Link Report for Games of Tuesday, July 21st

[Mass Haas]

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Brewers move into first place with second straight win

Helena Independent Record

 

Chris Ellington hit his seventh homer, Eric Arnett pitched three solid innings and the Helena Brewers beat the Casper Ghosts 8-4 Tuesday in their last game of a long road trip.

 

With the win, the Brewers moved into sole possession of first place in the Pioneer League North division after the Missoula Osprey fell to the Idaho Falls Chukars.

 

Mike Brownstein and Cutter Dykstra both scored twice for Helena, which scored five runs in the first inning and moved to 15-12 on the season.

 

Ellington's long ball came in the first inning off Casper starter Juan Gonzalez and brought home Brownstein, who had doubled off the top of the wall in center field. It was nearly Brownstein's first home run as a pro.

 

"I don't think (Brownstein) strikes anyone as a power hitter," Brewers hitting coach Ned Yost said. "(A homer) is bound to happen eventually.

 

The Brewers scored again in the first thanks to an error by Casper shortstop David Hernandez. They followed in the third with two runs; Scott Krieger drove Brownstein home, then scored on another Hernandez error.

 

The Brewers had a chance to put down the Ghosts early, but slowed the attack, allowing Casper back into the game.

 

"We started out great," Brewers manager Rene Gonzales said. "But then we settled in, coasted the rest of the game and let them back in it. I thought we could've put the game away much earlier."

 

The Ghosts began chipping away at the Helena lead starting in the fifth inning. At the end of seven, the Brewers lead had been reduced to one.

 

However, the Helena offense came alive again in the ninth, dropping three runs on reliever Paul Bargas, essentially icing the game.

 

"It was a good win, but not completely satisfying," Gonzales said. "We let pitchers coast and get through innings. If we can get the guys in the stretch (position), it seems like we're able to do damage."

 

The Brewers' record is starting to reflect the amount of talent they have. While offensive stats have been high for the Helena team all year, the wins have been somewhat hard to come by. Yost said he has a good idea why the hitting is coming around in timely spots.

 

"They've been working hard, having good at-bats," Yost said. "It pays off. Any time Prince gets on and Brownstein does his thing, we have a good chance, especially with Krieger and Ellington and (Cameron) Garfield coming up."

 

The Brewers have a day off today before starting another homestand against the Great Falls Voyagers (13-13) starting Thursday.

 

"We should be running away with this division," Gonzales said. "I've said it before, we're better than our record shows. Maybe the guys are coming around. I know we're communicating a lot better and making less mistakes than earlier in the year."

[igor67]

I don't really think it's fair that Helena has to play a team that gets ghost runners http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Never Outhustled]

Its becoming obvious that the illness Jones was suffering from was effecting his pitching. Now that he's past that, he can continue his very strong 2009 season.

[TheCrew07]

Sorry for the lack of Pre-Game audio lately, I've been entertaining guests and had to work the WFCA All-Star Football game over the weekend.? Hunstviille was delayed long enough that the 2 interviews segments were running at the same time, Brett was inteviewing Mike Bell, but Steve was interviewing Kristian Bueno, since I can only record one I went with the Brewer interview from Steve.? Then to top it all off, Houndbite was down last night.

 

[CheezWizHed]

Here's the oldest archived Link Report -- the Smithsonian has it on parchment...

I don't think that Prince kid in Beloit will amount to much.

Funny how Bill Hall's BA is about the same then and now...

[brewmann04]

the Best News is not Only is Jones healthy but more Important pitching well. Any Chance does he move up to 3a before the end of the Year.