Link Report for Games of Sunday, July 2nd

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Sunday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Ben Hendrickson at home vs. Round Rock (Astros), 5:40 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Corey Thurman at home vs. West Tenn (Cubs), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450radio.com/

 

Brevard County: Rehabbing RHP Tomo Ohka at home vs. Daytona (Cubs), 3:00 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's):

www.daytonacubs.com/

 

West Virginia: RHP Matt Kretzschmar at Greenville (Red Sox), 3:55 PM pre-game, 4:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

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

 

Helena: LHP Brandon Parillo at Missoula (Diamondbacks), 7:45 PM pre-game; 8:00 gametime

 

Audio (click on "Listen Live"):

www.helenabrewers.net/html2/index.php

 

Arizona: Idle

[Mass Haas]

Follow Sunday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Activate the Nashville Gameday. For the other links, 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. It's sweet!

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_capafx_1

 

Helena:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_misrok_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 Saturday's action:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 42 39 .519 - 27-18 15-21 L4[/b] Iowa 39 42 .481 3.0 20-19 19-23 L1 Memphis 34 47 .420 8.0 18-23 16-24 W1 Omaha 31 51 .378 11.5 17-20 14-31 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 8 5 .615 - 5-3 3-2 W2 Tennessee 8 5 .615 - 4-1 4-4 W2 West Tenn 7 6 .538 1.0 4-1 3-5 W2 Carolina 6 7 .462 2.0 4-4 2-3 L2 [b]Huntsville 5 8 .385 3.0 3-5 2-3 L2[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 7 1 .875 - 4-0 3-1 W7 Daytona 7 2 .778 0.5 3-2 4-0 W5 Palm Beach 5 4 .556 2.5 3-1 2-3 W2 [b]Brevard County 3 5 .375 4.0 2-3 1-2 L2[/b] Vero Beach 3 6 .333 4.5 0-3 3-3 L4 Jupiter 1 8 .111 6.5 1-4 0-4 L8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lakewood 7 3 .700 - 3-1 4-2 L1 [b]West Virginia 5 4 .556 1.5 3-0 2-4 W1[/b] Greensboro 5 5 .500 2.0 2-2 3-3 W2 Lake County 5 5 .500 2.0 3-1 2-4 W1 Delmarva 4 5 .444 2.5 2-1 2-4 L1 Hickory 4 6 .400 3.0 4-4 0-2 L2 Hagerstown 3 6 .333 3.5 3-5 0-1 W1 Lexington 3 7 .300 4.0 2-2 1-5 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billings 8 4 .667 - 4-2 4-2 W1 Great Falls 7 5 .583 1.0 2-3 5-2 L1 Missoula 5 7 .417 3.0 2-4 3-3 W1 [b]Helena 4 8 .333 4.0 2-5 2-3 L1[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Giants 7 1 .875 - 3-1 4-0 W6 AZL Mariners 5 3 .625 2.0 3-1 2-2 W1 AZL Rangers 5 3 .625 2.0 2-2 3-1 W2 AZL Royals 5 3 .625 2.0 2-2 3-1 L1 AZL Padres 4 4 .500 3.0 2-2 2-2 W1 AZL Angels 3 5 .375 4.0 2-3 1-2 W1 AZL Athletics 3 5 .375 4.0 1-2 2-3 L1 [b]AZL Brewers 3 5 .375 4.0 2-2 1-3 L1[/b] AZL Cubs 1 7 .125 6.0 0-4 1-3 L2

[burniebrewer]

Went to check on Ohka's outing and it appears the game was rained out.

[B2k1121]

Quote:

---

Went to check on Ohka's outing and it appears the game was rained out.

---

 

That sucks, now we have to wait even longer.

[Worm8181]

Hendrickson lights out through 6. Man can this guy pitch against AAA hitters.

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Site:

 

The Brevard County Manatees Sunday, July 2nd game was rained-out due to a torrential downpour. The game against the Daytona Cubs will be made up as part of a Doubleheader on September 2nd. Fans with the July 2nd rain-out stamped tickets can use their tickets for any future 2006 Manatees home game. The Manatees hit the road until July 12th when they return for one game against St. Lucie.

[Mass Haas]

More from David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

Tim Dillard finished June with a 4-0 mark, first 4-0 pitcher in a month since Dana Eveland last June........ At Greer Stadium last night, Eveland pitched one-hit ball over 7 1/3 innings, striking out 12, but the Sounds lost to Round Rock, 3-2, as the Express rallied for all of their runs in the 9th to win.

 

I want to take care of one piece of important business....... I've maintained a site devoted to the Stars for 10 years, in this form or the other, starting with writing my own HTML, and I've made mistakes to be sure, because in my haste, I don't always proofread or check my facts. But I really messed up this time.

 

Now let me take you back to the last game of the 1st half of the season. To refresh, the Stars lost that game, 6-4, when Matt Smith lost a 4-3 lead in the 9th on three pitches........ In my anger and impulsiveness, I made some statements and opinions on my site that were unchecked and just plain wrong and mean, and thus made manager Don Money and pitching coach Rich Sauveur look bad........

 

I castigated Don for not leaving in Khalid Ballouli, who had pitched four brilliant no-hit innings. To quote myself: "....Khalid threw only 47 pitches in four innings.... and I think he had a lot more left in him." Khalid, in fact, did not pitch as many innings as I had claimed, and in fact, had pitched three scoreless innings two days prior in the suspended game against the Diamond Jaxx........ So Don actually stretched Khalid as far as he could, and brought in Matt "to see what he could do," in Don's words to me. And as I said on this site, he had few options in the pen and "it was the end of the 1st half and there was nothing to gain at this point."....... Don had to make some kind of decision on whether to keep Smith....... He was released the next day.......... I castigated Don for making that decision without knowing what was behind it, and for that, I am truly sorry.

 

In addition, I stated: " Money put himself in this bind the very start by starting Gerrit Simpson, who had pitched Wednesday, instead of Travis Phelps....." That was again a stupid mistake on my part, for Phelps had also pitched four innings two days prior.

 

A minor point, also wrong, was when I said the Northern Division playoff spot between West Tennessee and Chattanooga would be decided on July 4th. It was decided June 18 as the only game on the Southern League schedule.

 

Finally, I want to apologize for the gossip at the head of my site regarding the "screamfest in the locker room" that was related in a conversation........ There was a players' meeting sans Don and Rich, but I should have just left alone anything that went on in it, for I was not there and it was passed on from one mouth to the other....... It was frustrating to lose like that, but when you look back, it was a meaningless game for us, and to pop off about it in my impetuousness to write about it, I was wrong. I offended Don and Rich and for this and for all things I failed to mention, I humbly apologize.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville wins 5-0 behind Ben Hendrickson, the Stars are losing 7-2 in the 7th, the Power lose 3-2, and Helena falls 6-3.

 

You have all the box score links above -- we'll wait until morning for all the game reports, newspaper accounts and such to come out.

 

Overall, one tough weekend for the organization, that's for sure...

[brewers19]

Ohka's start has been pushed back to tomorrow.

 

Link

[Mass Haas]

Just a note that in order to streamline the Link Report process, we will no longer be linking directly to game box scores and game logs within each results post.

 

Those links will remain available via the schedule links post at the top of the thread.

 

We will continue to mention a blurb or two about the results that may have escaped the outstanding game summaries we get from Nashville, Huntsville, and West Virginia. And we definitely will continue to link to all the pertinent newspaper articles, press releases, etc., so you won't be missing on any of the content you normally get and hopefully enjoy.

 

We suggest you right-click and then open in a new window each box score link each morning. MiLB.com doesn't really make their box scores available in a cut-and-paste format, and actually, it's better to view their own because you can always click on a particular player in the box score to get their stats.

 

In short time, you likely will see Link Report updates from others beside myself, especially in terms of providing post-game results in the late evening. If all goes well, I'll be mainly involved in kicking off each Link Report at mid-day and then grabbing the media updates early each morning. I look forward to having someone assist in the overall process, and a one-of-a-kind nationwide search is in full force http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif .

 

It's been fun and everything's cool, but my sleep patterns and developing carpal tunnel issues (all too real, unfortunately) are having us take a little look at how we're covering the farm teams, probably a bit overdue.

 

Ok, enough of that, catch you in the AM...

[DHonks]

Mass, thanks for everything always. Always willing to help out, and some day I'm sure our paths will cross. Having some help will definitely benefit you, as you work your butt off each and every night/day of the season, and many in the offseason, and that's not even counting your real job(s)

[bork]

It didn't take long for the organization to go from 10 games over .500 to 20 games under. Maybe 2 weeks. Everyone has been struggling lately.

 

With the weather in Florida, it could take a while for Ohka to get his 3 rehab starts in. Doesn't Ohka have a translater who could have accompanied him to Nashville or Huntsville?

[pogokat]

Nashville Game Site Summary:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/news/news.asp?newsId=2034

 

Hendrickson Sharp Again In Sounds Shutout

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? Nashville starter Ben Hendrickson continued to mow down batters as he posted his fourth consecutive winning start with seven innings of two-hit scoreless ball as the Sounds blanked the Round Rock Express, 5-0, on Sunday night at Greer Stadium.

 

The victory snapped a four-game losing skid for Nashville (43-39) and was the team?s eighth shutout win of the season, which ties Salt Lake for most in the Pacific Coast League.

 

With his solid outing, Hendrickson (7-2) picked up his team-leading seventh victory and recorded his fourth win in as many starts. During those four games, he has logged a miniscule 0.71 ERA, allowing two earned runs over 25 1/3 innings of work.

 

Hendrickson?s seven shutout frames lowered his ERA to a minute 1.77 on the year, which moves him past teammate Dana Eveland (1.78) for the lowest ERA in the PCL.

 

The Express have not found a way to hit Hendrickson this season. The last two times the right-hander has faced Round Rock, he has been able to hold the Express scoreless and has allowed only two hits in his 13 innings of work against them.

 

The Sounds? bats continued to awaken from their recent slumber as they banged out 10 hits for the second straight night against the Express. Everyone came to play Sunday night as every position player in the starting lineup recorded a hit. Of Nashville?s 10 hits, both Tony Gwynn and Ozzie Chavez recorded multiple hits on the night. Gwynn?s two singles gave the All-Star his team leading 31st multiple-hit effort of the year.

 

Nashville jumped out to an early lead, plating one run in the first inning off Round Rock starter Jared Gothreaux. Gwynn started the Sounds off with a leadoff single and scored two batters later on a Graham Koonce double to left-center for a 1-0 lead.

 

The Sounds? bats continued to be hot in the bottom of the third as three more runners crossed home on back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Mike Rivera, Dave Krynzel, and Vinny Rottino. Rivera scored the frame?s third and final run with an athletic slide to avoid the tag of Express catcher Humberto Quintero and make it a 4-0 contest.

 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Sounds plated their final run of the game. With the bases loaded, Brent Abernathy hit a sacrifice fly to center off Express reliever Mike Gallo. Rottino, who led the inning off with a walk, scored from the third on the play to bring the score to its final 5-0.

 

The Express were unable to plate any runners as the Sounds pitchers never allowed them to reach any farther then second base all night. The Nashville pitching staff only allowed three Round Rock runners to reach second base and every time the Express failed to capitalize, finishing 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

 

After Hendrickson left the game, Sounds manager Frank Kremblas brought in reliever Chris Demaria and the right-hander threw two scoreless innings of one-hit baseball to close the game out.

 

Gothreaux (3-6) took the loss for Round Rock after allowing five runs on nine hits and four walks in his five innings of work.

 

On Monday evening, the Sounds close out the four-game series against the Express with a 7 p.m. finale. Nashville sends right-hander Dennis Sarfate (6-4, 3.43) to the hill to face Round Rock right-hander Chris Sampson (9-1, 2.61).

 

In honor of the 4th of July, the Sounds will be wearing blue patriotic jerseys that will be available for purchase by fans during the game in a silent auction. All proceeds will benefit the Nashville Sounds Foundation. The team will present a special Independence Day fireworks show following the on-field action.

 

My Notes:

Nelson Cruz's power seems to be stagnating a bit, and he's on pace for almost 180 k's over 600 ab's...he's got power, but that k rate is absolutely alarming. Tony Gwynn Jr. continues to hit singles, but his obp. and slg. still show why he's not a premium prospect.

 

Edit: Accidental emoticons

[pogokat]

Huntsville Game Site Summary

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/news/news.asp?newsId=903

 

Sing and Mateo Send Stars to Defeat

 

Brandon Sing collected three hits, drove in three runs and scored twice to lead West Tenn past Huntsville 7-3 Sunday night in the fourth game of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Diamond Jaxx won their third straight to improve to 8-6 in the second half, while the Stars dropped to 5-9 in the second half and fell for an twelfth time in 14 home meetings with the visitors.

 

The Stars struck first scoring twice in the second inning against Juan Mateo, who had blanked them over four frames in relief his last turn at the Joe on June 15. JC Boscansingled with one out and scored when Travis Ezi followed with a triple. Pitcher Corey Thurman stroked a two-out line drive in and out of the glove of second baseman Eric Patterson that went for an error and allowed Ezi to score.

 

Thurman worked out of trouble in the first and third innings and yielded his first run of the night when Jake Fox singled home Sing with two outs in the fourth. West Tenn erupted for four runs in the fifth by stringing together five straight hits with one out. Nic Jackson singled in Chris Walker with the tying run and scored, with Patterson, on a two-run double by Sing, who knocked in his 12th and 13th runs with West Tenn. Miguel Negron singled to left to move Sing to third and knock Thurman out of the game. Scott Moore bounced into a fielder?s choice to push Sing across with the final run of the frame. Thurman was charged with five runs on a season-high 10 hits and suffered the loss to drop to 2-8.

 

Mateo retired 11 in a row before Boscan doubled and Ezi walked with two outs in the sixth and was taken out of the game. Carlos Vasquez set down Milko Jaramillo on a pop up to end the frame and maintain the visitors three-run lead. Chris Mabeus, who took over for Thurman, walked Patterson and Jackson to open the seventh and was replaced by Matt Yeatman, who allowed run-scoring hits by Sing and Negron to extend the West Tenn lead to 7-2. Jackson, Sing and Negron each totaled three hits and the Diamond Jaxx stole seven bases, including three by Patterson and a pair by Jackson.

 

Vasquez walked Ryan Braun with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh to force in a run and was replaced by Ed Campusano, who retired Boscan on a foul pop to end the threat and keep the 7-3 lead in tact. The southpaw then set down six of the seven hitters he faced in the next two innings to close out the win and earn his first save at the double-A level. Mateo grabbed his fifth win, allowing two runs on five hits and a pair of walks in 5 2/3 innings.

 

The series concludes on Monday night with left-hander Jorge De La Rosa making his second rehab start for Huntsville against Diamond Jaxx right-hander Sean Gallagher. 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.

 

My Notes:

Still waiting for Braun to fire up...good to see a walk tonight. Former Colbyjack favorite Scott Moore is soundly re-establishing himself as a prospect--i'm glad we have Fielder, but maybe the guy will make it to the majors!

[Mass Haas]

Buck Rogers, Manatees GM with more:

 

The field is completely underwater at Space Coast Stadium. No kidding. No joking. The water level is so high in the dugouts that the stools are completely submerged and the trash cans are floating. The water pouring down the steps in the dugouts looks like Niagara Falls. Naturally today's game is washed out, and we say that in a nice sort of way. I don't know what it is about Sunday games here but Mother Nature has got it in for us.

[Mass Haas]

My thanks to pogokat, a long-time Brewerfan regular, a moderator the past few months, and a big-time follower of the Crew's minor league system.

 

Look for his links, updates, and thoughts during most (not necessarily all) evening hours. Whatever he's unable to get to, we'll backfill in the early AM...

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with All-Star Outfielder Nelson Cruz:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%207-2.wma

 

From Nashville's 5-0 win, Vinny Rottino RBI Single + Great Slide By Mike Rivera:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%207-2.wma

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=50765

 

Hendrickson sparkles as Sounds end slump

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Sports Correspondent

 

The Nashville Sounds have mastered the art of winning games when Ben Hendrickson takes the mound. It?s an easy thing to do with the way Hendrickson has been throwing the ball. He turned in another gem Sunday night to propel the Sounds to a 5-0 victory over the visiting Round Rock Express at Greer Stadium.

 

The win broke a four-game losing streak for the Sounds, whose last W came on Hendrickson?s previous June 27 start. But if the Sounds (43-39) have any hope of ending their current cold streak, winning games when Hendrickson doesn?t take the hill is imperative.

 

?It was good that we swung the bats better,? Sounds manager Frank Kremblas said of his offense?s support of Hendrickson. The Sounds notched 10 hits, with every starter accounting for at least one.

 

Hendrickson has been on a tear, having won his last four starts, over which time his ERA is a miniscule 0.71. Overall, Hendrickson lowered his ERA to 1.77 on the season, which is good for the Pacific Coast League lead.

 

Against Round Rock, Hendrickson lasted seven innings and surrendered just two hits. Hendrickson said there isn?t a sense of frustration among the starting pitchers ? all five of whom have thrown the ball remarkably well this month while the team?s offense went cold. Behind Hendrickson, Dana Eveland has the second-best ERA in the league at 1.78.

 

?You?ve got to be happy when you put zeroes up,? Hendrickson said. ?[Pitching coach Stan Kyles] just tells us, ?Don?t worry about it. Whatever happens [with the offense], you?ve still got to go out and do your job.? More often than not, if you have a quality start you?re going to win the game.?

 

Nashville got on the board early as Tony Gwynn led off the game with a single, then scored on a double by Graham Koonce.

 

The Sounds kept the momentum going with three more runs in the third inning. Gwynn reached base again with a walk, then scored on a single from Mike Rivera. Dave Krynzel and Vinny Rottino followed with back-to-back singles to add two more runs.

 

Brent Abernathy?s fly ball to center plated Rottino to give the Sounds their five-run cushion.

 

It was only the second time in 15 games that Nashville scored more than three runs and the Sounds lost in the previous instance.

 

?I just thought overall everybody?s at-bats were pretty good,? Kremblas said.

 

Chris Demaria pitched two scoreless innings to close out the victory for the Sounds.

 

All-Star connection: Five former Nashville Sounds players were named to the National League All-Star team. Pittsburgh?s Jason Bay will start in the outfield for the NL. Named to the roster as reserves were Cincinnati starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo, San Francisco starting pitcher Jason Schmidt, San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman and Pirates third baseman Freddy Sanchez.

[Mass Haas]

By the way, if we link to multiple game accounts from the Nashville and/or West Virginia newspapers, it's normally for a new quote, photo, or additional tidbit provided in one and not the other. We certainly realize there is some duplication.

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Sounds shut out Express

Nashville bats wake up; Hendrickson allows only two hits

By BRYAN MULLEN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

The Nashville Sounds looked like a different team on Sunday. And not just because they wore camouflage jerseys.

 

After two weeks of dismal offensive displays, the Sounds broke out the bats and ended a four-game losing streak by shutting out Round Rock 5-0 in front of 4,235 fans at Greer Stadium. It was the first time Nashville scored four or more runs in the last 15 games and everyone had a part of it. Every Sounds starter, including pitcher Ben Hendrickson, reached base.

 

"If you keep working hard you're eventually going to come out of it," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "I'm not going to say we came out of it tonight but we had better at-bats."

 

The Sounds (43-39) didn't wait long to get the offense going against the Express (51-32). Graham Koonce opened the scoring in the first with an RBI double. The Sounds went up 4-0 in the third on consecutive RBI singles by Mike Rivera, Dave Krynzel and Vinny Rottino.

 

Hendrickson (7-2) continued Nashville's season-long starting pitcher domination. He threw seven shutout innings, allowed only two hits and struck out five. His earned run average dropped to 1.77, tops in the Pacific Coast League. It was Hendrickson's fourth consecutive win. During that span his ERA is a minuscule 0.71.

 

"Any time we can get five runs that early in the game, it helps out the starting pitcher a lot," Hendrickson said. "I relaxed, went out and just made my pitches."

 

What they said: "He's not a guy who pitches one way or the other depending on the score. He stays right where he needs to be whether it's 1-0, 0-0, or 4-0." ? Kremblas on Hendrickson.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Sounds' success dependent on pitching

By BRYAN MULLEN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

If you're a baseball traditionalist, Greer Stadium is where it's at.

 

Don't go if you're a fan of mammoth home runs or line drives off the centerfield wall. But if dominating pitching wets your pallet, break out your wallet.

 

The Sounds are second in the Pacific Coast League in team ERA (3.46), just behind Round Rock (3.45).

 

The teams, who wrap up a four-game set at Greer tonight, also feature six of the league's top nine ERA leaders. Sounds starter Ben Hendrickson leads the PCL with a 1.77 ERA.

 

While the Sounds starters have been dominating lately, the same can't be said of the bullpen. During the past 15 games Nashville starting pitchers have posted a 2.72 ERA, but the bullpen has compiled a 5.95 ERA. During the first two games of the Round Rock series, Sounds relievers allowed nine runs in only 4+ innings.

 

Name Sounds familiar: Five former Sounds players were named to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Sunday.

 

They are Pittsburgh outfielder Jason Bay (2004 with Sounds), Pittsburgh third baseman Freddy Sanchez (2003-04), Cincinnati pitcher Bronson Arroyo (1999-02), San Diego pitcher Trevor Hoffman (1992) and San Francisco pitcher Jason Schmidt (2001).

 

Bay is the only starter in the group.

 

Good and bad: Nashville entered last night leading the league in stolen bases with 125. Conversely, opposing teams have been successful in 37-of-40 steal attempts against the Sounds.

 

Showing their colors: The Sounds will wear blue flag-themed jerseys during today's 7 p.m. game to celebrate the Fourth of July. Fans can purchase the jerseys by participating in a silent auction during the game. Proceeds will go to charity.

 

The Sounds will also have a fireworks show following the game because they will be at Memphis on Tuesday.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

The men of steal

Stars can't stop visiting West Tenn on bases again in 7-3 loss

By PAUL GATTIS

Huntsville Times Sports Staff paul.gattis@htimes.com

 

Maybe surrendering an early lead that seemed like a distant memory would be foremost in the mind of Huntsville Stars manager Don Money.

 

No.

 

Maybe dropping three straight and tumbling into the losing abyss in the second half of the Southern League season - just like the first half - might have Money steamed.

 

Nope.

 

For the second time in three nights, it was West Tenn stealing bases and the pitchers' apparent inability to do anything about it.

 

The Diamond Jaxx ran their way to another win Sunday night, stealing seven more bases and cruising to a 7-3 victory before an announced crowd of 1,277 at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

On Friday, West Tenn stole six bases and won 5-4.

 

The frustration/irritation/aggravation for Money is that the pitchers are delivering the ball too slowly to the plate, the runners are getting gigantic head starts and when that happens, Money said, "It doesn't matter if you have Superman behind the plate."

 

No, Money wasn't miffed at catcher Lou Palmisano on Friday and he wasn't exasperated with catcher J.C. Boscan on Sunday.

 

"Pitchers have to do a better job holding guys on," Money said.

 

That flaw looks even more egregious when the Stars simply aren't blessed with the talented prospects of recent seasons.

 

In Money's lineup Sunday, Nos. 5-8 in the starting lineup were hitting .195 or worse.

 

Add that to starting pitcher Corey Thurman having perhaps his worst game of the season, allowing 10 hits and five runs in 4 1/3 innings and even the 2-0 lead in the second inning eventually seemed like a mirage.

 

It was Thurman's shortest outing since going four shutout innings in his first start while limited by a pitch count as he recovered from elbow surgery.

 

The Diamond Jaxx improved to a chilling 12-2 at Joe Davis Stadium this season by scoring four runs in the fifth to lead 6-2 and added two more runs in the seventh.

 

In the sixth, West Tenn got five straight hits - highlighted by a two-run double from Brandon Sing - and two of the runs scored after runners had stolen bases.

 

Both runners that scored in the seventh had also stolen bases.

 

Perhaps most amazing of all is that West Tenn has stolen 107 bases this season, far outdistancing the 85 stolen by second-place Carolina.

 

"The stats are posted right outside the door," Money said. And then in a rhetorically shout to his pitchers at the other end of the clubhouse, Money stewed and said, "Look at it."

 

No matter the reason, though, the losses are starting to pile up in the second half just as in the first. After finishing 29-53 in the first half, the Stars have dropped three straight and five of their last seven to sit at 5-9.

 

"You can't worry about it," Money said. "You just come out tomorrow and hope you hit the ball around and hold guys on base. We've got to do a better job."

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.missoulian.com/articl...orts01.txt

 

The hits keep comin'

By NICK LOCKRIDGE of the Missoulian

 

Connor Janes was a one-man hitting machine Sunday.

 

The Osprey outfielder went 4-for-4 with two home runs and five runs batted in as Missoula topped the Helena Brewers 6-3 in a Pioneer League baseball game at Ogren-Allegiance Park.

 

Janes blasted a three-run homer in the first that cleared the railroad embankment beyond right field. He also lined a solo home run over the left field fence in the ninth and had an RBI double in the third.

 

?I was just trying to slow everything down with my setup today,? said Janes, a 27th-round draft choice out of the University of British Columbia. ?I was working with (hitting coach Jerry) Stitt all day on just trying to stay back and not rush things. In the game, have a clear head and stay back with my weight. And everything worked out.?

 

Missoula starting pitcher Luis Caro was just slightly overshadowed by Janes in earning his first win of the season.

 

It was the fourth straight dominant performance by an O's starter. But after Saturday's 16-1 victory over the Brewers, offense was still on the minds of some Missoula players.

 

Janes' two-homer game was not the first multi-homer game of his life. He had a three-tater game in college this year.

 

However, the beefy Janes (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) has never hit for the cycle. He was a triple shy of completing that feat on Sunday.

 

?I tried not to think about that too much,? he said. ?I'd rather hit two home runs than get a triple. That doesn't mean too much to me to be honest. It's a cool thing if it happens, if everything falls into place, but I'd rather have two doubles and two singles. It's something I don't think about too much.?

 

Hitting was the theme of the afternoon. There was a beanball, a collision at home plate and some hard slides on the bases between the two teams, who have faced each other eight times in their first 13 games.

 

The O's second straight win capped their first homestand of the season. Missoula (6-7) heads to Billings for three games starting Monday.

 

Caro allowed just one run on five hits through six innings. It was the longest outing by an Osprey pitcher this season. He also struck out seven batters after recording none in his previous two starts.

 

?He looked great out there,? Janes said. ?Our pitching has been getting better and better all the time. He looked really good today, spotting up and keeping the ball down. Tip your cap to him, I guess. They're not going to get too many hits when he's pitching like that.?

 

One of the hits Caro gave up should have been an out, but Janes lost the ball in the sun.

 

?I didn't bring out sunglasses in the first inning,? Janes said. ?I got a good read on the ball. I had it right away off the bat and then as soon as it came close to me it just disappeared in the sun, literally disappeared. I made sure to bring sunglasses out the next inning.?

 

Caro (1-1) issued one walk, which led to Helena's first run. That happened in the third, which is when another big hit occurred.

 

Helena's Brad Miller singled with one out and Taylor Green followed with the walk. Both runners advanced on a fielder's choice. Stephen Chapman followed with an RBI single to left, where O's outfielder Derrick Walker scooped up the ball and threw out Green at home to end the inning. Green and Missoula catcher Justin Brashear collided, but Brashear hung onto the ball.

 

Brashear added an RBI single in the fifth to give the Birds a 5-1 lead.

 

Miller hit a two-run homer in the ninth off O's closer Jorge Perez to close the margin to three. Perez got two fly outs after that to end the game.

 

Jason Neighborgall came in after Caro and had his best performance of the season. Neighborgall threw two hitless innings of relief and struck out three using a stealthy curve ball. The normally wild right-hander didn't throw any wild pitches, but he did walk three batters and hit one.

 

Helena starter Brandon Parillo had a rough outing. After Janes' first home run, he plunked the next batter Jose Dijol. It was the first homer Parillo has given up in his career.

 

Parillo, who was just sent down from the Brewers' Class A team, was booed and got a stern talk from manager Ed Sedar. Parillo (0-2) lasted three more innings.

 

Osprey regulars Daniel Perales, Matt Oxendine and Gerardo Parra took their first day off. Third baseman Andrew Fie is the only player to start every game for Missoula.

 

Mass Haas note: 2006 5th round outfielder Chris Errecart out of Cal-Berkeley now 8-for-47 (three doubles, three walks). This team really needs him to step up.

[Mass Haas]

West Virginia Game Summary from the Greenville Site:

 

Drive erase two-run deficit versus Power, win 3-2

 

Greenville, SC - The Greenville Drive rallied from down 2-0 and got outstanding relief work from Tim Cox to defeat the West Virginia Power 3-2 Sunday night at West End Field. With the win the Drive improved to 8-3 in the second half and are in tie for first place with the Augusta GreenJackets.

 

West Virginia took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second off starter Michael Rozier. Tony Festa, who was a last minute addition to the lineup for Mat Gamel, and Michael Bell led off with back-to-back singles. Festa then advanced to third as Ned Yost grounded into a fielder's choice, Bell was out at second on the play. Kenny Holmberg then grounded out to third, scoring Festa.

 

An inning later the Power plated another run on no hits or errors. Darren Ford walked to lead off the inning and then promptly stole second and third during Lorenzo Cain's at bat. One batter later, Ford crossed the plate on Angel Salome's one-out sacrifice fly to right.

 

The Drive scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to overtake the Power. After a Tony Granadillo walk in the fourth, Chris Turner singled allowing Granadillo to advance to third. Turner then stole second but a throwing error by Salome allowed Granadillo to score an unearned run.

 

In the fifth Pedro Vasquez led off with a single, his first hit with the Drive, and advanced to second on Jay Johnson's groundout. Matt Mercurio then singled Vasquez home to tie the game at 2-2.

 

Greenville took the lead in the sixth off of David Welch, who came in to relieve starter Matt Kretzschmar. Granadillo hit a leadoff double and it looked like he would be stranded there as Turner struck out and Logan Sorensen popped out second. However, Mitch Stachowsky had other ideas as he hit a two-out double to left, knocking in Granadillo.

 

Tim Cox (3-4), who replaced Rozier with two outs in the sixth, baffled Power hitters as he allowed just two hits in 3.1 innings. Cox also struck out two while walking none to pick up his third win of the season.

 

The Drive and Power conclude their four-game series Monday evening at West End Field with first pitch set for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central). Greenville will send right-hander Clay Buchholz to the hill as West Virginia will counter with left-hander Steve Garrison.

 

Mass Haas Note: Plenty of at-bats with runners in scoring position, little production...