Link Report for Tue. 8/15 - Salome Carted Off, Ankle Injury

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=51583

 

Mistakes doom Sounds in extra innings

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

In the home stretch of their pennant race, the defending Pacific Coast League champion Nashville Sounds led off their make-or-break eight-game homestand with a 6-4 10-inning loss to New Orleans at Greer Stadium.

 

The Sounds didn?t much resemble a first-place team in the defeat. Their bullpen gave away a three-run lead. Their base-runners made mental mistakes on the bases and their defense committed a pair of costly errors.

 

The Sounds? spotty effort came on the heels of a doubleheader on Monday in which the team played a total of 14.1 innings in Albuquerque. Despite the loss, Nashville stayed ahead of second-place Iowa by two games because the Cubs also fell.

 

Sounds manager Frank Kremblas said playing 25 innings in two days didn?t have anything to do with his team?s mistakes. Kremblas said the loss came down to the pitching of his bullpen ? specifically Allan Simpson, who surrendered a three-run lead in the eighth, and Alec Zumwalt, who took the loss by allowing two more in the tenth.

 

?When you?re not able to get ahead of guys, you?re going to get in trouble and they took care of that,? Kremblas said.

 

Nashville (65-59) got a strong performance from starter Ben Hendrickson, who went 5.2 innings and handed the bullpen a 4-1 lead.

 

The Sounds got their offense from the unlikely power duo of Chris Barnwell and Dave Krynzel, who each hit homers. Barnwell hit his fourth homer, a solo shot in the first inning. Krynzel launched a two-run homer, his sixth, an inning later.

 

It wasn?t just the bullpen that did in Nashville. Krynzel and Tony Gwynn made errors on the basepaths. Hendrickson and catcher Vinny Rottino both made errors in the field.

 

?We could have [overcome the poor outing by the bullpen] but we didn?t take advantage of our chances and we ran the bases with our heads up our [behinds],? Kremblas said.

 

Simpson entered in the eighth and allowed a single and a walk before Marlon Byrd launched a game-tying three-run homer.

 

In extra innings Zumwalt didn?t fare any better. In his only inning of work, Zumwalt allowed two hits and two runs, although only one was earned because the other came on the throwing error by Rottino.

 

Without a day off in sight, the Sounds bullpen isn?t finished being tested. Kremblas said there isn?t any lost confidence in his relievers, who have blown 20 saves this season.

 

?None at all,? Kremblas said. ?They?re going to have games like that, you just hope when they do, you have enough runs to overcome it.?

[Mass Haas]

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

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...208-15.mp3

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Unlucky bat shows some magic

Pitcher Thurman swats two-run double for Stars

By MARK McCARTER

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com

 

For much of the season, Corey Thurman has been using a bat from Rickie Weeks, who was as natural a hitter as has come through Huntsville. Yet Thurman had only two hits in 26 at-bats.

 

On Tuesday, using a bat left behind by ex-Stars pitcher Steve Bray (a .143 hitter here), Thurman cracked a majestic two-run double, propelling Huntsville to an 8-1 victory over Carolina. Go figure. And, oh yeah, there was the little matter of Thurman's pitching, too.

 

The 27-year-old right-hander, trying to carve a path back to the majors, where he once toiled for the Toronto Blue Jays, allowed only two hits in seven innings of work, striking out five.

 

The Stars, who have won 16 of their last 21 and seven of their last eight, remain 3 1/2 games behind Tennessee in the Southern League North second-half race after the Smokies' 10-inning win over Mississippi on Tuesday. Twenty games remain for the Stars, including tonight's 7:05 duel with the Mudcats.

 

"No matter what happens, you always want to be pitching for something," Thurman said. "When you have a playoff chance, it makes you concentrate more, keeps your focus up."

 

That he did.

 

"This was probably the best game he's pitched all year," said pitching coach Rich Sauveur. "He had command of all four of his pitches. I can't say enough about him. The guy did a great job."

 

The only blemish was a one-out homer in the fifth by Brett Carroll, breaking up a perfect game, and a single up the middle in the seventh by Josh Pressley. "After he hit the home run, I looked at the scoreboard and I was like, 'Well, I guess that just ruined everything,' " Thurman said, laughing. "But I thought, no big deal, as long as we're still ahead and I throw strikes, we're OK."

 

Thurman has been the hard-luck pitcher on the staff, often a victim of poor offense. This was his fifth win, against eight losses, but he has a 2.88 ERA, seventh-best in the Southern League.

 

Of his own hitting, Thurman said, "I've been joking around with my teammates, especially (Drew) Anderson and (Ryan) Braun that I need to get a hit sometime because I'm the weakest link on the pitching staff as far as hitters. We've got a pretty decent-hitting pitching staff. I just wanted to go up there and swing at the first fastball he (Carolina's James Russ) gave me, and luckily it was in the zone I needed it to be in."

 

"Big-time" is how manager Don Money described the powerful double in the left-center gap, considering it came with two out and two men on.

 

The Stars added to that 2-0 lead with a two-run Anderson double in the third. Brad Nelson singled in a pair of runs in the eighth, then Jeff Eure, pinch-hitting for Thurman (what? no respect?), singled in two more for the 8-1 cushion.

 

"I don't know if I've proved anything to anybody else, but I've proved some things to myself," Thurman said. "When it comes down to it, confidence is the biggest thing you need to be able to pitch at a higher level. As long as I have confidence on my side and my mind is positive, I don't think there is any way you can be stopped as a person."

 

Corey Thurman photo from the Stars' site:

 

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/images/news/thurmant.JPG

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

CRUNCH TIME

STARS REMAIN 3½ IN BACK OF TENNESSEE

You know it's back-to-school time when you see crowds like this one tonight........ Weeknights crowds this year were the poorest I've ever seen. In fact, this is the worst season attendance-wise I've seen reported....... There have been only 17 home dates out of 57 so far this year in which the Stars have drawn at least 2,000. Of those 17, 13 have been on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Of the four remaining, one was the Fourth of July holiday fireworks special that drew 6,313. No Tuesday or Wednesday game this year has drawn at least 2,000........ Tonight's "crowd" of 1,026, brings the total attendance to 139,074 -- an average of 2,483 per game......... Not as embarrassing as West Tennessee, which has drawn 78,177 or 1,475 per game........ Jacksonville, by the way, leads the league in attendance with 364,966, or 6,185 per game...... Montgomery, in 2nd place, draws 4,517 per game, a figure the Stars once attracted in halcyon days.

 

Unfortunately, Huntsville for some reason doesn't care that THEIR team has won 16 of its last 21 games...... School is back, the kids have to get up, and everyone is talking football now........ This Friday, we'll see if there's any interest left at all before high school football season gets in full swing.

 

The Mudcats came into Huntsville with a little hot streak of their own, winning eight of 10 games in their last homestand, but also with a 19-41 record on the road........ Corey Thurman found his job easy, as he strangled the Mudcats on two hits before Gerrit Simpson finished the two-hitter with two no-hit innings in relief........ Corey's no-hitter was broken up in the 5th inning when right fielder Brent Carroll lifted a 1-2 pitch that was either going to go fair or foul near the pole in left....... No break from the wind tonight. It was blowing in briskly and it was hit almost straight down the line, so there was little hook to guide its path...... It landed high inside the pole, landing on the steps leading to the forlorn left field bleacher section for a home run, his third this year against the Stars......With two out in the 6th, Josh Pressley picked up the Mudcats' final hit, a single grounded hard up the middle. He was forced out two pitches later to end the inning........ Simpson, who has been so consistently fine this season in relief, has not allowed a hit in three of his last four appearances out of the bullpen.

 

Thurman got the Stars on the board with two out in the 2nd inning after Lou Palmisano walked on five pitches and Ozzie Chavez lined a single to short right....... Thurman, coming in with a .077 average in 26 at-bats, clocked James Russ's first pitch deep to the center-field wall for a double, his only extra-base hit of the three he's had this year....... his first hit since June 19th scored both runners, giving the Stars a 2-0 lead.

 

The Stars added two more to make it 4-0 after three innings........ Brad Nelson lined a wicked one-out double that hooked its way to the wall in left-center. After Ron Acuna was hit in the back with Russ's first pitch, Drew Anderson lined a 2-1 pitch into right-center, driving in Nelson, his first RBI since August 1st........ Palmisano fouled off an 0-2 pitch, then hit a one-hop single to right, scoring Acuna....... Palmisano is one of the few who have not gotten hot during the Stars 16-5 streak. He's hit just .196 with just four RBIs....... Neither has Anderson, nor leadoff hitter Steve Moss for that matter. Anderson is hitting at a .255 clip, while Moss is hitting just .233 in 73 at-bats.

 

The Stars then feasted on Kevin Cave in the 7th........ Four straight singles to open the inning, starting with Callix Crabbe, a .353 hitter against Carolina on the Stars' road trip to Five County Stadium....... With the count 2-and-2 on Nelson, Crabbe and Ryan Braun successfully pulled the double-steal, with Patrick Arlis's throw going to 3rd. That set up Nelson to add two more RBIs to his career total, as Brad lashed a single to left......... Nelly now has 156 over his four seasons for Huntsville, 4th best all-time, still a distance from 3rd place and Josh Klimek's 184......... After a pitching change and a double-switch by Carolina, Jeff Eure, hitting for Thurman, hit a line drive single to right, eluding 2nd baseman Brian Cleveland, and for the moment, Brett Carroll, as well. But Carroll recovered the ball quickly and threw to shortstop Rex Rundgren, who tagged Eure out, but not before Eure drove home Nelson and Acuna, who had the last of the four straight hits......... Eure is now 6-for-17 (.353) as a pinch-hitter for the Stars, topping the bench, which is 21-for-96 (.219) overall this year.

 

Unfortunately, Mississippi couldn't hang on to a 2-1 9th inning lead and the Tennessee Smokies won in 10, holding on to their 3½-game lead over the Stars in the Northern Division.

 

It was Thurman's finest performance since the start of the season when, on a pitch count, he no-hit Mississippi for four innings, then followed that up with a one-hitter over six innings against Birmingham........ Thurman has a 3.18 ERA in his last four starts, three of which he's won........ Wednesday, left-hander Manu Olivera (3-7, 3.55) faces Steve Hammond (4-4, 2.15)....... Olivera held the Stars to four hits over 6 2/3 innings in Huntsville's comeback 3-2 victory in the final game of that road series at Five County Stadium....... Like Russ, Olivera can be a target once he puts runners on. Olivera this season has a 6.92 ERA with runners on base........ Hammond is 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA in his last four starts.

 

The West Virginia Power may be 24-26 in the Sally League standings, but they currently have the league's batting leader in Lorenzo Cain (.309) and the league's RBI leader in catcher Angel Salome (84), and Vineland, New Jersey outfielder Darren Ford has 56 stolen bases, 3rd in the SAL......... As reported by the Nashville Sounds, Mike Meyers has left the Nashville Sounds to join the Canadian National Team as they prepare for Olympic qualifying. The 28-year-old native of London, Ontario is not expected to rejoin the Sounds during the regular season...... Meyers started the season with the Stars, pitching four games in relief before being promoted on April 18th........ Speaking of players who started the season, Greg Sain is hitting .216 with four HRs and 19 RBIs after 22 games for the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Sain was signed by the independent Northern League team last July 21st.......Major league baseball has suspended Mobile catcher Matt Lauderdale for 50 games, pretty much the rest of the season, for testing positive for a banned drug in violation of the minor leauge drug prevention and treatment program. Lauderdale's 10th inning home run off Brett Evert beat the Stars last June 22nd (Ryan Braun's debut).

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2006081546

 

Power wins but loses Salome

By Jim Workman

For The Charleston Gazette

 

Though his team had just won a dramatic, ninth-inning victory, West Virginia Power manager Mike Guerrero was not in the celebrating mood.

 

The Power knocked off the Hickory Crawdads 7-6 at Appalachian Power Park Tuesday night to end a three-game losing streak but lost the services of catcher Angel Salome, who leads the South Atlantic League in RBIs.

 

Guerrero watched as Salome was carted off the field in the bottom of the seventh following an injury that occurred as he slid into second base on an unsuccessful steal attempt.

 

?It was a pretty good ballgame, but we had a big loss in Angel,? said Guerrero. ?So far, it?s a dislocated ankle. But we?ll see how he is after the X-rays. His foot got caught on the bag. He?s an important part of our team. We have a tight ballclub. When somebody gets hurt, it?s a tough time. You can?t really enjoy [a win]. I feel for my kids.?

 

With the score tied at 6-6 in the ninth, Mike Bell drew a bases-loaded walk off Crawdads reliever Matt Swanson to give the Power the victory.

 

Salome and Ryan Barba each went 3-for-4 for the Power. Lorenzo Cain and Mat Gamel added two hits apiece. Cain is seven hits away from tying a Charleston franchise record for total hits in a season. He entered the game leading the Sally League with a .309 batting average.

 

Hickory wasted little time getting its offense going. Brad Corley tripled to score Mike McCuistion to give the Crawdads a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

 

Corley then scored on Jason Delaney?s single.

 

The Power answered in the bottom of the first as Salome added to his league-leading RBI total with a run-scoring single, giving him 85 for the season.

 

Hickory threatened again in the second, but Power starter Rafael Lluberes worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

 

The Power scored three runs to take a 4-2 lead in the second as Kenny Holmberg singled in Bell, Barba swatted a RBI single to plate Tony Festa and Michael Brantley brought home Holmberg with a sacrifice.

 

Cameron Blair homered in the fourth for the Crawdads.

 

Hickory got a break in the fifth when Tony Mansolino crossed the plate on a wild pitch to go up 5-4.

 

The Power bounced back yet again in the bottom of the fifth. Gamel doubled in Cain to knot it at 5-5 and Festa got Gamel across on an infield out to give the Power a 6-5 lead.

 

The Crawdads loaded the bases again in the seventh. John Santiago took advantage of the opportunity, reaching on a fielder?s choice to plate a run, tying it at 6-6. Additional scoring chances were wiped away when Salome caught Steve Lerud stealing to end the inning.

 

Power Points: The Power (24-26 second half, 63-56 overall) takes on Hickory at 7:05 Wednesday night (6:05 Central) in the second game of an eight-game homestand. ...The Power has 19 games remaining, 12 at home and seven on the road. ...Hickory (27-24) leads the South Atlantic League with 101 home runs. Corley, the league leader in round-trippers, went 1-for-5 with a triple and two strikeouts.

 

Charleston Gazette Photographer: Chip Ellis

The Power?s Darren Ford steals second base as Hickory?s Cameron Blair shows the ball to the umpire Tuesday. Ford later scored.

 

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/images/stories/Steal.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.helenair.com/articles...606_03.txt

 

Ponies ride over Brewers

By JEFF WINDMUELLER - Independent Record Sports Writer

 

The Billings Mustangs can hit. They can pitch. And their defense isn?t bad either.

 

The Pioneer League?s North Division leader proved that Tuesday night as they simply out-did the Helena Brewers 9-3 at Kindrick Legion Field.

 

Helena had an errorless performance while getting six hits including a two-run homer that Chuckie Caufield belted into the left field net, but they couldn?t compare to the Mustangs? 12 hits and a 4-for-5 performance by Anthony Esquer.

 

?Our defense played well, but a lot of their balls were going off the walls,? said Ed Sedar, Brewers? manager. ?We have to play very good baseball to beat them. To me (Billings) is the jewel of the league . They have pretty good hitting, they play pretty good defense, and of course their pitching is the best in the league.?

 

The Brewers were able to keep the Mustangs scoreless until the fourth innings when Helena starter Chris Jean gave up his first walk and hit.

 

Billings? Danny Dorn walked and Jason Louwsma blooped a hit into right field. Both came home on a double to center by Ryan Brown. Esquer backed the shot up with a double of his own, scoring the third and final run in the inning.

 

The Mustangs kept up the momentum, scoring three runs over the next two innings before pounding out three more in the seventh to end the scoring.

 

Caufield drove in all three runs for the Brewers. He hit his first RBI in the fifth to bring in Brad Miller.

 

Caufield, led off the game as the designated hitter, is resting a sore shoulder, Sedar said. But that hasn?t stopped him from performing well in practice and the games.

 

?He?s our little energizer. He?ll come out and watch our team practice and he?ll be outhustling almost everyone out there, if not everyone,? Sedar said. ?His work ethic doesn?t go unnoticed.?

 

Still, even Caufield couldn?t get on base when his turn as the lead-off batter was up. With exception of Miller?s walk in the fifth, none of the Brewers? ever reached base to start an inning in the game.

 

?It seems like a lot of our hitters were taking fastballs and trying to swing at their off-speed stuff. Meanwhile you look at their team and it was almost the complete opposite,? Sedar said.

 

The Brewers manager changed the line-up in the eighth looking for a possible improvement by bringing in lefthanded batters J.R. Hopf and Bill Rowe, but both were put out thanks to ground balls.

 

Sedar said he was really hoping to get the two some at-bats so that his lefties wouldn?t get stale while possibly sparking an improvement in the team?s hitting.

 

The Brewers (10-8, third in North Division) will have a chance to redeem themselves when they meet the Mustangs (11-6) in Billings the first two days of September.

 

Until then, Helena will be traveling south to take on Casper tonight. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (8:05 Central).

 

Angel Colon slides into second after an unsuccessful steal attempt during the fifth inning of Billings? 9-3 win over Helena Tuesday night. Taylor Green, right, applied the tag.

 

http://www.helenair.com/content/articles/2006/08/16/sports_top/b01081606_03.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Tuesday's Helena KCAP Pre-Game Audio Chat with 3B Fredy de la Cruz (Select date for August 15th, skip to the 9:00 minute mark) --

"Eager" for his first English-speaking interview, give credit to the young man -- from personal experience, and as many of you know, doesn't come easy for many...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

[colbyjack]

That's too bad about Salome. Hopefully it's just a strain that needs just a couple of days off. He's having too good of a year for it to be cut short now.

[molitor fan]

Well, a dislocated ankle, as the manager stated it was, is going to be a several month injury. That really stinks, but rather would have had this now than April 15.

[burniebrewer]

Corey Thurman deserves some props, coming back from surgery and all. I hope we resign him - he could help the big league team at some point next year.

 

Proving that his arm is healthy, I think he's definitely worthy of being brought back.

 

I've been wondering about this all year, especially when we were leery of rushing the younger pitchers (Jackson, Villanueva), but do you think Thurman was ever given consideration for a spot start in Milwaukee?

 

He had pitched in the majors with Toronto, has been great for Huntsville and given his advanced age (27), I was curious if he was even thought of. Maybe even as a reliever?

[brewmann04]

I agree Thurman should be resigned and has pitched very good.I also like the Potential of The Power OF combo of Ford,Cain,Brantley.

[brewmann04]

What a potential horrible injury for Angel who has become without question our #1 Catching Prospect.

[Brew Man Dan]

Is a dislocated ankle really going to put him on the DL for months? that would be bad.

[pogokat]

there's only 2 and half weeks left in the season...if angel is hurt at all then he's done for the year...but should be ready for the spring..

[BillScottCanRake]

Jenkins dislocated his ankle in June 17, 2002 and missed the rest of the season (July, August, September). I don't recall when he was ready, but it wasn't a sure thing for him to start the 2003 season.

 

Salome's injury, if it's a dislocation, is a full two months later in the season than Jenkins. So it would seem possible that he won't be ready when next season starts, especially given the physically demanding position he plays.

[wvpowerblkwel]

According to folks here in Charleston, Salome has already had surgery and now is the proud owner of an ankle with 8 pins and a metal plate. Breaks my heart to see this because that would have to make the recovery tough on a catcher.

[molitor fan]

I am guessing Salome will have to be moved from the catcher position because of this. I believe a leftfield spot will be in his future next year.

[Mass Haas]

I am guessing Salome will have to be moved from the catcher position because of this. I believe a leftfield spot will be in his future next year.

 

That's an awfully big guess to make -- we'll definitely have to wait and see how this plays out.

[colbyjack]

As his high school coach has reminded us before, no one works harder than Salome. That gives him a pretty good chance to condition his body and ankle back to where it was before the injury happened. If there is any silver lining to this story it's Salome's work ethic and overall workout regimen.

[mothershipconnection]

Surgery for Salome confirmed by the Brewers Web Site.

In the Minors: Brewers catching prospect Angel Salome underwent surgery to repair a dislocated ankle he suffered sliding into second base at Class A West Virginia earlier this week. The team also lost infielder Hector Bernal, signed this year as an undrafted free agent, to a broken left leg that required surgery. ... Right-hander Mark Rogers, the team's first-round pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, pitched two innings in his third appearance for the rookie Arizona Brewers on Friday and is expected to return to Class A Brevard County. Rogers was in Arizona recovering from shoulder soreness.

[Mass Haas]

Hector Bernal, signed this year as an undrafted free agent, to a broken left leg that required surgery

 

Actually, Bernal was the 14th round pick this past June...