Link Report for Tue. 8/21 -- Gindl, Bianchi and Peralta lead Nashville romp

[TheCrew07]

Final: Nashville 7, Omaha 0

 

Gindl Homers Twice As Sounds Blank Omaha

Bianchi Finishes Triple Short Of The Cyle As Nashville Bangs Out 16 Hits

 

PAPILLION, Neb. - Outfielder Caleb Gindl belted a pair of two-run homers to power the Nashville Sounds to a 7-0 shutout victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers on Tuesday night at Werner Park in the finale of a four-game series.

 

Nashville matched a season-high with 16 hits on the evening, while the bottom three hitters in the Sounds lineup combined for nine knocks, five RBIs, and six runs scored. Shortstop Jeff Bianchi (4-for-4) was a triple short of the cycle, reaching base safely in all five of his plate appearances and scoring three runs. Catcher Humberto Quintero also added two hits from the nine hole.

 

Nashville's PCL co-leading 11th shutout of the season also marked the first time that Storm Chasers have been blanked at home this season. Nashville (61-70) split the series with Omaha and lost the season series between the clubs by a 9-7 margin.

 

Sounds starting pitcher Wily Peralta (7-10) struck out eight while scattering six hits over five scoreless frames. The 23-year-old, who has worked 10.0 scoreless frames over his last two starts, has posted a 0.94 ERA (2er/19.0ip) with 21 strikeouts over his last three starts.

 

The Sounds jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as outfielder Logan Schafer doubled and scored on a one-out RBI single by first baseman Sean Halton.

 

· AUDIO: Halton RBI Single

 

Nashville's added three more runs in the fourth, beginning with Gindl's first homer of the game after an inning-opening Bianchi walk. Humberto then tagged the next pitch for a double and scored as Farris bunted a single to third base, which was airmailed by Wil Myers.

 

· AUDIO: First Gindl Homer

 

In the next inning with Bianchi on base again, Gindl went yard for the second time with two outs to extend the Sounds' lead to 6-0. It marked the seventh two-homer game by a Nashville player in 2012 and the first by Gindl.

 

· AUDIO: Gindl Goes Yard Again

 

Bianchi led off the seventh inning with a solo homer to concluding Nashville's scoring at 7-0. The long ball was the shortstop's fifth of the season.

 

· AUDIO: Bianchi Solo Home Run

 

Jesus Sanchez and Rob Wooten tossed scoreless frames around two shutout innings from Fautino De Los Santos.

 

Omaha starter Chris Dwyer (3-4) was tagged for six runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings for the loss.

 

The Sounds continue their final road trip of the season with a four-game series with the Round Rock Express, beginning at 7:05 pm CT on Wednesday night. Nashville right-hander Brian Baker (3-4, 4.44) takes the mound in the opener against Express righty Greg Reynolds (10-8, 4.79).

 

Nashville Box Score

Wily Peralta gave up 9 baserunners in 5 innings but didn't allow a run. He gave up 6 hits and 3 walks against his 8 strike outs and lowered his season era to 4.58. If I'm counting right he should have 3 starts max left in Nashville, probably more like 2 as the season ends on 9/3 for the Sounds, though he may pitch in Milwaukee.

 

Krush Davis hasn't had a hit in 3 games and his AVE has dropped below .300 but the OPS is still barely over .900.

 

Nashville Play By Play

[TheCrew07]

Final: DSL Blue Jays 9, DSL Brewers 6

 

DSL Brewers Box Score

 

Well I wish I had better news about Jorge Lopez' start but he was beat around again. Jorge went 5 innings allowing 4 runs, all earned, on 4 hits and 5 walks though he did strike out 7. Lopez left with the lead but then both relievers gave up runs though all 3 of Victor Diaz' runs were unearned and he certainly didn't help his own cause in the frame.

 

Alejandro Mendoza (2-4) had the only multi-hit game while Jose Dicent (1-3,2B) and Juan De Leon (1-4,HR) both had XBHs.

 

DSL Brewers Play By Play

 

Lopez gave up single tallies in the 1st and 5th, his only crooked number came in the 4th.

DSL Blue Jays Top of the 4th

• Leudy Garcia flies out to right fielder Yunior Santana.
  Juan Kelly walks.
  Ronniel Demorizi singles on a ground ball to right fielder Yunior Santana. Juan Kelly to 2nd.
  Juan Tejada called out on strikes.
  Kervin Santiago walks. Juan Kelly to 3rd. Ronniel Demorizi to 2nd.
  Luis Martin singles on a fly ball to center fielder Carlos Belonis. Juan Kelly scores. Ronniel Demorizi scores. Kervin Santiago to 2nd.
  Rolando Segovia hit by pitch. Kervin Santiago to 3rd. Luis Martin to 2nd.
  Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Cesar Barazarte replaces Rolando Segovia.
  Angel Rojas strikes out swinging.

 

The Brewers got 5 of their 6 in the 3rd.

DSL Brewers Bottom of the 3rd

• Natanael Mejia grounds out, second baseman Ronniel Demorizi to first baseman Juan Kelly.
  Raphachel Colatosti walks.
  Francisco Castillo flies out to left fielder Leudy Garcia.
  Alejandro Mendoza singles on a ground ball to left fielder Leudy Garcia. Raphachel Colatosti to 2nd.
  Carlos Belonis singles on a fly ball to center fielder Luis Martin. Raphachel Colatosti scores. Alejandro Mendoza to 2nd.
  Juan De Leon homers (3) on a fly ball to left center field. Alejandro Mendoza scores. Carlos Belonis scores.
  Jose Dicent walks.
  With Yunior De La Cruz batting, Jose Dicent steals (7) 2nd base.
  With Yunior De La Cruz batting, wild pitch by Luis De La Rosa, Jose Dicent to 3rd.
  Yunior De La Cruz walks.
  Pitching Change: Alejandro Solarte replaces Luis De La Rosa.
  With Yunior Santana batting, Jose Dicent scores on a balk. Yunior De La Cruz advances to 2nd on a balk.
  Yunior Santana strikes out swinging.
  

 

Victor Diaz 3 "unearned" runs.

DSL Blue Jays Top of the 7th

• Defensive switch from third base to shortstop for Jose Dicent.
  Sthervin Matos remains in the game as the third baseman.
  Juan Kelly grounds out to first baseman Juan De Leon.
  Ronniel Demorizi reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Jose Dicent.
  Juan Tejada walks. Ronniel Demorizi to 2nd.
  Kervin Santiago hit by pitch. Ronniel Demorizi to 3rd. Juan Tejada to 2nd.
  Luis Martin hit by pitch. Ronniel Demorizi scores. Juan Tejada to 3rd. Kervin Santiago to 2nd.
  Cesar Barazarte grounds out, second baseman Alejandro Mendoza to first baseman Juan De Leon. Juan Tejada scores. Kervin Santiago to 3rd. Luis Martin to 2nd.
  With Angel Rojas batting, Kervin Santiago scores on a balk. Luis Martin advances to 3rd on a balk.
  Angel Rojas strikes out swinging.

[TheCrew07]

Wahoos' Hamilton breaks steals record

Reds prospect swipes four, eclipses Coleman's 1983 mark

 

Video and more coverage at the link.

[TheCrew07]

Pirates' Taillon solid in Double-A debut

Top prospect strikes out six, allows four hits over five innings

 

Video at the link, I missed his promotion so this surprised me.

[TheCrew07]

Martinez 'fun to watch' in Cards' win

Cardinals' No. 2 prospect fans eight, earns first win in a month

By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/08/21/CF9jOKF3.jpg

Carlos Martinez earned his first win since July 14 on Tuesday. (Mark Harrell/Springfield Cardinals)

 

Carlos Martinez finally got what he deserved Tuesday -- a win.

 

The Cardinals' No. 2 prospect allowed a run on three hits while striking out eight over six innings as Double-A Springfield bested Northwest Arkansas, 8-4.

 

· Martinez's player page

 

Martinez walked one and faced four over the minimum for the Cardinals. The 20-year-old right-hander's only mistake came when he gave up a solo homer to Paolo Orlando in the fourth inning.

 

"He had a swing-and-miss changeup tonight," Springfield pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd said. "His curveball looked good, he threw some good ones and he had three things going. His fastball is always good, he threw some two-seam fastballs that the bottom just fell out of. And when you're throwing 95 [mph], that's tough to get a bat on."

 

Martinez's strikeout total was the highest since he moved up to the Texas League on June 15. The Dominican native is 3-3 with a 2.94 ERA in 12 starts for the Cardinals and has fanned 52 batters over 64 1/3 innings. Martinez had been winless since July 14, despite not allowing more than three earned runs in five starts.

 

"One thing when he was in Palm Beach, at times, he would use his secondary pitches a little too much and wouldn't trust his fastball," Eversgerd said. "He's done a nice job pitching off his fastball since he got here and that's something we've worked on with him. When he learns how to use it all effectively and mix it, which he is starting to do, he is going to be fun to watch. In fact, he is fun to watch."

 

Overall, Martinez is 5-5 with a 2.96 ERA in 20 starts between Class A Advanced Palm Beach and Springfield. While MLB.com's No. 23 prospect isn't likely to see Triple-A this year, it's likely something in the not-too-distant future, based on Eversgerd's praise of him.

 

"I think it's just a matter of refining his pitches a little bit," Eversgerd said. "His natural stuff gets him out a lot of times. A little bit better command and just executing pitches in certain situations. Stuff-wise, it's electric for sure. He's made progress which is great to see. It's a nice arm and he's fun to watch."

 

Xavier Scruggs homered twice and drove in five runs while Kolten Wong, St. Louis' No. 4 prospect, tripled home a run for Springfield.

 

JC Sulbaran, the Royals' No. 6 prospect, took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings for the Naturals.

[TheCrew07]

A nice article from BA talking about stealing bases.

 

Art Of The Steal

[TheCrew07]

Another informative article on base stealing from the pitcher's perspective, the Brewers' organization had their best results in years with the renewed emphasis and still finished in the bottom 5. Still a long way to go, it's interesting how many teams are tinkering with the deliveries right away...

 

Mariners Pitches Know How To Hold 'Em

[TheCrew07]

BA's take on Hamilton's record breaking performance tonight.

 

Billy Hamilton Sets The Stolen Base Record

[Mass Haas]

Rockies best Brewers 9-0

Helena Brewers

 

The Brewers and Rockies were locked up in a tight one and moving at a brisk pace Tuesday evening, until the rain started to fall. After the one and a half hour rain delay Grand Junction quickly took control and earned their third shutout of the season with a 9-0 victory.

 

Despite recording seven hits and drawing four walks in the contest, Helena didn't receive the timely hits necessary to push any runners across the plate. The Brewers received multi-hit performances from Ruben Ozuna, Michael Turay and Paul Eshleman, each of which recorded two hits a piece.

 

Two Brewers made their Kindrick Legion Field debuts on Tuesday. Jose Pena, who was second in the Arizona League in triples and fifth in total bases went 0-for-4, while, Joe Andrade went 0-for-2 with two walks as the starting designated hitter.

 

Originally, right-hander Leonard Lorenzo was set to make his eleventh start of the season, but with rain in the forecast Helena instead started Joel Pierce. Pierce pitched 3.2 innings allowing just one run while striking out five. The Windsor, Ontario native was tabbed with his first loss of the season.

 

The Brewers return to action tomorrow night in game two of four against the Grand Junction Rockies. First pitch is slated for 7:05 PM (8:05 Central).

[Mass Haas]

STARS SHUTOUT BY M-BRAVES

 

PEARL, Miss.- Three Mississippi Braves pitchers combined to blank the Huntsville Stars bats on Tuesday night, shutting them out by a score of 2-0 at Trustmark Park.

 

Just like the first two games of the series, the M-Braves took the initial lead. In the third inning, Mississippi shortstop Jason Christian led off the frame with an infield single off of Stars starting pitcher Josh Stinson. After a throwing error by second baseman Scooter Gennett put Christian on second, another throwing error by Gennett on a Bobby Stevens grounder scored Christian to make the score 1-0. One inning later, an RBI single by left fielder Evan Gattis plated center fielder Todd Cunningham to give the M-Braves a 2-0 lead and the game.

 

M-Braves starting pitcher J.R Graham set the pace early, improving to 2-1 on the year after giving up just one hit through six innings while striking out five in the process. Relievers Chasen Shreve and Chris Jones went on to hold the Stars scoreless to notch down the victory. For Jones, he earned the save in 1.2 innings of work, his first of the season.

 

For the Stars, Stinson took the hard-pressed loss, falling to 11-7 on the season after giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits through six innings of work. Stinson has now failed to capture his 12th win on the season in his last five starts. Aside from Stinson, relievers Brian Garman and R.J Seidel each pitched an inning of scoreless relief.

 

On offense, the Stars were limited to just three hits overall. Gennett led the way with a double in the seventh inning while first baseman Hunter Morris and right fielder Kentrail Davis each scattered a single throughout the game.

 

With the loss, the Stars were shutout for the ninth time this season. The shutout also marked the third time the Huntsville offense was blanked in the last nine games.

 

Game four of a five-game series between the Stars and M-Braves takes place on Wednesday as Huntsville will send RHP Evan Anundsen (5-7, 4.89 ERA) to toe the rubber. First pitch is at 7:00 PM.

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com thought enough of J.R. Graham's effort against the Stars to make it one of their featured articles for the night.

[Mass Haas]

Gindl's blasts lift Nashville past Storm Chasers

By Rob White, Omaha World-Herald

 

Wily Peralta, Chaser-killer.

 

Nashville's 23-year-old right-hander gave up six hits in five shutout innings Tuesday night for his third win this season over division-winner Omaha, starting the Sounds on their way to a 7-0 victory before 4,552 at Werner Park.

 

“He's got our number,” Omaha manager Mike Jirschele said. “He's really thrown the ball well against us.”

 

Caleb Gindl hit two-run homers in back-to-back at-bats and former Kansas City farmhand Jeff Bianchi went 4 for 4 with a homer and two doubles as Nashville earned a split of the four-game series.

 

Peralta won all three of his starts against Omaha this year, posting a 2.04 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 17-2/3 innings. In four career starts against the Storm Chasers, Peralta has a 1.82 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 24-2/3 innings.

 

Perhaps his best start against Omaha — almost one year ago to the date (Aug. 22, 2011) — resulted in a no-decision. In that game, Peralta pitched 6-1/3 no-hit innings and gave up one run on two hits in seven, but the bullpen couldn't close it out in regulation. Nashville eventually won in extra innings.

 

Nashville's bullpen took care of business Tuesday as Omaha was shut out in a nine-inning game for just the second time all season.

 

Using a fastball that touched 99 mph, Peralta matched his season high of eight strikeouts — which he'd previously recorded in his May 1 win over the Chasers.

 

He struggled at times to find the strike zone while walking three, and he needed 93 pitches to get through five innings.

 

“He went at us with his fastball, changed speeds, stayed aggressive,” Jirschele said.

 

Gindl's first homer made it 3-0 in the fourth, and his second made it 6-0 in the sixth. Both came off Omaha starter Chris Dwyer (3-4).

 

“(Dwyer) was behind in the count and left balls up in the zone, and when he did come in, they hit it because he left it up,” Jirschele said.

 

Dwyer gave up six runs on 11 hits in 4 2⁄3 innings in his eighth start since being promoted from Class AA at the all-star break. The left-hander's 7.19 ERA since his promotion is the third-worst in the PCL in that time frame.

 

“He's fine,” Jirschele said. “He's had some great outings. His last two have been shaky, but before that I was real happy with how he'd been throwing.”

 

Bianchi, who had been scheduled to be the Omaha shortstop in 2010 before a late spring training elbow injury forced him to miss the season, homered off Juan Gutierrez in the seventh. His perfect night included a walk and three runs.

 

Bianchi played last season for Class AA Northwest Arkansas, then was claimed twice on waivers — first by the Cubs and then by the Brewers — in the offseason.

 

Omaha was outscored 16-1 in the final two games of the series against the team it eliminated on Saturday (the Chasers did win 5-1 Sunday). Nashville veteran Claudio Vargas flirted with a perfect game Monday.

 

“We just need to get going a little bit offensively,” Jirschele said. “But when you face good pitching, sometimes this is what happens.”

[Mass Haas]

Alec with a nice read -- his scouting report on Wily Peralta's night

[battlekow]

DSL Blue Jays Top of the 7th

• Defensive switch from third base to shortstop for Jose Dicent.
  Sthervin Matos remains in the game as the third baseman.
  Juan Kelly grounds out to first baseman Juan De Leon.
  Ronniel Demorizi reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Jose Dicent.
  Juan Tejada walks. Ronniel Demorizi to 2nd.
  Kervin Santiago hit by pitch. Ronniel Demorizi to 3rd. Juan Tejada to 2nd.
  Luis Martin hit by pitch. Ronniel Demorizi scores. Juan Tejada to 3rd. Kervin Santiago to 2nd.
  Cesar Barazarte grounds out, second baseman Alejandro Mendoza to first baseman Juan De Leon. Juan Tejada scores. Kervin Santiago to 3rd. Luis Martin to 2nd.
  With Angel Rojas batting, Kervin Santiago scores on a balk. Luis Martin advances to 3rd on a balk.
  Angel Rojas strikes out swinging.

Matos pinch-hit in the 6th and went 0-2; this was his first game since 6/19.

[Mass Haas]

DSL Blue Jays Top of the 7th

• Defensive switch from third base to shortstop for Jose Dicent.

Sthervin Matos remains in the game as the third baseman.

Matos pinch-hit in the 6th and went 0-2; this was his first game since 6/19.

 

MiLB.com had listed a July 6th transaction of Matos going to Maryvale, but if he did, it was for some sort of rehab as he never appeared in an Arizona League game. Pretty much a lost season for the kid, but at age 18, that can be afforded...