Link Report for Fri. 5/25 -- Bradley Hittable in Return Start

[bkrause2]

Express Edged at Nashville 7-6

Statia eighth-inning single gives Sounds opener

05/25/2012 11:32 PM ET

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Hainley Statia's eighth-inning, two-out RBI single propelled the Nashville Sounds to a 7-6 victory over the Round Rock Express in Friday night's Pacific Coast League series opener at Herschel Greer Stadium. The Express (21-28) fall to 4-9 in series openers and suffered their 10th loss in their last 13 road games. The Sounds (19-28) have won three straight.

 

Corey Patterson singled to open the bottom of the eighth, and former Express member Edwin Maysonet pushed Patterson to second on a sacrifice bunt. Caleb Gindl grounded out to first, advancing Patterson to third. Statia followed with a single to right on Johan Yan's 1-0 offering. It was Yan's first career Triple-A outing after being promoted from Double-A Frisco earlier in the day.

 

That made a winner of Amaury Rivas (3-2), who worked around a Tommy Mendonca leadoff bunt single for a scoreless top of the eighth; he had one strikeout. Vinnie Chulk surrendered only a Ryan Spilborghs one-out single in the ninth with two strikeouts for his first save. Nashville starter Seth McClung, who spent part of last season with Round Rock, allowed four runs on five hits and four walks over five and two-thirds innings with four strikeouts.

 

Ben Snyder (1-2), who surrendered Patterson's eighth-inning leadoff single before giving way to Yan, was charged with the loss; he retired the side in order with one out in the seventh. Starter Martin Perez yielded six runs - three earned - on four hits and four walks with one strikeout over four innings.

 

Nashville plated four first-inning runs on just one hit, benefiting from two Express errors. Brooks Conrad, who played for Round Rock from 2004 to 2007 and still holds several Express career records, tacked on a two-run homer in the second.

 

Round Rock battled back, starting with Joey Butler's fourth-inning sacrifice fly. The Express plated three runs on two hits and a pair of walks in the sixth. Brad Nelson started the scoring with an RBI single. After Butler was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Mike Bianucci delivered an RBI single. McClung then hit Luis Martinez, forcing home the third run.

 

Spilborghs tied the game in the top of the seventh, following Yangervis Solarte's one-out single with his third homer of the season. Mendonca was stranded at third in the eighth when Luis Hernandez struck out.

 

Spilborghs was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk. Julio Borbon singled twice, pushing his hitting streak to 13 games (.431, 25-for-58). Nelson was 2-for-4. Spilborghs' home run was the only of Round Rock's 10 hits that went for extra bases. It marked the first time the Express did not produce a double since the season opener, ending a 47-game streak.

 

Patterson had Nashville's lone multiple-hit game, going 2-for-4. Conrad was 1-for-3 with two RBI, a walk and two runs scored. Statia wsa 1-for-3 with two RBI, and Eric Farris scored twice.

 

Round Rock and Nashville continue their four-game series Saturday with a 6:35 p.m. CDT first pitch at Greer Stadium. Right-hander Greg Reynolds (3-3, 4.15 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Express, while right-hander Mark Rogers (0-2, 5.29 ERA) is slated for the Sounds.

[bkrause2]

'Tees fall in Bradley's return from DL

Brevard topped 7-4 by Dunedin to open three-game set

By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees

05/25/2012 11:59 PM ET

 

DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Brevard County Manatees dropped the first game of a three-game set to the Florida State League North Division leading Dunedin Blue Jays, 7-4 on Friday night at Florida Auto Exchange Park in Dunedin.

 

2011 first round draft pick Jed Bradley made his first start since May 14 as he was activated from the disabled list earlier in the day after recovering from a groin injury. Bradley lasted just 4 2/3 innings as he allowed five runs - four earned - on 12 hits, while not allowing a walk and fanning four.

 

Bradley ran into trouble in the second inning when he gave up three runs to the Blue Jays. After getting Kevin Ahrens to fly out to start the inning, Bradley allowed back-to-back hits including a RBI double by Kenen Bailli. Bradley then hit Jonathan Jones with a pitch to put two on with one out. Gabe Jacobo then doubled to left to clear the bases and give Dunedin a 3-1 lead.

 

The southpaw allowed a run in the fourth and the fifth before being lifted for reliever Brian Garman. Garman pitched just 1/3 of an inning as Andy Moye went the rest of the way for the 'Tees. He threw three innings and allowed two runs on two hits, while striking out five.

 

Offensively, the Manatees (19-27) had nine hits with three of those coming off the bat of Reggie Keen. In his last five games, Keen is hitting .615 (8-for-13) with five RBI. Nick Shaw added two hits from the leadoff spot and Miguel Velazquez had two RBI, both on sacrifice flies.

 

Brevard County will hand the ball to Brooks Hall (0-2, 5.40) on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. in the second game of this three-game set with Dunedin (31-17). Hall was roughed up in his last start as he allowed seven earned runs in just 1 1/3 innings against Charlotte this past Monday.

 

The Blue Jays will counter with Asher Wojciechowski (2-1, 5.53). In two starts against the Manatees this season, Wojciechowski has allowed two runs in 12 innings of work.

[TheCrew07]

Final: Quad Cities 5, Wisconsin 4

 

Bandits steal one from Rattlers

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

DAVENPORT, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers saw the Quad Cities River Bandits record a 5-4 walkoff win to end Wisconsin's six game winning streak. Casey Rasmus scored the winning run on the third error of the night for the Rattlers defense.

 

The game started after a 58 minute rain delay and both offenses were ready to go. Wisconsin scored three times in the first inning and Quad Cities scored twice.

 

The first four Timber Rattlers batters of the game had hits. Brandon Macias and Max Walla started the game with singles. Jason Rogers drove in Macias with a double off the wall in left for the first run. Nick Ramirez was next and his single to right sent Walla home. A sacrifice fly by Greg Hopkins knocked in Rogers for the 3-0 lead.

 

But, Quad Cities (22-25) rallied in the bottom of the first. Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Thompson walked the first two batters of the inning and threw a wild pitch to move them both into scoring position. Colin Walsh's sacrifice fly got the first run home. An RBI double by David Medina with two outs got the second run across the plate to make the score 3-2.

 

Thompson worked a 1-2-3 second and a 1-2-3 third, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth. He gave up a leadoff double to Tyler Rahmatulla and a single to Medina. Then, Thompson threw a wild pitch to let Rahmatulla score the tying run and let Medina take second. But, Thompson bounced back to strikeout the side to keep Medina at second and the game tied.

 

Wisconsin (30-18) went back in front in the top of the fifth inning on a defensive miscue. Rogers was at second with two outs and Hopkins at the plate. Hopkins sent a grounder to short that went through the legs of Neal Pritchard. Rogers scampered home with the unearned run to make it 4-3.

 

Bad defense by the River Bandits let the Rattlers take the lead, but Wisconsin gave that run back and let Quad Cities tie the game in the bottom of the sixth on a play that featured two errors.

 

Reliever Mark Williams walked Medina to start the sixth after getting ahead of him 0-2. Williams hit Virgil Hill to put runners on first and second with no outs. Williams got the first out on a shallow flyball to left.

 

The next batter was Pritchard and his at bat led to chaos. Williams jammed Pritchard, who sent a low popup to short. Yadiel Rivera charged the ball and appeared to make the catch in the baseline with Medina well off second base. The play was ruled a trap. Rivera tagged Medina for the second out, but threw wildly to second to try and get Hill for the third out. Hill took off for third as the ball rolled to Walla in right field. Walla attempted to get Hill at third base, but the throw sailed on him and the ball wound up in the seats to let Hill score the tying run.

 

Defense let the Rattlers down in the bottom of the ninth, too. Rasmus started the inning with a single to right. Pritchard was next and he bunted out in front of the plate. The throw went down to second base, but Rasmus beat the play to get into scoring position with the winning run. Roberto Reyes was next and he was also called on to bunt. He dropped his sacrifice attempt up the third base line and Williams went over to field the ball. The Rattlers pitcher whirled and threw to third, but was wild and the ball went into left field. Rasmus raced for home and beat the throw to score and deny the Rattlers a three game sweep.

 

The Timber Rattlers continue their 13-game road trip with game one of a four game series at Peoria on Saturday night. David Goforth (3-3, 5.74) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Gerardo Concepcion (1-3, 7.89) is set to go for the Chiefs. Game time at O'Brien Field is 6:30pm.

 

Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm.

 

WP: Danny Miranda (3-1)

LP: Mark Williams (2-4)

 

TIME: 2:50 (:58 delay)

ATTN: 3,247

 

Wisconsin Box Score

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy baseball in this one. Chad Thompson was jut okay giving up 3ER in his 4 innings while walking 2, uncorking 2 wild pitches, but striking out 7. One of the wild pitches sounded like that Harry Doyle call from Major League... "Juuuust a bit outside!", Chris hesitated while trying to describe the pitch so you know it wasn't close, he eventually settled on "Neda just had no chance". Chris also mentioned that Chad hit 91 on the gun someplace in there, I forget which inning it was though. Mark Williams only allowed 1 hit in his 4 innings, but allowed the 2 unearned runs with untimely (if there is such a thing as a timely walk) walks, a hit by a pitch, and shoddy defense, though he did strike out 6.

 

Yadiel Rivera's hit streak came to end, no T-Rats had multiple hits, but Jason Rogers did go 1-2 with a double and 2 walks. Chris covered all of the defensive miscues above which I highlighted and Gregory Hopkins stole his 4th base of the season.

 

Wisconsin Play By Play

The Rattlers missed a chance in the 7th

Wisconsin Top of the 7th

• Pitcher Change: Ethan Cole replaces Dail Villanueva.
  Chadwin Stang strikes out swinging.
  Brandon Macias reaches on throwing error by shortstop Neal Pritchard. Brandon Macias to 2nd.
  Max Walla grounds out, second baseman Luis Mateo to first baseman David Medina. Brandon Macias to 3rd.
  Jason Rogers walks.
  Nick Ramirez strikes out swinging.
  

[TheCrew07]

Nine after 9 for May 25, 2012

[Mass Haas]

Offense Foils Stars Winning Streak

 

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.- The Huntsville Stars had a three-game winning streak snapped on Friday night as they lost to the Birmingham Barons by a score of 3-1 at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

The Barons got all the offense they needed in the second inning. Designated hitter Damaso Espino doubled to lead off the frame and advanced to third on a single by left fielder Kenny Williams Jr. Both runs scored after a ground ball off the bat of shortstop Tyler Saladino prompted a throwing error at first by Stars starting pitcher Kyle Heckathorn to put Birmingham on the board 2-0.

 

Unfortunately for the Stars, the only scoring they’d be able to manage was in the bottom half of the second as designated hitter Domnit Bolivar hit a solo home run to lead off the inning. For Bolivar, it was his first round-tripper of the season.

 

Huntsville was silenced the rest of the way by a slew of Birmingham arms that were led by starting pitcher Pedro Hernandez. The southpaw improved to 6-1 on the year after giving up just one run on five hits through six innings. Reliever Dan Remenowsky also pitched two scoreless innings and closer Ryan Kussmaul earned his fifth save of the season with a smooth ninth inning.

 

The Stars offensive struggle wasted a strong effort by Heckathorn, who fell to 2-4 on the year after giving up just two runs (one earned) in five innings pitched while striking out six. Reliever Dan Merklinger also pitched well, giving up just one run on a solo shot by Barons second basemen Erik Morrison in the ninth inning while striking out five in four innings of work.

 

The final game of a five-game series between the two teams will begin on Saturday as the Huntsville will send RHP Hiram Burgos (0-1, 4.76 ERA) to square off against Birmingham LHP Matt Wickswat (1-2, 9.00 ERA). First pitch is at 6:43 PM.

[Mass Haas]

Stars thrown for first loss of series against Barons

By Bill Bryant, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- One night after a throw that got away actually led to a Huntsville Stars victory, another one led to two of the runs Birmingham scored Friday.

 

That -- and a late solo homer -- proved to be enough, though, as the Stars dropped a 3-1 decision to the Barons in front of an announced crowd of 1,821 at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

An errant throw by pitcher Kyle Heckathorn on a two-out bunt by Tyler Saladino in the second inning proved to be the only real miscue the Huntsville starter made in the game. The ball sailed over the head of first baseman Hunter Morris, who collided with Saladino, and Damaso Espino and Kenny Williams both raced across home plate.

 

On Thursday night, a Jesus Sanchez wild pitch in the ninth inning had led to one Barons run, but Saladino got tagged out at the plate on the same play to end the game.

 

"I probably should have just ate the ball, but I just wanted that out," Heckathorn said. "I lost my footing and the ball got away from me. It was just a mistake."

 

Heckathorn (2-4) proved to be otherwise effective, striking out six and allowing only five other hits in his five innings of work for Huntsville (26-22). Given that he'd surrendered 12 runs in his last 6-plus innings, it made for considerable improvement.

 

"Heckathorn battled his butt off," Stars manager Darnell Coles said. "He gets the loss, but he was quality tonight. He had a chance to give in (after that error), but he kept battling."

 

Huntsville didn't get many opportunities to score against Birmingham starter Pedro Hernandez (6-1), who allowed six hits in six innings. Domnit Bolivar hit a long solo homer to left-center in the bottom of the second to partially answer the two runs by the Barons (23-26), but the Stars got two runners on base only one inning thereafter.

 

In that inning, the fifth, Huntsville trailed by a run and had one of its leading hitters in Scooter Gennett at the plate with runners on second and third and one out.

 

The second baseman lined the ball hard to left field, but it hung up long enough for Williams to catch it and double off an eager Josh Prince, who'd strayed too far from the bag at second.

 

"(Prince is) a pretty good base runner. He was anticipating that the ball was going to fall," Coles said. "He was just a little too aggressive, and I generally don't question our guys' aggressiveness."

 

Birmingham added its insurance run in the ninth when Erik Morrison homered off of Stars reliever Dan Merklinger, the only blot on his four-inning, five-strikeout pitching line.

 

"They didn't give us a whole lot tonight," Coles said of the Barons. "Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap."

[Mass Haas]

Photo: Gary Krambeck, QCOnline.com

River Bandits Luis Mateo (4) tries to tag out Wisconsin Timber Rattler's runner Greg Hopkins (10) as he slides in safe at second base during the second inning Friday May 25.

 

http://photos.qconline.com/bignails/05-20-12_05-26-12/05-25-12/Bandits25/Bandits25_014a.jpg?TB_iframe=true&height=1250&width=400

 

Only if you must, not the photo quality Brad and also the Post-Crescent guys provide:

 

Thursday's Gallery

 

Friday's Gallery

[Mass Haas]

Nashville:

 

AUDIO: Brooks Conrad Two-Run Homer

 

AUDIO: Hainley Statia Game-Winning Single