Link Report for Thurs. 8/16 -- Stars and Manatees picking really bad time to falter

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Daily Menu:

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: RHP Wily Peralta at home vs. Tacoma (Mariners), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 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: RHP Josh Stinson at home vs. Montgomery (Rays), 6:28 PM pre-game, 6:43 gametime

 

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

 

Alex Cohen is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen. 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: Huntsville road games in four locales (Mississippi, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Pensacola) will be broadcast.

 

**********

 

Brevard County: RHP Nick Bucci at Dunedin (Blue Jays), 5:30 PM gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Tampa 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 Beloit (Twins), 6:40 PM pre-game, 7:00 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.

 

**********

 

Helena: Tyler Wagner at Orem (Angels), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 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.

 

**********

 

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

 

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

[Mass Haas]

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

 

Nashville

 

Huntsville

 

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, Rookie Maryvale and the DSL do not play a split schedule. When you click on a standings link for Huntsville, Brevard County, Wisconsin, and/or Helena, 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]

Nashville Media Notes

 

***

 

AUDIO: Doug Melvin on WTMJ this AM

 

***

 

Could this be the end of the affiliated career of 30-year-old former Brewer Adam Heether? released by the Angels...

 

***

 

And this from Clint Coulter:

 

Moment: We got in trouble for taking ice out of the cooler one time, putting our hands in what we were drinking out of. So we got Gatorade taken away for two weeks. We were drinking water for two weeks as professionals, and I was loving it.

 

Experience: This is the perfect atmosphere to get better. We're on the move from 12:30 to midnight. No off-days over here. Coming into pro ball, I thought it would be more relaxed because we're playing everyday, but it's definitely pretty intense, and that's how I like to play.

 

Adjustment: In high school, I had 41 at-bats my last year, so I hadn't seen pitching, let alone pro pitching, and got off to a slow start. Every game is like playing in an elite high school tournament and facing the best pitcher in the tournament. I got a lot of catching instruction from my high school coach back home, Tom Lampkin, and he played 13, 14 years in the big leagues. So I had a lot of good fundamentals, and it's been a lot of cleaning things up, little adjustments, how to call games, a lot of little things.

 

Teammate: Angel Ortega, our shortstop -- I first got to know him at the Brewers' pre-Draft workout and I was like, "Man, this guy's pretty good." And now playing with him, I realize this guy's really good: really strong arm, good instincts, battles at the plate.

 

Opponent: Joey Gallo (Rangers) has been killing it, hitting homers. I've caught against him, and he had two hits and a double, but we kept the ball on the right side of the fence, so I count that as almost a success.

 

Headline: Coulter, Crew score 17 -- in first inning on 7/8.

[Mass Haas]

More on the Brewers options if they seek a new AA home

[Mass Haas]

Wisconsin Media Notes

 

Last night's game story from the Beloit Daily News

 

“Marcum looked like he was throwing a wiffleball up there”

[homer]

Scooter has been on fire recently. Another dinger tonight. And Cam Garfield has had a great year for the T-Rats. Great to see him bounce back.

[jwill535]

Pena announcing his presence in Helena with a 2 run shot in his first at bat.

[Tedaldtada]

Dunedin (Jays) 4 Brevard County 2

 

Box Score

 

Nick Bucci is back but he still working out the kinks. He was dominating at times but uneven in the end. 4.2 IP 4 H 3 R 2 ER 5 BB 6 K 1 HR 2 WP 1 HBP 4:3 GO:FO. Wild Thomas Keeling spared Bucci further damage by stranding two of his runners. Casey Medlen struck out 2 in a scoreless inning.

 

The top 3 hitters (Reggie Keen, Nick Shaw, Jason Rogers) in the lineup were 4-7 with a HR SB 5 BB and a HBP. The rest of the lineup went 1-24 with 0 BB.

 

I am DONE-din with Dunedin at this point. They are killing us this past week or so it seems.

 

Game Log

[jjfanec]

Peralta was solid again tonight. Khris Davis with another homer.

 

Like mentioned early Scooter continues to rake and Morris hit a home run as well.

[bkrause2]

Final: Wisconsin 6, Beloit 5

 

Rattlers hold on to beat Beloit

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

BELOIT, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday night at Pohlman Field against the Beloit Snappers. The Rattlers won, but nothing is ever easy in this in-state rivalry. The Snappers scored three in the bottom of the ninth, but Wisconsin held on for a 6-5 win. Cameron Garfield had three more hits and two more RBI over his recent hot stretch to lead the offense.

 

Garfield extended his hitting streak to six games with a two-run homer in the second inning to put the Rattlers (70-51 overall, 26-26 second half) up on Beloit early in the game.

 

Lance Roenicke led off the Wisconsin third inning with his first professional home run. The Rattlers added runs in the third on a double by Garfield and a sacrifice fly by Greg Hopkins.

 

Garfield would add a single in the sixth inning as he went 3-for-4 on the night. He is 12-for-22 during his six game hitting streak.

 

Beloit (67-55, 28-24) got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning. A two-out RBI double by Stephen Wickens plated a run off Rattlers starting pitcher Mark Williams.

 

Wisconsin got the run back in the top of the fifth. Brandon Macias hit his second double of the game - and 32nd of the season - with one out and went to third on a wild pitch. Ben McMahan followed with a triple to right-center to score Macias. The triple was the tenth of the season for McMahan and tied him for the Midwest League lead in that category.

 

Williams gave up an RBI double to Kennys Vargas with one out in the fifth inning and the Snappers were within 6-2. Kevin Shackelford came on in relief of Williams and got out of the sixth with no more damage.

 

Williams allowed two runs on five hits, walked two, and struck out three for the win. But, there were a few nervous moments late...very late in the game.

 

Shackelford worked 2-2/3 scoreless innings and turned the 6-2 lead over to Stosh Wawrzasek for the bottom of the ninth.

 

Wawrzasek entered Thursday's game with a scoreless streak of 18-2/3 innings. He gave up a hit to Beloit's leadoff batter, struck out the next batter, and walked the third batter to bring Miguel Sano to the plate in the ninth.

 

Sano, the Midwest League leader in homers and RBI, ripped a double into the left field corner to score a run and make the score 6-3. Wawrzasek walked the next batter to load the bases and put the winning run at the plate in the form of Drew Leachman.

 

Leachman drilled a 3-1 pitch off the wall in left-center field for a two-run double to pull the Snappers to within a run. The hit also put the tying run at third and Leachman at second with the winning run. There was still only one out.

 

Wisconsin decided to walk Wickens intentionally to load the bases and set up the double play. Wawrzasek didn't need it. He struck out Matt Koch to get the second out. Pinch-hitter Tyler Grimes, the ninth Snapper to bat in the inning, watched strike three go by for the final out of the game as the Rattlers held on for the win.

 

The Timber Rattlers and Snappers play game three of the series at Pohlman Field on Friday night. Chad Pierce (5-4, 3.59) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Tyler Jones (3-4, 5.25) is set to start for Beloit. Game time is 7:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm.

 

HOME RUNS:

WIS:

Cameron Garfield (9th, 1 on in 2nd inning off Jason Wheeler, 0 out)

Lance Roenicke (1st, 0 on in 3rd inning off Jason Wheeler, 0 out)

 

WP: Mark Williams (7-9)

LP: Jason Wheeler (13-6)

 

TIME: 3:03

ATTN: 542

 

 

Wisconsin Box Score

 

As homer mentioned earlier, another big night for Cameron Garfield. He was 3-4 with a double and his ninth home run of the year. He also knocked in 3 runs. It's really been an impressive bounce back season for him, as he;s up to .303 now and is hitting for power as well. Brandon Macias also had another nice night. He was 2-3 with two doubles and a walk. Macias is now 10-20 in his last five games. Lance Roenicke hit his first home run of the season. Nick Ramirez was 1-3 with a walk and Greg Hopkins went 1-3 with a sac fly.

 

Fresh off being named MWL Pitcher of the Week, Mark Williams had a solid outing. He worked 5 1/3, giving up two runs on five hits. Kevin Shackelford had a really nice outing in relief, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Stosh Wawrzasek struggled in the ninth, giving up three runs on three hits, and walking three. But with the tying run on third and the winning run on second, Stosh managed to strike out the final two Snappers to preserve the victory.

 

Attendance total of 542? Ouch. I guess football season is upon us. I'm guessing something happened to Beloit catcher Jairo Rodriguez, as he left the game after grounding out in the seventh. The Snappers had to insert their DH to catch and play National League ball with the pitcher's spot hitting.

 

Wisconsin Play By Play

 

Wisconsin Top of the 3rd

Lance Roenicke homers (1) on a line drive to left field.

Brandon Macias doubles (31) on a line drive to left fielder Drew Leachman.

Ben McMahan strikes out swinging.

Nick Ramirez singles on a fly ball to center fielder JaDamion Williams. Brandon Macias to 3rd.

Cameron Garfield doubles (15) on a line drive to left fielder Drew Leachman. Brandon Macias scores. Nick Ramirez to 3rd.

Gregory Hopkins out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Drew Leachman. Nick Ramirez scores.

With Mike Garza batting, Cameron Garfield caught stealing 3rd base, catcher Jairo Rodriguez to third baseman Miguel Sano.

[TooLiveBrew]

Montgomery 4, @Huntsville 3 (10 innings)

 

Huntsville Box

Another strong outing by Josh Stinson, along with solo HRs in the 6th from Scooter Gennett and Hunter Morris, had the Stars in front 3-2 heading into the 8th inning. Unfortunately, the bullpen WOAHs apparently trickled their way down to Huntsville, as the Biscuits tied the game on an unearned run in the 8th, and went ahead for good with another single run in the 10th. Montgomery has taken the first three games of this five-game set. Booo!

 

Gennett extended his hitting streak to 11 games with another multi-hit game; just one of the 11 games in the streak hasn't been of the multi-hit variety. Scooter also committed an error, throwing the back end of an attempted double play turn in the 7th out of play. It really should be noted that the off-day manager Darnell Coles gave Scooter back on 8/4 seems to be just what the doctor ordered. 8/5 was game one of this hitting streak. Melvin spoke very highly of Coles in a recent Huntsville Times article

 

Kentrail Davis was the only other Star with two hits... good to see him have a better game -- he'd gone 5-27 (.185) in his previous eight contests.

 

After Stinson went 7 strong innings on 95 pitches, southpaw Brian Garman was called in to start the 8th, as Montgomery's first two batters were lefties. He retired the first batter (Montgomery's leadoff hitter), but the next batter dropped down a bunt single & advanced to second base on a throwing error by catcher Adam Weisenburger. Garman was removed from the game, but it looks like the plan may have been for him to just face those first two batters anyway, as the next two Biscuits hitters were righties. Darren Byrd came on and got the first batter he faced to ground out. Unfortunately, Montgotmery got a two-out single to tie the game 3-3... although Byrd got the next batter to end the frame.

 

Byrd worked a perfect 9th (two K's and a soft groundout), and Kyle Heckathorn took over for the 10th. After retiring the first two batters, Heckathorn allowed a single, stolen base, and another single to plate the game's decisive run. The Stars went down in order in the bottom of the 10th, just as they had in the 8th & 9th, and technically the 7th (more on that in the PbP section).

 

T.J. Mittelstaedt: 0-5

Hainley Statia: 1-4, 2B

Gennett: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, E (throwing)

Andy Gonzalez: 1-4

Morris: 1-4, HR, RBI

Brock Kjeldgaard: 0-3, BB, CS

Davis: 2-4

Lee Haydel: 1-4

Weisenburger: 0-2, SAC, E (throwing), 1/2 throwing out SB attempts

Prince: 0-1 (PH for Weisenburger in 10th)

 

Stinson: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 5 K, PO, 13:1 GO:AO

Garman: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R/0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Byrd: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Heckathorn: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 0 K

 

 

Huntsville PbP

Both of Gennett's hits tonight were RBI swings:

 

Huntsville Bottom of the 1st

-T. J. Mittelstaedt strikes out on a foul tip.

-Hainley Statia doubles (8) on a ground ball to right fielder Mikie Mahtook.

-Scooter Gennett singles on a ground ball to center fielder Ty Morrison. Hainley Statia scores.

-With Andy Gonzalez batting, throwing error by Matt Buschmann on the pickoff attempt, Scooter Gennett to 3rd.

-Andy Gonzalez strikes out swinging.

-Hunter Morris pops out to shortstop Shawn O'Malley.

 

The Stars got burned on a double-steal attempt in the 2nd, and wound up coming away with nothin':

 

Huntsville Bottom of the 2nd

-Brock Kjeldgaard walks.

-Kentrail Davis singles on a ground ball to right fielder Mikie Mahtook. Brock Kjeldgaard to 2nd.

-With Lee Haydel batting, Brock Kjeldgaard caught stealing 3rd base, catcher Mayo Acosta to third baseman Omar Luna, Kentrail Davis to 2nd.

-Lee Haydel strikes out swinging.

-Adam Weisenburger grounds out, second baseman Derek Dietrich to first baseman Michael Sheridan.

 

Especially after Montgomery took a one-run lead on a solo shot in the 5th, the two-run, go-ahead 6th must've been a very welcome shot of adrenaline for a Stars offense that had sputtered in innings 2 through 5:

 

Huntsville Bottom of the 6th

-Scooter Gennett homers (4) on a fly ball to right field.

-Andy Gonzalez grounds out, first baseman Michael Sheridan to pitcher Matt Buschmann.

-Hunter Morris homers (23) on a fly ball to left center field.

-Brock Kjeldgaard grounds out, shortstop Shawn O'Malley to first baseman Michael Sheridan.

-Kentrail Davis strikes out swinging.

 

As I alluded to earlier, the 7th inning was unkind to the Stars as they chased a tack-on run. Good speed on second base, line drive off the bat of Mittelstaedt, and... nothin':

 

Huntsville Bottom of the 7th

-Lee Haydel singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Matt Buschmann.

-Adam Weisenburger out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Matt Buschmann to second baseman Derek Dietrich. Lee Haydel to 2nd.

-Pitching Change: Chris Rearick replaces Matt Buschmann.

-T. J. Mittelstaedt lines into a double play, second baseman Derek Dietrich to shortstop Shawn O'Malley. Lee Haydel doubled off 2nd.

 

 

Huntsville Gameday

[homer]

Peralta's last ten starts:

 

2.75 ERA 59IP 65K 22BB

[Tedaldtada]

Helena 5 Orem (Angels) 4

 

Box Score

 

Tyler Wagner started but was not his best. He got 11 outs while giving up 6 H 3 R 3 ER 4 BB 2 K 1 HR with a 4:2 GO:FO. He is a work in progress, but you cannot teach 95. I wonder what he is sitting at as a SP? Mike Francisco stranded a Wagner runner. Brent Suter came in and had a very good night. 5 IP 2 H 1 R 0 ER 1 IBB 8 K 5:1 GO:FO for the Ivy League kid. He is having a pretty nice season. Taylor Mangum saved it for a tough win.

 

Alfredo Rodriguez (2-4 BB) and Emmanuel Quiles (2-5) had big games for the Brewers but the hero was Michael Turay with the 10th inning homer to win the game. Jose Pena homered in his 1st game after the promotion.

Ruben Ozuna chucked out a guy on the bases to end the game. By the way, I forgot to mention Raul Mondesi Jr's OF assist from last night. What an arm that kid has. HE is rapidly approaching double digits.

 

Game Log

 

Holy crap, check out this ending.

 

Orem Bottom of the 10th

 

Pitching Change: Taylor Mangum replaces Brent Suter.

Jonathan Walsh walks.

Wade Hinkle grounds into a force out, first baseman Adam Giacalone to shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez. Jonathan Walsh out at 2nd. Wade Hinkle to 1st.

Michael Bolaski called out on strikes.

Chevy Clarke doubles (5) on a fly ball to left fielder Ruben Ozuna. Wade Hinkle out at home on the throw, left fielder Ruben Ozuna to shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez to catcher Emmanuel Quiles.

[TheCrew07]

Final: Nashville 3, Tacoma 2 (10 Innings)

 

Sounds Win In Extras On Two Tacoma Miscues

Late Khris Davis Homer Send Game To Extra-Innings

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds benefitted from two throwing errors from pitcher Brian Moran in the bottom of the 10th inning to win 3-2 over the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday night at Greer Stadium.

 

Schafer began the frame with an opposite-field single and moved to second on a pickoff attempt. Second baseman Eric Farris then hit a sacrifice bunt, which was then underthrown to first that allowed Schafer to score the winning-run.

 

· AUDIO: Winning Run

 

It was the PCL-leading 15th extra-inning contest (6-9) for the Sounds and seventh in the last 20 games. Nashville's last 10 games have been decided by one or two runs.

 

Shortstop Jeff Bianchi had two hits including a double. Outfielder Khris Davis homered to hit safely in 28 of his last 30 games, including 15 of 17 with the Sounds.

 

The game remained scoreless until both teams loaded the bases and traded runs in the fifth inning. After a Carlos Triunfel single, Guillermo Quiroz walk, and Darren Ford base hit, Nick Franklin hit a weak grounder to second, which caused Eric Farris to throw to first and allow the runner from third to score.

 

The Sounds tied the game at 1-1 in the next frame with the bases juiced and no outs, begging with three straight base hits from Humberto Quintero, Jeff Bianchi, and Logan Schafer. Tacoma starter D.J. Mitchell then got Farris to strike out before offering up a game-tying sacrifice fly to Khris Davis.

 

· AUDIO: Davis Sacrifice Fly

 

Tacoma went back ahead at 2-1 in the top of the eighth against reliever Brandon Kintzler. Franklin lined a base hit to right, moved to second on a wild pitch, and trotted home to score the go-ahead run on an RBI double from Luis Antonio.

 

Nashville came back to knot the score at 2-2 in the next frame as Davis went yard off the second pitch from Mitchell. The opposite-field blast, which landed just beyond the reach of the Tacoma right fielder, was Davis' fourth of the season for the Sounds.

 

· AUDIO: Davis Solo Homer

 

For the second consecutive outing, Nashville starter Wily Peralta surrendered only one run in seven innings for a no-decision. In 101 pitched (59 strikes), The 23-year-old scattered four hits and walked four on the night, but benefitted from two inning-ending double plays while striking out seven.

 

Kintzler gave up a run in one inning. Jesus Sanchez (4-0) struck out one in two frames for the victory.

 

Mitchell also pitched well in a no-decision and third quality start. The 25-year-old gave up two runs on six hits while striking out five in eight innings of work. With 96 pitches (66 strikes), the eight innings matched a season-high set earlier this season on April 18 vs. Rochester as a member of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

 

Moran (2-2) was charged with the loss.

 

The Sounds and Rainiers conclude their four-game series at 7:05 pm CT on Friday night at Greer Stadium. Nashville right-hander Brian Baker (2-4, 4.74) will take the mound in the homestand finale against Tacoma righty Andrew Carraway (4-6, 4.28).

 

Nashville Box Score

This was the first Wily Peralta start I've missed in a while, I chose to watch the football game instead, which was a mistake. He wasn't as efficient as I would have hoped looking at the box, but he was effective. I'd like to see him come up and start some games in Sept to stretch out to around 160 innings for the season, that would put him in good shape to pitch 180-190 next season.

 

Normally I'd be worried about "long swing" scouting reports, but Khrush Davis just keeps on keeping on. I'll be surprised if he isn't at least an .800 OPS player at the level which counts (if he gets a chance to play). I couid see the Brewers keeping Khris in AAA another season or trading him in favor of keeping this year's OF intact... as in Aoki is a proven vet, Gomez has turned the corner, and Braun shouldn't be moved out of LF. And That has beaten this drum over the last 2 years and he does have an excellent point, why haven't they tried Khris at 1B at all?

 

Nashville Play By Play

[TheCrew07]

Final: DSL Blue Jays 4, DSL Brewers 3 (10 Innings)

 

DSL Brewers Play By Play

The regular lack of Brewer related DSL information on MiLB.com is starting to piss me off. I don't speak any Spanish, I actually took French because I thought all the hot chicks would be in French... and I was sorely mistaken. As such, I'm not sure how to read this other than the player names I couldn't seem to locate the box score for this game on the web site.

 

I saw one mid inning pitching change, Junior Flores was pulled for Juan Santiago in the 8th, but I'm not going to go through and add up each hitter's line. I apologize for how spotty the DSL information has been.

[TheCrew07]

Cole fans career-high nine batters

Top overall pick from 2011 Draft carries no-no into the fifth

By Ashley Marshall / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/08/16/DNvKl96y.jpg

Gerrit Cole has struck out 121 batters over 115 innings across two levels. (Rudy C. Jones/MiLB.com )

 

For the first five innings, Pittsburgh farmhand Gerrit Cole was on cruise control.

 

Then things started to come unglued in the sixth, and what started out so promising left baseball's No. 8 prospect with a sour taste of deja vu.

 

Cole (3-5) struck out a career-high nine batters while allowing two runs -- one earned -- on three hits over six innings, but the Double-A Altoona Curve fell to the host Portland Sea Dogs, 2-1, on Thursday evening.

 

Cole's previous high was seven strikeouts. He achieved that three times, most recently with the Class A Advanced Bradenton Marauders, in a 6-0 win over Fort Myers on June 14, his final start in the Florida State League.

 

"There are a lot of positives, but there's obviously a lot of things to work on," said Cole, who threw 91 pitches. "It was pretty bittersweet. I got through five innings, then handed them the lead back in the sixth."

 

To steal a soccer cliche, Cole's outing was a game of two halves.

 

The top pick from the 2011 Draft retired the first 14 batters he faced, allowing just one ball to leave the infield. Hot-hitting Xander Bogaerts broke up his perfect-game bid with a two-out double to right field with two outs in the fifth, but Cole induced an inning-ending ground ball off Peter Hissey to preserve the 1-0 advantage.

 

"It was the first curveball I had thrown the whole night," Cole said of Bogaerts' hit. "It was 80 mph and I tried to get it in there for a strike, but I ran the risk of letting him get the bat head out on it. A lot of people would roll over it, but he did a good job of going the other way.

 

"My fastball location was good and I was changing speeds when I needed to. They weren't really doing too much at all, maybe two or three balls out of the infield. I could have used another strikeout in the sixth [inning], but the chips fell where they did."

 

In that frame, the UCLA alum was unable to keep the Sea Dogs at bay. Christian Vazquez led off with a grounder to left field, and Jackie Bradley hit a ball off the glove of charging shortstop Oscar Tejada and into right-center field, advancing to second on the miscue.

 

Marquez Smith then tied the game on a run-scoring groundout, and Bradley scampered home with what proved to be the eventual winning run on a pitch in the dirt that veered away from catcher Ramon Cabrera.

 

"It's frustrating. The ground ball was hit real soft and the pitch in the dirt was where I wanted to throw it, but it took a weird hop and the catcher couldn't do anything about it," the 6-foot-4 right-hander said.

 

"I wasn't tired, I was still throwing 100 mph in the sixth, but I don't know. I don't have an answer. This is the third time that I couldn't get out off my last inning. I need to do better, no excuses. It's not acceptable and I'm better than that. I'll just have to figure it out next time."

 

With the loss, Pittsburgh's No. 2 prospect behind Jameson Taillon fell to 3-5 in the Eastern League and 8-6 overall.

 

The 21-year-old California native went 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA in 13 starts with the Marauders before his promotion to Altoona in mid-June. Across the two levels, Cole has a 2.82 ERA with 121 strikeouts over 115 innings, and he has held opponents to a .224 batting average.

 

"Things are going well. I'm learning a lot and just getting used to the flow of things," he said. "I'm sure there are bunches of people whose expectations I'll never fill, but my goal is to get better every time, and for the most part, I've executed that quite well."

[TheCrew07]

Cingrani racks up 10 K's for Wahoos

Lefty hurls five shutout frames, Hamilton swipes two more

By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/08/15/jocKs8XE.jpg

Tony Cingrani is 5-3 with a 1.81 ERA in 13 Southern League starts for Pensacola. (Chris Nelson)

 

Tony Cingrani may not have a win to show for his efforts Wednesday, but he continued to show that his dominant season is no fluke.

 

The Reds' No. 8 prospect fanned 10 and surrendered five hits over five shutout innings as Pensacola lost to Mobile, 4-2, on Wednesday. Top Cincinnati prospect Billy Hamilton swiped two more bases, leaving him five away from sole possession of a new Minor League record.

 

After giving up back-to-back singles to open the ballgame, Cingrani struck out five straight batters before Ed Easley singled with two outs in the second inning. But the 23-year-old left-hander fanned Michael Bolsinger to end the frame.

 

"I had the fastball going, I was working it in and out," Cingrani said. "I mixed some sliders in there, threw some changeups, [but it was] mostly fastball command."

 

Cingrani, who estimated he threw about 80 fastballs, is in the midst of a strong August in which he's allowed one run on 13 hits over 16 innings for Pensacola. The Illinois native credits a simple approach.

 

"Just throwing strikes and going after hitters," the southpaw said. "Doing what I've always been doing and not giving in when there's guys on."

 

Overall, Cingrani is 10-4 with a 1.51 ERA with 153 strikeouts in 23 starts between Class A Advanced Bakersfield and Pensacola. For a third-round pick who was a reliever coming out of Rice University, it's the kind of season that puts a prospect on the map. But Cingrani knows there's still plenty of road to travel on his journey.

 

"It feels good," Cingrani said. "I'm just out doing my job and working hard. This is where it's taken me so far, it's pretty good. Whatever the front office chooses to do, I'm just going to go out and do what I do."

 

Hamilton, MLB.com's No. 26 prospect, swiped two bases, giving him 141 this season. Watching the speedster pursue Vince Coleman's 29-year-old record of 145 stolen bases is a unique experience for Cingrani, who was teammates with Hamilton in Bakersfield earlier this season.

 

"Unlike anything else," Cingrani said of watching Hamilton. "You know he's going to steal, they try to pick off, and he still goes. I've seen it since Bakersfield, it's still amazing."

 

Brian Pearl (1-3) took the loss after allowing three runs on four hits over an inning of work for the Blue Wahoos.

 

David Nick, Arizona's No. 19 prospect, singled home a pair of runs to break a tie game in the eighth for the BayBears.

[TheCrew07]

Almora homers in short-season debut

Sixth overall Draft pick also singles for Hawks in 13-5 defeat

By Zack Cox / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/08/16/KAU2Mltw.jpg

Albert Almora helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2011 Pan-Am Games. (USA Baseball)

 

Albert Almora is getting pretty good at making debuts.

 

The sixth overall pick in this year's Draft homered and singled in his first Northwest League game Wednesday night, but short-season Boise dropped a 13-5 decision to visiting Salem-Keizer.

 

The Cubs promoted Almora from the Rookie-level Arizona League, where he also homered in his professional debut on July 23. He went on to bat .347 with 13 RBIs, 18 runs scored and an .843 OPS in 18 AZL games.

 

Almora was informed of his promotion Tuesday before flying to Idaho to join the Hawks, who have a five-game lead atop the Eastern Division.

 

"I've been on a 14-hour plane ride to Taipei to play a baseball game in the Junior Olympics," Almora told the Idaho Statesman.

 

The 18-year-old center fielder is only three months removed from playing high school ball in Hialeah, Fla., but said the pressure of competing against older players does not faze him.

 

"It's just baseball," Almora said. "I'm used to this."

 

"He's played some big-time games," Hawks manager Mark Johnson told the newspaper. "He's above his years, maturity-wise and playing the game-wise. The guys in Mesa who have been coaching him the past three weeks have said nothing but really good things about him, about his makeup."

 

Almora was robbed of a third hit by Volcanoes left fielder Brennan Metzger, who made a diving catch in the seventh inning.

 

The Hawks also got a three-run blast from 2012 Moniker Madness champion Rock Shoulders but could not hold a 5-3 lead. Mac Williamson homered twice and Andrew Cain added an inside-the-park homer to spark Salem-Keizer's comeback.

 

Reliever Hunter Ackerman (0-1) took the loss after surrendering six runs on six hits over 2 2/3 innings.

 

Steven Okert (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings out of the Volcanoes' bullpen for the win.

[Mass Haas]

The DSL box score

 

***

 

Rattler Radio Blog - Postgame Thoughts

[Mass Haas]

Brevard site game summary is up

 

Yikes, the Stars and Manatees did not handle playoff chase pressure well the past few days...Brevard away from Space Coast - not good.

[Mass Haas]

I've lost track of who's doing Maryvale write-ups. Whoever's available first please detail the latest A-Crew loss *sigh*, and then we'll tweet out a "complete" report, thanks. I hope to find a few more add-ons for today's thread as well.

[Mass Haas]

The two Brewers' rookie level squads are now a combined 30-71.

 

If it wasn't for Matt Erickson and his staff somehow coaching up water-into-wine a not-so-deep-in-top-prospects Rattlers team to relevance (amazingly strong in fundamentals, that unit), we'd forget that last season's rookie clubs performed very poorly as well.

 

And this isn't just about wins and losses, these clubs aren't even competitive day-to-day.

 

This organization has been thoroughly outdrafted in the Bruce Seid era -- it'll get it's own thread soon enough, but hopefully Keith Law's hint has some merit regarding the Brewers' scouting director.