Link Report for Friday 8/25: Latest -- David Weiser's Report

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF!

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Ben Hendrickson at Memphis (Cardinals), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:10 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Corey Thurman at home vs. Mississippi (Braves), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450radio.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Mike Jones and TBD in a doubleheader at home vs. Palm Beach (Cardinals), 5:00 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's) -- the Palm Beach audio connection has been iffy this year...

www.palmbeachcardinals.com/

 

West Virginia: RHP Matt Kretzschmar at Greensboro (Marlins), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

 

Helena: LHP Luis Ramirez at home vs. Idaho Falls (Royals), 7:50 PM pre-game; 8:05 gametime

 

Audio (click on "Listen Live"):

www.helenabrewers.net/html2/index.php

 

Arizona: TBD at home in the Maryvale complex to face the Cubs' kids, 9:00 PM Central time, never any web audio for the Arizona League

[Mass Haas]

Follow Friday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Open the Nashville Gameday. For the others, choose "Log". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often.

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_mrbaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County Game One:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Two:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_2

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_gboafx_1

 

Helena:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

 

Arizona Rookie:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_brrrok_1

[Mass Haas]

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds and/or Huntsville Stars are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated an hour or two prior to gametime:

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

 

Following Nashville's lead, Huntsville now makes its media notes available as well, nice:

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Thursday's action:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 73 60 .549 - 41-27 32-33 W4[/b] Iowa 69 64 .519 4.0 41-27 28-37 W6 Memphis 52 81 .391 21.0 31-39 21-42 L2 Omaha 50 83 .376 23.0 31-37 19-46 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Huntsville 34 25 .576 - 17-12 17-13 W3[/b] Tennessee 34 26 .567 0.5 18-12 16-14 W2 Chattanooga 32 28 .533 2.5 17-13 15-15 W3 West Tenn 29 31 .483 5.5 19-11 10-20 L3 Carolina 25 35 .417 9.5 19-11 6-24 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 33 25 .569 - 17-12 16-13 L1 Daytona 33 26 .559 0.5 22-12 11-14 W1 Palm Beach 31 26 .544 1.5 18-11 13-15 L1 [b]Brevard County 25 33 .431 8.0 13-13 12-20 W2[/b] Vero Beach 21 35 .375 11.0 13-16 8-19 L2 Jupiter 21 38 .356 12.5 11-18 10-20 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lakewood 41 18 .695 - 24-7 17-11 W4 Lake County 31 26 .544 9.0 16-14 15-12 L1 Greensboro 30 28 .517 10.5 15-16 15-12 W1 [b]West Virginia 30 29 .508 11.0 18-11 12-18 L1[/b] Hickory 30 30 .500 11.5 14-18 16-12 L1 Lexington 25 35 .417 16.5 16-14 9-21 W1 Delmarva 23 35 .397 17.5 13-13 10-22 W2 Hagerstown 22 37 .373 19.0 11-18 11-19 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billings 18 7 .720 - 12-2 6-5 L1 Missoula 15 10 .600 3.0 8-3 7-7 L1 [b]Helena 13 12 .520 5.0 6-5 7-7 L3[/b] Great Falls 7 18 .280 11.0 6-8 1-10 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Angels 16 6 .727 - 5-1 11-5 W3 AZL Royals 16 8 .667 1.0 8-5 8-3 L2 AZL Giants 15 8 .652 1.5 7-5 8-3 L1 AZL Padres 14 8 .636 2.0 8-4 6-4 W2 AZL Athletics 11 11 .500 5.0 9-3 2-8 W3 AZL Mariners 10 13 .435 6.5 8-4 2-9 L3 AZL Cubs 9 13 .409 7.0 4-7 5-6 L2 AZL Rangers 7 16 .304 9.5 6-7 1-9 W1 [b]AZL Brewers 4 19 .174 12.5 3-8 1-11 W1[/b]

[plowjockey]

Still raining in FLA.. Man couldn't they send that stuff to us in TX? We have lakes down 5' in water level.

[Mass Haas]

As noted, third straight rainout in Florida, and there will be a doubleheader Saturday evening. The teams are off Sunday and could make up the final game then, but the teams nor the league have determined if they will as of this post.

[wibadgers23]

We need to get our High A team out of Florida. Rains way too much. Too many postponed games. I'd like to see a team in Wisconsin again.

[Mass Haas]

Your high-A choices are the California League (been there, done that), the Florida State League, and the Carolina League.

 

Within the next week or so Baseball America should have a summary up of which affiliates are available.

[pogokat]

move to carolina, yay!!!

 

wv update coming up

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 9, Greensboro (Marlins) 0

I'd like to trade this win over the Marlins for another Florida matchup tonight....

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

I think we'll get a pogokat report later...

 

POWER SHUT DOWN GRASSHOPPERS, WIN RUBBER MATCH

 

On Friday night at First Horizon Park, Nestor Corredor, Mat Gamel and Mike Bell all hit home runs for the West Virginia Power while Matt Kretzschmar, Rafael Lluberes and Kevin Roberts combined to pitch a six-hit shutout, as the Power won the rubber match of the three game series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers, 9-0.

 

Corredor snapped a scoreless tie in the third inning on a solo home run, his second of the year. Later in the second with Lorenzo Cain on first base and two outs, Gamel hit a fly ball to left field that was dropped by Greensboro left fielder Brad Correll, allowing Cain to score. Gamel made it a 3-0 game in the fifth inning with a solo home run, his second of the series, his 16th of the season. In the eighth inning Bell smacked a one-out triple, and scored during the next at bat on Tony Festa?s sacrifice fly.

 

Ahead 4-0 going into the ninth inning, the Power pounded the final nail into the coffin with a five-run frame. Darren Ford ripped a two-run single to score Michael Brantley and Corredor, and three batters later Bell hit a three-run homer, his second of the series and his 12th of the year to cap off the five-run ninth inning.

 

The shutout was the second for the Power in their last three games and their ninth of the season; only four other teams have more shutouts than the Power.

 

Kretzschmar (4-4) pitched five scoreless innings of two-hit ball and got the victory while Ryan Tucker (7-12) suffered the loss. The Power are 70-59 on the year and 31-29 in the second half after the win while the Grasshoppers fell to 66-63 overall and 30-29 in the second half after the loss.

 

The Power will begin a two game series against the Lexington Legends at Appalachian Power Park on Saturday night. Left hander Brian Bogusevic (1-4, 5.34) will make the start for Lexington and the Power will counter with left hander Brandon Parillo (3-0, 5.79). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score and Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_gboafx_1

[Mass Haas]

In progress as of 10:15 Central: Mississippi (Braves) 3, Huntsville 3, after ten innings

You really should listen in to see if the Stars can post a walkoff win in front of a big fireworks crowd...

 

Good news -- Tennessee lost, let's see if the Stars can move their lead to a game and a half!

[pogokat]

not as much to say as last night---

 

Mat Gamel

Gamel's homer was decently hit..maybe 375.. He's got good power---not as much as braun, but i think he'll hit 25 at least once sometime in his career...hopefully in the majors. I got to see Gamel on D a little tonight as well. His arm is good, but his footwork and glove are a little more rocky. There was a ball hit to him early in the game that was ruled a hit. Gamel charged the ball and bobbled the pickup and the transition, so he didn't even throw it. So, take that into consideration along with the error tonight. From what we here, he has improved on defense, and i trust that info, but i don't think his glove is as good as Braun's yet. He's young though, so he's got plenty of time to improve.

 

Darren Ford

Ford's two rbi single early in the game might not have been a hit if the infield had not been playing in. Also worth noting that Ford's arm isn't that great---where Lorenzo Cain has a plus arm, i would say Ford is avg/below avg.

 

Michael Bell

Bell's Homer tonight was a cheap shot---maybe 335 feet to the left field corner, but he hit it a mile in the air. He proved he's pretty speedy on the triple because most would have probably stopped at 3rd. Definitely above average speed--and all the "gritiness" that normally goes with middle infielders. Too bad he didn't get much of a chance to impress on defense tonight...I think he could do well as a middle infielder or a utility guy---his power is legit.

 

a few more notes: Ryan Barba might not hit much, but he runs well and he's slick on defense. Tony Festa also looked good on D, as he turned a diving stop at first into a double play. Kevin Roberts seems to have dialed it up a bit since moving to the pen--he hit 93, even though his motion makes it look like he's short arming the ball like a middle infielder. Nestor Corredor's homer was a bomb. He may be an organizational soldier, but he's definitely a good guy to have around. i can see him making it to AAA at some point.

 

That's it for now...let me know if i missed anything!

[colbyjack]

Helena announcer Steve Wendt just mentioned that Jack Zduriencik is in attendance at the Helena Brewers game taking in the H-Crew. Not earth-shattering news, but I thought I would share that nugget.

 

Thanks again for your first-hand observations pogo.

[Mass Haas]

Wow, bases loaded, one out for the Stars in the bottom of the 11th. Ryan Braun shallow fly out, Brendan Katin fly out.

 

On to the 12th, Braun totally frustrated with himself on that at-bat...

 

All against a catcher on the mound, as the Braves are basically conceding the game at this point. Yet the Stars haven't won yet...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Memphis (Cardinals) 8, Nashville 7

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Dave Krynzel photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2126

 

Sounds Win Streak Snapped With 8-7 Loss

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? The Nashville Sounds had their four-game winning streak snapped with an 8-7 loss to the Memphis Redbirds on Friday evening at AutoZone Park.

 

Despite the loss, Nashville (73-61) maintained its four-game cushion over Iowa in the American Conference Northern Division as the Cubs fell to New Orleans. With the Iowa loss, the Sounds? magic number to clinch a playoff berth was reduced to six.

 

In addition to snapping the Sounds? four-game win streak, the defeat snapped the club?s eight-game win streak against Memphis, which dated back to July.

 

After Nashville took an early 1-0 lead on Jermaine Clark?s second-inning sacrifice fly, Memphis responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame against Sounds starter Ben Hendrickson. Three of the runs were unearned following a throwing error by third baseman Vinny Rottino on a sacrifice bunt attempt.

 

Two more Sounds sacrifice flies in the third, courtesy of Drew Anderson and Graham Koonce, pulled the visitors within a run at 4-3 before Rottino made amends for his earlier fielding gaff by leading off the fourth inning with a solo homer to left off Memphis starter Ricardo Rodriguez, his seventh longball of the year.

 

The host Redbirds pulled back in front over the next two innings, scoring three runs off Hendrickson to take a 7-4 lead by the end of the fifth.

 

Sounds right fielder Dave Krynzel tied things up in the top of the sixth with a two-out, three-run homer to left off Rodriguez, his seventh roundtripper of the year.

 

AUDIO: Dave Krynzel's Three-Run Homer --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...208-25.mp3

 

Memphis claimed its third and final lead of the night in the seventh when Rico Washington slugged a solo homer off Nashville reliever Mitch Stetter, putting the Redbirds in front by an 8-7 margin.

 

Reliever Brad Thompson (2-0) worked three scoreless innings behind Rodriguez to earn his second win of the year for Memphis.

 

Stetter (2-5) took the loss after allowing Washington?s game-deciding homer in his lone inning of work.

 

Hendrickson took a no-decision for the Sounds after allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits in only four innings of work.

 

The teams continue the series with a 6:10 p.m. meeting on Saturday evening. Left-hander Zach Jackson (4-5, 3.98) will toe the rubber for Nashville and square off against right-hander John Webb (6-11, 4.51).

 

Nashville Box Score and Game Log Link:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_mrbaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

It's ridiculous in Huntsville, as the Braves have brought in their second catcher of the night to pitch in the game, and the two non-pitchers have now shut out the Stars over three innings. The last seven Stars have been set down, as everyone is popping up or flying out trying to end it on a home run against these 70 MPH fastballs. Steve Moss just swung through one to end the 13th.

 

Jeepers...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Idaho Falls (Royals) 6, Helena 3

 

Helena Box Score and Game Log:

Three-run ninth too little, too late; Chuckie Caufield three hits; young lefties Luis Ramirez and Jose Romero each pitched -- Romero allowing three runs in the top of the 9th...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Finally!

 

Brendan Katin walk-off two-out solo home run in the 14th!

 

Stars win, 4-3; let the fireworks begin http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif !

[SoCalBrewfan]

How's that for an ending in H'ville:

 

HR: Katin (3, 14th inning off Serrano, 0 on, 2 out).

 

Serrano is a catcher, of course, and probably wanted to go home...

[pogokat]

Huntsville Site game Summary

 

Katin Wins it With Walk Off Homer

 

Brendan Katin?s walk off home run with two outs in the 14th inning lifted Huntsville past Mississippi 4-3 Friday night in the opener of the final home series of the season at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars won their fourth straight game, in their longest contest of the year, improved to 35-25 in the second half and lengthened their lead to a game and a half in the North Division over Tennessee, which gave up four runs in the eighth inning at Jacksonville and fell to the Suns 7-6.

 

Braves? catcher Ray Serrano pitched a scoreless 13th inning and retired the first two hitters in the 14th before Katin blasted a 2-1 offering over the wall in left-center field toward the scoreboard for his third home run of the week and his second game-winner since joining the team. Backup catcher Jon Williams worked out of a one out, bases loaded jam in the 11th inning and tossed a scoreless 12th before switching positions with Serrano.

 

The Braves scored a run in the fourth and two in the seventh on a two-out, two-run single by Matt Young to take a 3-0 lead. Huntsville scored its? first run of the night in the home seventh on a single by Lou Palmisano that plated Jeff Eure, who had doubled. The Stars tied the game in the eighth on a bases loaded single by Ron Acuna and a double play ball off the bat of Palmisano with the sacks full. David Watkins worked out of a one out, runners at first and third situation in the ninth by retiring Ryan Braun on a line drive to shallow left field and Katin on a ground ball to shortstop Mike Rozema.

 

The Huntsville bullpen trio of Joe Valentine, Luther Hackman and Matt Yeatman retired the last 15 hitters they faced and, along with Gerrit Simpson, worked seven scoreless frames behind starter Corey Thurman. The five hurlers combined to strikeout a season-best 15 batters while issuing only one walk.

 

The series continues Saturday night with southpaw Steve Hammond taking the hill for Huntsville against a Braves? starter yet to be determined. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on ESPN Radio 1450 AM and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

pogo comment: Brendan Katin might not be hitting for average in his limited sample, but his power has definitely moved up with him.

[pogokat]

Final: AZL Cubs 6, AZL Brewers 4

 

Alexandre Periard with a very good outing.. The key to his success seems to be to gain some control, and he looked good tonight..

 

Arizona Box Score and Game Log

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c..._brrrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1

 

Stars finally grab win in 14th inning

Huntsville stretches North Division lead to 1 1/2 games

By MARK McCARTER

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com

 

The Tennessee Smokies and Mississippi Braves were both doing their darndest to help the Huntsville Stars pad their lead in the Southern League North. Don Money's Stars kept stubbornly refusing charity, inning after inning after inning after inning ...

 

The Smokies, the Stars' closest pursuers, blew a three-run lead in the eighth inning at Jacksonville earlier in the evening to at least assure Huntsville would remain in first.

 

The pitching-depleted Braves, meanwhile, sent a pair of catchers to the mound as relievers in extra innings. But with mph's that wouldn't draw a trooper's attention, player-coach Jon Williams and Ray Serrano only seemed to discombobulate Huntsville hitters, retiring 10 in a row in one stretch.

 

Finally, in the 14th inning, Brendan Katin - who twice before left a potential winning run stranded on third - hit a 68-mph Serrano pitch over the left field wall at 11:13 p.m., giving the Stars a 4-3 win.

 

The homer, his third in seven games with the Stars, gave Huntsville a 1 1/2-game cushion over Tennessee and 2 1/2 over Chattanooga with 10 games remaining.

 

After two perfect relief innings by Luther Hackman, Matt Yeatman collected the win with a perfect 14th. It was the Stars' fourth straight victory and 10th in their last 12 games. They have yet to lose at home in the month of August.

 

The Stars have four more games here with Mississippi, including tonight, then end their season with six games at Birmingham. The Smokies have four more games at Jacksonville, then end the season at home with Mobile.

 

As part of an American Cancer Society Night, a group of fans arranged luminaries in the leftfield stands that read, "HOPE."

 

An hour into the game, there seemed to be little hope, in terms of baseball. Tennessee was roughing up Jacksonville. Huntsville starter Corey Thurman was enduring one of his less-effective starts, giving up three runs on 10 hits, the most costly a two-out seventh-inning flare by Matt Young on a 1-2 count, driving in two runs. And Mississippi starter Sean White was handcuffing Huntsville.

 

White had made two previous starts against the Stars, being chased after 3 2/3 innings on opening night, then on Aug. 13 lasting just three innings, giving up five walks, seven hits and six runs.

 

This time, he was fairly brilliant. He permitted only one hit in his first six innings before a Jeff Eure leadoff double in the seventh and singles by Lou Palmisano and Guilder Rodriguez produced the Stars' first run.

 

However, reliever David Watkins gave up a bases-loaded bloop single to Ron Acuna in the eighth, then a double play grounder by Palmisano brought in the tying run. Watkins did escape a critical situation in the ninth when Steve Moss singled and Callix Crabbe singled him to third. Watkins got Ryan Braun on a hard liner to left and Katin on a grounder to deep short.

 

In the 11th, with one out, Williams hit Ozzie Chavez with a pitch, gave up a double to Moss and walked Crabbe. Braun flew out to shallow right, then Katin to deep left-center off Williams, a 27-year-old player-coach just activated this week and most recently in the employ of the River City Rascals independent team.

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

THE RYAN BRAUN INSURANCE COMPANY

KATIN HITS WINNING HR IN 14TH

In the left field bleachers, any fan could see a good distance away, a number of what looked to be like small paper bags weighed down with sand to prevent them from being blown away. They were, in fact, luminaires, arranged on the aluminum seats to spell the word "HOPE"....... Every fan in Huntsville knows what is going on. Every fan has been talking about the Stars and their amazing comeback, a miracle comeback (they fought back from a 10-17 second-half start), and with ten games to go, with increasing media attention here in spite of the approach of high school football season, they are becoming the talk of the town........

 

Only three times in their 10 previous playoff appearances have they had to win the second half to get in, and only once did they finish last in the first half, but that was in 1997, and that was a strong offensive team with no pitching. They finished only five games in back of Mobile that year with a .500 record. And this is what makes this race amazing --- they won only 24 games in the first half --- a team so devoid of the ability to hit and score runs (they hit just .214 in May, averaging 2.73 runs and 6.77 hits per game). The middle of the order hit only .228 in the first half and .218 after 50 games. Huntsville's pitching (a 3.82 ERA from its rotation and 3.29 from the bullpen after just 50 games) could not win games under those circumstances........

 

So to see the Huntsville Stars 1½ in front in the Northern Division with ten games remaining is reason enough to make even a close observer stop and wonder --- and ask, what happened to turn this team around......... How did a team that bad in the first half win 18 of 23 games in August and 24 of its last 31 games?

 

The superstitious and cynical will say it started when Sandy Guerrero replaced Don Money in the coaching box at first....... That's funny, but let's get to last night's game.

 

The last Friday Fireworks special of the season attracted less than 4,000, most of whom stuck around four hours -- the longest game of the season......... The Stars could not crack into Sean White's 1-0 lead after six innings, squandering their best chance in the 2nd inning when with one out, as Ron Acuna skied a 0-1 pitch deep to center for a double. A walk on five pitches to Lou Palmisano set up a force situation, which is exactly what happened to Mississippi's fortune....... Guilder Rodriguez stole second, his first steal since April 20 to remove the force with Corey Thurman at bat, but Thurman, a 3-for-30 hitter, is not Tim Dillard or Yovani Gallardo. After fouling off two pitches, he struck out.

 

Thurman had thrown 82 pitches by the time he got to the top of the 7th when the Braves padded their lead with two more runs..... With Jarrod Saltalamacchia playing in the U.S. Olympic Qualifying Tournament in China, back-up catcher Ray Serrano (.286 vs. the Stars) led off with a double into the left field corner. Josh Arteaga's one-hop liner into right-center wasn't deep enough to try Acuna's arm in right, so runners were at the corners when White's 3-4 sacrifice moved the runners into scoring position......... After a strikeout of Onil Joseph, an intentional walk to Mike Rozema filled the bases........ With Thurman now approaching 100 pitches, Matt Young fouled off three pitches before lining a two-hop single to Steve Moss in center to score Serrano and Arteaga........ It was the showers for Corey after retiring Yuni Escobar on a grounder to Callix Crabbe with runners on the corners for the final out, but for the Stars, it was now time to wake up and go to work.

 

In the past, you could take this game out of the oven. It was done........ But when you're hot, you're hot. Liners fall in, balls down the line stay fair, bunts are executed perfectly, pitches are called your way and no one panics anymore when the Stars fall behind......... It's now written in some cosmic script, just as I felt in 1986, that the Stars will come back to win. The only mystery is how and when.

 

Jeff Eure, the leadoff hitter in the 7th inning, lined a double down the left field line, hugging the baseline. See?...... With one out, Palmisano lined a two-hop hit to right for a single, sending Eure in to put the Stars on the scoreboard........ Guilder Rodriguez, hitting .370 while substituting for Ozzie Chavez, who has been on the shelf with a sore shoulder and a sore tooth, singled to left-center, but with runners on 1st and 2nd, David Watkins, who was promoted just a week earlier from Class A-Myrtle Beach (Carolina), struck out two of the next three hitters to end the inning....... Watkins tops at 98, but he has the uncanny ability to baffle hitters by changing speeds by 25-30 mph so easily, frustrating anyone who faces him at the plate, and he has a really nasty curve. Crabbe was polished off swinging at a 96 mph fast ball after taking fouling off two pitches and taking a change-up for a ball.

 

After going 0-for-3 in the game, fans at the Joe knew it was time for Ryan Braun to do what has become so expected of him. He has become Mr. August in Huntsville...... Let's stop the game here and go back for a moment........ Braun came into a July 4th game at Birmingham hitting .182 after his first 12 games. In a 13-1 pounding of the Barons, he led a 17-hit attack with a 4-for-5 night. The learning curve was over....... From that point on, Ryan has hit .325 with 10 HRs and 24 RBIs, and that's with the burden of a recent 5-for-29 (.172) slump at the plate........ What he has done best, though, is start an inning off. Warts and all, he's hitting .452 in those situations....... He led off the bottom of the 8th with a hard grounder down the left field line for a single...... Brendan Katin, Ryan's teammate at the University of Miami and Brevard County, has such similar power to Ryan, you could call him The Ryan Braun Insurance Company, seeing Katin's rise and Braun's recent slump that has dropped his average under .300 for the first time since July 25th........ Katin followed Braun with a double to the warning track in left, sending Braun to third. An unintentional intentional walk to Jeff Eure (.286 in 49 AB in August) loaded the bases...... Ron Acuna then singled on a 1-1 pitch to right, scoring Braun, making it 3-2 Braves and Lou Palmisano tied it up on a 2-2 pitch with grounder to Rozema that caught Eure going to third. Rozema then threw to Yunil Escobar for the force on Acuna at second......... The Stars left the 8th with the score tied, 3-3......... From this point on, the game got strange.

 

Neither side could buy a hit, especially the Stars after reliever Zach Schreiber left the game after retiring the Stars in order in the 10th (the original box provided by MILB is wrong)....... Gerrit Simpson, Joe Valentine, Luther Hackman, and Matt Yeatman pitched seven innings in relief, allowing only one hit....... Valentine gave that up........ Onil Joseph lined a hard one-hopper to Braun with two out in the 9th. Braun made a basket grab out of pure instinct and kept the ball in front, but his throw to catch the speedy hitter was not in time..... The Braves, with a depleted bullpen, went to coach and back-up catcher Jon Williams. Between him, Schrieber, and Ray Serrano, I think the fastest pitch I saw (except for Schreiber) was 71 mph, but all the Stars could do was pop everything up........ Eure and Palmisano had popped up Schreiber's offerings in the 10th, and from the 11th to the 14th innings, nine of ten hitters were retired on fly balls and one pop out to first.

 

The most frustrating moment for the Stars, and especially for the fans, came in the 11th....... With one out, Ozzie Chavez got on after being hit with an inside pitch. Steve Moss then doubled down the left field line on a 1-0 lollipop pitch, sending Chavie to 3rd and Callix was walked intentionally to load the bases....... It was time for Ryan Braun to redeem himself for the 9th inning.

 

With one out in the 9th, a long fly ball away from victory and a runner on first, Braun hit a sinking liner to left. Josh Burrus raced in to make a fine diving catch....... The game, of course, went into extra innings after Brendan Katin grounded out....... Now it's the 11th. and the sacks are loaded for Braun. He fouls off a 1-1 pitch, then hits a fly ball to right and everyone at the Joe is excited, but Chavez decides not to add to Onil Joseph's total of five assists on the season....... Katin flies out to center on Williams' first tempting offering........ But Katin became the hero in the 14th inning, mobbed at the plate by his teammates, after hitting a 2-1 softie off Ray Serrano, who had come on in the 13th to trade positions with Williams behind the plate --- a home run skied into the night landing beyond the wall to the left of the scoreboard.

 

Matt Yeatman was the winner in relief for the first time since May 17th vs. Chattanooga, the last game before the Stars went on a record 14-game losing streak...... It was Serrano's first loss in his first game as a pitcher in a minor league career that goes back to 1999.