Link Report for Fri. 5/7 -- Timber Rattlers fall in Miller Park; everyone else victorious

[bobbledude25]

I loved the Jerseys tonight! Does have anyone have some cool photos to share???

[twobrewers]

Very exciting game in Huntsville. They scored 4 in the bottom of the 9th to collect the walk-off win thanks to Maldonado. West Tenn intentionally walked two(!) players to get to Maldonado - and he made them pay.

 

Huntsville Bottom 9th

• Pitcher Change: Josh Fields replaces Luis Munoz.
  
• Lee Haydel walks.
  
• With Caleb Gindl batting, Lee Haydel steals (6) 2nd base.
  
• Caleb Gindl flies out to left fielder Carlos Peguero.
  
• Zelous Wheeler doubles (4) on a ground ball to left fielder Carlos Peguero. Lee Haydel scores.
  
• Taylor Green doubles (11) on a fly ball to right fielder Joseph Dunigan. Zelous Wheeler scores.
  
• Coaching visit to mound.
  
• Chris Errecart triples (2) on a ground ball to right fielder Joseph Dunigan. Taylor Green scores.
  
• West Tenn Diamond Jaxx Manager Tim Laker ejected by HP umpire Nick Bailey.
  
• Josh Fields intentionally walks Anderson Machado.
  
• Josh Fields intentionally walks Brent Brewer. Anderson Machado to 2nd.
  
• Coaching visit to mound.
  
• Pitcher Change: Anthony Varvaro replaces Josh Fields.
  
• Martin Maldonado singles on a fly ball to right fielder Joseph Dunigan. Chris Errecart scores. Anderson Machado to 3rd. Brent Brewer to 2nd.

[battlekow]

Final: Huntsville 6, West Tenn 5

 

Stars walk off with win

Aaron Morse/Huntsville Stars

 

Martin Maldonado singled home the game-winner and the Huntsville Stars (16-13) scored four in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx by a final score of 6-5 Friday night.

 

The Stars struck first in the game as they got two unearned runs off Diamond Jaxx starter Steve Bray in the bottom of the second. An error allowed Taylor Green to reach to lead things off. After Chris Errecart singled the runners were bunted over 90 feet by Andy Machado. Brent Brewer, who has been quite effective when he makes contact, singled home Green but Errecart was thrown out by left fielder Carlos Peguero in jarring collision at the plate. Brewer went to second on the throw and was singled home by Maldonado.

 

But after that the Stars' bats went silent. They went down 1-2-3 in every inning except the 5th (when Maldonado drew a walk) from that inning on...until the fateful 9th.

 

Meanwhile the Diamond Jaxx were doing what they do best: hit the long ball. In the top of the third Carlos Triunfel homered to left off Stars starter Alex Periard. That was followed by a Carlos Peguero double. One out later Johan Limonta drew a walk. With two away, Alex Liddi showed why he's the Diamond Jaxx's RBI leader with a ringing double to score Peguero. After a visit to the mound from pitching coach John Curtis, Periard was able to get Dustin Ackley to roll a pitch over. The only problem was that it found a space in the infield on the right side where Machado had to dive to stop the ball. Ackley was safe at first with an infield single and Limonta scored.

 

Before you could say "here we go again" the Diamond Jaxx had a 3-2 lead.

 

They'd tack on one more in the fourth thanks to a Peguero bomb into the trees and one more in the sixth when Luis Oliveros hit one to the next county.

 

Periard went 6 innings, gave up 8 hits, 5 runs, all earned, walked 2 and struck out 3.

 

Mike Jones (1-1) entered in the seventh inning and pitched three frames of shut-out ball.

 

The Diamond Jaxx, nursing a 5-2 lead brought former first round pick Josh Fields in to get the save in the 9th inning. But things didn't go exactly as planned.

 

Lee Haydel drew a lead-off walk and promptly stole second base. One out later Zelous Wheeler hit a shot down the third base line that landed barely fair for a double to drive in Haydel. That prompted a protest from Diamond Jaxx manager Tim Laker, who thought the ball had landed foul. More to come about that in a second.

 

Taylor Green busted out of his recent slump with a ringing double down the right field line to score Wheeler.

 

Then things got wacky. Chris Errecart hit a line drive down the first base line that appeared to land foul. He actually paused and turned around to go back to the plate, but saw the home plate umpire Chris Segal point "fair", and so he took off running. Meanwhile, everyone on the Diamond Jaxx had stopped pursuing the ball because they assumed it was foul. By the time they realized it'd actually been called fair Errecart was standing on third base with a RBI triple.

 

Laker promptly got ejected from the game as he was absolutely incensed with the call.

 

Just like that the game was tied at 5. Two intentional walks later, the bases were loaded with only one down and Maldonado lined his shot to right off reliever Anthony Varvaro to win the game.

 

"I was looking for a fastball, because that guy throws hard, 91-97," Maldonado said. "So I was looking for something to drive."

 

It was the second walk-off hit of Maldonado's professional career. He had one last year in Brevard County.

 

Jones got the win in relief while Fields picked up the loss.

 

With the Smokies losing today, the Stars are now three games back in the Northern Division.

 

The Stars are back in action Saturday evening with a 6:00pm Central Time first pitch on WTKI and http://www.huntsvillestars.com. Tune in at 5:45 for the Window World Pre-Game report. Mark Rogers (1-2, 4.95) is on the mound for the Stars.

 

Huntsville box score

Now why couldn't this have been the game I saw at Miller Park tonight? Periard induced seven ground outs against six air outs. Brett Lawrie got back to his 1-4 ways, though the 1 was a double. Caleb Gindl was 0-4. I'm really enjoying Haydel's newfound patience, and I think it's going to earn him a spot on my next P50 ballot.

 

Huntsville play-by-play

[TheCrew07]

Final: Cedar Rapids (Angels) 6, Wisconsin 1

 

Timber Rattlers Box Score

A very nice pitching performance by Damon Krestalude goes to waste. He left hitting his pitch count (95 unofficiall) with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd in the 6. Lamontange who had been very solid all year allowed both inherited runners to score, plus 2 of his own. Thielbar followed up allowing 2 runs of his own, he's been struggling lately, being scored upon 4 times in his last 5 outings giving up 7 ER in 7.2 IP over that span. On the offensive side of things Gennett continues to rake, Gennett (2), Dennis (3), and Dykstra (2) all had multi hit games. Dennis and Gennett both doubled as well. I've been down on Dykstra since he was picked, but it's nice to see him starting out this season well after a humiliating season last year. Keep an eye on Mike Trout from Cedar Rapids, he's like our version of Gennett with more speed.

 

Timber Rattlers Game Log

The T-Rats squandered an opportunities in the 2nd and 9th, I wasn't exactly down with the Marseco sacrifice that early in the game. D'Vo lined out to end the game on a very nice play by the opposing 3B Jimenez, the ball was ticketed for the LF corner but it wasn't meant to be.

 

Wisconsin Bottom 2nd

• Chris Dennis singles on a ground ball to center fielder Mike Trout.
• Cutter Dykstra singles on a line drive to right fielder Randal Grichuk. Chris Dennis to 2nd.
• Michael
  Marseco out on a sacrifice bunt, first baseman Casey Haerther to second
  baseman Ivan Contreras. Chris Dennis to 3rd. Cutter Dykstra to 2nd.
• Franklin Romero strikes out swinging.
• D' Vontrey Richardson called out on strikes.

Wisconsin Bottom 9th

• Pitcher Change: David Carpenter replaces Mike Kenney.
• Cameron Garfield called out on strikes.
• Chris Dennis singles on a line drive to center fielder Mike Trout.
• Cutter Dykstra singles on a ground ball to third baseman Luis Jimenez. Chris Dennis to 2nd.
• Michael Marseco walks. Chris Dennis to 3rd. Cutter Dykstra to 2nd.
• Franklin Romero pops out to first baseman Casey Haerther in foul territory.
• D' Vontrey Richardson lines out to third baseman Luis Jimenez.

[TheCrew07]

link while active, text below

Capuano, offense powers BC past Tampa

 

By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees

 

Another big night from the Manatees offense

and a solid start from a former National League All-Star propelled

Brevard County past the Tampa Yankees 8-3 on Friday night in front of

1,892 fans at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The Manatees picked up right where they left off in the bottom of

the first as Kentrail Davis drove in Matt Cline to put Brevard County

up 1-0.

 

Tampa's Addison Maruszak led off the second with a double and scored

two batters later, to tie the game, thanks to a RBI ground out by Mitch

Abeita.

 

Three consecutive two-out RBI hits from Erik Komatsu, Davis and

Sergio Miranda gave the Manatees the lead again at 4-1 in the bottom of

the third.

 

Chris Capuano, likely making his final start for the Manatees, threw

five innings and allowed just one run on six hits, while fanning five

Yankee hitters.

 

The Yankees would strike back with a run in the sixth, but the

Manatees responded in a big way in the bottom of the inning. Brevard

County plated four in the frame thanks to timely hitting and several

Yankee mistakes. The Manatees singled four times and benefited from two

passed balls, one error and one walk, to take an 8-2 lead.

 

Dan Merklinger relieved Capuano and kept the Yanks at bay as he went three innings and allowed one run on two hits.

 

Komatsu, Davis, Miranda and Anderson De La Rosa each had two hits.

Brevard County went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position and

swiped four bases. Erik Miller had a fantastic catch in the top of the

seventh, crashing into the right field wall and saving an extra-base

hit.

 

The Manatees and Yankees will close out their three-game series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. in Viera.

 

Saturday's game is "Batting for a Cure" night as the Manatees will

be wearing special pink jerseys and help raise money for the American

Cancer Society and continue the fight against breast cancer.

[TheCrew07]

link while active, text below

Jimenez does it to Wisconsin again

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

MILWAUKEE, WI - Luis Jimenez

has become a nemesis for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

The third baseman for the Cedar Rapids Kernels broke a scoreless tie with

a two-run triple, scored twice, and made a sparkling defensive play to snuff out

a Wisconsin rally in the bottom of the ninth.

The Kernels defeated the Rattlers 6-1 Friday night at Miller Park in

front of 12,667 fans.

 

Both starting pitchers had

their A-game rolling through five innings. Wisconsin's

Damon Krestalude allowed one hit and walked one in his first five innings.

Orangel Arenas of the Kernels gave up three hits in the first two

innings, but retired 13 in a row after giving up back-to-back singles to start

the bottom of the second inning.

 

Krestalude blinked first.

He got the first out of the sixth, but gave up back-to-back singles to

Mike Trout and Ivan Contreras and left the game as he had reached over 90

pitches on the night.

 

Andre Lamontagne relieved and

gave up a triple to Jimenez. The

three-bagger drove in both Trout and Contreras for a 2-0 lead.

Jimenez has 12 RBI during the 2010 Midwest League season.

Nine of those 12 RBI have come against the Timber Rattlers.

 

Eric Oliver's infielder

grounder scored Jimenez for a 3-0 Kernels advantage.

Randal Grichuck singled and Casey Haerther singled to put runners at the

corners with two outs.

 

Cedar Rapids (15-14) stole a

run with a little help to cap the rally. Haerther

attempted to steal second. Rattlers

catcher Cameron Garfield pump-faked to second and had Grichuck way off the bag

at third. But, Garfield's throw to

third was high and wound up in left field. Grichuck

easily scored for a 4-0 lead.

 

Cedar Rapids added to their

lead with two runs in the eighth. Jimenez

reached on an error and scored on a triple by Grichuk.

A double by Haerther sent Grichuk home for a 6-0 lead.

 

Arenas left the game after

seven scoreless innings. He allowed

four hits, walked two, and struck out six.

 

Wisconsin (9-19) put together a

two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth against Mike Kenney.

Scooter Gennett doubled. Khris

Davis singled him home.

 

In the bottom of the ninth

inning, the Rattlers loaded the bases with one out against David Carpenter.

The Kernels reliever got the second out on a popout.

D'Vontrey Richardson worked the count to 3-1 and sent a line drive

ticketed for the left field corner. But,

Jimenez was there with a leaping, back-handed stab of the screamer to end the

game.

 

The Rattlers return home to

face the Kernels on Saturday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field.

Jake Odorizzi (1-1, 4.76) is the scheduled starting pitcher for

Wisconsin. Tyler Skaggs (1-1, 0.47)

is scheduled to start for Cedar Rapids. Game

time is 1:05pm. If you can't make

it to the game, tune if for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM.

The Miller Lite Pregame Show starts at 12:45pm.

WP:

Orangel Arenas (2-4)

LP: Damon Krestalude (1-1)

 

TIME: 2:45

ATTN: 12,667

[TheCrew07]

Final: Nashville 11, Alburquerqe (Dodgers) 1

 

Waters Deals, Sounds Explode For 11

Joe Koshansky Homers And Drives In Five

 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Nashville Sounds exploded for 11 runs to beat

the Albuquerque Isotopes, 11-1, on Friday evening at Isotopes Park in

the opener of a four-game set.

Sounds starting pitcher Chris Waters (3-0) pitched a gem to earn

his third win of the season, allowing one run on seven hits with two

strikeouts in eight innings.

 

First baseman Joe Koshansky led the attack with a 3-for-5 performance,

homering and doubling while driving in five runs. Outfielder Norris

Hopper also added three hits and two RBIs.

 

The Sounds first three runs came in the opening frame as

Koshansky belted his third home run of the season, an opposite-field

three-run shot over the left field wall for a 3-0 lead.

 

Nashville added another three runs in the next inning, with the

first run coming on throwing errors on two straight plays that plated

shortstop Luis Cruz. Hopper and Koshansky then crushed consecutive

two-out RBI doubles that extended the lead to 6-0.

 

Outfielder Trent Oeltjen got in the action in the next inning,

extending his season-high hitting streak to six games with a leadoff

solo home run. After an Adam Heether single, Cruz then smacked his

second long ball of the season, a two-run shot to left field for a 10-0

Nashville lead. The Sounds tacked on another run in the next inning as

Ray Olmedo hit a leadoff triple and was plated on a Hopper infield

groundout.

 

 

The Isotopes scored their lone run in the bottom of seventh inning as Prentice Redman scored on a Chin-lung Hu groudout.

 

 

Sounds reliever Tim Dillard threw a perfect ninth inning while fanning two to finish the game.

 

 

Albuquerque starter Josh Towers (2-3) took the loss after being rocked for 10 runs (seven earned) in 2 2/3 innings pitched.

 

The Sounds and Isotopes continue with the second game of a

four-game series at 8:05 pm CT on Saturday night at Isotopes Park.

Nashville southpaw Chase Wright (2-0, 3.07) faces Albuquerque righty

Tim Corcoran (1-2, 7.20).

 

Nashville Box Score

Lots to take in here, it will be interesting to see what happens with the AAA rotation, no one is really pitching poorly and they have to make room for Capuano now and Butler eventually. Olmedo (2), Stern (2), Hopper (3), Koshansky (3), Oeltjen (2), and Cruz(2) all had multi hit games. Koshanky, Oeltjen, and Cruz all homered, Olmedo tripled, and Hopper, Koshansky, Oeltjen, and Cruz all doubled. Yes it was an XBH fest in NM tonight. Unfortunately Lucroy was on the only position player without a hit.

 

Nashville Game Log

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd innings are very busy as you would have guessed from the game summary above.

[LouisEly]

Suppan & Hawkins released, Braddock & Axford called up, two guys in Nashville's rotation moved to the pen. Problem solved!

[Mass Haas]

PDF document:

 

Huntsville Media Notes

[Mass Haas]

Wish it had been a better game, it wasn't listed on the initial Time Warner 32 schedule so we didn't inform you ahead of time, but if you want to record Damon Krestalude's fine Miller Park start for the Rattlers, and also see Scooter Gennett, Chris Dennis, etc., here are some opportunities this weekend.

 

Minor League Baseball: Cedar Rapids Kernels @ Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Saturday, May 8: 12-3pm

Sunday, May 9: 7-10pm

 

You can also get to know the players by watching Timber Rattlers "Field Pass" Tuesday's at 5:00 PM only on Sports32.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

by Cory Jennerjohn, Appleton Post-Crescent

After getting only one hit through the first five innings, the Cedar Rapids Kernels had a five-hit, four-run sixth inning to earn a Midwest League victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Miller Park on Friday night.

 

Wisconsin's Damon Krestalude was pitching well before the fateful sixth. The righty retired seven straight during a stretch in the first three innings and retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings.

 

Krestalude struck out five and walked one, but left after giving up back-to-back singles after 5 1/3 innings. It was the longest outing of the season for the 20-year-old, whose previous high was five innings. He also tied his season best for strikeouts.

 

"That was the best performance by Damon all season long," Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom said. "He got behind some hitters, but he made some pitches when he had to."

 

Luis Jimenez put the Kernels on the scoreboard in the sixth by lacing a one-out, two-run triple down the right-field line.

 

It wasn't just the Kernels' bats that hurt the Timber Rattlers in the sixth. With two outs and runners on the corners, Casey Haerther was stealing second when Rattlers catcher Cameron Garfield faked the throw to second and instead threw down to third to try to get Randal Grichuk. The throw sailed over Peter Fatse's head and Grichuk easily scored.

 

Wisconsin put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth against Mike Kenney. Scooter Gennett doubled. Khris Davis singled him home.

 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Rattlers loaded the bases with one out against David Carpenter. The Kernels reliever got the second out on a popout. D'Vontrey Richardson worked the count to 3-1 and sent a line drive toward the left field corner. But Jimenez was there with a leaping, back-handed stab of the ball to end the game.

 

Timber Rattlers first baseman Chris Dennis and second baseman Gennett raised their hitting streaks to six games apiece.

[Mass Haas]

See who Stu is particularly happy for in his Nashville blog

[Mass Haas]

Linkwhile active, text follows:

 

Sounds lower the boom on the Isotopes

Christopher Jackson, Albuquerque Baseball Examiner

 

The Nashville Sounds entered their four-game series at Isotopes Park on Friday night as a team with a reputation for solid pitching and weak hitting.

 

The Sounds proved to be just as good as advertised on the mound. In respect to hitting, though, they proved to be just the opposite.

 

Nashville pounded out 15 hits en route to an 11-1 thrashing of Albuquerque.

 

The Isotopes compounded their woes with four errors. They also had to use three relievers and one position player on the mound to get through the game.

 

“It’s just tough that we weren’t there at all defensively tonight," manager Tim Wallach said. "We put our whole (pitching) staff in jeopardy of being blown in one night. That’s not good here. We did not come to play and I’m very disappointed."

 

The Sounds got a stellar performance from veteran left-hander Chris Waters (3-0). The former Baltimore Oriole allowed just one run on seven hits. He had two strikeouts and no walks.

 

"He threw strikes for one, kept the ball down," Wallach said. "We didn’t make a whole lot of adjustments against him. I don’t think he threw too many breaking balls. He threw some changeups. He threw mostly fastballs."

 

While Waters further improved Nashville's team ERA, which stood at a Pacific Coast League-best 3.04 entering the game, the Sounds' bats came to life.

 

Joe Koshansky crushed a three-run homer in the first inning to start the barrage.

 

Two errors and a pair of RBI doubles led to three more runs in the second inning for Nashville.

 

The Sounds picked up four more runs in the third as Trent Oeltjen hit a leadoff homer and Luis Cruz belted a two-run shot. Koshansky then added an RBI single.

 

Josh Towers (2-3) turned in his worst start of the year for Albuquerque, allowing 10 runs, seven earned, on nine hits and one walk over 2 2/3 innings. Towers had entered the game with a team-leading 3.00 ERA

 

“He’s done a great job so far," Wallach said of Towers. "He got some balls up. But we had a chance to make some plays and get some innings over sooner than they were gotten over. We didn’t get it done. That’s what disappoints me.

 

“Josh didn’t have his best stuff, but we didn’t help him, either."

 

The Isotopes finally picked up a run in the seventh as Prentice Redman singled, Michael Restovich doubled and Chin-Lung Hu grounded out to second, scoring Redman.

 

That continued a recent trend of struggles at the plate for Albuquerque, which scored just 10 runs in losing three of four games at Memphis this week.

 

“We are not getting the pitcher to make mistakes," Wallach said. "It’s OK to be aggressive, but you’ve got to be aggressive with pitches to hit. We’re putting a lot of pitchers’ pitches in play, which is what they want."

 

Outfielder Timo Perez took the mound in the ninth inning to help save the Isotopes' bullpen. Perez tossed a scoreless inning, even getting the Sounds' Ray Olmedo to ground into an unconventional 3-1-5 double play.

 

Wallach said Perez volunteered to take the mound, but that didn't make the decision any easier.

 

“He was willing to go out there and pitch," Wallach said. "I hate doing that because it scares me. I don’t want a guy blowing his arm out on a pitch, or having a line drive hit back at him, either."

 

Right-hander Tim Corcoran (1-2, 7.20 ERA) will make his first start of the year in Albuquerque on Saturday. Corcoran has one start and seven relief appearances this season, with his start having come on the road against Memphis on Monday. He will face Sounds left-hander Chase Wright (2-0, 3.07), who pitched briefly for the New York Yankees in 2007.

[Mass Haas]

More wide-eyed kids from the Cedar Rapids newspaper coverage -- a nice read, also includes this --

 

The rest of the three-game series will be at Appleton, though there’s a chance of weekend snow.

Yikes.

 

Cedar Rapids Pics / Brief BP Video

(I like the Bill Haley music, I'm old enough to have watched the early episodes of "Happy Days" in primetime during the actual series' run...)

[TheCrew07]

I wonder if Colby got to the T-Rats game with his Stalker gun like he had mentioned earlier in the season? I'd be really curious to know where Krestalude was working last night.

[battlekow]

On the stadium gun, I think Krestalude was around 88 early and dipped to 84-86 by his last inning.

[Mass Haas]

Brad was at Miller Park last night, and shares his thoughts and photos within his blog post.

[battlekow]

Brad was at Miller Park last night, and shares his thoughts and photos within his blog post.

This photo reminds me: despite him allowing three steals last night, I thought Garfield threw the ball to second pretty well; at least two of the plays were bang-bang. His throw to third, on the other hand...