Link Report for Wed. 4/27 -- Strong starts from Lasker & Ross, less so from Thornburg

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Daily Menu:

Times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: Idle -- Homestand continues Thursday with lots of rehab assignments sprinkled in

Huntsville: RHP Michael Bowman at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 10:43 AM gametime -- rainout is likely

Live Audio Link

iPad/iPhone: Listen

Traditional broadcast via the Barons' feed: Listen

 

Brevard County: TBD (likely RHP Maverick Lasker) at home vs. Dunedin (Blue Jays), 6:05 PM gametime

Sorry, no audio available for this contest...

 

Wisconsin: RHP's Tyler Thornburg and Austin Ross in a doubleheader at home vs. Quad City (Cardinals), 11:45 AM pre-game; 12:05 PM gametime; RHP Dan Britt is likely to see action behind Thornburg

Live Audio Link

[Mass Haas]

Schedule reminders --

While the Rattlers' audio is opposite the Brewer matinee, remember to switch over to Chris afterwards to catch the tail end of the twinbill.

 

***

 

Thursday evening's Wisconsin game is being televised on Time Warner Cable Sports 32. There is no Brewer big league game Thursday, so this is a "DVR reminder / clear your schedule" tip, with one day's notice.

[Mass Haas]

Follow Wednesday's action as it happens:

 

Huntsville (Gameday also available)

Brevard County

Wisconsin Game One

 

Wisconsin Game Two

[Mass Haas]

PCL American North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Omaha	12	7	.632	-	-	7-1	5-6	9-1	W8
	Iowa	10	9	.526	2.0	124	5-2	5-7	5-5	L1
	Nashville	8	11	.421	4.0	122	5-6	3-5	3-7	L3
	Memphis	7	12	.368	5.0	121	6-6	1-6	4-6	W1

SOU North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Huntsville	13	6	.684	-	-	8-1	5-5	6-4	W1
	Tennessee	13	6	.684	-	-	4-1	9-5	6-4	W1
	Chattanooga	11	8	.579	2.0	50	5-5	6-3	6-4	W1
	Jackson	8	10	.444	4.5	48	2-6	6-4	4-6	L1
	Carolina	5	14	.263	8.0	44	5-9	0-5	4-6	L1

FSL North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Daytona	13	5	.722	-	-	6-1	7-4	7-3	W6
	Clearwater	11	8	.579	2.5	50	4-4	7-4	5-5	L1
	Lakeland	10	9	.526	3.5	49	7-5	3-4	4-6	L1
	Brevard County	8	11	.421	5.5	47	2-6	6-5	5-5	W1
	Tampa	8	11	.421	5.5	47	3-8	5-3	3-7	W1
	Dunedin	6	12	.333	7.0	46	2-8	4-4	5-5	L2

MID Western
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Burlington	13	4	.765	-	-	5-1	8-3	8-2	L1
	Cedar Rapids	12	6	.667	1.5	-	6-3	6-3	8-2	W2
	Beloit	9	7	.563	3.5	52	5-3	4-4	5-5	W1
	Peoria	10	8	.556	3.5	51	4-3	6-5	7-3	W3
	Quad Cities	8	9	.471	5.0	50	3-6	5-3	3-7	W2
	Kane County	7	12	.368	7.0	47	4-6	3-6	4-6	L3
	Wisconsin	5	9	.357	6.5	50	3-5	2-4	3-7	L4
	Clinton	5	14	.263	9.0	45	3-9	2-5	2-8	L2

[Mass Haas]

From Huntsville GM Buck Rogers --

Stars fans, today's game has been postponed due to the bad weather conditions in the area.

Although we have a break in the rain right now, another strong cell is bearing down on us that will force us to push the start of today's game back a few hours. Once that cell passes thru later this afternoon a strong line of severe weather is projected (north-south) to move directly east directly into the path the Birmingham Barons must travel home.

In good conscience and concerned about having a bus on the road with probably tornado warnings, we're calling this thing now and making it up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday, June 15th, when the Barons return to Huntsville.

Safety is everything. There are still some violent storms in the area. Please be cautious and stay alert.

Rock On!

[Mass Haas]

Be sure to read Chris' updates, lineups and game notes for this afternoon's Rattlers double-dip.

[TooLiveBrew]

Not sure if the radar gun at Fox Cities Stadium is working properly or not... but if it is, Thornburg's fastball was operating in the 88-91 mph range today (highest I saw was 91). Whether that's simply due to the cooler weather (appx. 45° F), mechanics being off slightly, or anything else, I don't know. His velocity was just noticeably slower today.

 

He got several Quad Cities players to go up the ladder for strikeouts with the FB, but as you can see in the box score, his command wasn't there for him as much today.

[Tedaldtada]

Austin Ross with a complete game win in game 2 for WI. Keep it up, Austin!

[And That]

Former Brewer farmhand Wes Etheridge, now 26, got the save against the Manatees today. He last pitched for the Brewers in West Virginia, in '08.

[battlekow]

Final: Dunedin 3, @Brevard County 0

Manatees blanked by Blue Jays

Frank Longobardo/Brevard County Manatees

VIERA, Fla. -- Coming off of a 4-2 road trip, the Brevard County Manatees were rudely welcomed home by the visiting Dunedin Blue Jays as the 'Tees were shutout 3-0 on Wednesday night at Space Coast Stadium.

Dunedin (7-12) took an early lead in the first as A.J. Jimenez's two-out, two-run single gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

Manatees (8-12) starting pitcher Maverick Lasker (0-4, 5.82) settled down after giving up those two early runs, as he retired 13 straight Dunedin hitters. He finished the night going seven innings and giving up two runs on five hits, while striking out four.

While Lasker was able to keep the Jays at bay, the 'Tees couldn't find an offense of their own. Brevard County's best chance to get on the board was in the fourth inning as they had the bases loaded with two outs, but Shea Vucinich struck out swinging to end the rally.

The Blue Jays padded their lead in the top of the ninth when Jon Talley hit a solo shot off of Santo Manzanillo to make it 3-0 Dunedin.

Brevard County managed just three hits and only one extra-base hit, which was a double off the bat of Khris Davis.

The Manatees and Blue Jays will continue their three-game series on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. at Space Coast Stadium in Viera.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2011/04/27/yrRe3bRd.jpg

Scooter Gennett takes a throw at second. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

Brevard County box score

Nice start from Lasker in a losing cause; he didn't walk anyone and posted a 10/5 GO/FO. R.J. Seidel pitched a scoreless 8th; he's quietly given up just one earned run (though four unearned ones) in 11.2 innings, though he struck out just his third man of the year tonight. Gennett and Hunter Morris had the 'Tees' other two hits--nice to see Morris back quickly after missing yesterday with a finger injury. Kentrail Davis and D'Vontrey Richardson each drew a walk.

Brevard County play-by-play

Even bigger than Vucinich's strikeout in the 4th was Khris Davis's GIDP:

Brevard County Bottom of the 4th

• Kentrail Davis walks.
• Hunter Morris singles on a ground ball to right fielder Brad Glenn. Kentrail Davis to 2nd.
• Khristopher Davis grounds into double play, shortstop Ryan Goins to second baseman Ivan Contreras to first baseman Jon Talley. Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Hunter Morris out at 2nd.
• D' Vontrey Richardson walks.
• Brock Kjeldgaard hit by pitch. D' Vontrey Richardson to 2nd.
• Shea Vucinich strikes out swinging.

[battlekow]

Final (game one): Quad Cities 7, @Wisconsin 5 (7 innings)

Bandits steal game one in their last at bat

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Quad Cities River Bandits scored three times in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 7-5. Packy Elkins tied the game with an RBI single. Then, two runs scored on an error to bring the River Bandits back from a 5-1 deficit.

Wisconsin grabbed an early lead on a two-run home run by Mike Walker in the bottom of the first inning. Walker's blast, his fourth of the season, was just to the right of the batter's eye in center field.

Tyler Roberts blasted a two-run homer, his first of the season, to left-center in the bottom of the second. Later in the inning, Reggie Keen singled in Nick Shaw and the Rattlers were up 5-1.

Tyler Thornburg, Wisconsin's starting pitcher, had allowed an RBI single to Yunier Castillo in the second inning and a solo homer to Jonathan Rodriguez in the fourth inning. But, he ran into trouble in the top of the fifth. Thornburg walked Michael Swinson with one out and gave up a two-run homer to Nick Longmire. The home run just curled around the foul pole in left field and cut Wisconsin's lead to 5-4.

Thornburg walked the next batter and was replaced by Dan Britt. Thornburg struck out seven and walked four over 4-1/3 innings. Britt entered the game and got a pair of grounders to end the threat.

Britt got a pair of outs in the top of the sixth, but left the game after an error allowed the Bandits to put runners on the corners. Brian Garman would strikeout Swinson to end the Bandits rally.

Garman struck out Longmire to start the seventh and final scheduled inning. Greg Garcia doubled to start the charge. A single by Cody Stanley and a walk to Rodriguez loaded the bases. Elkins lined a single just out of the reach of second baseman Shaw to drive in the tying run. Then, a hot shot off the bat of Kyle Conley went under the glove of third baseman Greg Hopkins for an error and a pair of runs to give the River Bandits a 7-5 lead.

Wisconsin tried to come back in the bottom of the seventh. Carlos George singled with one out. Roberts followed with a single to center, but George was thrown out trying to reach third. Shaw walked and Keen reached on an error to load the bases for Cody Hawn, but he flew out to center to end the game.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2011/04/27/gOs7LWiP.jpg

Packy Elkins ties game one with a bases loaded single in the top of the seventh inning on Wednesday afternoon.

(Wisconsin Timber Rattlers)

Wisconsin box score (game one)

The Rattlers sure have lost a lot of games like this over the last couple years, haven't they? Garman has been awful--he's allowed ten runs (nine earned) in 4.2 innings this year. Thornburg's getting stretched out, throwing 93 pitches (53 strikes) today. Nice to see Walker continue to take batting practice during the game and also Roberts get his first round-tripper of the year. Roberts was the only Rattler with multiple hits, though Shaw (shocker) walked three times--he's already taken ball four 16 times this year.

Wisconsin play-by-play (game one)

Keen was on twice in the first two innings with a HBP and a single, but he was picked off first the first time and caught stealing home (missed sign?) the second. The Rattlers didn't have a baserunner between the 2nd and the 7th.

[battlekow]

Final (game two): @Wisconsin 3, Quad Cities 1

Ross on a roll

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE, WI - Austin Ross stayed on his early season hot streak. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers starting pitcher tossed a complete game in the nightcap of Wednesday doubleheader and the Rattlers beat the Quad Cities River Bandits 3-1. Ross struck out five and gave up four hits for his second win of the season.

Quad Cities (9-10) got to Ross in the first inning. Greg Garcia doubled with two outs. Jonathan Rodriguez was next and he doubled to knock in Garcia for a 1-0 lead.

Bandits starter Trevor Rosenthal also tossed a complete game and he struck out eight over six innings. But, Wisconsin got to him in the second inning.

TJ Mittelstaedt singled with one out. Cameron Garfield, in his first at bat since coming off the disabled list, doubled into right and Wisconsin (6-10) had runners at second and third. Carlos George knocked in Mittelstaedt and moved Garfield to third with an infield single. Franklin Romero dropped a hard bunt up the first base line and Garfield, who was not running on the pitch, beat the throw home and Wisconsin was up 2-1.

Reggie Keen manufactured a run in the bottom of the third inning. He singled to start the frame, stole second, and took third on a grounder by Nick Shaw. Cody Hawn's sacrifice fly plated Keen for a 3-1 advantage.

Ross, the reigning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week, took over from there. The right-hander out of LSU worked around a one out single in the fifth, a one out double in the sixth, and a two out walk in the seventh to record the complete game.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Rattlers.

Wisconsin continues their homestand on Thursday evening with a game against the Clinton LumberKings. Matt Miller (0-2, 6.46) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Seon Gi Kim (0-1, 4.20) is set to start for Clinton. Game time is 6:35pm. If you can't make it out to Time Warner Cable Field, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or on timberrattlers.com at 6:15pm starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show.

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Ross is congratulated by Tony Pechek after the final out of Ross's complete game victory over Quad Cities in the nightcap of Wednesday's doubleheader at Time Warner Cable Field. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers)

Wisconsin box score (game two)

Ross has been phenomenal--he's allowed only five runs (three earned) in 25 innings, with a 21/6 K/BB. He walked two today and hit a batter. We don't have a pitch/strike count on him yet, but maybe Chris will put it up for us tomorrow. Keen's steal was his 8th of the year, making up for some of his baserunning misadventures in game one. Hawn is scuffling mightily out of the gate, batting just .233/.277/.267; he has just two extra base hits. Chris observed early on that Hawn was having bad luck on balls in play; perhaps that's still the case.

Wisconsin play-by-play (game two)

[battlekow]

Dan Powers of the Post Crescent has a nice photo album from today, including this cool shot of Reggie Keen:

http://cmsimg.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=U0&Date=20110427&Category=APC0206&ArtNo=104270807&Ref=PH&Item=6&Maxw=620&Maxh=465&q=60

[battlekow]

Chris Mehring's postgame observations including the following:

• Tyler Roberts. Home run AND a single. He has seven hits (in 36 at bats) this season and six are for extra bases.
• Defense needs to tighten up. ?Six errors today.
• Bullpen needs to tighten up. ?Four blown saves this season…In seven opportunities.

[Mass Haas]

Ross delivers strong performance as Timber Rattlers stop losing skid and split with River Bandits

by Tim Froberg, Post-Crescent staff writer

GRAND CHUTE — As a petroleum engineering major, Austin Ross knows oil has considerable worth.

Poised professional pitchers like Ross who consistently mow down hitters have a ton of value, too.

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were certainly pleased to have his services Wednesday afternoon and may not have them much longer if Ross continues his exceptional mound work.

The Louisiana State University product turned in another quality start, delivering a much-needed complete game to give the Timber Rattlers a split of their Midwest League doubleheader against Quad Cities with a 3-1 victory in the finale on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

The River Bandits won the opener 7-5 when the Rattlers' struggling bullpen imploded again by surrendering three runs in the final inning of the seven-inning game.

However, Ross (2-0) filled the role of stopper in the second game. The composed right-hander with excellent control silenced Quad Cities on four hits and went the full seven innings to end Wisconsin's five-game losing streak.

Ross, named Monday as the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week, struck out five and walked two. He has an earned run average of just 1.08 and has fanned 18 with just four walks in 25 innings.

Ross throws a fastball that has been clocked around 88-91 mph, along with a sharp breaking ball and an effective change-up.

"The maturity level on that kid, especially for this league, is really good," said Wisconsin manager Matt Erickson. "Not a whole lot gets to him. He doesn't get rattled and he's a strike thrower. He doesn't hurt himself."

Ross' complete game couldn't have come at a better time, considering the early season failures of the shaky bullpen.

"We've had some games lately where we were unable to finish," said Erickson. "Austin did a heck of a job today and was able to finish. We had the right guy on the mound to stop it (the losing streak) — no doubt about it."

Ross struggled early, yielding back-to-back doubles to Greg Garcia and Jonathan Rodriquez in the first inning for the River Bandits' only run. But he settled down and quickly found his groove.

"I didn't really feel in rhythm early," said Ross, an eighth-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2010 baseball draft and the organization's 30th-best prospect according to Baseball America. "I just wasn't in sync. I just kind of battled through it and made adjustments. I thought I commanded my fastball well and made pitches when I needed to make them."

The Timber Rattlers (6-10) didn't crush the ball in either game before a crowd of 1,540. Still, they finally generated sufficient runs — eight in the two games on a combined 10 hits — after being blanked in their two previous games.

In the opener, first baseman Mike Walker slugged a towering two-run homer to right center in the first inning to get Wisconsin off to a fast start. Catcher Tyler Roberts added a two-run homer in the second to stake Wisconsin to an early 4-1 lead.

"It was a fastball and I'm a fastball hitter," said Walker. "It carried well and the wind helped it, but I'll take it. I thought our guys had some pretty good swings today and hit the ball pretty well. It's nice to get out of that little drought."

[JohnBriggs12]

I have a feeling you better get out and see Ross soon because he's not long for the Midwest League if he keeps this up.

[battlekow]

We don't have a pitch/strike count on him yet, but maybe Chris will put it up for us tomorrow.

106 pitches, 69 strikes.