Link Report for Wed. 5/5 -- Rattlers Split in Excrutiating Fashion; Sounds, Stars Fall in Evening Action

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Daily Menu: Again, plenty of audio to bridge the gap to Dodger Stadium...

Times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Chuck Lofgren at Round Rock (Astros), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime

Live Audio Link

 

Huntsville: LHP Chris Cody at home vs. West Tenn (Mariners), 6:45 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime

Live Audio Link

 

Brevard County: RHP Michael Fiers at home vs. Clearwater (Phillies), 9:35 AM gametime

Sorry, no audio for this series...

 

Wisconsin: First, it's RHP Kyle Heckathorn at home vs. Quad Cities (Cardinals) in the completion of Tuesday's suspended game (scoreless, bottom of the 3rd inning), 10:45 AM pre-game; 11:00 gametime; then it's RHP Maverick Lasker in the regularly scheduled nightcap (afternoon-cap?); game one to be played through nine innings, game two through seven frames

Live Audio Link

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com video subscribers can watch the Nashville series in Round Rock this week.

[Mass Haas]

Follow Wednesday's action as it happens:

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

 

Nashville (Gameday also available)

 

Huntsville (Gameday also available)

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin Completion of Tuesday's Suspended Game

 

Wisconsin Regularly Scheduled Game

[Mass Haas]

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nashville 16 8 .667 - 5-5 11-3 L2 
Omaha 13 12 .520 3.5 5-9 8-3 L1 
Memphis 11 13 .458 5.0 6-4 5-9 W2 
Iowa 10 15 .400 6.5 5-9 5-6 L1 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennessee 18 7 .720 - 6-4 12-3 W1 
Huntsville 15 11 .577 3.5 5-6 10-5 L1 
Chattanooga 12 13 .480 6.0 8-7 4-6 L1 
West Tenn 12 13 .480 6.0 4-10 8-3 W1 
Carolina 7 18 .280 11.0 2-8 5-10 L3 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clearwater 17 8 .680 - 11-3 6-5 W6 
Dunedin 14 11 .560 3.0 5-6 9-5 L2 
Tampa 14 12 .538 3.5 8-7 6-5 W2 
Lakeland 12 13 .480 5.0 7-6 5-7 W1 
Brevard County 10 15 .400 7.0 4-8 6-7 L2 
Daytona 9 17 .346 8.5 3-8 6-9 L1

[Mass Haas]

MID Western (click column headers to sort)
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Peoria	17	9	.654	-	13-1	4-8	7-3	W2
	Beloit	16	9	.640	0.5	8-5	8-4	8-2	W2
	Quad Cities	15	10	.600	1.5	9-4	6-6	4-6	L3
	Cedar Rapids	13	13	.500	4.0	9-4	4-9	6-4	L1
	Kane County	12	14	.462	5.0	8-4	4-10	5-5	W1
	Clinton	11	15	.423	6.0	6-7	5-8	4-6	L2
	Burlington	10	16	.385	7.0	6-7	4-9	5-5	L1
	Wisconsin	8	16	.333	8.0	5-6	3-10	2-8	L1

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio:

May 5, 2010: Today's Pitchers

 

***

 

Also, MiLB.com has never handled the game play-by-play logs very effectively for suspended games. Currently the game log link is useless, it may be fixed by those folks later on. It'll be nice if Gameday ever migrates to A-ball.

[Mass Haas]

PDF document:

 

Nashville Media Notes

 

Among the many nuggets worth learning --

 

Sounds pitchers currently carry a higher average (.250, 8-for-32) than the club’s position players (.249).

[TheCrew07]

Sounds pitchers currently carry a higher average (.250, 8-for-32) than the club’s position players (.249).

Well there's 2 ways to look at that I guess, but that speaks volumes about the position players in Nashville. Heether and Lucroy are the only 2 guys I'm following, and Heether sure has struggled to start the season.

 

Another interesting note that Chris just mentioned. The T-Rats just scored the most runs in an inning since becoming a Brewer affiliate. They scored 5 runs in an inning twice last season, 5 runs in an inning on Sunday, but the 6 runs today is franchise high now as a Brewer affiliate.

[battlekow]

Final: Clearwater 3, Brevard County 2

 

Brevard County box score

Mike Fiers couldn't make it out of the 5th inning but didn't really get roughed up, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks in his 4.2 innings while striking out four; he got six ground outs against three air outs. Lucas Luetge relieved him and, despite allowing just a run in his 3.1 innings, was the loser after the Manatees couldn't scratch out a run to tie the game. Juan Sanchez, 1-3 with a walk, and Matt Cline, 2-4, were the only Manatees on base more than once. Josh Prince was 0-2 with a walk (after which he was promptly picked off) and a sac bunt. Shawn Zarraga drew a walk to prop up his hitless effort. Erik Komatsu was out of the lineup--probably just a day off, but with the way things are going for minor league outfielders in this system I wouldn't be surprised if he suffered a season-ending injury brushing his teeth. Kentrail Davis, meanwhile got his seventh consecutive "day off".

 

Brevard County play-by-play

First & second, no outs, leadoff hitter up? Time to sac bunt!

 

Brevard County Bottom 3rd

• Anderson De La Rosa
  singles on a line drive to center fielder Anthony Gose.
• Steve
  Braun singles on a line drive to center fielder Anthony Gose.
  Anderson De La Rosa to 2nd.
• Josh Prince out on a sacrifice
  bunt, third baseman Cody Overbeck to first baseman Jim Murphy.
  Anderson De La Rosa to 3rd. Steve Braun to 2nd.

I mean, it worked, in that the Manatees scored twice that inning, but if that's Prince's best play in that situation, he shouldn't be leading off.

 

[filthyfrog]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict Lawrie goes 1-4 tonight. I've been referring to him as Mr. 1-4 in my head for a while now - that's what he's done in 7 of the last 10 games and of course he's hitting exactly .250.

[battlekow]

Final: Wisconsin 9, Quad Cities 7

 

Rattlers offense gives Heckathorn first pro win

Chris Mehring/Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE,

WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored six runs in the bottom of

the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie. Wisconsin held on for a 9-7 win

over the Quad Cities River Bandits in the conclusion of a game that was

suspended on Tuesday night. Kyle Heckathorn, the 47^th

overall

pick in the 2009 draft, picked up his first pro win with help from the

offensive outburst on Wednesday afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

The game had

been halted in the middle of the third inning on Tuesday night due to

severe

weather in the Fox Cities area. Neither team scored on Tuesday, but it

didn’t take long for either team long to crack the scoreboard after the

restart.

 

Quad Cities (15-11)

took the lead on a two-out RBI double by Ivan Castro in the top of the

fifth

inning.

 

 

 

 

 

Wisconsin (9-16)

took their first lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cameron

Garfield

tied the game with a solo homer to start the frame. Chris Dennis was

next

and he doubled. Franklin Romero, Jr singled with two outs to get Dennis

across the plate for a 2-1 lead.

 

Ryan Jackson

had the answer for the River Bandits in the top of the sixth. His first

professional homer came with one out in the inning to even the score.

 

 

 

 

 

Wisconsin’s

offense took control of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning

with its

most productive inning since June 25, 2008. Wisconsin loaded the bases

with no outs on a walk and two singles. Romero singled in the first

run.

One out later, Scooter Gennett doubled in two more runs. Khris Davis

followed with a two-run single. Garfield capped the scoring in the

frame

with an RBI single and the Rattlers were up 8-2.

 

Heckathorn

turned the game over to the bullpen for the top of the eighth. He

worked

four innings, allowed two runs, and struck out five to put himself in

line for

his first professional win. But, it wasn’t easy.

 

 

 

 

 

Caleb

Thielbar got the first out in the eighth with a strikeout, but a

wind-blown

double to right for Luis Mateo started a three-runs rally for the River

Bandits. Run scoring doubles for D’Marcus Ingram and Jason Stidham

and an RBI single by Matt Adams were sandwiched between two other

strikeouts

and got the Bandits to within 8-5.

 

The Rattlers

tacked on a run in their half of the eighth inning when Romero grounded

into a 5-4-3

double play with runners at the corners.

 

 

 

Quad Cities

got a runner aboard in the top of the ninth on an error. Then, Edgar

Lara

hit a two-run homer off Thielbar to make the score 9-7. Andre

Lamontagne relieved

Thielbar and got the first two outs of the inning, but walked the next

two

batters. He got the final out to pick up the save and give Wisconsin

the

win.

Wisconsin box scorePer the Rattlers' Twitter, Heckathorn threw 49 pitches, 38 of which were strikes, a phenomenal ratio. D'Vontrey Richardson walked in his first two plate appearances, but then struck out looking with Romero on third and two outs in the 5th and then, in a particularly frustrating at-bat, quickly struck out looking again with the bases loaded and none out in the 7th. Gennett finished 2-4 and just keeps on keepin' on. Davis added a walk to his single, Dennis also had a free pass, and Garfield had a third hit in addition to the two big ones mentioned above. Cutter Dykstra, DHing, was 2-4 with at triple.http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t572&gid=2010_05_04_qcsafx_wisafx_1&cid=420&t=g_box

Wisconsin play-by-playRichardson wasn't the only player having problems putting the ball in play with a runner on third and less than two outs. Romero bailed them out with his two-out RBI hit, but Dykstra and Michael Marseco both K'd with Dennis on third and nobody down in the 5th.http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t572&t=g_log&gid=2010_05_04_qcsafx_wisafx_1

[TheCrew07]

When Lasker doesn't hurt himself like he did in the 1st inning he's pretty good.

[Mass Haas]

PDF document:

 

Huntsville Media Notes

[battlekow]

Perhaps unbelievably, perhaps not, the Rattlers have blown an 8-1 lead and now trail 10-9.

[TheCrew07]

Perhaps unbelievably, perhaps not, the Rattlers have blown an 8-1 lead and now trail 10-9.

I was just coming here to post the exact same thing. I'm having a hard time believing what I'm hearing. I really thought the pitching staff was going to be the strength of this team.

[Mass Haas]

Ugh -- even if Wisconsin had held on or manages to come from behind, it would have been one of the ugliest doubleheader sweeps ever (remember, they barely held on in game one, 9-7).

One thing is sure, the bullpen is fried (and toasted today), and Nick Bucci and Del Howell need to combine for all nine innings in Thursday's tandem.

Update: Cam Garfield with a leadoff double, hold on to your hats -- tune in if you can, it's 4:05 Central time.

[battlekow]

Final: Quad Cities 10, Wisconsin 9 (7 innings)

 

Bandits steal one from Wisconsin

Chris Mehring/Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE,

WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had an 8-1 lead after four innings in

a game that was scheduled for seven Wednesday afternoon at Time Warner

Cable

Field. But, the Quad Cities River Bandits took advantage of 11 walks, a

hit batsman, two wild pitches, and three errors to mount a comeback that

gave

them a 10-9 win. The loss spoiled the day of Rattlers outfielder Khris

Davis, who was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a home run, and two RBI.

 

 

 

 

 

Jason Stidham

gave the River Bandits (16-11) a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning

with a

sacrifice fly. It was the first of his four RBI in the game.

 

Wisconsin (9-17)

rallied back with three runs in the first and four more in the second.

Scooter Gennett, Pete Fatse, and Cameron Garfield had the RBIs in the

first. Davis launched a two-run homer in the third between RBI singles

by

Gennett and Chris Dennis.

 

 

 

 

 

Rattlers

starting pitcher Maverick Lasker walked the bases loaded in the top of

the

third, but escaped with the 7-1 lead intact and after a scoreless top of

the

fourth, the Rattler offense forced a run on the scoreboard.

 

Davis doubled

and D'Vontrey Richardson, who got a bad jump away from second base, motored home.

The throw to the plate beat the former Florida State quarterback, but

Richardson jarred the ball loose from the grasp of Quad Cities’ catcher

Matt

Stock and the Rattlers had an 8-1 lead.

 

 

 

 

 

Lasker got

the first two outs in the top of the fifth inning via strikeout to give

him six

punchouts on the day. But, a single, a walk, and an RBI single ended

Lasker’s day one out shy of qualifying for his first win of the

season. The right-handed pitching prospect of the Milwaukee Brewers

went

4-2/3 innings, allowed two runs on four hits, and walked six. Jon

Pokorny

relieved Lasker and got the final out of the fifth.

 

Pokorny ran

into trouble in the sixth. He got the first out, but a single, double,

and walk loaded the bases. Pokorny hit Stidham with a pitch to force in

a

run and make the score 8-3.

 

 

 

 

 

Pokorny got

the second out, but Niko Vasquez tripled to right field to clear the

bases and

the Bandits trailed 8-6.

 

Davis and

Fatse combined to get an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth

inning.

Davis doubled with two outs and scored on a Fatse single to left field.

But, it wasn’t enough insurance.

 

 

 

 

 

Chad Robinson

came on in the seventh and got the first out. But, a walk and a single

put two on base. Fatse looked like he had saved the game when he made a

leaping catch of a line drive off the bat of Edgar Lara for the second

out. But, Stidham looped in a double to right field that drove in two

runs to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 9-8. The next two batters walked to

load the bases for Ryde Rodriguez.

 

Rodriguez

bounced a single through the middle to drive in two runs and the Bandits

went

up 10-9.

 

 

 

 

 

In the bottom

of the seventh, Garfield lined the first pitch from River Bandits’

closer

Aaron Terry off the top of the wall in left field to get the tying run

into

scoring position. Cutter Dykstra moved Garfield to third with a

grounder

to the right side of the infield. But, Terry got the final two outs to

save the game for Quad Cities.

 

The final

game of the series is Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field. Del

Howell (0-1, 12.34) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber

Rattlers. Quad Cities counters with Jorge Rondon (1-1, 1.47).

 

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY is a

WIXX Thirsty Thursday. There will be 16oz beers and 22 oz.

sodas are available for $2.

It is also another College Night with $1 reserved or general admission

seats

with a valid college ID. Plus, World Series of Poker Bracelet winner

Eric

Baldwin will be on hand to throw out a first pitch. Additionally, the

first 1,000 fans will receive a Cameron Garfield Player Poster courtesy

of

Express Convenience Centers.

 

Game time is

6:35pm. If you can’t make it to the game, you can tune into AM1280,

WNAM for the action starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at

6:15pm.

Wisconsin box score"Excruciating" is right. Sean Halton struck out with Garfield on third and one out in the 7th, and Franklin Romero flied out to end it. Obviously, awesome game from Davis, and Gennett and Garfield were both 2-4. Garfield's getting hot, 11 for his last 21. Lasker, though he did walk six, also struck out six; four of the last five outs he got were via the strikeout.http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t572&gid=2010_05_05_qcsafx_wisafx_1&cid=420&t=g_box

Wisconsin play-by-play

Read it if you dare.

[battlekow]

Final: West Tenn 7, Huntsville 3

Diamond Jaxx victimize Stars' bullpen again to take game two
Aaron Morse/Huntsville Stars

The West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (13-13) used a four-run seventh
inning to take control and defeat the Huntsville Stars (15-12) by
a final score of 7-3 on Wednesday night.

The Stars took the early lead in this game thanks to
some clutch two-out hitting from Brent Brewer. In the bottom of the
second inning Zelous Wheeler drew a lead-off walk from Diamond Jaxx
starter Steven Hensley (3-1). That was followed by a cue-shot single
down the third base line from Taylor Green. But Hensley struck out
Chris Errecart and Steffan Wilson in succession. That’s when Brewer
stepped to the dish. A wild pitch advanced Wheeler to third. It
appeared Hensley was going to get out of the jam when Brewer popped a
routine fly in foul territory on the first base side. But Johan Limonta
dropped the ball to give Brewer new life. He said ‘thank you very
much’ by singling to left to drive home Wheeler.

But that would be the only run for quite sometime for
the Stars. Chris Cody (2-3) was excellent for the first four innings,
but his defense let him down in the top of the fifth. Carlos Triunfel
hit a sharp grounder to short that Wheeler could not handle and Triunfel
was safely aboard. One out later Cody hit Carlos Peguero with a pitch,
putting runners at first and second. Limonta proceeded to redeem
himself for his earlier error with a base hit to center that scored
Triunfel. He advanced to second on the throw to the plate, putting
runners at second and third with only one down. But Cody struck out
Mike Wilson for the second out. A walk loaded the bases for former 2^nd
overall pick Dustin Ackley. Ackley singled to left to drive in
Peguero, but Brewer nailed Limonta at the plate to end the inning and
avoid further damage.

Cody
went five innings, scattering six hits and giving up two runs, but
neither was earned due to the Wheeler error.

For the second straight night the Diamond Jaxx lit up
the Stars’ bullpen. This time it was Robert Hinton suffering the
abuse. After a scoreless sixth inning, the Diamond Jaxx tagged Hinton
for four runs in the seventh. Limonta hit one practically to Tennessee
to start the inning which extended the lead to 3-1. With one down,
Hinton suffered some control problems as he walked back-to-back
hitters. Alex Liddi continued his hot hitting as he tripled to center,
clearing the bases and making the score 5-1. A Joe Dunigan single
plated Liddi and chased Hinton from the game. Mark Willinsky entered
and got the Stars out of the inning with no further damage.

Huntsville could do nothing
against Hensley as the righty went seven dominating innings, giving up
only two hits, one unearned run, walking five and striking out eight.

Aaron Jensen entered in the
eighth inning and the Stars finally got to work offensively.
Back-to-back singles from Brett Lawrie and Lee Haydel got things going.
Then the Stars’ RBI leader Caleb Gindl got another one with a double to
left that scored Lawrie. A RBI grounder from Wheeler plated Haydel but
that would be all the Stars got off Jensen. A fly-out from the
struggling Green and a ground-out from Errecart ended the rally.

A solo homer from Luis Oliveros
off Willinsky in the top of the 9^th gave the Diamond Jaxx
some nice insurance.

Josh
Fields worked a scoreless ninth for the Diamond Jaxx.

Cody suffered the hard-luck loss
while Hensley beat the Stars for the second time this year.

The good news for the Stars is
that the division-leading Tennessee Smokies also lost Wednesday night so
Huntsville remains 3 ½ back in the North.

The Stars are back in action Thursday night as they send
their ace Amaury Rivas (4-0, 0.90) to the mound. He’ll be opposed by
Dan Cortes (2-1, 6.56). First pitch is at 7:00 p.m. Central Time at Joe
Davis Stadium. Join us on
at 6:45 p.m. for the Window World Pre-Game Show as we’ll bring you all
the action from game three of the five game set.

Huntsville box score
As predicted, Lawrie was 1-4. Wheeler and Green each walked twice, and Haydel also drew a free pass, his 8th this year, almost half already of his 2009 season total (17), a very encouraging sign.

Huntsville play-by-play

[battlekow]

Final: Round Rock 2, Nashville 1

 

Sounds Drop Third Straight To Round Rock, 2-1

Nashville Sounds

 

ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Nashville Sounds suffered their third straight

defeat to the Round Rock Express, falling 2-1 on Wednesday evening at

The Dell Diamond.

 

For the third straight game, Nashville took an early lead in the contest

with a run in the top of the first inning.

 

 

Adam Heether singled with two outs against Express starter Polin

Trinidad then scored the contest's first run when Erick Almonte followed

with a triple to center.

 

 

Round Rock knotted the score in the home half of the frame with a

two-out rally of its own. Brian Bogusevic doubled with two outs off

Sounds starter Chuck Lofgren and came plateward to make it a 1-1 contest

on Chris Shelton's infield single.

 

 

The Express pulled ahead, 2-1, in the fourth on ex-Sound Jason

Bourgeois' RBI single.

 

 

Trinidad (1-0) earned his first victory of the year with a quality start

for the Express, holding Nashville to one run on four hits over six

innings.

 

 

Lofgren (4-2) drew the loss after giving up two runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3

frames of work.

 

 

Infielder Ray Olmedo went 1-for-4 for the Sounds on the evening to

extend his team-best hitting streak to 10 games.

 

 

The Sounds look to avoid the sweep when the teams conclude the series

with a 7:05 p.m. finale on Thursday. Right-hander Kameron Loe (2-1,

3.87) will make the start for Nashville.

Nashville box score

Wow, Lofgren had 14 baserunners--11 hits, two walks, and a catcher's interference--and only allowed two runs. That would be pretty lucky for a whole game, let alone 4.1 innings. Two thirds of the should-be-in-Milwaukee relief corps finished out the game, with John Axford striking out two in 1.2 innings, giving up just a hit, and Zach Braddock turning in a merely human two scoreless innings: one hit, two walks, one strikeout. Jonathan Lucroy had the day off.

 

Nashville play-by-playThe Sounds squandered a prime chance to tie the game in the 7th:

Nashville Top 7thhttp://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t556&t=g_log&gid=2010_05_05_nasaaa_rreaaa_1

• Pitcher Change: Evan Englebrook
  replaces Polin Trinidad, batting 9th.
• Trent Oeltjen triples
  (1) on a line drive to right fielder Andrew Locke.
• Ben Johnson
  strikes out swinging.
• John Raburn grounds out to first
  baseman Chris Shelton.
• Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter
  Joe Koshansky replaces John Axford.
• Joe Koshansky strikes out
  on foul tip.

[EbbaStClaire]

On a beautiful night in South Central Texas, my wife and I attended the Nashville game. I went specifically to see Lofgren pitch and hoped I would see Axford, Braddock, and LuCroy. I was really disappointed in Lofgren. I thought he was a power arm and I saw a soft-tossing lefty. Realizing that a stadium gun is highly unreliable, I thought I was watching a malfunctioning speed gun because Lofgren never exceeded 86 mph. I was happy to see Axford pitch in relief and was stunned to see him throw 95-97 mph on the same gun Lofgren was registering 86. Braddock's fastball was 93-95 and his pitch velocities were 82-95. Axford's velocities were 78- 97. Axford looked great but he did seem to have different arm action when throwing his off speed pitches compared to his fastball. It was especially noticeable during his warm-up pitches. Braddock had difficulty finishing off hitters. There seemed to be a lot of foul ball strikes after he got two strikes on the batter. He also threw a lot more pitches in two innings(42) than I thought the Brewers wanted him to throw. I wonder if they are trying to stretch him out. Braddock also spends a lot of time shaking his fingers and elbow prior to the pitch. It seemed like a habit versus an arm (elbow) problem.

 

I also met a brewerfan.net advocate whose exact monicker I can't remeber but I will edit this post when I find it.

[Mass Haas]

The Sounds squandered a prime chance to tie the game in the 7th:

Nashville Top 7thhttp://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t556&t=g_log&gid=2010_05_05_nasaaa_rreaaa_1

• Pitcher Change: Evan Englebrook replaces Polin Trinidad, batting 9th.
  
• Trent Oeltjen triples (1) on a line drive to right fielder Andrew Locke.
  
• Ben Johnson strikes out swinging.
  
• John Raburn grounds out to first baseman Chris Shelton.
  
• Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Joe Koshansky replaces John Axford.
  
• Joe Koshansky strikes out on foul tip.

The game story from the Austin Statesman indicates that the Sounds were even closer to knotting the score than the log indicates (an eventful game for Johnny Raburn) --

 

***

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

Express strand 14 but win third straight

By Danny Davis, AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT

 

Opportunity was knocking at the Dell Diamond on Wednesday night, and the Round Rock Express cracked the door open just enough to get a victory.

 

The Express stranded 14 runners on base but managed a 2-1 victory over Nashville.

 

Round Rock, which on Tuesday became the last team in the Pacific Coast League to win consecutive games, won its third straight game for the first time since closing the 2009 season with three wins.

 

After scoring 37 times in its last five games, Round Rock struggled to get any runs on Wednesday.

 

In the first five innings, Round Rock collected 11 hits but scored only twice.

 

The Express also failed to take advantage of Nashville second baseman Johnny Raburn's botched double-play turns in the second and third innings.

 

"That happens sometimes," Express manager Marc Bombard said before crediting his pitching staff.

 

After watching Nashville avoid trouble all evening, Round Rock got out of a key jam in the seventh inning to preserve its slim lead.

 

The Sounds started the inning with a statement as Trent Oeltjen tripled to right field.

 

But Evan Englebrook struck out Ben Johnson for the first out and first baseman Chris Shelton made a nice snag of a Raburn grounder to record the second out.

 

With Oeltjen still standing at third base, Englebrook struck out pinch hitter Joe Koshansky to end the inning.

 

"Shelton (made) an incredible play, that was unbelievable," Bombard said. "Evan got a couple strikeouts, that was a great job."

 

Nashville had a final chance to tie the game but came up short in the ninth. The Sounds had runners on first and second with two outs but Raburn grounded out to end it.

 

The Express collected 13 hits, upping their three-game total against to 36.

 

Round Rock got its runs on RBI singles by Matt Kata and Jason Bourgeois.

 

Note: Comedian Will Ferrell will be in attendance at Thursday's game.

[Mass Haas]

18 photos, about 1/2 of Cutter Dykstra, from Wednesday's action with the Timber Rattlers (Post-Crescent)

[homer]

What do the Brewers have with Khris Davis? He's 22 in A ball but is hitting really really well. Any chance they bump him up to Brevard soon to see what he can do?