Link Report for Sat. 4/14 -- Sounds, 'Tees, Rattlers with Home Victories

[TheCrew07]

YG great job and thanks for giving me a night off!

[DHonks]

I thought Dishon was basically our most toolsy outfielder not named Davis or Richardson. Lots of projection, little refinement.

 

Shaw really off to a nice start at Brevard. I disagree with other sentiments, as that team has decent talent in Shaw, Walker, Hawn, Zarraga, and several others. With a good season, several could really jump onto the prospect radar. And what's nice is all know how to walk.

[Mass Haas]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala .- The Huntsville Stars were unable to win their second consecutive series, as they fell to the Birmingham Barons by a score of 6-2 on Saturday night at Regions Park.

 

The Stars took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when centerfielder Josh Prince led off the game with a triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Domnit Bolivar. It wouldn’t be enough for the win, however, as the Barons dominated the rest of the contest.

 

From the second inning to the eighth, Birmingham scored six unanswered runs to clinch their first series win of 2012. Centerfielder Jared Mitchell led the way with an RBI triple, and right fielder Jose Martinez added a double and three RBI’s.

 

The Stars added another run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by catcher Jason Jaramillo. For the night, Jaramillo, left fielder Khris Davis and third baseman Andy Gonzalez accounted for six of the Stars’ 10 hits with two apiece. Huntsville out-hit Birmingham, but just couldn’t capitalize as they left eight runners on base. They were also just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

 

On the pitching side, the Stars were shut down by Barons starting pitcher Pedro Hernandez. The 26-year-old lefty cruised to his first victory of the season by limiting the Huntsville bats to one run and seven hits over six innings pitched. For Huntsville, RHP R.J Seidel fell to 0-2 on the season as he gave up three runs in four innings of work.

 

With the loss, the Stars finished off their ten-game road trip to start off the 2012 season with a record of 4-6.

 

On Sunday, the Stars return to Joe Davis Stadium for their home opener against the Tennessee Smokies and the first of ten straight games at “The Joe”. The Stars will honor the life of Don Mincher in a special pre-game ceremony. Gates open at 2:30 p.m for a first pitch at 4:03.

[Mass Haas]

Timber Rattlers and Midwest League leaders

by Jim Oskola on PostCrescent.com

 

Who's gotten off to a hot start in the Midwest League this season?

 

Lake County's LaVon Washington, Kane County's Jorge Bonifacio and Burlington's Chad Oberacker for starters.

 

The trio is batting .480, .433 and .419, respectively, according to the most recent Midwest League stats.

 

The leading Timber Rattlers hitter?

 

Yadiel Rivera at .333 with eight hits in 24 at-bats.

 

Beloit's Miguel Sano (future Minnesota Twins star if you believe the chatter) leads the league with with three home runs 11 RBI. He has, however, struck out 11 times in 30 at-bats.

 

Kane County as a team is batting .281 to lead the league in that category. The Timber Rattlers are 11th with a .231 team batting average.

 

So far, Lansing has the league's best pitching staff with a 2.81 ERA. The Timber Rattlers are 13th with a 3.53 ERA.

 

The individual strikeout leaders are Frank Garces of Fort Wayne and Austin Wood of Cedar Rapids with 15 strikeouts. The Rattlers' Matt Miller is tied for third with 14.

 

A favorite stat for pitching is WHIP (walks and hits per inning). The Midwest League's early leaders are Garces at .55 and Adyss Portillo of Fort Wayne at .66.

 

As we get deeper into the season, we'll provide more number crunching like "who's hot, who's not" on the Rattlers roster.

[Mass Haas]

Tweeted this the other day, not sure if mentioned here -- nine games into the Brevard season, still waiting for an Eric Arnett sighting -- he is on the active roster.

[3and2Fastball]

It is interesting following Yadiel Rivera. If he ends up being able to hit that would sure help the Brewers future