Link Report for Friday 4/6 -- Fiers, Thornburg, Nelson and Gagnon all with fine starting efforts

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF!

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: RHP Michael Fiers at New Orleans (Marlins), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:00 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link -- 102.5 The Game

 

Jeff Hem is the new play-by-play voice of the Sounds; follow him on Twitter @jeffhempbp; we'll link to his blog updates at On the Air…and Off

 

MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Nashville games, home and away, will be available to watch via MiLB.TV's $39.99 season-long package ($9.99 to pay for a single month). We imagine the audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link.

 

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Huntsville: RHP Tyler Thornburg at Jacksonville (Marlins), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Huntsville feed from the MiLB main audio page

 

I-Phone friendly audio link

 

Alex Cohen is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen; we'll link to blog updates at Star Power. It's fantastic that Huntsville is returning to what will be a traditional broadcast format this year. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast.

 

MiLB.TV subsciption note: A total of 24 Stars' games (in Jacksonville and Tennessee) will be broadcast.

 

**********

 

Brevard County: RHP Jimmy Nelson at Daytona (Cubs), 6:05 PM gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link -- It's the Daytona feed

 

Once again this season, Brevard does not have its own audio coverage. It appears two teams in the Manatees North Division (within which the majority of games are played) have audio, and all six teams in the South Division have audio (at least for their home games), so there will be opportunities to listen to approx. 70% or Brevard's games this season, just all from the opponent's perspective. There are no Florida State League games on MiLB.TV this year.

 

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Wisconsin: RHP Drew Gagnon at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 6:20 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link - 1280 AM WNAM

 

Chris Mehring is back to do his customary fantastic work as the Voice of the Rattlers. Follow him on Twitter @CMehring; we'll link to Chris' infamous blog often -- Rattler Radio.

 

MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; Wisconsin is one of only two (Great Lakes) Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV; Chris' call provides the audio. So for the $39.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, all Timber Rattlers home games, and 24 Stars' road games (one Helena series this summer, too).

[Mass Haas]

Follow Friday's action as it happens with box score / game log links (until we see otherwise, we are assuming MiLB has Gameday in place for the AAA and AA levels only) --

 

Nashville (Gameday also available)

 

Huntsville (Gameday also available)

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

[Mass Haas]

STANDINGS:

 

AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division

 

AA - Southern League North Division

 

Florida State League North Division

 

Midwest League Western Division

[Mass Haas]

To get tweets as to when the Link Report has been technically "completed" with available links, as well as to know when the new day's Report has been posted, please follow @Mass_Haas on Twitter.

[TheCrew07]

Cedar Rapids (Angels) 3, Wisconsin 2

 

Wisconsin Box Score

Even though the T-Rats drop a heartbreaker in the 9th Gagnon was impressive in his A ball debut, his final line 4.0 IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 6SO, and 2 WPs. I'm loving the fact that we've introduced some high K rate pitchers into the organization over the last couple of years, especially given the organization's defensive issues. Seth Lintz got himself into and out of trouble nicely in the 5th. Mark Williams took over from there and surrendered single runs in the 6th and 9th to take the loss. Mark's final line 4IP, 2H, 2ER, 1BB, and 1SO.

 

On the hitting side Jason Rogers got things going in the 1st with a bang, his first HR of the season. No T-Rats had multiple hit games though Williams and Dishon doubled. Kaleb Cowart from CR was 2-4 with another 2B, he's looking to be a thorn in the T-Rats side until he gets promoted. The Rattlers missed good opportunities in the 6th and 7th to tack on some more runs.

Wisconsin Game Log

 

Gagnon struck out the side in order in the 3rd but still managed to give up a run.

Cedar Rapids Top of the 3rd

• Matthew Scioscia strikes out swinging, catcher Parker Berberet to first baseman Jason Rogers.
  Wendell Soto strikes out swinging.
  Kevin Moesquit strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Drew Gagnon. Kevin Moesquit to 1st.
  With Ryan Jones batting, Kevin Moesquit steals (2) 2nd base.
  Ryan Jones walks.
  Kaleb Cowart singles on a ground ball to second baseman Carlos George. Kevin Moesquit scores. Ryan Jones to 3rd.
  Frazier Hall grounds out, second baseman Carlos George to first baseman Jason Rogers.

 

Crazy scoring play to end the CR 9th, the game winner

Cedar Rapids Top of the 9th

• Abel Baker walks.
  Matthew Scioscia out on a sacrifice bunt, first baseman Jason Rogers to second baseman Carlos George. Abel Baker to 2nd.
  Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Andy Workman replaces Abel Baker.
  Wendell Soto singles on a line drive to left fielder Benjamin McMahan. Andy Workman to 3rd.
  Kevin Moesquit flies into sacrifice double play, left fielder Benjamin McMahan to third baseman Brandon Macias to second baseman Carlos George. Andy Workman scores. Wendell Soto out at 2nd.

[TheCrew07]

Huntsville 5, Jacksonville (Marlins) 4

 

Hunstville Box Score

A feel good story here as the Stars rally with 2 runs in the 9th to win and Tyler Thornburg was very good, his final line 5IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 7K, and 2WP. He scattered the hits pretty evenly, only getting burned on a solo HR in the 4th, but his BBs and WPs both came in the same innings. Darren Byrd pitched a scoreless but eventful 6th, Josh Stinson struggled mightily in the 7th and giving away the lead on a 3R HR. Manzanillo came in after the comeback to lock it down in the bottom of the 9th and promptly walked the first 2 hitters he faced, struck out the 3rd batter, then balked the runners to 2nd and 3rd before getting out of the inning unscathed with a line out and fly out to LF.

 

The Stars pounded out 10 hits with the top of the order doing much of the damage. Kentrail Davis was 2-4, Jeff Bianchi was 2-5 with a 2B, and Scooter Gennett was 2-5, that's your 1-3 batters in the line-up. Brock Kjeldgaard doubled home 2 in the 3rd but replaced in the bottom of the inning by Khris Davis, a situation to keep an eye on. Domnit Bolivar was the late hero as he had a pitch hit 2B in the 9th to score Cline and then alertly took 3rd on the throw home, which allowed him to score on Kentrail Davis' sac fly for the winning run.

Huntsville Game Log

Lots to take to in here but I'll just highlight the winning rally.

Huntsville Top of the 9th

• Pitcher Change: Evan Reed replaces Josh Schmidt, batting 9th.
  Jason Jaramillo walks.
  Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Matt Cline replaces Jason Jaramillo.
  Josh Prince flies out to right fielder Kyle Jensen.
  Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Domnit Bolivar replaces Josh Stinson.
  Domnit Bolivar doubles (1) on a line drive to center fielder Donnie Webb. Matt Cline scores. Domnit Bolivar to 3rd on the throw.
  Kentrail Davis out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Ryan Patterson. Domnit Bolivar scores.
  Jeff Bianchi doubles (2) on a ground ball to left fielder Ryan Patterson.
  Scooter Gennett strikes out swinging.
  

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes

[Tedaldtada]

Looks like I will be helping with some of the Link Reporting in the early going. I will post the game logs and box scores for the BC Manatees and the Nashville Sounds tonight.

 

I am very interested to see what Jimmy Nelson, aka Downhill Thunder, does tonight. Narvdogg was impressed.

 

Michael Fiers goes for the Sounds. Good luck to the young men.

 

Edit: Get excited folks, we have pitchers! Jimmy Nelson is out now. 6 K's in 5 IP for Nelson. The rest of the line is also pretty.

[Tedaldtada]

Daytona 6, Brevard County 2

 

Box Score

 

A tight game until late. This may be a recurring theme for the Manatees on offense. Shea Vucinich did have 2 hits and Cody Hawn knocked in both runs for BC. Mike Walker was 0-3 with 3 K's.

 

The story (for prospect lovers) was Jimmy Nelson. He continues to build off of his second half in 2011 and the glowing ST reports I linked to above. 5 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 6 K. Nelson struck out highly thought of Matt Szczur to lead the game off, then got him to ground back to the mound the next time. So beaten down by "Downward Thunder", Szczur meekly laid down a sac bunt the final time he faced Nelson. Connor Whalen was responsible for the 8th inning meltdown allowing a ill-timed 2-out 2-strike 3-run bomb to imposing 9 hitter Arismendy Alcantara. Whalen was decent last season in rookie ball out of the pen. Wild Thomas Keeling came in for Whalen and promptly retired Szczur on a GO. 10.9 K/9 for Keeling in 2011.

 

Game Log

 

I don't typically look at the game logs unless there is something that really sparks my interest. Here, we see some questionable Manatee D with a Zarraga throwing error in the 7th that lead to an unearned run.

 

Here is the dagger:

 

Daytona Bottom of the 8th

 

Richard Jones strikes out swinging.

Nelson Perez hit by pitch.

John Andreoli singles on a line drive to right fielder Franklin Romero Jr. Nelson Perez to 2nd.

With Chad Noble batting, Nelson Perez steals (1) 3rd base.

Chad Noble strikes out swinging.

Arismendy Alcantara homers (1) on a fly ball to left field. Nelson Perez scores. John Andreoli scores.

Pitcher Change: Thomas Keeling replaces Connor Whalen.

Matthew Szczur grounds out, second baseman Shea Vucinich to first baseman Michael Walker.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, nice work Crew07 & Tedaldtada. Lookin' good for first cracks at the LR!

[brewmann04]

Gindl continues to rake and some nice outing again by the starters.

[Tedaldtada]

New Orleans (Marlins) 2 Nashville 1

 

Box Score

 

Free baseball!

 

After watching Jamie Garcia duck and dodge Brewer bats today, I cannot help but think of Mike Fiers. Obviously, even the bubbliest Brewer fan ( ) could not hope for that kind of impact from Fiers, but it is not impossible. After getting touched up by major leaguers this spring, Fiers got back on track in his first start in AAA. 6 IP 3H 1R 1ER 1 BB 7 K. Our old (26) friend, Amaury Rivas, came in and pitched an inning of unscathed relief for the Sounds. Meadows and McClendon combined for another 3 scoreless. Jim Henderson struck out the side in the 11th but gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 12th via a crazy play involving 2007 1st round pick Matt Dominguez.

 

Caleb Gindl (23) had three hits including a double. The rest of the Sounds combined for 3 hits. No other player on the field had more than 1 hit on the night with New Orleans only rapping out 5 in 12 innings.

 

Taylor Green was walked intentionally. Respect.

 

Sean Halton (24) was walked twice unintentionally. Progress.

 

Game Log

 

Along with his game ending error, Martin Maldonado was also charged with a passed ball.

 

Check out that final play description. What the heck Martin?

 

New Orleans Bottom of the 12th

 

Scott Cousins walks.

Bryan Petersen grounds into a force out, shortstop Hainley Statia to second baseman Eric Farris. Scott Cousins out at 2nd. Bryan Petersen to 1st.

Ben Lasater singles on a ground ball to right fielder Caleb Gindl. Bryan Petersen to 3rd.

With Gil Velazquez batting, Ben Lasater steals (1) 2nd base.

Jim Henderson intentionally walks Gil Velazquez.

Matt Dominguez grounds into a force out, second baseman Eric Farris to catcher Martin Maldonado. Bryan Petersen out at home. Ben Lasater scores. Gil Velazquez to 2nd. Matt Dominguez advances to 1st, on throwing error by catcher Martin Maldonado.

[cragi]

impressive debut for Thornburg. 7k's on 3H, 1R in 5 innings. hasnt missed a beat

[TheCrew07]

I've been skeptical of Nelson since draft day, but Downhill Thunder is a nickname I could get behind, here's hoping for continued success. Maybe all he needed was me to go away and not follow the minors for half a season.

 

I'd happily eat crow in this case as well.

[battlekow]

The Post Crescent has some heartening comments on Gagnon's secondary stuff:

Gagnon — rated by Baseball America as the Brewers’ 23rd-best prospect — threw a fastball that was clocked in the low 90s and was able to throw his off-speed pitches for strikes.

 

“I felt like everything was working,” said Gagnon. “I kept my fastball down and my change-up was working pretty well. Plus, I was able to get the curveball over in certain situations.”

 

Erickson was impressed with Gagnon’s change-up.

 

“I thought his change was really good,” said Erickson. “He was down in the zone and had good deception. If you can do that at this level — at any level — it just makes your fastball that much better. He did a nice job of mixing his pitches, going front to back, and keeping them off balance.”

[TooLiveBrew]

I've been skeptical of Nelson since draft day, but Downhill Thunder is a nickname I could get behind, here's hoping for continued success. Maybe all he needed was me to go away and not follow the minors for half a season.

 

I'd happily eat crow in this case as well.

Yeah I have to agree with everything here... especially how amazing "Downhill Thunder" is as a nickname. The Brewers have some good ones, much better than the sterotypical [First Initial]-[First few letters of last name] stuff... although I guess we very specifically have one or two of those . Sea Bass, Tony Plush, Downhill Thunder, Ax-Man, Mat the Batt (not exactly official, we have work to do!)

[Mass Haas]

Sounds Drop Extra-Inning Affair In New Orleans, 2-1 -- audio highlights at link

Nashville Sounds

 

METAIRIE, La. - The Nashville Sounds lost 2-1 to the New Orleans Zephyrs in a wild extra-inning affair on Friday night at Zephyr Field. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the twelfth inning, New Orleans first baseman Ben Lasater scored the controversial game-winning run on a throwing error by Sounds catcher Martin Maldonado.

 

The Zephyrs previously loaded the bases with one out on reliever Jim Henderson. Third baseman Matt Dominguez would then hit a grounder to second baseman Eric Farris, who threw home to get the force and begin the double play. After Maldonado stepped on the plate, the backstop airmailed a throw past first baseman Sean Halton down the right field line to end the game.

 

Maldonado and manager Mike Guerrero both argued for runner interference on Dominguez for being too far inside the line, but the umpires would not change the call.

 

The Sounds were held to six hits in the contest, with three coming from outfielder Caleb Gindl, including a double for the second straight night.

 

Sounds pitcher Mike Fiers allowed one run on three hits while striking out seven in six innings of work for a quality start and no-decision.

 

Fiers, who did not allow an earned run during the first three innings in any of his 10 PCL starts (30.0 IP) last season, gave up his only run in the first frame as the the Zephyrs quickly took a 1-0 advantage. Leadoff hitter Kevin Mattison singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and then came home on two consecutive infield groundouts.

 

The 26-year-old settled down to retire 13 of the next 14 batters, including a stretch of 11 straight Zephyrs sat down.

 

Nashville's only run came in the top of the fifth inning thanks to two consecutive throwing errors by the Zephyrs. With two outs in the inning, center fielder Logan Schafer reached base and moved to scoring position after second baseman Gil Velazquez committed the first throwing error of the frame. Farris then hit an infield dribbler, but shortstop Donovan Solano made another throwing error that allowed Schafer to score.

 

(Listen to both the final controversial ending and the Sounds' lone scoring play via the audio available at the link leading off this post.)

 

In a new relief role, Amaury Rivas struck out one over one scoreless inning. Dan Meadows stranded his only inherited runner in a shutout frame. Mike McClendon followed with two hitless innings.

 

In his Sounds debut, Henderson (0-1) was charged with the loss after striking out the side in the eleventh frame.

 

Zephyrs starter Brad Hand also took a no-decision, allowing one unearned run on five hits and seven strikeouts in five innings of work. Elih Villanueva (1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless inning.

 

The Sounds and Zephyrs continue their series with the third game of a four-game set at 6:00 pm CT on Saturday night at Zephyr Field. Right-hander Josh Butler will make his season debut on the mound and face New Orleans southpaw Wade LeBlanc.

[Mass Haas]

Bob Fortus of the Times-Picayune tells us that the final play was set up by the Sounds' five-man infield

 

Also, this from his game story:

 

The Zephyrs made two sharp defensive plays to open the 10th and help reliever Rob Delaney keep the score tied.

 

First baseman Lasater knocked down a smash hit by Logan Schafer and beat him to the bag. Third baseman Dominguez reached to his left and made a nice stop of a hard grounder by Farris and threw him out. Caleb Gindl then doubled on a drive into the left field corner. After Taylor Green was walked intentionally, Delaney retired Halton on a ground ball to Solano.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Interview with first baseman Sean Halton

Several topics covered in a nice near-full five minute chat...

[Mass Haas]

Keep in mind MiLB.TV video highlights will always be one Link Report "behind":

 

From Thursday's 6-2 Sounds loss, Sean Halton has his first AAA home run on tape

 

Here's the crushing Zephyrs' grand slam off of Vinnie Chulk, it will give you a sense of MiLB.TV video quality (at least from New Orleans), also an excited New Orleans PBP man...

 

Thursday Nashville game highlight video -- watch mainly for the somewhat disturbing (but fun) opening dance sequence

[Mass Haas]

Stars Ninth Inning Rally Downs the Suns

Jacksonville Suns

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Suns took a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning on Friday but couldn't hold on, as the Huntsville Stars scored two runs for a 5-4 win at the Baseball Grounds.

 

Jacksonville starting pitcher Jose Alvarez went five innings and allowed two hits and two runs. Huntsville started the scoring in the third. With runners on first and second, the Stars took a 2-0 lead when Brock Kjeldgaard doubled to left-center and drove in his first two runs of the season. It was Kjeldgaard's third hit of the series and his second double.

 

The Suns cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fourth when Ryan Patterson hit Jacksonville's first home run of the season over the left field wall. During the 2011 season the Suns hit 103 home runs, with Luke Montz hitting 22 of them.

 

Bryan Evans took over for Alvarez to start the sixth inning and retired the first batter he faced. He then walked Khris Davis, who eventually scored on an RBI single by Andy Gonzalez to make it 3-1 in favor of Huntsville. Evans pitched two innings allowing two hits and one run.

 

Trailing by two, the Suns took the lead in the home half of the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Curt Smith singled and Donnie Webb reached base on an error by Stars left fielder Khris Davis. With two on and no one out, Jaime Ortiz blasted a three-run homer into the right field stands to give the Suns a 4-3 lead.

 

Wade Korpi and Josh Schmidt combined to pitch a scoreless eighth inning. Closer Evan Reed entered the game in the ninth looking for his second save in as many nights, but started the inning off by walking Matt Kline. Pinch-hitter Domnit Bolivar would deliver the tying run with a stand-up triple into deep center field and the game was tied 4-4. Bolivar would then score the go-ahead run on a Kentrail Davis sacrifice fly to left.

 

The Suns threatened in the bottom of the ninth when Jaime Ortiz and Kyle Jensen both took advantage of some control issues by reliever Santo Manzanillo, who failed to throw a strike with his first nine pitches. But after walking the first two batters and getting called for a bulk to move Ortiz and Jensen to second and third, Manzanillo settled down. Kyle Skipworth stuck out and Ryan Patterson and Jeff Dominguez each flew out to left to end the game.

 

The losing pitcher was Evan Reed. He allowed two hits and two runs in the ninth. Last season the Suns were 55-5 when leading after the eighth inning. The winning pitcher was Josh Stinson, who was just claimed off waivers from the New York Mets. Manzanillo earns his first save of the season. Jacksonville went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Huntsville stranded seven.

 

Game three of the series is Saturday April 7th with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05 PM (5:05 Central). Matt Montgomery takes the mound for the Suns against Evan Anundsen for the Stars.

 

***

 

The Jacksonville.com story included this note:

 

The gusty wind, which played havoc with fly balls, was clocked at 23 mph as temperatures dropped into the low 60s.

[Mass Haas]

From Thursday's 2-0 Stars' loss, watch Dan Merklinger on the mound and a great throw by Kentrail Davis. Also, Jesus Sanchez surrenders a base hit for the Suns' insurance run.

[Mass Haas]

Two errors doom BC in loss to Cubs

By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Despite starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson's six strikeout performance in his Brevard County debut, the Manatees fell 6-2 to the Daytona Cubs on the road at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Friday night.

 

The 'Tees took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but Daytona scored an unearned run in that inning and in the seventh to take a 3-2 advantage and never looked back.

 

Daytona's Greg Rohan led off the sixth by reaching on a T.J. Mittelstaedt throwing error and would score with two outs on an Arismendy Alcantara RBI single. Then in the seventh with a runner on second and one out, Daytona's Rubi Silva laid down a bunt and a throwing error by catcher Shawn Zarraga led to Matthew Szczur scoring and giving the Cubs the lead.

 

Alcantara hit a two-out, three-run homer off of Connor Whalen in the bottom of the eighth to give Daytona a few insurance runs.

 

Nick Shaw led the game off for the Manatees with a double and scored two batters later as Cody Hawn drove him in with a sacrifice fly. The only run that Nelson would give up was in the third as Rubi Silva's two-out double drove in Alcantara.

 

Brevard County's other run came in the fifth as Hawn drove in Mittelstaedt with a RBI single.

 

For Nelson, he went five innings and allowed just one run on three hits, while walking three and striking out six. Shea Vucinich was 2-for-4 in the loss while Hawn drove in the only two Brevard County runs.

 

The rubber game of the opening series will be on Saturday night at 6:35 p.m. (5:35 Central) at Space Coast Stadium.

 

Lefty Jed Bradley, Milwaukee's second first round pick in 2011 (Taylor Jungmann the first), will take the mound against Daytona's Hayden Simpson who was a first round pick of the Cubs in 2010.

[Mass Haas]

Windy in the South Friday -- from the Daytona News-Journal:

 

A sellout crowd of 4,872 came out to greet the Cubs on a night when 20-mph winds made the Jack feel a little like Wrigley Field.

 

Brevard's T. J. Mittelstaedt, scores at home after crashing into Daytona catcher, Chad Noble, in the top of the fifth inning during the home opener at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach on Friday. (NJ | Nigel Cook)

 

http://www.news-journalonline.com/sports/images/2012/04/07/SPT%20CUBS.JPG