Link Report for Thurs. 4/28 -- Solo shots sink Rivas, Heckathorn burns worms, Stars come back for win

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

We'll have all the normal Thursday Link Report components up later this afternoon, but this is your reminder that 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 another "DVR reminder / clear your schedule" tip (we had also provided a reminder yesterday, so no excuses.

 

Of course, you can always try and synchronize Chris' WNAM or web broadcast to the video http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

 

RHP Matt Miller toes the rubber.

[Mass Haas]

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

Nashville: RHP Amaury Rivas at home vs. Albuquerque (Dodgers), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime; RHP Takashi Saito will make a rehab appearance
Live Audio Link
iPad/iPhone: Listen

Huntsville: TBD (likely RHP Michael Bowman) at Mississippi (Braves), 7:05 PM gametime
Live Audio Link - Braves' feed

Brevard County: RHP Kyle Heckathorn at home vs. Dunedin (Blue Jays), 6:05 PM gametime
Live Audio Link - Blue Jays' feed

Wisconsin: RHP Matt Miller at home vs. Clinton (Mariners), 6:15 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime
Live Audio Link

TV note -- see above

[Mass Haas]

Sorry for missing this last night, Manatees' fans, but it appears the Dunedin Blue Jays have expanded their audio coverage in 2011. Previously it had been select home games only.

 

So, listen in to Kyle Heckathorn's start (albeit from a Blue Jays' perspective) at the link included in the menu above (scroll to Dunedin on the linked page).

[Mass Haas]

Follow Thursday's action as it happens:

 

Nashville (Gameday also available)

Huntsville (Gameday also available)

Brevard County

Wisconsin

[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	7	.650	0.5	51	4-1	9-6	6-4	L1
	Chattanooga	12	8	.600	1.5	50	5-5	7-3	6-4	W2
	Jackson	8	10	.444	4.5	48	2-6	6-4	4-6	L1
	Carolina	5	15	.250	8.5	43	5-10	0-5	4-6	L2

FSL North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Daytona	13	6	.684	-	-	6-2	7-4	7-3	L1
	Clearwater	12	8	.600	1.5	50	5-4	7-4	5-5	W1
	Lakeland	10	10	.500	3.5	48	7-5	3-5	3-7	L2
	Tampa	9	11	.450	4.5	47	3-8	6-3	4-6	W2
	Brevard County	8	12	.400	5.5	46	2-7	6-5	5-5	L1
	Dunedin	7	12	.368	6.0	46	2-8	5-4	6-4	W1

MID Western
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Burlington	13	5	.722	-	-	5-1	8-4	7-3	L2
	Cedar Rapids	13	6	.684	0.5	-	7-3	6-3	8-2	W3
	Beloit	10	7	.588	2.5	51	6-3	4-4	5-5	W2
	Peoria	11	8	.579	2.5	50	4-3	7-5	7-3	W4
	Quad Cities	9	10	.474	4.5	48	3-6	6-4	4-6	L1
	Wisconsin	6	10	.375	6.0	48	4-6	2-4	2-8	W1
	Kane County	7	13	.350	7.0	45	4-6	3-7	4-6	L4
	Clinton	5	15	.250	9.0	43	3-10	2-5	1-9	L3

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville's front office doing what they can to assist Alabama residents in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes - kudos. Joe Davis Stadium apparently not affected or damaged.

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog --

 

Timber Rattlers Lineup and Game Notes: April 28, 2011

[Mass Haas]

Rattlers rained out again. Yikes.

[Mass Haas]

The supposed Dunedin audio feed is just dead air, so your audio choices for this evening are Stu in Nashville and the Braves' feed coming from Mississippi in the Huntsville game.

 

I'll have Stu on describing the Amaury Rivas start, at least for the early innings.

[Mass Haas]

The Luis Figueroa era begins in Nashville tonight as the 37-year-old is in the starting lineup at short.

[Mass Haas]

Update from Chris --

Timber Rattlers rained out on Thursday

 

GRAND CHUTE, WI – Thursday’s game between the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the Clinton LumberKings at Time Warner Cable Field has been rained out. The teams will play a pair of seven innings on Friday night. Game one starts at 5:05 PM.

 

Since April 15, the Timber Rattlers have had eight games postponed by weather. Six of those eight postponements have been home games.

 

Fans with tickets for Thursday's game may exchange them for the same price ticket to a regular season Timber Rattlers home game - excluding special events and playoff games - during the 2011 season. Tickets must be exchanged at the Timber Rattlers ticket office. Tickets cannot be replaced if lost, stolen, or destroyed.

 

Friday night is a North Shore Bank Family Night presented by 95.9 KISS-FM. Children 12 and under eat free as part of Family Night. After the game, Fazoli's presents Kids Run the Bases for children 14 and under.

 

The first 1,000 fans to arrive on Friday will receive a poster of Timber Rattlers pitcher Jimmy Nelson.

 

Matt Miller is scheduled to be the starting pitcher for Wisconsin in game one. Del Howell is set to start game two.

[kintzlerfan]

Saito just left the Sounds game with 2 outs in the Top of the 7th inning with a leg injury.

[Mass Haas]

It's just before 10:00 PM Central, Huntsville's Michael Fiers just allowed a game-tying home run to the first man he faced to start the bottom of the 8th. So it's 5-5 and the lone audio remaining tonight, listen in.

[battlekow]

Final: @Brevard County 5, Dunedin 2

'Tees top Jays 5-2

Frank Longobardo/Brevard County Manatees

VIERA, Fla. -- A little rain and a 31 minute delay didn't phase the Brevard County Manatees on Thursday night, as they defeated the Dunedin Blue Jays 5-2 at Space Coast Stadium in Viera on Thursday night.

Manatees (9-12) starting pitcher Kyle Heckathorn ran into a little trouble early as he gave up two runs in the second inning, but Brevard County answered in the third inning with four runs of their own.

The 'Tees ripped six hits in the inning, which was highlighted by a two-out, two-run triple by Khris Davis that scored Hunter Morris and Kentrail Davis. Shea Vucinich also had a RBI single, while Scooter Gennett scored Josh Prince on a sacrifice fly in the inning.

Heckathorn finished his outing strong as he retired 11 out of the last 12 Dunedin (7-13) batters he faced. He went six innings and struck out five, en route to his third win of the season.

Brevard County's bullpen did the job as well as Efrain Nieves and Rob Wooten combined for three shutout innings. Wooten earned his first save of the season in 1 1/3 innings of work.

Morris padded the 'Tees' lead in the sixth as he hit a solo shot to center field for his third homer of the season and gave Brevard County a 5-2 lead.

Khris Davis, Morris and Vucinich all had multi-hit games. Davis had three hits and two RBI as he raised his average to .329, while Morris and Vucinich each had two hits and one RBI each.

The rubber game of the series between the Manatees and Blue Jays will be Friday night at 7:05 p.m.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2011/04/28/bTlrGn3F.jpg

Kyle Heckathorn (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

Brevard County box score

Heckathorn allowed four hits and walked three, which isn't a big deal except when you realize that he'd walked one batter in 23.2 innings coming into tonight. As usual, he got a ton of grounders, posting an 11/2 GO/FO. Wooten struck out two and did not allow a baserunner. Khris Davis's line now sits at an impressive .329/.376/.630. Kentrail Davis was on twice with a single and a walk; Gennett, batting leadoff, was 1-3 with the sac fly. D'Vontrey Richardson took yet another oh-fer.

Brevard County play-by-play

Wooten got Nieves out of a small jam in the 8th:

Dunedin Top of the 8th

• Sean Ochinko flies out to left fielder Khristopher Davis.
• Brad Glenn singles on a ground ball to left fielder Khristopher Davis.
• Jon Talley walks. Brad Glenn to 2nd.
• A. J. Jimenez flies out to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Brad Glenn to 3rd.
• Pitcher Change: Robert Wooten replaces Efrain Nieves.
• Kevin Ahrens called out on strikes

[battlekow]

Final: Albuquerque 5, @Nashville 1

Sounds Lose Series Opener To Isotopes, 5-1

Nashville Sounds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds dropped their fourth straight game on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium, losing 5-1 to the Albuquerque Isotopes in the opener of a four-game series.

Isotopes pitchers held the Sounds to four hits in the contest and Nashville (8-12) went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position on the evening.

Albuquerque third baseman Corey Smith (2-for-3) gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning with a two-out solo home run to center off Sounds starter Amaury Rivas that cleared the wall just to the left of the 24-foot high batter's eye. The blast was the infielder's third of the year.

The Isotopes doubled their lead in the sixth when ex-Sound Jay Gibbons (2-for-5) took Rivas deep to right on a 2-0 pitch for his first longball of the season.

The Sounds halved the lead to 2-1 in the home half of the sixth. Pinch-hitter Brendan Katin led off with a double to center off Isotopes starter Tim Redding. After moving to third on a groundout, Katin scored Nashville's lone run of the night when Taylor Green lifted a sacrifice fly to right.

Redding (1-2) authored a quality start to pick up his first win of the year for Albuquerque, holding the Sounds to one run on four hits while striking out three batters in his six frames of action.

Rivas (3-2) took the loss for the Sounds after giving up two runs, both on homers, in his six innings of work. It was his third quality start in five trips to the hill this season.

Brewers right-hander Takashi Saito came on to pitch the seventh inning for Nashville in a rehabilitation appearance while recovering from a left hamstring strain, but was removed from the contest mid at-bat while facing his third batter.

Saito allowed a leadoff single to former Sound Trent Oeltjen, who was then caught stealing, and struck out A.J. Ellis for the second out. After a first-pitch ball to Justin Sellers, trainer Dave Yeager visited the mound and Saito subsequently left the contest.

The Isotopes stretched the lead to 5-1 in the top of the ninth with three two-out runs against the Sounds' bullpen.

Sounds reliever Mike McClendon issued a two-out, bases-loaded walk to former Sound JD Closser, which plated Smith, then was unable to field a Dee Gordon tapper back to the mound which allowed Ellis to score in unearned fashion. Trayvon Robinson followed with an RBI single to right that pushed it to a four-run Isotopes lead.

Left-hander Manny Parra made his fifth rehab outing for Nashville and was charged with two runs (one earned) on two hits over two innings of work and now carries a 6.48 ERA (6er/8.1ip) in his five appearances for the Sounds.

The teams continue the series with another 7:05 p.m. meeting on Friday evening. Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Zack Greinke (0-0, 6.75) will make his second rehab start for the Sounds and is expected to throw approximately 75 pitches in the contest. Albuquerque will counter with left-hander Alberto Bastardo (1-0, 4.70).

Nashville box score

You can discuss Saito's injury in this thread on the Major League forum. Rivas allowed just five baserunners (four hits and a walk), but the two homers were obviously costly--he didn't get the preponderance of grounders he does when he's on, evidenced by his 7/6 GO/FO. Tough outing for McClendon; the run is the first he's allowed this year, though it's unearned as a result of his own error. Green added a double to his sac fly. Caleb Gindl was 1-3. Mat Gamel and Eric Farris were each 0-4. George Kottaras still searching for his first hit as a Sound. Listen to Brett Carroll make a nice play--in center field, with Gindl in left--here.

Nashville play-by-play

Green led off the 4th with his double but was immediately picked off second with Gamel up.

[battlekow]

Final: Huntsville 6, @Mississippi 5

Huntsville box score

Michael Fiers blew the save by giving up the tying run in the 8th, as MH mentioned above, but vultured a win when Huntsville answered with the go-ahead run in the 9th. For the second time in less than a year, the Stars hung four runs in four innings on big-time Braves prospect Randall Delgado. Brandon Jones (single, double) was the only Star with multiple hits, but seven walks buoyed their cause. Sean Halton, in a welcome sight, drew two of them, which doubles his season total; he also had a single. Lee Haydel singled, walked (already his 10th!), and stole his 4th base. Martin Maldonado, who left yesterday's game after being hit by a pitch, was back in the lineup and smacked another extra-base hit, a two-run double. Erik Komatsu had a rare off night, 0-5. Michael Bowman started and allowed three runs in 5.2 innings.

Huntsville play-by-play

The Stars scored five runs between the 4th & 5th:

Huntsville Top of the 4th

• Sean Halton strikes out swinging.
• Brandon Jones singles on a line drive to right fielder Geraldo Rodriguez.
• Steffan Wilson walks. Brandon Jones to 2nd.
• Erik Komatsu flies out to center fielder Cory Harrilchak.
• Martin Maldonado doubles (3) on a line drive to right fielder Geraldo Rodriguez. Brandon Jones scores. Steffan Wilson scores. Martin Maldonado to 3rd on the throw.
• Matt Cline strikes out swinging.

Huntsville Top of the 5th

• Michael Bowman walks.
• Lee Haydel grounds out to first baseman Ernesto Mejia. Michael Bowman to 2nd.
• Sergio Miranda doubles (2) on a line drive to center fielder Cory Harrilchak. Michael Bowman scores.
• Pitcher Change: Luis Avilan replaces Randall Delgado, batting 9th.
• Sean Halton singles on a ground ball to center fielder Cory Harrilchak. Sergio Miranda scores.
• Brandon Jones doubles (6) on a line drive to center fielder Cory Harrilchak. Sean Halton scores.
• Steffan Wilson flies out to right fielder Geraldo Rodriguez in foul territory.
• Erik Komatsu grounds out, second baseman Jordan Kreke to first baseman Ernesto Mejia.

The winning rally:

Huntsville Top of the 9th

• Lee Haydel singles on a ground ball to right fielder Geraldo Rodriguez.
• Sergio Miranda out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Benino Pruneda to second baseman Jordan Kreke. Lee Haydel to 2nd.
• Benino Pruneda intentionally walks Sean Halton.
• Brandon Jones lines out to first baseman Ernesto Mejia.
• Steffan Wilson singles on a ground ball to center fielder Cory Harrilchak. Lee Haydel scores. Sean Halton to 2nd.
• Erik Komatsu strikes out swinging.