Link Report for Wed. 4/21 -- Lunchtime Audio Feast Results in Three Victories

[homer]

14Ks in 7 2/3 innings.

 

 

Nice.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 7, West Tenn (Mariners) 0

 

Huntsville Box Score

As noted, I was able to listen to Chad (and Aaron, I believe) for the call, they work very well together, and the two-man booth is a rarity from past years for road games on any level of Brewer affiliate calls -- so a nice game experience; Mark Rogers tossed five scoreless, 46 of 80 pitches for strikes, but only two walks -- the impression I got from the call of the game was that Mark had the hitters off-balance throughout, and his power breaking stuff, when snapped over properly, is just killer -- not a lot of speed gun discussion, but Rogers was definitely on the north side of 90 consistently, naturally, with his fast ball -- lots of three-ball counts, somewhat Rich Harden-like, which isn't a bad potential big league comp, actually; plenty of love for reliever Jim Henderson's season-long efforts, as he tossed three scoreless here, facing the minimum; Zelous Wheeler gave Taylor Green a defensive day off at third base and reached four times, six times in the series' two games thus far; Green doubled (his 9th!) and singled as the DH; Lee Haydel has had a nice consistent start to his season, five walks thus far in 42 AB's -- he only walked 17 times last season at Brevard in 491 AB's...

 

Huntsville Play-by-Play

Mark Rogers did not have a 1-2-3 inning, but you didn't get the sense he was ever in any real trouble, even with two men on at times; catcher Martin Maldonado reminded his new teammates that he can gun down baserunners with the best of them, a very strong throw on the Diamond Jaxx's only attempt to help out Rogers; the Stars flooded the bases with 23 runners (12 hits, eight walks, three HBP's), stranding 13, which is OK when seven others cross the plate; perhaps a scoring change was made in the 8th -- Lorenzo Cain singled in both the 8th and 9th innings, so his hit streak extension wasn't quite as dramatic as described in an earlier post...

[battlekow]

Final: Wisconsin 5, Cedar Rapids 2

 

Good day for Fatse

GRAND CHUTE,

WI – Pete Fatse stayed hot and Efrain Nieves warmed up for the Wisconsin

Timber Rattlers on Wednesday afternoon. Fatse extended his hitting

streak

to seven games with a 3-for-4 day at the plate that included a homer, a

triple

and three RBI to pace the offense. Nieves picked up the win with four

innings of scoreless relief and picked up a little redemption as the

Rattlers topped

the Cedar Rapids Kernels 5-2 at Time Warner Cable Field.

 

 

 

Cedar Rapids

(7-7) stole four bases and scored two runs in the first inning on

Tuesday

night. They did it again on Wednesday afternoon. Rattlers starting

pitcher Jake Odorizzi got the first out of the game before Matt Long

singled

and stole second. Odorizzi got the second out of the frame on a

strikeout. Then, Carlos Ramirez drew a walk and Long stole third base

on ball

four. With Luis Jimenez at the plate, Ramirez would steal second to get

into scoring position. Odorizzi got ahead of Jimenez 1-2, but the

Kernels’

third baseman blooped in a single to center to knock in both runs.

Jimenez stole second and Odorizzi walked another batter in the inning,

but he

got out of the frame without any further damage.

 

 

 

Wisconsin (6-8)

tied the game in the bottom of the second. Fatse and Sean Halton had

back-to-back singles to start the inning. Austin Stockfisch sent a slow

roller to second that moved the runners up to second and third. Michael

Marseco’s slow roller up the first baseline got Fatse home with the

first

Rattlers run. Then, Franklin Romero, Jr. tied the game with a sharp

single through the right side of the infield to send Halton home.

 

 

 

Odorizzi

steadied himself after the shaky first inning. He would allow just one

more hit, one more walk, and no more runs over the next three innings.

The righty went four innings and struck out seven.

 

 

 

 

 

Fatse untied

the game with a two-out, solo home run to right field. It was the

second

home run of the season for the Rattlers’ third baseman.

 

Nieves, who

went 0-2 with an ERA of 10.80 in his first two starts of the season,

took over

for Odorizzi and worked a perfect fifth and sixth inning. He allowed

two

base runners in both the seventh and eighth innings, but escaped

unscathed and kept

the Rattlers up 3-2. That put him in line for his first win of the

season.

 

 

 

Fatse

provided insurance for the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the

eighth,

he laced a two-run triple into the corner in right to put the Rattlers

up 5-2.

Fatse is 14-for-25 (.560) during his hitting streak.

 

 

 

Chad Robinson

walked three in the top of the ninth inning, but a nifty 6-4-3 double

play after

the first walk kept the Kernels from threatening to tie the game.

 

 

 

The final

game of the three game set between the Kernels and Rattlers is Thursday

night. It is a WIXX Thirsty Thursday with 22 oz. sodas and 16 oz. beers

for $2. Also, the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a

Michael Marseco poster from Express Convenience Centers.

 

 

 

 

 

Additionally,

the Rattlers are holding a Let’s CAN Hunger Food Drive to benefit local

food pantries. Fans who bring in a non-perishable food item will

receive

$1 off their ticket price.

 

Plus, it is

also College Night. By showing a valid college ID, fans may purchase

reserved seat or general admission ticket for $1. College students with

a

canned food item and a college ID receive a free ticket.

 

 

 

Eric Arnett

(0-2, 10.57ERA) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber

Rattlers. Tyler Kehrer (0-0, 4.76ERA) is set to start for the Kernels.

Wisconsin box score

Eight walks allowed total by Rattlers pitching on the day. Odorizzi settled down nicely after the first, allowing just a single and a walk in the next three innings and striking out four of the last six men he faced. Overall, he allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings while striking out seven. D'Vontrey Richardson went 2-4, Scooter Gennett drew a walk, Khris Davis had a single, and Chris Dennis had a double.

 

Wisconsin play-by-play

Five of Odorizzi's seven K's were looking.

[Mass Haas]

BK, you beat me to it with your post as we duplicated efforts, but I'll leave my own thoughts here...

 

Wisconsin Box Score

Rattlers reach double-digit hits again with ten -- not sure what the final won-loss record will show, but this year's squad is going to be exceedingly more entertaining than the 2009 club; although he was on the active roster, Pete Fatse sat idle for most of week one, perhaps with a nagging something, but you have to check out his numbers from his first seven games with plate appearances; eight-game hit streak for Khris Davis, six-game streak for Chris Dennis, three straight two-hit games for Sean Halton; Jake Odorizzi has 19 K's in 12 innings thus far; we read the story this AM about Efrain Nieves and him needing a wake-up call -- message delivered (and received), apparently...

[battlekow]

Rattler Radio:

 

What Chris's gut is telling him

[SoCalBrewfan]

Yeah, there's your closer for the next six years minimum, Milwaukee.

 

Woah Solvd? But let's not be hasty...I'm sure there's an expensive and fading free agent available who's been through the wars....

 

Seriously, I'm afraid to notice that the guy is doing so well. Must...not...raise...hopes...

[pete]

If there ever was a guy who looks like he could qualify for the medical use of steroids, Mike is the guy. Has he filled out any this year?

[trwi7]

Which is heavier? A Michael Marseco poster or Michael Marseco?

[battlekow]

A Free Mike Marseco poster

I originally interpreted this as someone here promoting a "Free Mike Marseco!" message and was going to welcome Mrs. Marseco to the board.

[bork]

Some nice pitching throughout the organization today.

[sfl2hnq17]

what about that Komatsu fella? he seems to have figured something out.

[DHonks]

Nice night for me to have Komatsu in MiLB Beat the Streak

[battlekow]

Nightmare 6th inning for the Manatees. Merklinger, who had been phenomenal up to that point, and Frerichs combine to allow six runs, tying the game.

[TheCrew07]

The other BK, Brock Kjeldgaard, sure hasn't hit for much power yet this year, though he is RH and Space Coast's 20 MPH winds blowing in from LF do tend to beat down the RH batter.

[battlekow]

Stars shutout Jaxx on Wednesday

DiamondJaxx.com

 

JACKSON, TN. (April 21, 2010) - The Diamond Jaxx (4-9) lost on Wednesday

afternoon at Pringles Park to the Huntsville Stars (9-4) in front of

1,376 fans, 7-0. The mostly school kids at the ballpark saw the Jaxx

drop their fifth straight game of the year. The shutout loss is the

first suffered this season. The Stars trail the first place Tennessee

Smokies (10-2) by just two games in the Southern League North Division.

 

The bright spot offensively for West Tenn on Wednesday was Mariners

first round pick (2nd overall) Dustin Ackley who finished the day

2-for-3 with a walk and a triple. The Jaxx pounded out six hits in the

loss. Huntsville received multi-hit games from Zelous Wheeler, Taylor

Green, Lee Haydel and Andy Machado.

 

 

The Stars had a great day on the mound with Mark Rogers (1-1), Jim

Henderson and Robert Hinton combined to strike out eight and walk just

three in the shutout. Taking the loss for West Tenn was Mauricio Robles

(1-1), who tossed his shortest outing in three starts (3.2 innings) and

gave up three runs on five hits. The Jaxx used five pitchers in the

game.

 

 

The Stars scored first again Wednesday morning on a wild pitch by

Diamond Jaxx pitcher, Mauricio Robles. Anderson Machado scored on the

wild pitch after leading off the inning with a triple. The Stars took a

1-0 lead after the third.

 

 

Huntsville scored two more runs in the top of the fourth inning. After a

double by Zelous Wheeler, Taylor Green plated Wheeler on an RBI double.

Anderson Machado brought in Green with an RBI fielders' choice

groundout and the Stars led 3-0.

 

 

In the sixth inning, Huntsville got a leadoff triple from Lee Haydel

then Machado picked up his second RBI in the game and brought in Haydel

with a single. The Stars plated three more runs in the ninth inning

against Jaxx reliever Chris Sorce. Sorce walked five batters in the

ninth inning and hit a batter. Lorenzo Cain did drive in the final run

of the inning with a hit to left. The Stars took a 7-0 lead into the

bottom of the ninth inning and held for the shutout.

 

The Jaxx and Stars will meet again on Thursday night at 7:05 as the Jaxx

look to snap the five game losing skid. Taking the mound for the Jaxx

will be RHP Michael Pineda (0-0, 1.93) while RHP Michael Bowman (2-0,

3.60) toes the rubber for Huntsville.

[Mass Haas]

Well, this isn't your usual media release:

 

Link Report Bonus from Stars' GM Buck Rogers --

 

The seats directly behind the Stars bullpen bench have been taped off. Last week we had a young fan who had 'a reversal of fortune' after downing a couple blue slushies, ice cream and some other ballpark fare. The unlucky recipients in the bullpen received their surprise donation down their backs and one of the guys trotted out to the mound during the game where catcher Jonathan Lucroy remarked that he smelled pretty ripe. The unnamed pitcher made it thru the game, although we think it went above and beyond the call of duty while wearing a funkadelic jersey. Hence, those few seats are now cordoned off to allow a buffer between the bullpen pitchers and the fans behind them to prevent any accidental discharges of stomach contents in the future. The bullpen pitchers appreciate your understanding.

 

Well, that makes me want to run out and get a burrito...

 

***

 

I was going to use the color fonts to brighten that text, but the imagery speaks for itself, yikes...

[Mass Haas]

Brett's Post-Crescent blog post crammed with stuff, including Pete Fatse Jeff Isom, and yes, Doug Melvin (there for the game today) quotes

[battlekow]

Final: Dunedin 9, Brevard County 8 (10 innings)

 

Brevard County box score
This was an unfortunate combo of bad pitching and bad defense. With a chance for the system to go 5-0 today, the Manatees blew a six-run lead in the 6th inning and then, after regaining the advantage, a two-run lead in the 9th before losing in the 10th. Dan Merklinger had a gem going through five innings, allowing no runs on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks, but loaded the bases with one out in the 6th. He struck out the next batter but then surrendered a two-run single, prompting a call to the bullpen for Corey Frerichs, who promptly allowed three consecutive hits to bring in the other four runs. In the bottom of the 9th, Nick Green also loaded the bases, this time with no outs. It looks like he almost got out of it, striking the next man out and then inducing a possible game-ending double play grounder, but Brent Brewer threw the ball away to allow the tying runs to score. Similarly, the winning run scored on a bases-loaded grounder with one out in the 10th, as pitcher Dan Meadows threw home to force the lead runner for the second out before catcher Anderson de la Rosa's throwing error, presumably while trying to retire the batter, allowed the runner from second to score. It's too bad that the rare offensive explosion from the Manatees had to go to waste, particularly Erik Komatsu's fine night. The left fielder was 4-4 with three doubles and a walk and four runs scored. Erik Miller added two doubles and Brock Kjeldgaard a two-run homer and a walk; in all, the 'Tees totaled eight extra-base hits, which is about a week's allotment under normal circumstances.

 

Brevard County play-by-play

BC had a great chance to extend their lead in the top of the 9th, but fell on their faces:

 

Brevard County Top 9th

• Sergio Miranda singles on a
  ground ball to right fielder Welinton Ramirez.
• Erik Komatsu
  doubles (6) on a line drive to left fielder Brian Van Kirk. Sergio
  Miranda to 3rd.
• Boomer Potts intentionally walks Brock
  Kjeldgaard.
• Erik Miller grounds into a force out, shortstop
  Tyler Pastronicky to catcher Yan Gomes. Sergio Miranda out at home.
  Erik Komatsu to 3rd. Brock Kjeldgaard to 2nd. Erik Miller to
  1st.
• Anderson De La Rosa flies into double play, right fielder
  Welinton Ramirez to catcher Yan Gomes. Erik Komatsu out at home on
  the throw.

Kjeldgaard was also thrown out at home in the 7th inning.

[TheCrew07]

Which draftee from last season was featured by the website claiming to increase bat speed? It wasn't Fatse was it?

 

edit. Ha, on a night when I'm just taking it easy looking at stats I call out Brock K and he had already gone yard. Way to make me eat it young man.

[battlekow]

Which draftee from last season was featured by the website claiming to increase bat speed? It wasn't Fatse was it?

Yeah, it was Fatse:

Pete Fatse, a minor leaguer in the Milwaukee Brewers

system was able to add 8 mph to his bat speed in only 3

weeks (9 workouts)!

[TheCrew07]

Well I must say that's pretty interesting.

[battlekow]

edit. Ha, on a night when I'm just taking it easy looking at stats I call out Brock K and he had already gone yard. Way to make me eat it young man.

Wow, I didn't even realize it was the Manatees' first home run of the year.

[Mass Haas]

Brad with his Wisconsin blog report -- first-hand account, 89 photos from the game, nice as always. Nice one of D'Vontrey Richardson here, although many are really sharp and effective.

[hsvstarsfan]

Lorenzo Cain now just tied the club record for hitting streak to begin a season, 13. Cain was fortunate to salvage the streak, as his mates did a nice job of batting around in the 9th to give him a final chance to extend. Stars with a 7-0 lead to the final half-inning, I've listened to most every pitch, and will chime in a bit later on.

The hitting streak is 14. Justin Bowles established that during the Stars' Oakland era in 1998. He tied the Brewer-era streak though, set by Mickey Lopez.

 

 

[hsvstarsfan]

Link Report Bonus from Stars' GM Buck Rogers --

 

The seats directly behind the Stars bullpen bench have been taped off. Last week we had a young fan who had 'a reversal of fortune' after downing a couple blue slushies, ice cream and some other ballpark fare. The unlucky recipients in the bullpen received their surprise donation down their backs and one of the guys trotted out to the mound during the game where catcher Jonathan Lucroy remarked that he smelled pretty ripe. The unnamed pitcher made it thru the game, although we think it went above and beyond the call of duty while wearing a funkadelic jersey. Hence, those few seats are now cordoned off to allow a buffer between the bullpen pitchers and the fans behind them to prevent any accidental discharges of stomach contents in the future. The bullpen pitchers appreciate your understanding.

 

 

That's unfortunate. In the quarter-century history of the Stars at Joe Davis Stadium, the fans here have been very well-behaved. There have never been any major incidents, and the beer drinkers who've gotten out of hand have been rare. This area behind the bullpen has been a great spot to get autographs before a game. Now one person has totally ruined it for everyone. I can't blame Buck for doing what he did. The safety of the players, as much as the fans, are of paramount concern. And I can't blame security, for I've seen them do an excellent job over the years of taking care of the obnoxious types who come disguised as fans.