Link Report Fri 6/2 - Four wins (Stars, too!); Rogers Shines

[Mass Haas]

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

 

 

(subject had 5/2 instead of 6/2 -TC)

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF!

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Jared Fernandez at home vs. Iowa (Cubs), 6:40 PM pre-game, 7:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Corey Thurman at Birmingham (White Sox), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Mark Rogers at home vs. Lakeland (Tigers), 6:00 PM; sorry, no web audio for this series

 

West Virginia: LHP Steve Garrison at Lake County (Indians), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

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

[Mass Haas]

Follow Friday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". 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_biraax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lcoafx_1

[Mass Haas]

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

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

 

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

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Thursday's action:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 30 24 .556 - 18-9 12-15 W2[/b] Iowa 23 29 .442 6.0 12-13 11-16 L2 Omaha 22 32 .407 8.0 15-15 7-17 L1 Memphis 20 33 .377 9.5 11-13 9-20 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 33 22 .600 - 20-10 13-12 L4 West Tenn 32 22 .593 0.5 12-13 20-9 W4 Tennessee 27 28 .491 6.0 18-12 9-16 W3 Carolina 26 29 .473 7.0 15-10 11-19 L3 [b]Huntsville 20 33 .377 12.0 9-19 11-14 L13[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 29 23 .558 - 14-13 15-10 L2 [b]Brevard County 28 24 .538 1.0 14-11 14-13 W2[/b] Daytona 27 26 .509 2.5 16-10 11-16 W1 Palm Beach 26 26 .500 3.0 12-13 14-13 W1 Jupiter 23 29 .442 6.0 11-16 12-13 W2 Vero Beach 21 32 .396 8.5 12-15 9-17 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delmarva 31 20 .608 - 16-10 15-10 L1 Lexington 31 20 .608 - 19-10 12-10 L1 Greensboro 29 23 .558 2.5 20-9 9-14 W2 [b]West Virginia 28 23 .549 3.0 16-11 12-12 W4[/b] Lakewood 26 26 .500 5.5 14-10 12-16 L4 Hickory 23 27 .460 7.5 12-11 11-16 W5 Lake County 24 29 .453 8.0 12-14 12-15 L2 Hagerstown 18 33 .353 13.0 9-11 9-22 L8

[Never Outhustled]

Too bad no web audio for BC, cool pitching matchup there tonight. Rogers facing Kyle Sleeth, good start for Rogers so far through 3. Sleeth was the 3rd pick of the 2003 draft(Rogers was picked in 2004), but it takes awhile to get those injury prone college pitchers to the big leagues.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Giraldo8]

This is by far the best we have seen Mark Rogers. I'd first like to give him his props and hopefully a sign of things to come.

[gregmag]

Yeah, as a routine Rogers doubter, let me just send a hearty "Holy crap" his way. It don't get much better than his line through 6. Just a few more starts like this over the course of the year and he'll have passed "can he do it?" and moved on to "can he do it consistently?," which is no small step.

 

Greg.

[homer]

I checked his line after the 1st inning and was just waiting for someone to post - he walked the first two guys in the game.

[Katuluu]

I'm pretty sure this is Roger's 3rd dominant start over his past 4 or 5, when before that he pretty much had zero. Given his past struggles, I'd be pretty ecstatic if he keeps up a 60% quality start rate for the rest of the year.

[NastyTwig]

Great game for Mark.

 

Also, over in WV... Inman's replacement, Steve Garrison, throws nearly 7 innings of 3 hit ball only giving up a solo shot.

[homer]

Is there a place that lists the lines for each of Rogers' starts? That'd be a lot of work to go through eahc BF game log.

[Trowekamp]

I know Toby is very excited about Garrison.. is there a reason they let him go into the 7th? I thought there were piggybacking in West Virginia.. I know they have been taking it easy with Inman..

[molitor fan]

Salome now has 16 more rbi's than any other catcher in the South Atlantic league.

[huntsvillefan]

Rogers Schmogers!!!!!! Don't you guys realize the night's truly significant news ?

The Stars won, The Stars won, la la la la la la The Stars won!!!

Ok you can go on with Rogers and Salome now.

[mls4]

How often do we go 4 for 4?

 

Nice walkoff wild pitch for the Sounds in the 11th....

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 4, Lakeland (Tigers) 3

 

Brevard County Site Game Summaries:

 

Rogers Rides On With Win Over Tigers

Jenny Rennie, Director of Media

 

Manatees starting pitcher Mark Rogers threw 6.2 innings allowing only two hits and one earned run to lead Brevard County to their second win in a row over the visiting Lakeland Tigers. Brevard County pulled off the win 4-3 under the cloudy sky at Space Coast Stadium Friday night. Right-hander David Johnson picked up his first save of the season by throwing two innings of one-hit ball to close out the game. Rogers and Johnson combined for twelve strikeouts on the night.

 

One of Brevard County's newest roster additions, Kyle Phillips, went 2-4 at the plate with a two-out RBI. Hasan Rasheed also provided a two-out RBI as well. Lakeland's Kyle Sleeth received his first loss of the season dropping his Florida State League debut against Brevard County. With tonight's win, the Manatees record sets at 28-24 making them only one game behind the Eastern Division leaders, the St. Lucie Mets. Taking the mound against the Tigers tomorrow night will be the Florida State League leader in strikeouts and recently named FSL All-Star, Yovani Gallardo. Yovani will duel against Lakeland's left-hander Lance Davis.

 

Saturday night's game is number three of the four-game series and is Fireworks Night at Space Coast Stadium. Gates open at 6:00 PM for the 7:00 game (6:00 Central). Tickets are $8.00 with everyone receiving a special bounce-back ticket good for a future Manatees baseball game.

 

***

Rogers tames Tigers

 

Mark Rogers pitched 6 2/3 innings of two-hit ball as Brevard County edged visiting Lakeland, 4-3, on Friday.

 

Rogers (1-2) gave up one run, struck out nine and walked the first two batters he faced before retiring 12 in a row. He held the Tigers (28-26) hitless until the fifth inning.

 

Robert Hinton allowed two runs in the seventh before Dave Johnson tossed two scoreless frames for his first save.

 

Kyle Phillips' two-run single capped a three-run third for the Manatees (29-25), who also got run-scoring base hits from Hasan Rasheed and Brendan Katin.

 

Lakeland starter Kyle Sleeth (0-1) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on five hits in three innings. He struck out one and walked two in his first appearance for the Tigers.

 

Garth McKinney singled in a run and stole home during the Tigers' three-run seventh. -- Max Lance/MLB.com

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Mark Rogers' first win of the year a beauty -- wonder what were the comments in the dugout after those two walks to open the game?

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Six of nine strikeouts swinging for Rogers; clutch out to end the game for Dave Johnson with the tying and go-ahead runners on base...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 11, Birmingham (White Sox) 3

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=860

 

STARS WIN, STARS WIN!!

 

Steve Moss collected three hits, knocked in two runs and scored twice, as Huntsville took out two weeks of frustration and beat Birmingham 11-3 Friday night in the opener of a five-game set at the Hoover Met. The Stars won for the first time since May 17 at Chattanooga and improved to 21-33, though their 13-game losing streak remains suspended until Thursday night?s game with West Tenn is resumed and played to its? conclusion, while the Barons dropped to 24-32 overall and 10-16 at home.

 

Moss opened the game reaching on a fielding error by shortstop Michael Myers, moved to second base on an errant pickoff attempt by Barons? starter Ray Liotta, advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Callix Crabbe and scored on a base hit by Drew Anderson. The Stars scored three times in the second inning with two outs on run-scoring singles by Ozzie Chavez and Moss and a fielding error by Myers on a ball hit by Anderson. Moss knocked in his first runs since May 3 at West Tenn, covering a stretch of 76 at-bats.

 

Myers singled home a two-out run in the second inning to get the home team on the board and belted a solo home run with two outs in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-2. Corey Thurman was taken out after five innings with a two-run lead after allowing five hits, walking four and striking out six. He picked up his first win since April 23 and his first on the road. Thurman had received only 14 runs of support in his first eight starts.

 

Gerrit Simpson took over in the sixth inning and allowed a leadoff home run to Micah Schnurstein that trimmed the lead to 4-3. The Stars? right-hander avoided any further trouble and was followed by Russ Rohlicek, who tossed a scoreless seventh inning and Steve Bray, who tossed two scoreless frames.

 

The Stars got two-out, run-scoring singles from Ron Acuna, Jeff Eure and Moss plus a two-run triple from Lou Palmisano to highlight a seven-run seventh inning that turned a close game into a rout. Huntsville tallied seven runs in a frame for a second time this year and matched their biggest win of the year, set on May 1 in an 8-0 win over Tennessee. Every Stars? batter had at least one hit and scored a run except for Adam Heether.

 

The series continues Saturday night when the Stars send right-hander Tim Dillard to the mound against Barons? right-hander Lance Broadway. 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:

Savor the thing of beauty that is a Huntsville victory...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_biraax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

Birmingham very sloppy, yes -- but you'll rarely see a game on any level with so much two-out production...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_biraax_1

 

Steve Moss photo courtesy of PonderPhoto.com via the Stars' site:

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

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/barons/birming...amp;coll=2

 

Stars snap 13-game losing streak

DOUG SEGREST

Birmingham News staff writer

 

Huntsville manager Don Money had seen it before: a comfortable lead disappearing faster than an Arctic glacier.

 

"I was thinking, `Here we go again,'" Money said Friday night. "It's 4-1 at one point and, all of a sudden, they cut it to 4-3. It's like we were just waiting around for it to happen again."

 

Except it didn't happen. For the first time since May 17, Money's Huntsville Stars pulled out a victory, bombarding the homestanding Birmingham Barons 11-3 to end a 13-game losing streak.

 

Maybe that explains why reliever Stephen Bray stood on the mound after the final out, raising his arms into the air with the fervor of a postseason victory celebrant.

 

"It's been almost two weeks for us," Money said. "It's amazing. This game's fickle. It seemed every time we made a mistake, it came back to bite us.

 

"We averaged two runs a game (during the streak). You don't win many games that way."

 

The Stars (21-33) blew the game open in the seventh, scoring seven runs - one more than Huntsville scored in any of the 13 losses. Most of the damage came against reliever Rusty Tucker, who inherited a mess and turned it nuclear.

 

Tucker arrived with two on and two outs, trying to keep the Stars from expanding on the 4-3 lead. Five hits and two walks later, Tucker was headed to the showers, Huntsville was still batting and a formerly close game was a blowout.

 

"We just needed to have somebody get one out," said Barons manager Chris Cron. "That's the bottom line. Yes, we've been using the bullpen like crazy and I wanted to save them some. All we needed was one out."

 

Leadoff man Steve Moss led the Stars with three hits. Birmingham's No.9 hitter, Michael Myers, had two hits, including his third home run of the season.

 

Birmingham starter Ray Liotta walked four and gave up six hits in five innings, unable to find his rhythm on a muggy, wet night.

 

By contrast, Huntsville starter Corey Thurman struck out six and left with a 4-2 lead.

 

The Barons dropped to 24-33 with the loss. Birmingham has lost three straight to the Stars, counting an early-season visit to North Alabama, and have lost six of eight overall.

 

"We've played the same way they have," Cron said. "In some ways, we're in the same boat. We're just a hit away from changing the game immensely, but we're not getting the big hits."

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 6, Iowa (Cubs) 5, 11 innings

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Chris Barnwell photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1983

 

Sounds Defeat the Iowa Cubs, 6-5, in 11 Innings

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn -The Sounds won the finale of a four-game series versus the Iowa Cubs, 6-5, in dramatic fashion Friday night at Greer stadium in front of 6,676 fans.

 

The Sounds continue to play close games as they played the seventh one-run game in a row against the Cubs and the 11th of the season. With the extra inning win the Sounds (31-24) increase their lead in the American Northern Division to seven games, with Iowa in a distant second.

 

Iowa was able to come out and score first but they wouldn?t be the last ones to score. The Cubs recorded three runs in the visiting half of the first. With the bases loaded Geovany Soto hit a single into left field that allowed Buck Coast and Jeff Deardorff to score. Michael Restovich, who started the play out at first, advanced to third and scored on the following play. The Cubs three-run first gave them a comfortable lead, at least that?s what they thought.

 

The Sounds struck for the first time in the bottom of the third off the bat of Chris Barnwell. Barnwell hit an RBI double through the hole at shortstop, which allowed Mark Johnson to score from second. Barnwell was the only Sound to have a mutli-hit day, 2-for-5. His two hits increased his current hitting streak to four games.

 

The Cubs answered right back scoring in the top half of the fourth as their starting pitcher Jae-Kuk Ryu helped himself out by crossing home. The Cubs would only have one more offensive burst throughout the game as they notched one more run in the top of the fifth, which gave them a 5-2 lead.

 

The Sounds fought back as they logged runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings. Nelson Cruz scored in the fourth inning off a Vinny Rottino groundout to the shortstop, which brought the Sounds within two runs.

 

In the home half of the sixth both Barnwell and Cruz added to the offense again. Barnwell led the inning off with a double and scored later on a sacrifice fly to right field, courtesy of Cruz.

 

The Sounds led the seventh off with back-to-back hits. Rottino singled and scored on the following play off the bat of Jermaine Clark. Clark was able to triple after Michael Restovich?s relay throw hit the third base umpire and allowed Clark to round second and advance to third. Clark scored during the next at-bat as Ryu threw a wild pitch that allowed Clark to advance home and tie the game.

 

The game would remain tied as both teams' bullpens seemed unhittable. Neither teams' starters factored into the decision. Sounds starter Jared Fernandez threw seven innings and allowed five runs, three of which were earned. Cubs starter Ryu went six innings and allowed five earned runs.

 

The Sounds used three relievers to finish off the game: Mitch Stetter, Allan Simpson and Wilton Chavez. All three pitchers combined to throw four innings of two-hit shutout baseball. Chavez earned himself the win, which brought him to 3-1.

 

The Cubs used four hurlers to try and finish off the Sounds: Andy Shipman, Michael Wuertz, Brandon Emanuel and Mark Watson. The hurlers did their best, combining for four and a third innings of one-hit baseball but in the end it would be the pitchers that would end the game.

 

In the bottom of the 11th with the bases loaded Cubs reliever Watson threw a wild pitch to Clark, which allowed Cruz to advance home and end the game. Watson was credited with his first loss of the season.

 

The Sounds face off against the PCL American Southern Division leading Albuquerque Isotopes for a four-game series starting Saturday night at 6.p.m. The Sounds will send southpaw Zach Jackson (2-2, 3.00) to the bump and Albuquerque will counter with their own lefty Jimmy Anderson (2-2, 5.00).

 

Nashville Box Score:

Mark Johnson three passed balls with the knuckler dancing...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Wild pitch in the 11th gives Sounds victory

Beat Iowa 6-5 for third straight game

By JESSICA HOPP

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Same decision. Same score. Same celebratory smiles.

 

It was all a welcome situation.

 

The Nashville Sounds rallied to defeat the Iowa Cubs 6-5 in front of 6,676 fans at Greer Stadium on Friday night.

 

It was the third consecutive game in which the Sounds snagged a win by that same score, but this one ended with a little twist.

 

A wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning gave Nashville the win by allowing Nelson Cruz to score.

 

?I am sure that is not how they envisioned it happening, but we?ll take it,? Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. ?Especially in extra innings the team that makes a mistake is usually the team that ends up taking the loss.?

 

Cruz got on base with a walk and advanced to third on a shot to right-center by Graham Koonce. The Sounds then loaded the bases when Iowa pitcher Mark Watson walked Vinny Rottino.

 

With Jermaine Clark at the plate, the wild pitch brought Cruz home.

 

?They loaded the bases to try to set up a double play,? Clark said. ?(Watson) just hung onto his slider too long. He tried to make a perfect pitch and when you try to do that things happen. Fortunately it worked out for us.?

 

Clark played a large part in putting the Sounds back in the game. With Nashville trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, his triple set things in motion.

 

With Rottino on first with a leadoff single, Clark knocked the ball to left-center. It hit the warning track and bounced off the outfield wall.

 

As the Cubs tried to relay the ball back to the infield, it hit the umpire standing just outside the dirt between second and third base. The ball dropped to the ground, allowing Rottino to score and Clark to advance to third.

 

?Wow, that was interesting,? Clark said. ?I had a good swing at the ball on a 2-1 changeup. I was going to stop at a double, but the ball hit the umpire. Fortunately in baseball he is part of the field so I kept going.?

 

A wild pitch by Iowa?s Jae-Kuk Ryu allowed Clark to score and tie the game at 5-5.

 

One would be hard pressed to find a way that the season series between Iowa and Nashville could have been any closer.

 

Eleven of the 16 games played between the two clubs this season were decided by one run, including the last seven in a row.

 

?Their record doesn?t really show how good of a ball club they are,? Clark said of Iowa. ?We are pretty equal in some aspects like power and speed.?

 

That similarity led to close games not only in terms of score, but also in wins and losses. However, with Friday?s victory, Nashville finished strong, winning three of four in the final series between the two teams and holding a 9-7 edge against Iowa this season.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Knuckler has to be tamed

By JESSICA HOPP

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Sounds starting pitcher Jared Fernandez is known as a knuckleball specialist ? Nashville's first since Rob Mattson in 2000. On Friday night, it took a little work to get that pitch under control.

 

Fernandez put four runners on base and gave up three runs in the first inning. Later he threw several pitches off target, including one in the fifth that glanced off the edge of catcher Mark Johnson's glove and rolled behind the plate allowing Jeff Deardorff to score an unearned run and giving the Cubs a 5-2 edge.

 

In seven innings, Fernandez gave up five runs (three earned) on nine hits while walking three, and striking out six.

 

"I think they did a good job making him throw a strike with it," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "And they were strong against him in the last outing so maybe they had his number a little bit. But if you are going to give up three runs, give them up in the first so you have a chance to come back in all nine."

 

Roster moves: Kremblas said pitchers Zach Jackson and Allan Simpson have been called up to join the Brewers. In return, Chris Mabeus will be sent down to join the Sounds.

 

Off base: Tony Gwynn held the PCL lead in hits with 70 heading into Friday night's game, but the Cubs prevented him from adding any more to that list. Gwynn was 0-for-4 with one walk, ending a seven-game hitting streak.

 

Jerseys for charity: Fans at Greer Stadium will have a chance to take the shirt right off a Sounds player's back tonight as Nashville hosts the Albuquerque Isotopes.

 

The Sounds will be wearing retro Brewers jerseys, which fans can bid on in a silent auction held during the game.

 

Tables will be set up at the front gate and near the fan relations center with a minimum bid of $75 per jersey. The auction will run through the seventh inning, and all proceeds will go to the Nashville Ronald McDonald House.

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 5, Lake County (Indians) 3

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Power score three in the eighth to beat the Captains

 

The West Virginia Power had a 2-1 lead over the Lake County Captains entering the eighth inning of Friday night?s game against the Lake County Captains at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio. The Power scored three big runs in the eighth inning and held off a late Captains rally to win their fifth game in a row by the final of 5-3.

 

Mike Conroy hit a solo home run for the Captains in the bottom of the third inning to put the Captains on top. Angel Salome answered the call a half inning later with his seventh homer of the season, a solo shot to tie the game at 1-1. Lorenzo Cain put the Power ahead in the fifth inning on an RBI groundout. In the eighth inning the Power pulled away scoring three times on an RBI single from Tony Festa and a two-run double from Michael Brantley. Down 5-1 in the ninth inning Lake County scored twice on an RBI base hit from Andy Lytle and a sacrifice fly from Conroy but it was too little and too late.

 

Steve Garrison (1-0) allowed a run on three hits and struck out three through six and two thirds to earn the win, and Tom Cowley (0-2) obtained the loss. The Power are 29-23 after the win and the Captains fell to 24-30 with the loss.

 

The Power will continue the four game series against the Captains on Saturday afternoon. Lake County will start right hander Frank Hermann (1-2, 5.67) and the Power will counter with left hander Rafael Lluberes (3-2, 2.68). The first pitch is scheduled for 2:05 PM (1:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Bottom of the order carried the night; Steve Garrison must have been very economical to get through 6 2/3; Angel Salome picks a runner off second base and homers leading off the next inning -- what a rush...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lcoafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

Darren Ford's sacrifice bunt key in the 5th...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lcoafx_1