Link Report for Fri. 7/11 - Kodi Medeiros debuts in Maryvale

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF!

 

All times are Central

 

Nashville: RHP Ariel Pena at home vs. Round Rock (Rangers), 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 Jacob Barnes 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).

 

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Brevard County: RHP Chad Pierce at home vs. Charlotte (Rays), 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, as all games are scheduled to be broadcast in 2014.

 

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

 

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Wisconsin: RHP Preston Gainey at home vs. Quad Cities (Astros), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link - 1280 AM WNAM

 

Chris Mehring is back to do his customary fantastic work as the Voice of the Rattlers. Follow him on Twitter @CMehring; we'll link to Chris' infamous blog often -- Rattler Radio.

 

For the $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.

 

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Helena: First, it's the completion of Thursday's suspended game at Orem (Angels) - Brewers trail 1-0, top of the 5th, 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:30 gametime, followed by Friday's regularly-scheduled game, now a seven-inning contest; LHP Luis Ortega is tentatively scheduled to start in the nightcap.

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

There's a new Voice of the Helena Brewers in 2014, as Dustin Daniel (@dustin__daniel on Twitter) takes over for legendary Steve Wendt. We look forward to Dustin building his own legacy moving forward.

 

MiLB.TV -- This entire seven-game road trip (Orem and Grand Junction) will be available for viewing by MiLB.TV subscribers, including archived broadcasts.

 

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Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at home vs. the little White Sox, 9:00 PM gametime; never audio for games in this league

 

Miller Park Prospects - Arizona League Primer

 

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

 

We're also going to lock in the link to Brad Krause's fantastic Miller Park Prospects - Dominican Summer League primer right here, at least for the first couple of months of the DSL campaign, for your easy review. Brad will also be adding DSL Link Report duties to his Brevard coverage for us here. Thanks, Brad!

[Mass Haas]

As per our highlight above, if you only want to make a one-month commitment to MiLB.TV for Helena (plus the other Brewer affiliates), here's the link for the $12.99 purchase.

 

***

 

Also,

 

DVR ALERT! As we've been indicating for days now, the next televised Timber Rattlers game is tonight's, Friday, July 11th on MyNew32 TV (7:00 PM airtime).

[Mass Haas]

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

 

Nashville

 

Huntsville

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

Helena Completion of Suspended Game

 

Helena Regularly Scheduled Game

 

Maryvale

 

DSL Brewers

 

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: (For split-season leagues, 2nd half standings are shown as the default, although overall standings are also available at the link.)

 

AAA - Pacific Coast League American Southern Division

 

AA - Southern League North Division

 

High-A - Florida State League North Division

 

A - Midwest League Western Division

 

Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division

 

Rookie - Arizona Summer League Central Division

 

DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris

[Mass Haas]

Sortable individual stat pages:

 

Nashville

 

Huntsville

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

Helena

 

Maryvale

 

Dominican Summer League Brewers

[Mass Haas]

Weather.com:

 

Nashville, TN

 

Chattanooga, TN

 

Viera, FL (Melbourne)

 

Grand Chute, WI (Appleton)

 

Orem, UT

 

Maryvale, AZ

 

Santo Domingo, DR

[Mass Haas]

A's Covey overcoming diabetes

Beloit righty has no regrets after walking away from first-round bonus

By Curt Rallo / Special to MiLB.com

[Mass Haas]

Miller Park Prospects: Farm Progress Report

 

Lots of positives....

[narwhalattack]

Medeiros gets to pitch today! :D

[Mass Haas]

DVR ALERT! As we've been indicating for days now, the next televised Timber Rattlers game is tonight's, Friday, July 11th on MyNew32 TV (7:00 PM airtime).

 

Should also note that MyNew32 will also have Saturday's game, that one a 6:30 airtime.

[Mass Haas]

Give him this, Ben Hendrickson had one heck of a half-season in 2004, in some ways Jimmy Nelson-like.

 

Hendrickson was named to start what turned out to be a very exciting game (box score), but he was lucky to allow only two runs in two innings (three hits, three walks). But what was most telling was this was the first time (of what would be several) of a televised deer-in-the-headlights look. Boy, I had looked forward to that game broadcast.

 

No such concerns with Jimmy Nelson, but the Brewers have chosen to pull him from his AAA All-Star start just in case .

[Mass Haas]

Johnnie Lowe needs to frame the first page of the Sounds' media notes tonight (see the on-tap section).

 

Sorry Nashville, I point out the one error (it was cute) from all season. Fantastic media department there....

[Mass Haas]

Latest from Tim Dillard --

 

“More Like Guidelines, Than Actual Rules”

 

More educational than 95% of the articles we feature here...thank you, Tim

[Mass Haas]

Garrett Cooper (quad strain) will make his first rehab appearance in Maryvale tonight. He's also making his first pro appearance other than at first base, playing third base.

[bkrause2]

Final: Charlotte 6, Brevard County 2

 

Stone Crabs defeat 'Tees in opener, 6-2

Manatees' 10 hits are not enough to emerge victorious

By Justin Rocke / Brevard County Manatees

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/7/2/73179972/cuts/Garfield_5.26.13_2_640x360_r6kqa6jz_9qieka0j.jpg

Manatees catcher Cameron Garfield, seen here in a 2013 file photo, had an RBI double in Friday night's 6-2 loss to the Charlotte Stone Crabs at Space Coast Stadium. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

 

VIERA, Fla. - Despite racking up 10 hits, the Brevard County Manatees dropped their series opener against the Charlotte Stone Crabs, 6-2 on Friday night at Space Coast Stadium.

 

Stone Crabs starting pitcher Austin Pruitt (5-4, 4.18 ERA) did an excellent job of working through tough situations en route to his fifth win of the season. The right-hander scattered seven hits and two walks over seven shutout innings.

 

Charlotte's (7-15 second half, 38-51 overall) offense struck early and often, as they tallied runs in each of the first four innings.

 

Tommy Coyle led the charge in the first by ripping a single to center and then stealing second base. With two outs, Justin O'Conner cranked a single into right-center field to score Coyle and give Charlotte the early lead, 1-0.

 

In the second it was Julian Ridings who provided the offense for the visitors. After Manatees starter Chad Pierce (2-5, 4.32) retired the first two batters of the frame, Ariel Soriano laced a double down the left field line. It was then Ridings who made Pierce pay. The left-handed swinger crushed a home run off the second level of advertisements in right field for a two-run jack to give Charlotte a three-run cushion.

 

The Stone Crabs tacked on another run in the third. Patrick Leonard and Maxx Tissenbaum sparked the rally with a pair of singles to put runners at first and second with one out. Tyler Goeddel then followed with a line-drive single to left-center field to score Leonard to give Charlotte a 4-0 lead.

 

Again, it was Coyle who got the wheels churning on another Stone Crabs rally in the fourth. The North Carolina product smacked a double down the right field line and advanced to third on a ground out by Leonardo Reginatto. Leonard then drove Coyle home with a sacrifice fly to put Charlotte safely in front, 5-0.

 

The Stone Crabs tacked on their final run in the seventh inning. With reliever Mike Strong now in the ball game, Reginatto led off the frame with a double down the right field line. After Leonard struck out, O'Conner hit a ground ball deep into the hole at short. Orlando Arcia made a tremendous backhand stop, which caught Reginatto dead in his tracks between second and third. However, Arcia's off-balance throw to second was low and snuck underneath the glove of Nathan Orf and into right field. That allowed Reginatto to score all the way from second and push Charlotte's advantage to 6-0.

 

Brevard's (11-7, 47-37) bats came through in the eighth, but it was a case of too little, too late. Tyrone Taylor started the charge with a pop fly to shallow center that Ariel Soriano could not find. The ball dropped in safely and Taylor ended up at second base with his 30th double of the year.

 

Cameron Garfield followed with an RBI double to right and Mike Garza snuck a soft line drive over the head of the shortstop Reginatto for a run-scoring single to cut the lead to 6-2. The comeback ended there, as Alfredo Rodriguez struck out the end the inning.

 

Pierce took his fifth loss of the year in the spot start. He allowed five runs on nine hits in four innings of work. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.

 

Strong had another impressive outing out of the bullpen. The left-hander allowed just one unearned run over three frames. He allowed two hits and struck out three. With tonight's performance, Strong has not allowed an earned run in his last 11.2 innings.

 

The Manatees will look to get back in the win column tomorrow night, as they take on the Stone Crabs again at Space Coast Stadium with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. Hobbs Johnson (9-6, 3.23), who had his start on Thursday pushed back due to rain, will look to record his FSL-best 10th win of the year. Reinaldo Lopez (4-4, 3.97) will toe the rubber tomorrow evening for Charlotte.

 

Brevard County Box Score

 

Victor Roache went 2-for-3 and drew a walk in his four plate appearances. That's three straight two-hit games for Roache who is hitting .500 over his last four games. Tyrone Taylor also went 2-for-4 and hit his team leading 30th double of the year. Cameron Garfield doubled and walked. Chad Pierce struggled, allowing five runs on nine hits in just four innings. Mike Strong followed with three innings in which he allowed just an unearned run and Mark Williams got some action before he starts his suspension, tossing two scoreless frames.

 

Brevard County Play-By-Play

 

The Manatees tried to mount a rally late but left a couple more runners stranded on base.

 

Brevard County Bottom of the 8th

Pitching Change: Parker Markel replaces Austin Pruitt.

Orlando Arcia flies out to left fielder Granden Goetzman.

Tyrone Taylor doubles (30) on a fly ball to center fielder Ariel Soriano.

Michael Reed grounds out, second baseman Thomas Coyle to first baseman Patrick Leonard. Tyrone Taylor to 3rd.

Cameron Garfield doubles (14) on a line drive to right fielder Julian Ridings. Tyrone Taylor scores.

Victor Roache walks.

Mike Garza singles on a fly ball to center fielder Ariel Soriano. Cameron Garfield scores. Victor Roache to 2nd.

Alfredo Rodriguez called out on strikes.

[Mass Haas]

Described this Kodi Medeiros debut as "uneven" on Twitter -- figured that was kinder than "shaky" --

 

AZL White Sox Top of the 1st

 

Eddy Alvarez strikes out swinging.

Johan Cruz grounds out, shortstop Jake Gatewood to first baseman David Denson.

Michael Suiter homers (2) on a fly ball to left field.

Cody Yount walks.

(That's Robin Yount's nephew, by the way...)

With Micker Adolfo batting, passed ball by Milan Post, Cody Yount to 2nd.

Micker Adolfo flies out to left fielder Troy Stokes.

 

AZL White Sox Top of the 2nd

 

Antonio Rodriguez singles on a ground ball to right fielder Juan Ortiz.

Jake Jarvis walks. Antonio Rodriguez to 2nd.

Michael Hollenbeck walks. Antonio Rodriguez to 3rd. Jake Jarvis to 2nd.

Blair Moore strikes out swinging.

Eddy Alvarez grounds into a force out, shortstop Jake Gatewood to second baseman Daniel Leonardo. Antonio Rodriguez scores. Jake Jarvis to 3rd. Michael Hollenbeck out at 2nd. Eddy Alvarez to 1st.

Pitching Change: Miguel Diaz replaces Kodi Medeiros.

With Johan Cruz batting, Eddy Alvarez steals (4) 2nd base, Jake Jarvis scores. Eddy Alvarez to 3rd. Throwing error by catcher Milan Post.

Johan Cruz grounds out, second baseman Daniel Leonardo to first baseman David Denson.

[Mass Haas]

Photographer Bill Mitchell --

 

Kodi Medeiros FB was up to 94, worked around 92. FB command was off tonight. Also threw SL 79-81.

[Eye Black]

Final (Completion of Suspended Game): Helena 3, Orem 2

 

Final (7 innings): Orem 10, Helena 4

 

Brewers and Owlz split double-header

By Dustin Daniel / Helena Brewers

 

The Helena Brewers (10-15) split a Friday double-header with the Orem Owlz (17-8) by scores of 3-2 and 10-4.

 

The win in the first game of the day would snap Helena's four-game losing streak, a season-high.

 

Play picked up in the top of the fifth after a rain suspension on Thursday night with a runner on third and one out for the Brewers. Elvis Rubio and Sthervin Matos came up with RBI singles to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead coming out of the frame.

 

After the Owlz tied it up in the bottom of the fifth, Helena would score the final run of the game in the top of the seventh when Gregory Munoz hit a leadoff double and later scored on a wild pitch.

 

Luis Ortega (1-3) picked up his first win of the year pitching four innings of solid relief, giving up just one run on two hits and striking out three.

 

In game two, a seven-inning contest, offense would be the name of the game. The two teams combined for 14 runs and 19 hits in the series finale.

 

Orem grabbed the first lead with three runs in the bottom of the second, but Helena immediately responded with four runs in the top of the third. Matos ripped an RBI double and scored later on a fielding error by Wade Wass.

 

After trailing 4-3, the Owlz responded with 7 unanswered runs being spread across the next four innings.

 

Michael Strentz would be the offensive anchor going 4-for-4 with a double, homerun and 5 RBI.

 

The Brewers now head to Grand Junction to take on the Rockies for a three-game series at Sam Suplizio Stadium. First pitch on Saturday is set for 7:05 p.m.

 

Helena Box Score (Completion of Suspended Game)

 

Helena Game Log (Completion of Suspended Game)

 

Helena Box Score (7 innings)

 

Of the nine hits Helena recorded in the game, five were doubles. Also, Sthervin Matos stayed hot with a pair of hits in both games tonight and he is now 10-for-21 since joining the Helena lineup.

 

Helena Game Log (7 innings)

 

All of the Helena scoring in the second game occurred in the 3rd inning.

 

Helena Top of the 3rd

• Gregory Munoz doubles (3) on a fly ball to center fielder Miguel Hermosillo.
  Brandon Diaz out on a sacrifice bunt to first baseman Wade Wass. Gregory Munoz to 3rd.
  Tucker Neuhaus walks.
  Elvis Rubio singles on a ground ball to center fielder Miguel Hermosillo. Gregory Munoz scores. Tucker Neuhaus to 2nd.
  Greg McCall flies out to center fielder Miguel Hermosillo. Tucker Neuhaus to 3rd.
  Sthervin Matos doubles (2) on a fly ball to left fielder Quinten Davis. Tucker Neuhaus scores. Elvis Rubio to 3rd.
  Alan Sharkey reaches on a fielding error by first baseman Wade Wass. Elvis Rubio scores. Sthervin Matos scores.
  With Francisco Castillo batting, Alan Sharkey caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Michael Strentz to shortstop Wendell Soto.

[bkrause2]

Final: DSL Braves 6, DSL Brewers 3

 

DSL Brewers Box Score

 

The Braves doubled up the Brewers 6-3 as Milwaukee's DSL affiliate fell back to .500 on the season. Nelson Hernandez started and went seven innings but took the loss after allowing four runs. Yerald Martinez launched his third home run of the season, but it was one of just three hits for the Brewers in the game. Joantgel Segovia singled, walked and was hit by a pitch and Geuris Santana added the only other Brewers base hit.

 

DSL Brewers Play-By-Play

 

A three-run bomb from Yerald Martinez was the only real highlight of the game for the Brewers

 

DSL Brewers Bottom of the 8th

Julio Mendez walks.

Nicolas Pierre grounds into a force out, shortstop Alejandro Salazar to second baseman Kevin Josephina. Julio Mendez out at 2nd. Nicolas Pierre to 1st.

Franly Mallen strikes out swinging.

Joantgel Segovia singles on a ground ball to center fielder Elias Arias. Nicolas Pierre to 3rd.

Yerald Martinez homers (3) on a fly ball to left field. Nicolas Pierre scores. Joantgel Segovia scores.

Pitching Change: Ramon Moreno replaces Luis Mora.

Kevin Martinez strikes out swinging.

[TheCrew07]

River Bandits score late to beat Wisconsin

Quad Cities takes game one of a four game series

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/9/8/84317498/cuts/Garcia_Catch_7_11_g585vs9l_4ologkhd.jpg

Omar Garcia tracks down a line drive for the final out of the top of the third inning on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

 

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Quad Cities River Bandits and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers began an important four-game series on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The River Bandits scored eight times in the final two innings to defeat the Timber Rattlers 10-5.

 

Chris McFarland gave the Timber Rattlers (46-44 overall, 10-11 second half) a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. His two-out single drove in Rafael Neda from third.

 

In the fifth, Angel Ortega doubled to open the frame and was at third with two outs. Bandits starting pitcher Andrew Thurman threw ball four to Michael Ratterree and it was wild. That allowed Ortega to score for a 2-0 lead.

 

Quad Cities (47-43, 12-9) loaded the bases against Wisconsin starter Preston Gainey in the top of the sixth inning with two outs. Rodriguez, who had struck out his first two times to bat against Gainey in the game, lined a single to left to drive in two runs to tie the game 2-2. Gainey struck out seven over six innings, but had a no decision in the game.

 

Wisconsin went back in front in the bottom of the seventh with a two out rally against Chris Lee. Johnny Davis reached on a bunt single. McFarland singled to put runners at first and second. Ratterree launched a 2-1 pitch from Lee to right-center. The ball hit on the warning track and bounced over the wall for a ground rule double. Davis scored the go ahead run, but McFarland - who would have scored easily - had to return to third base.

 

Lee walked Clint Coulter intentionally to load the bases and allow the left-handed pitcher to face left-hand hitting Dustin DeMuth. The strategy worked as Lee got DeMuth to ground out to short to end the inning with the Rattlers up 3-2.

 

Harvey Martin, who had pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Timber Rattlers, got into trouble in the top of the eighth. Brian Holberton singled off Martin's glove to start the inning. Jose Fernandez followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Marc Wik was next and his single to left plated Holberton with the tying run. That was all for Harvey.

 

Reliever Luke Curtis entered the game to make his home debut for the Timber Rattlers. He struck out Rodriguez for the first out. James Ramsay dropped a safety squeeze bunt. The flip to the plate by Curtis was late and Fernandez scored the run to make it 4-3. Brett Phillips added to the lead with a two-run triple to right-center. Dayne Parker capped the inning with a sacrifice fly and the Bandits were up 7-3.

 

Wisconsin had back-to-back singles by Omar Garcia and Neda with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Lee got out of the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.

 

The River Bandits padded their lead in the top of the ninth. Holberton was at third with two outs and a single by Wik got him home. Rodriguez was down 0-2 in the count when he lifted a two-run homer to left. The homer was the first of the season by Rodriguez and it gave Quad Cities a 10-3 lead.

 

Wisconsin did put together a rally in the top of the ninth. McFarland singled with one out for his third hit of the game. Ratterree drew a walk. Coulter singled. The bases were loaded and that was all for Lee.

 

DeMuth greeted Chris Cotton with a single up the middle to drive in two runs and the Rattlers were down 10-5. Cotton retired the next two batters to close out the game.

 

This series is the final meeting of the regular season between the Timber Rattlers and River Bandits. Both teams missed the playoffs in the first half and are fighting for one of two spots in the second half. Quad Cities is now up two games on the Rattlers in the Wild Card standings. Additionally, Quad Cities now leads the season series 7-6 and has outscored the Timber Rattlers 63-58. The first tie-breaker is the team that wins the season series. The second tie-breaker is run differential.

 

Wisconsin has lost five of their last six games to see their second half record fall below .500 for the first time.

 

Game two of the series is Saturday night. Anthony Banda (4-6, 4.34) has been named the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Quad Cities calls on Jandel Gustave (5-4, 4.87) as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm.

 

The ballpark transforms into a fairy tale castle for Storybook Princess Night presented by Fox River Mall on Saturday night. The first 500 children to attend this game will receive a tiara from Fox River Mall. Plus, some of your favorite storybook princesses will be on hand to meet fans for photos throughout the game. Plus, there is Baseball Bingo from Potawatomi and a postgame fireworks display presented by FOX 11 that will be up to the standards of our royal guests.

 

If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown has the television broadcast starting at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast may be heard on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio beginning with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. Subscribers to MiLB.TV can catch the game, too.

 

HOME RUN:

QC:

Jake Rodriguez (1st, 1 on in 9th inning off Luke Curtis, 2 out)

 

WP: Chris Lee (5-5)

LP: Harvey Martin (2-5)

 

TIME: 3:12

ATTN: 3,234

 

Wisconsin Boxscore

Preston Gainey got into trouble with walks, Harvey Martin and Luke Curtis(just 2 appearances) both have more than they've shown in WI. Watching them live you would expect better results... The game was pretty fun to watch until the 8th.

 

Johnny Davis (2-4), Chris McFarland (3-5), and Rafael Neda (2-5,2B) had the multi-hit games for the T-Rats.

 

Wisconsin Recap

[TheCrew07]

Sounds Open Homestand With 7-3 Win

Nashville Rips Eight Of 11 Hits For Extra Bases To Back Pena's Best Start Of Year

Nashville Sounds

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/1/6/84298016/cuts/Velez_0711_o75f0e9l_i2m9imqj.jpg

(Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds)

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds scored a 7-3 victory over Round Rock in front of 7,810 fans on Friday evening at Greer Stadium in the opener of a three-game series.

 

With the win, Nashville (50-46) extended its lead over the second-place Express to a game and a half in the PCL American Conference Southern Division.

 

The Sounds, who improved to 25-1 at home when scoring the first run of the contest, pounded eight of their 11 hits for extra bases on the night, including home runs by Matt Clark and Kevin Mattison, who drove in three of the Nashville runs.

 

Ariel Pena (6-6) twirled his sixth quality start of the year to pick up his sixth win for Nashville. The right-hander held the Express to one unearned run on two hits while striking out seven over seven innings, his longest outing of the year.

 

The Sounds grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning by posting three straight two-out doubles against Express starter Scott Richmond. Eugenio Velez (2-for-5) got things started when he bounced a ground-rule two-bagger over the wall in left-center before Elian Herrera and Jason Rogers (2-for-4)ripped back-to-back RBI doubles.

 

Round Rock halved the Sounds' lead to 2-1 in the fifth inning with an unearned run stemming from right fielder Jeremy Hermida's dropped fly ball. Former big leaguer Brent Lillibridge did the damage with a two-out single to left off Pena, which plated Ryan Rua.

 

Nashville got the run back in the home half of the frame when Velez legged out a stand-up triple and scored on a Herrera groundout to up the advantage to 3-1.

 

Richmond (1-4) took the loss for the Express after giving up three runs on six hits over five innings of work.

 

Clark belted his first home run as a Sound to make it a 4-1 game in the home half of the sixth, smacking a two-out solo shot to right off Round Rock reliever Lisalverto Bonilla. The big fly extended the first baseman's hitting streak to six games (8-for-22, .364).

 

Mattison (2-for-4) got into the longball act an inning later, cranking the first offering he saw from Bonilla over the right field wall for a two-run home that stretched the lead to 6-1. Hector Gomez, who preceded Mattison with a single, also scored on the outfielder's seventh roundtripper of the year.

 

Mattison added to the Sounds' scoring output in the eighth with a two-out RBI double to left-center that brought in Clark, who had been hit by a pitch.

 

After Dustin Molleken worked a scoreless eighth for Nashville, Round Rock first baseman J.P. Arencibia closed out the evening's scoring by belting a two-run homer to left off Brent Leach, his 14th tater of the season.

 

The teams continue the series with a 6:35 p.m. matchup on Saturday. Right-hander Johnnie Lowe (1-3, 5.67) will make a spot start for Nashville, filling in for recently-promoted top prospect Jimmy Nelson. Round Rock will counter with right-hander Justin Germano (3-8, 4.19).

 

Nashville Boxscore

Ariel Pena allowed just 4 legit baserunners in the game, 2 hits and 2 walks.

 

Jason Rogers (2-4,2B) returned to action and was the only prospect with a multi-hit game.

 

Nashville Recap

 

Nashville Gameday

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog - Postgame Entry

 

Back home in Appleton, so we have video, audio, and photos again...