Link Report for Sun. 5/23

[Mass Haas]

Brad takes us to the ballpark with more Nick Bucci observations, and his usual wonderful array of photos, including Nick and Sunday's birthday boy, Cameron Garfield, now 19.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Davis' bat leads Timber Rattlers over Bees

By Cory Jennerjohn, Post-Crescent staff writer

 

Khris Davis went four-for-five to lead the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to an 11-2 victory over the Burlington Bees on Sunday at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.

 

“You have those days,” said the designated hitter, who upped his batting average to .315. “It’s good feeling up there knowing that whatever he throws you’re going to put in play hard somewhere. Hopefully, it finds some green out there.”

 

Of the 11 Wisconsin hits, four went for extra bases.

 

The pitching staff did its job as well. Nick Bucci went seven innings, struck out six and walked two.

 

“We gave up a couple early runs, one in the first one in the second,” Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom said. “Bucci settled it. He did a great job. Defensively, we made all the plays for him.”

 

The Timber Rattlers blew it open in the second inning. Cutter Dykstra, Erik Miller and D’Vontrey Richardson all singled and Scooter Gennett laced a double to left center to drive in three runs in the inning.

 

17 "action" photos from Patrick Ferron of the Post-Crescent of the most photographed team in all of minor league baseball

[Mass Haas]

Eighth inning not a friendly one as Stars fall to Braves

By Aaron Morse, Huntsville Stars

 

The Huntsville Stars (22-22) scored three runs in the top of the eighth to take the lead, but the Mississippi Braves (22-22) responded with six of their own as the Stars fell by a score of 9-5 Sunday afternoon.

 

The Stars found themselves in an early 2-0 hole as the Braves scored one in the second and one in the third against starter Amaury Rivas.

 

But Brett Lawrie smacked his third homer of the season in the top of the 6th (audio) to cut the deficit to 2-1.

 

Rivas’ final inning of work featured a Cody Johnson RBI single (audio) to give the Braves a 3-1 lead. His outing was nowhere near his best, but he managed to only surrender three runs in six innings, despite giving up 11 hits. He struck out four and walked one.

 

It looked like the Stars would be in good shape when they got to the Braves’ bullpen in the top of the eighth. With one away and the bases full, Caleb Gindl singled home Lee Haydel to draw the Stars within one (audio). After that, Chris Errecart reached on a force-attempt at second base. One run would have scored anyways, but a throwing error allowed everyone to be safe and for two runs to score (audio). The Stars would leave the bases loaded when a strike-out and a fly-out ended the inning.

 

The 4-3 lead would be short-lived. Jim Henderson had tossed a scoreless seventh inning, but the Stars brought in Nick Green for the eighth and he did not fare so well. Back-to-back singles put runners on first and second with only one away. An Alex Romero double plated both runs (audio) and just like that it was 5-4 Braves. A sacrifice fly (audio), a single (audio), an intentional walk, and two more singles completed the scoring and when the dust cleared it was 9-4 Braves (audio).

 

The Stars got one back in the top of the ninth on a Lawrie RBI single (audio), but that was all she wrote.

 

Juan Abreu (2-0) got the win out of the bullpen for the Braves while Green (0-1) took the loss.

 

Lawrie and Lee Haydel had big days at the plate for the Stars as Lawrie went 3-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Haydel also had a multi-hit game as he went 2-4 with a run scored.

 

Both the Smokies and the Diamond Jaxx lost Sunday, so the Stars did not lose any ground in the North Division. They remain four games back of Tennessee.

 

The Stars will look to take the rubber match of the five game series Monday night. They’ll send Alex Periard (2-2, 4.05 ERA) to the mound. Join us on the Huntsville Stars Radio Network beginning at 6:50 PM Central Time.

[Mass Haas]

Stone Crabs win 10-3, sweep Manatees

By Grant McAuley, Charlotte Stone Crabs

 

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Charlotte Stone Crabs polished off the first four-game sweep in franchise history on Sunday. Behind a strong start from Shane Dyer and another offensive onslaught, Charlotte downed the Brevard County Manatees by a 10-3 score to notch their sixth consecutive victory.

 

The Stone Crabs came from behind to win for the 11th time in 2010, using a four-run third inning to erase the second Manatees lead of the night.

Stephen Vogt collected a season-high three hits, including a go-ahead two-run double in that third inning, while driving in two runs and scoring three more. An infield single in his first at-bat allowed Vogt to extend his franchise-best hitting streak to 17-games.

 

Dyer (1-1) tossed six innings and surrendered two runs to earn his first victory since being promoted to Charlotte. The righty allowed four hits, two walks, hit two batters and struck out three.

 

Brevard County (16-27) held the lead on two separate occasions, but their pitchers could not find the plate in disastrous third and fourth inning displays. Manatees pitchers combined to walk nine Charlotte batsmen and uncorked three wild pitches that would allow runners to score from third on the night.

 

Cody Scarpetta (2-4) was victimized for five runs - four earned - on five hits and four walks in taking the loss for Brevard County. It was the first time the Manatees have been swept in a four-game series this season.

 

Reid Fronk went 3-for-3 with three doubles, a pair of walks and two RBI's. While his average jumped to a .307 clip, Fronk's on-base percentage climbed even higher and now stands at a team-high .433 on the season. That mark is good for fourth best in the Florida State League. The nine walks taken by Charlotte batsmen represent a single-game high for 2010.

 

Rehabbing Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Matt Joyce served as the designated hitter and went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and a pair of runs scored. Joyce is scheduled to further test his sprained elbow and begin playing the outfield during the upcoming series against the third place Palm Beach Cardinals.

[Mass Haas]

Stu still having fun in Fresno

 

***

The Nashville site's link to the game report includes audio of a Norris Hopper catch that allowed Mike Jones to escape his bases loaded, no out jam.

 

***

 

Just a reminder as you plan your day, the Rattlers end their homestand with a noontime affair (11:45 AM pre-game). Monday's Link Report will be out shortly before that.

[filthyfrog]

Amaury Rivas, who I'm sure was rather disappointed to be starting in Pearl, MS rather than Minneapolis, MN, was knocked around--11 hits in six innings--but stayed on his feet and allowed just three runs; he struck out four and walked one, throwing 90 pitches, 61 for strikes. His recent wormburning tendencies were not present today, as he coaxed eight air outs against six ground outs.

I ran through the game log and 8 of the 11 hits were ground balls, with three of those being infield hits. The other three hits were "fly balls," which I take to mean bloops. No extra base hits and no line drive hits. Sounds like he could have fared much better, but that's a sign of a good pitcher when luck seems to be going against him and he still gets decent results.

[brewmann04]

The walks are a concern for Jones but he worked out of those Jams which is a big positive.