Link Report for Wed. 8/11 -- Gamel Scorching Hot, Third Consecutive Three-Hit Game (.340 Since July 1st)

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Daily Menu:

Times Central; pitchers subject to change --

Nashville: RHP Marty McLeary at Las Vegas (Blue Jays), 8:50 PM pre-game; 9:05 gametime
Live Audio Link

Huntsville: RHP Wily Peralta at Tennessee (Cubs), 6:00 PM pre-game; 6:15 gametime
Live Audio Link

Brevard County: Idle

Wisconsin: RHP Nick Bucci at Quad Cities (Cardinals), 6:40 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime
Live Audio Link

Helena: RHP Matt Miller at Missoula (Diamondbacks), 7:50 PM pre-game; 8:05 gametime
Live Audio Link

Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at home vs. the baby Cubbies; 9:00 PM; never audio for games in this league; we had also expected this game, which was suspended with one out remaining, to be completed, but MiLB.com has now assigned W, L, and SV information to the contest although the box still says "suspended" one out short -- odd...

DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Mariners, 9:30 AM

[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)

 

Wisconsin

 

Helena

 

Arizona Rookie (Maryvale)

 

DSL Brewers

[Mass Haas]

PCL American North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Iowa	67	50	.573	-	-	35-28	32-22	7-3	L2
	Memphis	64	54	.542	3.5	24	34-23	30-31	5-5	W2
	Omaha	64	54	.542	3.5	24	31-27	33-27	8-2	W4
	Nashville	61	56	.521	6.0	22	31-26	30-30	5-5	L1

SOU North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
*	Tennessee	29	16	.644	-	-	18-7	11-9	8-2	W7
	Huntsville	24	21	.533	5.0	21	14-9	10-12	5-5	L4
	Carolina	21	24	.467	8.0	18	10-12	11-12	4-6	L2
	West Tenn	21	24	.467	8.0	18	10-9	11-15	6-4	L1
	Chattanooga	19	25	.432	9.5	17	10-12	9-13	4-6	W2

FSL North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Tampa	28	14	.667	-	-	13-7	15-7	8-2	W1
	Daytona	28	16	.636	1.0	27	15-7	13-9	4-6	L1
	Brevard County	27	18	.600	2.5	25	13-8	14-10	5-5	L1
	Lakeland	20	23	.465	8.5	20	12-9	8-14	6-4	W1
	Clearwater	19	26	.422	10.5	17	12-9	7-17	5-5	L1
*	Dunedin	19	26	.422	10.5	17	11-13	8-13	4-6	W1

MID Western
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Quad Cities	26	16	.619	-	-	9-11	17-5	5-5	W2
	Kane County	26	17	.605	0.5	-	16-6	10-11	7-3	W3
*	Cedar Rapids	25	18	.581	1.5	27	12-9	13-9	5-5	W2
	Clinton	23	20	.535	3.5	25	12-10	11-10	7-3	L2
	Beloit	21	21	.500	5.0	22	13-9	8-12	6-4	L2
	Peoria	20	22	.476	6.0	23	11-10	9-12	4-6	L2
	Wisconsin	20	24	.455	7.0	21	12-10	8-14	5-5	W2
	Burlington	15	26	.366	10.5	17	11-9	4-17	1-9	L7

PIO North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
*	Great Falls	6	4	.600	-	-	4-2	2-2	6-4	L1
	Missoula	5	5	.500	1.0	28	2-2	3-3	5-5	W3
	Billings	4	5	.444	1.5	28	3-3	1-2	4-5	L2
	Helena	4	5	.444	1.5	28	2-1	2-4	4-5	L2

AZL Central
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	AZL Brewers	25	15	.625	-	-	8-8	8-7	5-5	L2
	AZL Dodgers	21	19	.525	4.0	13	8-7	8-6	7-3	W3
	AZL Reds	20	20	.500	5.0	12	7-6	8-7	7-3	W1
	AZL Indians	19	22	.463	6.5	10	7-8	9-6	4-6	L4

DSL S.D. North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	DSL Mariners	35	24	.593	-	-	19-10	16-14	5-5	L2
	DSL Cardinals	33	26	.559	2.0	12	22-7	11-19	5-5	W1
	DSL Athletics	26	33	.441	9.0	5	16-16	10-17	5-5	W2
	DSL Brewers	25	36	.410	11.0	2	14-15	11-21	5-5	L1

[Mass Haas]

If the Brewers announce a signing of any Virgin Island ballplayer soon, we'll know it came from this pro day.

 

Joe Salermo, who is in charge of all Latin American scouting for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was there along with scouts from the Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants. The Major League Scouting Bureau, which scouts for all 32 MLB teams, also had representation at Lionel Roberts Stadium.

[Mass Haas]

PDF document:

 

Nashville Media Notes

[Mass Haas]

PDF document:

 

Huntsville Media Notes

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog:

 

August 11, 2010: Midwest League Playoff Pitcure

 

August 11, 2010: Game Notes

 

August 11, 2010: Tonight's starting pitcher

[Tedaldtada]

It must be hard to square up on one of Wily Peralta's pitches.

[ELCABALLO45]

1-2-3 inning for Jeffress. 21 pitches 17 strikes. 2 k's.

[biedergb]

Any one know why Maverick Lasker hasn't pitched in a while? Or is he part of Bucci's piggy back system? His last appearance was Aug 3.

[Never Outhustled]

Wily Peralta has morphed into an efficient, groundball inducing pitchability guy. I doubt I'd even recognize him on the mound now inspite of seeing him live several times last year when he was a high effort, hardthrowing strikeout guy who looked like a future reliever. He is seriously on the rise. His transformation shows us that he's not just a good arm, but he's got something upstairs too.

[battlekow]

Final: @Tennessee 2, Huntsville 0

Huntsville box score

As other posters pointed out above, Wily Peralta was again the different sort of pitcher he's morphed into this year: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R. 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 12/4 GO/AO, 89 pitches, 57 strikes. Jeremy Jeffress tossed a perfect last inning for the Stars, striking out two; 17 of his 21 pitches were strikes, which is just phenomenal. Unfortunately, the Stars' bats weren't up to much today. Caleb Gindl was 2-3 with a walk, and Lee Haydel was on twice with a single and a walk. Taylor Green was 1-4 with an error, and Brett Lawrie had a bad night 0-4 with two strikeouts and two errors.

 

Huntsville play-by-play

The two unearned runs Peralta allowed:

 

Tennessee Bottom 2nd

• Blake Lalli doubles (19) on a line drive to center fielder Caleb Gindl.
• Robinson Chirinos reaches on throwing error by third baseman Taylor Green. Blake Lalli scores.
• Matthew Spencer lines out to third baseman Taylor Green.
• Tony Thomas flies out to center fielder Caleb Gindl.
• Marwin Gonzalez grounds out to first baseman Chris Nowak.

Tennessee Bottom 7th

• Robinson Chirinos walks.
• Coaching visit to mound.
• Matthew
  Spencer reaches on force attempt, throwing error by second baseman
  Brett Lawrie. Robinson Chirinos to 3rd. Matthew Spencer to 2nd.
• Tony Thomas grounds out, third baseman Taylor Green to first baseman Chris Nowak.
• With Marwin Gonzalez batting, Robinson Chirinos caught stealing home.
• Marwin Gonzalez singles on a line drive to center fielder Caleb Gindl. Matthew Spencer scores.
• With Brett Jackson batting, wild pitch by Wily Peralta, Marwin Gonzalez to 2nd.
• Brett Jackson flies out to center fielder Caleb Gindl.

Peralta didn't help himself with the bat:

 

Huntsville Top 2nd

• Drew T. Anderson pops out to third baseman Russ Canzler.
• Chris Nowak singles on a line drive to center fielder Tony Campana.
• Taylor Green singles on a line drive to center fielder Tony Campana. Chris Nowak to 2nd.
• Dayton Buller called out on strikes.
• Lee Haydel walks. Chris Nowak to 3rd. Taylor Green to 2nd.
• Wily Peralta grounds out, second baseman Tony Thomas to first baseman Blake Lalli.

Huntsville Top 5th

• Lee Haydel singles on a soft line drive to center fielder Tony Campana.
• With Wily Peralta batting, Lee Haydel steals (20) 2nd base.
• Wily Peralta strikes out on foul bunt.
• Brett Lawrie flies out to center fielder Tony Campana.
• Caleb Gindl walks.
• Zelous Wheeler grounds out, shortstop Marwin Gonzalez to first baseman Blake Lalli.

[twobrewers]

Wily Peralta has morphed into an efficient, groundball inducing pitchability guy.

I'm not sure how well that will work in Milwaukee.

 

But his season has been very interesting thus far. I can't imagine too many people saw this transformation coming. I'd like to hear a few scouts give their opinion on his declining strikeouts and new found love of the ground ball.

[battlekow]

Final: @DSL Brewers 6, DSL Mariners 3

DSL Brewers box score

Hey, Rolando Pascual actually had a decent start. He allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings, fanning five and walking two (and hitting two). Carlos Sosa and the eternal Rigoberto Almonte turned in nice relief outings, pitching three perfect innings between them to finish the game. Deivi Mejia doubled and walked twice, and Ruben Sanchez and Jose R. Garcia each had two hits. Dionis Hinojosa's pro career continues its rocky start, 0-3 today to drop his batting average to .071, though he did reach base on a HBP.

 

DSL Brewers play-by-play

Even straightforward DSL games are eventful. Five wild pitches, a passed ball, two errors--makes your head spin.

[battlekow]

Final: Helena 6, @Missoula 4

Helena box score

The H-Crew rode four homers to victory, Brent Dean, Cody Hawn, Robbie Garvey, and Franklin Romero doing the blasting. Matt Miller had kind of a blah game: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 6/4 GO/AO. Eric Marzec, Brian Garman, and Chad Robinson shut down the Osprey the rest of the way. Johnny Dishon didn't homer, but he did have a nice game, 3-4 including another bunt single.

 

Helena play-by-play

Helena was down 4-3 entering the 8th:

 

Helena Top 8th

• Robert Garvey triples (1) on a line drive to right fielder Javan Williams.
• Franklin Romero homers (3) on a fly ball to center field. Robert Garvey scores.
• Cody Hawn strikes out swinging.
• Shea Vucinich lines out to second baseman Eric Groff.
• Gregory Hopkins pops out to first baseman Bobby Stone in foul territory.

They added an insurance run the next inning in rather odd fashion:

 

Helena Top 9th

• Brent Dean walks.
• With Michael Walker batting, throwing error by Victor Lara on the pickoff attempt, Brent Dean to 2nd.
• With Michael Walker batting, wild pitch by Victor Lara, Brent Dean to 3rd.
• With Michael Walker batting, wild pitch by Victor Lara, Brent Dean scores.
• Michael Walker singles on a line drive to left fielder Roberto Rodriguez.
• Pitcher Change: William Watt replaces Victor Lara.
• John Dishon grounds out, second baseman Eric Groff to first baseman Bobby Stone. Michael Walker to 2nd.
• Carlos George strikes out swinging. Michael Walker steals (1) 3rd base.
• Robert Garvey pops out to shortstop Raul Navarro.

[YoungGeezy]

Walla hit a bomb today, Hawn hit his 9th-- hopefully that breaks him out of his funk, Khris Davis added another two rbi's today and was 2-3-- he has came back red hot! Gamel with another double but is at 3rd base again. Garman has been a machine for Helena, and a raw rough day for Miller on the mound.

[battlekow]

Final: @Quad Cities 9, Wisconsin 7

Rattlers can't answer for Adams

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

DAVENPORT, IA – Matt Adams led the Quad Cities River Bandits to a 9-7 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Wednesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. The big first baseman had four hits, including a homer, and drove in five runs to thwart several Wisconsin comebacks. It was a big night for first basemen as Chris Dennis had a pair of hits and drove in three for the Rattler. But, the game belonged to the River Bandits and Adams.

 

Wisconsin (46-67 overall, 20-25 second half) grabbed the early lead with consecutive two-out RBI singles by Khris Davis and Dennis in the first inning.

 

But, the River Bandits (67-45, 27-16) answered with the long ball off Rattlers starting pitcher Nick Bucci in the bottom of the first. Colin Walsh was the second batter of the inning and his line drive to right barely cleared the wall for his first home run. Bucci committed an error to let the next batter reach first. Then, Adams lifted a fly ball deep to right-center that had no trouble clearing the fence. Adams’s nineteenth homer of the season gave the Bandits a 3-2 lead.

 

Ivan Castro doubled to start the bottom of the second inning and a relay throw to the infield got away to allow him to take third base. A wild pitch by Bucci let Castro score and Quad Cities went up 4-2.

 

Quad Cities started pulling away in the bottom of the fifth inning. Adams struck again with an RBI single. Then, CJ Beatty knocked Bucci out of the game when he hit a two-out, two-run homer and the Bandits were up 7-2.

 

Wisconsin rallied back to within a run by scoring four times in the top of the sixth. Scooter Gennett and Kentrail Davis singled to start the inning. They each moved up a base on a wild pitch. Gennett scored and Davis took third on another wild pitch. After Khris Davis drew a walk, Dennis tripled into the right field corner to drive in both Davises. Cameron Garfield knocked in Dennis with a sacrifice fly and the Rattlers were within 7-6.

 

But, Adams delivered again for the River Bandits. In the bottom of the sixth he came through with a two-out, single that scored Luis Mateo from second base.

 

The Rattlers got a run and threatened for more in the top of the eighth inning. Hunter Morris broke an 0-for-16 slump with a one out triple. A single by Khris Davis drove Morris in to make the score 7-6. Dennis drew a walk. Then, a wild pitch moved the tying run to third and the go ahead run to second with one out. But, the Bandits survived the inning with the slim lead.

 

Adams came through one more time. A two out walk put Devin Goodwin at first with two outs. Adams slammed the next pitch off the centerfield wall just out of the reach of D’Vontrey Richardson.

 

The Rattlers got a one out single from Gennett in the ninth, but could do nothing with it.

 

Game two of the series is Thursday night. Del Howell (2-5, 4.74) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Quad Cities has Joe Kelley (6-6, 3.38) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 7:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm.

 

Wisconsin box score

Tough game for Bucci, though he did strike out six. Great games from Gennett, Khris Davis, and Dennis, all of whom had two hits and a walk. How about Morris starting in left field, and both him and Dennis picking up triples? Richardson was caught stealing for the 15th time; he has only 13 successful steals.

 

Wisconsin play-by-play

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Brewers snap Birds' winning streak

By MICHAEL HEINBACH of the Missoulian

 

The Helena Brewers snapped a season-long three-game Pioneer League winning streak by the Missoula Osprey on Thursday, rallying to defeat the O's 6-4 at Ogren-Allegiance Park.

 

The Osprey, 5-6 in the season's second half and 19-30 overall, squandered a strong effort from starting pitcher Kevin Eichhorn. He threw seven innings of seven-hit ball, allowing three runs without issuing a walk and striking out seven. Eichhorn left with a 4-3 lead.

 

But reliever Victor Lara (1-5) entered in the eighth and allowed a controversial leadoff triple to Robbie Garvey that appeared to land foul just beyond the first-base bag before giving up a two-run homer to Franklin Romero Jr. Lara also allowed a run on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth and a single by Helena designated hitter Mike Walker before being removed. Trey Watt retired the final two Brewers in order.

 

Despite his strong showing, Eichhorn wasn't pleased with surrendering solo home runs to Brent Dean, Cody Hawn and Garvey as the Brewers improved to 5-5, 24-24.

 

"I feel like I fell behind too many hitters and made some bad pitches in hitters' counts and I paid for it," Eichhorn said. "The defense behind me was excellent tonight, but I just feel like I've got to work harder."

 

The O's had their work cut out for them in facing Helena starting pitcher Matt Miller, arguably the league's top hurler who began the evening 6-1 with a 2.16 ERA. But after managing just two base runners over the first three innings, Missoula got to Miller with two outs in the fourth.

 

Designated hitter Richie Rowland's single was followed by a double off the bat of Osprey second baseman Eric Groff. Third baseman Matt Helm then smacked a 1-2 delivery from Miller over the left-center field fence for his first home run with Missoula since being sent to the Osprey at the start of the second half of the season. That gave Missoula a 3-2 lead.

 

"Finally, man," Helm said of slugging his first round-tripper in 35 at-bats for the Osprey. "But we're playing some good baseball right now, everybody is bonding and we feel like we should be able to handle a good starter like we saw tonight."

 

Helena reliever Brian Garman earned the win in 1 1-3 innings of work to move his record to 2-1. He didn't allow a hit, walked one and struck out a pair.

 

The Brewers' 10-hit effort was paced by right fielder John Dishon, who finished 3 for 4.

 

Osprey first baseman Bobby Stone had a run-scoring double in the fifth as Missoula closed with seven hits, but only one over the final three innings.

 

"We're just going to have to erase the memory of tonight's game and come back tomorrow ready to go," Eichhorn said. "We're playing some good ball right now and we just have to keep it up."

 

Hawn's homer, his ninth of the season, broke a tie with Stone for second in the league's long-ball leaders.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Smokies shut down Stars, 2-0

Huntsville drops six games back with loss

BY ADAM GREENE, sports@knoxnews.com

 

SEVIERVILLE - After a week of big batting and crazy scores, the final game of the five-game series between the Huntsville Stars and Tennessee Smokies turned out to be some good, old fashioned baseball.

 

The Stars were finally able to deliver on the pitcher's mound, but in the end it didn't matter. Tennessee took the series sweep with a 2-0 shutout victory at Smokies Park Wednesday night.

 

"You want this so you know you can win those close games," Smokies left fielder Brandon Guyer said. "That's the kind of thing you need if you're going to be a championship team."

 

The Smokies (30-16) hold a six-game lead over Huntsville (24-22) in the second half Southern League North standings with 23 games to go. Tennessee has won eight straight games.

 

"The kids have played for that," Smokies manager Bill Dancy said. "We made the plays, we battled and at the end we got the key hit from (Marwin) Gonzalez."

 

Guyer kept his 14-game hit streak alive with a single in the third inning. Entering the game Guyer was batting .471 with three home runs and 19 RBIs over his last 13 games.

 

Smokies starter Rafael Dolis (3-2) kept it interesting through the first five innings, giving up five hits and two walks. Still, the right-hander from the Dominican Republic never let Huntsville put a run across the plate. Dolis had five strikeouts.

 

"He (Dolis) had a good, live fastball and really a good rhythm on the mound," Dancy said. "Even we gave up back-to-back hits, he kept his composure and made some quality pitches."

 

Huntsville finally found a pitcher who could keep the Smokies out of double digits. Unfortunately, they could put forth no offense of their own. Wily Peralta (0-1) took his first AA loss of the season, pitching seven innings, allowing four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

 

Tennessee's first run came on a Huntsville mistake. Smokies first baseman Blake Lalli reached base on a double. A throwing error from Stars third baseman Taylor Green sent Lalli across the plate to give the Smokies a 1-0 lead.

 

The lead would hold, but Tennessee added an insurance run in the seventh on Gonzalez's RBI.

 

Blake Parker picked up his first save of the season, pitching the final two innings. Parker gave up one hit, no walks and fanned four.

 

Notes: Lalli's consecutive game hitting streak officially ended at 12 after a scorekeeper's review of the game tape of Monday night's 16-6 win over the Stars. Lalli's hit in the bottom of the eighth inning was ruled an error after further review.

[Mass Haas]

Quad City Online photo:

 

Timber Rattlers pitcher Nick Bucci falls over River Bandits, Ivan Castro sliding into home after a wild pitch by Bucci helped Castro score a run in the bottom of the second inning.

 

http://photos.qconline.com/bignails/08-08-10_08-14-10/08-11-10/bandits11/bandits11_10a.jpg?TB_iframe=true&height=1250&width=400

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 6, @Las Vegas (Blue Jays) 4

 

Nashville Scores Three In Ninth To Stun Las Vegas, 6-4

Erick Almonte Delivers Go-Ahead Two-Run Single

 

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Trailing 4-3 entering the ninth inning, the Nashville Sounds scored three runs to top the Las Vegas 51s, 6-4, on Wednesday night at Cashman Field in the finale of a four-game series.

 

After Johnny Raburn singled to lead off the ninth frame and scored on a Ray Olmedo game-tying single, PCL saves leader and 51s closer Jeremy Accardo intentionally walked Mat Gamel to pitch to Erick Almonte, who delivered the game-winning two-run single to right field.

 

The victory was Nashville's (62-56) 16th last-at bat win and ninth come-from-behind victory trailing in the seventh inning or later this season. The win also gave the Sounds a 3-5 record on the road trip and their first winning series against 51s in Las Vegas since joining the Pacific Coast League in 1998.

 

Nashville's 36 runs scored against Las Vegas over the last four games were the most scored in a four-game series since the Sounds plated 41 at Fresno from August 3-6, 2008.

 

Gamel had three hits for the third consecutive game. In the series with the 51s, Gamel hit .556 (10-for-18) with five doubles, three RBIs, and seven runs scored.

 

The Sounds scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning as Gamel doubled to reach base and came home on an Almonte RBI single. The 51s tied the contest at 1-1 in the next frame when Jarrett Hoffpauir walked, stole second, and scored on a Jason Lane RBI single.

 

Nashville regained the lead in the next inning by adding two runs off Las Vegas starter Robert Ray. Brendan Katin recorded a leadoff walk and moved to third on a Luis Cruz base hit. Raburn continued to stay hot since being activated last Friday, doubling home Katin for the first run of the inning. Catcher Martin Maldonado followed with an RBI infield groundout for the second run.

 

Las Vegas trimmed the lead to one at 3-2 in the bottom of the second as Brad Emaus hit a leadoff triple to center field and scored in the following at-bat as Danny Perales singled to left field. The 51s duplicated the first inning to knot the contest at 3-3 as Lane drove home Hoffpauir again for the game-tying score.

 

Mike McCoy gave Las Vegas the 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with a line drive solo home run over the left field wall. The long ball was McCoy's sixth home run of the season and second in consecutive nights.

 

Ray went five innings while allowing three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Allowing three runs in 1 1/3 inning, it was Accardo's (2-1) second blown save of the season in the loss.

 

In his first start facing his former squad, Sounds starter Marty McLeary surrendered four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts in six innings pitched. Las Vegas native Brandon Kintzler threw a scoreless frame in relief. Chris Smith (4-3) earned the win, striking out four over two shutout innings.

 

After a league-wide off day Thursday, Nashville will begin an eight-game homestand with the Salt Lake Bees (AAA-Angels) and Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA-Rockies), their lone meetings with the clubs this season. Left-hander Sam Narron (7-5, 3.93) will start Friday's 7:05 PM CT opener for the Sounds against Bees right-hander Matt Palmer (1-1, 1.00).

 

Nashville Box Score

However you want to slice the recent numbers, Mat Gamel is blazing hot -- he played third base here...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona Brewers 14, Arizona Cubs 4

 

Arizona Box Score

Crooked number innings in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th, paced the A-Crew; 25th round 2B Nick Shaw (22 years old later this month) continues to post ridiculous numbers -- he doubled twice, tripled, and has a real case at league MVP with his .368 / .490 / .521 line in 117 AB's -- also 9-for-10 in steals this season; 19-year-old catcher Tyler Roberts, not to be outdone by Shaw, doubled twice and homered (his 5th), and also sports an OPS north of 1.000; Jody Gerut hit a three-run HR and singled, as the Brewers honestly simply don't know what to do with his roster spot, it seems; LF Kenny Allison reached three times, as did T.J. Mittelstaedt, who DH'd; Max Walla hit a two-run HR, his 2nd of the season; SS Yadiel Rivera doubled and singled...

 

RHP Kevin Shackelford earned his first pro win in the start, five solid innings -- again, much better starting than relieving, as we pointed out last time out; RHP Brooks Hall allowed three runs in three innings -- his work can best be described as uneven this season, actually it's been beneath that...

 

Arizona Game Log

Check out the offense in the three innings noted above...

[TCSM]

I'm really excited to see Gamel destroying the ball once again. However, his four strikeouts, four walks is even more impressive to me. He seemed to be striking out at a much higher rate than in the past. This is definitely a good sign!

[colbyjack]

Wily Peralta has morphed into an efficient, groundball inducing pitchability guy. I doubt I'd even recognize him on the mound now inspite of seeing him live several times last year when he was a high effort, hardthrowing strikeout guy who looked like a future reliever. He is seriously on the rise. His transformation shows us that he's not just a good arm, but he's got something upstairs too.

 

Peralta's development certainly is encouraging, and exciting to think he's doing it at AA. Moving forward I'm most excited about who will be at the upper levels next year (Rivas/Rogers/Butler at AAA, possibly Jeffress/Peralta too, Peralta/Scarpetta at AA, possibly Heckthorn too, and possibly Odorizzi by midseason). However, we don't know (at least not that I've read) that his delivery is any less max effort than it was last year. Just because he's developed more as a pitcher doesn't necessarily translate to smoother mechanics.

 

The O's had their work cut out for them in facing Helena starting pitcher Matt Miller, arguably the league's top hurler who began the evening 6-1 with a 2.16 ERA.

 

This is pretty cool to read, as Miller's debut has also been exciting. I'm not sure if he will stick as a starter, but I'm happy to see the Brewers use him that way. He fits their profile as a bigger bodied, athletic guy with a plus fastball and plus breaking pitch, and could help form yet another encouraging rotation for the T-Rats next year with Nelson and Thornburg (among others).

 

As for Gamel, it's great to see him hitting the ball so well. He has been so consistently good throughout his career, minus the hiccup from last year into early this year.