Link Report for Tue. 4/12 -- Sounds split, Sea Cows off the schneid, Mike Walker's big night

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Tuesday's Daily Menu:
Times Central; pitchers subject to change --

Nashville: LHP Sam Narron and RHP Amaury Rivas in a doubleheader at home vs. Oklahoma City (Astros), 5:20 PM pre-game; 5:35 gametime; each contest slated for seven innings
Live Audio Link
iPad/iPhone: Listen

Huntsville: Idle

Brevard County: RHP Kyle Heckathorn at Tampa (Yankees), 6:00 PM gametime
Sorry, no audio available for this contest...

Wisconsin: RHP Austin Ross at Cedar Rapids (Angels), 6:15 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime
Live Audio Link

[Mass Haas]

Follow Tuesday's action as it happens:

 

Nashville Game One (Gameday also available)

Nashville Game Two (Gameday also available)

Brevard County

Wisconsin

[Mass Haas]

PCL American North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Nashville	3	1	.750	-	-	3-1	0-0	3-1	L1
	Iowa	3	2	.600	0.5	140	0-0	3-2	3-2	L1
	Memphis	3	2	.600	0.5	140	3-2	0-0	3-2	L1
	Omaha	2	3	.400	1.5	139	0-0	2-3	2-3	L1

SOU North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Huntsville	3	2	.600	-	-	0-0	3-2	3-2	W1
	Jackson	3	2	.600	-	-	0-0	3-2	3-2	W2
	Tennessee	3	2	.600	-	-	0-0	3-2	3-2	L1
	Chattanooga	2	3	.400	1.0	65	2-3	0-0	2-3	W1
	Carolina	1	4	.200	2.0	64	1-4	0-0	1-4	W1

FSL North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Daytona	5	0	1.000	-	-	3-0	2-0	5-0	W5
	Clearwater	4	1	.800	1.0	65	2-0	2-1	4-1	L1
	Lakeland	3	2	.600	2.0	64	1-1	2-1	3-2	W2
	Tampa	3	2	.600	2.0	64	2-1	1-1	3-2	W1
	Brevard County	0	5	.000	5.0	61	0-2	0-3	0-5	L5
	Dunedin	0	5	.000	5.0	61	0-3	0-2	0-5	L5

MID Western
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Burlington	4	1	.800	-	-	1-0	3-1	4-1	W3
	Beloit	3	2	.600	1.0	-	1-0	2-2	3-2	W3
	Quad Cities	3	2	.600	1.0	-	2-2	1-0	3-2	W1
	Wisconsin	3	2	.600	1.0	-	2-2	1-0	3-2	W1
	Cedar Rapids	2	3	.400	2.0	65	0-1	2-2	2-3	L2
	Kane County	2	3	.400	2.0	65	0-1	2-2	2-3	L1
	Peoria	2	3	.400	2.0	65	2-2	0-1	2-3	L1
	Clinton	1	4	.200	3.0	64	1-3	0-1	1-4	L3

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes

[Mass Haas]

Chris with his Rattler Radio Blog thoughts from Monday's 3-1 win

[battlekow]

Rattler Radio has the game notes and lineup:

Reggie Keen CF

Greg Hopkins 2B

Cody Hawn 1B

Jason Rogers LF

Cameron Garfield DH

Mike Walker 3B

Tyler Roberts C

Carlos George SS

Franklin Romero RF

Austin Ross SP

Switching it up a bit. Both catchers are in the lineup, as are both first baseman/designated hitters, which means big Jason Rogers makes his first pro appearance in the outfield.

[Mass Haas]

From Tampa:

Brevard County Top of the 5th

• Rafael Neda singles on a ground ball to shortstop Carmen Angelini.
  
• Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Shawn Zarraga replaces Rafael Neda.
  
• With Mike Brownstein batting, Shawn Zarraga steals (1) 2nd base.
  
• Brevard County Manatees catcher Rafael Neda left the game due to an injured head.

Odd circumstance. Was there an attempted swipe tag across Neda's head? A pickoff attempt?

[Mass Haas]

Manny Parra was strong in his first Nashville inning, but struggled in his 2nd and contributed to an Oklahoma final-inning rally to tie, game now in extra innings --

 

Okla. City Top of the 6th

• Pitcher Change: Manny Parra replaces Sam Narron, batting 9th.
  
• Koby Clemens called out on strikes.
  
• Carlos Corporan grounds out, second baseman Anderson Machado to first baseman Mat Gamel.
  
• Drew Locke strikes out swinging.

Okla. City Top of the 7th

• Tommy Manzella strikes out swinging.
  
• Oswaldo Navarro doubles (1) on a line drive to center fielder Brett Carroll.
  
• Jose Vallejo singles on a line drive to right fielder Brendan Katin. Oswaldo Navarro scores.
  
• J. B. Shuck walks. Jose Vallejo to 2nd.
  
• Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Brian Dopirak replaces Gustavo Chacin.
  
• Brian Dopirak walks. Jose Vallejo to 3rd. Shuck to 2nd.
  
• Pitcher Change: Jim Henderson replaces Manny Parra, batting 9th.
  
• Brian Bogusevic doubles (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Brendan Katin. Jose Vallejo scores. Shuck scores. Brian Dopirak to 3rd.
  
• Jim Henderson intentionally walks Koby Clemens.
  
• Carlos Corporan strikes out swinging.
  
• Drew Locke strikes out swinging.

[Mass Haas]

My goodness, do I heart the always uber-economical Kyle Heckathorn.

[DHonks]

I'm just curious, but how have Heckathorn's secondary pitches developed? He's K'ing at a slightly higher rate this year, but still not at a huge rate given his college velocity. Of course, like Arnett, Heckathorn's velocity hasn't been that high since college.

[Tedaldtada]

I think it is safe to say that Khris Davis has plenty of thunder in is bat for the FSL. Awesome.

[YoungGeezy]

I think Rivas is really trying to get Milwaukee to notice him.....if Estrada wouldnt have pitched as well as he did I think Amaury would be on the next plane out for the open start. Attacking the strike zone, not giving up many hits, and get grounds balls.

 

Edit: My bad, I'll take blame on the less than steller 5th......spoke to soon

[NYChez]

Last year's 11th round pick Greg Holle is a guy to keep an eye on. He's given up 2 ER in his first 26 professional innings, is 6 foot 8, and throws in the mid 90's.

[YoungGeezy]

Last year's 11th round pick Greg Holle is a guy to keep an eye on. He's given up 2 ER in his first 26 professional innings, is 6 foot 8, and throws in the mid 90's.

He was also just lights out in ST not giving up a run. I think he could be the first one to move up out of the pen in Wisconsin (my guess is he will have to replace Wooten sooner than later).

 

Anyone else extremely happy to see Green at 2nd base?

 

 

[brewmann04]

Gamel and Katlin off to a nice stay in 3a

[battlekow]

Final (game one): Oklahoma City 7, @Nashville 6 (8 innings)

RedHawks Come Back To Edge Sounds In Twinbill Opener

Nashville Sounds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Oklahoma City shortstop Tommy Manzella clubbed an opposite-field home run in the top of the eighth inning to power the visiting RedHawks to a come-from-behind, 7-6 victory over the Nashville Sounds in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday evening at Greer Stadium.

The game-winning blast, which came against Sounds reliever Jim Henderson, was the infielder's first big fly of the year as the RedHawks rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to record the win.

The Sounds didn't go down without a fight, however. After RedHawks reliever Jose Valdez retired the first two batters in the bottom of the frame, Nashville loaded the bases when Taylor Green singled before Anderson Machado and pinch-hitter Chris Nowak drew back-to-back walks.

Casey Fien was brought to the hill by Oklahoma City skipper Tony DeFrancesco and induced a hard grounder to short from Edwin Maysonet, who looked like he would beat the throw to first but pulled up lame on the basepaths while grabbing his right hamstring and was out by a half-step. Fien recorded his first save of the season.

It was Nashville's second consecutive extra-inning contest (0-2). The Sounds played 14 innings against New Orleans on Sunday before Monday's rainout interrupted the on-field action.

The Sounds took advantage of a friendly wind blowing out to center as they touched Oklahoma City starter-hander Henry Villar for five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Four of the five runs scored in the frame came via three longballs off the southpaw, who made his career Triple-A debut in the contest.

After Maysonet (2-for-4, 2 doubles) led off the frame by doubling off the center field wall, Mat Gamel plated him two batters later with a two-bagger of his own. Nashville cleanup hitter Brendan Katin followed with a two-run homer over the 24-foot high batters eye in center field. It was the first home run to skip off the speaker box behind the wall since Oklahoma's Hank Blalock accomplished the feat on June 3, 2002 (off the Sounds' Salomon Torres).

After Brandon Boggs walked and was thrown out trying to steal second, catcher Mike Rivera and third baseman Green increased the Nashville lead to 5-0 with back-to-back home runs off Villar. Green's roundtripper was his first career Triple-A hit.

The RedHawks jumped on the board in the second with a pair of two-out runs against Sounds starter Sam Narron that made it a 5-2 contest. Manzella blooped a two-out RBI double to left-center then came around to score when Oswaldo Navarro (3-for-4) followed with a single to left.

Nashville got a run back in the home half of the frame when Narron hit a leadoff single and later scored on a Brett Carroll sacrifice fly to up the lead to 6-2.

Villar took a beating in his Triple-A debut, surrendering six runs on seven hits in just two innings of action for the RedHawks. Six of his seven knocks allowed went for extra bases.

Following Villar's departure, three Oklahoma City relievers combined to hold the Sounds hitless over the next 5 2/3 innings before Green recorded a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth.

Oklahoma City cut the Sounds' advantage to 6-3 in the third when Koby Clemens singled and later scored on a Manzella sacrifice fly. Boggs, the Nashville left fielder, squelched the RedHawks' attempt to add another run when he threw out Drew Locke at the plate to end the inning as the runner tried to score on a Navarro single.

Narron, who left in line for a win in his first start of the year before the late blown save by the Sounds' bullpen, allowed three runs on nine hits over five innings of work, throwing 70 pitches.

Left-hander Manny Parra made his first rehab appearance for the Sounds and worked a spotless sixth inning, throwing eight of his 10 pitches in the frame for strikes, then ran into trouble in the seventh.

After fanning Manzella to open his second frame of action, he allowed a Navarro double followed by an RBI single off the bat of Jose Vallejo, which made it a 6-4 contest. Consecutive walks to J.B. Shuck and Brian Dopirak loaded the bases with only one out in the inning and prompted Don Money to summon Henderson from the bullpen.

Bogusevic greeted the right-hander by smashing his 1-0 offering to the wall in right-center for a game-tying, two-run double that knotted the score at 6-6. An intentional walk to Clemens re-loaded the bases with still one out but Henderson rallied to strike out ex-Sound Carlos Corporan and Locke in succession to escape the frame without further damage.

Parra ultimately allowed three runs on two hits in his 1 1/3 innings of work. He walked two batters and struck out three, while throwing 35 pitches, 17 for strikes.

Henderson (0-1) took the loss for Nashville after giving up the winning run in his 1 2/3 frames of work.

RedHawks reliever Jose Valdez (1-0) worked 1 2/3 scoreless frames to earn the victory.

Nashville box score

MH covered Parra's outing above. Heartbreaking detail there on the Maysonet play to end the game. Big ups (do people still say that?) to Green, and here's hoping for a resurgent season from him. Listen to Gamel's RBI double here. Boggs was hitless but walked twice and was hit by a pitch; he also had an additional outfield assist to go with the one mentioned in the recap.

Nashville play-by-play

A little passive here in the 3rd, no?

Nashville Bottom of the 3rd

• Brandon Boggs hit by pitch.
• Mike Rivera called out on strikes.
• Taylor Green called out on strikes.
• With Anderson Machado batting, wild pitch by Fernando Rodriguez, Brandon Boggs to 2nd.
• Anderson Machado called out on strikes

[battlekow]

Final (game two): @Nashville 2, Oklahoma City 1 (7 innings)

Sounds Split Doubleheader With 2-1 Win Over RedHawks

Nashville Sounds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds edged the Oklahoma City RedHawks, 2-1, in the doubleheader nightcap behind Brendan Katin's two-run homer and another fine pitching effort from Sounds starter Amaury Rivas (2-0).

The damage came in the bottom of the fourth inning, as first baseman Mat Gamel led off the frame with a double down the left field line, extending his consecutive-game streak with a double to three games. Katin then jacked a two-run homer over the wall in right-center, for his second long ball of the doubleheader.

Oklahoma City trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the top of the next frame, breaking a string of 10 2/3 scoreless frames by Rivas leading back his previous start. It was the only run the 25-year-old would allow on the night in his five innings pitched, allowing four hits and with five strikeouts for the win.

Mike McClendon shut the door with two perfect innings behind Rivas, picking up the club's first save of the season.

RedHawks starter Jordan Lyles (0-1) allowed two runs on six hits with four strikeouts in four innings pitched for the loss.

Nashville box score

Nice game from Rivas: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 87 pitches, 54 strikes, and a 7/1 GO/FO. Great job. Edwin Maysonet did not play after injuring his hamstring in game one, meaning that Anderson Machado had to play shortstop, which left second base duties to Taylor Green. I doubt he'll see more time there unless Maysonet misses time, but it's nice to know he's at least a backup option there still. Any versatility greatly increases his chances of an MLB career--as does continuing to pound out the extra-base hits, which he did with a double after homering in the first game. Brandon Boggs was hit by a pitch in both games of the doubleheader.

Nashville play-by-play

Rivas saved a run by deflecting a base hit in the 3rd:

Okla. City Top of the 3rd

• Oswaldo Navarro lines out to center fielder Brett Carroll.
• Jordan Lyles strikes out swinging.
• Collin DeLome doubles (1) on a ground ball to right fielder Brendan Katin.
• Tommy Manzella grounds out, pitcher Amaury Rivas to second baseman Taylor Green to first baseman Mat Gamel.

You can listen to the play here.

[battlekow]

Final: Brevard County 4, @Tampa 2

T-Yanks Fall Just Short to the Manatees

Jeremy Ventura & Jessica Lack/Tampa Yankees

Tampa, Fla. - The Tampa Yankees played the Brevard County Manatees tonight at George M. Steinbrenner Field. In a close game, the Manatees came out on top 4-2. Toeing the rubber for Tampa was Brett Marshall (0-2, 9.00 ERA) and for Brevard County was Kyle Heckathorn (1-0, 1.50 ERA).

Brevard County got on the scoreboard first tonight in the top of the second when Brock Kjeldgaard doubled and scored on a Chris Dennis single. Dennis advanced to second on the throw to the plate. Shea Vucinich bunted to move Dennis to third and Rafael Neda followed with a bunt to bring Dennis home for a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Neil Medchill stepped up to the plate and hit his first homerun of the season over the right field fence. The Manatees quickly retaliated in the top of the fourth when Khris Davis hit his first homerun of the season, giving the Manatees a 3-1 lead.

The game stayed close, but Brevard County extended their lead to three in the top of the eighth. Ryan Gennett singled and stole second base. Kentrail Davis grounded out to move Gennett to third. Hunter Morris hit a sacrifice fly scoring Gennett and putting the Manatees up 4-1.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Manatees called to the bullpen and brought out Santo Manzanillo for Heckathorn. Heckathorn threw seven innings and gave up seven hits, one earned run, and struck out six batters. Carmen Angelini tripled and scored off of a Rob Lyerly single to inch the Yankees closer, but it would not be enough as the T-Yanks lose 4-2.

The third and final game of the series will be played Wednesday, April 13th at 7:00pm. It's Kids Night at the ballpark which means kids 14 and under get a free hot dog, soda, and ice cream with the purchase of a reserved ticket.

Brevard County box score

Heckathorn did his best Amaury Rivas impersonation, including keeping the ball on the ground with a 9/3 GO/FO. Wonderful to see him miss some bats. Except for the struggling Kentrail Davis, every Sea Cow in the lineup, including Shawn Zarraga, who replaced Neda after Neda's injury (see above), had at least one hit--which is a good thing, because they drew no walks. Gennett is slowing getting it going, posting his first multi-hit game of the year. Zarraga also had two hits. Khris Davis has more home runs than the entire Manatees team did at this point last year, I think.

Brevard County play-by-play

Four of Heckathorn's six punch-outs were looking.

[battlekow]

Final: Wisconsin 8, @Cedar Rapids 5

Walker's big night at the plate helps Rattlers win second straight

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE, WI - Mike Walker had an up and down evening for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Tuesday night at Perfect Game Field. Walker drove in an early run and committed an error that would eventually let the Cedar Rapids Kernels tie the game. But, Walker finished the evening on a big upswing as his three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning put Wisconsin in front 7-5. Wisconsin went on to an 8-5 win. Walker went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI to pace a 12-hit Rattlers attack.

The Kernels (2-4) scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third after they loaded the bases with no outs against Wisconsin starting pitcher Austin Ross. A wild pitch scored the first run. An RBI grounder by Wes Hatton tallied the second.

Wisconsin (4-2) went in front in the top of the fourth by sending eight men to the plate. Jason Rogers started the rally with a one out triple. Cameron Garfield walked to put runners on the corners. Walker doubled to left to drive in Rogers and send Garfield to third. Tyler Roberts was next and he sent a grounder to short. Garfield scored the tying run when the throw home was dropped by the Kernel catcher.

The Rattlers took a 4-2 lead on back-to-back RBI singles by Carlos George and Franklin Romero, the next two batters in the fourth.

Cedar Rapids tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The first run scored on a grounder through the legs of Walker at third base. A two out single by Ricky Alvarez plated the tying run.

The Kernels grabbed a brief lead with a run in the bottom of the seventh when the Wisconsin defense could not turn a potential inning ending double play.

But, the Rattlers bounced back in the top of the eighth. Cody Hawn drew a leadoff walk. Rogers followed with a single. One out later - with Walker at the plate - the runners moved into scoring position on what was ruled a wild pitch.

The left-handed hitting Walker would line a 1-2 pitch to left field. The ball cleared the wall for a three-run homer and a 7-5 lead.

Garfield gave Wisconsin an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning on an infield grounder.

Greg Holle, who worked out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth, pitched two scoreless frames to pick up his first professional save.

Game three of the series is scheduled for Wednesday night at Perfect Game Field. Matt Miller (0-1, 11.25) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Cedar Rapids sends Suammy Baez (0-1, 7.71) to the hill. Game time is 6:35pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or www.timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm.

The Timber Rattlers return home on Friday night to start a three game series against the Peoria Chiefs. Game time on Friday at Time Warner Cable Field is 6:35pm. Tickets are available for all six games of the homestand between April 15 and April 20. Call the Timber Rattlers box office at 800-WI-TIMBER or (920) 733-4152 during regular business hours.

Wisconsin box score

Mehring said Ross was "a bit off with his control" and fell behind a lot of hitters. His line line: 5+ IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 84 pitches, 51 strikes, 8/4 GO/FO. Tyler Cravy allowed two runs, one earned, in two innings for the win. True to his name, and putting the cherry on top of a phenomenal game, Walker also drew a free pass. Romero also contributed three hits from the nine hole. I was wondering how Rogers would handle the outfield, but I guess he's fast enough to triple. Seeing that Travis Witherspoon stole two more bases off Roberts gave me flashbacks to Mike Trout's one-man demolition squad both on the bases and with the bat, but thankfully Witherspoon was 0-4.

Wisconsin play-by-play

[battlekow]

Chris Mehring's three quick(ish) thoughts notes that Austin Ross had a 37-pitch 3rd inning, plus some interesting sniping between Kane County and Burlington.

[Mass Haas]

Amazingly, the Tennessean has already provided more coverage than they did all of last season -- nice to see.

 

Parra's rehab stint fades fast

by Greg Sullivan, The Tennessean

 

Manny Parra was dominant against the first four batters he faced Tuesday night for the Sounds, but then he could not get another out.

Parra, a Milwaukee Brewers pitcher in Nashville on a rehab assignment for a back injury, was charged with three runs on two hits in 1-1/3 innings in the Sounds' 8-7 loss to Oklahoma City in the opener of a scheduled seven-inning doubleheader.

He threw 35 pitches, 17 for strikes, ranging from 77 to 93 mph.

"I think my stuff was there, but later on I lost the command a little bit," Parra said. "I fell behind, and it hurt me a little."

Parra struck out three of the first four batters he faced and induced a groundout to the second baseman, but then in succession gave up a double, an RBI single and two walks.

The two hits came on an off-speed fastball and curve.

"Unfortunately these games count for these guys," Parra said. "I didn't have spring training, and I'm just trying to sharpen up. These are the types of things I'm trying to clean up."

After Parra left the game with the bases loaded, Sounds reliever Jim Henderson gave up a two-RBI double to the RedHawks' Brian Bogusevic to account for Parra's other runs in the game that went eight innings.

Despite the mixed results, Parra said he believes he is still improving. He struck out four batters in two scoreless innings in a previous rehab outing Saturday for Single-A Wisconsin.

Parra said he still needs more repetitions, but said he is still on track to rejoin Milwaukee soon.

"We have a good ball club up there," Parra said. "I just wanna get sharp so when I go up there I'm ready to jump in and do what everyone else is doing."

In the meantime, he said, he is enjoying his time back in the comfortable surroundings of Nashville, where he pitched in 2007 and 2009.

"It doesn't feel like that long ago," Parra said. "(Tuesday's appearance) is really the first bad memory I have of this place."

[Mass Haas]

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette --

But Mike Walker took reliever A.J. Schugel opposite field for a three-run home run to left-center in the eighth, and the T-Rats (4-2) added an insurance run off him in the ninth. Del Chiaro pointed to Walker’s at-bat as a perfect representation of what he’s talking about when it comes to his pitchers’ inability to put hitters away.

Schugel got ahead in the count 0-2.

“We have the guy right where we want him,” Del Chiaro said. “It was just a mistake. We tried to go back inside on him, and just left it out over the plate. The guy made him pay for it.”

[Mass Haas]

Here's a preview for Wednesday's Link Report --

 

Pitching-rich Huntsville Stars open home schedule tonight against Carolina

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- A bit bleary-eyed from a bus ride from Florida that ended at 5 a.m., Stars manager Mike Guerrero nursed a cup of coffee early Tuesday afternoon and reiterated the theme for his Huntsville baseball team this season:

Pitching.

"If you get good pitching, you can win in this game," Guerrero said. "Our pitching has been good so far."

The Stars open their 2011 home schedule tonight at 6:43, hosting the Carolina Mudcats, the Class AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

Huntsville took three of five at Jacksonville in its first series, holding the two-time defending league champs to a .193 team batting average and only 16 runs.

Not that the Huntsville bats have been anemic. The Stars are hitting .294 as a team, but with only one home run.

Carolina is off to a 1-4 start, courtesy of the Mobile BayBears.

Wily Peralta, who'll be the Stars' starter tonight, allowed only one hit, striking out six in six innings, in his debut. Jesus Sanchez held the Suns to two hits in six innings in the third game. Michael Bowman allowed a leadoff single Monday and then retired 17 in a row. Mike Fiers has one win and one save out of the bullpen.

Peralta is listed as the Brewers' No. 3 prospect and Cody Scarpetta, who'll start Saturday, is the No. 2 prospect, according to Baseball America.

The Stars are a little thinner than usual when it comes to high-ranked prospects. Indeed, the Milwaukee organization is a little more thin as a whole, shuffling off some of its top prospects in recent years to land big-name pitchers.

The Brewers essentially leased CC Sabathia for two months in 2008, losing Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley in a trade. This past offseason, former Stars Jeremy Jeffress, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar were swapped to Kansas City for pitcher Zack Grienke. Brett Lawrie, the Southern League All-Star second baseman a year ago and a top-20 prospect, was swapped to Toronto for pitcher Shawn Marcum.

The Stars' front office has put together a busy promotional calendar, beginning with tonight's Oktoberfest celebration. A German folk band will be playing outside the stadium and there is a discount on Beck's beer. A fireworks display is planned for after the game.

[Mass Haas]

As for Wednesday's action, we'll have a lunchtime treat of a Nashville contest with Mark Rogers on the mound, so look for the day's Link Report by late morning.

 

Welcome to minor league baseball -- evening doubleheader followed by a matinee. The Sounds are already one arm short as the backfill for Brandon Kintzler has yet to be named. (The roster is at 23, Manny Parra's slot doesn't count.)

 

On top of that, it's a given Edwin Maysonet (hamstring last night) will be sidelined Wednesday, and as Jim from Bernie's Crew tweeted here, Eric Farris is apparently day-to-day with a foot injury.

 

Thus the Anderson Machado - Taylor Green middle infield will likely be in place again today. In a game with no DH, two of the three catchers on the roster will be the only available bench players.