hop, then another.

 

Said Rogers: "It's not the number of people; it's the number of pitches. Theoretically, two people could break it.''

 

But a sizable crowd turned out, more than anyone anticipated.

 

By Massey's estimate, there were more than 50 people at Joe Davis at midnight, when the parade of pitches began.

 

After 1 a.m., when the Stars team bus returned from Birmingham, some of the players joined in.

 

"One of our pitchers, David Welch, has a 6-month-old son, Maddux,'' Massey said. "He threw one out, too. He was the youngest one.''

 

At 4 a.m., the umpiring crew arrived from Mobile, said Massey.

 

Even the umpires participated. One of the umpires caught.

 

The others threw pitches from second base or the outfield, said Massey.

 

"We were giving them a hard time,'' Massey said. "When they'd throw one from the outfield, we told them, 'Y'all would have called that one a strike.' ''

[Playing Catch]

A Golden Sombrero for Kjeldgaard. Not what we would like to see, except that the feat has a cool nickname...

 

Or is it called the "Olympic Rings"?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Sombrero

[LouisEly]

I never understood calling it "Golden". If there's a color to describe it, I think it would be brown.