Link Report for Fri. 4/25 - It's Friday, Let's Get Fier'd Up

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF!

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: RHP Mike Fiers at Oklahoma City (Astros), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:05 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 $49.99 season-long package ($12.99 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 Brooks Hall at Tennessee (Cubs), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

Steve Jarnicki is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars - welcome aboard! Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveJarnicki. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast.

 

MiLB.TV - It appears seven of the ten Southern League teams telecast their home games (not the Stars). Tennessee does host MiLB.TV broadcasts - be among those hoping Steve's audio link synchs up nicely with your MiLB.TV investment.

 

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Brevard County: RHP Tyler Wagner at home vs. Daytona (Cubs), 5:05 PM pre-game, 5:35 gametime

 

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

 

Dave Walkovic returns as the play-by-play voice of the 'Tees; 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 (or not at all), we'll let you know that.

 

No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV.

 

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Wisconsin: RHP Zach Quintana at Kane County (Cubs), 6:10 PM pre-game, 6:30 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 $49.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from seven Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games.

 

NOTE: Thirty-nine (!) of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (9) and WACY-TV My NEW32 (30) will split duties. We'll let you know when and who, and remember to refer to the Rattlers' full TV schedule so you can coordinate your DVR activity.

 

DVR Alert: Next local TV game is Mon. 4/28 on MyNEW32.

[Mass Haas]

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

 

Nashville

 

Huntsville

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

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 these just prior to the respective game times --

 

Nashville Media Notes - it's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Roster" banner on the Sounds' site.

 

Brevard County Media Notes - again, it's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Multimedia" banner on the Manatees' site.

 

Wisconsin Media Notes - Linked on the Rattler Radio blog

[Mass Haas]

STANDINGS:

 

AAA - Pacific Coast League American Southern Division

 

AA - Southern League North Division

 

High-A - Florida State League North Division

 

A - Midwest League Western Division

[Mass Haas]

Sortable individual stat pages:

 

Nashville

 

Huntsville

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

[Mass Haas]

Weather.com:

 

Oklahoma City, OK

 

Kodak, TN

 

Viera, FL (Melbourne)

 

Geneva, IL

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Notes from Steve:

 

ROAD WARRIORS: Entering today, the Stars have the best road record in the Southern League. At 8-3 away from Huntsville, the Stars have won three straight road games where they are outscoring their opponents 17-1 during the three game winning streak. The Stars offense is hitting .249 on the road compared to just .214 at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars pitchers have performed much better on the road too. The road team ERA is 1.72 compared to 4.12 at home.

 

WELCOME BACK: With Kentrail Davis coming of the DL yesterday, the Stars have their entire outfield back in place. D’Vontrey Richardson just came off the DL on Wednesday. Richardson so far in his two games back has been very productive at the lead-off spot. Richardson is 3-8 with a HR, 3B, and 2 RBI’S. Richardson has also produced the Stars first runs in each of the last two games. On Wednesday, his RBI single in the 7th broke up a scoreless game. Last night, he homered in the 1st giving the Stars an early 1-0 lead. Davis went 0-4 with a strikeout in his return.

 

BACK IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE: It’s somewhat of a homecoming for Stars OF Kentrail Davis. He played his college baseball at the University of Tennessee which is about 20 miles away from Kodak. His final season as a Volunteer was 2009. In his two year career at UT, he batted .319 with 22 homeruns, 74 rbi in 109 games played.

 

RECAPPING THE MOBILE SERIES: For the first time in four series this year, the Stars lost a series. Mobile came to Huntsville and took three out of five from the Stars. The series included a 4 hour 52 minute 12 inning contest in game 1, with Mobile winning it ultimately on an inside the park grand slam. The series also saw the Stars give up a season high 17 hits and 13 runs in game 4. The Stars batted just .208 with 2 hr and 17 rbi. They were just 10-47 (.213) with RISP. They stole 8 bases in 9 attempts.

 

GOOD DEFENSE: The Stars defense leads the Southern League in most double plays turned with 24, and has committed the fewest errors in the league with 12.

 

CLOSE CALLS: 15 out of the first 21 games that the Stars have played have been decided by 3 runs or less and three have gone into extra innings. The Stars are 8-7 in these contests and 0-3 in extra innings.

 

SCORING EARLY: The Stars have enjoyed scoring runs in the 1st innings of games this season. In 9 games or in 43% of games played thus far, the Stars have scored at least 1 run in the 1st inning. When the Stars score a 1st inning run they are 6-3.

[Mass Haas]

Via Chris Mehring -

 

Fun Fact someone else may have pointed out already: Brewers v. Cubs in MLB, Southern League, Florida State League, & Midwest League tonight

[TheCrew07]

Between shoddy pitching and questionable defense the T-Rats are already down 7-0 at the end of 2.

[bkrause2]

Final: Daytona 6, Brevard County 3

 

'Tees squander opportunities in 6-3 loss to Daytona

Brevard leaves ten on base, go 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position

By Justin Rocke / Brevard County Manatees

 

VIERA, Fla. - A night after leaving 11 runners on base, the Brevard County Manatees stranded another ten on the basepaths, as they dropped their third consecutive game, 6-3 to the Daytona Cubs at Space Coast Stadium on Friday night.

 

After trailing for the most of the night, the Cubs (7-14) rallied four two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead for good against Manatees reliever Martin Viramontes.

 

Trailing 3-2, Daytona got a lead-off double from Marco Hernandez to put the tying run in scoring position. Pin-Chieh Chen followed that with a double to deep center to even the score.

 

Dan Vogelbach - who went 4-for-4 in Daytona's Thursday night win - then singled to center to drive in Chen and give the Cubs a 4-3 advantage. The single was the Florida native's seventh hit of the series.

 

The Cubs would tack on two more runs in the top of the ninth. Bijan Rademacher drilled a home run to right and a missed catch error by first baseman Michael Garza, who replaced Garrett Cooper in the eighth, made it 6-3 in favor of Daytona.

 

For the second straight night, the 'Tees (11-10) jumped out to the early lead. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the first, Cubs catcher Chadd Krist couldn't corral a pitch from starter Felix Pena, which allowed center fielder Tyrone Taylor to score and give Brevard a 1-0 lead.

 

Cooper would add to the Manatees' advantage in the second with a solo shot to left, his first homer of the year, to make it 2-0.

 

Daytona would tie it in the top of the fourth off of Manatees starter Tyler Wagner (3-0, 1.61), thanks to a run-scoring single by Krist and a bases loaded walk to third baseman Jeimer Candelario.

 

After an RBI double in the fifth by Alfredo Rodriguez, Wagner left in line for the victory for the fifth straight start, but the 'Tees bullpen could not hold the lead for him. The righty struggled with his control as he walked five, but kept Brevard County in the game by allowing just five hits and two runs while striking out four in five innings.

 

Pena also struggled with his control, but his night was slightly shorter. After walking four batters, the righty left the game one batter into the top of the fourth inning with what appeared to be an arm injury.

 

At the plate for the Manatees, Brandon Macias, Michael Reed and Rodriguez all had two hits each.

 

The series will now move to Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona for Saturday and Sunday night. The Manatees will turn to Damien Magnifico (1-1, 3.43) to end its three-game losing skid, while Daytona will call on right-hander Jose Rosario (1-2, 5.19). First pitch for Saturday's game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

 

Brevard County Box Score

 

Tyler Wagner struggled with his control, walking five in five innings, but still turned in a decent start, giving up just two runs in five innings. Michael Reed reached safely in three of his four trips to the plate. He doubled twice, drew a walk and scored a run. Alfredo Rodriguez was DH'ing for the second night in a row and had a single, a double and an rbi. Orlando Arcia singled and walked twice. Brandon Macias went 2-for-4 with a double. Garrett Cooper homered and walked but left the game early again. After striking out in the seventh, Cooper was replaced by Mike Garza in the top of the eighth.

 

Brevard County Play-By-Play

 

The Manatees couldn't take advantage of a very wild start to the game by Cubs pitcher Felix Pena

 

Brevard County Bottom of the 1st

 

Tyrone Taylor walks.

Orlando Arcia walks. Tyrone Taylor to 2nd.

Cameron Garfield strikes out swinging.

Victor Roache grounds out, second baseman Gioskar Amaya to first baseman Dan Vogelbach. Tyrone Taylor to 3rd. Orlando Arcia to 2nd.

Michael Reed walks.

With Alfredo Rodriguez batting, passed ball by Chadd Krist, Tyrone Taylor scores. Orlando Arcia to 3rd. Michael Reed to 2nd.

Alfredo Rodriguez pops out to second baseman Gioskar Amaya.

[TheCrew07]

Kane County's fast start sinks Rattlers

Cougars go up 7-0 in first two innings, hang on for 8-4 win

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

GENEVA, IL - The Kane County Cougars got out to a fast start and beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 8-4 Friday night at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. The Cougars scored five times in the first and twice more in the second to build a 7-0 lead. A pair of Kane County pitchers struck out eleven Rattlers without issuing a walk in the game.

 

Kane County (15-6) sent nine men to the plate and scored five times in the bottom of the first. Rattlers starting pitcher Zach Quintana got the first out, but gave up a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. Danny Canela singled to send two of those runners home. Quintana walked the next batter to reload the bases. Will Remillard lined a double down the right field line to drive in all three runners on base to put Kane County up 5-0.

 

The Cougars kept coming in the second inning. Jacob Rogers grounded to first with runners at first and third to score a run. Canela followed with a single to center to score a runner from second and Kane County was up 7-0.

 

The Rattlers (10-10) got their first hit off Kane County starting pitcher Daury Torrez in the fifth inning. Torrez had retired the first 13 batters he faced in the game. Then, David Denson lined a single to right-center. But, Denson was left stranded.

 

Wisconsin found the range on Torrez in the seventh inning. Michael Ratterree, who was playing his first game back with the Rattlers after a stint with Huntsville in the Southern League, doubled with one out. Clint Coulter drove in Ratterree with a triple to deep left-center to get the Rattlers their first run. The RBI was the team-leading 16th of the season for Coulter. Denson was next and he singled to center to drive in Coulter.

 

The inning continued as Jose Pena reached on an error and Rafael Neda singled to load the bases. That knocked Torrez out of the game.

 

Juan Paniagua entered from the Kane County bullpen and Angel Ortega singled off him to sent Denson home to make the score 7-3. Paniagua regrouped to get the final two outs of the inning.

 

In the top of the eighth, Ratterree hit a solo home run with one out. The longball to left was Ratterree's third of the season and got Wisconsin to within 7-4.

 

Rattlers reliever Rodolfo Fernandez tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to give the Rattlers a chance to get back in the game. He allowed two hits, walked none, and struck out three in his second appearance of the season.

 

Kane County tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth against Chris Razo, the Rattlers third pitcher of the night. Remillard doubled to start the inning. A two-out triple by Carlos Penalver drove in Remillard for the final run of the game.

 

Wisconsin is 1-4 on the first five games of its seven-game road trip. Kane County, the team with the best record in the Midwest League, has won four games in a row.

 

Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Taylor Williams (1-0, 4.50) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Duane Underwood (0-0, 1.13) is set to start for the Cougars. Game time is 1:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast starting with the pregame show at 12:40pm on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio.

 

WP: Daury Torrez (3-0)

LP: Zach Quintana (0-1)

SAVE: Juan Paniagua (1)

 

TIME: 2:12

ATTN: 2,805

 

Wisconsin Boxscore

Michael Ratterree (2-4,2B,HR) enjoying bumping back down 2 levels, David Denson (2-4) after 2 off days, and Angel Ortega (2-4) posted multi-hit games for the Rattlers. Denson continues his slow climb back to respectability, his defense remains a work in progress as he botched a double play opportunity and nearly cost the T-Rats another out, but he's been impressive overall considering his age. After getting no hit through 4 Wisconsin piled on 9 hits in the last 5 innings.

 

The only pitch I remember Chris mentioning from the broadcast for Zach Quintana was a 90 mph FB.

 

Wisconsin Recap

 

edit. Added a velocity report I forgot to mention earlier.

[TheCrew07]

Fiers Fires, Hunter Homers, Sounds Win 5-3

Nashville Right-hander Fans 10, Earns 4th Straight Quality Start Victory

Nashville Sounds

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/6/6/71205366/cuts/Morris_Hunter_taken_by_Mike_Strasinger_b6g4ggsw_cp6jcqhq.jpg

(Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds)

 

OKLAHOMA CITY - Mike Fiers continued his early-season dominance on the mound and Hunter Morris belted a three-run home to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 5-3 victory over the Oklahoma City RedHawks on Friday evening at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

 

Fiers (4-0) has won each of his four outings this season with quality-start efforts, including a six-inning, one-run performance to defeat the RedHawks. He struck out 10 batters on the night and leads the Pacific Coast League with 36 strikeouts on the year. His ERA stands at an impressive 1.01 through four outings.

 

Fiers, who struck out 12 Omaha batters in his previous outing, became the first Nashville hurler to fan 10+ batters in consecutive starts since Yovani Gallardo accomplished the feat on May 17 & 22, 2007.

 

Morris powered the Sounds to a 3-0 lead with a three-run, two-out homer off Jake Buchanan, the slugger's team-leading third big fly of the season. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine contests at a .314 clip (11-for-35).

 

To set the table for Morris, Irving Falu (3-for-5) extended the Sounds' longest hitting streak of the year to seven games with an infield single and Hainley Statia contributed a two-out single in his first Triple-A plate appearance of the year.

 

Buchanan (1-2) drew the loss for the RedHawks after allowing three runs on six hits in four frames.

 

Oklahoma City got onto the board in the fourth when second sacker Enrique Hernandez took Fiers deep to left for a two-out solo homer, the infielder's first roundtripper of the year.

 

The Sounds got the run right back in the top of the fifth when Falu singled for his second hit of the night and raced around the bases to score on an Eugenio Velez RBI double to right, upping the Nashville advantage to 4-1.

 

Nashville tacked on another run in the top of the eighth when Jeremy Hermida singled with two outs against Oklahoma City reliever Kevin Chapman then scored on Hector Gomez's double to the wall in left-center, making it a 5-1 contest.

 

Outfielder Caleb Gindl enjoyed a season-best 3-for-4 night for Nashville.

 

Alfredo Figaro and Donovan Hand each followed Fiers with a scoreless inning of relief work for the Sounds before Rob Wooten ran into trouble in the ninth.

 

The RedHawks were able to plate a pair of unearned runs against the Nashville closer following a fielding error by third baseman Irving Falu on a potential double play grounder.

 

The teams continue the series with another 7:05 p.m. matchup on Saturday evening. Left-hander Brad Mills (1-0, 2.13) will toe the slab for Nashville and face RedHawks right-hander Ross Seaton (NR).

 

Nashville Boxscore

There isn't much more to be said about Mike Fiers' start to the season, what a fantastic run he's on.

 

All of the hitting was covered in the game story above.

 

Nashville Recap

 

Nashville Gameday

[Mass Haas]

Okla. City Bottom of the 2nd

 

Defensive Substitution: Hainley Statia replaces second baseman Pete Orr, batting 3rd, playing second base.

 

Game log provides no clues on that early exit for the Sounds.

 

***

 

AUDIO via Jeff Hem's blog --

 

"Tonight’s interview is with Sounds pitching coach Fred Dabney, who talks all things Sounds pitching, including what he’s seen so far from Mike Fiers, Ariel Pena and Hiram Burgos and how he feels about the elbow injury to Johnny Hellweg. Entering tonight, the Sounds pitching staff ranks 2nd in the 16-team PCL in team ERA (3.88), first in fewest homers allowed (11) and tied for 7th in fewest walks (65). The Sounds’ rotation owns a 3.13 ERA, and the bullpen’s ERA is 5.14."

 

A good listen, as always...

 

***

 

VIDEO: Nashville's Hunter Morris slugs a three-run homer as the Sounds beat Oklahoma City, 5-3, on Friday

 

VIDEO from Thursday: Hector Gomez doubles in Nashville's 6-1 loss to Oklahoma City

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County --

 

AUDIO: Brewers Roving Pitching Coordinator Rick Tomlin joins Andrew Luftglass on the Manatees Pregame Show to discuss his trip to Brevard County

 

AUDIO: Highlights/lowlights, Daytona wins, 6-3

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog - Postgame Post: Includes Pre-Game AUDIO with OF Michael Ratterree, fresh back from his Huntsville stint

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 15, @Tennessee 1

 

Eight Run Eighth Earns Stars Win

 

Kodak, TN - The Huntsville Stars exploded for an eight-run eighth inning Friday night leading them to a 15-1 victory over the Tennessee Smokies at Smokies Park.

 

With the Stars leading 3-1 going into the eighth inning, the Stars put together their highest scoring inning of the season. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Mitch Haniger drew a walk scoring Nick Ramirez. Kentrail Davis followed with a two-run double down the right field line scoring Jason Rogers and Shawn Zarraga. Nick Shaw also added an RBI single.

 

With the Stars leading 7-1, Davis and Shaw each scored on wild pitches before RBI singles by D'Vontrey Richardson and Zarraga made it 11-1.

 

The Stars sent eleven batters to the plate in the eighth on their way to the blowout win.

 

Brock Kjeldgaard added a grand slam in the ninth. It was his first home run of the season as he sliced it down the right field line.

 

Ramirez also homered for the Stars, who improved to 14-8 and remained in first place in the Southern League North standings.

 

The Stars got an excellent start from RHP Brooks Hall. Hall improved to 2-1 after he threw five shutout innings. He allowed just two hits and struck out four.

 

Zarraga finished 3-4 with an RBI. Ramirez, Davis and Shaw each added two RBI's in the Stars victory.

 

The fifteen runs and fifteen hits are both season highs for the Stars offense.

 

The Stars can win the series Saturday night with a win over the Smokies. RHP Drew Gagnon (2-1, 2.66) will start for the Stars while Tennessee will go with RHP Jake Arrieta, who will be making a rehab assignment start for the Chicago Cubs. The game can be heard starting at 5:00 PM with Steve Jarnicki on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM, and wtkiradio.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score

 

Pad those numbers late, boys, 12 runs in the final two innings!

 

Shawn Zarraga on base four more times in five trips, now with a line of .487/.563/.513, 18 of 19 hits singles, that's still quite the BABIP for an obvious non-speedster. Nick Shaw also reached four times, two singles, two walks - OBP .367 despite a .156 average.

 

Brooks Hall departed after five scoreless, 79 pitches, only five baserunners allowed. Hall and four relievers only allowed five hits and fanned seven, although they also combined to walk four and hit three Smokies.

 

Huntsville Game Log

 

How a 3-1 game becomes a rout --

 

Huntsville Top of the 8th

 

Nick Ramirez singles on a sharp ground ball to right fielder John Andreoli.

Jason Rogers singles on a line drive to center fielder Rubi Silva. Nick Ramirez to 2nd.

Shawn Zarraga walks. Nick Ramirez to 3rd. Jason Rogers to 2nd.

Mitch Haniger walks. Nick Ramirez scores. Jason Rogers to 3rd. Shawn Zarraga to 2nd.

Kentrail Davis doubles (4) on a line drive to right fielder John Andreoli. Jason Rogers scores. Shawn Zarraga scores. Mitch Haniger to 3rd.

Pitching Change: Tony Zych replaces Jeff Lorick, batting 7th.

Nick Shaw singles on a fly ball to left fielder Zeke DeVoss. Mitch Haniger scores.

Greg Hopkins singles on a line drive to left fielder Zeke DeVoss. Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Nick Shaw to 2nd.

With D' Vontrey Richardson batting, wild pitch by Tony Zych, Kentrail Davis scores. Nick Shaw to 3rd. Greg Hopkins to 2nd.

With D' Vontrey Richardson batting, wild pitch by Tony Zych, Nick Shaw scores. Greg Hopkins to 3rd.

D' Vontrey Richardson singles on a ground ball to center fielder Rubi Silva. Greg Hopkins scores.

Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Brock Kjeldgaard replaces Casey Medlen.

Brock Kjeldgaard walks. D' Vontrey Richardson to 2nd.

Nick Ramirez grounds into a double play, second baseman Stephen Bruno to shortstop Jeudy Valdez to first baseman Dustin Geiger. D' Vontrey Richardson to 3rd. Brock Kjeldgaard out at 2nd.

Jason Rogers walks.

Shawn Zarraga singles on a ground ball to second baseman Stephen Bruno. D' Vontrey Richardson scores. Jason Rogers to 2nd.

Mitch Haniger flies out to center fielder Rubi Silva.

 

Huntsville Top of the 9th

 

Pitching Change: Anthony Giansanti replaces Tony Zych, batting 4th, replacing catcher Rafael Lopez.

Defensive Substitution: Taylor Davis replaces pitcher Tony Zych, batting 7th, playing catcher.

Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Shea Vucinich replaces Kentrail Davis.

Shea Vucinich called out on strikes.

Nick Shaw walks.

Greg Hopkins singles on a ground ball to right fielder John Andreoli. Nick Shaw to 2nd.

D' Vontrey Richardson reaches on a force attempt, missed catch error by second baseman Stephen Bruno, assist to shortstop Jeudy Valdez. Nick Shaw to 3rd. Greg Hopkins to 2nd.

Brock Kjeldgaard hits a grand slam (1) to right field. Nick Shaw scores. Greg Hopkins scores. D' Vontrey Richardson scores.

Nick Ramirez called out on strikes.

Jason Rogers grounds out, shortstop Jeudy Valdez to first baseman Dustin Geiger.

[Mass Haas]

VIDEO: Huntsville's D'Vontrey Richardson opens the game with a homer as the Stars beat Tennessee, 3-1, on Thursday (no sound)

[Mass Haas]

Offense improves, but Manatees still suffer defeat

Michael Parsons, FLORIDA TODAY

 

The Brevard County Manatees showed signs of snapping out of the offensive slump they have been in, but it was not enough Friday night as they fell to Daytona 6-3 at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The Manatees, who have now scored just 14 runs in the past 10 games, had eight hits in the game, including Garrett Cooper's first home run of the season.

 

"Ned (Manatees hitting coach Ned Yost) talks to the guys about controlling what you can control. Your approach, your plan and your purpose," Brevard County Manatees manager Joe Ayrault said after Thursday's loss. "It is one of those things, it is early in the season and we don't want to press and try to do too much."

 

And the trio of Michael Reed, Alfredo Rodriguez and Brandon Macias each seemed to swing the bat better as each had two hits in the game.

 

But once again, the Manatees could not score late in the game, watching an early lead disappear for the second straight night.

 

The Manatees (11-10) were up 2-0, and after starting pitcher Tyler Wagner gave up two runs in the fourth, they took the lead back in the fifth.

 

But that was the last time they scored, while Daytona scored twice in the seventh and two more in the ninth to post its second straight win over the Manatees.

 

Wagner left after five innings and got the no decision, but was not as crisp as he had been in the past four outings, walking five and striking out four.

 

"Guys had a great spring, they were swinging the bats well," Ayrault said. "They have a lot of potential, so it is just a matter of time before things start clicking."

 

Maybe it will start on the road as Brevard County plays away from Space Coast Stadium for five straight games, beginning tonight in Daytona. It's the third of the four-game series with the Cubs.

 

Damien Magnifico will take the mound for the Manatees.

 

Brevard County Manatee starting pitcher Tyler Wagner earned a no-decision Friday against the Daytona Cubs. (Photo: Hawk-Eye photography)

 

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/5ff275b00b1eb14722cd09f8f08c10ff45422250/c=280-0-4873-3453&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/Brevard/2014/04/25/-tylerwagner1.jpg20140409.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Via the Courier-News:

 

When the Kane County Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second inning of Friday’s series opener with Wisconsin, Cougars manager Mark Johnson had just the man he wanted on the mound.

 

Known as a strike-thrower, Daury Torrez was able to settle in with a big lead and pound the zone, and the Timber Rattlers didn’t find an answer until the seventh inning. By that time, it was too late, and the Cougars held on for an 8-4 win to push their winning streak to four games. Their 15-6 record is tops in the Midwest League.

 

“He throws a lot of strikes,” Johnson said. “After we put those runs up, he’s exactly the guy we need. He set that tempo. They were coming out swinging, too, so it played right into his strike-throwing capabilities.”

 

The Cougars got to Wisconsin starter Zach Quintana (0-1) early and often. They batted around in the first, scoring five runs. The big blows were a three-run double from Will Remillard and a two-run single from Danny Canela.

 

In the second, Jacob Rogers’ RBI groundout and a run-scoring single from Canela plated two more.

 

“He was up in the zone a lot early,” Johnson said of Quintana. “Usually when that happens, you get hit hard.”

 

With a seven-run cushion to work with, Torrez (3-0) was able to feast on the overly aggressive hitters from Wisconsin (10-10). He retired the first 13 hitters he faced before David Denson broke up the perfect game with a one-out single in the fifth. Through 6 1/3 innings, he allowed only two base runners and struck out seven.

 

“It’s typical for me to get a good tempo and be aggressive and try to get outs early in the count, get them to hit the ball on the ground,” Torrez said through his translator, pitching coach David Rosario. “Today, because I had a lot of two-strike counts, I had the opportunity for punch outs and I was lucky enough to be able to locate my pitches and take advantage of it.”

 

Wisconsin got to Torrez in the seventh before Juan Paniagua came on for the save. The last five Timber Rattlers Torrez faced reached base, and they scored three runs. Aside from a Michael Ratterree solo home run in the eighth, Paniagua pitched well in his outing, recording his first save. He will resume his regular spot in the rotation his next time through.

 

“His aggressiveness was a lot better tonight than it has been his last couple outings,” Johnson said.

 

Yasiel Balaguert and Carlos Penalver each had three hits for the Cougars. Canela, Danny Lockhart and Remillard each had two hits in the 13-hit outburst. The Cougars have scored 33 runs in their current four-game win streak.