Link Report for Thursday 4/9 - Opening Night! Play Ball!

[Mass Haas]

Final: Colorado Springs 7, Nashville 5

 

A New Era Of Sky Sox Baseball Begins With A Blast

Clark's homer sparks Sky Sox in 7-5 Opening Day victory

By Ed Pearsall / Colorado Springs Sky Sox

 

It didn't take long for the Milwaukee Brewers' top affiliate to make their presence known in Colorado Springs as the Sky Sox sent fans home happy with a 7-5 victory on opening night in front of a crowd of 3,053 at Security Service Field.

 

After a smooth first inning by starting pitcher Taylor Jungmann that saw him strike out his first batter of the 2015 season on a called third strike to right-fielder Kent Matthes, first baseman Matt Clark drove a 1-2 offering from Nashville starter Chris Bassitt (0-1, 5.40) over the fence in right-center field to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead. The Colorado Springs offense never looked back after the towering blast (travelling an estimated 406 feet) as they tacked on four more runs (three earned) in Bassitt's five innings of work.

 

Contributions were made throughout the home team lineup as five separate players tallied at least one RBI with Clark and shortstop Luis Sardinas adding two apiece off of Sounds pitching. Not to be left out of the party, designated hitter Bryan Petersen scored two runs with a double and two walks on the evening.

 

While Bassitt was hurt by a pair of errors, one self-inflicted on a pick-off attempt at second that sailed into center field, he suffered through an up-and-down 82-pitch effort that gave way to the Nashville bullpen in the 6th inning. After coming on and pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, right-handed reliever Fernando Rodriguez struggled mightily in the seventh as he allowed two runs on three hits and a walk while recording just one out before being relieved by switch-pitcher Pat Venditte.

 

Sky Sox starter and top-10 Brewers prospect Jungmann benefitted from his ability to keep balls on the ground in his first start of the season. While struggling with control (four walks in four innings pitched), Jungmann was able to limit the Sounds offense to just one earned run while striking out three along the way. The hard-throwing righty was taken out early in the fifth inning in favor of veteran lefty Brent Leach after working himself into a slight jam. Leach (1-0, 0.00) worked his team through the fifth with a steady dose of looping curveballs that kept Nashville's lineup completely off-balance after seeing Jungmann's powerful fastball for the first four-plus innings

 

Relievers Rob Wooten and Chris Perez kept Colorado Springs in the game after the offense tacked on a few key insurance runs in the latter innings. Corey Knebel came on in the 9th with a three-run lead and sealed the win after working into and out of trouble in a nail-biting finish. Knebel earned his first save with the Sky Sox after being acquired by the Brewers organization in the offseason for RHP Yovani Gallardo.

 

The Sky Sox will look to make it 2-0 to start the season as John Ely is set to face off with former Cy Young award winner Barry Zito tomorrow night at Security Service Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 PM (7:35 Central).

 

Colorado Springs Box Score

 

Weather: 41 degrees, snow

 

Jungmann's pitch limit was 85, he was pulled at 82.

 

I won't even get into the Matt Clark vs. Logan Schafer debate -- Matt, just keep raking, bro...

 

Jason Rogers made two nice plays (foul pop, ground ball) early on that I saw before sleeptime (remember, I'm East Coast), but here's hoping every bit of work he gets in helps him make a solid leap in that regard to set up a real opportunity at the hot corner for Milwaukee next year. We already get the sense that he'd outhit a fading Aramis Ramirez this season given the same number of big league at-bat's.

 

Can we flip-flop Luis Sardinas and Elian Herrera in that batting order, skip?

 

Nice b-day game, Bryan Petersen...

 

Colorado Springs Game Log

 

The vaunted bullpen (that does look awfully strong on paper) was flimsy after Brent Leach's effort, as Wooten, Perez, and Knebel's efforts were all uneven, especially Perez', detailed here --

 

Nashville Top of the 8th

 

Pitching Change: Chris Perez replaces Rob Wooten.

Kent Matthes doubles (1) on a ground ball to left fielder Matt Long.

Bryan Anderson doubles (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Shane Peterson. Kent Matthes scores.

With Joey Wendle batting, wild pitch by Chris Perez, Bryan Anderson to 3rd.

Joey Wendle singles on a ground ball to shortstop Luis Sardinas. Bryan Anderson scores.

Niuman Romero grounds into a double play, second baseman Elian Herrera to shortstop Luis Sardinas to first baseman Matt Clark. Joey Wendle out at 2nd.

Matt Angle singles on a ground ball to center fielder Ben Guez.

With Alden Carrithers batting, Matt Angle steals (1) 2nd base, Matt Angle to 3rd. Wild pitch by pitcher Chris Perez.

Alden Carrithers walks.

Andy Parrino flies out to center fielder Ben Guez.

 

***

 

Personally, had several front office and staff contacts from Nashville, but it'll be sweet every time the Crew's new AAA affiliation whacks them this year, here's hoping the Sounds' home opener next week can be spoiled as well!

[Mass Haas]

Sky Sox open new era with 7-5 victory over Nashville

Kevin Henry, Colorado Springs Sky Sox Examiner

 

On a chilly, damp night at Security Service Field, Taylor Jungmann and Luis Sardinas helped the Colorado Springs Sky Sox start the Milwaukee Brewers era in Colorado off in fine fashion.

 

Jungmann allowed just three hits and one run in four innings of work and Sardinas logged RBI singles in his first two at-bats of the season as the Sky Sox recorded a 7-5 decision over the Nashville Sounds in the season opener for both clubs before 3,053 fans.

 

Matt Clark and Sardinas each totaled two hits and two RBIs to lead a balanced Sky Sox attack.

 

“Any win is a great win, but it’s even sweeter when it’s on Opening Night,” said Colorado Springs manager Rick Sweet. “From 1 through 9, we have guys on this team who can hit. There’s not a weak out in our lineup.”

 

With snow coming down before the first pitch, Colorado Springs fans entered the stadium ready to see the new players brought to the city with the affiliate switch from the Colorado Rockies to the Brewers. It didn’t take long for the new team to give their fans something to cheer about as Clark drilled a 1-2 pitch from Nashville starter Chris Bassitt over the right-center fence to give the Sky Sox a 1-0 lead.

 

“It’s always huge to get a win on Opening Night,” Clark said. “Hitting a homer in the first was awesome. I’ve never hit one in the season’s first at-bat before so that was great.”

 

Clark’s blast and Sardinas’ RBI singles provided enough breathing room for Jungmann, who struggled with his control at times on the 41-degree night. The former first-round pick walked four and struck out three in his four innings.

 

While the highly touted Jungmann grabbed attention on Opening Night, it was Colorado Springs reliever Brent Leach who guided the Sky Sox through what could’ve been a disastrous fifth inning and eventually earned the victory.

 

Taking over for Jungmann, the southpaw had runners at first and second with one out. Leach, however, dodged trouble by striking out Andy Parrino and coaxing Jason Pridie into a flyout to left to end the threat.

 

Nashville also missed a golden opportunity to do a lot of damage in the fifth against Sky Sox reliever Rob Wooten. After an inning-opening strikeout of Kent Matthes, Wooten issued a walk to Bryan Anderson and Joey Wendle followed with a double to deep left field. Niuman Romero brought Anderson home with a sacrifice fly before Matt Angle ended the frame with a flyout to left.

 

The Sounds would rally in the eighth and ninth innings against Sky Sox relievers Chris Perez and Corey Knebel as the visitors posted seven hits and three runs in the game’s final two frames. Knebel navigated through the ninth inning to earn the save, despite allowing three hits and a run. The right-hander escaped a bases-loaded jam to end the game as Angle grounded out to first to end the game.

 

Notes: The season opener was also the first time the experimental pitch clock had been used in Triple-A. Pitchers get 20 seconds between pitches … Clark added an RBI double in the seventh with a screamer just inside third base that went into the Nashville bullpen … Prior to Thursday night, Colorado Springs had a 1-5 record in their last six home season openers.

[Mass Haas]

One bummer with the new AAA affiliation is that the Colorado Springs Gazette has a very short leash on free page views -- I could play some games with multiple devices to meet our needs, but that would be a season-long time-consuming battle.

 

Fortunately, it seems the Examiner coverage will often include quotes and such...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Biloxi 4, Pensacola 0

 

Yee-hah!

 

Shuckers come to life with historic 4-0 shutout of Blue Wahoos

Orlando Arcia and Brooks Hall lead Biloxi to first win in franchise history

Biloxi Shuckers

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/1/0/117359610/cuts/DSC_0173_pb2r5x8c_fru4byp7.JPG

 

Starter Brooks Hall picked up the Shuckers' first franchise win on Thursday night (Photo by Cristina Coca)

 

PENSACOLA, Fla. - In front of a sellout crowd of 5,038 on Thursday night in Pensacola, the Biloxi Shuckers came to life with a 4-0 win over the Blue Wahoos at Bayfront Stadium. Milwaukee Brewers' top prospect Orlando Arcia (3x4) doubled twice, drove in three runs and scored another as Biloxi pitchers Brooks Hall, Mike Strong, Jaye Chapman and Wirfin Obispo combined to shutout the Reds' Double-A affiliate on just three hits. Biloxi pitching retired the final 16 batters of the game en route to the first win in franchise history.

 

Hall (1-0), making his second straight Opening Day start for Milwaukee's Double-A club, tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out three in the victory. The win was Hall's first since April 25, 2014, prior to being sidelined with an elbow injury that would cause him to miss the remainder of the season. Biloxi (1-0) used three relievers to hold down the Blue Wahoos and come away with the shutout.

 

Strong fanned three in his two innings out of the bullpen, while Chapman and Obispo each went an inning and did not allow a hit.

 

Adam Weisenburger (1x4, R) picked up the first ever hit for the Shuckers in the top of the third with a one-out single. Kyle Wren (0x3, R, BB) followed with a walk to set the stage for Arcia, who drove in both runners with an RBI double to right to give the Shuckers a 2-0 advantage.

 

Arcia was at it again in the sixth when he led off the frame with another double and came around to score on a two-out single by Michael Reed (1x3, RBI) to stretch the lead to 3-0.

 

The Shuckers' 20-year-old shortstop wasn't finished, as he drove in another run in the ninth with an RBI single to score Josh Fellhauer (1x2, R) to make the game 4-0.

 

Top Cincinnati Reds' prospect Robert Stephenson (0-1) started for the Blue Wahoos (0-1) and struck out seven over 5.2 innings, and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks.

 

Layne Somsen allowed the fourth run of the game in the ninth, and tossed the final two innings for Pensacola.

 

The two teams will be back at it again Friday night when RHP Tyler Wagner will take the mound for the Shuckers against RHP Daniel Wright of the Blue Wahoos. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with coverage beginning at 6:15 p.m. on 1240-AM WGCM and the Biloxi Shuckers Radio Network. Fans can also listen to the game using the TuneIn Radio app or by going to www.biloxishuckers.com. The game can also be seen, live, on MiLB.TV.

[Mass Haas]

From the Pensacola News-Journal's coverage --

 

The Shuckers’ Brooks Hall looked right at home. The Brewers’ fourth-round draft pick in 2009 won his second opening day start. He gave up three singles, one walk and had seven ground ball outs in five innings.

 

“Obviously Hall pitched a great game,” Blue Wahoos' Manager Pat Kelly said. “He got some good ground balls. He had a little bit better sinker than we anticipated.

 

“Some balls were hit hard by both teams, really. I think the wind kept the score down. Otherwise it would have been a much higher scoring game.”

 

***

 

This WLOX video report is from a fan's perspective and includes this text --

 

Shuckers manager Carlos Subero was pleased following a shutout win by Biloxi over the home standing Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

 

Brooks Hall started the game on the mound for the Shuckers and pitched extremely well giving up only three hits, two walks with five strikeouts in five innings of work.

 

Hall said, "It was really good tonight. Felt strong throwing strikes, getting ahead of the guys. Throwing a nice curve ball. Jaye Chapman came in and did the same thing and Wirfin Obispo to shut them down. He's got a sneaky fast ball. Real good velocity."

 

Mike Strong pitched two innings for the Shuckers and gave up no runs with three strikeouts. Chapman had two strikeouts in one inning and Obispo pitched an inning with one strikeout.

 

Shortstop Orlando Arcia had a big night at the plate. He had three hits in four at bats, drove in three runs and scored a run. Two of his hits were doubles. His double in the third inning drove home Nathan Orf and Kyle Wren and gave the Shuckers the 2-0 lead. He also had an RBI in the top of the ninth.

 

Michael Reed had an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning.

 

Timely hits, excellent pitching and superb fielding led to a 4-0 victory for Biloxi.

 

"Very well pitched game, "stated Shuckers manager Carlos Subero. "Brooks Hall was solid and Arcia came through with his hitting to break out a nothing-nothing ballgame with a double and added another RBI with a single to have three of our four runs tonight."

 

***

 

Outstanding and well-captioned photo gallery here by the Sun-Herald's Glenn Andrews, worth your time

 

***

 

Biloxi 'shucks out' Pensacola in debut

Shuckers have night of firsts against Blue Wahoos

By Patrick Magee, Sun-Herald

 

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Game 1 for the Biloxi Shuckers will go down in the record book as a victory.

 

The Shuckers pulled out a season-opening win in front of a packed house at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium on Thursday night, topping the Blue Wahoos 4-0 behind three RBIs from Orlando Arcia and a win on the mound from Brooks Hall.

 

"New team, good win," said Hall, who threw five scoreless innings "We shuck 'em out today. It was nice."

 

Arcia went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in and a run scored. He also looked strong in the field at shortstop.

 

Shuckers manager Carlos Subero was glowing in his comments about the Venezuelan after the game.

 

"Man, I think he had a perfect night," Subero said. "He hit a double in the right-center gap and then hit a double down the left field line and used the middle. He used all three parts. That's how good of a hitter Arcia is. He is somebody that will take whatever you give him. Playing winter ball really helped him out a lot."

 

Tons of promise

 

Arcia, who is ranked by Baseball America as the second-best prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, knocked in the first two runs in team history by clearing Pensacola right fielder Kyle Waldrop's head for a double in the third inning.

 

He added a double to left to lead off the sixth and later scored on Michael Reed's two-out single to left field.

 

Arcia capped off the scoring with a single to center field to score Josh Fellhauer with two out in the ninth.

 

"He had a great first night in Double-A," Hall said. "What did he have? Three RBIs. He looked really good, comfortable. He was just having fun."

 

Hall allowed three hits and struck out three, walking two in five innings to pick up the win after spending most of last season on the disabled list with an arm injury.

 

The only real trouble Hall faced came in the fourth when he walked Ryan Wright to load the bases. He forced Zach Vincej to hit a grounder to to short, where Arcia tossed to second for the third out.

 

"Brooks had good stuff early," Subero said. "He struggled a couple of innings, but was able to manage the inning and come out of it. It was definitely a positive for him. He gave us five innings to get the win."

 

The Shuckers' bullpen was perfect behind Hall as four pitchers combined to hold Pensacola to a total of three hits. Mike Strong cruised through two innings. Jaye Chapman and Winfin Obispo both lasted an inning.

 

Different pitchers

 

"Mike had two strong innings. He threw the ball very well," Subero said. "Chapman is another style of pitching, relying more on off-speed stuff and movement. Obispo is a hard-throwing closer and he has the experience to close the game."

 

Robert Stephenson took the loss for Pensacola, giving up three earned runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings.

 

The night was a game of firsts for the Shuckers: Catcher Adam Weisenburger provided the first hit in Shuckers history on a single with one out in the third and he also scored the first run when he crossed home on Arcia's double in the third.

 

The game was played before a sell-out crowd of 5,038.

[Mass Haas]

Biloxi Box Score

 

Nit-picking - 12 K's by Shuckers' bats, but they drew seven walks; Kyle Wren had only K'd 103 times in 714 pro AB's, so his three here wasn't the usual; Nick Ramirez' three K's on the other hand, but hey, a double as well; of course Nathan Orf was hit by a pitch -- 33rd time in just 592 AB's! Wren and Michael Reed each 0-for-1 in SB attempts...

 

Biloxi Game Log

 

Arcia, Arcia, Arcia...

[Mass Haas]

Tweet: Longtime former Reds farmhand and now Shuckers OF Josh Fellhauer had reasons to be emotional in the town where he played for the Blue Wahoos.

 

***

 

Twitter AUDIO: Listen as Chris Harris calls the final out of the first win in franchise history!

 

***

 

The Manatees' Brandon Macias gets creative.

[Mass Haas]

Interview with Manager Carlos Subero begins at the 1:40 minute mark --

 

[Mass Haas]

We are politely trying to recruit Link Reporters - your only task would be to post a final score along with box score and game log links. Normally the team's web sites post their game summaries within 45-60 minutes of game's end. Make any additional observations you'd like, but it's not a necessity. Contribute only on the nights you wish.

 

Seth (TheCrew07) and I would like to maintain the 11-year plus quality you're accustomed to, but we'll need some assistance, especially when the rookie leagues get underway. Please help us keep the Link Report active.

 

You can reach out to me via jgoulart "at" Brewerfan.net, thanks!

[Outlander]

It would appear that except for when Wang or possibly Woodruff pitches that A+ will be the least interesting. Will still check the box scores for Coulter. Wisconsin is probably the most interesting because of the number of young prospects and also because I can attend the games. Biloxi looks pretty solid and has some nice prospects as well but could struggle if being on the road catches up with them. Not too much at Colorado but I expect them to win a bunch and hope they slaughter Nashville the next week or so.

[JohnBriggs12]

That wasn't just some run of the mill minor league pitcher that Arcia had his pair of doubles against. Robert Stephenson is the Reds #1 prospect on BA, and is rated between 16 and 24 overall by the major rating services. Nice that Brooks Hall outdueled him too.

 

Excited about the futures of both Arcia and Sardinas.

[reillymcshane]

One bummer with the new AAA affiliation is that the Colorado Springs Gazette has a very short leash on free page views -- I could play some games with multiple devices to meet our needs, but that would be a season-long time-consuming battle.

 

Fortunately, it seems the Examiner coverage will often include quotes and such...

When you want to go to the Colorado Springs Gazette, open a new private window in your browser (Chrome calls it 'incognito browsing', Internet Explorer calls it 'InPrivate Browsing', and Firefox simply calls it 'private browsing'). Again, do this in a new browser window. Then go to the Gazette page, get the info you want, then close the browser window. The private browsing means that your page views won't be tracked by anyone, which means that the Gazette page won't remember you the next time you return. This is assuming that the Gazette page tracks your visits using cookies (you can also go into your browser settings and clear your cookies - but some people aren't comfortable doing that).

[Mr Southpaw]

I went to the Biloxi game on Thursday and Taylor made a major league catch in the bottom of the 6th inning. He is an outstanding fielder and if he can hit .270 with some power, we have a really good center fielder.