Link Report for Wed. 5/27 -- Huge Night for Heether; Status of Lawrie, Brewer in Question

[wvpowerblkwel]

Braddock puts up 2 more good innings allowing 1 hit, 0 walks, and strikes out 4! Of course the 1 hit was a HR which raises his ERA to 1.50, but the 4 K's gives him 22 in 12 innings! Considering how infrequently the guys in BC get to throw, I think he's having an outstanding 1st half!

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 4, Tennessee (Cubs) 2

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary

 

Huntsville Lengthens Division Lead

Justis is Served as Stars Down Smokies

By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars

 

Mike Jones spun seven solid innings and Shane Justis belted the game-winning grand slam to power Huntsville to a 4-2 win over Tennessee in the third of an eight-game series at Smokies Park. The Stars improved to 23-20 and increased their lead to two and a half games over Carolina and pushed the 21-24 Smokies three games behind in the North Division. Huntsville improved to 13-9 on the road in defeating Tennessee for a second time in five meetings.

 

Russ Canzler led off the Smokies' second inning with a double and scored when Jim Aducci followed with a single to give the home team the early lead. The Smokies loaded the bases in the third on three singles before Canzler sent a ground ball back through the middle that deflected off Jones' glove for an infield hit that scored pitcher Hung-Wen Chen, who had led off the frame with a single, to make it a 2-0 game. Jones worked out of further trouble by getting Aducci to bounce into a force out at the plate and Ty Wright to fly out to center field.

 

Meanwhile, Chen had blanked the Stars on one single through five innings and had retired 12 in a row before Yohannis Perez worked a one-out walk in the sixth and stayed alive on the bases when shortstop Darwin Barney dropped a throw at second base from Chen on a Jones bunt attempt. Adam Stern singled to load the bases before Justis jumped on Chen's first pitch and drove it on to the grassy berm area above the wall in left field for his second home run of the season and first since April 11.

 

Chen wound up throwing seven innings and suffered the loss to fall to 2-4 and remain winless since April 16. He allowed only three hits, walked two and fanned one. Jones gave up only one hit after the third inning and finished his longest outing in a Stars' uniform since 2003 by allowing seven hits, walking one and fanning two. He grabbed his first double-A win of the season and was followed to the hill by Robert Hinton, who worked a perfect eighth inning. Omar Aguilar took over in the ninth and gave up a two-out single before getting Marquez Smith to line out on a diving catch by the shortstop Perez to end the game. Aguilar recorded his fourth save, with three coming in the last week.

 

The series continues Thursday night with the second scheduled twinbill between the teams. The Stars will send left-hander Bobby Bramhall to the mound in game one and right-hander Mike McClendon in game two, while the Smokies will counter with right-hander Casey Coleman in the opener and righty Jesse Estrada in the nightcap. Coverage of the game begins at 4:15 PM central time and can be heard through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score

One swing of the bat the difference in the game -- thanks, Shane Justis; pitchers working quickly -- two hours, 18 minutes with the home team batting in the 9th as well; Mike Jones so efficient -- 85 pitches in seven innings, eight baserunners allowed; Jonathan Lucroy still taking walks, but the hits aren't falling (.231), still batting third (here) or cleanup, though...

 

Huntsville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 8, Tacoma (Mariners) 6

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Adam Heether photo, text follows --

 

Heether Powers Sounds Past Rainiers

 

TACOMA, Wash. - The Sounds trailed early for a third consecutive game against the Rainiers, but Adam Heether's ninth inning home run gave Nashville an 8-6 win on Wednesday afternoon in Tacoma.

 

Heether, playing shortstop on the afternoon, went 2-for-3 with a season-high two home runs and six RBIs. Outfielder Brendan Katin also extended his hitting streak to a season-best 12 games, going 2-for-5 with two doubles.

 

Tacoma began the game scoring multiple runs in the opening frame for the third straight game. Former Sound Brad Nelson's two-run single put the Rainiers on the board first, followed by an RBI-double by Mike Morse for a 3-0 Tacoma lead off starter Lindsay Gulin.

 

Heether started the second inning off with a walk and moved to third after an Erick Almonte double. Carlos Corporan then knocked in Heether with an RBI-single, making the score 3-1 Tacoma.

 

Tacoma was able to do more damage loading the bases against on Gulin in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Shelton hit an RBI-single, with Gulin then walking home another run for a Rainiers 5-1 lead.

 

The Sounds returned in the next frame with a leadoff single by Joe Koshansky. Katin then doubled for a second time on the afternoon, moving Koshansky to third. Heether then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that trimmed the Rainiers lead to 5-2.

 

The Rainiers responded in the next frame with an RBI-single by Chris Woodward off R.J. Swindle to extend the lead to 6-2.

 

Hernan Iribarren led off the top of the eighth inning with a walk off pitcher Jared Wells. Koshanksy then cut the lead in half with his double to center field that scored Iribarren. Heether followed with a two-run homer to center field, his second on the year, cutting the Tacoma lead to 6-5.

 

With the Sounds trailing to begin the ninth, Alcides Escobar singled to start the rally. Koshansky then walked, with Heether belting a three-run homer for the second time on the day, giving the Sounds their first lead at 8-6.

 

Chris Smith came into the ballgame in the bottom of the ninth to lock it up and earn his 10th save of the year.

 

David Johnson (2-0) earned the win for Nashville, throwing an inning of scoreless ball, striking out one.

 

Justin Thomas (0-1) got the loss for Tacoma, giving up two runs in the ninth.

 

Nashville starter Gulin threw five innings for the Sounds, giving up five runs on seven hits, while striking out five. Tacoma starter Gaby Hernandez surrendered two runs on seven hits over six innings.

 

The Sounds wrap up their eight-game road trip with the Rainiers tomorrow night's 9:00 PM CT game in Tacoma. Right-hander Mike Burns (6-1, 2.56) makes the start for Nashville against southpaw Ryan Rowland-Smith (0-0, 2.25).

 

Nashville Box Score

Adam Heether tripled his RBI total for the season (from 3 to 9) -- what a game; for all his .221 troubles, Joe Koshansky does have 29 RBI; as in the first Manatee game, contributions up and down the Sounds' lineup; Brendan Katin en fuego, five multiple-hit games in his last eight, plus the long hit streak noted above; Pitching Coach Chris Bosio ejected in the 5th inning; R.J. Swindle's AAA ERA at 0.48 -- allowed an unearned run here...

 

Nashville Game Log

Sounds wasted a first inning opportunity, Tacoma did not; Heether's game-winner came with two out; Chris Smith's save was not without tension...

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's starsboxscore.com

 

All it takes is one

Stars get just three hits, but Justis belts grand-slam

Mike Jones supplied the arm and Shane Justis the muscle...... With the bases loaded and one out, Justis found Hung-Wen Chen's first pitch to his liking and belted it out to the berm in left field for the Stars' first grand-slam of the season. It was the first against Tennessee since Pete Zoccolillo sent one out at Smokies Park off Hugo Castellanos, August 27, 2002..... Chen had blanked the Stars on just one hit and had retired 12 in a row before Yohannis Perez worked a one-out walk in the 6th. On a bunt attempt by Jonesy, shortstop Darwin Barney dropped a throw at 2nd base to put him on, and Adam Stern loaded them up with a single to right...... Justis, who is hitting .458 in his last 13 games, then stroked one out......

 

The Stars had only one hit prior and one after, but it took just one blow to decide this game and give the Stars a 2½-game lead over Carolina, who lost to Montgomery, and 3 over the Smokies. The first half ends June 21....... It's good to see Jones come through with another excellent start. He reportedly hit 94 mph on the gun and looks like the Mike Jones we saw in 2003, when he was 7-2, 2.40 in 17 starts. He picked up his first win, his 10th as a Huntsville Star, since August 2 of last year...... The Stars have now won seven of their last nine.

 

Robert Hinton returned to form with two strikeouts in an inning of work after giving up five runs on six hits in an inning and a third over two appearances. Prior to that, he had appeared in 11 straight games without giving up a run. With his 20th appearance, he has moved into 10th place, bumping Mark Stancel, in the number of career pitching appearances for the Stars, now numbering 89. He remains 11th in relief innings (134 2/3)....... Although he has just one hit in his last 15 at-bats, Drew Anderson, over three seasons with the Stars (2006, 07, 09) has a .308 average, and now has enough at-bats to qualify for the all-time leadership in batting. As it stands, he's tied for 7th with the late Mike Coolbaugh and is one of just 10 hitters in the Stars' 25-year history to join the .300 club...... Vinny Rottino also has enough at-bats to qualify for the all-time list. With a .289 average presently over two seasons, Rottino is tied for 19th with Luis Polonia. Rottino has more hits than Anderson (178-175), but both are still a distance away from the 221 hits belonging to 20th-place Ray Thoma......

 

Omar Aguilar picked up his 3rd save in as many appearances and now has four on the season. He's been unscored upon in four straight games, lowering that ERA which was 11.82 on May 5 to 6.08. Yohannis Perez made a nifty game-saving catch, diving to his right with a runner on to end the game.

 

The victory puts the Stars (23-20) three games over .500 for the first time since May 11. The Stars this season have never gone four games over .500. That will be left up to Bobby Bramhall (0-3, 7.36) Thursday in the first game of another double-header at Smokies Park. Mike McClendon (3-1, 1.72) will get his first start of the season in the second half...... McClendon started five games for Brevard last season out of his 47 appearances, going 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA. They all came at the start of the year, after which he was moved to the bullpen where he found better success. It'll be interesting to see what transpires.......

 

I would have thought the Stars would look to Brevard for a quick start from, perhaps, one of their starters -- Amaury Rivas, Lucas Luetge, Josh Butler, or Evan Anundsen, but they instead took a pitcher off the Helena roster -- Nick Bucci -- whose season has not started yet. Bucci was an 18th round pick in last year's amateur draft. In the Arizona League last year, he was 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA in four starts totaling 11 innings. Something like this happens once in awhile. The Stars call up someone from the Pioneer League and he's gone before you know it. That happened in early June when the Stars picked up outfielder Anthony Wycklendt from Helena while they were on the road. Four days later, he was assigned to West Virginia, played two games, and was released at the end of the season...... Bucci is arm insurance, clear and simple.

 

Adam Heether hit two HRs and drove in six runs to lead the Sounds over Tacoma in their trip out west, 8-6. Heether is hitting .338 for Nashville......

 

The Stars are now hitting .258 as a team -- 3rd best in the Southern League behind Birmingham and Mobile. They're hitting .284 for May....... The Stars' next win over the Smokies will be their 200th against this club dating back to 1985. Only Chattanooga (230) and Birmingham (211) have won more games against the Stars...... Shane Justis's last home run came in the 3rd game of the season and despite going 14-for-32 (.438), he did not have an extra-base hit in his nine previous games....... Taylor Green is in a 1-for-13 slide.

 

Felix Jose, who played the outfield for the Stars in 1987, is off to a 13-for-26 start for Schaumberg in the independent Northern League....... Former Stars pitcher and major leaguer Ken Ray was 4-0 for Long Island in the Atlantic League and 10th among ERA leaders, befor having his contract purchased by the Cleveland Indians organization, where he will be assigned to AAA.

[Mass Haas]

This is where Brett Lawrie keping his blog up-to-date might be more helpful.

 

There really is no way to get further confirmation, but we do know (we've learned) that Lawrie's early departure last night was not injury-related.

 

Keep in mind that earlier this season, Lawrie was benched for not running out a ground ball. In Wednesday's game, he was not allowed to return to the field after coming back to the dugout after the bottom of the first inning, an inning in which he was charged with his 9th error. So if this was indeed "manager's choice", we need to hear more from Jeff Isom. Unfortunately, with the Rattlers on the road yet for a while, we'll need to sit back and wait.

 

Did Lawrie have a tirade that was such he was kept out of the game? Was the anger, if that was the case, directed at himself, the official scorer, anyone?

 

The only thing we do know for sure is that it's not injury-related. Perhaps Brett received urgent family news off the field. It's possible, and just an example of why until we learn more, we should tread carefully.

 

Bottom line -- other than the broken nose, Lawrie's healthy.

[mls4]

This gave me a chuckle.

 

Tennessee Bottom 6th

• Russ Canzler lines out to shortstop Yohannis Perez.
• James Adduci singles on a line drive to left fielder Drew T. Anderson.
• Ty Wright grounds into double play, pitcher Mike Jones to shortstop Yohannis Perez to catcher Jonathan Lucroy to shortstop Yohannis Perez. James Adduci out at 2nd. Ty Wright out at 2nd.

Took me a bit to figure this out. I think Perez must have thrown past the 1st baseman on the DP relay. Lucroy was backing up and threw the batter out trying to advance on the overthrow.