Link Report for Sunday 5/28: Late addition, quotes from W.V.

[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 Jared Fernandez at Iowa (Cubs), 12:45 PM pre-game, 1:05 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.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Yo Gallardo at home vs. Daytona (Cubs), 3:00 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's):

voiceoftherepublic.com/live.asx

 

West Virginia: LHP Steve Garrison at home vs. Lakewood (Phillies), 12:55 PM pre-game, 1:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

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

[Mass Haas]

A lot of folks are excited to see LHP Steve Garrison's debut for the Power -- keep in mind last year's 10th rounder only pitched in Arizona Rookie League ball, never at Helena. He's 19 years old, a year out of a New Jersey prep high school.

 

Of course, we wish his promotion wouldn't have come at the expense of Will Inman's sore shoulder, but Garrison must have been impressing in extended spring training at Maryvale.

[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_iowaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_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 27 22 .551 - 16-8 11-14 L2[/b] Iowa 21 26 .447 5.0 11-12 10-14 W2 Omaha 19 30 .388 8.0 12-13 7-17 L2 Memphis 17 31 .354 9.5 11-13 6-18 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 32 18 .640 - 19-6 13-12 L2 West Tenn 28 22 .560 4.0 12-13 16-9 L2 Carolina 25 25 .500 7.0 15-10 10-15 W2 Tennessee 23 27 .460 9.0 14-11 9-16 W2 [b]Huntsville 20 29 .408 11.5 9-15 11-14 L9[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 27 21 .563 - 13-13 14-8 W2 [b]Brevard County 25 23 .521 2.0 11-10 14-13 W1[/b] Daytona 25 24 .510 2.5 15-10 10-14 L1 Palm Beach 24 24 .500 3.0 11-12 13-12 W1 Jupiter 20 28 .417 7.0 10-15 10-13 L1 Vero Beach 19 30 .388 8.5 11-14 8-16 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delmarva 30 17 .638 - 16-9 14-8 W9 Lexington 29 19 .604 1.5 17-9 12-10 L1 Greensboro 26 22 .542 4.5 18-8 8-14 L2 Lakewood 26 22 .542 4.5 14-9 12-13 W4 [b]West Virginia 24 23 .511 6.0 13-11 11-12 L2[/b] Lake County 23 26 .469 8.0 12-13 11-13 W1 Hickory 19 27 .413 10.5 9-11 10-16 W1 Hagerstown 18 30 .375 12.5 9-11 9-19 L5

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Covering the bases (Through Friday's games)

Mark McCarter,

Huntsville Times

 

A couple of well-wishers in Don Money's office were offering some "hang in there" messages, that things would turn around for his team. "When?" said Money, looking up from his desk. "We're a third of the way through the season. At some point, you have to say when are you going to do it, not that you will." ...

 

A good many of the complaints about the replacement umpires have centered on mechanics and positioning as much as missed calls. In retrospect, baseball might have been more proactive in training the replacements in across-the-board fundamentals. ...

 

It's not inaccurate when one Milwaukee organization insider says "we're trying everything hoping something works" regarding pitching. The Brewers have pulled up three pitchers from Huntsville this week, sent Ben Hendrickson back to the minors - where he pitched one-hit shutout ball for seven innings after allowing the first six batters he faced to score in a loss to Minnesota - and Friday traded former Star Mike Adams to the Mets organization for Jeremi Gonzalez. ... There was a transaction involving Huntsville's pitching staff on four of five days from Monday through Friday. Carlos Villanueva and Joe Winklesas both went up to bolster the Brewers bullpen, and Chris Mabeus went up after a one-game stint here necessitated by waiver complications. Then Brett Evert was sent down Friday from Nashville. ... Villanueva will rejoin the Stars today. ...

 

That's not a freeloader out there beyond the center field fence at Joe Davis Stadium. It's a Huntsville pitcher. Pitching coach Rich Sauveur has one of his pitchers on "an off day" videotaping at-bats from that angle. ... Corey Thurman starts today after two games with Nashville, in which he went 1-1. He is a tough-luck 1-4 with the Stars, with a 2.56 ERA. The Stars scored six runs in his only win -- and only six runs total in his other six starts.

 

Around the league

 

Jacksonville outfielder Matt Kemp won't get to catch Lancaster's Chris Rahl in the race for most hits in the minor leagues - and that's OK. Rahl had 66 hits and Kemp 65 through Friday. But moments before Saturday's game here, the injury-riddled Dodgers called Kemp up to the majors. ... Jacksonville leaves Huntsville and heads to Montgomery today riding an incredible streak. The Suns have won 29 of their last 43 - and 10 of those 14 losses were by only one run. ... Chattanooga won seven in a row before losing Friday, including a 16-inning duel Tuesday. ... Atlanta's highly touted catching prospect Jarron Saltalamacchia is struggling, hitting .204 with four homers and 18 RBIs. ... West Tenn outfielder Luis Montanez, a career .272 hitter who became the SL's top hitter with a .369 average, was promoted to Class AAA last weekend. ... Mississippi's Barbaro Canizares (.480 with three doubles, three home runs, seven RBIs) and Tennessee's Ross Ohlendorf (1-0 with a 2.51 ERA in two starts) are the most recent BC Powder Southern League Hitter and Pitcher of the Week. ... On Friday, Ohlendorf's bat was as important as his arm, hitting a grand slam that ended the Chattanooga win streak.

 

Brewings

 

Triple-A Nashville Sounds (27-21 before Saturday, first place in Pacific Coast League American Division): OF Nelson Cruz .302, 12 HRs, league-leading 39 RBIs).

 

Single-A Brevard County Manatees (24-23, third in Florida State East Division): P Josh Wahpepah 3-1, 2.27 ERA in nine starts.

 

Single-A West Virginia Power (24-22 third in South Atlantic League Northern Division): P Derek Miller 5-1, 2.70 ERA in 10 starts.

 

On deck

 

West Tenn, the Cubs' Double-A affiliate, begins a five-game visit to Huntsville today. Game time is 6:05. Monday's game is at 2:05, Tuesday and Thursday are at 7:05 and Wednesday is a 12:05 start. Any active duty or retired military personnel who show their military ID will get a free general admission or upper level reserve ticket on Mondays and Saturdays. Military also get a 1/2 price ticket to any Sunday or Thursday game.

 

Watch for

 

West Tenn 3B Eric Patterson, ranked No. 10 among Cubs prospects by Baseball America, and younger brother of major leaguer Corey Patterson.

[DHonks]

The A-ball pitchers have me excited today.

 

 

Edit:

Overall, an iffy outing by Garrison. But he showed strikeout ability while walking only one.

[Minigoon]

Especially good line for Yo Gallardo today. 7 2/3 Innings, 6 hits, no runs, 1 walk and 10 K's. ERA now down to 2.18.

[Mass Haas]

The Stars are underway just now, and I've flipped on Brett Pollock and the Huntsville audio.

 

The Stars will win, the Stars will win...

[Mass Haas]

Before we get to the Brevard game notes I gleaned, let me just say that it's fortunate for the Brewers that the Florida State League, and the Manatees in particular, are a black hole in terms of media coverage.

 

Hernan Iribarren is a 40-man roster player, and has appeared in the Futures Game. Someone will have to explain how you can be kicked out of a game for, ahem, allegedly corking a bat. Did he have a Sammy Sosa bat explosion moment? Is his bat being x-ray'd, like Albert Belle's?

 

If there had been at least one accurate media account of the incident, it would have been picked up by AP, and been widely reported by many outlets.

 

Certainly Iribarren is facing a suspension of some sort, so we'll learn more eventually, but just another example of the frustrating of coverage in the FSL.

 

Final: Brevard County 4, Daytona (Cubs) 0

 

Brevard County Box Score:

SS Alcides Escobar off the disabled list -- that bad finger finally allows him to play the field as well; Ryan Braun an on-base machine as of late, three times today; Steve Sollman three hits, Freddy Parejo stays hot; oh yeah, Charlie Fermaint's good; Yo Gallardo with an insane 77-to-15 K/BB ratio in 57.2 innings...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Game started ominously, with wasted Manatee chances in the first two innings; the Brevard 5th ended oddly...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 7, Lakewood (Phillies) 6

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Power score six unanswered to beat Lakewood

 

The West Virginia Power trailed the Lakewood BlueClaws 6-1 after seven and a half innings of Sunday afternoon?s ballgame at Appalachian Power Park. The Power then scored six unanswered runs and won the game on Angel Salome?s three-run double to top the BlueClaws 7-6.

 

Clay Harris hit a solo shot in the top of the second inning to give Lakewood an early lead. The Power answered the call on Ned Yost?s RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the second. Lakewood scored four times in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Fidel Hernandez and a three-run homer from Greg Golson. Lakewood took a 6-1 lead in the eighth on John Urick?s solo shot.

 

The comeback began in the bottom of the eighth inning. Darren Ford doubled in Brad Willcutt, and Michael Brantley and Ryan Crew contributed with RBI singles to pull the Power within two. Nate Yoho began the ninth inning on a single, Ford reached on a Welinson Baez fielding error at third base, and then Brantley walked to load the bases. With the go ahead run on first base, Salome belted the game-winning three-run double off the wall in center field.

 

The win marks the third for the Power in their final at-bat, the game winning hit for Salome was his second of the season and it marked the second ninth inning come from behind victory of the season.

 

Wil Laureano (2-1) earned the win, and Pat Overholt (3-1) obtained the loss. The Power are 25-23 after the win and the BlueClaws fell to 26-23 with the loss.

 

The Power will continue the four game series against Lakewood Monday night. Lakewood will start left hander Josh Outman (1-4, 3.67) and the Power will counter with right hander Kevin Roberts (2-6, 4.66). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Six doubles among the Power's 11 hits; the Brewers have imported countless Latin arms in recent seasons -- nice to see some fruits of that labor, continue to keep an eye on lefty Rafael Lluberes...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

Looks like the Lakewood manager outwitted himself with a final pitching move in the 8th after two consecutive strikeouts...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Sounds Broadcaster Chuck Valenches' latest blog entry --

 

Click on the link for a nice Memorial Day tribute from Chuck:

 

nashvillesounds.blogspot....ember.html

 

Last season the Nashville Sounds did not have their 32nd roster move until July 17th, something this years Nashville Sounds accomplished in a month and a half less time. Usually, this is not a good thing. Stability in a roster usually means the guys are getting the job done and there is a much better opportunity to gel and bond as a team than if you have a constant shuttle between farm clubs. Despite the increase in transactions from last year, the Sounds still have a comparitively stable roster compared with many teams.

 

The Brewers made some moves to try and shore up their pen, calling up Joe Winklesas from AA as well as sending down Ben Hendrickson, Justin Lehr and Chris Demaria. While these moves are great for Joe and bad for Justin, Ben and Chris, they do help the Sounds out quite a bit. Lehr was designated for assignment by Milwaukee and upon his return to Nashville, was put in the starting rotation and threw five solid innings. Many of you may remember that last season Lehr was in the Nashville pen and Jose Capellan was in the Sounds rotation. When those two switched roles, they both took off and Lehr became one of the best starters on the team.

 

As for Ben Hendrickson, his demotion was unfortunate. Anytime a team tells you that you are going down your confidence takes a hit. In this case it was the second time for Ben but the Brewers were very adamant in telling everyone that Ben figures into their future. Ben had three bad starts, but did show promise in relief and showed he has the stuff to be in the bigs. Down here his stuff is electric and he has been much more effective because his confidence at AAA is much higher. After his one-hit outing last week, there were some grumblings that Ben was a Four-A player. PFFFFTTT!!! is all I have to say to that. A Four-A player has good enough stuff to get AAA guys out but not big leaguers. Ben has big league stuff. His problem is apparently mental. He even admitted that he has trouble with the first inning. Once he conquers that he will be back in Milwaukee.

 

I apologize for not writing a blog about Tucson and Vegas, but what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Though I think I might be married now, I can't remember. Suffice it to say that Vegas was hot. Pitchfork-and-horned-upper-management hot. As for the games, while the saying goes, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" the same can not be applied to Cashman Field. "What is thrown in Cashman Field does NOT stay in Cashman Field".

 

As for Tucson, it was also mind-numbingly hot. Nelson Cruz did apparently find a really good Cuban restaurant, but it was so hot the memory of the restaurant name melted on the asphalt. I did manage to find a Mexican restaurant nearby for a Sunday (okay, Thursday) brunch and it was not Taco Bell. My server kept reccomending I try a Mexican Chardonnay Mimosa. White wine and OJ, hmmmmmm.....No. I know a little about wine and I am pretty sure that unless its champagne, mixing wine and juice is pretty awful. If you have to mix Tropicana in your chardonnay that's a bad sign. I asked the server about the white wine from the Chihuahua, Mexico

 

"The orange juice is good."

 

I'll pass.

 

I'm writing this blog from the press box of Principal Park in Des Moines, IA. The Sounds are leading the Cubs 3-0 in the top of the fourth. Brad Nelson has already homered twice and it's nice to see Brad get some good whacks at the ball. Not to mention he is doing it in front of his family from nearby Algona, IA.....Mark Johnson just hit a two-run shot woohooo! The game is not being aired due to the Vandy SEC game on WNSR and a technical glitch with the Iowa network server that won't allow us to webcast the game either. This despite the best efforts of the Sounds own computer guru, Alex Short, and the Iowa Cubs technical network experts as well. I guess my laptop is the Ozzie Smith (old, no power) to the Iowa Cubs Tony LaRussa. They just can't work together.

 

Some listener email:

 

from Matthew Bond: "On a different subject, what was the curfew rule that halted the Cinco de Mayo marathon at 18 innings?"

 

Thanks for the email Matt. Minor League Baseball does not allow any inning to start after 12:50 AM. It's a little known rule and was not really applied until about 1:15 AM. The Sounds were still tied with New Orleans 4-4 after 18 innings. The game was completed the next day after 24 innings, the Sounds lost 5-4. The game was the third longest in professional history at eight hours and seven minutes total. Oh, and the Sounds and the Zephyrs had to play another game right after that the same night they completed the 24 inning game.

 

Mike Valentine wrote: "I was looking over the Brewers website and noticed that Corey Hart is a coach for the Brewers A ball team in Brevard County. Is that Corey D. Hart?"

 

Yep. Thats right Mike. Corey D. Hart was released in spring training and at the same time offered a coaching position as the hitting coach for the Brewers Single A club in the Florida State League. It's been a good year for Corey, he got a championship ring, a new career, he met and married a good friend of mine, Stacey Peterson (now Stacey Hart) and they are expecting a baby.

 

Thanks for the hellos to snmartin@chorus.net, as well as Molly, Ryan, Jesse Eichorn and Gator Jay.

 

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Iowa (Cubs) 8, Nashville 7

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Brad Nelson photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1973

 

Sounds Drop Third Straight In Iowa, 8-7

 

DES MOINES ? The Nashville Sounds dropped their third straight game at Principal Park on Sunday afternoon, failing to protect a pair of leads in an 8-7 loss to the division-rival Iowa Cubs.

 

Sounds first baseman Brad Nelson ? a native of nearby Algona, Iowa ? made his first appearance at the cleanup spot this season and took full advantage of the opportunity, belting a pair of home runs and driving in a team-best three runs during a 2-for-5 afternoon. The roundtrippers were his second and third of the year and gave Nelson the Sounds? third multiple-homer game this season.

 

Nashville (27-23) fell to 1-10 in one-run decisions on the road and have lost the first three games of this series by a combined four runs. The Sounds? lead in the PCL American Conference North Division has shrunk to four games over Iowa, its smallest margin since May 3.

 

Nashville grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Nelson?s two-run blast off Iowa spot starter Federico Baez and upped the advantage to 5-0 with a three-run fourth that included Nelson?s second shot and a two-run blast by catcher Mark Johnson, the backstop?s first tater of the campaign.

 

Iowa pulled within a run at 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth with a four-spot against Sounds starter Jared Fernandez. The Cubs opened the frame with five consecutive hits off the knuckleballer, including a two-run double by former Brewer farmhand Jeff Deardorff, who led Iowa with a 4-for-4 afternoon.

 

Cubs outfielder Michael Restovich tied the contest an inning later with his third homer in the last two games, a two-out solo shot to left off Fernandez ? his seventh longball of the year. Deardorff struck again later in the frame, ripping a go-ahead RBI single to bring in Geovany Soto (4-for-5) for a 6-5 Iowa lead.

 

The Sounds re-took a 7-6 lead in the seventh with a pair of unearned runs against the Cubs bullpen. Chris Barnwell opened the frame by reaching on an error then scored when Soto?s pickoff attempt from behind the plate went awry. Tony Gwynn staked Nashville to a one-run lead with an RBI single later in the frame.

 

Iowa closed out the game?s scoring in the bottom of the seventh with two runs off Nashville reliever Jason Kershner, who blew a save en route to his first loss of the season. Deardorff was once again part of the rally, tying the contest with a one-out RBI single to left. Augie Ojeda pushed the eventual game-winning run across the plate in the person of Casey McGehee with a sacrifice fly to center.

 

Cubs reliever Mark Watson (3-0) was the beneficiary of the late comeback and picked up the win after tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Kerry Ligtenberg earned his second save in two days by closing out the contest with 1 1/3 scoreless frames of his own.

 

Kershner (3-1) absorbed the loss after surrendering two runs on three hits in his lone inning of work.

 

Outfielder Kennard Bibbs went 2-for-5 on the afternoon for the Sounds and became Nashville?s 14th different player to steal a base with a swipe of second in the contest.

 

The Sounds look to avoid a sweep when the teams wrap up the four-game set in a 1:05 p.m. finale on Monday afternoon. Left-hander Zach Jackson (2-2, 2.50) mans the bump for Nashville to face Iowa right-hander Angel Guzman (2-3, 5.28).

 

Nashville Box Score:

Tony Gwynn on base three times; Jared Fernandez picks two runners off first base -- really? Dave Krynzel with four errors in 34 games; 15 baseruners against Jared Fernandez in 4.2 innings...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_iowaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_iowaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Gallardo tames Cubs

 

Yovani Gallardo struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings as Brevard County blanked visiting Daytona, 4-0, on Sunday.

Gallardo (5-3) allowed six hits and walked one, lowering his ERA to 2.18. Robert Hinton got the final five outs to wrap up the Manatees' second straight win and first shutout of the year.

 

Charlie Fermaint homered and Steven Sollman went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Brevard County (25-23), which opened the scoring on Josh Murray's sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.

 

Sam Fuld had two hits for the Cubs (25-24), who have lost four of five. Daytona was shut out for the first time this season.

 

Daytona starter Carlos Perez (0-2) remained winless after yielding three runs on 10 hits over five innings. -- Jeannine Rippa/MLB.com

 

***

Gallardo Silences Cubs Bats

Jenny Rennie

 

Yovani Gallardo tossed 7.2 scoreless innings against the Daytona Cubs on Sunday to earn his fifth win of the season. The Manatees continued dominance of the Cubs as they moved to 6-0 against their rivals and pushed to an overall record of 26-23. Brevard County's bats supported Gallardo's efforts by putting up four runs and 12 hits for the day.

 

Several Manatees brought out their boomsticks Sunday afternoon. Charlie Fermaint was 2-4 with a home run and Steve Sollmann finished the afternoon 3-4 with an RBI. Freddy Parejo had another strong day at the plate going 2-3 with a run scored. Daytona's Carlos Perez gave up his second loss on the season. The Cubs return to Space Coast Stadium on Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM (6:00 Central) for game three. RHP Josh Wahpepah (3-1, 2.27) will take the hill for Brevard County against Dayton's RHP Justin Berg (2-4, 4.24).

[Mass Haas]

In progress: Huntsville 1, West Tenn (Cubs) 0, bottom of the 6th in Huntsville

I've enjoyed listening to Corey Thurman strike out 11 (!) batters over the first six innings; the Stars have only one hit through five -- a Greg Sain RBI single, so the bats remain nearly silent; this run better hold up...

[Mass Haas]

Barring a miracle, a six-run Diamond Jaxx 8th inning has doomed the Stars to their 10th straight loss, a franchise record -- 6-2, Stars down, capped by a grand slam a few moments ago.

 

Unbelievable -- actually, believable, but sad...

[huntsvillefan]

You think you're sad Mass - I just got home from watching it!

Still at least I was there when history was made. Yesterday we became the first SL team to be swept in a 5 game series, today we established a Franchise record for longest ever losing streak and tomorrow we can complete the trifecta and break the record for the longest ever home losing streak!

I always enjoy watching Thurman pitch and tonight was no exception, but this team is getting really hard to derive any enjoyment from.

[SheetsCyYoung04]

this team is getting really hard to derive any enjoyment from.

 

If Brevard wins the first half you would have to think help would be on the way in the form of Braun and Gallardo and maybe Fermaint, Hurricane Corky, Wahpehpah and Hammond.

[WestCoastBrewer]

Is there someone out there that can ask Mr Reid Nicholls if help is on the way for Hunstville?

[DHonks]

I would think some of the bullpen arms might reach AA. Parra--if healthy--is a likely candidate, too. I doubt Iribarren and Escobar reach AA. But Braun, Katin, Sollman, Fermaint, Gallardo, and Hammond are distinct possibilities

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Tenn (Cubs) 6, Huntsville 2

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=853

 

Stars Lose in Grand Fashion

 

Miguel Negron?s grand slam capped a six-run eighth inning rally that led West Tenn to a 6-2 come from behind win over Huntsville Sunday evening in the opener of a five-game series at Joe Davis Stadium. The Diamond Jaxx stopped a two-game slide to improve to 29-22 and remain four games behind victorious Chattanooga in the North Division, while the Stars lost a franchise-record tenth game in a row to fall to 20-30. Huntsville also tied a franchise record, set in 1988, with a ninth consecutive loss at home.

 

Chris Walker opened the eighth inning with a triple and scored the visitor's first run on a base hit by Eric Patterson when Travis Ezi could not make a sliding catch on a sinking line drive. Patterson advanced to third base on an errant pickoff throw by pitcher Steve Bray and scored to tie the game at two on a high chopping base hit over a drawn in infield by Nic Jackson. Brandon Sing walked and Bray was replaced by Matt Smith, making his fifth appearance with Huntsville. Scott Moore dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners and Adam Greenberg was walked intentionally to load the bases. Negron, released 10 days ago by Toronto, belted a 1-2 offering by Smith over the wall in right field for his first runs batted in since joining the Diamond Jaxx a week ago. The six-run surge marked the second time the Stars have allowed a half dozen runs in an inning, both at home and both in 6-2 losses.

 

Callix Crabbe and pinch-hitter Jeff Eure singled to open the bottom of the ninth but Clay Rapada retired the next three hitters to end the game. Paul Schappert earned his third win, and second over the Stars, by retiring all four hitters he faced.

 

Corey Thurman tossed six scoreless innings in his first start with the Stars since May 9 and struck out a season-high 11. He allowed three singles, walked two and did not allow a runner past second base. The veteran right-hander ended the first four frames with a punch out and struck out two hitters in every inning but the fourth.

 

Greg Sain singled home Steve Moss to give the Stars a 1-0 lead in the fourth and scored on a two-out single by Adam Heether in the sixth inning to make it 2-0. The Stars have been held to two runs or fewer in seven of the games during the losing streak and have totaled only 18 runs in the 10 games.

 

The series continues on Monday afternoon with right-hander Tim Dillard taking the hill for Huntsville against Diamond Jaxx right-hander Carlos Marmol. Coverage of the game begins at 1:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on ESPN Radio 1450 AM and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Golden sombrero (four K's) for Travis Ezi -- he has two sombreros this homestand; the teams combined for 24 K's...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

[bork]

And with Sorensen, Hardy, Helling, etc getting healthy soon, there could be some help from above as well.

[Mass Haas]

Is there someone out there that can ask Mr Reid Nicholls if help is on the way for Hunstville?

 

Remember that despite an anemic offense, this team was at .500 before the losing streak (20-20), mainly by playing sound defensive ball.

 

The Brewers saw a talent gap at AA this offseason and took steps to fortify it. Greg Sain (trade for PTBNL) provided power early, but his 3-for-4 night tonight lifts his average to .175. Matt Yeatman was acquired (again, a PTBNL). RHP Matt Smith (again, a PTBNL) has been dreadful. Corey Thurman was a surprise AA assignment. Joe Winkelsas was assigned to AA specifically to provide a veteran who could close. They brought in OF Ron Acuna, who, at age 26, was worth taking a look at. Travis Phelps is about as solid an indy ball signing as you're going to see. Getting Carlos Villanueva back won't hurt.

 

So I guess the question is, how did this gap get so wide at this level? The jump from high-A to AA is probably second only to that of AAA to MLB.

 

WestCoastBrewer, I'm guessing you're a big fan, friend, or family member of one of the Manatees, and that's cool. But the Brewers want to develop a winning attitude when possible, and won't break up that group until they go through a stretch of playing for a mid-season division title. And they don't want to kick off promotions that set off chain reaction moves from West Virginia and Helena below that.

 

The Stars players are big boys, they need to tough it out for now and show the organization something.

[huntsvillefan]

The Stars players are big boys, they need to tough it out for now and show the organization something.

 

I'm kinda with Mass on this one. I'll whine plenty when I think the Brewers are giving the Stars a rough deal and it has happened more than once, but not this time IMO.Between acquired veterans and guys repeating a year, I think that they actually did their best to put out a team with a chance of winning.

It just so happens that just about every position player has chosen the last two months to show how bad they can be.

I'll slightly disagree with Mass, in that I think that the 500 ball they played up until recently was more of a statistical anomaly than anything else. They're not a bad defensive team, but in no way exceptional and the pitching is about SL average. If their offense didn't pick up, the law of averages was pretty much bound to catch up with them eventually and it has.

I certainly don't think that the Brewers should promote anyone who might not be ready and it would be just plain mean to move anyone from Brevard while they're making a run at a first half win. Apart from anything else, I doubt if the present Stars locker room is liable to be psychologically beneficial to a young ballplayer.

However, once the first half is over, I do think the Brewers owe it to the Stars to at least think about who is not liable to improve and perhaps give a few guys from Indy ball a chance instead. I hate saying that, as I'm always sad when any player is released, but to allow this team to continue in its present form is an embarassment to both Huntsville and the Brewers.

I'm not even thinking that such changes would necessarily start the team winning, no-one can guarantee that. But it would at least show that the Brewers were taking an interest in what was happening and were active in trying to improve the team.

My real hope is that some of the guys start to improve in the next few weeks. They were never going to be a powerhouse of a team, but one could reasonably have expected the offense to have performed better than this. If nothing else, guys repeating a year usually improve rather than deteriorate.

To summarize, I certainly don't blame the Brewers on this, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch. If tomorrow is hot and humid, I'll probably stay at home rather than go to the ballpark and thats not something I ever imagined myself saying.