Link Report for Mon. 5/12 -- Jungmann, Weisenburger Lead Surging Stars

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu:

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: RHP Jimmy Nelson at Iowa (Cubs), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:35 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 Taylor Jungmann at Chattanooga (Dodgers), 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). Unfortunately, Chattanooga also does not provide MiLB.TV coverage.

 

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Brevard County: RHP Tyler Wagner at home vs. Fort Myers (Twins), 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 Preston Gainey at home vs. Quad Cities (Astros), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:35 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.

[Mass Haas]

DVR ALERT: As we've been indicating, Monday night is a MyNew32 TV Timber Rattlers night, with pregame at 6:00 PM.

 

Get ahead on your DVR setting, as the same channel is broadcasting all three games of this Quad Cities series -- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday'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:

 

Des Moines, IA

 

Chattanooga, TN

 

Viera, FL (Melbourne)

 

Grand Chute, WI (Appleton)

[Mass Haas]

As the Brewers Player Development Staff pointed out on Twitter, this is the 2nd straight week the organization has not one, not two, but three Players of the Week - see at the link.

 

Congrats, Huntsville RHP Tyler Cravy, Brevard County LHP Jed Bradley, and Wisconsin 2B Chris McFarland!

[TheCrew07]

I'd be shocked if the T-Rats play considering how much rain we've been getting.

[Mass Haas]

Via Miller Park Prospects, Brad's visit to Des Moines, he chimes in with a rare Nashville Sounds photo gallery (Jeremy Jeffress included...)

[TheCrew07]

T-Rat game still on, that would be an epic job by the grounds crew considering the periodic heavy rain fall in the area until around noon.

[fondybrewfan]

No Denson again in Appleton?

[TheCrew07]

Bandits beat Rattlers 4-3

Quad Cities wins sixth straight

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Quad Cities River Bandits and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers met on a foggy Monday night at Neuroscience Group Field and it was the River Bandits who came out on top with a 4-3 win. Conrad Gregor drove in three runs, including the tie-breaking run in the seventh, for Quad Cities.

 

The River Bandits (18-18) got a pair of two-out doubles in the top of the third inning to take the lead. Jack Mayfield drove in the first run of the game with a double. Gregor followed with another double to give the Bandits a 2-0 lead.

 

Wisconsin (16-20) got a run in the bottom of the third inning. Taylor Brennan's two-out infield single drove Jose Pena in from third base to cut into deficit.

 

The River Bandits got their lead back to two runs in the top of the fifth inning. James Ramsay walked to start the inning, He stole second and went to third on a single by Mayfield. Gregor sent Ramsay home with a single.

 

Chris McFarland, who was named the Midwest League Player of the Week earlier in the day on Monday, tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Steve Halcomb reached second on an error to start the inning. Johnny Davis singled with one out to put runners on the corners. Davis stole second with McFarland at the plate to get two runners in scoring position. McFarland singled back through the middle of the diamond to drive in both Halcomb and Davis to tie the game 3-3.

 

McFarland's single extended his hitting streak to nine games, the longest hitting streak by a Timber Rattlers player this season.

 

Wisconsin had an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning against Jandel Gustave, the third River Bandit pitcher of the game. Michael Ratterree doubled with one out and moved to third on a wild pitch. Gustave got out of the inning with the game still tied after a popout and a strikeout.

 

An error helped the Rattlers in the fifth. An error would hurt them in the seventh. Chan-Jong Moon reached on an error to start the frame. He went from first to third on a hit-and-run single by Mayfield. Gregor's fly ball to center was deep enough to drive in Moon with the go-ahead run.

 

Gustave retired ten in a row after the double by Ratterree in the sixth. Omar Garcia gave the Rattlers a little hope with a two-out single in the ninth, but Gustave got a strikeout - his fourth in four scoreless innings - to close out Wisconsin.

 

The River Bandits have won six straight games and are back at the .500 mark for the first time since they were 7-7 on April 17.

 

Game two of the series is Tuesday night at 6:35pm. Tyler Alexander (2-3, 5.24) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Quad Cities has named Edison Frias (1-1, 5,14) as their starter.

 

Ticket prices will be thrown back to 1995 prices of $5 for a box seat, $4 for a reserved seat, and $3 for grass seating as part of this Throwback Game presented by Appvion on Tuesday night. Timber Rattlers players will wear jerseys based on those worn by the team in its inaugural season, too.

 

The Rattlers continue to celebrate their 20th anniversary season presented by Bergstrom Automotive with the fourth anniversary team bobblehead in the series of nine that will be given away this season. The first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a bobblehead of David Ortiz, a Timber Rattler in 1996 and a three-time World Series Champion with the Boston Red Sox, courtesy of Fox Communities Credit Union.

 

Show your business card when you purchase a ticket and for $13.50 you will receive a box seat ticket, a beverage and your choice of brat or hot dog. The offer is also available to senior citizens (55 & older) courtesy of Baker Tilly, WVBO, and AM1280 WNAM.

 

If you can't make it out to the game, there are many ways to catch the action. MyNEW32's Sports Showdown will have the game on television starting with their pregame show at 6:00pm. The radio broadcast can be heard on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting at 6:15pm. Subscribers of MiLB.TV can watch the game on the internet.

 

WP: Jandel Gustave (2-2)

LP: Trevor Seidenberger (2-1)

 

TIME: 2:55

ATTN: 423

 

Wisconsin Boxscore

First off major props to the ground crew, the Appleton area got 2.15" of rain today and yet they somehow managed to get this game in. It was 14-15 degrees warmer in Grand Chute than it was Green Bay this afternoon which probably helped and there was standing water on the warning track and in some spots in the outfield, by the end of the game the stadium was fogged in as bad it was here in Green Bay, but they still managed to play a game.

 

As far as the game went, Preston Gainey started out locating relatively well, missing up on occasion. As the game progressed his command continued to deteriorate and he didn't even make through 5. Most of the balls put in play against him were up and over the heart of the plate. If not for Taylor Brennan single handedly saving hits in the 2nd the damage could have been worse, I hope both of his plays make the highlights; the first a pick on a looping grounder with very strong throw to 1st and the second a diving stop on a grounder to get out of the inning. Brennan is really growing on me.

 

We've guessed quite a bit at Clint Coulter's defense based on his stats but as far as I can tell the only thing that's really changed is he no longer just misses balls which is significant improvement from last year, but doesn't mean much for his long-term future at the position. He still doesn't get down to block balls in the dirt, he tries to pick them with his glove and while Rattler pitchers had 3 WPs in the game, all them could have been prevented by getting down and blocking the ball properly. In fact the 3rd WP I thought should have been a Passed Ball, it was about 4 inches off the deck and Clint just reached down for it but went too far and the ball caromed of his glove through the left handed batter's box. There was also a ball in the dirt on a ball 4 that got through him to screen which didn't advance a runner. The bottom line is that I've yet to see him get down and block a ball in his Brewer career. If he's not able to get down and block, he's just not a big league catcher.

 

Michael Ratterree has his first multi-hit game since 4-25 and his 3rd multi-hit game of the season.

 

The story at least early in the game was Michael Feliz of Quad Cities, he was absolutely filthy through his 52 pitches, Coulter landed the only true hit against him. On Angel Ortega's triple the CF slipped in the wet grass and ball landed 10 feet away from him before he could get up. I was impressed with Feliz and he looked to be throwing mid 90s but the TV crew didn't mention anything so I went and checked his BA scouting report:

He sat at 88-92 mph when he signed, but now he sits 93-96 and touches 98 from a lightning-quick arm. His command sometimes wavers because his arm trails his lower body, but he already has above-average control and doesn't miss the zone much. His slider flashes average to plus, and he can throws it for strikes or bury it. Feliz is a long way from the big leagues, but he has the makings of a three-pitch mix and he's more than ready for low Class A Quad Cities in 2014

Somehow Quad Cities only has 13 HRs as a team but they are only 4th worst team in that category, West Michigan only has 9 through 37 games and is at the bottom of the standings in that regard.

 

Wisconsin Recap

 

Wisconsin Gameday

[TheCrew07]

Sounds Slip Late, Lose 2-1 In Extras

Nashville's Nelson Throws 9 K's in Quality Start; Hermida Homers

Nashville Sounds

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/2/2/75265622/cuts/Jimmy_Nelson_416_57_Large_hymun6pz_l6pu6so5.jpg

(MIKE STRASINGER )

 

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Nashville Sounds blew a one-run lead late Monday night at Principal Park, before losing in the 10th inning to the Iowa Cubs by a 2-1 final margin.

 

Down 1-0 in the ninth inning, the I-Cubs leveled the game on Lars Anderson's solo home run off Sounds closer Donovan Hand (0-2), which forced extras.

 

In the 10th, Hand allowed running singles to the top of Iowa's order with Javier Baez hitting the game-winning single through the hole at second base. Hand was charged the loss and his third blown save.

 

Earlier in the game, right-handed pitcher Jimmy Nelson helped guide the Sounds defensively, rendering the Cubs scoreless through six innings of two-hit baseball to log his eighth consecutive quality start of the season.

 

Nelson faced a jam in the fourth inning, with two runners in scoring position and no outs. The 24-year-old top prospect escaped without any damage by firing two strikeouts and getting catcher Eli Whiteside to groundout to end the inning.

 

He twirled nine strikeouts in the contest, matching a season-high and finishing one shy of a career single-game high. He walked three, uncorked one wild pitch and hit one batter.

 

Nashville starting pitchers have now allowed only 17 runs in the last 75.2 innings over a 14-game stretch for a 2.02 ERA.

 

Offensively, Sounds outfielder Jeremy Hermida gave Nashville its 1-0 advantage with a solo home run to dead centerfield off of the league's ERA-leader Tsuyoshi Wada.

 

The home run marks Hermida's third of the season and the team's seventh over the last four games, after recording only two homers in their previous 11 contests.

 

Outfielder Eugenio Velez led the team with three hits for his 11th multi-hit game of the season. Infielder Irving Falu, 0-for-5, failed to record a base knock, closing his team- and season-best hit streak at 11 games, during which he batted .342 (13-for-38).

 

Wada kept the Cubs in the game by holding Nashville to one run on six hits over seven innings of work. Eduardo Figueroa (1-0) was awarded the win for pitching a spotless 10th inning.

 

Sounds relievers Dustin Molleken and Brent Leach combined to work two solid innings for Nashville before Hand stepped to the hill in the ninth.

 

The Sounds play the final game of their eight-game road trip Tuesday at 12:05 p.m. against the Iowa Cubs. Left-handed pitcher Brad Mills (2-0, 1.72) will make the start for Nashville, opposite Iowa's RHP Chris Rusin (2-4, 3.58). Broadcaster Jeff Hem has the call on 102.5 The Game.

 

 

Nashville Boxscore

Geez another heartbreaking loss... to the Cubs no less.

 

Jimmy Nelson fantastic once again, just 6 baserunners in his 6 innings on 2 hits, 3 walks, and 1 HBP. The walks obviously aren't good, but in this case since he only gave 2 hits they didn't hurt anything other than his pitch count. Unfortunately Donovan Hand coughed up the lead again and the Sounds were walked off. He's not the guy I would have looked to for multiple innings tonight after he blew the save in the 9th, he's been cold since April 30th.

 

Nashville Recap

 

Nashville Gameday

[bkrause2]

Final: Fort Myers 8, Brevard County 2

 

Miscues malign Manatees in loss to Miracle

Brevard commits four errors, strand nine in 8-2 loss

By Andrew Luftglass / Brevard County Manatees

 

VIERA, Fla. - A slew of errors and stranded opportunities sank the Brevard County Manatees in an 8-2 loss to the Fort Myers Miracle on Monday night at Space Coast Stadium. The loss snapped Brevard County's four-game winning streak.

 

Fort Myers capitalized on Brevard's miscues early. The Miracle put a pair of runs on the board in the second inning after a leadoff error by third baseman Nicky Delmonico allowed Travis Harrison to reach. Manatees starting pitcher Tyler Wagner (3-2, 1.80 ERA) struck out the next two men, but walked Stuart Turner and then gave up back-to-back RBI singles.

 

John Murphy delivered first with a single to left to score Harrison. Aderling Mejia then chopped a single up the middle that shortstop Orlando Arcia could not handle. The infield single scored Turner to give Fort Myers an early 2-0 lead.

 

Wagner kept the Miracle off the scoreboard for the rest of his outing, but Fort Myers pulled away in the sixth. The Miracle struck for four runs off Manatees left-handed reliever Mike Strong to take a 6-0 advantage.

 

Strong walked the first two men he faced before LF Tyler Grimes stroked a fly ball to right field. Right fielder Michael Reed could not make the catch, as the ball twisted away from him and landed on the track for a double.

 

Harrison scored from second on the two-bagger and an error by second baseman Yadiel Rivera on the relay throw allowed Adam Brett Walker to score, as well. Stuart Turner then launched a two-run home run to the opposite field in right to complete the four-run frame.

 

Fort Myers (21-16) tacked on two more runs on a homer in the eighth. After Murphy hit a one-out double, Mejia skied an offering from Chad Pierce over the right field wall, to expand the Miracle's lead to 8-0.

 

Brevard County (20-16) struggled with runners in scoring position all night. The 'Tees put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth, but Miracle starting pitcher Matt Tomshaw (2-1, 2.31) got out of the jam with a strikeout and a line out to right field.

 

Tomshaw worked out of trouble again in the sixth. Brevard loaded the bases against the southpaw with just one out, but could not produce a run.

 

With one out, Tomshaw jammed Reed and induced a soft ground ball back to the mound. Tomshaw delivered a glove flip to the plate to cut down a run. The lefty then induced an inning-ending force out at second to get out of the jam.

 

Tomshaw earned the win with six scoreless innings, as he allowed five hits, walked a pair and struck out two.

 

The Manatees' only runs of the game crossed the plate after Tomshaw was finished. Nathan Orf led off the eighth inning with a single and two batters later, Tyrone Taylor hit a bomb over the bullpen in left field for his fourth homer of the season.

 

The Manatees loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but again could not scratch across a run. Brian Gilbert got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts to end the game.

 

Arcia, Taylor, Delmonico and Rivera all had two hits each but as a team, the Manatees went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

 

Brevard County and Fort Myers meet again on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. at Space Coast Stadium. Right-hander Damien Magnifico (2-2, 2.83) is slated to pitch for the Manatees against Miracle righty Jose Berrios (2-2, 3.30).

 

Brevard County Box Score

 

Tyler Wagner's only runs were unearned and he lowered his season ERA to 1.80. Mike Strong had his first real rough outing of the season. Tyrone Taylor was on base three more times tonight with a single, walk and home run. Orlando Arcia singled and doubled as did Nicky Delmonico. Yadiel Rivera also had a multi-hit game, singling twice.

 

Brevard County Play-By-Play

 

The Manatees only runs of the game came on Tyrone Taylor's 8th inning home run.

 

Brevard County Bottom of the 8th

 

Nathan Orf singles on a ground ball to second baseman Aderlin Mejia.

Orlando Arcia strikes out swinging.

Tyrone Taylor homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Nathan Orf scores.

Michael Reed strikes out swinging.

Cameron Garfield flies out to left fielder Tyler Grimes.

[HiAndTight]

We've guessed quite a bit at Clint Coulter's defense based on his stats but as far as I can tell the only thing that's really changed is he no longer just misses balls which is significant improvement from last year, but doesn't mean much for his long-term future at the position. He still doesn't get down to block balls in the dirt, he tries to pick them with his glove and while Rattler pitchers had 3 WPs in the game, all them could have been prevented by getting down and blocking the ball properly. In fact the 3rd WP I thought should have been a Passed Ball, it was about 4 inches off the deck and Clint just reached down for it but went too far and the ball caromed of his glove through the left handed batter's box. There was also a ball in the dirt on a ball 4 that got through him to screen which didn't advance a runner. The bottom line is that I've yet to see him get down and block a ball in his Brewer career. If he's not able to get down and block, he's just not a big league catcher.

 

 

While I'm not going to disagree that this is not yet a strong point in his game, I have to imagine you either haven't seen him play that much, or this is just complete hyperbole at this point.

 

 

I'm just not sure why there is such an interest in moving Coulter out from behind the plate. Catching is one of the most difficult positions to find and develop. The kid just turned 20 years old. He's got a VERY strong arm and has very good quickness. He's far from a refined catcher, but how many prep picks are at the age of 20? It's a position that takes time and patience to develop. Unless he continues to hit at the pace he has and is performing this well offensively in Huntsville next year, I see no reason to move him from behind the plate at this point to get his bat in the lineup.

 

Bottom line you have a big kid with well above average athleticism, very good quickness, a very strong arm and what appears to be a pretty good bat. You're all about the big picture. You JUST talked in another thread about how you'd rather have a "4 WAR player," 3-4 years down the road than someone who offers instant gratification. While it's not exactly apples to apples here, isn't this the opposite of such a theory?

 

 

You keep him at catcher for the next year(at the very least IMO) and at least give him the chance to develop as opposed to moving him to 1st base or a corner OF spot where his bat is significantly less valuable than if he develops into at least an average big league catcher.

 

The only position I wouldn't be against moving him to would be 3rd, but for a kid who's never played 3rd, I don't really see why he'd be more likely to develop into a good defender there as opposed to behind the plate.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 7, @Chattanooga 1

 

Jungmann Leads Stars Past Chattanooga

 

Chattanooga, TN - The Huntsville Stars received another quality start Monday night from Taylor Jungmann as he pitched seven strong innings leading the Stars to a 7-1 victory over the Chattanooga Lookouts (14-23) at AT&T Field. It was the Stars' fifth straight win which improved them to a Southern League best 26-12.

 

The only run Jungmann allowed was in the bottom of the first. Jeremy Hazelbaker singled home Darnell Sweeney which was the only run the Lookouts scored. Jungmann gave up seven hits and struck out four. The righty turned in his fifth quality start in eight starts this year. Jungmann improved to 3-4 on the season.

 

The Stars tied the game in the top of the second inning. Adam Weisenburger doubled home Mitch Haniger. Then the Stars took the lead for good after Josh Prince's RBI single in the same inning.

 

The Stars increased their lead to 3-1 in the 5th on Weisenburger's second RBI hit of the night. He singled home D'Vontrey Richardson and finished the game 3-4 with 2 RBI.

 

In the sixth, the Stars put the finishing touches on the Lookouts. They took advantage of three walks and Jason Rogers cleared the bases with a grand slam over the right field wall. It was the third homer of the season for Rogers and the Stars second grand slam this year.

 

The Stars lead the Lookouts 3-0 in the series and have already won their seventh series in the first eight series of the season. Game four will be played Tuesday night. LHP Brent Suter (5-1, 1.71) will start for the Stars. Chattanooga will go with RHP Andres Santiago (0-4, 4.80) on the mound. The game can be heard starting at 6:00 PM CT with Steve Jarnicki on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM, and wtkiradio.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score

 

LHP Chris Reed is no Dodgers' slouch, and he surrendered four earned runs for the first time this year here - go Stars!

 

RHP Taylor Jungmann outduels him here, biding his time at AA until the Stars lock in a first-half title and postseason berth.

 

The Stars put 18 baserunners on, as Josh Prince reached base four times, as did catcher Adam Weisenburger, who is on his way to a 40-man roster spot this fall, OPS up to .897. The 25-year-old has some Jonathan Lucroy about him - remember Lucroy only saw 23 games at AAA. Considering you always adjust catchers' age upwards on prospect lists, it's been absolutely criminal that Weisenburger is nearly completely absent from most. Love me some Adam W.!

 

Huntsville Game Log

 

Chattanoogan photos of Taylor Jungmann and Jason Rogers (grand slam) by Tim Evearitt

 

http://www.chattanoogan.com/photos/2014/5/article.276359.large.jpg

 

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[Mass Haas]

VIDEO: Huntsville Sports Report with Voice of the Stars Steve Jarnicki

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog - Postgame Entry

 

The trifecta feast of audio, photos, video, thanks Chris and staff!

[Mass Haas]

Nelson posts six sets of zeros for Sounds

Top Brewers prospect allows two hits, ties season high with 9 K's

By Tyler Maun / MiLB.com

 

When the time is right, Milwaukee will be waiting for Jimmy Nelson. For now, he's making the most of his continuing development on the doorstep of the big leagues.

 

The Brewers' top prospect allowed only two hits while fanning nine over six shutout innings, but Triple-A Nashville suffered a 2-1 walk-off loss at Iowa on Monday.

 

Nelson matched a season high with his nine strikeouts and limited any ill effects of three walks and a hit batsman. After plunking Josh Vitters with one out and walking Christian Villanueva behind him in the second inning, Nelson began to find his stride.

 

"I went out there and kind of struggled a little bit early, the right-hander said. "I had to battle those first few innings, but once I settled in, me and [catcher Lucas May] were on pretty much the same page all day. He did a good job there."

 

Nashville gave Nelson the lead in the top of the second on Jeremy Hermida's one-out, solo homer to center. Though the leadoff man reached against Nelson in three of his final four innings, the Cubs never capitalized against him.

 

Nelson froze Matt Szczur and fanned Chicago's top prospect Javier Baez with a runner on in the fifth and capped his day with a strikeout of No. 11 Cubs prospect Christian Villanueva to end the sixth.

 

"My fastball command to start the game set the tone for everything," Nelson said. "I used my four-seamer and my sinker, mixed those in. When I need to, bust out the slider and mix in a changeup to keep them off the fastball. You can't be a starter with just two pitches. The changeup's come a long way for me, and it's helped keep guys off my fastball."

 

Nelson has worked at least six innings in each of his starts this year and hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of them. Monday was his second scoreless outing of the year.

 

"The key to this game, really, is consistency," he said. "We have such a long season. You can't really be a player that's really high or really low. You have to stay even-keeled, not only with your attitude but with your progression or mechanics or whatever it may be."

 

With four big league appearances under his belt last season, the University of Alabama product gives the National League Central-leading Brewers a potential ace-in-waiting for an already impressive team. A possible recall to Miller Park, though, isn't weighing heavily on Nelson's mind.

 

"Of course you want to be in the big leagues," he said. "Everyone here does, at this level, and everybody here on our team has the talent to be there. We have a very great team. I mean we all understand the process. We all understand that we have things to work on here at Triple-A. You can't look so far ahead that something right in front of you doesn't get worked on and fixed. We're all focused on the now, and I think we're all doing a great job of that."

 

Through Nelson's six frames, Iowa starter Tsuyoshi Wada kept the game tight. Wada was charged with one run on six hits while striking out eight and walking three over seven innings.

 

Iowa rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth when Lars Anderson homered off Nashville reliever Donovan Hand. An inning later, Baez played hero, bouncing a walk-off single up the middle to plate Szczur with the game-winning run.

 

Hand (0-2) was charged with two runs on five hits while striking out two and not issuing a walk over 1 1/3 frames.

 

Cubs righty Eduardo Figueroa (1-0) picked up the win with a perfect 10th.

 

Top Brewers prospect Jimmy Nelson has struck out 53 batters against just 16 walks this season. (Mike Strasinger/Nashville Sounds)

 

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[Mass Haas]

Brevard County --

 

AUDIO, Game Highlights: Fort Myers wins the opening game of the series, 8-2

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO via Jeff Hem's blog --

 

"Tonight’s interview is this week’s installment of “Mondays with the Manager” with Sounds skipper Rick Sweet. He discusses the team’s great offense yet struggling bullpen on the road trip, what he’s seen (as a former catcher) from Sounds catchers so far, whether or not the Sounds could get some relief help from Double-A Huntsville soon and how badly the team needs Wednesday’s off day."

 

***

 

Sweet basically begs for RHP Arcenio Leon to be called up from Huntsville to his squad to solve the Sounds' closer woes. Also admits if the Brewers need a catcher from the minors, they would likely pass up his AAA group and reach down to AA.

 

After listening to bland always-sunny Mike Guerrero weekly for two years, Rick Sweet is awesome, to be honest.

[Mass Haas]

Link includes video interview with Chris McFarland and game photos --

 

No time to slow down: Rattlers' McFarland continues his hot hitting despite loss to Bandits

by Tim Froberg, Post-Crescent Media

 

GRAND CHUTE — Chris McFarland has been on a tear and sees no reason to throttle down.

 

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers’ second baseman was named Monday as the Midwest League’s player of the week and continued his hot hitting latter in the day during a 4-3 loss to visiting Quad Cities.

 

The 21-year-old McFarland accounted for a good chunk of the Wisconsin offense, drilling a game-tying, two-run single in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to nine games, the longest by a Rattlers player this season. McFarland is hitting .298, second-highest on the team, and is second in home runs (six) and slugging percentage (.538).

 

Not bad for a player who struggled to hit for both average (.238) and power (three HRs) last season in 72 games with the Rattlers.

 

“I did a lot of training in the offseason,” said McFarland. “I worked on fixing my swing, just learning to trust it and letting my hands work. I’m trying to keep my swing short and trying to stay up the middle. I still have a lot of work to do, but it’s great to see improvement.”

 

During his award-winning week, McFarland went 11-for-25 with two homers, three RBI and eight runs scored. He was the second Timber Rattler this season to win the MWL’s player of the week following catcher Clint Coulter, who claimed it in mid-April.

 

“I didn’t even know about it until I saw it on Twitter,” said McFarland. “Guys were congratulating me and I was like, ‘Congratulations for what?’ It’s a pretty cool feeling.”

 

In addition to showing more power at the plate this season, McFarland can run. He’s third on the team in stolen bases with 14.

 

“Chris can hurt you in so many ways, offensively,” said Wisconsin manager Matt Erickson. “He uses all parts of the field and he’s staying inside the ball a little bit better this year. He’s shot some balls down the right-field line for some extra-base hits and he’s got enough juice in his bat to hurt you pull side.

 

“Plus, he can be a weapon on the basepaths. His overall approach at the plate has been pretty good, His pitch selection has been better and he’s been winning counts, and getting better pitches to hit. When he swings at strikes, he does some damage.”

 

Third baseman Taylor Brennan added an RBI single for Wisconsin, but the Timber Rattlers struggled to make contact against a trio of effective Quad Cities pitchers. River Bandits starter Michael Feliz and relievers Patrick Christensen and Jandel Gustave combined for 11 strikeouts.

 

Feliz, rated by Baseball America as the ninth-best prospect in the Houston Astros’ organization, fanned five of the first six hitters he faced and finished with six strikeouts in 3 1⁄3 innings. Gustave, who got the win, stuck out four in pitching four scoreless innings and hit 96 mph on the radar gun.

 

“Nice arms, big-time arms with loose arm action,” said Erickson. “It’s a tough night at the plate when you got two kids throwing the ball like that and they’re in the zone and mixing like that.”

 

The River Bandits scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie and take the lead for good. An error by shortstop Angel Ortega led off the inning and Quad Cities eventually broke the deadlock on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Conrad Gregor.

 

“We’ve got to take care of the ball there,” said Erickson. “It seems like whenever we make a mistake, it comes back to haunt us. And it really stings when you lose a one-run ballgame.”