Link Report for Thurs. 5/12 -- Rehabbing Braddock dominant; Komatsu on fire; Khris Davis homers again

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Daily Menu:

Times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Josh Butler at home vs. Fresno (Giants), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime

Live Audio Link

iPad/iPhone: Listen

 

Huntsville: RHP Jesus Sanchez at Tennessee (Cubs), 6:15 PM gametime

Live Audio Link -- look for the Tennessee feed off the master MiLB.com audio list

Brevard County: RHP Adrian Rosario at home vs. Charlotte (Rays), 6:05 PM gametime

Live Audio Link -- Stone Crabs' feed

 

Wisconsin: LHP Zach Braddock makes a rehab appearance at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 6:15 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime; after approx. 20 pitches, RHP Austin Ross will take over

Live Audio Link

[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	19	14	.576	-	-	11-5	8-9	5-5	W1
	Iowa	14	18	.438	4.5	108	7-8	7-10	3-7	L3
	Memphis	12	20	.375	6.5	106	9-8	3-12	3-7	L1
	Nashville	10	22	.313	8.5	104	7-9	3-13	1-9	W1

SOU North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Huntsville	19	13	.594	-	-	10-4	9-9	5-5	W2
	Tennessee	19	14	.576	0.5	38	8-5	11-9	4-6	L2
	Jackson	17	14	.548	1.5	38	6-7	11-7	6-4	L1
	Chattanooga	18	15	.545	1.5	37	9-11	9-4	6-4	W1
	Carolina	10	23	.303	9.5	29	7-13	3-10	4-6	L2

FSL North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Daytona	24	9	.727	-	-	11-4	13-5	8-2	L1
	Clearwater	22	11	.667	2.0	36	12-6	10-5	8-2	W1
	Dunedin	16	17	.485	8.0	30	5-9	11-8	7-3	W2
	Lakeland	16	17	.485	8.0	30	9-7	7-10	5-5	L1
	Tampa	12	21	.364	12.0	26	6-12	6-9	3-7	W2
	Brevard County	11	22	.333	13.0	25	5-13	6-9	1-9	L1

MID Western
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Burlington	24	8	.750	-	-	10-2	14-6	8-2	W1
	Cedar Rapids	20	13	.606	4.5	-	10-6	10-7	5-5	L3
	Beloit	17	14	.548	6.5	37	10-5	7-9	4-6	L2
	Peoria	18	15	.545	6.5	36	10-5	8-10	6-4	L1
	Wisconsin	15	15	.500	8.0	36	9-9	6-6	7-3	W4
	Quad Cities	16	17	.485	8.5	34	7-10	9-7	5-5	W2
	Kane County	11	23	.324	14.0	28	7-11	4-12	3-7	W2
	Clinton	9	25	.265	16.0	26	4-15	5-10	2-8	L5

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes

 

Huntsville Media Notes

[battlekow]

Wisconsin game notes and starting lineup:

Nick Shaw – 2B

TJ Mittelstaedt – LF

Cody Hawn – 1B

Chris Dennis – LF

Mike Walker – 3B

Franklin Romero – RF

Reggie Keen – CF

Tony Pechek – C

Yadiel Rivera – SS

SP – Zach Braddock (2 innings or 20 pitches), followed by Austin Ross

Yes, that's two left fielders; I assume Dennis is DHing.

[battlekow]

Sessile Fielder wrote:

---

Scooter Gennett was hitless before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the 7th; hope he's okay.

Gennett's not in the lineup today.

[battlekow]

Rattlers in a rain delay.

[DHonks]

some good things today...Komatsu with another huge day. Haydel continuing his resurgence. Rosario and Aundnsen get on track. Prince up to .283...just need to remember how he used to walk a lot in Helena! Dennis with a big day. Braddock striking out all 5 hitters.

 

It's nice to actually see some good things today

[trwi7]

Braddock faced five hitters and struck all of them out. First three swinging, last two looking.

[And That]

Even more impressively, he struck out those five guys on 22 pitches. Only 5 balls. He struck out the side in the 1st on 11 pitches. Clearly, his second inning was the poorer of the 2 innings.

[sfl2hnq17]

I guess Austin Ross is human after all.

[Tedaldtada]

some good things today...Komatsu with another huge day. Haydel continuing his resurgence. Rosario and Aundnsen get on track. Prince up to .283...just need to remember how he used to walk a lot in Helena! Dennis with a big day. Braddock striking out all 5 hitters.

 

It's nice to actually see some good things today

Gindl and Gamel are hitting well too. Thorburg's velo is legit. There are bright spots. Short season ball is coming quick along with the draft.

[battlekow]

Final: @Brevard County 5, Charlotte 2

'Tees strike early to top Charlotte

Frank Longobardo/Brevard County Manatees

VIERA, Fla. -- The Brevard County Manatees scored all of its runs in the first four innings and defeated the Charlotte Stone Crabs 5-2 on Thursday night at Space Coast Stadium, in front of 1,256 fans.

Despite five walks, Manatees starting pitcher Adrian Rosario allowed just one unearned run in five innings of work. He gave up three hits and struck out one. Santo Manzanillo earned his second save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth.

Brevard County (12-22) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, that started with a lead-off double by Josh Prince, who would score one batter later, when Kentrail Davis drove him in with a RBI single. Kentrail Davis would later score on a single by Khris Davis.

The Davis's were at it again in the third as Kentrail led off the inning with a triple to right. He would come home on a sac fly by Hunter Morris, to make it 3-0 Manatees. Then for the second day in a row, Khris Davis hit a solo homer - his seventh of the season - to make it a 4-0 game.

After Charlotte (12-22) put one on the board in the fourth, Brevard County would get that run back, in the form of a RBI single by Mike Brownstein, that scored Shea Vucinich.

The top of the order for the 'Tees (Prince, Kentrail Davis, Morris and Khris Davis) did the damage at the plate as they combined to go 7-for-14 with three extra base hits and four RBI.

Brevard County and Charlotte will close out their four-game series on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. The Manatees will be looking to win its first series since April 23-26 against Lakeland.

In the series finale, Maverick Lasker (0-5, 6.43) will take the mound for the Manatees and Merrill Kelly (2-1, 1.71) will start for Charlotte.

Brevard County box score

Well, the results were okay for Rosario, but the process is seriously awry. Evan Anundsen worked three innings, allowing a run on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Kentrail Davis was a triples machine at BC last year with five in just 33 games; the three-bagger tonight was his second this year in 31. D'Vontrey Richardson had a quiet night, 0-4 with a strikeout. As I mentioned above, Scooter Gennett did not play after leaving yesterday's game early. Shawn Zarraga had the day off.

Brevard County play-by-play

Talk about walking the tightrope:

Charlotte Top of the 4th

• Tyler Bortnick walks.
• Brett Nommensen grounds into double play, second baseman Mike Brownstein to shortstop Josh Prince to first baseman Hunter Morris. Tyler Bortnick out at 2nd.
• Greg Sexton walks.
• Jake Jefferies walks. Greg Sexton to 2nd.
• Mayobanex Acosta singles on a ground ball to shortstop Josh Prince. Greg Sexton scores. Jake Jefferies to 3rd. Mayobanex Acosta to 2nd. Throwing error by shortstop Josh Prince.
• Anthony Scelfo lines out to second baseman Mike Brownstein.

[battlekow]

Final: @Tennessee 7, Huntsville 5

Huntsville box score

Little Pine rides again: Erik Komatsu had three hits for the third straight night, including a homer and a double. Every other Huntsville Star-ter, including pitcher Jesus Sanchez, had exactly one base hit (though Angel Gonzalez stayed hot with three walks), but it wasn't enough to overcome the bad pitching. Sanchez gave up three runs in three innings, and Jameson Dunn and Lucas Luetge each let in two more. Corey Frerichs finally had a nice outing for the Stars, striking out three over 2.1 scoreless frames.

Huntsville play-by-play

Both of Komatsu's outs were lineouts. The man is locked in.

Frerichs did have a good line of his own, but he let two inherited runners score what turned out to be the winning runs:

Tennessee Bottom of the 6th

• Josh Vitters flies out to right fielder Brandon Jones.
• Marwin Gonzalez walks.
• Nate Samson strikes out swinging.
• James Adduci reaches on fielding error by catcher Martin Maldonado. Marwin Gonzalez to 2nd.
• Pitcher Change: Corey Frerichs replaces Lucas Luetge, batting 9th.
• DJ LeMahieu walks. Marwin Gonzalez to 3rd. James Adduci to 2nd.
• Ryan Flaherty doubles (8) on a fly ball to right fielder Brandon Jones. Marwin Gonzalez scores. James Adduci scores. DJ LeMahieu out at home on the throw, right fielder Brandon Jones to second baseman Sergio Miranda to catcher Martin Maldonado.

[battlekow]

Final: @Nashville 5, Fresno 2

Sounds Take Second Straight From Fresno, 5-2

Nashville Sounds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds won their second straight game against Fresno on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium, posting a 5-2 victory.

Second baseman Eric Farris paced the Sounds' offense with a 3-for-4 effort and two runs scored, finishing a home run shy of a cycle. Left fielder Jordan Brown drove in three runs on three sacrifice flies, which tied a Pacific Coast League single-game record.

With the win, Nashville (11-22) recorded consecutive victories for the first time since April 21 & 22 at New Orleans.

After the game was delayed an hour at the start due to rain, the Sounds grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning against Fresno starter Andrew Kown.

Caleb Gindl led off with a single, extending his on-base streak to a Nashville season-best 16 straight games, then moved to third on a Farris double. Brown plated the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to center that brought home Gindl. Farris later scored the second run on a Mat Gamel groundout.

Brown added his second sacrifice fly of the evening in the third, driving in Gindl again to up the Nashville lead to 3-0.

Sounds starting pitcher Josh Butler helped his own cause in the fifth when he hit a two-out, seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield that drove home Gamel, who had opened the frame with a single of his own to extend Nashville's longest hit streak of the year to seven games.

Fresno got on the board in the fifth with an unearned run against Butler. Travis Ishikawa drew a walk to open the frame then would have been doubled off first following Ryan Rohlinger's sharp liner back to Butler, but the Sounds hurler threw wide of first on the play, allowing Ishikawa to advance to second. The Grizzlies outfielder later scored the visitors' first run on pinch-hitter Tyler LaTorre's two-out single to left.

Brown tied a Pacific Coast League record in the home half of the fifth, when he lifted his third sacrifice fly of the evening to center to bring home Farris after the Sounds' second baseman tripled to open the inning. Brown matched the mark established by Tucson's Andujar Cedeno on April 25, 1991 against Las Vegas.

Fresno closed out the evening's scoring in the ninth against Zack Segovia. After loading the bases with none out on a double, single, and hit batter, the Nashville right-hander induced back-to-back flyouts, the first of which by Conor Gillaspie plated Terry Evans, before allowing an infield single to Brandon Belt to re-load the bags.

Mark DiFelice was summoned from the Sounds' bullpen and threw one pitch to earn his third save of the year and second in two days. He induced a game-ending flyout to center from Edgar Gonzalez.

Butler (2-2) earned his first win in his last five starts for Nashville, holding the Grizzlies to one unearned run on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked two batters and struck out a pair during his 98-pitch outing.

Kown (4-3) drew the loss for Fresno after giving up four runs on six hits in his four frames.

The teams wrap up the series with a 7:05 p.m. finale on Friday evening. Left-hander Chase Wright (0-3, 7.50) will make the start for the Sounds in search of his first victory of 2011. Fresno will counter with right-hander Josh Banks (2-2, 7.39).

Nashville box score

DiFelice was no B.J. Ryan, but he came close. When I first started collecting baseball cards, I had an Andujar Cedeno one; I thought it was really valuable because he hit for the cycle, which is really rare (I was a little confused as a youth). Anyway, way to go, Jordan Brown! And Eric Farris! And Caleb Gindl (who also walked twice)! You get a exclamation point! And you get an exclamation point! And you get an exclamation point! Brendan Katin's knee again limited him to pinch-hitting duty; he lined out in the 7th.

Nashville play-by-play

[battlekow]

Final: @Wisconsin 5, Cedar Rapids 3

Ross and Rattlers keep on rocking

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE, WI – Coming out of the bullpen didn’t bother Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitcher Austin Ross. The Brewers prospect struck out nine in a relief outing and picked up his fourth win of the season in a 5-3 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field. The win was the fifth straight for the Rattlers.

Current Brewers pitcher Zach Braddock was the reason Ross came out of the bullpen. Braddock was on a rehab assignment from the Rattlers parent club and made the start. Braddock was on a 20 pitch limit and made the most of them. He struck out all five batters he faced.

The Rattlers (16-15) grabbed the lead by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Nick Shaw started the inning with a single. A sacrifice bunt by TJ Mittelstaedt moved Shaw to second. Then, Cody Hawn drove in Shaw with a single. Chris Dennis followed with a double off the top of the wall in left field to send Hawn home for a 2-0 lead.

Ross, who had started his first six games of the season, came on in the third inning and worked around a walk and a single thanks to a spectacular defensive play by Franklin Romero.

The Wisconsin bats scored three times in the bottom of the third. Hawn reached on an error and stole second. Dennis followed with a triple. Mike Walker sent Dennis home with a single. Later in the frame, Tony Pechek grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that scored a run from third.

Ross rolled until the sixth inning. Travis Witherspoon doubled and scored on an triple by Wes Hatton with one out. One out later, Brandon Decker and Carlos Ramirez had consecutive RBI hits to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 5-3.

Ross rebounded in the seventh after Dan Eichelberger singled and – with one out in the inning – stole second and took third on a throwing error. Ross struck out Jean Almanzar for the second out of the inning after an 11 pitch battle that saw Almanzar foul off five two strike pitches. Then, Ross struck out Witherspoon looking to end the threat and keep the Rattlers up 5-3. His nine strikeouts on the evening give him 45 in 43-2/3 innings this season.

After Ross tossed a scoreless eighth inning, Tom Keeling relieved in the top of the ninth and retired the Kernels (20-14) in order with a pair of strikeouts.

The Rattlers have won five straight for the first time since June 19-27 of 2010. The win also pushed the Rattlers above .500 on the 2011 season for the first time since they were 4-3 on April 13.

By sweeping the three game series from the Kernels, Wisconsin ends their six game homestand with a 5-1 record.

Wisconsin begins a brief three game road trip on Saturday when they face the Clinton LumberKings at Alliant Energy Field. Tyler Thornburg (2-0, 1.80) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Clinton is scheduled to send James Paxton (0-1, 3.27) to the mound. Game time is 6:30. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm.

Wisconsin box score

Braddock's outing has been discussed in detail above; suffice to say that I can hardly think of a tougher assignment for A-ball hitters than a guy with closer's stuff (and it sounds like Braddock's stuff was just fine today). Ross really poured it in the strike zone: 106 pitches, 83 strikes. In honor of Keeling's third straight game without a walk: a cat and a dog sleeping together. Dennis's rediscovered power stroke since arriving in Wisconsin has been great to see. Hawn walked twice to go with his single and stolen base.

Wisconsin play-by-play

[battlekow]

From WBAY:

"I think I went out there with full intensity, attacking the zone, attacking the hitters, and just doing the best I could. It hasn't been a real question of physicality; there's no real injury, it's a matter of time what the Brewers feel and what the doctors feel," Braddock said.

[Mass Haas]

The Rattlers' Chris Mehring breaks his own personal record for bullet points in spectacular fashion with his post-game thoughts.

 

At the link you'll also find the game highlights, including all five Zach Braddock K's and some spectacular defense.

 

On most occasions we'll embed game highlights from these home games here, but don't make the mistake of not clicking on any accompanying links in the future, as Chris' follow-up musings are must-read.

[Mass Haas]

Photo gallery at the link as well

Braddock solid in outing for Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, but sleep ailment remains a mystery

by Mike Woods, Post-Crescent staff writer

GRAND CHUTE — The idea of a professional athlete being put on the disabled list for what has been described as a "sleep disorder" is a tad difficult to understand.

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Zach Braddock didn't shed a whole lot more light on the subject following a rehab outing with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Friday at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

"I guess the easiest way to explain it is you want to go out there as close to 100 percent as possible,'' said Braddock. "And if you're not you know you want to address it."

 

Braddock, a left-handed reliever, was put on the 15-day disabled list May 3. He had appeared in 12 games with the Brewers this season, giving up six hits and three earned runs in 9 2/3 innings. His ERA was 2.79. He had struck out nine and walked six, leading to concerns about his control as well as his velocity.

"I feel better,'' he said. "Energy level is good. Body response has been good.''

Braddock certainly looked good against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. On a 20-pitch limit, he threw 22 pitches, 17 for strikes. He struck out all five batters he faced. The velocity on his fastball was consistently in the low to mid-90s.

Striking out the side in the first on 11 pitches, no Kernels batter managed to even touch the baseball.

"I think I went out there with full intensity, attacking the zone and attacking the hitters and just did the best I could,'' Braddock said.

As for what kind of treatment he has been receiving, Braddock was vague.

"Just working closely with (doctors) and monitoring everything very closely and just try and make improvements every day,'' he said. "Right now, we're just going through a series of processes and working closely with the team doctors and physicians.''

Brewers officials have said little about Braddock since he went on the disabled list. Asked recently if doctors have been able to provide Braddock with any relief, brewers.com reported Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said he was not authorized to say.

Braddock will remain with the Timber Rattlers for a three-game trip to Clinton that begins today and is expected to make another appearance in the series. From there, he is unsure what the Brewers have in mind. Physically, he said he feels good.

"It hasn't been a real question of physicality, it's not a real injury,'' he said. "Just a matter of timing and what the Brewers feel, and the doctors.''

Dealing with a mysterious ailment at 23 years of age is not what Braddock had in mind for his professional career. But he said he's taking it in stride as best he can.

"There are a lot of ups and downs,'' said Braddock. "I had a coach once say baseball is a game of humbling experiences. There are two types players; those that are humble and those that are about to be. This is experience is no different than any other aspect of going out there and dealing with adversity.''

[Mass Haas]

Braves send scout to watch Sounds

Don't make too much of it, part of his regular assignments monitoring seven specific clubs and their higher level affiliates

[Mass Haas]