Link Report for Thurs. 4/15 -- Latest: Full audio archive of Manatee victory available

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Media Notes:

 

Tidbits include news on the "alternate" jerseys bringing luck...

[battlekow]

Final: Nashville 1, Omaha 0

Nashville Moves To 7-1 With Win Over Omaha

NashvilleSounds.com

 

OMAHA, Neb. - The Nashville Sounds topped the division-rival Omaha

Royals, 1-0, on Thursday night at Rosenblatt Stadium thanks to a Brendan

Katin game-winning sacrifice fly that scored second baseman Eric Farris

for the contest's only run in the top of the ninth inning.

 

Nashville improves to 7-1 on the season after sweeping the Iowa Cubs and

taking three of four from Omaha over the four-game series.

Starter Marco Estrada was brilliant again for the Sounds, throwing seven

shutout innings while allowing just two hits and two walks with four

strikeouts. The right-hander has shutout the opposition through his

first 13 innings as a member of the Brewers organization, but has only

received one run of support in his first two starts.

 

Reliever Chris Smith shut the door for his PCL-leading fifth save after

throwing a scoreless ninth frame. Right-hander Mike McClendon (1-0)

added another scoreless inning, throwing a perfect eighth in relief to

earn the win.

 

 

Farris singled to center field to begin the top of the ninth inning. The

speedy second baseman moved to second base on a Trent Oeltjen

sacrifice, went to third on a Greg Holland wild pitch, and then scored

the game-winning run on a Katin sacrifice fly

 

 

Outfielder Norris Hopper's third inning two-out single was the Sounds

only hit through the first seven frames off Omaha starter Bruce Chen.

Erick Almonte snapped out of a 0-for-10 slump to record the Sounds other

hit in the eighth inning off Holland.

 

 

Chen earned a no-decision for the Royals after the left-hander

surrenderd one hit with two walks and six strikeouts over seven shutout

innings. Holland (0-1) took the loss after allowing one run on three

hits in two innings.

 

 

The Sounds travel home to Music City to begin their season-opening

eight-game homestand, facing off against the division-rival Iowa Cubs on

Friday night at 6:35 pm CT, which Nashville swept last week in Iowa.

 

Nashville box score

Unsurprisingly for a game in which the Sounds put only six men on base, there's not much to point out beyond the recap. New guys Estrada and Chuck Lofgren are working out pretty well so far, eh? Before Farris in the 9th, neither team had a runner reach third base. Would you believe Bruce Chen is only 33?

 

Nashville play-by-play

[Mass Haas]

Chris Mehring just mentioned on his post-game that he does not have an update on Scooter Gennett, and while he hoped to give an update on Friday, he reminded his listeners that he and the Rattlers can only release so much info with the HIPPA rules and such.

[battlekow]

Final: Burlington 11, Wisconsin 4

Bees sting Rattlers with big first inning

Chris Mehring/TimberRattlers.com

GRAND CHUTE,

WI – Community Field is turning into a house of horrors for the

Wisconsin

Timber Rattlers. The Rattlers lost their seventh straight game at the

home of

the Burlington Bees when Burlington topped them 11-4 on Thursday night.

The Bees

scored six times in the first inning and twice more in the second inning

as

they cruised to the victory.

 

 

 

For the

second night in a row, the Bees (3-5) sent 10 men to the plate in the

first

inning. Also for the second night in a row, the Bees scored all of

their first

inning runs after there were two outs. Carlo Testa started the scoring

when

his bloop hit dropped in just fair down the left field line for a

two-run

double. Rattlers starting pitcher Efrain Nieves walked the next batter

and

gave up an infield single to load the bases.

 

 

 

Jose Bonilla

reached on an infield single to third. First baseman Sean Halton lost

Pete

Fatse’s throw in the setting sun and three runs scored on the play.

Bonilla,

who wound up on third base on the play, scored moments later on a single

by

Ryan Stovall to make the score 6-0.

 

 

 

The Bees

added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Gerard Hall

cracked a

two-run double with the bases loaded and Burlington was up 8-0.

 

 

 

D’Vontrey

Richardson put Wisconsin (3-5) on the board with a two-run double of his

own in

the top of the third. Michael Marseco plated a run in the top of the

sixth with

a sacrifice fly to make the score 8-3.

 

 

 

 

 

But, the Bees

had a couple of answers to the Wisconsin runs. Hall drove in his

seventh run

of the series with a ground out in the sixth inning. Hilton Richardson

hit a

long two-run home run in the seventh and the Bees went up 11-3.

 

Marseco drove

in his second run of the game with a two-out single in the top of the

eighth

inning. But, that was it for the Rattlers offense.

 

 

 

Ryan Lafferty

was the winning pitcher as he worked 5-1/3 innings in relief and struck

out

five batters.

 

 

 

 

 

Nieves, who

took most of the damage, was charged with the loss. He gave up eight

runs (six

earned) on eight hits and three walks.

 

Wisconsin and

Burlington wrap up their three game series on Friday night. The Timber

Rattlers have Jake Odorizzi (0-0, 0.00) as their scheduled starter.

Burlington

will counter with Matt Mitchell (0-0, 3.86).

 

Wisconsin box score

Two straight execrable starts for the Rattlers. It's too bad Hiram Burgos was only able to get an inning in; hopefully we'll see him again soon. D'Vontrey Richardson's average is creeping up, as his two doubles in five trips make him 7 for his last 22 after a 1-12 start. As mentioned above, Scooter Gennett left the game in the third inning with an apparent injury but did extend his hitting streak to seven with a first-inning single; he also walked in the third. Khris Davis was 1-5 but grounded into two double plays, Chris Dennis 0-4 with a HBP, and Cameron Garfield 0-4 with a walk. Down at the bottom of the order, Pete Fatse chipped in with a double and a walk and Mighty Mike Marseco was 1-1 with two walks.

 

Wisconsin play-by-play

Down 8-2 in the 5th, the Rattlers might have gotten back into it with a big hit from Dennis, but it wasn't to be:

 

Wisconsin Top 5th

• Michael Marseco walks.
• Franklin
  Romero flies out to right fielder Rene Oriental in foul territory.
• D'
  Vontrey Richardson pops out to second baseman Gerard Hall.
• Joseph
  Paciorek walks. Michael Marseco to 2nd.
• Pitcher Change:
  Brendan Lafferty replaces Tyler Sample.
• Khristopher Davis
  reaches on fielding error by shortstop Deivy Batista. Michael Marseco
  to 3rd. Joseph Paciorek to 2nd.
• Chris Dennis grounds out
  to first baseman Fernando Cruz.

Looks like Richardson was caught committing a cardinal baserunning sin, trying to advance on a grounder hit in front of him:

 

Wisconsin Top 9th

• D' Vontrey Richardson doubles (3) on
  a line drive to left fielder Carlo Testa.
• Joseph Paciorek
  reaches on a fielder's choice out, shortstop Deivy Batista to first
  baseman Joey Lewis to third baseman Ryan Stovall. D' Vontrey
  Richardson out at 3rd.

[battlekow]

Final: Jacksonville 7, Huntsville 2

 

Huntsville box score

Well, the offense didn't quite show up tonight, not enough to overcome Alex Periard allowing five runs in 5.2 innings, anyway. The Stars were down only 2-1 entering the 6th, but Periard gave up a three-spot and the Suns cruised from there to victory. Looks like it would have been a frustrating game to watch as a spectator, as the two staffs combined for eleven walks, seven wild pitches, and three hit batters. Mark Willinsky had an interesting night, allowing a run on two hits and two walks in two innings but striking out six. The offense the Stars did produce was keyed by Lorenzo Cain's two hits, walk, and two stolen bases. Jonathan Lucroy had a single and walk, Caleb Gindl tallied a double and, offended, threw a runner out at third, and Taylor Green and Brett Lawrie each walked once. Lawrie's patience thus far has been great, but with his 0-4 night otherwise (three strikeouts), his average is down to .192.

Huntsville play-by-play

The 6th that sunk the Stars:

 

Jacksonville Top 6th

• Offensive Substitution: Pinch
  hitter Lee Mitchell replaces Tom Koehler.
• Lee Mitchell strikes
  out swinging.
• Lorenzo Scott singles on a fly ball to center
  fielder Lorenzo Cain.
• With Osvaldo Martinez batting, wild
  pitch by Alex Periard, Lorenzo Scott to 2nd.
• Osvaldo Martinez
  doubles (3) on a fly ball to center fielder Lorenzo Cain. Lorenzo
  Scott scores.
• Coaching visit to mound.
• Alex Periard
  intentionally walks Mike Stanton.
• With Mark Saccomanno
  batting, wild pitch by Alex Periard, Osvaldo Martinez to 3rd. Mike
  Stanton to 2nd.
• Mark Saccomanno lines out to second baseman
  Brett Lawrie.
• Matt Dominguez singles on a fly ball to center
  fielder Lorenzo Cain. Osvaldo Martinez scores. Mike Stanton
  scores.
• Pitcher Change: Mike Jones replaces Alex Periard,
  batting 9th.
• Jason Delaney
  strikes out swinging.

[battlekow]

Chris's gut tells him and us that D'Vontrey Richardson just missed a homer tonight.

[Mass Haas]

Chris Mehring just mentioned on his post-game that he does not have an update on Scooter Gennett, and while he hoped to give an update on Friday, he reminded his listeners that he and the Rattlers can only release so much info with the HIPPA rules and such.

I should also say that Chris did mention that he didn't know if it was even an injury at all that had Gennett leaving the game. So I don't want to imply it was. Chris' postgame mention was that he just didn't know at any point in the broadcast -- no update from the dugout on this at all for him, as he indicated.

 

 

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Sounds strike fast behind pitching

Team's 2.14 ERA is tops in PCL

By Maurice Patton, THE TENNESSEAN

 

The Nashville Sounds could not have gotten off to a much better start.

 

And with the team returning to Nashville for their home opener Friday night (7:05), the excitement of a new season is running at a fever pitch.

 

"For me it means not just seeing the team for the first time, but all the fans and ushers at Greer Stadium," said Molly Reed, a season-ticket holder for nearly 10 years. "It's like a reunion. I'm also looking forward to seeing what the new owners have done, and are doing, as they go into Year 2."

 

Entering Thursday's Pacific Coast League games, only five other teams in affiliated minor league baseball had won as many games as the Sounds through their first seven, and no Class AAA team could match Nashville's 7-1 start.

 

Over the previous 10 seasons, only once have the Sounds — who take on Iowa for the first four games of an eight-game homestand — had more success through mid-April. The 2003 team started with eight straight victories and 14 wins in its first 15 games, en route to a berth in the Pacific Coast League championship series.

 

The formula, by veteran Manager Don Money's assessment, has been a proven one: pitching, defense and timely hitting.

 

Nashville's 2.14 earned run average through seven games was the PCL's best, as were the Sounds' six saves. And while the team's batting average was a paltry .217 and its 25 runs scored were fourth-worst in the league, the Sounds were the first team in the league to hit 10 home runs.

 

"We're not getting a lot of hits," Money said. "We're not stinging the ball like we're capable. We haven't had double-digit hits but once (in the season opener at Iowa). But we're getting the big hit. I don't think anybody would have expected us to have 10 homers this early.

 

"Our pitching has been exceptional. The starters have been pretty solid for the most part, and the relievers have been very solid. The defense has been solid. That's a nice little combination right now, but it's a 144-game season."

 

A couple of returnees have helped lead the way for Nashville. Outfielder Brendan Katin's two-run homer in Wednesday's victory at Omaha was his league-leading fourth of the year — a total matched by only one other player at the minor league level — and no other reliever in the minors has as many saves as Chris Smith, who notched his fifth in Thursday's 1-0 victory at Omaha.

 

"Being out in the field, the feeling is that if we have a lead in the seventh, eighth, ninth inning, the game's over," Katin said. "The bullpen's been lights out, and the starters have been putting us in position to give the lead to the bullpen, which has been really nice.

 

"Offensively, we've been lucky. We've been scoring just enough. We're still waiting for that offensive outburst, that high-scoring game that we haven't had yet."

[Mass Haas]

Big leaguers, take note -- Umpire Joe West kind of series...

 

The Nashville-Omaha time of game was 2 hours, 4 minutes, one night after a brief 2:15 game. The average time of games during the four-game series was 2:17. -- Omaha.com

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Stars fail to shine vs. Suns

By Brad Shepard, for The Huntsville Times

 

Throughout the first game of the series against the Huntsville Stars, Tom Koehler watched and devised a game plan.

 

When the Jacksonville starting pitcher took the mound in Thursday night's 7-2 win over the Stars, he executed that blueprint - with a whole lot of help from the home team, which was just like he'd drawn it up.

 

"Definitely I saw last night they're an aggressive team, and I tried to use that against them," Koehler said. "They helped me in a lot of situations where I got the ball up, and they fouled it off or something, which allowed me to get ahead in the count.

 

"If you know they're a team that's going to chase balls, it allows you to expand the zone a little more often."

 

Every time Koehler needed to make a big pitch, he did. Every time the Stars had a prime opportunity, they failed to capitalize. After Huntsville scored 30 runs in its four-game winning streak, there was little for the 1,959 fans at Joe Davis Stadium to celebrate.

 

The Stars loaded the bases with only one out in the first inning, but Koehler struck Taylor Green out looking and got Steffan Wilson to fly out to end the threat.

 

In the second inning, Koehler - perfectly imperfect throughout his five innings of work - hit Lee Haydel, who was promptly caught stealing. Then he walked Zelous Wheeler before picking him off first.

 

"(Koehler) located well tonight, and we just weren't as patient as we should have been and swung at some bad pitches," Stars leadoff hitter Lorenzo Cain said, "and we just ran ourselves out of innings."

 

Suns catcher Chris Hatcher made sure Jacksonville didn't. With two outs in the second, he knocked home Jason Delaney and Ryan Curry with a single to break through off Stars starter Alex Periard.

 

They padded that lead in the fifth when an RBI single by Osvaldo Martinez and a two-run hit by Matt Dominguez made it 5-1 and chased Periard (0-2).

 

The Stars finished with five hits.

[brewmann04]

Kudos to Pitching Coach / Scout Rich Gale on getting the brewers to pluck Estrada so far the early results have been good.

Seems Like Steffan Wilson has been struggling in the early part of the year for huntsville.

[Mass Haas]

Stephen's full archived game call of the Brevard County 3-2, ten-inning win Thursday night is now available on his site, spacecoastbaseball.com. You'll see the link for the April 15th archive.

 

The game-tying rally in the 9th begins at the 02:15:00 hour/minute mark. Enjoy.