Link Report for Sun. 7/22

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Sunday's Daily Menu:

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: RHP Mark Rogers at New Orleans (Marlins), 5:45 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

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: Idle

 

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Brevard County: RHP Drew Gagnon at home vs. Palm Beach (Mets), 4:05 PM gametime

 

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

 

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 Mark Williams at home vs. Lansing (Blue Jays), 12:45 PM pre-game, 1:05 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 Stars' road games from four Southern League locales, plus one July Helena series (11th-13th).

 

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Helena: LHP Taylor Wall at home vs. Idaho Falls (Royals), 1:50 PM pre-game, 2:05 gametime

 

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

 

We're lucky to have Steve Wendt back on board for another H-Crew season.

 

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Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at the Dodgers' complex in Phoenix; 9:00 PM gametime; never audio for games in this league

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Follow Sunday's action as it happens with box score / game log links:

 

Nashville

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

Helena

 

Maryvale

 

DSL Brewers

[Mass Haas]

STANDINGS:

 

AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division

 

AA - Southern League North Division

 

High-A - Florida State League North Division

 

A - Midwest League Western Division

 

Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division

 

Rookie - Arizona Summer League

 

DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris Division

 

***

 

NOTE: AAA Nashville does not play a split schedule. The other leagues, including the rookie leagues, do. When you click on a standings link for Huntsville, Brevard County or Wisconsin, you'll then be able to choose 1st half and/or overall standings in addition to the current 2nd half standings.

[Mass Haas]

To see 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.

[Mass Haas]

DVR ALERT!

 

As we like to do, here's some notice for you.

 

This Monday the 23rd, Time Warner Cable Sports 32 TV will broadcast the Rattlers game (7:05 PM).

[Mass Haas]

Our usual Sunday notation --

 

Look for Nashville and Wisconsin media notes at the links just prior to their game times.

[Mass Haas]

Original print date a week ago, 7/15

 

***

 

Now Healthy, Academy’s Walla Returning to Form

By Kevin Hendricks, Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer

 

Friday night in Eastlake, Ohio, Max Walla showed a glimpse of the talent that led the Milwaukee Brewers to select him in the second round of the 2009 draft.

 

Showing the ability that fans in Albuquerque remember, Walla went 4-for7, homered twice and drove in three runs in Class-A Wisconsin’s extra-inning loss to Lake County. For Walla, Friday’s performance was just another sign that the 21-year-old outfielder is getting comfortable with playing professional baseball.

 

“I’ve had a few speed bumps so far, but it’s going pretty well,” Walla said. “I’m definitely making strides and getting better.”

 

Among those speed bumps was a broken finger that delayed his Class-A debut and possibly led to some of his early struggles this year. But after hitting .238 in the first half of the season, Walla is healthy and hitting .297 in July (now at .250, but with a .798 OPS for the month). His two home runs Friday matched his total during the first three months of the season. Walla, who had 19 RBIs and nine extra-base hits in his first 52 games, has driven in 10 runs and has five extra-base hits in the 16 games since the All-Star break.

 

“Hopefully I can bring my average up. Anything over .270 would be great,” Walla said. “I’m just trying to get better and hopefully hit for some power.”

 

Walla is not only getting comfortable at the plate and in the field, he’s also getting accustomed to the grind of minor league baseball.

 

“You basically get one off day a month. When you mix in road trips with that, it’s hard,” Walla said. “We just had a nine-hour bus ride the other morning and then played a game. It’s definitely easy to get caught up in how fast it goes. The first half of the season flew by. You just have to try to catch your breath every once in a while.”

 

Walla was drafted out of Albuquerque Academy and signed with the Brewers. He had signed a letter of intent to play at Oklahoma State, but the Brewers made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. In addition to a $499,000 signing bonus, the Brewers gave Walla the chance to still pursue an education and college degree when his playing days come to an end.

 

“For me, it wasn’t really that tough of a decision (to sign),” Walla said. “All the scouts come through and they ask what you’ll sign for and what you’re signability is like, so they know what to expect. For me, it was more about a team willing to put an investment in me and take a chance on me. I wanted to hit with a wood bat as soon as possible. Overall, it was a pretty good decision for me. They took me where I wanted to go and gave me an opportunity.

 

“The biggest thing for me was they offered to pay for school when I’m done with baseball. On top of my bonus, if I go to school within two years of not playing anymore they’ll pay for it.”

 

Of course, Walla hopes his playing days continue for a long while. And while reaching the majors is obviously his goal, Walla is enjoying his time riding buses across the Midwest and working on his game.

 

“You never know when they’re going to call you up so you just have to keep playing and trying to get better,” Walla said. “You just need to focus on an immediate goal and stay focused on the here and now. I’m just going to play as long as I can and as hard as I can. Baseball is the same game no matter where you play it. I just want to keep playing the game the right way.”

[Mass Haas]

Maryvale Brewer RHP Jono Armold shows us the nasty bruise a comebacker can leave --

 

[bkrause2]

Final: Lansing 7, Wisconsin 5

 

Lansing's fast start stops Rattlers

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

GRAND CHUTE, WI - It was like there were two games Sunday at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Lansing Lugnuts scored seven runs on seven hits in the first four innings of the game. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored five runs on nine hits from the fifth inning to the end of the game. The Rattlers got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Lansing held on for the 7-5 decision.

 

There were two outs in the top of the first inning when Chris Hawkins reached on an error. K.C. Hobson lined a singled to the gap in right-center and Hawkins raced around the bases to score the run that put Lansing (65-33 overall, 18-11 second half) up 1-0.

 

Kipp Schutz reached on an error to start the top of the second. Rattlers starting pitcher Mark Williams walked the next batter. A bloop single to right by Chris Schaeffer scored Schutz. Shane Optiz was next and his ground rule double to right-center drove in two runs for a 4-0 Lansing lead.

 

Williams retired the next five batters in a row, but a two-out double by Schutz in the third was followed by an RBI double off the bat of Andy Fermin to make it 5-0.

 

Kenny Wilson made it 7-0 with a two-run homer with no outs in the fourth. The Lugnuts wouldn't get another hit in the game.

 

Wisconsin (57-41, 13-16) struggled against Lansing starting pitcher Justin Nicolino. The Lugnuts lefty retired the first 13 batters he faced in the game. Nick Ramirez got the first hit for the Rattlers with a one out double. But, Nicolino responded with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

 

The Rattlers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Lance Roenicke singled and Chadwin Stang doubled to put runners at second and third with one out. Jonathan Lucroy stepped to the plate with two outs, and singled through the middle to drive in two runs.

 

Nicolino turned the ball over to the bullpen to start the seventh inning and Ramirez greeted Phil Brua with a line drive homer over the left field wall. Rafael Neda, who took over for Lucroy at catcher for the top of the seventh, lined an RBI double to score Brandon Macias in the eighth and cut the Lugnuts lead to three runs.

 

Ben McMahan hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning off Lansing closer Ajay Meyer and Yadiel Rivera had a two out single to bring the tying run to the plate, but Meyer got the final out to end the game and pick up his 27th save of the season.

 

The final game of the series is Monday night. Jacob Barnes (3-2, 2.91) is the scheduled starter for the Timber Rattlers. Lansing will counter with Blake McFarland (4-3, 4.19). Game time is 7:05pm.

 

The Timber Rattlers present a 25-cent Hot Dog Special for you at Monday's game. Grab some ballpark franks for just 25 cents.

 

Monday is also a Qdoba Q*Monday. Fans may receive a free ticket to any Monday home game on the 2012 schedule when they purchase a lunch entrée at the Qdoba by the Fox River Mall on a B104.7 Qdoba Q*Monday. Stop by Qdoba for lunch on Monday and you can get a free ticket to any Monday home game the rest of the season.

 

If you can't make it to the ballpark you can also catch the action several different ways. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Internet video of the game is available to MiLB.TV subscribers and Sports32 will broadcast the game to Time Warner Cable subscribers.

 

HOME RUNS:

LAN:

Kenny Wilson (4th, 1 on in 4th inning off Mark Williams, 0 out)

 

WIS:

Nick Ramirez (11th, 0 on in 7th inning off Phil Brua, 0 out)

Ben McMahan (9th, 0 on in 9th inning off Ajay Meyer, 1 out)

 

 

WP: Justin Nicolino (6-2)

LP: Mark Williams (5-8)

SAVE: Ajay Meyer (27)

 

TIME: 2:38

ATTN: 4,844

 

Wisconsin Box Score

 

 

The Rattlers fell behind early, then tried to rally back, but it wasn't quite enough. Nick Ramirez led the offense, going 2-4 with a double and his 11th home run of the season. Ben McMahan also went deep for the Timber Rattlers. Jonathan Lucroy went 1-3 with a pair of RBI and a stolen base in his final rehab appearance with the Timber Rattlers. He also picked a runner off first base. Rafael Neda doubled in his only at bat and knocked in a run. Chadwin Stang was 1-4 with a double. Brandon Macias and Lance Roenicke had the other two Wisconsin base hits.

 

Mark Williams started and gave up all seven runs, five earned on seven hits. He struck out four and walked one. The bullpen did a good job after that to allow the offense to try to catch up. Stephen Peterson worked 3.2 scoreless innings. He didn't allow a hit, and walked two while striking out four. Stosh Wawrzasek pitched two clean innings, not allowing a hit. That's three scoreless appearances in a row now for Stosh.

 

Wisconsin Play By Play

 

Wisconsin Bottom of the 6th

Yadiel Rivera called out on strikes.

Lance Roenicke singles on a soft line drive to left fielder Michael Crouse.

Chadwin Stang hits a ground-rule double (19) on a fly ball to right-center field. Lance Roenicke to 3rd.

Brandon Macias strikes out swinging.

Jonathan Lucroy singles on a ground ball to center fielder Kenny Wilson. Lance Roenicke scores. Chadwin Stang scores.

With Cameron Garfield batting, Jonathan Lucroy steals (1) 2nd base, Jonathan Lucroy to 3rd. Wild pitch by pitcher Justin Nicolino.

Cameron Garfield grounds out, shortstop Shane Opitz to first baseman K. Hobson.

[bkrause2]

Rattler Radio Post-Game Notes and Highlights

[Tedaldtada]

Idaho Falls (Royals) 8 Helena 7

 

Box Score

 

Michael Reed (2-4 BB) got the start in CF as Tyrone Taylor did not return. Yonki Hernandez got the bump up the order as he and Reed set the table for Chris McFarland (3-5 2B SB), Alfredo Rodriguez (2-4 SB) and Raul Mondesi Jr. (1-5 HR). The bottom 4 Brewers hitters were 1-15 with 5 K. The 1 was a 3B for Ruben Ozuna.

 

There were a number of pitchers who were decent but Joel Pierce (2.1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 3 K) was literally unhittable as he put 7 down in order. Joel (19) has essentially had 3 terrible appearances and 4 great appearances so far in 2012. Michael Shaub (2 IP 2 H 1 ER 2 BB 3 K) was better than usual and Connor Whalen threw a scoreless inning. Martin Viramontes takes most of the blame on this night.

 

Outfield assists: Hernandez, Yo (Shin at home), Reed (Shin at 2nd base).

 

I guess they were tagged in the Shin twice.

 

Game Log

 

This was brimming with potential.

Helena Bottom of the 1st

 

Michael Reed singles on a fly ball to left fielder Ysmelin Alcantara.

With Yonki Hernandez batting, wild pitch by Zeb Sneed, Michael Reed to 2nd.

With Yonki Hernandez batting, wild pitch by Zeb Sneed, Michael Reed to 3rd.

Yonki Hernandez walks.

With Christopher McFarland batting, wild pitch by Zeb Sneed, Yonki Hernandez to 2nd.

Christopher McFarland singles on a fly ball to right fielder Elier Hernandez. Michael Reed scores. Yonki Hernandez to 3rd.

Alfredo Rodriguez singles on a line drive to center fielder Ethan Chapman. Yonki Hernandez scores. Christopher McFarland to 2nd.

Raul Mondesi strikes out swinging.

Paul Eshleman flies out to right fielder Elier Hernandez.

Michael Nemeth flies out to left fielder Ysmelin Alcantara.

[Tedaldtada]

Palm Beach (Cardinals) 6 Brevard County 4

 

Box Score

 

Drew Gagnon made his 5th straight start of 5+ innings for the Manatees. He also gave up his 1st homer since being promoted and was generally hit very hard. Still, if he qualified for the ERA title in the FSL he would be in Taylor Jungmann territory. Eric Arnett (2.2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 3 K 1 WP 2:3 GO:FO) relieved him and was very good. Power lefty Alan Williams finished with s somewhat dirty scoreless inning.

 

At the plate, Shea Vucinich (2-5 2B) and Brent Dean (2-4) were the only Ocean Sows with multiple hits. Reggie Keen went 1-3 with a BB. They were rallying late, but could not pull off the miracle.

 

Nick Shaw was responsible for Gagnon's unearned runs with his 15th error of the season.

 

Game Log

 

The final push.

 

Brevard County Bottom of the 9th

 

Mike Walker singles on a ground ball to center fielder James Ramsey.

Brock Kjeldgaard doubles (4) on a ground ball to left fielder Mike O'Neill. Mike Walker to 3rd.

Reggie Keen singles on a line drive to left fielder Mike O'Neill. Mike Walker scores. Brock Kjeldgaard to 3rd.

Brent Dean singles on a ground ball to right fielder Nicholas Longmire. Brock Kjeldgaard scores. Reggie Keen to 2nd.

John Dishon strikes out swinging.

Franklin Romero Jr. strikes out swinging.

Nick Shaw singles on a line drive to center fielder James Ramsey. Reggie Keen scores. Brent Dean to 2nd.

Pitching Change: Aidan Lucas replaces Dean Kiekhefer.

Shea Vucinich flies out to left fielder Mike O'Neill.

[Mass Haas]

Audio from The Big Easy — “A Talk with The Big Cheesy”

 

Jeff Hem's note -- Tonight’s interview is with Sounds first baseman Sean Halton, to whom his teammates refer as “Cheesy.” Among other topics, Halton discusses his great hitting in New Orleans this year (8-for-18, 2 HRs), what he thinks about his season — his first at Triple-A — so far, his upcoming return to his hometown of Fresno in a couple weeks, his love of football (namely the San Francisco 49ers) and his high school baseball career that included some playing time at shortstop (keep in mind Halton is 6’5, 265 lbs.).

[Mass Haas]

Mondesi goes yard, but Brewers fall 8-7

Helena Brewers

 

The Helena Brewers entered Sunday afternoon with the opportunity to split the series against the Idaho Falls Chukars, but by the time the afternoon was over the Chukars escaped with an 8-7 victory. The loss drops the Brewers record to 11-22, while the Chukars improve to 15-18.

 

The Brewers struck for two runs in the first inning for the second straight game on Sunday afternoon. The Brewers received back-to-back RBI singles from Chris McFarland and Alfredo Rodriguez to give them the 2-0 lead after one. McFarland would go 3-for-5 on the day to up his average to .323 on the season. Rodriguez also had a multi-hit game going 2-for-4. The Brewers would then knock in two more in the second to take an early 4-1 lead.

 

In the top of the fifth things took a dramatic turn for the worst for the home team. The Chukars crossed the plate four times and would own an 8-4 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. It was at this point that the Brewers received their only home run of the contest, when Raul Mondesi Jr. hit his third home run of the season knocking in McFarland and Rodriguez.

 

Idaho Falls would insert Cory Hall into the game to begin the eighth inning and it was all she wrote for Helena. Hall pitched two innings allowing no runs, while striking out three and picking up his third save of the season. Chukars starter Zeb Sneed was credited with his first professional win and Martin Viramontes received the loss for the Brewers.

 

The Brewers will welcome the Ogden Raptors to Kindrick Legion Field tomorrow night First pitch is slated for 7:05 (8:05 Central).

 

Mondesi homers, but Brewers fall. (Sleeping Giant Photography)

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/22/tl4x4xVt.jpg

[DHonks]

Rogers' last 3 starts:

19IP 9h 5bb 2er 17k 0.95ERA 0.74WHIP

 

I know it's not necessarily fair to be choosy, but let's hope he's turning a corner. Perhaps the first half was about feeling comfortable out there, and perhaps now he's getting back to where he was in 2010

[brewmann04]

Doug I agree totally with your comment . Nice to see him and Willy having a strong second half.

[BrewersAA]

this makes me feel good, and a little vindicated, because i remained high on rogers when those in my circle told me i was crazy. Rogers seems like a guy who sees an opportunity coming his way, i guess that can be seen as bad, but its also just good to see him having success. He did miss basically a whole season coming into this year so i think its fair to turn a cheek on his first half. I think a big part for him is that i have just recently started to hear that his velocity is back to where it was pre-wrist surgery. Average pitches sure do play up when that fastball is plus plus.

[Tedaldtada]

AZL Brewers 4 AZL Dodgers 1

 

Box Score

 

A very well pitched game for the Brewers and it started with 2 IP and 3 K from Nic Bucci. No hits, runs, or walks against Nic. Austin Hall came on in the 3rd and went 4IP with 6 K while only giving up a single hit and BB. Jorge Lopez finished the game with 3 strong innings and 3 K. Jorge gave up a single hit, walk and run.

 

At the plate, a couple of young promising Puerto Ricans played well. Speedy leadoff man Edgardo Rivera was 0-2 wth 3 BB and 2 SB while SS Angle Ortega had a hit and a walk. Dustin Houle went 0-3 with 2 BB and Clint Coulter went 1-5.

 

Game Log

 

Coulter beat out this possible double play ball to record one of 2 RBI he had on the night.

 

AZL Brewers Top of the 3rd

 

Renaldo Jenkins singles on a ground ball to shortstop Jesmuel Valentin.

With Edgardo Rivera batting, Renaldo Jenkins caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Michael Pericht to shortstop Jesmuel Valentin.

Edgardo Rivera walks.

With Dustin Houle batting, Edgardo Rivera steals (4) 2nd base.

Dustin Houle walks.

Jose Pena walks. Edgardo Rivera to 3rd. Dustin Houle to 2nd.

Clint Coulter grounds into a force out, third baseman Bladimir Franco to second baseman Stefan Jarrin. Edgardo Rivera scores. Dustin Houle to 3rd. Jose Pena out at 2nd. Clint Coulter to 1st.

Alan Sharkey reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Jesmuel Valentin. Dustin Houle scores. Clint Coulter to 2nd.

Pitching Change: Jackson Mateo replaces Zachary Bird.

With Taylor Smith-Brennan batting, passed ball by Michael Pericht, Clint Coulter to 3rd.

Taylor Smith-Brennan grounds out, third baseman Bladimir Franco to first baseman John Sgromolo.

[MTBrew]

Its been a long time since I have been this disappointed in the play of the Helena team. I totally get that rookie ball is about development but I cannot accept a lack of effort.

This game was win-able, and wasn't won because of a lack of effort and concentration. The 6th inning was a disaster, something that shouldn't be happening 30 games into the season.

The pitchers deserved better, they were not that bad.

I can only hope that Bruce Seid, who has been in town, kicks some butt while here.

[TheCrew07]

Final: DSL Angels 3, DSL Brewers 0

 

DSL Brewers Box Score

So the Brewers played clean defense, pitched well, but then only managed 2 hits, curse the all-star break! Once again a man among boys in Juan Santiago was extremely effective going 7 innings allowing 2 earned runs on 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 wild pitch, and 1 balk against 7 strike outs. Miguel Diaz pitched the final 2 innings allowed an earned run on 2 hits and walk.

 

Going up against Santiago was 19 year old Jorge Contreras who certainly doesn't wow you from a peripherals perspective but he's been extremely effective to this point.

 

Still no Belonis and the only other noteworthy item from the game was that Francisco Castillo got picked off again from 1st.

 

DSL Brewers Play By Play

 

bleh.

[TheCrew07]

Sounds Edge Zephyrs, 3-2

Gindl Drives In Pair, Buller Homers In Winning Effort

 

METAIRIE, La. - The Nashville Sounds edged the New Orleans Zephyrs by a 3-2 margin on Sunday evening at Zephyr Field.

 

The win was the league-leading 22nd one-run victory of the year for the Sounds (45-56).

 

Second baseman Eric Farris paced the Nashville offense with a 3-for-4 effort to extend the Sounds' longest active hitting streak to five games, the infielder's sixth hit streak of five games or greater this season. Farris, who also stole a pair of bases in the contest, is batting .347 (33-for-95) over his last 28 contests.

 

Outfielder Caleb Gindl drove in two of the Sounds' three runs on the evening. Catcher Dayton Buller slugged a solo homer to account for the third Nashville run.

 

The Sounds jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning against New Orleans starter Brad Hand. Corey Patterson drew a game-opening walk and moved to second on a Farris bunt single. After the two runners executed a double steal, Patterson raced home with the night's first run on a Gindl sacrifice fly.

 

Nashville starter Mark Rogers retired the first six batters in order before running into control issues in the third, issuing three walks to load the bases with two outs before punching out Chris Coghlan to escape the jam unscathed. The right-hander tossed 65 pitches over those first three frames.

 

Buller doubled the Sounds' lead to 2-0 in the fifth with a one-out solo homer to left-center that just cleared the glove of a leaping Kevin Mattison. The blast off Hand was the backstop's third roundtripper of the year.

 

· AUDIO: Dayton Buller HR

 

After Rogers successfully worked around a pair of Z's baserunners in the fourth, New Orleans finally broke through for a run against him in the fifth. With one out, Mattison tripled off the base of the right field wall and scored on a Gil Velazquez groundout to make it a 2-1 contest.

 

Gindl tacked on an important insurance run in the eighth when his stroked a two-out RBI double into the right field corner to plate Farris for a 3-1 advantage.

 

· AUDIO: Gindl Doubles In Insurance Run

 

Rogers (6-6) picked up the win after tossing a season-high 104 pitches and matching a season best with seven strikeouts during his five innings of action. He allowed one run on two hits while also issuing four walks.

 

Rob Wooten followed Rogers to the hill for the Sounds and turned in a solid outing, retiring all six batters faced.

 

Tim Dillard was next to the bump for Nashville and was greeted by a solo homer off the bat of Mattison (2-for-4), who fouled off three two-strike offerings before belting his ninth longball of the year to right to reduce the Sounds' lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth. After Dillard allowed a subsequent single, the Nashville defense turned an outstanding 6-4-3, inning-ending double play to keep the lead intact.

 

Jim Henderson came on for the ninth and allowed a leadoff single before inducing a double-play grounder from Gaby Sanchez. With two down, Henderson struck out Donnie Murphy but the batter reached first as Buller was unable to glove the baseball and was charged with a passed ball. Henderson recovered by popping up Brad Davis for the final out to nail down his 14th save of the year.

 

· AUDIO: Sounds Turn Two In The 9th

 

Hand (7-5) took a hard-luck loss after he worked a quality start for the Z's, allowing two runs on four hits in six innings.

 

The Sounds will look to lock up their fourth winning road series of the year when the teams wrap up the four-game set with a 7:00 p.m. finale on Monday evening. Right-hander Brian Baker (2-3, 5.02) will toe the rubber for the Sounds to face New Orleans right-hander Omar Poveda (0-1, 3.63).

 

Nashville Box Score

An interesting scoring line in the box... the teams traded runs in both the 5th and 8th. You know, well you don't but I'm going to tell you anyway, about the only thing I care about right now when I look at a Mark Rogers pitching is the walks. He was very effective today but he did walk too many batters, maybe someday he'll turn into Verlander and we'll rejoice.

 

Corey Patterson's hot streak is over, which is a good thing for those you worried about Melvin calling him up instead of Schafer or Gindl and/or possibly blocking one of the AA OFs from a promotion. I'm pretty indifferent about him being Nashville but the Sounds were better when he was hot, he hasn't had a hit in 4 games now. On the other hand Caleb Gindl has almost recovered to a .250 batting average, he's at .249 after tonight, he's hitting .324 and SLG .568 over his last 10, he's done what most of us were hoping Weeks would do after his horrendous start.

 

Nashville Play By Play

 

Only 11 hits in the entire contest, not much excitement in the log.

[HiAndTight]

this makes me feel good, and a little vindicated, because i remained high on rogers when those in my circle told me i was crazy. Rogers seems like a guy who sees an opportunity coming his way, i guess that can be seen as bad, but its also just good to see him having success. He did miss basically a whole season coming into this year so i think its fair to turn a cheek on his first half. I think a big part for him is that i have just recently started to hear that his velocity is back to where it was pre-wrist surgery. Average pitches sure do play up when that fastball is plus plus.

 

 

Drafted in the same draft as Homer Bailey. Took him a while to come around without the injuries. Perhaps next year we'll be able to add Rogers to our rotation. Could look pretty nice even without Greinke. Not contender nice, but Fiers, Thornburg, Rogers, Peralta and obviously Yo. Nelson next in line.

 

Though as we know it so seldom works out like that outside of Tampa Bay.

[Mass Haas]

Turns out Jono Armold's "bruise picture via tweet" belongs to the leg of his teammate RHP Ryan Fasano.

[Mass Haas]

Mondesi Jr.’s HR not enough as Brewers fall 8-7

By Amber Kuehn, Helena Independent Record

 

Raul Mondesi Jr. crushed a three-run bomb over the left-centerfield wall to make it a one-run game in the seventh and steal all momentum from Idaho Falls.

 

An inning later, a storm moved into Kindrick Legion Field, stealing the Helena Brewers’ thunder and any hopes of quickly building off that momentum.

 

Winds gusted and the rain came down horizontal, halting play for 19 minutes Sunday. The game resumed under sunny skies with fans hanging around hoping to see the home team make a comeback, with the heart of the Brewers’ order due up. They nearly got their wish, as Alfredo Rodriguez stroked a one-out single in the ninth to put the tying run aboard, but Chukars reliever Cory Hall fanned the final two batters he faced to preserve the 8-7 win for Idaho Falls.

 

Chukars catcher Travis Lane slammed a two-run double off Brewers reliever Martin Viramontes in the sixth inning to give the visitors their first lead of the day. Idaho Falls plated four runs in the inning, peppering Viramontes with five hits. The right-hander struggled with his control from the minute he came out of the pen, with 13 of his first 25 pitches out of the zone.

 

Lane’s hit was extra special, as the 21-year-old had been struggling at the plate all season. Lane, drafted in the 41st round in 2011, was batting .095 coming into Sunday’s contest and had struck out in his previous two at-bats. He knew he was due.

 

“To be honest with you, I’ve struggled the whole season with timing, and just everything,” Lane said. “I’m just trying to put good swings on the ball. I think I was down in the count with two strikes as well, and he just left up something too good and I just put a good swing on it.

 

“I was honestly just trying to get something to the outfield, because there was a guy on third and I just wanted to at least get a sac fly. It worked out.”

 

Helena took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, a frame that featured three wild pitches from Chukars starter Zeb Sneed. Idaho Falls got off to an ominous start in that area, and finished the game with six wild pitches total and two passed balls. Lane did a better job of blocking a pair of balls in the dirt in the final frame.

 

“That team was the best at reading balls in the dirt that we’ve seen all year, by far, they are unbelievable,” Lane said, crediting Helena. “They did that the whole game, even in the last inning. I’m blocking the ball and before I know it they’re already at second base.”

 

The Brewers also swiped three stolen bases in the contest, including one by Rodriguez in the ninth inning that put the tying run in position to score. But the hosts struggled to bring guys in, hitting 5 for 16 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight men on.

 

Helena reliever Joel Pierce was a bright spot for a pitching staff that struggled some Sunday, throwing 2 1/3 perfect innings out of the bullpen. It was Pierce’s best outing by far this season, and he lowered his ERA by more than four runs with the appearance. Sneed earned his first win of the season despite giving up four runs on six hits.

 

Chukars DH Jin-Ho Shin led Idaho Falls at the plate, hitting 3 for 4 with two runs batted in. First baseman Jared Schlehuber, an Aurora, Colo., native, also had a pair of hits (double, single) despite the chaos that occurred in his hometown just two days earlier when a dozen were killed in the tragic movie theater shooting.

 

The hot-hitting Chris McFarland was 3 for 5 with two RBIs for Helena, which opens a three-game homestand against the Ogden Raptors Monday. Southpaw Jake Hermsen is scheduled to pitch for Ogden, with right-hander Ryan Gibbard taking the mound for the Brewers.