Link Report for Games of Saturday, May 20th

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Saturday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Corey Thurman at home vs. Tacoma (Mariners), 5:40 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Travis Phelps at Chattanooga (Reds), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: TBD (probably LHP Manny Parra) at home vs. Sarasota (Reds), 6:00 PM; sorry, no audio for this series

 

West Virginia: LHP Derek Miller at home vs. Greenville (Red Sox), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

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

[Mass Haas]

Follow Saturday'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_cngaax_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 Friday's Games:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 23 18 .561 - 12-6 11-12 W1[/b] Iowa 17 22 .436 5.0 9-12 8-10 W4 Omaha 17 23 .425 5.5 11-11 6-12 L3 Memphis 12 27 .308 10.0 8-10 4-17 L5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 27 16 .628 - 17-6 10-10 W2 West Tenn 25 18 .581 2.0 9-9 16-9 L1 Carolina 21 22 .488 6.0 14-9 7-13 W1 [b]Huntsville 20 22 .476 6.5 9-10 11-12 L2[/b] Tennessee 20 23 .465 7.0 12-8 8-15 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 25 15 .625 - 11-10 14-5 W2 Palm Beach 21 19 .525 4.0 9-10 12-9 L1 Daytona 21 20 .512 4.5 13-9 8-11 W7 [b]Brevard County 20 20 .500 5.0 7-10 13-10 W2[/b] Jupiter 18 23 .439 7.5 8-14 10-9 L2 Vero Beach 14 27 .341 11.5 8-14 6-13 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lexington 24 16 .600 - 15-7 9-9 W2 Delmarva 22 17 .564 1.5 11-9 11-8 W1 [b]West Virginia 21 18 .538 2.5 11-9 10-9 W2[/b] Greensboro 21 19 .525 3.0 15-7 6-12 W2 Lake County 21 20 .512 3.5 11-10 10-10 L1 Lakewood 20 20 .500 4.0 12-8 8-12 L1 Hagerstown 17 23 .425 7.0 9-9 8-14 W1 Hickory 16 22 .421 7.0 7-9 9-13 W2

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Reliever Chris Mabeus:

Mabeus recently claimed on waivers by the Brewers from the A's...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-20.wma

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 7, Tacoma (Mariners) 4

 

Nashville Box Score:

Mike Rivera a triple short of the cycle -- he's Superman; big nights for Tony Gwynn (not on the basepaths, though), Brent Abernathy, and Nelson Cruz; Brad Nelson two sacrifice flies; Jared Fernandez picks up Corey Thurman nicely; Thurman threw 94 pitches in five get-by innings; Fernandez still scheduled to start this Tuesday...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Nelson Cruz photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1961

 

Sounds Power Past Rainiers, 7-4

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The Nashville Sounds pounded out 13 hits in their 7-4 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers on Saturday night in front of 10,024 fans at Greer Stadium.

 

Three players combined for nine of the team?s 13 hits: Tony Gwynn (3-for-4), Brent Abernathy (3-for-3), and Mike Rivera (3-for-4).

 

The Sounds? offense wasn?t the only thing that shined Saturday night. Starter Corey Thurman (1-1) made his Greer Stadium debut and recorded his first Nashville win while tying his season high with six strikeouts. It was his first Triple-A victory since August 2003.

 

Nashville (24-18) picked up its second consecutive win and improved to 13-6 in home games with the victory.

 

The balls were flying early as the Rainiers jumped out to an early lead for the third night in a row. In the top of the first inning, Chris Snelling scored from second on a T.J. Bohn RBI single to right off Thurman, giving Tacoma a 1-0 lead.

 

The Sounds came out swinging in the bottom of the frame, hitting the team?s first back-to-back home runs of the season. Nelson Cruz ended the home team?s 45-inning longball drought when he belted a two-run home run over the left-center field fence to score Abernathy, who walked the previous at-bat, and give Nashville a 2-1 lead. The blast was Cruz?s team-leading ninth of the year, pulling him into a tie for third among Pacific Coast League batters.

 

The home club?s lead increased to two when Rivera belted Tacoma starter Bobby Livingston?s next offering off the neck of the guitar-shaped scoreboard in left-center for his sixth home run of the season.

 

AUDIO: Mike Rivera Completes Back-to-Back HRs:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-20.wma

 

In an ironic twist, the back-to-back homers by Cruz and Rivera off Livingston at Greer Stadium duplicated the most recent time the feat had occurred in Sounds history. The duo touched up the left-hander in Game 1 of last September?s Pacific Coast League Championship Series as the second and third shots in a series of back-to-back-to-back taters (along with Tony Zuniga).

 

The Sounds offense continued to shine in the bottom half of the third with three straight singles off Livingston to open the frame, courtesy of Abernathy, Cruz, and Rivera. With the bases loaded and one out, Brad Nelson hit a long fly ball to center that scored Abernathy and increased the lead to 4-1.

 

The Rainiers would not go quietly into the night, as they etched two runs in the top half of the fourth. First baseman Todd Sears sent a Thurman pitch over the right field fence, bringing the Rainiers within one at 4-3. Greg Dobbs, who singled to start the inning, scored on the homer.

 

After both teams combined to score seven runs in the first four innings, the pitchers took control of the game and neither team scored again until the bottom of the eighth. Starting in the top of the fifth, Sounds pitchers faced only three batters an inning until Greg Dobbs singled in the top of the ninth. The Rainiers? pitchers struck right back, facing only three Sounds an inning from the fifth until the eighth.

 

The Sounds gave themselves some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth with three runs off Tacoma reliever Kevin Appier. Abernathy led the inning off with a double down the right field line and would score two batters latter on a Rivera RBI double. The Sounds recorded two more runs on a Vinny Rottino single before the inning was over, which extended their lead to a comfortable four runs. With the knock, Rottino extended the Sounds? longest active hitting streak to five games, which matches his season high.

 

Thurman pitched five innings before the Sounds brought in knuckleballer Jared Fernandez, who threw four innings on the way to his third save of the year. Fernandez allowed one run on four hits and struck out two.

 

Livingston (1-2) went five innings and gave up four runs on eight hits in taking the loss.

 

The Sounds face off against Tacoma on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. for the finale of the four-game series. Right-hander Dennis Sarfate (1-1, 3.26) will get the nod for the Sounds and southpaw Cesar Jimenez (0-3, 5.40) will take the mound for the Rainiers.

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 13, Greenville (Red Sox) 4

 

West Virginia Box Score:

LHP Derek Miller needs to be pushed past low-A ball at this point; Mat Gamel drives in five, Darren Ford knocks home four; top four in the order for the Power reach base 12 times; Kenny Holmberg's brief game appearances coming off the DL are planned; the defensive woes of the usual culprits (Michael Bell, Angel Salome, Gamel) continue -- third baseman Gamel is on pace for 48 errors in the 120-game season; it doesn't mean it's a good infield in terms of fair bounces, but Appalachian Power Park always looks meticulous in the many photos we see...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

Personally a bit sorry to see young Greenville reliever Kyle Fernandes hit hard tonight; he's one of the few minor leaguers from my neck of the woods in southeastern Massachusetts currently in minor league ball...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Ford and Gamel explode in Power win

 

Darren Ford and Mat Gamel combined for five of West Virginia?s 14 hits and knocked in nine of West Virginia?s 13 runs in their 13-4 victory over the Greenville Drive on Saturday night at Appalachian Power Park.

 

Gamel knocked in three of his five runs on his seventh home run of the season in the first inning to give the Power an early 3-0 advantage. Ned Yost smacked a one-out double in the second inning, got to third on a wild pitch and scored on Michael Brantley?s sacrifice fly. The Power went up 6-0 in the fourth inning on a two run single from Ford.

 

Greenville plated half of their runs in the top of the fifth inning on RBI singles from Luis Segovia and Dustin Kelley. The Power sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs on four hits in the sixth inning to pull away. Ford drove in the first two runs on a double and Gamel drove in two more on a double of his own three batters later. Mike Bell knocked in the next run on a sacrifice fly and Ryan Crew drove in the final run of the inning on a base hit.

 

The Power scored their last run of the game in the seventh inning on Angel Salome?s RBI double. The Drive plated two runs in the ninth inning on an RBI double from Kelly and a sacrifice fly from Yahmed Yema.

 

Derek Miller (4-1) earned the victory, and Clay Buchholz (2-1) obtained the loss. The Power are 22-18 after the win and the Drive fell to 21-21 with the loss. Attendance for the game was 4,728.

 

The Power will continue the four game series against the Drive on Sunday afternoon. Greenville will start left hander Mike Rozier (2-1, 4.55) and West Virginia will counter with right hander Will Inman (3-0, 0.87). The first pitch is scheduled for 2:05 PM (1:05 Central).

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 6, Sarasota (Reds) 5, twelve innings

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Brendan Katin's one-out bases-loaded ground ball single wins it; 'Tees win despite allowing 16 hits; LHP Jeremy Lewis bailed out Sam Narron of a huge jam in the 8th but couldn't close it in the 9th; UW-Milwaukee's Ben Stanczyk with a very deserving victory; Ryan Braun on base three more times and is now 11-for-13 in SB attempts...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Catcher C.J. Medlin's 2006 debut is at designated hitter (2-for-4); RHP Bo Hall has certainly paid his high-A ball dues going back to High Desert -- he's earned a peek at AA...

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Final: Chattanooga (Reds) 7, Huntsville 1, five and 1/2 innings, rain

Suddently it's your last-place Huntsville Stars...

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=842

 

Rain, Early Deficit Drown Stars

 

Noochie Varner continued his assault on Huntsville pitching, knocking in two runs to push Chattanooga past Huntsville 7-1 Saturday night in a game shortened to 5 ½ innings following a third rain delay. The Lookouts won their third straight game to improve to 28-16 overall and 18-6 at home, while the Stars dropped their third straight to fall to 20-23 and seven and a half games behind the North Division leaders.

 

Steve Moss opened the game with a double, moved to third base on an Ozzie Chavez ground out and scored when third baseman Aaron Herr could not cleanly field a ground ball off the bat of Drew Anderson. The team that has scored first has lost three of the four games in the series.

 

The Lookouts answered with two in the home first on a two-run, bases loaded double by Varner, who has knocked in seven runs in the series, including a pair of runs in three of the four contests. Joey Votto was thrown out at the plate trying to score for the second out and Stars? starter Travis Phelps fanned Rick Asadoorian to end the inning. Rain and then hail caused the game to be halted for a first time for 23 minutes after the inning ended.

 

The home side added a pair of runs in the second inning when Phelps issued consecutive bases loaded walks to Luis Bolivar and Joey Votto. Phelps retired the side in order in the third inning and the frame ended with the pitcher covering first on a ground out by Anderson Machado, who dived head first into the bag and onto and over Phelps right ankle. The veteran right-hander was taken out after three innings during which he allowed four runs on four hits and five walks. Phelps struck out four in his second start with the Stars and suffered his second loss.

 

Steve Bray took over in the fourth inning and gave up a bases loaded, run-scoring single to Votto and a two-run double to Aaron Herr, who had failed in two prior at-bats with the bases loaded to add to his league leading runs batted in total. Bray had yielded just two runs over his last 11 appearances covering 23 2/3 innings before this outing. The game was stopped for 64 minutes with Varner at the plate and runners at second and third base in the home fourth.

 

A driving rain forced the cancellation of the game with Chattanooga runners at first and second and one out in the sixth inning with Andy Pratt on the hill for the Stars, their fourth pitcher of the night.

 

The series concludes Sunday afternoon when the Stars send southpaw Jeff Housman to the mound against Chattanooga right-hander Travis Chick. Coverage of the game begins at 1:00 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:

Usually reliable reliever Steve Bray with a Ben Hendrickson-type line; this team's going to have to dig pretty darn deep to turn things around -- you root for all these kids, but there aren't a lot of future big league at-bats in that lineup right now...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Manatees outlast Reds

 

Brendan Katin's RBI single ended a 12-inning marathon as Brevard County edged Sarasota, 6-5, on Saturday at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The Manatees (21-20) loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 12th when Katin came up to the plate. After going hitless in his first five trips, he delivered the walk-off base hit when he punched a single through the right side, easily scoring Charlie Fermaint.

 

Ryan Braun led the Manatees with two hits, an RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases.

 

Ben Stanczyk (4-2) pitched three scoreless innings, fanning three while allowing two hits for the win.

 

Sarasota (18-24) trailed, 5-3, heading to the ninth when Paul Janish doubled home Javon Moran, then scored on Jay Garthwaite's single to right. Garthwaite also stroked a leadoff homer in the second as part of a 3-for-5 night.

 

Carlos Bohorquez (1-3) took the loss after giving up one run on three hits and a walk. He retired just one batter. -- Michael Echan/MLB.com

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2006052034

 

Power stays hot with 13-4 win over Greenville

By Jim Workman

For Sunday Charleston Gazette-Mail

 

The West Virginia Power has been enjoying the friendly confines of Appalachian Power Park lately. So much so ? according to ballpark hawker Wheeler Bob ? they are as hot on the field as his sales have been.

 

With a 13-4 victory over the Greenville Drive Saturday, the Power improved to 5-1 on the current homestand. The South Atlantic League contest drew 4,728 fans to The APP on a mild, clear night.

 

?Your objective at this level is to develop players,? said Power manager Mike Guerrero. ?But you also want to develop winners. Winning isn?t everything at this level, but it is an important part.?

 

Every slot in the Power batting order produced at least one hit.

 

?Everybody is chipping in at the plate,? Guerrero said. ?We?re getting on bases and getting those RBIs. We had a good approach, especially with two outs. That was a key.?

 

The Power wasted no time getting started offensively. In the bottom of the first, Lorenzo Cain doubled and stole third, Angel Salome walked and Mat Gamel followed by clobbering a three-run homer that zipped over the right-field wall in a hurry, giving the Power an early 3-0 advantage. It was Gamel?s seventh home run of the season.

 

The scoring continued in the second for the Power as Ned Yost doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Michael Brantley sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 4-0. In the fourth, Darren Ford scorched a liner to right field, scoring two more runs to lift the Power lead to 6-0.

 

Greenville finally broke through in the fifth inning. Luis Segovia singled in a run and Dustin Kelley looped a single to right to slice the Power advantage to 6-2.

 

The Power plated six more runs in the sixth to stretch the lead to 12-2. Ford struck again in the sixth, drilling a two-run double into the left-field corner, Gamel pummeled a two-run double, Mike Bell followed with a sacrifice fly and Ryan Crew smacked an RBI single to round out the offensive fireworks.

 

Salome contributed an RBI double in the seventh, widening the Power margin to 13-2. It marked his 30th RBI, a team high.

 

Greenville plated two runs in the top of the ninth as Kelly hit an RBI double and Yahmed Yema swatted a sacrifice fly to cut the Power lead to 13-4.

 

Ford, Cain, Gamel and Tony Festa each enjoyed multi-hit games for the Power. Greenville leadoff batter Jay Johnson had a rocky night, striking out three times before managing a couple of late singles.

 

Going into the contest, the Power stood 2 1/2 games out of first place in the Sally League Northern Division.

 

?Yes, you look at the standings,? Guerrero admitted. ?But the other teams will be looking back at us. They should be worried about us. We are going to take it a game at a time ? day by day. Sooner or later you?ll catch up if you take care of your business.?

 

The Power will play host to Greenville Sunday afternoon in the third game of the four-game series before closing out the homestand Monday with a morning school-day special.

[Mass Haas]

Link for Brad Nelson photo, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....002/SPORTS

 

Early Cruz, Rivera homers help Sounds cruise past Rainiers

Livingston tagged by Nashville batters

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

It didn't take Bobby Livingston long to get reacclimated to Greer Stadium ? or, perhaps more accurately, for the Nashville Sounds to get reacclimated to Bobby Livingston.

 

In his only previous appearance here, the Tacoma Rainiers left-hander was ripped for five home runs in five innings as Nashville won the opening game of the Pacific Coast League Championship Series.

 

Saturday night must have felt like Groundhog Day for Livingston, as he allowed back-to-back jacks to Nelson Cruz and Mike Rivera in the first inning en route to a 7-4 Sounds victory in front of a crowd of 10,024.

 

"I've faced him many times, over the last four years," Cruz said after hitting his team-leading ninth home run of the season. "I know what he's got. I was just trying to get my swing right. I've been struggling the last few games. I feel much better now."

 

Cruz and Rivera homered off Livingston in the fourth inning of Nashville's 8-6 win on Sept. 13, teaming with Tony Zuniga to hit three longballs in consecutive at-bats. Cruz homered earlier in the contest, and Zuniga added another in the fifth.

 

"We just came out aggressively," said Rivera, who now has six homers on the year. "We did it last year, and (Saturday) it was the same way. We just stayed aggressive with him. He throws a lot of strikes, and he's not a power pitcher. That's perfect for a lineup like ours. We have a plan, and it works pretty good. I watched how he threw 'Cruzer', and I took the same approach."

 

Livingston, who had allowed just nine home runs during the 2005 regular season, had given up just one in his first 20 innings this year before running into the Sounds' buzzsaw.

 

Apparently, though, he was good for what ailed the home team. Nashville had gone five games without a longball and had hit just five in its last 138 innings ? covering 14 games.

 

"The two-out walk to (Brent) Abernathy hurt him," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "Then he got a fastball up to Cruz. Rivera hit a fastball, that wasn't too bad a pitch height-wise, but it was down the middle of the plate."

 

Nashville added another run in the third and three in the eighth ? which turned out to be key, since Tacoma cut the 7-3 deficit with a ninth-inning run.

 

With the win, Nashville also won back-to-back contests for the first time since taking three straight from visiting Iowa on May 2-4. In the interim, the Sounds were 3-10 before the two most recent victories.

 

Cruz was the last Sounds player to homer, doing so in the ninth inning of an 8-2 win at Las Vegas on May 13.

[molitor fan]

West Virginia Box Score:

LHP Derek Miller needs to be pushed past low-A ball at this point; Mat Gamel drives in five, Darren Ford knocks home four; top four in the order for the Power reach base 12 times; Kenny Holmberg's brief game appearances coming off the DL are planned; the defensive woes of the usual culprits (Michael Bell, Angel Salome, Gamel) continue -- third baseman Gamel is on pace for 48 errors in the 120-game season; it doesn't mean it's a good infield in terms of fair bounces, but Appalachian Power Park always looks meticulous in the many photos we see...

 

 

The Power has made a nice run of it here, and I have been very pleased with Gamel's month, errors be darned....One could also mention that Ford is on pace for 57 steals.

[pogokat]

The errors i saw gamel make looked like rickie weeks...there was no reason for him to cough it up, but then he does anyway...bad throw, misplayed bounces, etc...

[hsvstarsfan]

THE RAIN, THE PARK, AND OTHER THINGS

Maybe there was something symbolic in the dark clouds hovering in the sky beyond the outfield to make you think of John Donne's "For Whom the Bell Tolls"...... The Stars came into this series needing four wins in this five game series to have a serious chance at having a life in this first half. Not that losing this series will doom them from playoff contention before it's over. But they're not going to face their division rival again this first half, oddly enough. Blame that on this quirky schedule........ Eventually, the clouds and the rain, like the truth and the Lookouts, won out........ After Travis Phelps fanned Rick Asadoorian to end the 1st inning, capped by Noochie Varner's 2-out, 2-run double, rain and then hail halted the game for 23 minutes, oddly enough, 23 minutes after the game had started........ As if they were favored by Thor, the god of thunder, the Lookouts added another pair in the messy 2nd inning after Miguel Perez and Anderson Machado hit back-to-back singles. Starter Phil Dumatrait moved the runners into scoring position on a ground out and after an intentional walk to leadoff hitter Chris Dickerson to load the bases, Phelps proceeded to walk Luis Bolivar on a 3-2 slider and Joey Votto on 3-and-2 to give the Lookouts a 4-1 lead. Phelps' 5th walk marked a new high this year for Stars pitchers.

Amid rumblings and lightning in the sky beyond the wall, Chattanooga took a 7-1 lead off normally-reliable Steve Bray in the 4th inning on Aaron Herr's 2-run double. Then with Noochie at the plate to begin his at-bat, and rain cascading down, play was halted again with runners on 2nd and 3rd....... When it did after more than an hour, Gerrit Simpson was the new pitcher, and Simpson managed to retire three of the four hitters to face him to end the inning........ Varner had just flied out to Drew Anderson in the 6th when the umpires called the game again, and this time, for good.

The Stars, who had won 9 of 12 back in April, have lost 9 of their last 12 and 15 of their last 23.

The Lookouts won their 3rd straight, despite the six errors they've made in those games...... The Stars meanwhile wasted excellent pitching, scoring six runs in those three games, while hitting .222....... Travis Phelps, making his 2nd start, gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks and Steve Bray, who came in with an impressive yield of just 2 runs in his last 23 2/3 innings over 11 appearances, 3 runs on 5 hits, without getting anyone out in the 4th inning........ Former Huntsville Stars outfielder Noochie Varner has driven in 7 runs in the first 4 games of this series, while going a modest 4-for-14.

Drew Anderson, who drove in the Stars only run on a ground out, has a .372 average with 4 doubles during the Stars' last 3-9 slump and Ozzie Chavez has led in runs driven in with 7....... Aside from the pair, Ron Acuna, Lou Palmisano, and Adam Heether, to some extent, have been the Stars' best hitters in the last 12, Chavez hitting .306, Acuna .273, Palmisano .269, and Heether .256......... Adam got his average up to a season-high .230 after Thursday's game....... From there the bottom really drops, with a half dozen Stars hitting less than .200...... Heether has left a team-leading 21 runners in scoring position w/2 out, followed by Anderson with 19.

In their last 12 games, the Stars have hit .220, even though the team ERA has been 3.10, with a bullpen ERA of 1.95

Ty Taubenheim became the 156th former Huntsville Star to make it to the majors, Saturday night, taking the loss as the Blue Jays' starter against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field........ Taubenheim lasted five innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, striking out 3 and walking 3 as the Jays lost, 5-1. Taubenheim gave up a home run to former Carolina Mudcat Garret Atkins in the 1st inning. He threw 86 pitches, 46 for strikes (53.4%)........ The Brewers tonight were embarrassed by the Minnesota Twins, 16-10, in a game that lasted nearly four hours. Starter Ben Hendrickson faced six batters, allowing all of them to score on five hits and a walk, and threw 19 pitches, only 9 for strikes. He is now 0-2, and unfortunately, hasn't made a positive mark in the majors.