Link Report for Tuesday 5/19

[Mass Haas]

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[Mass Haas]

Tuesday's Daily Menu:

 

All times are Central

 

Colorado Springs: RHP's Drew Gagnon and Josh Roenicke in a doubleheader at home vs. Round Rock (Rangers), 5:05 PM pre-game, 5:35 gametime; each contest slated for seven innings

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

We welcome Dan Karcher, who is the longtime play-by-play voice of the Sky Sox; follow him on Twitter @SkySoxKarch

 

MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Colorado Springs 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. The video of each game is archived online, which is a nice feature. All MiLB.TV details available at the link.

 

NOTE: Notice that on MiLB.TV's page, you can click on "Filter", then "Milwaukee Brewers", and you'll see just the Crew's organizational TV lineup.

 

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Biloxi: LHP Hobbs Johnson in a "home game" in Huntsville vs. Jacksonville (Marlins), 6:25 PM pre-game, 6:40 gametime;

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

We also welcome Chris Harris as the very first play-by-play voice of the Shuckers! Follow Chris on Twitter @CHarris731. We'll be looking off to his very promising "Shuck Dynasty" blog. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be radio broadcast.

 

MiLB.TV - Seven of the ten Southern League teams telecast their home games, and Biloxi staff indicates it is hopeful it will be eight when the new stadium opens.

 

NOTE: This series is unfortunately not available online for MiLB.TV subscribers.

 

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Brevard County: RHP Eric Marzec at home vs. Clearwater (Phillies), 5:05 PM pre-game, 5:35 gametime

 

Free Live Audio Link

 

Dave Walkovic returns as the play-by-play voice of the 'Tees; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio, as all home games and the "commuter" road games are scheduled to be broadcast in 2015.

 

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

 

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Wisconsin: RHP Milton Gomez at Burlington (Angels), 6:10 PM pre-game, 6:30 gametime; expect to see LHP Luis Ortega pitch in a tandem role

 

Free Live Audio Link - 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.

 

NOTE: Forty-two (!) of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (9) and WACY-TV My NEW32 (34) will split duties. We'll let you know when and who, and remember to refer to the Rattlers' full TV schedule (scroll to bottom of link) so you can coordinate your DVR activity.

 

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So, for the $49.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sky Sox games, most Shuckers games, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games.

[Mass Haas]

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

 

Colorado Springs Game One

 

Colorado Springs Game Two

 

Biloxi

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

[Mass Haas]

Look for these just prior to the respective game times --

 

Colorado Springs Media Notes - It's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Multimedia" banner on the Sky Sox' site.

 

Biloxi Media Notes - Linked on the Shuck Dynasty blog

 

Brevard County Media Notes - 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

 

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STANDINGS:

 

AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division

 

AA - Southern League South Division

 

High-A - Florida State League North Division

 

A - Midwest League Western Division

 

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Sortable individual stat pages:

 

Colorado Springs

 

Biloxi

 

Brevard County

 

Wisconsin

 

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Weather.com:

 

Colorado Springs, CO

 

Huntsville, AL

 

Viera, FL

 

Burlington, IA

[Mass Haas]

Links to features on Timber Rattlers LHP Zach Hirsch and 3B Tucker Neuhaus were added to the team's thread on our forum today. The article on Hirsch includes news about his current DL stint.

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO via the Shuck Dynasty Blog: Shuckers Postgame – Radio highlights from Monday’s doubleheader sweep of Suns

 

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AUDIO: Manager Joe Ayrault joins the Manatees Radio Network to recap the road trip in Tampa

 

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AUDIO: RHP Tyler Spurlin joins the Manatees Radio Network to discuss his first outing since returning from the disabled list

 

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AUDIO, Game Highlights: Both starting pitchers throw complete games in a 2-1 Clearwater win

[Mass Haas]

Thanks again to my fellow Link Reporters for providing the links and text for the AAA and AA squads this past weekend.

 

Please keep in mind we will need volunteers among the rest of you to perhaps take over those upper level duties once I slide over to DSL and rookie level coverage in the coming weeks.

 

So many of you chime in regularly with nice insights, if you'd like to help out, you can reach out to me at jgoulart "at" brewerfan.net, thanks.

[JohnBriggs12]

Weather in and around Colorado Springs not too promising today either.

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO: RHP Tyler Spurlin joins the Manatees Radio Network to discuss his first outing since returning from the disabled list

 

Spurlin had been converted to a sidearm motion at some point, and discusses that to some detail in this interview.

[WV Brew]

Ayrault and Garrett Cooper have been run in the 2nd inning. Not sure how the Manatees are going to arrange the fielding now. McFarland is the DH so they are down an infielder.

 

Edit. They put Neda in at first.

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America -- Early-Season Breakout Prospects In All 10 Minor Leagues

 

Two Brewers...

[Mass Haas]

2015 Logomania – Round 3

 

Manatees no longer alive, but vote for the Shuckers within the Elite Eight!

[TheCrew07]

WI just scored 5 runs in the 1st inning, I believe they had only scored 10 runs in the first inning all year before tonight.

[Mass Haas]

WET GROUNDS:

 

Tuesday night's doubleheader games between the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and the Round Rock Express have been cancelled because of heavy rain. The games will be made up in Round Rock in August.

[Mass Haas]

VIDEO: Helena Brewers Introduce Their New Wooly Mammoth Mascot

 

Best line in the report: "He looks thrilled."

[WV Brew]

Manatees were absolute garbage tonight. I will do the link report in the early morning. Early start for the Manatees tomorrow.

[TheCrew07]

WI just scored 5 runs in the 1st inning, I believe they had only scored 10 runs in the first inning all year before tonight.

 

Feels weird quoting myself but Chris just verified this, by the way, I'm not sure if I've mentioned it yet this year but if you haven't given Mehring a listen yet please do, he's pretty darn awesome.

[TheCrew07]

Rattlers score five in first inning and beat Burlington 6-3

Wisconsin wins second straight to open road trip

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

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Alan Sharkey went 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI in Wisconsin's 6-3 win over the Burlington Bees on May 19. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica)

 

BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers sent ten men to the plate and scored five runs in the first inning on the way to a 6-3 win over the Burlington Bees on Tuesday night at Community Field. The win was the second straight for Wisconsin.

 

The Timber Rattlers (11-28) jumped on Burlington early with five runs in the first inning. Monte Harrison started the game with a double on the first pitch he saw from Bees starting pitcher Justin Anderson. Alan Sharkey followed with a double and Harrison scored for a 1-0 lead. Then, Elvis Rubio singled to get Sharkey to third.

 

Dustin DeMuth's grounder to second was misplayed for an error and Sharkey scored while Rubio took third on the play. Burlington starter Justin Anderson got the first out of the inning on a popout, but an error on a grounder to first off the bat of Tucker Neuhaus allowed Rubio to score and DeMuth to take third base.

 

Brandon Diaz was next and sent a grounder to short that could have been an inning-ending double play, but the Bees could only get the out at second. That allowed DeMuth to score. Greg McCall capped the inning with an RBI double to right-center and Diaz scored for a 5-0 lead.

 

Burlington (19-20) got to Wisconsin starter Milton Gomez for a run in the third inning. Brandon Gildea tripled to start the inning and scored on a wild pitch. Burlington would load the bases with two outs in the inning against Gomez, but he got out of the inning with no more damage. Gomez pitched five innings and allowed one run on four hits and four walks before turning the game over to the bullpen.

 

The Bees got a run in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Tyler Linehan. Caleb Adams drew a walk to start the inning and made it to third on a pair of wild pitches. Fran Whitten knocked in Linehan with a grounder to third and the Bees cut Wisconsin's lead to three runs.

 

The Rattlers got some insurance in the top of the seventh inning. Sharkey walked to start the inning. DeMuth doubled to right with one out to put runners on second and third. The hit extended DeMuth's current hitting streak to seven games and chased Burlington reliever Tyler Carpenter from the game.

 

Ronnie Muck came into the game to face Sthervin Matos, but Matos won the battle by sending a 1-2 pitch deep enough to left to drive in Sharkey with a sacrifice fly for a 6-2 advantage.

 

Luis Ortega pitched a scoreless seventh, but gave up a run in the eighth to allow the Bees to creep closer. Natanael Delgado was hit by a pitch with one out and had to be replaced by Trevor Gretzky as a pinch-runner. Adams followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Ryan Seiz drove in Gretzky with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3.

 

The Bees got a leadoff single from Gildea in the top of the ninth. But, Ortega closed out the game by getting Michael Hermosillo looking at strike three and Erick Salcedo to ground into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play. Ortega earned his first professional save with his performance on Tuesday night.

 

Game three of the series is on Wednesday night at Community Field. Orlando Torrez (0-2, 4.94) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Burlington has named Michael Bolaski (1-4, 5.45) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:30pm.

 

Catch all the action on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio.

 

WP: Milton Gomez (3-2)

LP: Justin Anderson (3-1)

SAVE: Luis Ortega (1)

 

TIME: 2:50

ATTN: 402

 

Wisconsin Boxscore

A winning streak! Chris is still exceedingly upbeat about this team. He was talking about Milton Gomez tonight and mentioned that every time Milton jumps his FB up to the mid 90s and overthrows it tends to go over all of the place. Not being able to know how hard he's throwing when watching on TV that's something I hadn't picked up on.

 

I tell you I have no idea where the idea came from prior to the draft that Jake Gatewood would have too move off SS right away, he made another really nice play tonight. That has to have been the obligatory "he's too big for the position" yip yap that drives me crazy. Like all young players he makes mistakes fundamentally, but he doesn't seem to repeat them in the field. At the plate has been a whole different matter, but I've been pleasantly surprised by his defensive acumen.

 

Dustin DeMuth has a 7 game hitting streak now and has hit to a .406 clip over his last 10 games raising his AVE to an even .300.

 

A day without Carlos Leal is like a day without sunshine...

 

Wisconsin Recap

[WV Brew]

Errors Doom Manatees in 6-2 Loss

By Jerry Durney / Brevard County Manatees

05/19/2015 11:21 PM ET

 

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Chris McFarland, pictured above, collected his FSL leading 49th hit of the season in Tuesday's loss. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

 

Viera, Fla. - The Brevard County Manatees (16-22) had a hand in their undoing on Tuesday, committing four errors in a 6-2 loss to the Clearwater Threshers (19-20) at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The Threshers seized the initiative in the opening frame, led by Andrew Knapp's double to left off of Manatees starting pitcher Eric Marzec. Dylan Cozens followed with a base hit to center, which brought home Knapp for the game's first run.

 

One of the game's biggest moments came in the bottom of the second inning. Garrett Cooper appeared to have legged out a one-out single to third, but was out ruled by the umpire when he was tagged by Willians Astudillo returning to the bag, claiming that Cooper had made the turn towards second base. Cooper and manager Joe Ayrault would be ejected for their protests.

 

Clearwater continued to flex their muscle in the top of the third when Andrew Pullin crushed a two-run home run to right, his third of the season, to make it 3-0. The homer was Pullin's only hit of the game but it continues his success against the 'Tees this season. In five games against Brevard County, Pullin is hitting .286 with three extra base hits and five RBI.

 

The Manatees would manufacture in a run in the bottom of the fourth, which got started when Clint Coulter was hit by a pitch for the eighth time this season. That was followed by a walk to Victor Roache. Both runners advanced a base when Rafael Neda sacrificed. Paul Eshleman followed with a single to right, which scored Coulter for the first Manatees run but Eshleman would get caught in a rundown between first and second when the relay throw home was cut off. Threshers starting pitcher Colin Kleven would escape further damage when he struck out Steven Halcomb to end the inning.

 

The game from a Brevard County perspective could be best summarized by the events in the top of the fifth inning. Knapp would reach when a ground ball went through Halcomb's legs. Cozens then came to the plate and hit a ball to right that Coulter missed while attempting to make a sliding catch. That would put two runners in scoring position for Astudillo, who obliged with a sacrifice fly to left to plate Knapp. Following a strikeout by Aaron Brown, Angelo Mora's base hit to center would score Cozens, who had stolen third.

 

The Threshers would tack on one more run in the sixth without the benefit of a base hit. Chase Harris walked to start the inning and then attempted to steal second with one out and Pullin at the plate. Eshleman's throw went over second and into centerfield, where the ball was overrun by Omar Garcia. Those two errors allowed Harris to score all the way from first to make it 6-1. On a positive note for the 'Tees, relievers Stephen Peterson and Scott Lieser did not allow another base runner for the remainder of the game.

 

Brevard County salvaged a final run in the bottom of the eighth, which started with a Garcia base hit. Chris McFarland singled to right, which moved Garcia to second. It was the 49th hit of the season for McFarland, making him the leader in the Florida State League in that category. A wild pitch by Clearwater reliever Edubray Ramos then moved both runners up a base. After a Taylor Brennan strikeout, Coulter hit a sacrifice fly to right to score McFarland, his 27th RBI of the season. The inning then came to a close when Roache struck out swinging. The Manatees then went down in order in the bottom of the ninth against Cody Forsythe.

 

Kleven (3-2, 4.11 ERA) bounced back from a rain-shortened start last Friday by pitching six innings, giving up just one run on six hits, striking out five while walking one to earn the win.

 

Marzec (0-1, 6.75 ERA) went four innings in his first start of the season with the Manatees, surrendering three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out three.

 

Both teams will have to bounce back quickly as they play an Education Day game on Wednesday at 10:35 A.M. LHP Wei-Chung Wang (1-1, 5.88 ERA) will get the start against RHP Victor Arano (0-4, 6.12 ERA).

 

Brevard County Box Score

 

Eric Marzec went 4 innings, gave up 8 hits, 3 for extra bases, two walks and two wild pitches. Somehow, only 3 runs scored in that time. The Manatees had 9 singles, a walk and a hit by pitch. However, two were wiped out on double plays and two were out on the basepaths. Clint Coulter and Victor Roache were the only two starters who failed to get a base hit, although Coulter figured in both runs. Clint has now been hit by pitch 8 times. That's a pretty alarming rate for a key player.

 

Brevard County Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Organization's best defensive infielder, Yadiel Rivera, fitting in nicely with Sky Sox

By Joe Paisley, Colorado Springs Gazette

 

Also linked in our season-long Sky Sox feature thread...

[Mass Haas]

VIDEO via WeAreGreenBay.com: Timber Rattlers shortstop Jake Gatewood stands at 6'5'' and is hoping to become the tallest player in that position in the major leagues one day. Local 5 Sport's Lily Zhao has the story.

 

Also linked in our season-long Timber Rattlers feature thread...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Biloxi 7, Jacksonville 6

 

Taylor's game-winning hit gives Shuckers fourth straight win

Biloxi defeated Jacksonville 7-6 in Tuesday's series finale

Biloxi Shuckers

 

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Tyrone Taylor was 2-for-5 and delivered a game-winning single in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night. (Photo by John Shadrick)

 

HUNTSVILLE, AL - The Biloxi Shuckers finished off a five-game series against the Jacksonville Suns with a thrilling finish to a 7-6 victory at Joe Davis Stadium on Tuesday night. The Shuckers are eight-games above .500 for the second time this season (17-9 on May 6th). Biloxi took four straight from the Suns and are 8-2 against the Marlins' Double-A affiliate after 10 "home games". The Shuckers and Suns played 37 innings over the last three days and taking out the first and last inning, Biloxi held Jacksonville to just four runs.

 

The Shuckers pulled ahead in the eighth inning after a leadoff walk to Kyle Wren (1x3, R, BB). Adam Weisenburger's (0x2, R) sacrifice bunt moved Wren into scoring position and pinch hitter Nick Shaw (0x1) popped out. Nathan Orf (1x3, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB) walked to put two on with two outs for Tyrone Taylor (2x5, RBI, R), who delivered an RBI single up the middle to bring in Orf and give Biloxi a 7-6 lead.

 

"Today was a game where, from the get go, you think you have dominated and then you get something like what happened tonight and the game gets tied. You can see when you are playing well like we are right now, you bounce back," said manager Carlos Subero after Tuesday night's victory. "Taylor got it done. Someone who is slowly getting better, especially when he is at the top of the lineup. We got it done."

 

Jacksonville (15-24) tied the game up in the top of the eighth with a grand slam off the bat of Ryan Rieger, his first long ball of the season, against reliever Jaye Chapman (W, 3-2, 1.1 IP, R, H, BB, SO).

 

Biloxi (24-16) jumped all over Jacksonville's Chipper Smith in the first for a quick 4-0 lead. Orf started the frame with a walk and was followed by back-to-back singles by Taylor and Orlando Arcia (3x5, R) to load the bases. Nick Ramirez (1x3, RBI) lifted a sacrifice fly to right, plating Orf for a 1-0 lead. Michael Reed (2x4, 2 RBI, R, 2B, 3B) doubled in Taylor and Arcia to give the Shuckers a three-run cushion and Brandon Macias (1x4, RBI) continued his hot start with Biloxi with an RBI single to score Reed. Arcia extended his on-base streak 21 games which is the longest actively in the Southern League.

 

Wren also raised his on-base streak to 20 games and Ramirez to 10 games.

 

Orf put two more runs on the board for the Shuckers, driving in Weisenburger and Hobbs Johnson (1x3, R) with a two-out triple to give Biloxi a 6-0 cushion.

 

Johnson lasted five innings for the Shuckers, allowing two runs on four hits, a walk and three strikeouts.

 

Jacksonville's David Adams put the Suns in the run column with a two-run homer in the fourth to cut the Shuckers' lead to 6-2.

 

"We feel pretty good right now," added Subero. who's team is tied with Chattanooga for the most wins in the Southern League at 24 and now have opened up a three-game lead in the South Division standings.

 

"We are hitting above .300 in the last 10 games. Our defense has been consistent, we didn't make an error in the (five game) series and that is not an easy thing to do. Our pitching continues to throw the ball well - our base running is improving, but we still need to clean a few things up, however we stole third base I think five times in the series. Things are clicking and (this team) has character and it is not because they are winning games, but they truly have tremendous character. That certainly helps when you have to win a game like this tonight."

 

Biloxi will have a day off Wednesday before hosting the Birmingham Barons for a five-game set. Game one will feature a matchup of RHP Jorge Lopez (3-2, 3.44) against RHP Tony Bucciferro (0-1, 5.14). First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM, with coverage beginning at 6:25 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.

 

Biloxi Box Score

 

Fun team, no? LHP Mike Strong struck out four in two scoreless innings - he didn't have a good first big league camp, but boy, he's been sharp in his first full AA season; rough go of late for fireballing RHP Martin Viramontes, however - relievers in May have to look past their small-sample ERA's; how good is Orlando Arcia and his .899 OPS when his 3-for-5 effort here isn't the prominent point of the game summary -- it's just accepted now...

 

Biloxi Game Log

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO: and plenty of it via Chris Harris' Shuck Dynasty Blog

 

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PHOTO GALLERY: Shuckers' Monday doubleheader

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO: Cameron Garfield joins the Manatees Radio Network to talk about what it is like to be behind the plate for a pitchers' duel

 

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AUDIO, Game Highlights (and Lowlights): Audio highlights from Brevard County's 6-2 loss to Clearwater

[Mass Haas]

Please be prepared for the Manatees' super-early matinee today (9:05 AM Central pre-game).

 

LHP Wei-Chung Wang will be on the mound, in case the Link Report isn't quite ready, please click here to listen.