Link Report for Thu. 7/27 -- 14th Rounder Bernal Bad Injury

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Manatees, Blue Jays postponed

 

Thursday's Florida State League game between Brevard County and Dunedin was postponed due to rain.

 

The Manatees and Blue Jays will make up the game as part of a doubleheader on Friday.

[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Justin Lehr at home vs. Colorado Springs (Rockies), 6:40 PM pre-game, 7:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Tim Dillard at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450radio.com/

 

West Virginia: RHP Will Inman at Charleston (Yankees), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

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

 

Helena: LHP Zach Braddock at Great Falls (White Sox), 7:45 PM pre-game; 8:00 gametime

 

Audio (click on "Listen Live"):

www.helenabrewers.net/html2/index.php

 

Arizona Rookie: Idle

[Mass Haas]

Follow Thursday'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_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_crdafx_1

 

Helena:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_grfrok_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]

I'm told that pogokat is back from his world travels and pumped and jacked to chip in with some of the late-evening post-game updates. Thanks, kid!

 

Until next time...

[Mass Haas]

Quick and different Chris Errecart Q&A on the Helena site:

 

www.helenabrewers.net/html2/index.php

[Mass Haas]

Will Inman with four shutout innings thus far (one hit, two walks, two HBP's), as the Power lead early, 6-0, behind Darren Ford (two-run HR), Lorenzo Cain (two doubles), Mat Gamel (3-for-3), and Mike Bell (triple).

 

The game has been interrupted, however, as the Power's Hector Bernal, playing shortstop tonight, is laying on the field, his left leg in an air cast, as the trainers await an ambulance. He was injured while making the pivot on a double play -- hard to say if the sliding baserunner was the direct cause. Indications are that he suffered a broken leg. Bernal, just getting adjusted to Sally League play, was the Brewers 14th round pick this year out of El Paso Community College.

 

Must be fifteen minutes now -- do they have ambulances in Charleston, South Carolina? The Power broadcast has actually gone to ESPN radio because the delay has been so lengthy.

[Mass Haas]

Yovani Gallardo included in this alphabetical list of "Minor League Player of the Year" candidates:

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...62006.html

[pogokat]

if you count yo, and the pitchers that were rumored in the carlos lee trade thread with the twins, the brewers have been connected to in some way 6 of those guys:

 

Alex Gordon: Everyone wanted him, and th ebrewers would have drafted him if he'd slipped to 5th last year

 

Hunter Pence: Brewers actually drafted this dude out of high school, but he obviously didn't sign

 

Homer Bailey: coulda been ours..

 

yo: obvious

 

Garza and Slowey: mentioned as possible trade targets for clee

 

interesting, though pointless, i guess

[bullox]

nm

[Team Canada]

Our minor league pitching blows my mind.

[pogokat]

Final: Huntsville 2, Birmingham (White Sox) 3

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/news/news.asp?newsId=941

 

Valentine Ensures Victory in the Ninth

 

Tim Dillard worked seven and two-thirds strong innings to pitch Huntsville past Birmingham 3-2 Thursday night in the fourth of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars won their season-high fifth straight game to improve to 16-18 in the second half but could gain no ground on first place Tennessee, while the Barons dropped to 15-19 in the second half and 7-12 against the Stars. Huntsville?s four straight wins in the series matched the longest home win streak of the season, established April 23-25 against Mobile.

 

Joe Valentine took over on the hill for the Stars in the ninth inning and gave up a single to lead off man Gustavo Molina, who picked up his second hit of the night and just his third in 37 at-bats. Chris Getz dropped down a sacrifice bunt that moved Molina to second base before Pedro Lopez took a called third strike for the second out of the frame. Pinch-hitter Thomas Collaro then popped out to second baseman Callix Crabbe in shallow right field for the final out of the game. Valentine earned his second save of the series.

 

Huntsville got back-to-back run-scoring singles to right field by Lou Palmisano and Ozzie Chavez, in his first game back after being sent to Huntsville from triple-A Nashville, to take a 2-0 lead in the home second. Dillard retired the first six hitters he faced and stranded two runners in the third inning before allowing a lead off home run to Ricardo Nanita in the fourth that trimmed the lead to 2-1.

 

Dillard stranded runners at the corners in the fifth inning and yielded a two-out, solo long ball to Micah Schnurstein in the sixth that tied the game at two. The Huntsville right-hander had allowed six home runs this season, five of which have been hit by the Barons. He retired the side in order in the seventh on three ground ball outs with eight pitches and recorded 17 ground outs in the game. Dillard ended a personal three-game losing streak and squared his record at 7-7 by winning at home for the first time since June 28.

 

The series wraps up Friday night with right-hander Corey Thurman starting for Huntsville against Barons? left-hander Arnie Munoz. 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.

 

Huntsville Box Score and Game Log Link:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app..._hunaax_1

[pogokat]

Final: Nashville 1, Colorado Springs (Rockies) 2

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link with picture of Nelson Cruz, Text Follows:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/news/news.asp?newsId=2081

 

Cruz Hits 20th Homer But Sounds Fall 2-1

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The Colorado Springs Sky Sox held off a late Sounds rally to record a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Thursday evening in front of 6,548 fans at Greer Stadium.

 

The loss snapped a six-game home winning streak for Nashville (58-48 ).

 

Trailing 2-0, Sounds All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz broke up the Colorado Springs shutout bid in the bottom of the ninth when he crushed closer Nate Field?s 2-1 offering over both walls in right-center to lead off the inning. The roundtripper was the slugger?s 20th of the year, tying him for second in the Pacific Coast League.

 

Graham Koonce followed with a single and was replaced at first by pinch-runner Jermaine Clark. Vinny Rottino sacrificed him to second to put the potential tying run in scoring position with only one out. Field recovered to strike out Chad Moeller looking then fanned Chris Barnwell swinging to escape the jam and earn his 16th save of the season.

 

Colorado Springs shortstop Josh Wilson, who went 3-for-4 on the evening, gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with a leadoff line-drive homer to left in the fourth inning off Sounds starter Justin Lehr. The blast was his fifth of the year and second in two nights; he provided the lone Sky Sox run on Wednesday with a longball.

 

The Sounds squandered a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the sixth when Dave Krynzel smoked a one-out triple off the base of the center field wall. Colorado Springs starter Justin Hampson escaped the inning without harm by inducing a first-pitch popout from Cruz and an inning-ending groundout from Koonce.

 

The Sky Sox doubled their lead in the seventh when former Sound Carlos Rivera opened the frame with a single and later scored on Kaz Matsui?s bases-loaded groundout to up the advantage to 2-0.

 

Hampson (5-3) picked up his first victory since June 22. He worked six scoreless innings for Colorado Springs, allowing five hits. He walked one batter and registered one strikeout.

 

Lehr (3-4) turned in his longest outing of the season but took a tough-luck loss for the Sounds. The right-hander gave up two runs on seven hits and struck out seven over 7 1/3 innings, his fourth consecutive quality start and his sixth overall. With the outing, Lehr?s ERA dropped to 3.33, its lowest point of the season.

 

Rottino continued his hot July for Nashville, going 2-for-3 to up his monthly average to .368 (25-for-68 ).

 

The teams wrap up the four-game set on Friday night with another 7 p.m. matchup. Right-hander Ben Hendrickson (8-4, 2.12) will take the hill for Nashville to face Sky Sox right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (0-1, 6.04).

 

It will be the final Faith Night of the 2006 season at Greer Stadium. Christian recording artist Warren Barfield will perform a pre-game concert beginning at 6 p.m. A fireworks show will follow the on-field action.

 

Nashville Box Score and Game Log Link:

Sure, Nelson Cruz can bomb, but Vinny Rotino has proven he can play some ball at every level. I know we all hope he can succeed at the major league level...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app..._nasaaa_1

[pogokat]

Final: West Virginia 8, Charleston (Yankees) 1

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Five Run Second Puts Power over Riverdogs

 

The West Virginia Power scored five times in the top of the second inning of Thursday night?s game against the Charleston Riverdogs, and went on to win the series finale by the final of 8-1 to split the four game series.

 

Mike Bell began the five run frame with a triple, and scored later in the inning on an errant throw from Zach Kroenke. Hector Bernal and Mat Gamel both smacked RBI singles and Darren Ford hit a two run homer, his fourth of the year to highlight the big inning. Mat Gamel?s third base hit of the game followed Lorenzo Cain?s second double of the game in the fourth inning and Cain crossed the plate to make it a 6-0 Power lead.

 

The Riverdogs scored their only run of the contest on a solo homerun from Ben Jones in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Power added to their lead on back to back two out RBI singles from Darren Ford and Lorenzo Cain, plating the final two runs of the contest.

 

The game was delayed 22 minutes in the bottom of the fifth inning when Power infielder Hector Bernal was injured trying to turn a double play. Bernal was taken off the field in an ambulance due to a left leg injury which appeared serious. The team is waiting on the result of the x-rays.

 

Will Inman (7-1) tossed five scoreless innings of two hit ball and recorded five strikeouts to earn the victory, and Zach Kroenke (5-6) got the loss. The Power are 54-48 overall and 15-18 in the second half after the win while the Riverdogs fell to 53-51 overall and 15-19 in the second half after the loss.

 

The Power will begin a four game series against the Savannah Sand Gnats at Grayson Stadium on Friday night. Right hander Carlos Martinez (4-4, 5.20) will make the start for Savannah and the Power will counter with right hander Shawn Ferguson (0-1, 16.62). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

 

West Virginia Box Score and Game Log Link:

No further updates on Bernal...hopes it's nothing too serious

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app..._wvaafx_

[pogokat]

Final: Helena 7, Great Falls (White Sox) 3

Summary and link to follow later...

 

 

Helena Box Score and Game Log Link:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app..._grfrok_1

[LouisEly]

Our minor league pitching blows my mind.

 

 

Wasn't too long ago we left off the words "my mind".

 

Still no sign of Drew Anderson in Huntsville... anybody?

[Mass Haas]

Helena Independent Record:

 

www.helenair.com/articles...806_03.txt

 

Brewers capitalize on Sox miscues

By IR STAFF

 

The Great Falls White Sox had two errors in the top of the seventh, and Andy Bouchie made them pay for it.

 

Bouchie hit a three-run homer to help the Helena Brewers rally back from a 3-2 deficit and defeat the White Sox 7-3 Thursday in Great Falls.

 

The hit came after Brad Miller reached first on a fielding error by third baseman Michael Grace, then scored on an error by pitcher Steven Spurgeon on a pickoff attempt.

 

Stephen Chapman walked and then scored on a single by Cole Gillespie, who would make it home along with Chris Errecart on Bouchie?s homer.

 

It was Bouchie?s fourth on the season, tying Chapman for second on the team. Errecart leads the Brewers with five.

 

While the Brewers batters dominated the plate, their pitchers kept Great Falls at bay.

 

Zach Braddock pitched into the fourth inning before allowing all three runs. He gave up three hits in that inning while striking out five and walking three on the game.

 

Stuart Sutherland was given the win while Brock Kjeldgaard was awarded the save. He went three innings and allowed one hit while striking out two.

 

Great Falls? entire lineup managed five strikeouts and Chris Brennan was given the loss despite pitching to just one batter, Chapman, who he walked.

 

The Brewers, who are out of title contention for the first half of the Pioneer League season, are 14-23. The two teams will meet again at Kindrick Legion Field today at 7:05 PM (8:05 Central).

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Helena KCAP Pre-Game Audio Chat with catcher D.J. Neyens, on the shelf with a separated shoulder after a home plate collision (Select date for July 26th, skip to the 12:30 minute mark) --

Always interesting to hear from the undrafted players about their signing experience among other topics...

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Helena KCAP Pre-Game Audio Chat with outfielder Stephen Chapman (Select date for July 27th, skip to the 3:00 minute mark) --

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Stars parlay four hits into win over Barons

Solid defense helps Huntsville win its fifth straight game

By JOHN FERRY

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, jferry@htimes.com

 

Five straight wins, the longest such streak of the season.

 

Four games out in the Southern League North Division, but with 36 still to play in the second half.

 

That's the position the Huntsville Stars find themselves in after Thursday night's 3-2 win over the Birmingham Barons at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

"One day at a time," Stars manager Don Money said. "We took our lumps (in the first half of the season). Right now, knock on wood, we're playing pretty decent ball. We're getting timely hitting, good pitching, and playing pretty solid defense."

 

Do all three, Money continued, and it usually adds up.

 

Big bats didn't decide this one. Huntsville produced only four hits.

 

In fact, the Stars settled this one in the sixth inning without benefit of a hit.

 

Steve Moss and Brad Nelson walked to begin the inning, and the Barons then replaced starting pitcher Corwin Malone with Brian West. Carlos Lee got Moss home with a long sacrifice fly to left.

 

Huntsville, which never was behind in the game, scored its other runs in the second inning. With one out, Lee walked, Jeff Eure singled to left, Lou Palmisano blooped a single to right to score Lee, and Ozzie Chavez singled to right to score Eure.

 

The game marked the return of Chavez to the Stars. He had been promoted from Huntsville to Triple-A Nashville on June 20 and batted .231 in 24 games with the Sounds.

 

Chavez, who went 1-for-2 with a walk on Thursday, had played 68 games for the Stars, batting .254. He took the place of Milko Jaramillo, now on the disabled list, on the roster.

 

Tim Dillard started for the Stars and went 7 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Having reached 108 pitches, he was pulled in favor of Khalid Ballouli.

 

Dillard, who had lost three straight, got the win and evened his season record at 7-7.

 

"I've had an up and down season," he said. "I'm trying to get the consistency back."

 

Dillard also noted how well his team is playing, including the defense. He mentioned infielders such as Nelson, Callix Crabbe and Eure.

 

"Our defense was great tonight," Dillard said. "We have a great group of guys."

 

Ballouli got the final out of the eighth, and Joe Valentine pitched the ninth. Birmingham had runners on first and second, then Valentine got pinch hitter Thomas Collaro to pop out to end the game.

 

The two teams then stared at each other across the field, with words having reportedly come from the Barons side. That situation was broken up before it could get physical.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=51251

 

Sounds come up short with trade deadline looming

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

Time will tell what impact, if any, Major League Baseball?s fast-approaching trade deadline has on the Nashville Sounds? pennant chase.

 

As of Thursday evening, Nashville?s big league affiliate, the Milwaukee Brewers, stood 5.5 games out of the National League Wild Card but had five teams ahead of them in the race. Despite that, team general manager Doug Melvin told the Milwaukee media last week the Brewers would likely be buyers, not sellers, entering the July 31 deadline.

 

If the Brewers go shopping for help, a number of Sounds players could be used as trade bait.

 

The Sounds, who are considering going with a six-man starting rotation, have an abundance of always-coveted starting pitching. One of those six starters came through again, as Justin Lehr threw 7.1 strong innings, although Nashville fell to Colorado Springs 2-1 at Greer Stadium.

 

Lehr allowed only two runs on seven hits, while fanning seven.

 

?I think I threw the ball well, I don?t have any complaints,? Lehr said. ?I don?t think anybody?s going to be bothered [if we go with] a six-man rotation. I don?t think any of us wanna go to the pen, because we already have seven guys down there who are throwing the ball so well.?

 

The Sounds have a four-game lead in the American Northern Division over second-place Iowa, which had a late game Thursday. All six of Nashville?s starting pitchers would seem to be tradable commodities. Although each has done the job for the Sounds (team starters have a 3.88 ERA), five of the six have had shots with the Brewers. But they did not fare nearly as well. Dana Eveland, Zach Jackson, Ben Hendrickson, Jared Fernandez and Lehr all struggled with Milwaukee.

 

Lehr said Sounds players aren?t paying attention to the blowing trade winds and are concentrating on winning.

 

?I don?t know what the rumors are on the Internet,? Lehr said. ?They could trade ten guys and I might not be one of them. I imagine they?ll do something, they usually do. But it won?t affect any of us unless we go to another team.?

 

Nashville?s bats went silent until the ninth when Nelson Cruz?s 20th homer brought the team to within a run. Graham Koonce followed with a single, but the Sounds stranded the tying run on the second base.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Close games continue to give Sounds trouble

BY JESSICA HOPP

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

If given a choice between a base hit and a home run, Sounds outfielder Nelson Cruz most certainly would have taken the hit.

 

That would have at least put him in scoring position with a chance at a tie.

 

Instead, his solo shot in the ninth did nothing more than bring the Sounds a closer loss as they dropped a 2-1 decision to Colorado Springs in front of 6,548 fans at Greer Stadium. The defeat ended Nashville's six-game home winning streak.

 

"That run doesn't matter," Cruz said. "I needed to get on base and have someone drive me in."

 

The one-run decision has been a recurring theme for Nashville this season. Thursday marked the Sounds' 43rd one-run game of 2006 ? the most in the 16-team Pacific Coast League this season.

 

It was also Nashville's 26th one-run defeat, another PCL high. Heading into Thursday night's game. Omaha was second with 21 one-run losses.

 

"It's disappointing," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "We have got to have better at bats with runners in scoring positions."

 

Cruz never got that chance, instead hitting a leadoff home run over the center field wall in the bottom of the ninth. It was his 20th home run of the season, tying him for second place in the PCL.

 

A single by Graham Koonce was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Vinny Rottino to put Koonce in scoring position, but Chad Moeller and Chris Barnwell struck out to end the game.

 

"We made a couple of mistakes," Cruz said. "That's baseball, ya know?"

 

Colorado Springs started the fourth inning with a home run by Josh Wilson for the 1-0 lead. It was Wilson's fifth home run of the year and second in as many days. The Sky Sox scored again in the seventh when Carlos Rivera stole third. Kaz Matsui got the RBI.

 

The Sounds are 2-1 in the four-game series against the Sky Sox with the final game to be played tonight at 7 p.m. at Greer.

 

What they said: ?We just couldn?t get our runners in. We have got to be able to do that.? ? Kremblas.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

New pitching award possible for Sounds with a low ERA

BY JESSICA HOPP

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

There's always been strikes and perfect games, but now minor league pitchers have an additional goal to shoot for ? the Most Spectacular Pitcher Award.

 

Announced on Thursday, the annual award will go to the qualifying pitcher with the lowest earned run average for the season and will include a trophy and a $7,500 check.

 

To be eligible, a pitcher must work a minimum of 112 innings, but those innings do not have to be in the same league or with the same team. If a pitcher moves throughout the farm system his combined ERA for the season will determine his standing. Additionally, there will be a $500 award for the best pitcher in each classification.

 

The Sounds have three pitchers that could be in the running for the Triple-A award.

 

Tonight's starter Ben Hendrickson is fourth among Triple-A pitchers with a 2.12 ERA. Jared Fernandez is eighth with a 2.41 ERA. Nashville's Dana Eveland has a 1.83 ERA, but because he played part of the season in Milwaukee, he has not pitched enough minor league innings to qualify.

 

No reward here: Sounds starting pitcher Justin Lehr pitched his longest outing of the season and collected his sixth quality start to drop his ERA to 3.33, his lowest point with the Sounds.

 

But after giving up two runs in 7 1/3 innings, Lehr took the loss Thursday night, dropping his record to 3-4. He gave up seven hits while striking out seven and walking one. Colorado Springs' Justin Hampson collected a win and moved to 5-3 for the season.

 

Name's the same: The Sounds are 0-2 when the starting pitchers share the same first name. On May 7, New Orleans' Justin Echols beat the Sounds' Justin Thompson in a 10-7 decision.

 

Barnwell back: After spending more than a month with the Brewers, infielder Chris Barnwell returned to the Sounds lineup on Wednesday. He scored a run and was 1-for-3.

 

It was a nice change from his time with the Brewers where he struggled batting .067 (2-for-30) in 13 games.

 

Thursday, however, things didn't go as well. He was 0-for-4 in his second game back with the Sounds, striking out in the final at-bat of the evening to end the Sounds' chance for a come-from-behind win.

 

"It's tough," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said of Barnwell's transition. "First you go up, there are a little jitters and you don't get consistent (at bats). He wasn't as relaxed as he could be. Then, coming back down it takes a little time to get back in the swing of things."

 

Rottino keeps rolling: Heading into Thursday night, Sounds utility man Vinny Rottino was batting a team-leading .354 (23-for-65) in the month of July. He kept things rolling on Thursday with a double in his first at-bat and a single in the fourth, but struck out in the seventh.

 

It is a sharp turnaround from last month when Rottino batted just .229 (16-for-70).

 

Chavez a Cub: Pitcher Wilton Chavez, who the Sounds released on Tuesday, signed with Cubs on Thursday and was assigned to Triple-A Iowa, which is currently in second place behind Nashville in American North Division.

[Team Canada]

If given a choice between a base hit and a home run, Sounds outfielder Nelson Cruz most certainly would have taken the hit.

 

That would have at least put him in scoring position with a chance at a tie.

...

"That run doesn't matter," Cruz said. "I needed to get on base and have someone drive me in."

 

Is it just me, or does that make absolutely no sense?

[molitor fan]

Not just you, that is just hilarious. Nelson Cruz really doesn't look like Dennis Haysbert, but I would say we have our version of Serrano languishing in the minors.