Link Report for Games of Monday, June 19th

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: Idle

 

Huntsville: RHP Corey Thurman at Mobile (Padres), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime -- the Stars are undefeated, baby!

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: LHP Manny Parra at St. Lucie (Mets), 6:00 PM; it's a must-win-all-three-game series, and no, none of it is available via audio, sorry

 

West Virginia: Idle; All-Star Game is Tuesday the 20th

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". 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!

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_mobaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sluafa_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:

 

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

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Sunday's action (Huntsville and West Virginia are at 0-0):

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 39 31 .557 - 26-13 13-18 L1[/b] Iowa 32 38 .457 7.0 17-17 15-21 L1 Omaha 27 42 .391 11.5 16-19 11-23 W1 Memphis 25 43 .368 13.0 13-21 12-22 L1 Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 38 29 .567 - 20-14 18-15 L5 Palm Beach 37 30 .552 1.0 20-14 17-16 W8 [b]Brevard County 34 29 .540 2.0 18-15 16-14 L2[/b] Daytona 34 33 .507 4.0 20-12 14-21 W2 Jupiter 29 37 .439 8.5 13-19 16-18 L2 Vero Beach 25 40 .385 12.0 15-17 10-23 W2

[DHonks]

could this be Parra's last start in Brevard County?

[pogokat]

when's Yo's next start?

 

I'm headed to orlando and i'm going to brevard for a game..and would like to see yo pitch, since i missed him last year in low a..

 

lemme know here, or pm me..

thanx

[Mass Haas]

Prospect Hot Sheet mention of Mark Rogers and a long-ago Brewer draft pick:

Guess the BA staff missed Yo's latest performance...

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...61754.html

[DHonks]

nice to see the injured trio of Parra, Jones, and Narron all throw well.

[And That]

nice to see the injured trio of Parra, Jones, and Narron all throw well.

 

Add Josh Alliston to that list, Doug. He must have been activated recently, as he was on the DL. That guy throws hard - if he can stay healthy for a few years, he has a good shot to be given a shot in a big league pen some day.

 

And I hope Parra was pulled because of a pitch count - 4.2 innings is an odd amount of work

[Mass Haas]

Final: Daytona (Cubs) 4, Palm Beach (Cardinals) 3, ten innings

Thank you, Cubbies -- the Manatees now control their own destiny...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 7, St. Lucie (Mets) 0

One down, two to go for a first-half crown...

 

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Manatees blank Mets

 

Alcides Escobar went 3-for-3 with two RBIs as visiting Brevard County blanked St. Lucie, 7-0, on Monday.

 

Escobar, who also stole two bases and scored a run, had a sacrifice fly in the third inning and a run-scoring single in the fifth. Hernan Iribarren's two-run single highlighted a five-run ninth for the Manatees.

 

Five Brevard County pitchers combined on the 10-hit shutout. Manny Parra started and worked the first 4 2/3 innings. He allowed five hits, struck out four and walked four before Bo Hall retired the only batter he faced. Sam Narron (1-1) picked up the win, yielding two hits and striking out one over two innings.

 

Mike Jones worked the eighth and Josh Alliston preserved the shutout with a scoreless ninth for Brevard County (35-29).

 

Jacob Ruckle (4-3) took the loss after allowing two runs -- one earned -- on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked three for the Mets (38-30).

 

Enrique Cruz (no, not the former Brewer) and Jesus Flores each had two hits to lead St. Lucie, which dropped its sixth straight game. -- Chip Haunss/MLB.com

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Five runs in the 9th to break it open; Alcides Escobar also walked -- what a game; Ryan Braun and Bendan Katin a combined 0-for-10; Braun at a rather ordinary .271 now...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sluafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Baserunners everywhere, very few runs until the Manatee 9th (shoddy Met defense)...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sluafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Mobile (Padres) 5, Huntsville 1

Same as it ever was...

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=883

 

Stars' Struggles Continue in Second Half Opener

 

Joey Gomes hit a home run and knocked in four runs to back the strong pitching of Sean Thompson, as Mobile opened the second half of the season with a 5-1 win over Huntsville Monday night in the first of a five-game set at Hank Aaron Stadium. The BayBears stopped a four-game slide against the Stars and improved to 28-42 overall, while Huntsville fell to 24-46 overall and 14-22 away from home. The Stars have lost 26 of their last 30 games and 12 of their last 15 on the road.

 

George Kottaras doubled with two outs in the first inning and came around to score when Gomes followed with a single to center field to give the home team the early lead. Juan Ciriaco led off the home third with a single, moved to second base when Vincent Sinisi walked and both runners scored one out later when Gomes belted his second round tripper with Mobile over the wall in left field on an 0-2 pitch from Stars? starter Corey Thurman, who gave up just his third long ball of the season.

 

The visitors lone run came in the fifth inning when Adam Heether reached on a throwing error by Ciriaco, the shortstop, moved to third base on an Ozzie Chavez single and scored on a base hit by Thurman, who knocked in his first run of the year. Outside of the two starts in which he has recorded victories, Thurman has received a total of 10 runs of support in his other 10 starts. The Stars? right-hander yielded five runs, matching a season-high, and allowed a season-high nine hits in six innings of work and took the loss to fall to 2-6. Thurman struck out six and walked one and lasted at least six innings for an eighth time in 12 starts.

 

Sean Thompson held Huntsville to the lone run over seven innings, allowing four hits, striking out three and walking one to earn his second win of the season. The southpaw emerged victorious for the first time at home in seven starts and for the first time since May 17. Dirk Hayhurst tossed two scoreless frames in his first outing with Mobile.

 

The series continues Tuesday night with right-hander Tim Dillard getting the starting assignment for the Stars against BayBears right-hander Mike Ekstrom. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard on ESPN Radio 1450 AM locally and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_mobaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_mobaax_1

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

DUEL OF THE DOORMATS

The Stars now have a clean slate to take advantage of, but can they erase the sour taste of losing 25 of 29 ballgames on so short a break? Is their confidence truly shot? They've had their fill of team meetings with and without manager Don Money and pitching coach Rich Sauveur. They've had hitting instructors. They've tried everything but a psychiatrist, and now on just a day break after losing in the 9th to WT, 6-4, it was back to work ........

 

The Stars had every advantage in this game but home advantage, which doesn't seem to mean anything, anyway. They started off with Mobile, the first half doormats of the Southern Division behind team ERA leader Corey Thurman (2-5, 1.98)..... Their opponent, Sean Thompson, was 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA in four previous starts against the Stars going back to last year, with a propensity for being hit hard early. The Stars had collected 32 hits and 13 walks off him in 22 innings........ Since his last win on May 17, he was 0-3 with a 3.26 ERA......... They had more than an even chance and should have beaten them, but perhaps, psychologically, they weren't ready........ Who then are they ready for, if they can't beat Mobile.

 

Like West Tenn's Miguel Negron, Mobile has George Kottaras --- the scourge of Stars' pitching........ Kottaras entered the game hitting .419 vs. the Stars going back to last year with four doubles, three HRs, a triple, and 13 RBIs........ With two out in the 1st inning, Kottaras drove Thurman's 2-1 pitch off the wall over Drew Anderson's glove for an opposite-field double. Joey Gomes, older brother of Tampa Bay's Jonny Gomes (who hit 17 HRs for Orlando in 2003) followed Kottaras with with a line drive hit through the middle to give the Bay Bears a 1-0 lead.

 

Gomes wasn't done for the night........ Thurman managed to strike out Kottaras on a curve in the 3rd inning this time, but that came after a line-drive single by Juan Ciriaco and a walk to left fielder Vince Sinisi....... Ahead 0-and-2, Gomes drove a ball deep to left, just the 3rd home run Thurman had given up all year, and the Bay Bears were in front, 4-0.

 

The Stars were held to just five hits, but hit the ball hard occasionally against Thompson....... In the 2nd, Lou Palmisano hit a double off the base of the wall in centerfield, but with two out, Adam Heether popped out to end the inning........ In the 3rd, Ozzie Chavez smoked Thompson with a liner that knocked him down........ But it wasn't until the 5th inning that the Stars were able to score their only run by taking advantage of a throwing error by Ciriaco....... After Heether reached on the error, Chavez singled to right-center on Thompson's first pitch, to extend his hitting streak to five games........ With Heether on 3rd, Thurman, with only one hit in 12 trips and six strikeouts, singled through short and into left for only the 9th RBI by a Stars pitcher this year. That made it 4-1, but Steve Moss hit into a double play to end the inning and the Stars could get only a pair of hits in the next four innings....... Moss is now 0-for-15 over a 5-game stretch.

 

After a 20-20 start to the season, the Stars are 24-46........ Four wins in their last 30 games........ There has been nothing like this, and I've said it before, in their history.

 

But the Stars have lost with less talent than this........ In the 2nd half of the 1988 season, they were 22-50, losing games 13-1, 17-3, 15-4, 12-4, and 12-3 along the way. The '06 Stars have rarely been blown out.

 

Since the start of their 14-game losing streak, they've hit .231. When the Stars lost 18 of 20 games in a July stretch in '88 (Oakland organization), they cold manage a puny .205 average for manager Tommie Reynolds....... Mike Bordick, their All-Star from that season, hit .287 in that cold July, then dropped his average over 100 points for August....... 3rd baseman Scott Hemond hit just .174 in July....... Slugger Steve Howard hit .309 in July with seven HRs, then dropped to .210 in August........ Outfielder Jerry Peguero hit .211 in June, .211 in July, and .177 in August with just nine extra-base hits, all of them doubles........ 1st baseman Greg Sparks hit .184 in July after hitting .275 in June........ Kevin Sliwinski, their other 1st baseman, a free-agent pick-up from the Blue Jays, and a solid hitter at one time with the K-Jays, never got his average above .172, which is where it landed when the season ended......... Outfielder Camilo Veras, who was hot the first month of the season at .313, hit .212 in May, .183 in June, and .193 in July........ This was the Stars top to bottom in the Stars' lineup everyday......... Even the purchase of major league vet Andre Robertson in June didn't help. He hit .167 in July and .217 in August, as he attempted to comeback from the effects of an auto accident while he was a Yankee......... Scott Chiamparino had a fine 3.05 ERA in July, but went 1-4 with the offense behind him....... Relief pitcher Bo Kent had an 8.10 ERA in 21 appearances over the last two months of the season, while Scott Holcomb had a 10.80 ERA in August...... Starter Kirk McDonald wound up in the bullpen and had an ERA of 7.06 in August.

 

No one knows what the future is for the present Stars, but they have a lot more going for them than the the remnants of an A's assembly line that had dried up after producing Jose Canseco, then Terry Steinbach and Mark McGwire, and Walt Weiss, and an '86 team that was hitting .310 as late as May 13th

 

Tomorrow, I'm going to put up on the standings page, the averages and stats for every player who had a part of this 4-26 tailspin. Should be interesting. Right now, you can take a look at averages broken down by lineup strength (1-2-3 hitters, 4-5-6, and so on, since the start of the season at 10-game intervals).

 

www.starsboxscore.com/standing.htm

 

Tuesday, Don will send Tim Dillard (4-4, 3.67) against Michael Ekstrom, making his Double-A debut. Ekstrom was 7-4 with a 2.30 ERA at Class A-Lake Elsinore (Cal.) in 14 starts. On June 8, he pitched a 2-hit shutout over Stockton....... Dillard is coming off a two-hit performance himself....... He did it in seven innings against the Diamond Jaxx last Wednesday in the Stars' only win in their last 13 games, 12-0.

 

Greg Sain signed a minor league contract with the Yankees, June 8......... Sain was assigned to Class A-Tampa........ After a 1-for-19 start with his new team, Sain doubled, homered and drove in four runs last night against Dunedin in a 10-4 victory for his team.

 

Steve Karsay, co-holder of the Stars single-game record for strikeouts (13) with Greg Cadaret and Miguel Jimenez, has announced his retirement........ He came full circle, giving Oakland a win over the Dodgers in 17 innings with two innings of work -- his first victory since September 11, 2002 with the Yankees, then called it quits the next day....... Karsay struck out 13 Lookouts in his Stars' debut on August 6, 1993. He went nine innings, but it took the Stars 10 to win for Steve Phoenix, 5-4.