Link Report for Tue. 5/27 - Huntsville: Win. Sleep. Repeat.

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Tuesday's Daily Menu:

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: RHP Michael Blazek at home vs. Colorado Springs (Rockies), 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 Drew Gagnon at home vs. Tennessee (Cubs), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:30 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).

 

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Brevard County: RHP Jorge Lopez at home vs. St. Lucie (Mets), 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: First, it's the completion of Monday's suspended nine-inning game (Timber Rattlers lead 2-0 after three innings) at Clinton (Mariners), 4:40 PM pre-game, 5:00 gametime, followed by Tuesday's regularly-scheduled game, now shortened to seven innings. LHP Anthony Banda is tentatively scheduled to start in the nightcap.

 

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: The next Wisconsin game scheduled for local TV is Saturday evening, May 31st (MyNew32 TV).

[Mass Haas]

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

 

Nashville

 

Huntsville

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin Regularly Scheduled Game

 

Wisconsin Completion of Suspended Game

 

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:

 

Nashville, TN[/b]

 

Huntsville, AL

 

Viera, FL (Melbourne)

 

Clinton, IA

[TheCrew07]

Ratterree's 10th inning slam lifts Rattlers to victory

Wisconsin beats Clinton 6-2 in conclusion of Monday's suspended game

http://By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

CLINTON, IA - It was worth the wait. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were leading the Clinton LumberKings 2-0 on Monday when their Midwest League game was halted by rain. When the game restarted, Clinton managed to tie the game. Then, Michael Ratterree hit a grand slam home run in the top of the tenth to provide the winning margin in Wisconsin's 6-2 victory on Tuesday at Ashford University Field.

 

The Timber Rattlers (24-26) started the game on Monday with a double by Johnny Davis and an RBI single by Omar Garcia for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Angel Ortega drove in Francisco Castillo with a two-out single in the top of the second for a 2-0 advantage.

 

Wisconsin starting pitcher Zach Quintana tossed three scoreless innings around three hits and a walk with the help of a pair of strikeouts.

 

Steve Halcomb singled to start the top of the fourth inning on Monday, but rain halted play for the day.

 

When the game resumed, Clinton (25-24) pulled to within a run in the bottom of the fourth.

 

Tristan Archer replaced Quintana and gave up a single to Jeff Zimmerman and a double to Joe DeCarlo with one out. A wild pitch with Corey Simpson at the plate allowed Zimmerman to score. Archer kept the game at 2-1 with a strikeout and a popup to end the inning.

 

The LumberKings tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Jack Reinheimer singled and stole second to start the inning. Zimmerman reached on a one out error to put runners on the corners. Archer looked like he would get out of the inning as DeCarlo sent a grounder near second for a possible double play. But, the force play at second was fumbled and the only out was on DeCarlo at first as Zimmerman scored the tying run.

 

Clinton got the go-ahead run to third base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Archer stranded him there to keep the game tied 2-2.

 

LumberKings reliever Paul Fry worked 4-2/3 innings without allowing a hit and striking out six, but a two out single by Michael Ratterree in the eighth knocked Fry out of the game. Clinton closer Emilio Pagan came on to face Castillo.

 

Castillo sent a line drive to the gap in right-center on the first pitch he saw from Pagan. Right fielder Austin Wilson made a diving grab to deny Castillo extra bases and a possible go ahead RBI.

 

The LumberKings put the leadoff man on base against Archer in the eighth, but could not score. Clinton also put the leadoff man on in the ninth. He was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and Archer got the second out on a grounder to short. Trevor Seidenberger came on to get the final out of the ninth and send the game to extra innings.

 

In the tenth inning, Garcia started the rally when he was hit by a pitch from Emilio Pagan. Clint Coulter drew a four pitch walk to put two men on base. Pagan hit Rafael Neda on an 0-2 pitch to load the bases for Ratterree.

 

Ratterree, who had three hits in his first 15 at bats of the current road trip, showed signs of breaking out as he has singled and doubled earlier in this game. In the tenth, he got a hold of a 2-2 pitch and hit a no doubt, grand slam to left and the Rattlers were back in front by a score of 6-2.

 

Seidenberger went out and tossed a perfect bottom of the tenth to pick up his fourth win of the season.

 

The regularly scheduled game will begin around 7:45pm.

 

HOME RUN:

WIS:

Michael Ratterree (8th, GRAND SLAM in 10th off Emilio Pagan, 1 out)

 

WP: Trevor Seidenberger (4-1)

LP: Emilio Pagan (1-2)

 

TIME: 3:00 (1:30 delay)

ATTN: 918

 

Wisconsin Boxscore

Some games I love Michael Ratterree and there have been much more of them lately. Tristan Archer was not sharp, he didn't have a clean inning, and Chris was struggling to come up with the proper adjective to describe his day, but he limited the damage. Trevor Seidenberger continues to be a stud, he has 21 SO in 22.1 IP with 9 BB. The BB rate is a tad high, but but a WHIP under 1.00 is pretty awesome.

 

Wisconsin Recap

[TigerUppercut]

TheCrew,

 

What does Ratterree's swing and approach look like? I'm guessing the swing is a tad long given the strikouts but the discipline looks OK given the splits. What's your outlook on him as a prospect? A bit old for the level so maybe the power and moderately better recent results are fools gold.

[bkrause2]

Final: St. Lucie 1, Brevard County 2

 

Lopez masterful as Manatees edge Mets, 2-1

'Tees starter allows one unearned run in eight-plus innings

By Andrew Luftglass / Brevard County Manatees

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/3/6/77082036/cuts/Lopez_5.4_640x360_8gdmt3d1_zl1lizad.jpg

Brevard County starting pitcher Jorge Lopez threw eight-plus innings and allowed just one unearned run on four hits, as the Manatees defeated the St. Lucie Mets, 2-1 on Tuesday night at Space Coast Stadium in Viera. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

 

VIERA, Fla. - Manatees' starting pitcher Jorge Lopez was dominant in the longest outing of his career, as Brevard County defeated the St. Lucie Mets, 2-1 on Tuesday night at Space Coast Stadium.

 

He took a stab at his first career complete game, but fell just short in a terrific outing. The right-hander pitched eight innings of two-hit, shutout ball and then came out to pitch the ninth.

 

Lopez (6-2, 3.17 ERA) did not allow a hard-hit ball in the ninth, but he did allow the tying run to reach base. He gave up a bloop single to Dilson Herrera and then an infield single to Gilbert Gomez to start the inning.

 

Kevin Shackelford came on to relieve Lopez with the game in the balance. The right-hander bent, but did not break. St. Lucie scored on a fielder's choice by T.J. Rivera that brought Herrera home. However, that was all that the Mets could muster.

 

Shackelford struck out the final two men he faced to end the ball game. He fanned both Jairo Perez and Cam Maron to nail down his first save this season since coming to Brevard County. Shackelford had also recorded one save for Double-A Huntsville.

 

With the win, Lopez has now been victorious in each of his last five decisions. He also tied St. Lucie's Matthew Koch for the Florida State League-lead in wins. Lopez pitched eight-plus innings and only allowed four hits and one unearned run, while walking two and striking out four.

 

Brevard County (26-24) scored both of its runs in the third inning. Jose Sermo led off the inning with a home run down the right field line, as his first long ball of the year gave the 'Tees a 1-0 lead.

 

Nathan Orf started a new rally after Sermo's home run with a double to right-center field. Orlando Arcia followed with a single and then Tyrone Taylor walked to load the bases. Two batters later, Alfredo Rodriguez hit a ground ball to second base that Herrera bobbled when he tried to throw to second base. That allowed Orf to score from third, to give Brevard a 2-0 edge.

 

Mets' center fielder and highly-touted prospect, Brandon Nimmo injured himself on Orf's double. Nimmo picked up the ball off the warning track and attempted to throw it toward the infield, but his ankle appeared to buckle and he fell to the ground. St. Lucie (30-21) removed Nimmo from the game and Gilbert Gomez played the rest of the night in his spot.

 

The Manatees and Mets face off again on Wednesday night at Space Coast Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Southpaw Hobbs Johnson (4-5, 2.94) will get the start for the 'Tees against righty Domingo Tapia (1-4, 4.42) of the Mets.

 

Brevard County Box Score

 

Great game for Jorge Lopez. Eight innings, four hits, and just the one unearned run. It's been exciting to see his development so far this season. And what about the job Dave Chavarria has done with that Manatees staff as a whole. The Manatees are second to only Dunedin in most pitching statistics in the FSL. Jose Sermo picked up his first home run of the season, playing his sixth straight game in place of Victor Roache who was still out of commission. Nathan Orf doubled and was hit twice by pitches and Alfredo Rodriguez drew a pair of walks and stole three bases.

 

Brevard County Play-By-Play

 

Brevard County Bottom of the 3rd

Jose Sermo homers (1) on a fly ball to right field.

Nathan Orf doubles (8) on a line drive to center fielder Brandon Nimmo.

Defensive Substitution: Gilbert Gomez replaces center fielder Brandon Nimmo, batting 2nd, playing center field.

Orlando Arcia singles on a ground ball to center fielder Gilbert Gomez. Nathan Orf to 3rd.

Tyrone Taylor walks. Orlando Arcia to 2nd.

Nick Delmonico strikes out swinging.

Alfredo Rodriguez reaches on a force attempt, fielding error by second baseman Dilson Herrera. Nathan Orf scores. Orlando Arcia to 3rd. Tyrone Taylor to 2nd.

Mike Garza grounds into a double play, third baseman T. J. Rivera to first baseman Cole Frenzel. Tyrone Taylor out at 3rd.

[TheCrew07]

TheCrew,

 

What does Ratterree's swing and approach look like? I'm guessing the swing is a tad long given the strikouts but the discipline looks OK given the splits. What's your outlook on him as a prospect? A bit old for the level so maybe the power and moderately better recent results are fools gold.

 

Many players get long when they are pressing, but he's been hot mostly away from home. The T-Rats had that quick 3 game home series before the D3 WS but I forgot to set my DVR so I didn't get to see him bat in that series.

 

Early on he was taking a quite a few close pitches and getting behind in the count, for the most part I thought both he and Brennan (who also takes selectivity to the extreme) were correct that the pitches were in fact balls, but both have to be a bit more flexible and adjust to the umpire. Jawing at the umpire about close pitches isn't going to help your cause and mostly just put Ratterree in a hole count wise in way too many ABs.

 

I don't think the power is a mirage, I just think he had to adjust his approach coming up to full season ball. Once he actually started hitting the XBHs are coming in bunches, not just the HRs. He's already rebounded all the way back to .240 after starting the day at .224. He'll be a guy that strikes out a fair amount, even in this recent stretch he'll still drop 3 SOs in a single game, maybe he's a .260ish hitter best case as a major leaguer, but he'll have a fair amount of pop, I don't think it's a stretch to project him as a 20 HR guy if he makes enough contact in a full 162 season. He's got some positional flexibility and is an average to above average corner OF defensively with a decent arm. If he doesn't make it as an everyday player he could have a fall back as bench bat with some pop. Ratterree might be an average runner, it's tough to tell where exactly he falls in that range without putting a stop watch on him.

 

At his best he could be an upgrade over Khris Davis in LF but unlike Khris I do worry that he'll hit enough.

 

Out of curiosity I just went and looked at his BA scouting report from last year's draft, I really don't look at the scouting reports of players drafted after the first 20 rounds:

Ratteree entered 2012 as a potential third-round pick, but he fell apart at the plate and went undrafted after batting .233/.378/.402. He got off to an even slower start this season before heating up in the second half.

 

It looks like he's prone to these extended stretches of garbage at the plate like we saw to start the season.

[TheCrew07]

Clinton homer clocks Rattlers in nightcap

Shank breaks tie with dinger, gives LumberKings a 4-3 win

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

CLINTON, IA - Zach Shank's fourth inning home run broke a 3-3 tie and proved to be the difference in the Clinton LumberKings' 4-3 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the regularly scheduled game on Tuesday at Ashford University Field. The Rattlers had beaten Clinton 6-2 in ten innings earlier in the evening to wrap up a game that had suspended on Monday.

 

Wisconsin (24-27) grabbed the early lead with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Clinton starter Eddie Campbell walked Michael Ratterree and Taylor Brennan on eight straight pitches to start the inning. Jose Pena was next and he lined a 3-2 pitch to left for an RBI single to score Ratterree. Later in the inning a sacrifice fly by Angel Ortega drove in Brennan for a 2-0 lead.

 

Clinton (26-24) stormed back in the bottom of the third inning. Anthony Banda got the first out, but walked Ian Miller and committed a balk to get him to second base. Jack Reinheimer lined a triple to the gap in left-center to score Miller. Marcus Littlewood followed with a double to the corner in right and Reinheimer scored the tying run. Jeff Zimmerman put Clinton in front with a two-out single that drove in Reinheimer.

 

Ratterree started a rally for the Rattlers in the top of the fourth inning with a double on a fly ball to left that was lost in the lights. Pena drove in Ratterree with the tying run on a single to left.

 

Victor Diaz took over for Banda in the bottom of the fourth inning and extended his scoreless inning streak to 16 as he retired the first two Clinton batters he faced. But his streak would not reach 16-1/3 innings. Zach Shank lifted a 1-0 pitch deep to left for a solo homer and the LumberKings were up 4-3.

 

Campbell pitched around an error in the top of the fifth and worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning to maintain the lead.

 

Thyago Vieira pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for his first save of the season.

 

Wisconsin and Clinton have split the first six meetings between the teams this season. The LumberKings took two of three at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in a series May 2-4. The Rattlers won two of three at Ashford University Field this week. The teams meet in again this half with a series at Clinton June 7-9.

 

The road series victory over the LumberKings was the first road series win by the Rattlers since they took two of three from South Bend April 11-13. It was also just the third road series win of the season for Wisconsin and their first against a Western Division opponent.

 

The Timber Rattlers begin the final leg of their nine-game road trip on Wednesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a game against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Preston Gainey (1-2, 2.93) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Aaron Slegers (4-2, 5.36) is set to start for the Kernels. Game time at Perfect Game Field is 6:35pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm.

 

HOME RUN:

CLN:

Zach Shank (2nd, 0 on in 4th inning off Victor Diaz, 2 out)

 

WP: Eddie Campbell (3-3)

LP: Victor Diaz (1-2)

SAVE: Thyago Vieira (1)

 

TIME: 1:49

ATTN: 797

 

Wisconsin Game 2 Boxscore

Anthony Banda has an opponent AVE over .300 so don't be fooled by his higher SO rate. Victor Diaz wasn't as sharp as he's been and isn't a huge SO guy, but he really only made 1 bad pitch and that was all it took to get stuck with the loss.

 

The bats weren't very good accounting for just 3 hits over the 7 innings, Jose Pena (2-3) had the only multi-hit game. Jose had been struggling mightily of late, his AVE had fallen all the way to .226 prior to today's action, hopefully the 2 hit in the night cap gets him going again.

 

Wisconsin Game 2 Recap

[TheCrew07]

Sounds Blanked In Homestand Opener, 2-0

Nashville Sounds

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/7/8/77099378/cuts/Morris_0527_qaipoxt6_h3vfc7ug.jpg

(Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds)

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Colorado Springs left-hander Tyler Matzek tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings and belted a home run to lead the Sky Sox to a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Sounds on Tuesday evening at Greer Stadium in the opener of a four-game series.

 

Nashville (27-26) -- which out-hit Colorado Springs, 7-4, in the contest -- was blanked for the second straight night and has lost five of its last six contests. It is the first time the Sounds have suffered back-to-back shutout defeats since June 11-12, 2010.

 

Matzek (5-2) retired 13 of the first 14 Sounds batters en route to picking up the victory. He allowed four hits over his 7 2/3 frames.

 

Matzek helped his own cause in the top of the sixth inning when he broke a scoreless deadlock by belting an opposite-field solo homer to left-center off Nashville reliever Johnnie Lowe (0-1), who took the loss. The blast was Matzek's first career home run and the first hit against the Sounds by an opposing pitcher since New Orleans' Brad Hand took Mike Fiers deep on April 16, 2012.

 

The Sounds, who had runners on base in each of the final five frames, had their best scoring opportunity in the eighth, when they placed runners on second and third with two outs against Sky Sox reliever Chris Martin. The right-hander kept the one-run lead intact, however, by inducing an inning-ending groundout from Caleb Gindl.

 

Colorado Springs doubled its lead to 2-0 in the top of the ninth when catcher Jackson Williams coaxed a bases-loaded, two-out walk from Dustin Molleken to force home Kyle Parker, who had doubled earlier in the frame.

 

Martin permitted another pair of Sounds baserunners in the bottom of the ninth but caught Kevin Mattison looking at a called third strike to end the game and pick up his fourth save.

 

First baseman Hunter Morris went 2-for-4 in the losing effort, the slugger's 10th multiple-hit effort in his last 20 starts. Shortstop Hector Gomez also went 2-for-4 for Nashville, upping his May batting average to .325 (26-for-80).

 

The teams continue the series with another 7:05 p.m. meeting on Wednesday. Right-hander Taylor Jungmann (0-1, 12.00) -- the Brewers' #6 prospect -- will make his first career Triple-A start when he mans the bump for the Sounds in the contest. Colorado Springs will counter with left-hander Yohan Flande (1-6, 4.43).

 

Nashville Boxscore

This Colorado Springs team has been tough on the Sounds all year and Tyler Matzek who fell all the way down to the Rockies #12 prospect coming into the season after being the 11th overall pick in 2009 added insult to injury with his HR.

 

Michael Blazek has actually been much better in the longer outings, he's only given up 2 runs since May 4th.

 

Hunter Morris is inching closer to .300, now at .295 following tonight's game though his OPS is floating just over .800 at .808. Not great by any stretch but much better than whatever Lyle Overbay is going to put up over a full season, even if you knock off .150 points.

 

Nashville Recap

 

Nashville Gameday

[Mass Haas]

Final: @Huntsville 2, Tennessee 1, ten innings

 

Stars Walk Off For 2nd Straight Night

MILB.com

 

Huntsville, AL - The Huntsville Stars provided late heroics for the second straight day against the Tennessee Smokies. Tuesday, Joey Paciorek drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the tenth scoring Nick Shaw giving the Stars a 2-1 win.

 

The Stars were trailing for a second straight night going into the ninth. Jason Rogers for a second straight night delivered in the clutch. Rogers was facing Smokies closer Armando Rivero. Rogers took Rivero deep over the left center field fence tying the game at 1-1. It was Rogers' fourth homer of the year.

 

In the bottom of the tenth, Austin Kirk (1-4) entered to pitch for Tennessee. Shaw led off for the Stars and made the most of his at bat. Shaw fouled off a pitch down the left field in foul territory. Smokies shortstop Jeudy Valdez and left fielder John Andreoli chased after it but neither could make the catch.

 

Shaw eventually singled into right field. Kirk then proceeded to intentionally walk Josh Prince and D'Vontrey Richardson.

 

With the bases loaded and one out, Paciorek drew a four pitch walk, scoring Shaw, winning it for the Stars.

 

It was the second straight win by the Stars in their final at-bat.

 

The Smokies scored first in the third inning to grab a 1-0 lead. Dustin Geiger singled through the right side of the infield off of Huntsville starter Drew Gagnon. Geiger's RBI single scored Kris Bryant giving the Smokies the early advantage.

 

Gagnon took a no decision after six innings. He allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked four.

 

David Goforth (2-2) earned the win out of the Stars bullpen. Goforth pitched out of a bases loaded one out mess in the ninth to keep the Smokies off the scoreboard. He also pitched the tenth.

 

The Stars are now a season high eighteen games above the .500 mark with a 35-17 record. They've also increased their lead on the Tennessee Smokies (26-25) by 8.5 games for first place with eighteen games to play before the first half of the year ends.

 

The Stars can claim the series with the Smokies Wednesday night in game three of their series at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville. LHP Brent Suter (6-3, 2.70) will start for the Stars. Tennessee will have Dae-Eun Rhee (2-4, 3.70) on the mound. Tuesday's game can be heard with Steve Jarnicki starting at 6:15 PM CDT on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM and wtkiradio.com.

 

***

 

PHOTO GALLERY AT THE STORY LINK BELOW

 

Huntsville Stars win still another one in walk-off style, padding lead over Tennessee Smokies

by Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - There are walk-off wins that are so resounding they're all but accompanied by exploding lights, like the last scene in "The Natural." And there are some that are little more than muffled burps.

 

In consecutive home games, the Huntsville Stars have had both varieties.

 

After Jason Rogers delivered a game-winning double in Monday's victory, he led off the ninth with a solo homer to send Tuesday's game into extra innings, with Joey Paciorek bringing home the winning run in the tenth with a bases-loaded walk, one of baseball's most anticlimactic moments.

 

The Stars' 2-1 victory over the Tennessee Smokies brings their record to 35-17 and builds an 8.5-game lead over the Smokies in the Southern League North, with only 18 games remaining in the first half.

 

The Stars' magic number -- any combination of Huntsville wins and Tennessee losses - to clinch the first half title is 10. The Stars will host the Smokies the next three games, including Friday's tentatively scheduled debut of Jed Bradley, the former Huntsville High pitcher who'll become only the second Huntsville-born person to play for the Stars.

 

For a 2-1 game, it was hardly an evening of phenomenal pitching. The Smokies bullpen collapsed and the Stars' yielded 11 hits while pitching around the league's best hitter, Kris Bryant, who was walked four times.

 

Huntsville starter Drew Gagnon, who entered with a 2.35 ERA, went six innings and struck out seven, but he allowed six hits and four walks, escaping for the most part.

 

"Drew got himself in a little trouble," manager Carlos Subero said, "but that's one thing you've definitely got to evaluate. When he gets himself in trouble, and he's able to bounce back and make the pitches and minimize the damage, you've got to like that. That's growth."

 

Rogers homered off Armando Rivero, who leads Southern League pitchers in yielding the lowest batting average (.125) to opposing hitters. Said Subero, "Rogers came up big, and against one of the best closers in the league."

 

After David Goforth sat down the Smokies in the 10th, Nick Shaw led off and took - to use a golf analogy - took advantage of a mulligan after a slice. He lofted a pop-up to shallow leftfield, barely in foul ground, that probably should have been caught. Instead, it dropped harmlessly, and he followed on the next pitch with a sharp single to right.

 

Shawn Zarraga, called upon to bunt for the first time all year, moved him to second, then Shaw took third on a wild pitch by reliever Austin Kirk.

 

Smokies' manager Buddy Bailey ordered intentional walks to Josh Prince and D'Vontrey Richardson to load the bases, bringing up the pitcher's spot. It was the percentage move. Said Subero, "You have to go for it."

 

It forced Subero to have to pinch-hit and possibly go deeper into the bullpen. It brought Paciorek in as a pinch-hitter. The back-up catcher has only nine at-bats all season, with a double and single. Kirk immediately went to 3-0 on Paciorek. The fourth pitch, usually a gimme strike in that situation, was up in the zone.

 

Paciorek froze at home for a second, assuming the strike, before heading to first. Catcher Rafael Lopez remained in his position behind the plate. Kirk squatted in front of the mound in disbelief for what seemed an eternity as the Stars celebrated all about him, dousing Paciorek with water and pounding him in congratulations. Even if the walk-off dramatics were a tad different in the span of two nights, the celebrations were eerily similar.

 

Huntsville Box Score

 

Team continues to invent new ways to steal (um, we mean dominate ) games.

 

Speaking of stealing, D'Vontrey Richardson is 11-for-12 on the basepaths.

 

At some point, the good mojo for this squad will be gone. But that time's not yet. They are amazing, aren't they?

 

Huntsville Game Log

 

This led to Jason Rogers' game-tying blast. --

 

Tennessee Top of the 9th

 

Pitching Change: David Goforth replaces Casey Medlen, batting 3rd, replacing first baseman Nick Ramirez.

Defensive Substitution: Shawn Zarraga replaces pitcher Casey Medlen, batting 9th, playing first base.

Jae-Hoon Ha strikes out on a foul tip.

Kris Bryant walks.

Rafael Lopez singles on a ground ball to center fielder D' Vontrey Richardson. Kris Bryant to 2nd.

Dustin Geiger singles on a line drive to center fielder D' Vontrey Richardson. Kris Bryant to 3rd. Rafael Lopez to 2nd.

Rubi Silva strikes out swinging.

Jeudy Valdez grounds into a force out, shortstop Nick Shaw to second baseman Josh Prince. Dustin Geiger out at 2nd.

[Mass Haas]

One of MiLB.com's feature story games is the Nashville loss, with Jeff's call on the video prominent here.

[Mass Haas]

Brief Huntsville video highlights -- the early innings via local newscast

[Mass Haas]

Nashville --

 

VIDEO: Matt Pagnozzi doubles to left field in a 2-0 loss at the hands of Colorado Springs

 

***

 

VIDEO (from Monday): Hainley Statia takes a hit away from Kyle Jensen in the Sounds' 3-0 loss to New Orleans

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County --

 

AUDIO: RHP Mark Williams joins Justin Rocke on the Manatees Pregame Show

 

AUDIO, Game Highlights: The 'Tees win 2-1 behind a dominant pitching performance by Jorge Lopez

 

AUDIO: Andrew Luftglass catches up with winning pitcher Jorge Lopez after his dominant outing against the Mets

[TooLiveBrew]

Trying to temper my excitement, but Jorge Lopez is making that reeeeally tough right now. What a performance!

[fondybrewfan]

No kidding. The kid always had potential but he appears to be putting it together this year. Plus he is still really young for High A. Looking forward to tracking him the rest of the year.

 

The overall pitching has been a very pleasant surprise this year. Yeah there aren't any aces in waiting but we appear to be building a lot of quality depth. There are probably a legitimate 5-7 guys at High A or above that I think can be legitimate MLB starters (3 or 4 types) and almost certainly a couple of those can be better than that. If Nelson and Peralta can lead the front of the rotation it appears we have plenty of guys that could fill in the rest of rotation pretty solidly.

[TheCrew07]

Much more at the link.

 

Injury Bug Visits One In Five Elite Pitching Prospects

May 28, 2014 by Matt Eddy

 

Flame-throwing Royals rookie Yordano Ventura left his start Monday in the third inning, complaining of elbow discomfort.

 

Mets Triple-A righthander Noah Syndergaard flew to New York this week to have an MRI performed on his elbow, which revealed a mild flexor pronator strain.

 

The plight of Syndergaard and Ventura, who ranked Nos. 16 and 26, respectively, on our preseason Top 100 Prospects list, has become distressingly common for young pitchers. While this particular duo avoided going under the knife, both will spend time on the disabled list as they recover. However, the rash of young big league starters to have Tommy John surgery—a list that includes Jose Fernandez, Matt Harvey, Matt Moore and Martin Perez—combined with the spate of arm problems visited upon pitching prospects has everybody in the industry feeling on edge.