Link Report for Thurs. 7/4 -- Road Trippin' on America's Birthday

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Daily Menu:

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: LHP Chris Narveson at Memphis (Cardinals), 5:45 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

Jeff Hem is the 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). The audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link.

 

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Huntsville: RHP Drew Gagnon at Tennessee (Cubs), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

Alex Cohen is the play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. It appears four Southern League teams air their home games on MiLB.TV, and we'll let you know when those dates pop up on the schedule

 

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Brevard County: LHP Brent Suter at Daytona (Cubs), 5:05 PM pre-game, 5:35 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link -- Select the link based on listed schedule

 

Manatees audio, hooray! Dave Walkovic is the first play-by-play voice of the 'Tees since 2007, he's joined by Andy Towne; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio. All home games and many road games are scheduled to be broadcast. When road games are only available via the opponents' audio feed, we'll let you know that.

 

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Wisconsin: RHP Ryan Gibbard at Cedar Rapids (Twins), 4:45 PM pre-game, 5:05 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.

 

For the $39.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from four Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games.

 

NOTE: 32 of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel has seventeen games scheduled and WACY-TV My NEW32 plans to show fifteen games. We'll let you know when, but won't be providing day-before DVR reminders, so regularly check for proper channel and time planning (scroll to the bottom of this link).

 

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Helena: RHP Barrett Astin at Great Falls (White Sox), 7:45 PM pre-game, 8:00 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

Voice of the Helena Brewers Steve Wendt is back on board, and this year he's added Twitter to the mix @steve_wendt. We've been treated to Steve's work for many years now (ten!); he is among the very best at the art of the pre-game interview, especially considering how at ease he makes all these first-time professional ballplayers.

 

MiLB.TV -- When the H-Crew makes their way to Idaho Falls (July) and Grand Junction (August), those games will be available for viewing online.

 

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Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): Idle

 

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DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Tigers, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until later in the day

[Mass Haas]

Programming Note:

 

Tennessee has MiLB.TV coverage, so if you're a subscriber, you can watch this Stars' series (live and/or archived).

[Mass Haas]

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

 

Nashville

 

Huntsville

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

Helena

 

DSL Brewers

 

New MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

[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]

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

 

New this season: Brevard County has media notes; as of now, it's a unique link each day, but look for it just prior to game time each day within the "Stats and Scores" banner here.

 

Also new this season: Helena has media notes; it's a unique link each day, but look for it just prior to game time each day within the "Stats and Scores" banner here.

[Mass Haas]

Weather.com:

 

Memphis, TN

 

Kodak, TN

 

Daytona Beach, FL

 

Cedar Rapids, IA

 

Great Falls, MT

 

San Pedro de Macoris, DR

[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: To view first half or overall standings for Huntsville, Brevard County, and Wisconsin, you'll notice options at the respective links for that. Otherwise it's second-half standings as the default view for those three leagues.

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County and Helena in first place, but barely, battling second place clubs this series.

 

***

 

Via Mr. Mehring:

 

So, the Rattlers are 5-8 on the half after winning four of five from Kane County. Remember. They were 0-6. A long, long way to go in this half BUT, the Clinton LumberKings are the wild card in the second half. They fell to 6-7. The Peoria Chiefs are 5-8, too. The Timber Rattlers are only one game out of a playoff spot after an 0-6 start.

 

Midwest League playoff procedures

 

We're not even going to pretend to follow that, as the second half progresses, we'll rely on Chris' Masters Degree in Standingsology.

[TheCrew07]

Back to Cedar Rapids for the T-Rats, that's disappointing, even without Buxton that's the best line-up in the MWL. Hopefully this series goes better than the last one.

[pogokat]

I may be losing my mind, but when did Dvo Richardson reappear?

[bkrause2]

Final: DSL Tigers 6, DSL Brewers 3

 

DSL Brewers Box Score

 

The Brewers racked up eight walks today, but also struck out 12 times as a team, as their record fell to 8-21. Yeraldy Martinez, Jorge Quiterio and Leudi Otano were each on base three times. Quiterio was 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of walks. He also knocked in two of the three Brewers runs. Otano had a single, a double and a walk. Martinez singled, walked twice, stole a base and scored two runs. Aside from that, there wasn't much offense to speak of. Juan De los Santos singled for the only other base hit. Otano, Yunior Santana and Natanael Mejia each committed an error.

 

The Brewers used four pitchers with only Marcos Padilla going unscored upon. Joan De La Cruz started and gave up two runs, one earned over 3.2 innings. He allowed four hits and walked two while striking out six Tigers batters. Junior Flores worked two innings of relief, allowing two runs on just two hits, but walking four batters. Orlando Torres pitched 2.1 innings out of the pen and gave up two runs, one earned. He gave up one hit and walked three.

 

DSL Brewers Play-By-Play

 

The Brewers got a run in each of the fifth, seventh and ninth innings

 

DSL BREWERS inning 5

- Martinez, Y. walked.

- Martinez, Y. stole second.

- Munoz, G. walked.

- Calatosti, R out at first p to 2b, SAC; Munoz, G. advanced to second; Martinez, Y. advanced to third.

- Quiterio, J. grounded out to 3b, RBI; Munoz, G. advanced to third; Martinez, Y. scored.

- Santana, Y. struck out swinging.

 

DSL BREWERS inning 7

- Martinez, Y. walked.

- Munoz, G. struck out looking.

- Calatosti, R flied out to rf.

- Quiterio, J. doubled, RBI; Martinez, Y. scored.

- Santana, Y. grounded out to ss.

 

DSL BREWERS inning 9

- Martinez, K. walked.

- Martinez, K. advanced to second on a wild pitch.

- Martinez, Y. hit by pitch.

- Aybar, P. to p for Paniagua, A..

- Munoz, G. reached on a fielder's choice; Martinez, Y. out at second 2b to ss; Martinez, K. advanced to third.

- R. Calatosti, R reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Munoz, G. out at second 3b to 2b; Martinez, K. scored.

- Quiterio, J. walked; Calatosti, R advanced to second.

- Guzman, J. to p for Aybar, P..

- Santana, Y. struck out swinging.

[Mass Haas]

I may be losing my mind, but when did Dvo Richardson reappear?

 

Losing your mind, sir, no.

 

But you need your daily Link Report fix, brother, D'Vo has been a regular mention since our own Brad caught wind of him working out with the Maryvale Crew, and through five Maryvale games before heading to Brevard.

 

Really, really looking forward to a Manatee pre-game audio interview with him soon.

[Mass Haas]

Via Jeff Hem's blog --

 

Audio from Memphis — Sounds Reliever Michael Olmsted

 

Tonight’s pregame interview is with Sounds reliever Michael Olmsted, who pitched two scoreless innings Wednesday night in the Sounds’ victory over Round Rock. He discusses his season to this point, the team’s season compared to his hopes out of spring training, his journey the past few years from the Mets to Japan to the Red Sox and now to the Brewers, his comeback from “Tommy John” elbow surgery a couple of years ago and the development of his pitches and across-the-body throwing style.

[TheCrew07]

Cedar Rapids spell over Rattlers continues

Kernels top Rattlers 3-1 on Independence Day for seventh win in a row over Wisconsin

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA - The three-game winning streak that the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers brought into their Independence Day game against the Cedar Rapids Kernels was halted by a pair of home runs and solid pitching. Wisconsin dropped their seventh straight game to Cedar Rapids with Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Kernels at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

 

Milwaukee native Adam Brett Walker put the Kernels (52-30 overall, 12-2 second half) up in the bottom of the second inning. Max Kepler has just been hit by a pitch and Walker was ahead 1-0 in the count. Walker lined a home run to left-center on the next pitch to give Cedar Rapids a 2-0 lead.

Alfredo Rodriguez singled to lead off the Wisconsin fourth inning for the Rattlers first hit of the game. Michael Reed drew a walk to put two runners on base. But, Montanez retired the next three batters of the inning to keep the Kernels up 2-0.

 

Rodriguez started another attempted rally in the top of the sixth for the Rattlers (34-45, 5-9). He singled with one out. Reed followed with a single and Tyrone Taylor walked to load the bases. Montanez struck out Victor Roach for the second out and left the game for Alex Murin to face Mike Garza. Murin got Garza to line out to right to end the inning.

 

Wisconsin did break through on the scoreboard in the seventh. Parker Berberet singled and Chris McFarland drew a walk. Tyler Roberts bunted the runners into scoring position. Max Walla's grounder to first got Berberet to score.

 

The Kernels used the longball to pad their lead in the bottom of the eighth. Dalton Hicks cracked a two-out solo home run to center off Preston Gainey and the Kernels were up 3-1.

 

Milwaukee native Tyler Jones, who had pitched a scoreless eighth, tossed a 1-2-3 ninth with a pair of strikeouts to earn his sixth save of the season,.

 

The final game of the two game series is Friday night in Cedar Rapids. Leonard Lorenzo (1-4, 5.73) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Kernels have Brett Lee (5-4, 3.89) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 6:35pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm.

 

HOME RUNS:

CR:

Adam Brett Walker (13th, 1 on in 2nd inning off Ryan Gibbard, 1 out)

Dalton Hicks (13th, 0 on in 8th inning off Preston Gainey, 2 out)

 

WP: Josue Montanez (3-1)

LP: Ryan Gibbard (3-2)

SAVE: Tyler Jones (6)

 

TIME: 2:23

ATTN: 5,631

 

Torment us with their loss – Postgame post for July 4, 2013

 

Wisconsin Boxscore

 

Chris did his best to keep us entertained but this one just drug me down, friggen Cedar Rapids... It's nice that the WI natives keep doing their part to drive that knife in deeper during the season series as well.

 

Wisconsin Recap

[Eye Black]

Final: Daytona 3, Brevard County 1

 

Manatees nipped by Cubs on 4th of July

Brevard manages just three hits in 3-1 defeat

By Andy Towne / Brevard County Manatees

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/2/2/46972822/cuts/Macias_4.7_1_m7d5renp_0nfrifj8.JPG

Manatees third baseman Brandon Macias, seen here in a game from earlier this season, doubled and scored the only run in Brevard County's 3-1 loss to the Daytona Cubs on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Celebrations for the Fourth of July were abundant, but the Brevard County Manatees were not able to celebrate a win as they fell 3-1 to the Daytona Cubs on Thursday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

 

After Brevard County (8-5 second half, 45-35 overall) starting pitcher Brent Suter (7-5, 3.01 ERA) retired the first eight men that he faced, Pin-Chieh Chen popped up a bunt that fell for an infield single in the bottom of the third inning. Tim Saunders followed with a two-run home run that put Daytona (8-4, 43-35) on the board first and ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.

 

Suter was able to escape further damage in the frame as he left two runners on base after allowing back-to-back singles to Wes Darvill and Javier Baez following the Saunders homer. The Manatees' southpaw also yielded a solo homer to Dustin Geiger in the sixth as the Cubs took a 3-0 lead.

 

The night ended for Suter after 5.2 innings as the lefty allowed six hits, struck out three and tied a season-high with three walks.

 

Matt Miller took the ball for the final 2.1 innings for the Manatees and had one of his best outings of the season as he held Cubs scoreless with just one hit allowed and no walks. He also fanned two men.

 

Brevard County had trouble figuring out Daytona starting pitcher Ben Wells as he held the Manatees scoreless for seven innings, while allowing just two hits and a walk.

 

The 'Tees avoided the shutout in the top of the ninth inning when Brandon Macias doubled, advanced on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch for the lone run of the night for Brevard County. Along with Macias, Mitch Haniger and Greg Hopkins collected the other two hits on the night for the Manatees.

 

The two teams will return to Space Coast Stadium in Viera on Friday night for the rubber match of their three-game set, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Brevard County will send Damien Magnifico (0-0, 4.66) to the mound, where he will be opposed by Daytona's Zach Cates (7-6, 4.03).

 

 

Brevard County Box Score

 

 

Brevard County Play-by-Play

[Minigoon]

Final: Tennessee 4 Huntsville 1

 

Three Tennessee pitchers combined to hold the Huntsville Stars to 1 run on 4 hits in their 4-1 victory on Thursday evening. The Stars jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and starting pitcher Drew Gagnon was cruising through 5. But the Stars didn't get another hit after the 3rd inning and Gagnon fell apart in the 6th as the Smokies took a 3-1 lead. They tacked on an insurance run in the 8th to make it 4-1.

 

Stars starter Drew Gagnon was off to a great start. He limited the Smokies to 2 hits over the first 5 innings. Things went downhill quickly in the 6th though. Gagnon was only able to record 1 out before exiting. For the game, Gagnon worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing 3 runs, all earned, on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. One of the hits allowed was a home run. Gagnon threw 77 pitches, 47 for strikes and had a 5-5 ground out to fly out ratio. Despite the struggles in the 6th, this was a very good outing for Drew. In his last couple starts, he's been much sharper.

 

Casey Medlen was called on to get out of the 6th, which he did. Medlen then pitched a scoreless 7th. His line for the night was 1 2/3 innings, no runs, 1 hit, 1 walk and 3 strike outs. In 10 of his last 11 outings, Medlen has pitched scoreless relief. Arcenio Leon was brought on to work the 8th. Leon struggled a bit, allowing a run on 2 hits and a walk.

 

Huntsville Box Score

 

The Stars offense was held in check for the most part tonight, limited to 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks. The Stars struck out 13 times. Third baseman Joey Paciorek was responsible for the Stars only run. Paciorek hit his first home run of the season in the 2nd. The was Huntsville's only extra base hit on the night. Jason Rogers, Nick Shaw, and Chadwin Stang each singled. Stang also stole his first base as a Huntsville Star. Brock Kjeldgaard and Shea Vucinich each drew a walk.

 

Huntsville Play By Play

 

Huntsville's run scored in the 2nd

 

Huntsville Top of the 2nd

 

Rene Tosoni strikes out swinging, catcher Rafael Lopez to first baseman Justin Bour.

Adam Weisenburger strikes out swinging.

Joey Paciorek homers (1) on a fly ball to left field.

Drew Gagnon strikes out swinging

 

Huntsville (5-11 second half, 34-50 overall) and Tennessee will play game 2 of the series tomorrow evening. Right hander Ariel Pena (5-6, 3.14) will be on the mound for the Stars. Game time is scheduled for 6:15 Central. Don't forget to join Stars radio broadcaster Alex Cohen starting at 6:00 for the pregame show.

[battlekow]

Final: Helena 6, @Great Falls 3

 

Helena box score

The Brewers spotted the Voyagers three runs in the 1st but came back, scoring three in the 9th to win the game.

 

It was Barrett Astin's and Taylor Williams's turn again today, and Williams fared much better than Astin. Astin went three innings and was responsible for Great Falls' big 1st, while Williams notched four scoreless. Garrett Cooper homered and doubled, Jose Pena doubled yet again, and Angel Ortega was on three times with two singles and a walk.

 

Helena play-by-play

[TooLiveBrew]

Sounds Blank Memphis On Independence Day, 7-0

Narveson Hurls Eight Scoreless Innings In Dominant Start For Nashville

Nashville Sounds

 

http://i.imgur.com/HeHF2JO.jpg

Khris Davis (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds)

 

• AUDIO: Hunter Morris Go-Ahead RBI Single
  
• AUDIO: Stephen Parker RBI Single
  
• AUDIO: Blake Davis Solo HR
  
• AUDIO: Khris Davis Solo HR
  
• AUDIO: Robinzon Diaz Two-Run HR

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Left-hander Chris Narveson turned in a magnificent outing and was backed by a 13-hit attack that included three homers as the Nashville Sounds defeated the Memphis Redbirds, 7-0, in front of a capacity crowd of 12,664 on Thursday evening at Auto Zone Park.

 

The victory was the fourth in the past five games for Nashville (32-56), which improved to 6-3 this season against its cross-state division rivals. It was the Sounds' fifth shutout victory of the season.

 

Narveson (2-4) was locked in all evening, holding Memphis to three hits over a Sounds season-high eight scoreless innings of work. He struck out a season-high seven batters (six looking) while walking three during his 100-pitch effort. The southpaw retired 15 consecutive batters from the second through the seventh, the longest such string by a Nashville hurler this season. Kyle Heckathorn closed out the three-hit shutout with a perfect ninth.

 

Nashville got a hit from all nine members of its lineup and belted three home runs for the second straight night.

 

The Sounds got off to a quick start against Memphis starter Scott McGregor, plating a pair of runs with four singles in the top of the first inning.

 

Josh Prince and Caleb Gindl reached on consecutive one-out knocks before each runner later scored on RBI singles off the bats of Hunter Morris and Stephen Parker. Gindl's single extended the outfielder's hitting streak to a season-best seven games (11-for-26, .423).

 

Shortstop Blake Davis upped the lead to 3-0 in the second with a leadoff homer to right, his first longball in 256 at-bats dating back to last August. Chris Narveson followed with a double to left and later scored on a wild pitch to make it a 4-0 contest.

 

Khris Davis continue his recent hot hitting for the Sounds with a leadoff solo homer to left in the third inning, his 11th big fly of the year and second in as many nights. The outfielder has hit safely in eight of his last nine contests at a .375 clip (12-for-32) with eight extra-base knocks over that stretch.

 

McGregor (2-5) drew the loss for Memphis after giving up five runs on seven hits in four innings of work.

 

Catcher Robinzon Diaz, another Sound swing[ing] hot lumber of late, joined the longball party in the sixth when he belted a two-run homer to right off Redbirds reliever Victor Marte to make it a 7-0 contest. Diaz is batting .357 (15-for-42) while hitting safely in 10 of his last 11 contests.

 

Scooter Gennett continued his hot hitting for Nashville with a 2-for-5 evening. He has hit safely in all nine games since rejoining the Sounds at a .412 clip (14-for-34).

 

The cross-state rivals continue the series with a 7:05 p.m. meeting on Friday. Nashville sends left-hander Zach Kroenke (4-10, 4.29) to the hill to square off against Memphis right-hander Carlos Martinez (2-2, 2.02).

 

 

Nashville Box

Gennett: 2-5

Prince: 1-5, SB

Gindl: 1-4, BB

Morris: 2-5, RBI

K. Davis: 1-5, HR, RBI

Parker: 2-3, RBI, BB

Diaz: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI

B. Davis: 1-4, HR, RBI

Narveson: 1-4, 2B

 

[pre]Narveson: 8 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 3 BB 7 K 100 TP (59 strikes) 7:7 GO:FO

Heckathorn: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K[/pre]

 

Nashville PbP

The 1st was one of three two-run innings:

 

Nashville Top of the 1st

-Scooter Gennett grounds out, first baseman Brock Peterson to pitcher Scott McGregor.

-Josh Prince singles on a line drive to center fielder Thomas Pham.

-With Caleb Gindl batting, Josh Prince steals (10) 2nd base.

-Caleb Gindl singles on a ground ball to left fielder Chad Huffman. Josh Prince to 3rd.

-Hunter Morris singles on a fly ball to left fielder Chad Huffman. Josh Prince scores. Caleb Gindl to 2nd.

-Khris Davis called out on strikes.

-Stephen Parker singles on a line drive to center fielder Thomas Pham. Caleb Gindl scores. Hunter Morris to 2nd.

-Robinzon Diaz grounds out, shortstop Ryan Jackson to first baseman Brock Peterson.

 

Inning #2, & two more added:

 

Nashville Top of the 2nd

-Blake Davis homers (1) on a fly ball to right field.

-Chris Narveson doubles (2) on a fly ball to left fielder Chad Huffman.

-Scooter Gennett flies out to left fielder Chad Huffman.

-With Josh Prince batting, passed ball by Travis Tartamella, Chris Narveson to 3rd.

-Josh Prince strikes out swinging.

-With Caleb Gindl batting, wild pitch by Scott McGregor, Chris Narveson scores.

-Caleb Gindl grounds out, second baseman Kolten Wong to first baseman Brock Peterson.

 

And as Jeff noted, Diaz's two-run shot in the 6th made it a seven run lead:

 

Nashville Top of the 6th

-Stephen Parker singles on a line drive to left fielder Chad Huffman.

-Robinzon Diaz homers (1) on a fly ball to right field. Stephen Parker scores.

-Blake Davis grounds out, second baseman Kolten Wong to first baseman Brock Peterson.

-Chris Narveson strikes out swinging.

-Scooter Gennett singles on a ground ball to right fielder Jamie Romak.

-Josh Prince strikes out swinging.

 

Narveson willed himself through his final frame:

 

Memphis Bottom of the 8th

-Jermaine Curtis walks.

-Travis Tartamella pops out to shortstop Blake Davis.

-Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Greg Garcia replaces Sam Freeman.

-Greg Garcia walks. Jermaine Curtis to 2nd.

-Thomas Pham flies out to left fielder Khris Davis.

-Kolten Wong called out on strikes.

 

 

Nashville Gameday

[Mass Haas]

Nashville video from Wednesday:

 

Jimmy Nelson records his seventh strikeout as the Sounds beat Round Rock, 10-1

[Mass Haas]

Nashville video from Thursday:

 

Khris Davis hits a solo homer (in the rain) in the Sounds' 7-0 win over the Memphis Redbirds

 

Chris Narveson strikes out Kolten Wong (includes a unique "360" from catcher Robinzon Diaz)

[Mass Haas]

Alex's audio call:

 

Third baseman Joey Paciorek gives the Stars a 1-0 lead over the Tennessee Smokies with a solo homer in the second inning

[Mass Haas]

Wells tosses seven scoreless innings in Cubs victory

Chris Boyle, Daytona News-Journal Staff Writer

 

DAYTONA BEACH -- Tim Saunders and Dusitn Geiger each homered and Ben Wells threw seven scoreless innings as the Daytona Cubs treated its largest crowd of the season to a 3-1 Independence Day victory over the visiting Brevard County Manatees.

 

Wells (6-6), who threw just 76 pitches, allowed only three Manatees to reach base.

 

“My fastball was working well – I was able to get a lot of groundballs with it,” said Wells, who retired 11 hitters via groundout. “Our defense played a hell of a game behind me. You can't ask for anything more.”

 

A pair of home runs provided all the offensive support Wells would need. But, everything started at the bottom of the order.

 

Pin-Chieh Chen ignited the offense after the Cubs' first eight hitters went down in order, floating a bunt single over Brevard County starter Brent Suter's head. He followed it up by stealing second and advancing to third on an errant throw.

 

Moments later, Tim Saunders provided the clutch hit – launching a two-run homer to left field.

 

“After we started chasing everything, I was just looking for one up in the zone,” Saunders said. “I think we did a good job of getting (Suter) out of his comfort zone and slowing him down a little.”

 

Dustin Geiger added his ninth home run of the season in the sixth inning to extend the lead.

 

While the bats fizzled at the start of the evening, the Cubs (43-35, 8-4) made a number of sparkling plays in the field, headlined by Javier Baez.

 

Baez slid deep in the hole between shortstop and third, snared the ball backhanded and gunned down Greg Hopkins to start the eighth inning and prevent any kind of Brevard County rally.

 

Carlos Gutierrez nailed down his first save, working two innings of relief.

 

The Cubs, who lost to the Manatees 5-1 Wednesday night in Viera, have now won 10 of their last 14 games overall.

 

Thursday night's attendance was 5,049. In addition to postgame fireworks, the fans were treated to one of the shortest games of the year – an hour and 58 minutes.

 

Cubs manager Dave Keller said both Wells and Suter worked very quickly to get ahead in the count.

 

“If you work fast and you throw strikes, it really puts the pressure on the hitter,” Keller said. “They know the ball's coming into the strike zone, and they've got to be ready.”

[Mass Haas]

Brewers tag out Voyagers

by Jesse Geleynse, Great Falls Tribune Sports Writer

 

You won’t see a lot of sacrifice bunts in the Pioneer League.

 

But Helena Brewers manager Tony Diggs wants his players to excel in all aspects at the plate.

 

The Brewers pushed across the go-ahead run with a squeeze bunt from Renaldo Jenkins, and Angel Ortega singled in two more through a drawn-in infield as the Helena Brewers topped the Great Falls Voyagers 6-3 Thursday in front of 3,095 fans at Centene Stadium.

 

“That’s an intricate part of baseball that has been lost a little bit, but we pride ourselves in being able to get down bunts,” Diggs said. “We missed two opportunities earlier in the game where we probably could have picked up some insurance runs, but that’s a part of baseball as well.”

 

The Brewers remained in first place at 9-6 while the Voyagers fell to 7-8.

 

Astute fans expected to see a pitchers’ duel with two highly drafted starters on the mound, but neither starter figured in the decision. Brewers’ starter Barrett Astin, Milwaukee’s third-round pick out of Arkansas, lasted three innings. Voyagers’ starter Andrew Mitchell, Chicago’s fourth-round pick out of TCU faired a touch better as he allowed three runs in four innings of work.

 

Instead the respective bullpens provided the mound moxie as they combined to hold one another scoreless until the ninth.

 

“We’ve been getting real good pitching lately,” Diggs said. “It they keep throwing the way they’re throwing right now and our defense keeps playing the way they’re playing, we should be fine.”

 

The Voyagers’ bullpen and defense gave way in the ninth. Taylor Brennan worked a one-out walk and advanced to third when Dionis Hinjosa reached on an error. Jenkins laid down a squeeze bunt to score Brennan with the go-ahead run and reached second when Voyagers reliever Nick Blount threw the ball away at first. Ortega singled up the middle through a drawn-in infield to score two and the Brewers led 6-3.

 

The Voyagers brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning, but Zach Voight grounded sharply into a game-ending double play.

 

His final at-bat belied what was an impressive evening at the plate for Voight, who hit the ball hard three times. He gave the Voyagers their only runs with a three-run homer in the first and lined out deep to center field later in the game.

 

Voight’s homer was the first of his two-year professional career.

 

“It was a good pitch and he drove it,” Voyagers hitting coach Charlie Poe said. “He did what he was supposed to do with it and it was good to see him get his first bomb of the year.”

 

The Brewers struck for two runs in the top of the third. Charlie Markson had an RBI single and put runners at first and second. Michael Ratterree hit a ground ball to short and Voyagers shortstop Jairo Kelly went to Justin Jirschele at second for the force. Jirschele then threw behind the runner Ortega at third.

 

Ortega was caught in a rundown and tagged out, but the home plate umpire ruled that third baseman Voight interfered and awarded Ortega home for a 3-2 score. Voyagers manager Pete Rose Jr. came out to argue and was ejected.

 

“We had a lot of chances tonight, but we missed our opportunities,” Poe said. “It seemed like our bubble got busted when Pete got ejected from the game.”

 

Garrett Cooper tied the game at 3-3 with an opposite-field home run to right field in the top of the fourth. Cooper’s four home runs lead the North Division and rank second overall.

 

“I feel like I can hit the ball all over the field and when they leave fastballs over the outside part of the plate, I try and drive the ball the other way,” Cooper said. “I try to get my arms extended. They try and pound in, and they miss, and they have to go to a 3-1 fastball in the middle of the plate and I get my arms extended.”

 

James Hudelson pitched three scoreless innings and worked around leadoff doubles in both the sixth and seventh innings for the Voyagers.

 

Adam Engle had three hits and Jirschele added two for the Voyagers.

 

“We came up a little short, but we brought the tying run to the plate tonight and that’s all we can ask for,” Poe said.

 

The four-game series continues tonight at 7:00 (8:00 Central). Probable starters are Jose Bautista (1-1, 4.22) for Great Falls and Zach Quintana (0-1, 9.00) for Helena.

 

Great Falls Voyagers Adam Engel (26) is tagged out during a rundown by Helena Brewers third baseman Taylor Brennan in the first inning Thursday at Centene Stadium. / TRIBUNE PHOTO BY LARRY BECKNER

 

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[Mass Haas]

Stars Drop Series Opener With Smokies

By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars

 

After one-hitting the Chattanooga Lookouts and clinching their first series win in over a month on Wednesday, the Huntsville Stars fell in their series opener against the Tennessee Smokies by a score of 5-1 at Smokies Park on Thursday night.

 

Attempting to continue their momentum from their third one-hitter of the season, the Stars broke out to the initial lead in the second inning. With one out, third baseman Joey Paciorek launched a solo homer against Smokies starter Erik Jokisch to put Huntsville up 1-0.

 

Unfortunately, that was all the run support the Stars could muster against the Smokies pitching staff. Jokisch improved to 7-7 on the year after giving up that one run and four hits through six innings while striking out a season-high nine-batters. Jokisch, righty P.J Francescon and reliever Tony Zych combined to retire the last 19 Stars batters of the ballgame in a row. The scoreless ninth inning for Zych gave him his first save of the season.

 

After Stars starting pitcher Drew Gagnon no-hit the Smokies through four innings and shutout the Smokies through five innings, the Tennessee bats started to get after it in the top of the sixth. Following a leadoff triple by outfielder Matt Szczur, an RBI single by second baseman Airesmendy Alcantara tied up the game. Two batters later, a two-run homer from first baseman Justin Bour scored Alcantara and put the Smokies up for good.

 

Tennessee picked up their other insurance run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly from outfielder Rubi Silva against Stars reliever Arcenio Leon.

 

With the loss, Gagnon fell to 1-4 on the year after giving up three runs and six hits in 5.1 innings pitched. The 23-year-old righty also struck out four batters while walking two.

 

On offense, outfielder Chadwin Stang, shortstop Nick Shaw and first baseman Jason Rogers each had a single.

 

The Stars will play game two of a five-game series at Smokies Park against the Tennessee Smokies on Friday. Huntsville will send RHP Ariel Pena (5-6, 3.14 ERA) to the bump to try to get back on the right track. Tennessee will counter with RHP Alberto Cabrera (7-3, 3.49 ERA). First pitch is 7:15 PM (6:15 Central).