Link Report for Games of Sunday, August 31st

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Sunday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: Season complete

 

Huntsville: LHP Brae Wright at Chattanooga (Reds), 5:00 PM pre-game; 5:15 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 (perhaps RHP Amaury Rivas) at St. Lucie (Mets), 11:00 AM gametime; season finale

 

Sorry, no audio for this series...

 

West Virginia: RHP Evan Anundsen at home vs. Kannapolis (White Sox), 4:55 PM pre-game, 5:05 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: TBD (either RHP Cody Adams or RHP Santo Manzanillo, according to play-by-play man Steve Wendt) at home vs. Great Falls (White Sox), 4:55 PM pre-game, 5:05 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: Season complete

[Mass Haas]

Follow Sunday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". 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.

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_31_hunaax_cngaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_31_breafa_sluafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_31_kanafx_wvaafx_1

 

Helena:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_08_31_grfrok_helrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Saturday's action (Arizona League standings represent entire season):

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa 83 57 .593 - 48-22 35-35 W3 Memphis 74 66 .529 9.0 36-32 38-34 L1 Omaha 61 81 .430 23.0 30-42 31-39 L3 Nashville 59 81 .421 24.0 29-42 30-39 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 40 28 .588 - 21-12 19-16 L2 Tennessee 35 32 .522 4.5 15-19 20-13 W2 Huntsville 31 37 .456 9.0 17-18 14-19 L1 Chattanooga 29 38 .433 10.5 15-18 14-20 W1 West Tenn 29 38 .433 10.5 14-20 15-18 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daytona 37 23 .617 - 24-9 13-14 L1 Jupiter 40 27 .597 0.5 20-15 20-12 W1 St. Lucie 33 31 .516 6.0 14-16 19-15 W1 Palm Beach 33 34 .493 7.5 18-15 15-19 W1 Brevard County 31 37 .456 10.0 14-19 17-18 L1 Vero Beach 20 46 .303 20.0 8-23 12-23 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Virginia 44 24 .647 - 22-11 22-13 L2 Lakewood 41 27 .603 3.0 20-15 21-12 W1 Delmarva 39 29 .574 5.0 18-15 21-14 L1 Lake County 33 35 .485 11.0 18-17 15-18 L3 Greensboro 26 40 .394 17.0 13-20 13-20 L2 Hagerstown 26 42 .382 18.0 13-20 13-22 W2 Lexington 24 43 .358 19.5 12-23 12-20 W2 Hickory 21 46 .313 22.5 8-24 13-22 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billings 17 13 .567 - 13-5 4-8 W1 Great Falls 16 16 .500 2.0 9-7 7-9 L1 Helena 12 20 .375 6.0 4-11 8-9 W1 Missoula 9 22 .290 8.5 7-7 2-15 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Angels 39 17 .696 - 21-7 18-10 W7 AZL Giants 36 20 .643 3.0 19-9 17-11 W2 AZL Rangers 34 22 .607 5.0 18-10 16-12 W4 AZL Padres 33 23 .589 6.0 18-10 15-13 L2 AZL Cubs 31 24 .564 7.5 20-8 11-16 L5 AZL Royals 23 33 .411 16.0 13-15 10-18 W1 AZL Athletics 21 35 .375 18.0 11-17 10-18 W1 AZL Mariners 21 35 .375 18.0 11-17 10-18 L2 AZL Brewers 13 42 .236 25.5 9-18 4-24 L2 

[battlekow]

The Power came close to a comeback in the 9th, down by 3:

 

* Matt Cline strikes out swinging.

* Michael Vass walks.

* Eric Farris singles on a line drive to center fielder Jordan Danks. Michael Vass to 2nd.

* Lee Haydel singles on a ground ball to second baseman Eduardo Escobar. Michael Vass to 3rd. Eric Farris to 2nd.

* Eric Fryer walks. Michael Vass scores. Eric Farris to 3rd. Lee Haydel to 2nd.

* Pitcher Change: Tyson Corley replaces Santo Luis.

* Steffan Wilson grounds into a force out, third baseman Brent Morel to second baseman Eduardo Escobar. Eric Farris scores. Lee Haydel to 3rd. Eric Fryer out at 2nd. Steffan Wilson to 1st.

* Curt Rindal grounds out, catcher John Curtis to first baseman Jorge Castillo.

[TheCrew07]

Good to see Dennis break out of his slump with 2 hits today.

 

Haydel is going to finish the year right around .300... if he can turn more of those 104 SOs into BBs we might have something with him. He won't hit for much power but if he can get his OBP into the .380 range as he advances he'd be pretty valuable.

 

I haven't hyped Gindl all that much this season with my focus on AA and Helena most of the year, but his 850 OPS is pretty sweet for a kid in his first full season.

 

Braddock ends the season giving up another run in a short stint (today it was a solo shot).. his peripheral numbers aren't bad, his K/9 is outstanding, the Hits are low... for whatever reason he just walked way too many batters and gave up more HRs than I would have liked (7, Bulter led the team with 11). I hope his control issues aren't related to an arm problem... I'll always worry, I'm conditioned to expect the worst case scenario when it comes to our pitching prospects.

 

Brantley had a 4 hit night, good for him.

 

Lucroy got the night off and no Taylor Green again in BC... he missed the rest of the year after getting hit by that pitch, too bad.

[DHonks]

Brantley finishes with 26 K's, 49 BB...wow!

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 4, Chattanooga (Reds) 3, ten innings

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Errecart Helps Stars Earn Win in Extras

Sandoval Survives Shaky Tenth to Slam Door Shut

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

Chris Errecart knocked in the winning run and Juan Sandoval worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom half of the tenth to preserve Huntsville's 4-3 win Sunday evening in the next to last regular season game at AT&T Field. The Stars improved to 32-37 in the second half and 73-66 overall, while the Lookouts fell to 29-39 in the half and to 66-72 overall. The Stars lead the season series 14-10 and have won eight of 14 in Chattanooga.

 

Ozzie Chavez led off the tenth against Ramon Geronimo with a single, moved to second base on a Freddy Parejo bunt, to third base on a fielding error by shortstop Chris Valaika and came home on Errecart's fly ball to center field. Errecart was up as a pinch-hitter and delivered his first scoring fly ball since July 30. Sandoval took over in the tenth and issued a walk and hit two batters before getting Eric Eymann to pop up and striking out Chris Denove to end the game and earn his 20th save.

 

Cole Gillespie broke up a scoreless game with a home run to straightaway center field in the top half of the sixth inning. It was his 14th of the season and first since July 22 at Carolina. Chris Heisey led off the home half of the inning with an infield hit, moved to second base on a throwing error on the play by second baseman Mike Bell and scored when Justin Turner singled into left field.

 

Lookouts starter Sam LeCure lasted six innings, giving up five hits, walking three and fanning three and finished the season 9-7, including a loss and four no-decisions against the Stars. Justin James and Lee Tabor combined to retire the Stars in order in the seventh. B.J. Szymanski batted for Tabor and delivered a double with two outs in the home half of the innig and came in to score to give the Lookouts a 2-1 on a Sean Henry single to right field. Stars' starter Brae Wright went seven innings, allowing six hits, while walking one and fanning four. He finished the season with four losses and seven no-decisions after grabbing his last win at Carolina on June 26.

 

Joe Valentine took over for the Looks in the eighth and allowed a one-out single to Michael Garciaparra, that pushed his hitting streak to 11 games, before Bell blasted his tenth home run of the season, and first of the month, to give the Stars the lead back at 3-2. Turner led off the home half of the inning with a walk against David Johnson and came in to score to tie the game on a two-out single by Tonys Gutierrez.

 

The Stars loaded the bases in the top of the ninth against Sean Watson but could not score, as Bell popped up to first and Gillespie struck out. Johnson retired the home side in order in the bottom half of the frame and wound up with his fifth win of the year.

 

The 2008 season concludes Monday afternoon with right-hander Alex Periard taking the hill for the Stars against Lookouts' southpaw Pedro Viola. Coverage begins at 1:00 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

Should you choose to listen to the August 31st audio archive of the game, RHP Donovan Hand acted as Brett Pollock's color man; Alcides Escobar and Angel Salome did not play, on their way to Milwaukee; Cole Gillespie on base four times, .385 OBP, .854 OPS; closer Juan Sandoval is like a circus act with the hold-your-breath moments, at least this one had a happy ending...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

The Huntsville Jersey bidding thread has been updated -- you have until midnight Monday night.

 

It has to be asked -- does Monday's game mark the end of the nine-year Huntsville - Milwaukee association? Jacksonville will be a prized alternative across baseball.

 

The Southern League could have a slightly new look after the season.

Workings agreements between the Jacksonville Suns and Los Angeles Dodgers, Chattanooga Lookouts and Cincinnati Reds, Carolina Mudcats and Florida Marlins, Huntsville Stars and Milwaukee Brewers and West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and Seattle Mariners expire when the season ends.

Teams can begin negotiations Sept. 16 and have a two-week period to re-sign. Teams without deals in place by Oct. 1 will be assigned affiliations by Minor League Baseball by Oct. 7.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Great Falls (White Sox) 6, Helena 5, ten innings

Link while active, text follows:

 

Brewers need miracle: Helena's chances of making playoffs plummet after loss to Voyagers

By CLIFF PFENNING - Helena Independent Record

 

The Helena Brewers did their part to make the Pioneer League playoff race exciting Sunday at Kindrick Legion Field - except they lost.

 

Leading 5-1 entering the ninth, the Brewers gave up four runs, couldn't score with the bases loaded and no outs in their half of the ninth and lost 6-5 in 10 innings to Great Falls.

 

The loss all-but-assured the Voyagers of a spot in the four-team league playoffs.

 

Helena (32-38 overall) needs to win its final five games and have the Voyagers (35-35) lose at least one game for the teams to finish in a tie, which would be broken by their head-to-head record.

 

A win Sunday would have put the Brewers just two games back with five games left.

 

"This is a very frustrating loss," said Helena center fielder Cutter Dykstra. "Every one-run loss is frustrating, but we had a big lead and then had a chance to win and it didn't happen.

 

"It's an especially frustrating loss because of the playoff race."

 

Helena plays host to Missoula Monday at 7:05 PM (8:05 Central).

 

The Brewers' home schedule ends Tuesday with another game against Missoula.

 

They close the season with three games at Billings, which is leading the North Division second-half standings.

 

Helena led 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth when rain caused a two-hour delay, which caused players and coaches in both dugouts to wonder whether the game might be made official.

 

Helena would have won 3-1.

 

But, the umpiring crew, after conferring with league officials by phone, held out long enough for the rain to cease and the field made playable.

 

Still, the Brewers added a run in their half of the fifth and again in the sixth and carried a four-run lead into the ninth.

 

Then, the game slipped away.

 

Reliever Adam Arnold gave up four runs on just three hits in an unfortunate two-thirds of an inning.

 

Arnold appeared to have induced a game-ending double play grounder to second with one out and runners and first and third, but he stabbed at the ball and it fell for a run-scoring single, cutting the lead to 5-2.

 

After a strikeout, Arnold walked two batters to score a run and balked home another run as manager Rene Gonzales headed to the mound to install Brandon Rapoza.

 

Rapoza appeared to have induced a game-ending grounder to second, but he also stabbed at the ball and it fell for a run-scoring single to tie the game.

 

Dykstra made a diving catch of a long fly to end the inning, then reached base on an infield single to open the bottom of the ninth.

 

Dykstra advanced to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch, just 90 feet from scoring the winning run with no outs.

 

"I had some adrenaline going there," Dykstra said. "I had that catch in center and then I was ready to score the winning run, but it just didn't happen."

 

Great Falls put the next two batters on to load the bases, got a force out at home and a double play to end the threat.

 

Johny Celis homered to right to open the 10th and Great Falls headed home with an improbable win.

 

"We've been doing a lot of things like we did in the ninth, so it's not surprising," Great Falls manager Cris Cron said. "We haven't won a lot of games when we're down like that, but we can make things happen, get guys on and keep games going.

 

"And we got a little lucky with a couple breaks."

 

Helena had 12 hits, but left 12 runners on base. Great Falls finished with three errors.

 

"It's a loss like any other," Gonzalez said. "We should have won, just like we should have won other close games earlier in the season."

 

Helena Box Score

There probably hasn't been a more painful loss by any affiliate this season, short of the one-game playoff loss suffered by Huntsville to establish the first-half division championship; Chris Dennis and Corey Kemp were the ground ball spoilers in the 9th; RHP Santo Manzanillo pitched two scoreless to open the game, despite walking two and seeing three bases stolen (one double steal); RHP's Cody Adams and Garrett Sherrill threw well in relief; John Delaney 3-for-6, Erik Komatsu on base four times (.404 OBP, .963 OPS); attendance only 245 on a chilly night -- after the rain delay, how many could have possibly been left in the stands? 30?

 

Helena Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Helena Independent Record Photos by Cliff Pfenning - Helena center fielder Cutter Dykstra looks on in disbelief after the Brewers loss to Great Falls 6-5 in 10 innings Sunday.

http://www.helenair.com/content/articles/2008/09/01/sports/top/50spl_080901_brewers.jpg

 

The Brewers huddle in the dugout at Kindrick Legion Field.

http://images.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/articles/2008/09/01/sports/top/50spl_080901_brewers-2.jpg

 

"The plug on the life support is ready to wriggle out of the outlet." -- Helena announcer Steve Wendt.

[Mass Haas]

Final: St. Lucie (Mets) 4, Brevard County 0

Brevard County Box Score

Hang in there, Mel Stocker -- a minor league free agent once the official deadline comes in October -- we'll begin work for our readers in indentifying all who fall under that category; simply too many Manatee box scores looked exactly like this one in 2008; the Brewers are committed to Space Coast Stadium and the 'Tees through 2010 -- we'll see how right-handed bats like Eric Fryer and Steffan Wilson fare there next year...

 

Brevard County Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Kannapolis (White Sox) 9, West Virginia 8

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER FALL IN SLUGFEST AGAINST KANNAPOLIS

 

The West Virginia Power and Kannapolis Intimidators combined to score 17 runs on 26 hits on Sunday night at Appalachian Power Park. The Intimidators erased a pair of early deficits and sent the Power to their third straight loss with a 9-8 victory.

 

West Virginia took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBI doubles from Eric Fryer and Curt Rindal. Kannapolis tied the game just a half inning later with a run-scoring double from Brent Morel and an RBI single from Christian Marrero. The Power took their final lead of the game in the bottom of the second on Mike Vass' two-run homer, his first with the Power.

 

Kannapolis scored four runs on six hits in the third inning to take the lead and never looked back. The first six batters hit safely. Gordon Beckham singled in the first run, Jorge Castillo's base hit scored the next two and Morel drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly. Morel struck again in the sixth inning on a solo homer to give Kannapolis a three-run lead. The Power scored twice with two outs in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to one. Zelous Wheeler doubled in the first run and scored on Matt Cline's base hit.

 

Beckham belted a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Kannapolis a 9-6 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Fryer walked with the bases loaded to bring the Power within two before Steffan Wilson reached on a fielder's choice to plate the final run of the night. The game ended with the tying run at third base.

 

Levi Maxwell (15-5) did well enough to get the win. He allowed six runs on ten hits over five and two-thirds to get his 15th victory. His 15 wins are tied for the most in the league. Tyson Corley tossed the final two-thirds of the ninth and got his second save of the season. Evan Anundsen (12-8) was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs on nine hits over three innings.

 

The Power fell to 76-62 on the year and 44-25 in the second half with the loss. The Intimidators improved to 67-67 on the year and 36-28 in the second half with the win. Four Power players turned in multi-hit games, including Eric Farris who paced the Power with a 3-for-5 performance, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Steffan Wilson has knocked in 99 runs and needs three tomorrow afternoon to tie the franchise record.

 

The Power will finish the five game series and the regular season against the Kannapolis Intimidators at Appalachian Power Park on Monday afternoon. The Power will start left hander Dan Merklinger (7-9, 6.03) and the Intimidators will counter with right hander Jason Rice (8-8, 4.47). The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM (12:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score

Eric Fryer had a throwing error from left field, his 14th error overall -- it'd be interesting to know the breakdown LF vs. C vs. 1B (I seem to remember a disastrous experiment at first base, a three-error game, perhaps); Caleb Gindl's turn for a day off; Lee Haydel at .298 heading into Monday's regular season finale; despite the nine runs allowed, Power pitchers Evan Anundsen, Roque Mercedes, and Curtis Pasma walked none and struck out 12...

 

West Virginia Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Evan Anundsen went 2-4 with a 6.35 ERA in August -- the 20-year-old 2006 4th round pick out of Columbine High pitched 77.1 innings at Helena in '07 and now has 145 innings in with the Power plus any postseason to come. Even allowing for innings unofficially thrown in Maryvale before the Pioneer League season last year, has any pitcher been over-used more than the promising Anundsen?

[Mass Haas]

Indications are RHP Wily Peralta (early exit from Saturday's Power game, possible leg injury) is fine.

[biedergb]

Evan Anundsen went 2-4 with a 6.35 ERA in August -- the 20-year-old 2006 4th round pick out of Columbine High pitched 77.1 innings at Helena in 07 and now has 145 innings in with the Power plus any postseason to come.

The same increase holds for Seidel, who pitched 41IP last year and now has 121 IP. Granted he is a year older. But he had a dismal year, and started to pitch well in late July and August (2.22 ERA in August).

[DHonks]

Remember, the Brewers look closely at pitch counts over a multiple game period. I would imagine that Seidel and Anundsen must have had a number or low-pitch count games. Remember how Tim Dillard seemed to dramatically improve his innings? It was later reported that he was going 7, 8, or 9 innings while throwing under 90 pitches/game

[LouisEly]

Despite his early season struggles, it should be noted that Eric Farris finished with a .291 BA. That coupled with Haydel, Gindl, Fryer, and Wilson gave WV a lot of offense this year.

 

Nice to see Gillespie get out of his slump and hit his first home run in what seems like forever, and nice to see Errecart come up with the GWRBI after struggling so much after coming back from injury. It was clear that Errecart was not 100% this last month and was gutting it out.

 

With virtually nobody worthy of promotion from BC (except Green and Lucroy) you have to wonder what they will do with their AA roster. Do you jump the young guys from A-ball (Haydel, Gindl)? Certainly Farris, Fryer, and Wilson due to age could jump to AA but might require position changes if neither Green nor Lucroy gets selected by Cleveland (which is looking unlikely that it is neither of them). If it is not Green, then Wilson could really be blocked as Green could be the 3B, Farris could be the 2B, and Errecart could be the 1B.

 

Nice to see Kjeldgaard with 2 BB and no K. If he can learn some plate discipline he could be a legitimate power prospect.

[battlekow]

Farris actually hit .293, but showed very little in the way of secondary skills, with an OBP/SLG of .332/.377. For comparison, Hernan Iribarren hit .277/.329/.341, which was widely received as very disappointing, and which did not earn him a September call-up--and that's three levels above Farris. Overall, Farris' season was quite disappointing, considering his age relative to the league and his pedigree.

[colbyjack]

I agree, I thought Farris would tear up WV. But I think Louis is just pointing out that finishing just below .300 is pretty impressive considering he was hitting right around .200 for far too long. Farris is never going to have much power, but you're right in that his plate discipline should be further along for a player with his background.