Article: Brewers Minor League Link Report (5/6): Wild Walk-off for Wisconsin (Literally)

[Mass Haas]

For the second time on the young season, the Timber Rattlers walked off without having to lift the bat off a shoulder. The Mudcats rode a special starting lineup to a tight victory that went deep into the Carolina night. On the flip side of the W-L ledger, the Sounds' Ethan Small allowed twice as many earned runs in the first inning as he had allowed in his prior five starts combined. Remember when the Shuckers opened the season 7-0? Good times. Since then? 5-13, ouch. Ready for your daily round-up? Here we go!

 

Transactions:

RHP Luis Perdomo to the big league Brewers, as he was selected to the 40-man roster from Nashville. Keston Hiura will join the Sounds within the next day or so.

The Perdomo/Hiura swap constituted the 22nd and 23rd player transactions for the Sounds this season. Nashville staff pointed out that in the first full calendar month of 2021, there had been 69 (!) player moves, in case you had forgotten about the injury madness that plagued the parent club last spring.

Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes

Final: Norfolk (Orioles) 6, Nashville 5
Box Score / Game Log

Via the Sounds' site, game details, and we encourage readers to review each of the affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: 

Grand Slam Leads Tides over Sounds - Norfolk gets blast in the first inning to even series

MiLB's near-consensus top prospect, Baltimore's Adley Rutschman, made his 2022 AAA debut as he works his way back from a triceps injury, though he played first base in this game rather than catcher. The Tides' backstop on this night was old friend Jacob Nottingham, and he played a part in Ethan Small's rough first frame, drawing a two-out walk to load the bases just prior to the grand slam you read about in the summary. You can watch the fateful blast here (the Sounds' staff saves the good camera work for their own grand slams). It is the only home run allowed by Small in 27 1/3 innings this season. 

RHP Zack Brown came on for Small to start the 5th and induced three groundouts in a 1-2-3 inning. Brown's 6th inning, however, went walk-walk-HBP-K-sac fly-walk. RHP Peter Strzelecki continued his excellent work by stranding all three of Brown's baserunners with a strikeout, then fanned the side in order in the 7th.

Corey Ray and his .427 OPS (34% K rate on the relatively young season) sat for a second consecutive game. Milwaukee's 40-man roster is at only 39 even after the Luis Perdomo call-up, and RHP Justin Topa could be placed on the 60-day IL if need be, so Ray's 40-man roster spot isn't in imminent danger, but things are not trending well in his final option year.

Despite the close final score, the only video the Sounds posted on this evening was from their Country Music Legend's between-innings race (Reba won on this night).

Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes via the Shuckers' Virtual Press Box

Final: Montgomery (Rays) 5, Biloxi 3
Box Score / Game Log

Via the Shuckers' site, game details, please review:

Dillard Homers Again In Shuckers' 5-3 Defeat - Luna Strikes Out Season-Best Nine Batters

Carlos Luna's K total is overshadowed however by the five earned runs allowed. Nice work by RHP's Taylor Floyd (with a bounceback perfect inning after his rough debut outing) and Harold Chirino.

Garrett Mitchell is now 5-for-6 in stolen base attempts, and as you'll see below from the clips the Shuckers gleaned from the Biscuits' video feed, still has multiple tools.

Making the most of the loss that placed Biloxi under .500 for the first time this season --

Saying this respectfully, but Thomas Dillard certainly has the Daniel Vogelback torso -

Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes via their all-encompassing Virtual Press Box

Final: Wisconsin 3, Fort Wayne (Padres) 2
Box Score / Game Log

Via the Timber Rattlers' site, game details, please review:

Wisconsin Scores Twice in the Ninth to Beat Fort Wayne - Rattlers get their fifth walkoff win of the season in 3-2 victory

Nice rebound mound effort by RHP Justin Jarvis, and fellow RHP Zach Mort is having a rebound season after a shaky 2021 campaign. (FYI - each of the Crew's four full-season affiliates currently has exactly one "Zach" or "Zack". Two of each in total, and it's maddening that I need to look up the spelling each time.) 

Hello to catcher Alex Hall, who finally made his season debut. Hall was not on any type of injured or restricted list, but the roster limits are such that players can sometimes avoid placements even if they are laid up in some way. Hopefully all is good with the switch-hitting Aussie.

Via the T-Rats' You Tube page, the team asks "Is This Real?" Maybe not quite in the "Real, and They're Spectacular' category, but two walk-off wild pitches by May 6th, with Zavier Warren scoring the winning run each time, is pretty cool. Always fun to see the players try and figure out who they should mob when there's an untraditional walk-off celebration.

The Timber Rattlers also made the headlines here - Minor League Baseball Team Has Been Launching Brats To Fans With A ‘Bratzooka’ For 24 Years

Carolina Pre-Game Media Notes

Final: Carolina 5, Augusta (Braves) 4
Box Score / Game Log

Via the Mudcats' site, game details, please review:

Leones Lifts Mudcats to 5-4 Comeback Victory - Oswel Leones hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth while helping the Mudcats to a 5-4 victory

LISTEN: Post-Game Interview with Manager Victor Estevez

Talk about worth the wait - mid-game rain delay after the 5th inning, then an 8th inning power outage delay.

Can we hear it for the bullpen covering 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts and only one walk and one HBP? 

By the way, Brewers front office, please work with MiLB to have LHP Pablo Garabitos' Player Page migrated to the pitcher side. The former two-way player last saw action in the outfield in 2019 but is still listed as an outfielder.

For his pro career, Oswel Leones has 28 extra-base hits and 100 singles. Huge moment for him in this one, you just saw the home run within the game summary from the 'Cats.

More video -

Be still, our hearts, Jackson Chourio!

I could be wrong, but I believe this is the first time Carolina has had an entire starting lineup including the pitcher spot made up solely of international signings (seven from Venezuela, three from the Dominican Republic), Usually it was Bronx native Arbert Cipion or Minnesota product Zack Raabe throwing a monkey wrench into this look (and yes, I did double-check the spelling of Raabe's first name). Given the organization's somewhat disjointed history of developing Latin players, this is pretty amazing. I apologize if this was not the first night this season this occurred - regardless, very cool.

The Timber Rattlers have the day's lone matinee Saturday - listen in as you do your last-minute Mother's Day shopping!

Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores

Links for affiliate audio

Standings and sortable stat pages

Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth

Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth

 

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[Joseph Zarr]

Awesome report, Jim. I remember 2021 in Nashville that was indeed nuts. 69 moves by early May is not friendly to 'Sweetie'!

[Joseph Zarr]

Awesome report, Jim. I remember 2021 in Nashville that was indeed nuts. 69 moves by early May is not friendly to 'Sweetie'!