Link Report for Thurs. 6/16 -- Rattlers win 5th straight, pull within 1/2 game of WC; Heckathorn returns; Sounds one-hit but win anyway

[Mass Haas]

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[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Daily Menu:

Times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Amaury Rivas at home vs. Round Rock (Rangers), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

Live Audio Link

iPad/iPhone: Listen

MiLB.TV -- for subscribers

Huntsville: LHP Dan Merklinger at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 6:43 PM gametime

Live Audio Link

iPad/iPhone: Listen

Traditional broadcast -- Birmingham feed

Brevard County: RHP Kyle Heckathorn at home vs. Daytona (Cubs), 6:05 PM gametime

Live Audio Link -- Cubs' feed

Wisconsin: RHP Brooks Hall at Peoria (Cubs), 6:40 PM pre-game, 7:00 gametime

Live Audio Link

 

DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Mariners, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until late afternoon at the earliest

[Mass Haas]

Follow Thursday's action as it happens:

 

Nashville (Gameday also available)

 

Huntsville (Gameday also available)

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

DSL Brewers

[Mass Haas]

PCL American North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Omaha	36	30	.545	-	-	20-15	16-15	5-5	L2
	Memphis	33	32	.508	2.5	77	19-15	14-17	8-2	W3
	Iowa	30	36	.455	6.0	73	14-17	16-19	4-6	W2
	Nashville	29	36	.446	6.5	73	18-15	11-21	5-5	L1

SOU North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Tennessee	41	24	.631	-	-	20-10	21-14	6-4	W1
	Jackson	37	29	.561	4.5	1	17-12	20-17	3-7	L2
	Huntsville	35	31	.530	6.5	E	21-10	14-21	7-3	W3
	Chattanooga	32	33	.492	9.0	E	15-20	17-13	7-3	L1
	Carolina	20	46	.303	21.5	E	12-23	8-23	3-7	W1

FSL North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
*	Daytona	46	20	.697	-	-	25-10	21-10	6-4	L1
	Clearwater	39	27	.591	7.0	E	20-12	19-15	3-7	L1
	Dunedin	36	30	.545	10.0	E	15-17	21-13	6-4	W1
	Lakeland	34	32	.515	12.0	E	19-16	15-16	4-6	L2
	Tampa	34	32	.515	12.0	E	15-17	19-15	7-3	W2
	Brevard County	25	41	.379	21.0	E	13-21	12-20	4-6	W1

MID Western
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
*	Burlington	43	23	.652	-	-	22-9	21-14	5-5	W2
	Quad Cities	37	28	.569	5.5	-	16-14	21-14	7-3	W3
	Wisconsin	36	30	.545	7.0	4	20-15	16-15	7-3	W4
	Beloit	35	31	.530	8.0	3	18-16	17-15	7-3	W2
	Peoria	33	33	.500	10.0	1	21-14	12-19	3-7	L3
	Cedar Rapids	30	36	.455	13.0	E	17-15	13-21	3-7	L2
	Kane County	27	38	.415	15.5	E	14-18	13-20	3-7	L2
	Clinton	21	45	.318	22.0	E	8-26	13-19	4-6	L5

DSL S.D. North
	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	*ELIM #	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	DSL Brewers	11	5	.688	-	-	4-3	7-2	5-5	W1
	DSL Mariners	10	5	.667	0.5	57	5-3	5-2	8-2	W6
	DSL Athletics	5	10	.333	5.5	52	2-4	3-6	3-7	L1
	DSL Cardinals	3	11	.214	7.0	51	2-7	1-4	3-7	L3

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes

[Mass Haas]

Look for the Wisconsin media notes here later on.

 

If Huntsville posts theirs, it will be found by placing your cursor over the "roster" banner at the Stars' home page. They last did so on the 13th.

[battlekow]

DSL Crew postponed.

[Tedaldtada]

Hecky throwing an alright game. No big deal.

[And That]

Brock Kjeldgaard not in the Manatees' lineup tonight. Gonna assume he's been promoted to the Hall of Fame.

[Never Outhustled]

Hecky throwing an alright game. No big deal.

 

I'd say a little time off to get healthy made a big difference for him.

[Never Outhustled]

Wow, every Brewers minor league starting pitcher threw at least 4 shutout innings tonight. Nice work.

[battlekow]

Final: @Brevard County 2, Daytona 0

Brevard County box score

Quite a well-pitched game by the Manatees, which is why it was over in just two hours. Kyle Heckathorn pitched for the first time in over two weeks and went four perfect innings with four strikeouts and a 6/2 GO/FO. I assume his outing was rather abbreviated because of his long layoff. Mark Willinsky, Rolando Pascual, and Efrain Nieves each contributed a scoreless frame, and Santo Manzanillo worked the last two. The Daytona broadcast had Pascual hit 94 with his fastball and Manzanillo 93. At the plate, Hunter Morris had two hits, including his ninth homer, and Khris Davis continued his tear by going 3-4 with a double. Shawn Zarraga picked up a hit in three trips, while Scooter Gennett and Kentrail Davis went hitless. D'Vontrey Richardson started but was lifted for a pinch hitter before his first plate appearance; he didn't field a ball, so not sure what happened, but D'Vo's been injury-plagued this year. As Toby noted above, Brock Kjeldgaard did not play.

Brevard County play-by-play

The Sea Cows were unable to extend their one-run lead here:

Brevard County Bottom of the 4th

• Hunter Morris grounds out, second baseman Matthew Cerda to first baseman Jake Opitz.
  
• Khristopher Davis singles on a ground ball to left fielder Rubi Silva.
  
• Shea Vucinich singles on a ground ball to left fielder Rubi Silva. Khristopher Davis to 2nd.
  
• Shawn Zarraga singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha. Khristopher Davis out at home on the throw, center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha to catcher Michael Brenly. Shea Vucinich to 2nd.
  
• Juan Sanchez flies out to right fielder Michael Burgess.

They finally got another run on a close play at the plate:

Brevard County Bottom of the 8th

• Josh Prince walks.
  
• Scooter Gennett out on a sacrifice bunt, third baseman David Macias to second baseman Matthew Cerda. Josh Prince to 2nd.
  
• With Kentrail Davis batting, passed ball by Michael Brenly, Josh Prince to 3rd.
  
• Kentrail Davis reaches on a fielder's choice out, second baseman Matthew Cerda to catcher Michael Brenly to shortstop Rafael Valdes. Josh Prince scores. Kentrail Davis out at 2nd.
  
• Hunter Morris singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha.
  
• Khristopher Davis strikes out swinging.

[DHonks]

Great to see our major Latin signee with another successful inning. Pascual with 2 scoreless outings now, and 4 walkless

[battlekow]

Manatees blank Cubs

Frank Longobardo/Brevard County Manatees

VIERA, Fla. -- The Brevard County Manatees will go into the All-Star break on a high note as they shut out the Daytona Cubs 2-0 on Thursday night at Space Coast Stadium.

Kyle Heckathorn made his first start since June 1 and threw four innings, struck out four and retired all 12 batters that he faced.

Mark Willinsky, Rolando Pascual, Efrain Nieves and Santo Manzanillo combined to go the remaining six innings, with Willinsky picking up his second win of the year and Manzanillo earning his sixth save of the season.

The Manatees (26-41) provided offense early, when with two outs in the first inning, Hunter Morris hit a solo homer - his ninth of the season - to right as the 'Tees took an early 1-0 lead.

Brevard County would add an insurance run in the eighth, when Josh Prince beat the throw home on a fielder's choice by Kentrail Davis.

Brevard County's pitching staff limited the Cubs (46-21) to just five base runners all night.

All-Star Khris Davis was 3-for-4 with a double and Morris was 2-for-4 with the first inning homer. Khris Davis is hitting .375 in June and heads into the All-Star break, tied for sixth in the Florida State League with a .327 average.

After taking two of three from the first half champs of the North division, the 'Tees will be back in action on Monday, June 20 as they hit the road to take on the Dunedin Blue Jays. Adrian Rosario (4-5, 5.58) is scheduled to start that first game back from the All-Star break.

[pogokat]

dominant pitching across the board...Nashville wins in a game where they were 1 hit...crazy

[battlekow]

Final: @Nashville 1, Round Rock 0

Carroll Homers For Nashville's Only Hit In 1-0 Victory

Nashville Sounds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds were held to only one hit on Thursday night at Greer Stadium, but it was a big one. Outfielder Brett Carroll crushed a home run [audio] in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 1-0 victory over the Round Rock Express in the finale of a four-game set.

On the second pitch from Derek Hankins, Carroll blasted his ninth home run down the left field line to end the no-hit bid. The homer was Carroll's second straight game with a homer.

With the win, Nashville (30-36) took three of four games from Round Rock in the series. All four games of the series were decided by one run.

Nashville's win marked the first time the club shut out the opposition this season. It was the also first 1-0 game since June 12, 2010 at Omaha, which the Sounds lost.

Sounds right-hander Amaury Rivas (5-6) threw his best effort on the year. The 25-year-old right-hander struck out a season-best eight batters while matching a season-high seven scoreless frames. Rivas is now recording a 1.57 ERA (3er/17.1ip) through his three June starts.

Donovan Hand threw a perfect eighth inning in relief. Zack Segovia picked up his first save of the year with a perfect ninth.

Recording the club's only hit in the contest, Carroll was the only Sound to continue his hitting streak, which moved to a season-high to six games. Caleb Gindl ended his season-best 13 game hitting streak, which was the third-longest active streak in the PCL.

Taylor Green also failed to record a hit to stop his season-best 13-game hit streak. Before tonight, Green was riding a 10-game extra-base hitting streak, which was the second-longest streak in the PCL since 2005 behind Scott Seabol's 11-game effort from May 1-15, 2005 for Memphis.

Round Rock's Joey Butler snapped his 16-game hitting streak with an 0-for-2 performance. His streak was Round Rock's longest of the season and the second-longest active streak in the PCL.

In a rehab for start for Texas, Round Rock pitcher Scott Feldman did not allow a hit in his five innings of work. The right-hander fanned five and walked two for his only baserunners on the night. Hankins (5-5) took the loss.

The Sounds travel west to begin a quick four-game road trip with the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds (AAA-Cardinals) beginning at 7:05 pm CT on Friday night at AutoZone Park. Nashville right-hander Frankie De La Cruz (1-4, 4.61) makes the start against Memphis righty Brandon Dickson (3-7, 4.52).

Nashville box score

Well, this game is easy to summarize. Wonderful start from Rivas, who allowed just three hits and two walks; he threw 106 pitches and 61 strikes. Unusually, he posted a 2/7 GO/FO, but hey, it worked. Apart from Carroll's homer, the Sounds had only two other baserunners, coming on walks by Mike Rivera and Zelous Wheeler.

Nashville play-by-play

Gotta be a busted hit-and-run here:

Nashville Bottom of the 5th

• Mike Rivera walks.
• Caleb Gindl called out on strikes.
• With Taylor Green batting, Mike Rivera caught stealing 2nd base, pitcher Scott Feldman to shortstop Omar Quintanilla.
• Taylor Green strikes out swinging.

[battlekow]

Final: Birmingham 7, @Huntsville 3

Huntsville box score

Dan Merklinger had a good start going, shutting out the Barons through four innings, but things took a turn for the worse and he ended up giving up five runs and not getting through the 6th inning. Still, he struck out six, though he also walked three and allowed six hits. Darren Byrd, in his first action since the 4th, worked a perfect 8th with a strikeout, and Rob Wooten turned in a scoreless 9th. Logan Schafer, Sean Halton, and Lee Haydel each had one hit, Halton's being a double. Martin Maldonado also singled and was hit by a pitch. Erik Komatsu went hitless to drop his average to .296, but he did draw a walk. Hainley Statia, who had six walks in 117 PA entering tonight, took three free passes. Go figure.

Huntsville play-by-play

Now, Maldonado did steal a base (his first), so maybe he was feeling fast tonight, but I don't know about catchers bunting for hits:

Huntsville Bottom of the 6th

• Brandon Jones walks.
• Angel Gonzalez strikes out swinging.
• Martin Maldonado bunt grounds out, third baseman Kyle Shelton to first baseman Christian Marrero. Brandon Jones to 2nd.
• Lee Haydel grounds out to first baseman Christian Marrero.

[battlekow]

Clinton beat Quad Cities, so the Rattlers are just a half game back of the Wild Card now.

[ListachRides]

I really want to like Brooks Hall, but it would help if he'd strike a few people out. I am beginning to wonder if it's

.

[brewmann04]

Greg Holle nice with 15 saves impressive and as long as Hall stays healthy and wins.

[battlekow]

Final: Wisconsin 2, @Peoria 0

Rattlers win 5th in a row, 1/2 game out of Wild Card

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

PEORIA, IL - Brooks Hall picked a great time for 7-1/3 shutout innings. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers right-hander allowed three hits and picked up the win in a 2-0 victory over the Peoria Chiefs Thursday night at O'Brien Field. Wisconsin won their fifth game in a row and moved to within a ½ game of the Quad Cities River Bandits for the First Half Western Division Wild Card.

The Rattlers (37-30) grabbed an early lead with a second inning run. Chris Dennis was at third with two outs. Tony Pechek's grounder behind second base was bobbled for an error. That allowed Pechek to reach and Dennis to score the unearned run.

Peoria (33-34) threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Micah Gibbs doubled off the wall in right to start the inning. A grounder to the right side moved Gibbs to third with one out. But, Wisconsin third baseman Greg Hopkins stopped a hard grounder to left off the bat of Anthony Giansanti with a diving stop. Hopkins looked Gibbs back to third and threw to first in time for the second out. Then, Reggie Keen tracked down a deep fly ball to right-center to retire Brandon May and end the inning.

After that double by Gibbs, Hall retired ten straight Chiefs to protect that lead.

Wisconsin got an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning. Nick Shaw tripled to right-center with two outs. Cody Hawn followed with a line drive single to right on a 1-2 pitch. The single sent Shaw home for a 2-0 lead.

Hall went back out for the eighth inning and got the first out. But, he streak of consecutive batters stopped at ten when Anthony Giansanti reached on an infield single. Hall walked one and struck out two for his third win of the season.

Reliever Eric Marzec answered the call to the bullpen and came in to get the second out of the inning. But, Hyung-Min Na reached on another infield single to put the tying runs on base and bring the go ahead run to the plate. But, Marzec got Matt Szczur, who entered the game second in the Midwest League batting race, to pop out to Hawn in foul territory behind first base for the final out.

Wisconsin closer Greg Holle worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning by getting three ground outs to end the game. Holle is 15-for-15 in save opportunities this season. He is also tied for the Midwest League lead in the save category with Steve Turnbull of Lansing.

The Rattlers completed their first four game sweep at O'Brien Field since July 11-14, 2003.

Wisconsin also got help from the Clinton LumberKings on Thursday night. Clinton defeated Quad Cities 5-1 to knock the River Bandits record to 37-29. The River Bandits head home to wrap up the first half with a three game series against the Chiefs.

The Rattlers begin their final series of the first half on Friday night at Perfect Game Field in Cedar Rapids, Iowa against the Kernels. Jimmy Nelson (2-6, 5.09) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Kernels have scheduled Baudilio Lopez (0-1, 15.00) as their starting pitcher.

Game time on Friday night is 6:35pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm.

Wisconsin box score

How about three shutouts by the affiliates tonight? If only the big club could have gotten in on the act... Hall needed only 87 pitches (63 strikes) to work into the 8th inning; however, I too would prefer to see more strikeouts from him. Hawn was the only Rattler with multiple hits; Keen walked twice and was caught stealing for the ninth time. After playing in his first game since 2009 after being transferred from extended spring, Chad Stang hasn't played in any of the last three.

Wisconsin play-by-play

[Mass Haas]

Heckathorn spotless in mini-outingBrewers prospect tosses four perfect innings for the Manatees

By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com

 

Two weeks after his worst outing as a professional, Kyle Heckathorn was untouchable Thursday.

Heckathorn tossed four perfect innings for the Class A Advanced Brevard County Manatees en route to a 2-0 shutout of the Daytona Cubs, 2-0.

Heckathorn struck out four before giving way to the bullpen, which scattered five hits over the final five frames to preserve the shutout.

A compensation pick by the Brewers in 2009, Heckathorn had not pitched since June 1 against Bradenton. That game was the worst outing of his professional career, as he allowed six runs on four hits while recording only one out. It was the only time the 22-year-old Georgia native has failed to pitch one inning.

Heckathorn has had a roller-coaster season for the Manatees, going 4-5 with a 4.35 ERA. The 6-foot-6 right-hander got off to a strong start, winning three games in April, but struggled in May, allowing 14 earned runs in 28 innings. Florida State League hitters are batting .279 against Heckathorn, and he's struck out 51 batters while walking 17.

After posting a 2.96 ERA with Wisconsin last season, Heckathorn earned a promotion to Brevard County, where he was 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA in eight starts.

Mark Willinsky (2-1) was credited with the win after allowing a hit in the fifth inning. Santo Manzanillo notched his sixth save, giving up three hits over the final two frames.

Hunter Morris hit a solo homer for the Manatees, his second longball in as many days.

Jeffrey Lorick (4-2) took the loss, allowing a run on six hits over five innings for the Cubs, who clinched the Florida State League North Division crown Monday.

Kyle Heckathorn is 4-5 with a 4.35 ERA. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2011/06/16/N8WKhLpn.jpg

[Mass Haas]

The Rattler Radio blog post-game thoughts, including the “irrational exuberance” early portion.

[Mass Haas]

VIDEO: One hit, one run, one 1-0 win -- Brett Carroll's home run

As a bonus video, here's a less exciting opposite-field home run by Carroll the night before in a losing team effort.