Link Report for Mon. 9/6 -- Helena Magic Number Still 1; Rattlers Win Finale; Good-Byes to Nashville and/or Huntsville?

[Mass Haas]

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[Mass Haas]

Sunday's Daily Menu:

Times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Chase Wright at New Orleans (Marlins), 12:45 PM pre-game; 1:00 gametime

Live Audio Link

 

Huntsville: RHP Michael Bowman at home vs. Mobile (Diamondbacks), 12:45 PM pre-game; 1:00 gametime

Live Audio Link

 

Brevard County: Season complete

 

Wisconsin: RHP Nick Bucci at Kane County (Athletics), 12:40 PM pre-game; 1:00 gametime

Live Audio Link

 

Helena: TBD at Great Falls (White Sox), 7:45 PM pre-game; 8:00 gametime

Live Audio Link

Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): Season complete -- League Champions!

 

DSL Brewers: Season complete

[Mass Haas]

It's not the 2010 end to the Link Report, however -- Helena will keep us busy for a while; regular season ends Thursday; playoffs (well, almost certainly playoffs, but don't want to jinx it) begin Friday.

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday'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

[Mass Haas]

Wow, on Sunday in Iowa, Memphis, in a must-win situation, defeated the Cubs 8-7 in 15 innings. They will meet again today with the victor capturing the division crown and heading to the postseason (Memphis wins the tiebreaker). As you can see, Omaha and Nashville weren't far behind. Pretty unfair to call the Sounds a last-place team in 2010. Cardinals vs. Cubs for the division title? Spare us...

 

PCL American North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Iowa	82	61	.573	-	-	39-32	43-29	7-3	L1
	Memphis	81	62	.566	1.0	1	48-26	33-36	7-3	W1
	Omaha	80	63	.559	2.0	E	40-32	40-31	7-3	W2
	Nashville	77	66	.538	5.0	E	39-31	38-35	7-3	W1

SOU North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
*#	Tennessee	43	26	.623	-	-	25-10	18-16	6-4	W2
	Huntsville	34	35	.493	9.0	E	20-15	14-20	4-6	L2
	West Tenn	33	36	.478	10.0	E	20-14	13-22	5-5	W4
	Chattanooga	32	37	.464	11.0	E	16-19	16-18	4-6	L4
	Carolina	28	39	.418	14.0	E	13-20	15-19	4-6	L2

FSL North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Tampa	78	57	.578	-	40-28	38-29	5-5	L2
	Daytona	75	64	.540	5.0	37-32	38-32	5-5	W1
*	Dunedin	72	67	.518	8.0	33-36	39-31	6-4	W2
	Lakeland	71	67	.514	8.5	37-31	34-36	6-4	L1
	Clearwater	67	72	.482	13.0	37-34	30-38	5-5	L1
	Brevard County	64	75	.460	16.0	33-38	31-37	3-7	W1

MID Western
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
#	Quad Cities	43	25	.632	-	-	15-16	28-9	7-3	W1
	Kane County	39	29	.574	4.0	-	22-12	17-17	8-2	W5
*	Cedar Rapids	38	31	.551	5.5	1	20-14	18-17	6-4	W5
	Clinton	37	32	.536	6.5	E	21-15	16-17	3-7	L3
	Beloit	34	32	.515	8.0	E	18-16	16-16	5-5	L2
	Peoria	32	35	.478	10.5	E	18-16	14-19	4-6	L1
	Wisconsin	31	38	.449	12.5	E	17-18	14-20	3-7	L5
	Burlington	23	43	.348	19.0	E	16-17	7-26	3-7	W2

PIO North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Helena	21	13	.618	-	-	9-8	12-5	7-3	W1
*	Great Falls	20	13	.606	0.5	4	12-4	8-9	8-2	W2
	Billings	15	18	.455	5.5	E	8-6	7-12	4-6	L3
	Missoula	14	20	.412	7.0	E	9-10	5-10	3-7	L1

AZL Central
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
#	AZL Brewers	34	22	.607	-	-	13-12	12-10	3-6	W1
&	AZL Reds	31	24	.564	2.5	E	12-8	14-9	8-2	W6
	AZL Dodgers	30	25	.545	3.5	E	12-11	13-8	5-5	L1
	AZL Indians	21	35	.375	13.0	E	8-14	10-13	2-8	L2

DSL S.D. North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
#	DSL Mariners	43	28	.606	-	-	23-13	20-15	7-3	L1
	DSL Cardinals	39	32	.549	4.0	E	24-11	15-21	5-5	L2
	DSL Athletics	32	39	.451	11.0	E	17-19	15-20	6-4	W2
	DSL Brewers	28	43	.394	15.0	E	17-18	11-25	3-7	W1

[Mass Haas]

Standings for completed seasons reflect full-season standings, such as Brevard County's today.

[Mass Haas]

Our early holiday note:

 

The links below should be updated with game notes just prior to the starts of the respective games --

PDF documents:

 

Nashville Media Notes

 

Huntsville Media Notes (may not post)

 

***

 

Rattler Radio Blog

[craigharmann]

Goodbye Huntsville.....hello.............San Antonio?? I can only wish.

[trwi7]

Pretty sure San Antonio got a two year extension with San Diego.

 

In fact I think the only two options other than Huntsville are Erie (Detroit) and Arkansas (Anaheim).

 

Not many options for AAA either. Only Pawtucket (Boston), Las Vegas (Toronto), Oklahoma City (Texas), Portland (San Diego), Round Rock (Houston) and Sacramento (Oakland) are available. I expect Boston to remain with Pawtucket, I'd imagine San Diego and Oakland would like to stay out west with either Sacramento, Las Vegas or Portland and Texas is going to take Round Rock which leaves only Oklahoma City and whichever team is left between Portland, Sacramento and Las Vegas.

 

In terms of travel, the easiest teams for us would be Arkansas and Oklahoma City and both teams have fantastic facilities.

[Southern Leaguer]

According to Baseball America, San Antonio (Padres), Erie (Tigers) and Arkansas (Angels) are all that's left. Assuming the Padres stay in San Antonio, I could see Erie or Arkansas coming after the Brewers but don't see Detroit or California 'courting' Huntsville. We will end up with what's left, and that may be the Brewers.

[battlekow]

Final: @New Orleans 10, Nashville 2

Sounds close out season with 10-2 loss

Nashville Sounds

 

METAIRIE, La. - The Nashville Sounds wrapped up their 2010 slate on the short end of a 10-2 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs in a Labor Day finale on Monday afternoon at Zephyr Field.

 

With the defeat, Nashville (77-67) split the four-game series with New Orleans but finished the year with an 11-5 victory in the season series against the Z's.

 

Brendan Katin (2-for-3) drove in both Sounds runs on the afternoon and finished the year with 76 RBIs, second-most on the club.

 

First baseman Joe Koshansky went 1-for-4 on the day for Nashville to close out the year with an 18-game hitting streak, tied for the 6th-longest streak by a Pacific Coast League player all season and the best effort by a Sounds batter since Vinny Rottino hit in 24 straight in 2008.

 

Katin got the scoring started as he continued his late-season surge at the plate with a two-out solo homer to left in the top of the first inning to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead.

 

The blast, which came against Zephyrs starter James Houser, was the slugger's career-best 26th of the year. Katin set a new career high for roundtrippers this season despite being sidelined for seven weeks due to an early-season knee injury.

 

New Orleans rallied to take a 3-1 lead in the third against Sounds starter Chase Wright. Miguel Fermin led off with a single and scored the tying run on John Raynor's one-out RBI single. Later in the frame, Brian Barden put the home team in front with a two-run double to center.

 

The Sounds missed a big opportunity to tie the game or better in the fourth, loading the bases with no outs and failing to score. After the first three batters of the frame singled off Houser, Eric Farris hit a fly ball to right and Katin was thrown out at the plate by Chris Aguila for a double play as he attempted to score. Houser then retired Adam Stern on an inning-ending groundout to escape the frame with no damage.

 

The Zephyrs put the game out of reach in the fifth, taking advantage of a suddenly-inaccurate Wright and an ineffective Chuck Lofgren to post a six-run frame in extending their lead to 9-1. New Orleans sent 10 batters to the plate in the frame.

 

Wright hit his mound counterpart with a pitch to open the frame, walked Raynor, and allowed a single to Richar to load the bases before issuing a free pass to Greg Burns to force home Houser.

 

Lofgren was summoned from the Sounds' bullpen and inherited the no-out, bases-loaded jam. After Mike Lamb greeted the left-hander by lifting a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Raynor, Aguila ripped an RBI single to left for a 6-1 lead. Mark Saccomanno drew a walk to load the bases again before veteran infielder Gookie Dawkins unloaded the bags with one swing, launching a three-run double to center to make it a 9-1 game.

 

Aguila struck again for the Z's in the seventh, swatting a one-out solo homer to left off Lofgren to extend the home team's lead to 10-1. It was the veteran outfielder's sixth longball of the year.

 

Katin wrapped up the day's scoring when he drove in his second run of the afternoon with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly against Z's reliever Matt Peterson. The Sounds left the bases loaded in the frame, as the right-hander escape further damage by inducing an inning-ending groundout from Johnny Raburn.

 

Houser (1-2) earned his first win of the year in the final game of the season for the Zephyrs after holding the Sounds to one run on five hits over his five innings of work.

 

Wright (8-9) closed out his season with a loss for Nashville after giving up seven runs on seven hits over four-plus innings. He walked two batters and struck out four in his 85-pitch outing.

 

Baseball returns to Greer Stadium in April 2011 when the Sounds begin their 34th season of competition. Season tickets are available now by calling 615-690-HITS or visiting the Greer Stadium box office.

 

Nashville box score

Congrats to the Sounds on a nice year; despite finishing last in their division, a record ten games over .500 is nothing to be ashamed of. Congrats in particular to Katin, who was just a monster over the last month or so. Farris and Ray Olmedo also had two hits. No doubt many of the Sounds will be moving on, as might the Sounds themselves, so thanks to everyone involved for a fun season.

 

Nashville play-by-play

[battlekow]

Final: Wisconsin 7, @Kane County 0

Rattlers wrap up 2010 with a shutout win

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

GENEVA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are heading into the off season with a win under their belts. Wisconsin shutout Kane County 7-0 in a Labor Day matinee at Elstrom Stadium to close out the 2010 season. Nick Bucci allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings to pick up the victory. Chris Dennis homered and drove in three runs while Kentrail Davis collected three hits to pace a 12-hit day for the Rattlers.

 

Wisconsin (58-80 overall, 32-38 second half) broke the scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. Cutter Dykstra started the inning with a single. Kentrail Davis was next and his deep fly ball to center was just off the glove of Tyreace House. Dykstra hustled around to the plate and just beat the throw for the first run of the game. Davis broke for third on the throw home and scored when the throw to get him went into left field.

 

The only trouble that Bucci saw on the afternoon was when he gave up a leadoff double to Jason Christian in the bottom of the fifth inning. But, he worked around the double and kept the Cougars (71-67, 39-30) off the scoreboard.

 

The Rattler offense rewarded Bucci for his efforts with a four run outburst in the top of the sixth. Kentrail Davis and Khris Davis started the rally with back-to-back singles. Hunter Morris followed with a single to plate Kentrail Davis. Then, Dennis doubled in both Khris Davis and Morris for a 5-0 advantage. Dennis, who took third on the throw to the plate, would score when he beat a throw home from short after a grounder off the bat of Cameron Garfield and the Rattlers were up 6-0.

 

Dennis struck again in the top of the eighth. He launched his eighteenth home run of the season to lead off the eighth. The three RBI in the game gave Dennis 87 on the season. Those are the most in a single season by a Timber Rattlers player since Jon Nelson had 91 in 2003. The Timber Rattlers record for RBI in a season is 107 and is held by Juan Silvestre, who set the mark in 1999.

 

Matt Costello and Jon Pokorny each pitched a scoreless inning to wrap up the Rattlers victory over the Cougars.

 

The Timber Rattlers begin the 2011 season on Thursday, April 7 at Time Warner Cable Field. Their opponents are the Kane County Cougars. Game time is 6:35pm.

 

Wisconsin box score

A satisfying conclusion. Bucci walked three and struck out four, throwing 86 pitches, 56 of which were strikes. Nice for him to go out on a high note after an inconsistent year. Also glad to see Pokorny not walk anyone for the first time in seven games; he fanned two. Morris and Kh. Davis each had two hits.

Wisconsin play-by-play

[battlekow]

Final: Mobile 6, @Huntsville 1

Huntsville box score

We'll always have 2008, Stars. Not much going on today in what is likely the Stars' swan song as a Brewers affiliate, unfortunately. Michael Bowman allowed three runs in six innings, Lucas Luetge came in and allowed three more, and the offense couldn't do anything. Taylor Green knocked out a solo homer for their only run. Drew Anderson doubled, and Andy Machado had two hits. Caleb Gindl was 0-3 with a walk, and Brett Lawrie did not play. Thanks to Chad and the guys for their efforts this year, in particular Aaron for being so friendly on Twitter. Badgers fans: Aaron's calling the Northwestern-Wisconsin football game for the Wildcats in November.

 

Huntsville play-by-play

[battlekow]

Final: @Great Falls 12, Helena 3

Helena box score

Jose Oviedo and Seth Lintz were both pounded, though Alex Jones struck out four in 1.2 scoreless innings and Jimmy Nelson fanned two in his two shutout frames. Cody Hawn smoked his 13th homer to account for all three Helena runs, Robbie Garvey was on three times with a single and two walks, and Carlos George had two hits. I kinda wish the Brewers would trade for Great Falls SS Kyle Davis and put him in the Brevard County outfield next year.

 

Helena play-by-play

[LouisEly]

Free Brendan Katin.

 

Dykstra, Walker, and Ke. Davis in a fight to see who finishes with the highest OBP in the organization.

[Mass Haas]

Brewers can't nail down playoff spot

By The Helena Independent Record

 

GREAT FALLS — The Helena Brewers will try again today to secure a berth in the Pioneer League playoffs for the first time since 2007.

 

They’ll need either a better performance or better luck.

 

Helena’s magic number remains at one after the Brewers were roughed up 12-3 by the Great Falls Voyageurs at Centene Stadium on Monday night. The Voyageurs, who won the North Division first-half title, took a ½ game lead over Helena in the second-half standings.

 

The other piece of bad news came from Billings, where the Mustangs defeated Missoula to pull within three games of the Brewers in the composite standings. If Great Falls wins the second-half title, the second playoff team will be the team with the better overall record.

 

Helena (40-33 overall, 21-14 second half) can secure that spot with a win or a loss by Billings.

 

It became clear early on Monday that a win wasn’t to be. The Voyageurs jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Cody Hawn’s 13th home run of the season provided Helena all three of its runs in the fifth inning.

 

Great Falls (44-28, 21-13 second half) managed 13 hits, with Ross Wilson leading the charge by going 3 for 4 with five RBIs. His two-run homer in the fourth inning against Seth Lintz extended Great Falls’ lead to 9-0.

 

Helena pitcher Jose Oviedo (1-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs on eight hits in just 2 1/3 innings.

 

Great Falls took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, then added six more in the third, sending 11 men to the plate in the process. Consecutive singles by Michael Earley, Ross Wilson and Andy Wilkins plated two runs before Michael Blanke’s double to left field scored two more to increase the lead to 5-0.

 

Rafael Vera made it 6-0 with a sacrifice fly and Randall Thorpe’s single scored Blanke to finish the night for Oviedo.

 

Voyageurs’ starter Paul Burnside (7-3) tied Helena’s Matt Miller for the league lead in wins with his seventh. He pitched five innings and struck out seven.

 

DIAMOND NOTES: If the Brewers can secure a playoff spot, the best-of-three North Division Championship Series would open Friday night at Kindrick Legion Field. Games 2 and 3, if necessary, would be played in Great Falls.

[CheezWizHed]

According to Baseball America, San Antonio (Padres), Erie (Tigers) and Arkansas (Angels) are all that's left. Assuming the Padres stay in San Antonio, I could see Erie or Arkansas coming after the Brewers but don't see Detroit or California 'courting' Huntsville. We will end up with what's left, and that may be the Brewers.

 

But if Erie or Arkansas came after the Brewers, wouldn't Detroit or California need to take what is left?

 

Where is Erie located anyway? I'm assuming by the Great Lake, but which town? Answered my own question: Erie, PA. For some reason I was thinking "Erie" was a region (ala Caronlina Panthers) and not the town. Not very familiar with PA.