Link Report for Sat. 8/4 - Incredible extra-inning win for the Stars! Ariel "Speedwagon" Pena strong in 2nd Huntsville start

[TooLiveBrew]

Yep, things have gotten pretty ugly in Huntsville. Shame.

[Mass Haas]

Stars, down 5-1 after the top of the 11th, bring the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the inning, never-say-die.

 

Go, Stars!

 

EDIT: Segura (3rd hit) now the tying run on 1st base, nice!

[Mass Haas]

WALK-OFF 3-RUN BOMB HUNTER MORRIS!

 

Game of the Year!!!!!

[CheezWizHed]

Pena with a terrific second start. The new additions have not disappointed in their brief time with Huntsville.

7 IP, 6 H, 1 R/ER, 3 BB, 6 K, WP, 6:6 GO:AO, 94 TP

 

... for those like me that would be too lazy to want to click on the Huntsville link if they didn't have to!

 

And I appreciate you looking out for me!

[TooLiveBrew]

Yep, things have gotten pretty ugly in Huntsville. Shame.

And then... MAGIC!

[Eye Black]

WALK-OFF 3-RUN BOMB HUNTER MORRIS!

 

Game of the Year!!!!!

 

WOW!!!! I just yelled out loud watching gametracker. Wow.

[TooLiveBrew]

WALK-OFF 3-RUN BOMB HUNTER MORRIS!

 

Game of the Year!!!!!

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljqcpip62d1qafrh6.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

WALK-OFF 3-RUN BOMB HUNTER MORRIS!

 

Game of the Year!!!!!

 

WOW!!!! I just yelled out loud watching gametracker. Wow.

THIS right here... ? This right here is called being a fan, people!

[LouisEly]

I was just going to say the same thing about Heckathorn.

 

I know that 1) Matt Miller is not young for low A, B) college players should do well at low A, and 3) he doesn't strike a lot of guys out. That being said, he's having a good season and if he can continue to improve and take advantage of his 6'6" frame he might have a chance to develop into a #4/5 starter. Always nice to be able to develop those instead of having to sign those as FAs.

 

Check out Stosh Wawrzasek's picture on MiLB.com - the Stosh is indeed sporting the 'stache. 6'0" and 250lbs... oof.

[Mass Haas]

Daniel Meadows tweet:

 

We've got The Mayor @HunterMorris15, we're never out of it!

 

[Tedaldtada]

Missoula (D'Backs) 6 Helena 5

 

Box Score

 

The H-Crew boys could not channel any good mojo from the...errr....older H-Crew men.

 

Leonard Lorenzo has been alternating good and bad starts over the past 3 weeks or so. Tonight was a bad one. The 4:1 K:BB is nice, but the wildness shows in other areas and tonight he was unusually hittable. Michael Schaub, who has been out of the rotation for awhile now, has found some success over his last 3 appearances. 2 more scoreless innings tonight for Schaub he looks to regain some of the luster he had built up after a solid 2011 Maryvale season. Tyler Mangum finished up nicely.

 

16 K's by Brewers hitters tonight.

 

Ruben Ozuna homered to accompany another 2 hit night. I know MTBrew has described Ozuna as 'over-matched' at the plate in the past, but he has been pretty darn hot for 2 weeks now. Now, I must confess I have never seen him play, but I do have somewhat high hopes for the kid. Move him, and his mid-.700's OPS, up in the lineup! Yonki Hernandez went 1-3 with a SB and Andres Martinez hit a 2B. Chris McFarland, Michael Reed and Adam Giacalone all went hitless, but they all took at least 1 BB.

 

Game Log

 

Losing temper is funny.

 

Helena Top of the 7th

 

Pitching Change: Michael Blake replaces Jared Ray.

Ruben Ozuna singles on a bunt ground ball to first baseman Tyler Bream.

Yonki Hernandez out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Michael Blake to first baseman Tyler Bream. Ruben Ozuna to 2nd.

Andres Martinez doubles (5) on a line drive to center fielder Evan Marzilli. Ruben Ozuna scores.

Christopher McFarland walks. Andres Martinez to 3rd. Andres Martinez steals (4) 3rd base.

Michael Reed walks. Christopher McFarland to 2nd.

Alfredo Rodriguez out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Evan Marzilli. Andres Martinez scores. Christopher McFarland to 3rd.

With Adam Giacalone batting, passed ball by Kevin Dultz, Christopher McFarland scores. Michael Reed to 2nd.

Missoula Osprey Manager Andy Green ejected by 1B umpire Sean Allen.

Adam Giacalone walks.

Pitching Change: Christopher Capper replaces Michael Blake.

Michael Turay pops out to first baseman Tyler Bream.

[Tedaldtada]

Wait, wot?

 

FIELDING

E: Pena, Jo 3 (7, throw, fielding, fielding).

 

That is OF Jose Pena.

 

Also of note here late in Maryvale, Clint Coulter entered mid-game for Dustin Houle at C. Rarely used Fransisco Rivero started this one followed by a rehabbing Josh Butler.

[faede]

Hunter Morris, also good at baseball, and walkoff three run homeruns in the 11th inning.

[faede]

It's kinda weird that Claudio Vargas is hitting .308 right now, right?

[Tedaldtada]

[sarcasm]Hunter Morris; non-prospect[/sarcasm]

[Mass Haas]

Hometown Calgary can't get enough Jim Henderson (full article link)

 

His mom, Marilyn Meek:

 

And then on July 26, after 313 minor-league appearances in 10 different uniforms, Henderson finally received the promotion he had been dreaming about.

 

His first call was to Meek, who immediately cleared her schedule for a hasty getaway to Milwaukee.

 

"I think Jim was stunned at first, too. The way they told him in front of everybody was kind of special for him because (his Sounds teammates) were so happy for him, knowing it's taken a long time to get here," Meek said. "It's been a ride for him already. Every step of the way, something else happens in his career and I think, 'If it ends here, what a ride he's had.' And now, he's done one more step.

 

"You can never take those moments away from him or the moments that I've shared (in Milwaukee). No matter what happens, you can't take those moments away."

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog: Nine After 9

Back in all its glory...

 

While reading, also remember Mike Strong is a southpaw, an added bonus.

[Tedaldtada]

AZL Reds 15 AZL Brewers 2

 

Box Score

 

This was a super sloppy game by both sides, yet somehow 6 Maryvale errors resulted in only 2 unearned runs. Mid-game, the Brewers pulled their 2, 3 and 4 hitters.

 

Ryan Fasano from Nyack has been very good for the Maryvale bullpen before he imploded late in his appearance tonight. Carlos Sosa came on and K'ed the only guy he faced. 2012 9th rounder Alejandro Lavandero is off to a pretty rough start. The Florida HS product does not come with much documented information that I can find.

 

Butler and Rivero pitched scoreless innings as well.

 

Edgardo Rivera is continuing to stack up good games. Tonight, he went 3-4 with a BB. Renaldo Jenkins went 2-3 with a BB and Malcom Dowell went 1-3 with a BB. Taylor Smith-Brennan continues to amaze in unconventional ways. Roughly 65% of his OPS comes from his OBP. Find me another everyday player with 100 or more PA's that you can say that about. Maybe there is a prize in it for you (note: there is no prize).

 

Jose Pena was 1-3 before he was pulled.

 

Game Log

[TooLiveBrew]

@Huntsville 6, Pensacola 5 (11 innings)

 

Huntsville Box

TL;DR version: one run, long pause, then one run that tied it, then a bullpen implosion, then another bullpen implosion... then shaving cream pie to the face of Hunter "The Mayor" Morris. This was a game for the ages for Huntsville, and one I feel like I can't do justice in the Link Report.

 

Ariel Pena started off looking like his struggles from his first Brewers outing might carry over into this one. He issued a BB to Billy Hamilton, but Anderson De La Rosa (0-3, 2 BB, 2/3 in throwing out basestealers) threw Hamilton out when he attempted a steal during the next PA. That wound up being a pretty huge CS, as it meant the two 2Bs Pena went on to allow in the 1st only resulted in one run (Hamilton finished the game 0/1 in SB attempts). That would also be the only run Pena allowed tonight. He allowed just six baserunners (4 singles and 2 BB) over the rest of his outing, which ran through the 7th. This was a very strong performance from "Ariel Speedwagon" tonight, and shouldn't be lost in the (well-deserved) attention paid to the phenomenal bottom of the 11th inning comeback. Final line for Pena: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R/ER, 3 BB, 6 K, WP, 6:6 GO:AO, 94 TP.

 

Although Blue Wahoos SP Tony Cingrani kept the Stars off the scoreboard through his 5 IP, the only frame in which he didn't allow multiple runners to reach was the 3rd. Huntsville finally got into the run column with a clutch pinch-hit HR from T.J. Mittelstaedt, who was brought on to hit for Pena to lead off the home half of the 7th. Mittelstaedt stayed in the game as part of a double-switch entering the top of the 8th, and added a single -- the first hit in the amazing 11th inning rally. He finished 2-3 with one RBI.

 

Darren Byrd came on in relief of Pena, and promptly worked a 1-2-3 (K, groundout, K) 8th inning. Byrd was able to dance out of danger in the 9th, escaping a bases-loaded two-out jam by inducing a groundball for a force out. Phew!

 

The Stars got a leadoff BB from pinch hitter Lee Haydel in the 9th, but weren't able to come up with the big hit to bring him home. In the 10th, Brandon Kintzler issued two one-out BBs, but then got a huge double play to get the Stars up for another chance to walk-off with the win. With one out, Hunter Morris (2-6, HR, 3 RBI) singled and was followed by a Brock Kjeldgaard (0-3, BB) BB... but once again the Stars didn't get the game-winning hit they needed.

 

Kyle Heckathorn took over for the 11th, and... let's just say I feel bad even link-reporting how things went for him. He struck out the leadoff batter, then got an out on a sharp groundball (per the game log)... and then... just, wow. I kid you not, this is how it went from there:

--1B, SB, RBI 1B, 2-R HR, 1B by Hamilton, throwing error on pickoff attempt sends Hamilton to 2B, throwing error on pickoff attempt sends Hamilton in to score, 2B, pop out--

Ouch. Hang with 'em, I guess, Kyle. That'll be a big mental hurdle to get past as Heckathorn continues to try to adjust to life as a RP. Once the dust had settled, that was a 4-run inning for Pensacola. Only 3 ER for Heckathorn since Hamilton's run scored on an error, but it's rare to see a relief appearance go that badly. Channeling Ned Yost: 'He was one pitch away...'

 

- [unrelated side-note: Dire Straits' "Walk of Life" just started playing on my computer music mix as I get to describing the 11th. Hooray for life's small joys]

 

So, down 5-1 after a demoralizing collapse in extra innings...

Or maybe not.

 

How does a team respond to playing through 10 innings of a tight 1-1 game, only to see the visitors score 4 runs in the top half of the 11th? Feel demoralized? Feel devastated? Feel crushed? How about 'feel like turning four straight hits into a freakin' win'! I'll obviously get this in the PbP segment of this post, but Kentrail Davis (2-4, BB) drew a walk to lead off the inning, and consecutive 1Bs by Mittelstaedt, Josh Prince (2-5, 2B, RBI, BB), & Jean Segura (3-6, RBI) set the stage for "The Mayor" to do some more serious campaigning for Southern League MVP. After Segura's single, the Stars trailed 5-3. Morris took the first pitch low for ball one. The very next pitch, shown on Gameday as roughly letter-high and outer-half, was mashed and deposited over the left-center fence for the walk-off 3-R blast! Shaving cream pie! Game over! WHAT a comeback -- this one seems to stand out as being particularly resilient and impressive. Well done, Huntsville Stars.

 

No Scooter Gennett in this game. Never heard back from the Stars on Twitter as to whether or not Scooter getting lifted from last night's game was due to injury or not. I'll try asking again.

 

 

Huntsville PbP

There's really only one half-inning worth posting here. If you feel the need to see Heckathorn's disastrous top of the 11th, feel free to click through & check it out. But I'm going with the huge comeback & win:

 

Huntsville Bottom of the 11th

-Pitching Change: Mark Serrano replaces Brian Pearl, batting 9th, replacing Andrew Means.

-Kentrail Davis walks.

-Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Adam Weisenburger replaces Kyle Heckathorn.

-Adam Weisenburger strikes out swinging.

-T. J. Mittelstaedt singles on a soft line drive to center fielder Ryan LaMarre. Kentrail Davis to 3rd.

-Josh Prince singles on a ground ball to center fielder Ryan LaMarre. Kentrail Davis scores. T. Mittelstaedt to 3rd.

-Jean Segura singles on a line drive to shortstop Billy Hamilton. T. Mittelstaedt scores. Josh Prince to 2nd.

-Hunter Morris homers (21) on a fly ball to left center field. Josh Prince scores. Jean Segura scores.

 

 

Huntsville Gameday

[TheCrew07]

Sounds Gain Split With 9-1 Finale Win In Fresno

Vargas Sharp For Nashville In Victory

 

FRESNO, Calif. - Veteran hurler Claudio Vargas worked seven strong innings to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 9-1 victory over the Fresno Grizzlies on Saturday evening at Chukchansi Park in the finale of a four-game series.

 

With the victory, Nashville (52-63) gained a split of the four-game set. It marked the Sounds' most lopsided win since an 8-0 triumph over New Orleans on June 2.

 

Vargas (5-1) earned his fifth win of the year by holding the Grizzlies to one unearned run on seven hits over seven frames and induced three double plays in recording his fifth quality start. After allowing his lone run in the first frame, he didn't allow a Fresno runner to reach second again until the seventh, stranding a runner on third in his final frame. Vargas helped his own cause at the dish, going 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the contest.

 

Shortstop Jeff Bianchi went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, catcher Humberto Quintero went 2-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs, and Jordan Brown and Sean Halton each homered to lead the 14-hit Nashville offensive attack.

 

Fresno took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an unearned run against Vargas. Emmanuel Burriss led off the frame with a triple to right. Two batters later, Francisco Peguero lifted a fly ball to right that Corey Patterson gloved and fired to the plate. His throw beat Burriss but the runner scored as Quintero was charged with a missed catch error on the play.

 

The Sounds responded immediately, grabbing a 2-1 advantage in the top of the second. Taylor Green led off with a single against Fresno starter Yusmeiro Petit and scored the tying run on Bianchi's one-out RBI double. Quintero made up for his gaff in the previous inning by pushing Nashville into the lead with a two-out RBI single, giving the backstop seven RBIs in six games with the Sounds.

 

· AUDIO: Quintero Go-Ahead RBI Single

 

Nashville extended the lead to 4-1 in the fourth against Petit. With runners on second and third, Quintero lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate Bianchi and Vargas helped his own cause with a two-out RBI single to center to bring in Patterson.

 

Petit (5-4) took the loss for the Grizzlies after giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits over five innings of work.

 

Brown made it a 5-1 contest in the sixth when the Nashville first baseman greeted new Fresno reliever Mitch Lively with a leadoff solo homer to center, his sixth big fly of the year.

 

· AUDIO: Jordan Brown Solo HR

 

The Sounds tacked on a run in the top of the eighth when Brown and Bianchi ripped back-to-back, two-out doubles off Lively to push the visitors' lead to 6-1.

 

Nashville closed out the night's scoring with three ninth-inning runs off Dan Runzler. Halton belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer to center off the right-hander, his 12th roundtripper of the year and second of the pinch-hit variety. Quintero preceded Halton with a double and also scored on the blast. Caleb Gindl followed the homer with a single and later scored the final Nashville tally on a Green groundout.

 

· AUDIO: Sean Halton Pinch-Hit Two-Run HR

 

Donovan Hand followed Vargas with a scoreless eighth from the hill before Mitch Stetter and Jesus Sanchez combined on a scoreless ninth to close out the victory for Nashville.

 

Bianchi ended the game with an incredible play for the Sounds, diving behind the second base bag to snare a Todd Linden liner then, from his back, flipped the ball to Eric Farris at second to complete a game-ending double play, Nashville's fourth twin-killing of the evening.

 

The Sounds travel to Sacramento tonight to continue their West Coast road trip with Sunday's 8:05 p.m. CT opener of a four-game series against the River Cats (AAA-A's) at Raley Field. Right-hander Wily Peralta (6-9, 4.94) will make the start for Nashville and face rehabbing Sacramento left-hander Brett Anderson (0-0, 5.63).

 

Nashville Box Score

This might sound odd but I'm actually starting to warm up to the idea of Claudio Vargas in Milwaukee's pen next season... If he gets an invite and wins a job straight out I'd have no problem with it. i do have my fears about recycled players being picked for their "gritty veteraness" and not because they are the best player for the job, but we'll see.

 

Sean Halton has quietly pushed his SLG to .485 and his OPS into the mid 800s, far and away his best season since 2009, and he picked a great time to force his way into the conversation. I wonder though if he'll be given an opportunity to be a bench bat in Milwaukee since he's done well as PH this season or if he'll be relegated to a DH role with The Mayor in AAA next season

 

Nashville Play By Play

[TheCrew07]

video at the link

Taillon suited well by novel approach

Pirates' top prospect extends scoreless streak to 12 innings

By Jonathan Raymond / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/08/05/xcZKXvip.jpg

Jameson Taillon is 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA in eight starts since June 13. (Mark LoMoglio/MiLB.com)

 

The clothes don't make the man, it's the man who makes the clothes, the old saying goes. In Jameson Taillon's case, the clothes certainly aren't hurting.

 

The Pirates' top prospect gave up two hits and struck out four over five innings in his second straight scoreless start Saturday as Bradenton blanked Palm Beach, 2-0.

 

Taillon (6-7) has not given up a run in 12 innings over his last two starts, a streak that happens to coincide with a new pregame ritual that will continue for at least one more outing. He wore a suit to the ballpark before tossing seven shutout innings on Monday, then did it again Saturday.

 

"Before we went on the road to Lakeland before my last start, a couple of the guys were mentioning it. They were like, 'Yeah, we should [wear suits].' And then nobody did it but me. I was hoping I would throw well, but it's kind of a hassle," he said, laughing. "But there's no way I can stop wearing it right now, so I'll definitely wear it again in five days."

 

Saturday's suit of choice was a navy blue outfit from Brooks Brothers. The 20-year-old said right-hander he doesn't put a lot of stock in things like scoreless streaks, but that the reaction from coaches and teammates -- and a healthy dose of superstition -- made it worth continuing for the time being.

 

"I'm just mixing it up, giving it a different look," he said. "Everyone thinks it's funny. It's a long season, gets kind of monotonous, day in, day out, so it's kind of fun, puts some smiles on faces. There's been a good reaction so far."

 

The second overall pick in the 2010 Draft has had an up-and-down year. In April, he posted a 1.46 ERA, a mark that increased to 5.40 over the next two months. His most recent run of success is closer to what he expects from himself.

 

"Throwing scoreless innings is obviously great, but at the end of the game you can be throwing really well and not getting results or throwing not as well and get results," he said. "I expect a lot out of myself and this year has been kind of interesting, a lot of ups and downs, and I'd like to limit that. I do expect this out of myself. Obviously, I can't go scoreless every time, but it's good to see some results.

 

"I'm still young and I get ahead of myself sometimes. I want to do well and succeed and put up numbers. It's been a big learning year. I've put in a lot of hard work in between starts, and that's where it matters. It's nice to put up the numbers, but you just have to stay at the grind."

 

Taillon, MLB.com's No. 5 overall prospect lowered his ERA to 3.91 over 115 innings. He ranks eighth in the Florida State League with 92 strikeouts while walking 34 batters.

 

With the end of the season in sight, he'll probably have more outings like Saturday's, in which he threw only 61 pitches. He's already hurled nearly 25 more innings than he logged last year at Class A West Virginia.

 

Pirates No. 11 prospect Alex Dickerson provided Taillon with all the support he needed, going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first.

[Mass Haas]

FIELDING

E: Pena, Jo 3 (7, throw, fielding, fielding).

 

Looks like a scoring change removed a Pena error, giving the A-Crew five for the game instead of six.

 

Little victories...

[Mass Haas]

In addition to his 7th inning pinch-hit home run that made Hunter Morris' histrionics possible later on, T.J. Mittelstaedt then made at least two spectacular huge plays at second base that Alex described. Given he's only played 50 games there over three pro seasons, those plays were gigantic as well.

[Mass Haas]

Helena Independent Record:

 

Missoula starter Jared Ray struck out 11 batters during six innings of three-hit ball and the Osprey held off a late charge from the Helena Brewers for a 6-5 Pioneer League home win on Saturday night.

 

Ray allowed just two runs and a single walk to take the win and improve to 2-4 on the season.

 

Missoula led 6-2 when Michael Blake headed to the mound in relief in the top of the seventh, but the Brewers immediately jumped on him for three runs on two hits and three walks in his 2/3 of an inning stint to pull within the final margin. Christopher Capper and Justin Thompson then combined to allow no hits and no walks the rest of the way for the Osprey.

 

Kevin Dultz led seven Missoula batters with base hits with his two-run second-inning homer. Evan Marzilli and Tyler Bream had two hits apiece for the hosts.

 

Helena starter Leonard Lorenzo fell to 2-4 on the year after taking the loss. He lasted five innings and gave up six runs on nine hits and a base on balls.

 

Ruben Ozuna was the lone Helena batter with multiple hits, going 2 for 4, including a second-inning solo homer that got the visitors on the board. He also scored a pair of runs.

 

The Osprey outhit the Brewers 9-5, while both teams stranded six base runners.

 

The two teams meet again tonight at 5:00 PM (6:00 Central) in the second of the three-game series in Missoula. The teams head to Helena on Tuesday night to kick off another three-game series.

 

***

 

Ray leads Osprey to fifth straight win

By NICK LOCKRIDGE of the Missoulian

 

Jared Ray and the other Osprey hurlers kept the “K Crew” busy on Saturday.

 

Four Missoula pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts, 11 of them by Ray, to lead the Osprey to a 6-5 Pioneer League baseball victory over the Helena Brewers in front of 2,207 fans at Ogren-Allegiance Park.

 

“Man, our pitching staff is really coming together,” Missoula’s backup catcher Kevin Dultz said. “I think we hit some bumps in the first half of the season. I’m not sure what it was, fatigue maybe, but our pitchers have been working really hard lately.”

 

Ray was particularly sharp, holding Helena at bay for the better part of six innings. He retired 11 straight batters after giving up a fielder’s choice RBI in the third inning that narrowed the Birds’ lead to 4-2.

 

Ray went 1-2-3 in the next three frames, recording two strikeouts per, en route to his second win of the season. Ray (2-4) had a streak of six straight outings without a decision.

 

But on Saturday, he was dealing. Just ask Dultz.

 

“That’s the best pain you could wish for,” said Dultz, when asked about catching so many strikeouts. “He was just painting the corners. I just lined him up. The next thing you know, it was in my glove.”

 

The overpowering performance by Missoula’s pitchers helped extend the team’s season-high winning streak to five games. Keeping track of all those strikeouts was a small, but visible group of fans in the grassy area beyond center field.

 

Each time an Osprey pitcher recorded a strikeout, or a K as it’s denoted in the scoring book, they’d pin up a poster-sized K card on the fencing that surrounds the Osprey nest.

 

Justin Thompson struck out the side in the ninth to earn his fifth save of the season and Chris Capper got a pair of K’s in 1 1-3 innings of relief.

 

“We’re all pushing for each other,” Dultz said. “I see good things happening in the second half.”

 

Missoula (6-1) and Billings are still stuck in a tie for the Pioneer League North lead in the second half.

 

The only time the O’s were in any real danger was in the seventh inning, when the Brewers scored three runs on two hits. Missoula’s Mike Blake walked three batters in the inning and Dultz had a passed ball that allowed a run to score.

 

One of the walks ended up being a little more controversial than the others.

 

Missoula manager Andy Green was tossed from the game for arguing a no-call on a check swing by Helena’s Adam Giacalone. Green – and a good portion of the Osprey crowd – felt Giacalone went around and said something to field ump Sean Allen from the dugout.

 

Allen booted Green, who then sprinted onto the field and got into a heated exchange with the umpire, pointing his finger in Allen’s face and following him around the diamond whenever he tried to move away.

 

The tying run was on second base at the time, but still, Dultz said he hasn’t seen Green take off after an umpire that fast in a while.

 

“It’s only happened a couple of times,” Dultz said. “He’s there to back us up and when he feels like we’ve been wronged, he’s the first one out of the dugout and that’s what you saw tonight.”

 

Evan Marzilli went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .385 and Dultz hit his first home run as a professional, a two-run blast to put the O’s ahead 4-1 in the third. Dultz, who was out of baseball a year ago, came into the game batting .077.

[Mass Haas]

Fresno Bee:

 

Local boy: Fresno High alum Sean Halton received the biggest cheers of the night from the announced crowd of 6,403 when he blasted a two-run homer to center that put Nashville ahead 8-1 in the eighth. Halton went 3 for 13 in his homecoming series.

 

http://media.fresnobee.com/smedia/2012/08/01/21/17/1pi5fh.St.8.jpeg