Link Report Thurs. 5/4 - More Details, Photo from Charleston

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Infielder Enrique Cruz:

Playing time hard to come by in 2006...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-4.wma

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 3, Iowa (Cubs) 2

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Dana Eveland photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1935

 

Sounds Take Third Straight From I-Cubs, 3-2

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The Nashville Sounds won their third straight game on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium, recording a 3-2 victory over the division-rival Iowa Cubs in the finale of a four-game series in front of 5,973 fans.

 

With the win, Nashville (19-8) maintains the best record in the PCL and records its fifth consecutive winning series. The red-hot Sounds have won 12 of 14 and 18 of their last 22 contests.

 

Nashville starter Dana Eveland (3-0) turned in another stellar outing to pull into a tie for the team wins lead. The southpaw allowed one run on three hits while fanning seven batters over seven innings, tossing a season-high 101 pitches. His ERA sits at an impressive 0.87 through five starts.

 

The Sounds were able to pull out the victory despite having four runners thrown out either at the plate or in rundowns between third and home over the course of the evening.

 

The Cubs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Felix Pie scored on a Buck Coats groundout.

 

Mike Rivera extended the PCL?s longest hitting streak of the year to 16 games when he led off the Nashville second with a single to center. After Vinny Rottino rolled into a fielder?s choice that erased Rivera, Brad Nelson followed with an RBI double to left-center that tied the contest at 1-1. Chris Barnwell (2-for-3) ripped a single to right to extend his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games. Nelson was thrown out at home on the play by Iowa rightfielder Buck Coats on the play.

 

The Sounds had a second runner thrown out at the plate in the third when Jermaine Clark made the final out of the inning at the dish while trying to score from second on a Rivera fielder?s choice groundout.

 

Nashville took its first lead of the evening at 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth when Rivera and Rottino opened the frame with back-to-back doubles off Cubs starter Jae-Kuk Ryu. Rivera?s knock gave him his team-leading 10th multiple-hit game of the year.

 

Nelson Cruz plated an insurance run for the Sounds in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI double to deep center, his team-leading eighth two-bagger of the year.

 

AUDIO: Nelson Cruz RBI Double --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-4.wma

 

With four doubles on the night, the Sounds upped their league-leading total to 63 through 27 games.

 

Iowa pulled within a run at 3-2 in the top of the ninth when Coats scored on a Jeff Deardorff groundout off Mike Adams. The run, charged to Sounds reliever Jason Kershner, snapped the southpaw?s scoreless innings streak at 12 1/3 frames.

 

Sounds outfielder Corey Hart extended his season-best hitting streak to nine games with a 2-for-4 effort.

 

Adams allowed his inherited runner to score in the ninth but fanned the final two batters of the contest to finish with a scoreless inning and earn his second save of the year.

 

Ryu (1-3) took the loss for the visitors after surrendering two runs on nine hits over six frames of work.

 

The Sounds continue their homestand on Friday evening by welcoming the New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA-Nationals) to town for the 7 p.m. opener of a four-game series. Right-hander Dennis Sarfate (1-0, 4.19) will make the start for Nashville and face Zephyrs right-hander Andrew Good (0-2, 5.85). New Orleans enters the contest with losses in 11 of its last 12 contests. The Sounds? first fireworks show of the 2006 season will follow the contest.

 

Nashville Box Score:

Cubs stud prospect Felix Pie was completely shut down in this series; my goodness, the Brewers seem to have handled Dana Eveland's career path brilliantly thus far; we've already run out of adjectives to describe the work of Rivera, Barnwell, Hart and Cruz -- and it's only May 4th...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[TheCrew07]

I'm really starting to feel bad for Hart, what does that kid have to do to earn his shot? Maybe he should learn how to catch... then he could play 6 spots and still rot in AAA. I didn't mind him there last year, but come on, this kid deserves to be on a major league roster some place. As a Brewer fan I love the depth in the OF, but on a personal note I sometimes feel he'd better off in a different organization. I guess I can see both sides, but if he continues this torrid pace at the plate, he better be up full time by the All-Star break. Even though Clark is my favorite player, if he's not producing by then he'd have to be the odd man out.

 

FREE COREY HART!

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Tenn (Cubs) 9, Huntsville 1

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=810

 

Shaver and 'Pen Shut Down Stars

 

Chris Shaver worked six solid innings and Micah Hoffpauir chipped in with three hits, two runs scored and a run driven in to power West Tenn past Huntsville 9-1 Thursday night at Pringles Park in the third game of a five-game set. The Diamond Jaxx have won the last two games to improve to 16-12 and move into second place in the Southern League North Division, while the Stars dropped into third place at 15-13 and four games behind front-running Chattanooga.

 

Shaver set down the first seven hitters he faced before Lou Palmisano walked, moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Corey Thurman and scored the game?s first run on a single by Callix Crabbe, who has knocked in a run in 11 of his 24 starts.

 

Thurman took a one-hit shutout into the fifth inning before Hoffpauir led off with a double and advanced to third base on a one-out ground ball by Gary Cates. The Stars intentionally walked Carlos Rojas but Shaver spoiled the strategy by grounding a single into left field to score Hoffpauir to tie the game. Chris Walker walked to load the bases and Eric Patterson then lofted a fly ball to shallow left field that hugged the foul line. Huntsville third baseman Adam Heether tried to make a diving, over the shoulder catch and just missed, allowing the ball to land and score Rojas and Shaver to make it 3-1 in favor of the home side. Ozzie Chavez alertly picked up the ball and threw out Walker trying to score for the final out of the frame. Stars? skipper Don Money argued vociferously that the ball was foul and was thrown out of the game.

 

Nic Jackson, Luis Montanez and Hoffpauir strung together consecutive singles to open the sixth inning to make it 4-1 and chase Thurman from the game. Jose Reyes dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Montanez and Hoffpauir and Cates followed with a bunt single that plated Montanez to make it 5-1. Thurman was charged with all five runs over five-plus innings of work after allowing only three earned runs in 27.2 innings pitched in his first five starts.

 

West Tenn tacked on four runs in the eighth inning against Gerrit Simpson, who had yielded only three earned runs in 17 innings before tonight?s game. Cates and Walker had run-scoring singles and Patterson chased in another run with a fielder?s choice grounder.

 

Shaver allowed a run on three hits and earned his second win in four starts with the Jaxx. The southpaw walked one and fanned eight, the most he has struck out at the double-A level. Rocky Cherry and Carmen Pigniatello blanked the Stars over the final three innings and all three held Steve Moss hitless, as he lost a 14-game hitting streak. The Stars have scored only 12 runs in the six games started by Thurman.

 

The series continues Friday night when the Stars send right-hander Matt Yeatman to the mound for his second start of the year against West Tenn right-hander Juan Mateo. 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:

The Southern League is a brutal league on hitters, but some of these batting averages are going to be tough to raise as at-bat sample sizes begin to grow; reliever Steve Bray remains a bright spot, no walks in 20 1/3 IP...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wtdaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wtdaax_1

[And That]

Man, Chris Barnwell is on fire...2 more hits today...seems someone doesn't want to accept his "organizational soldier" tag and is threatening to become an actual prospect. Where did this come from?

 

I was about to post this same thing. The highest OPS he's ever had was in rookie ball, a 755 mark. I'd give it another month before getting too excited, but Barnwell is a prototypical Brewers player: gritty, smart, and a battler.

 

The reason I say wait another month is that Steve Scarborough did almost the same thing a couple years ago, and then petered out pretty quickly.

[Mass Haas]

Power flips the switch

Six home runs blasted ? in the first inning

By Nick Scala

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

If hitting is contagious, this was The Plague.

 

Buck Night at Appalachian Power Park? This was more like Bang for Your Buck Night.

 

In a shocking and inspiring long-ball display, the West Virginia Power slugged a South Atlantic League-record seven home runs ? including six in a 12-run first inning ? in a 17-2 win over the Lexington Legends.

 

And they barely made it through half the game. The contest (if you can call it that) was cut short due to rain in the bottom of the fifth ? and even then, the Power had the bases loaded with two outs.

 

?I?ve been around this game for 43 years, and I?ve never ever seen anything like that,? said Power hitting coach Mike Lum, who began his 15-year major-league career in 1967. ?There?s no explanation for something like this. Everybody?s biorhythms must have been up.?

 

Third baseman Mat Gamel led the charge, clubbing two homers in the bottom of the first to give him four on the season. In between, Ryan Crew, Ned Yost, Nate Yoho and Angel Salome joined the first-inning long-ball celebration, witnessed by a Buck Night crowd of 3,444.

 

No Sally League records were available for most home runs in an inning, but it?s safe to assume that the six blasts set a league record. That?s because the Sally League record for home runs in a game is six, set by many teams, most recently Lexington in 2002.

 

In the fifth and what turned out to be the final inning, Power shortstop Michael Bell also went deep to break that record.

 

The six-homer inning, which took 40 minutes to complete and included 12 hits in 15 at bats, might also be a record for organized baseball. The major league record for home runs in an inning is five, most recently by the Milwaukee Brewers ? the Power?s parent club ? against the Reds earlier this season.

 

?They say hitting?s contagious, but that was unheard of,? said Gamel, who also had a single and four RBIs in four at bats and extended his hitting streak to nine consecutive games. ?Everybody joined in the fun.?

 

Indeed, every Power starter reached base and scored before an out was recorded in that first inning. By the fifth inning, every West Virginia batter had driven in a run.

 

The Power had 23 hits in just 36 at bats. If the rain hadn?t come to abbreviate the game, the South Atlantic League record of 27 hits was in serious jeopardy.

 

In the incredible first inning, the first 10 Power hitters reached base.

 

?You go up there thinking ?I?m not going to be the guy to make an out,??? said leadoff hitter Darren Ford, who started the outbreak with a triple to left-center and finished 4-for-4 and scored three times. Gamel, Bell, Yost and Brad Willcutt added three hits apiece.

 

Ford was at the plate for a fifth at bat in the bottom of the fifth when, with the bases loaded and two out, the rain forced the umpires to stop play.

 

?There was a game in rookie ball last year where we put up 25, hit after hit,? Ford said. ?But it was nothing like this, all in one inning, all those home runs.?

 

Lexington left-hander Brian Bogusevic (0-2) was the victim of the barrage. A first-round Houston Astros draft pick in 2005, Bogusevic failed to retire any of the eight batters he faced. He yielded Gamel?s three-run homer, Crew?s two-run shot and Yost?s solo blast.

 

Brandon Stricklen relieved and did better, but not by much. Yoho greeted him with the fifth homer of the inning, Ford followed with his second hit and, after Lorenzo Cain was retired on a screaming liner to left, Salome and Gamel hit back-to-back jacks to cap the 12-run onslaught.

 

?It just happens. Hitting is contagious,? echoed Power manager Mike Guerrero, whose team evened its record at 13-13. ?All our hard work paid off in one inning. We had a good time.?

 

Ford had an RBI single in the fourth inning to make it a 13-2 Power lead. Lexington?s Chris Blazek cooled off the Power with two scoreless innings, but he and Garret Murdy were touched for seven hits ? including Bell?s homer ? and four runs in the fifth before the rain got heavy.

 

After a 26-minute delay, the umpires called it a night. Since the losing team batted in five innings, it was an official game.

 

Derek Miller (2-1) was the beneficiary of the contagiously hot bats, allowing two runs on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts. One of the hits was a solo homer in the second by Lexington?s Mitch Einertson. Although he went just five innings, Miller was credited with the Power?s first complete game of the season.

 

The rare six-game series, now tied at two wins apiece, continues at 7:05 (6:05 Central) tonight. Will Inman (2-0, 0.95 ERA) will start for the Power, while Lexington will counter with Levi Romero (4-0, 3.16), who shares the league lead in wins.

 

Six in the city

 

You had to figure there was a very good reason why the West Virginia Power and the Lexington Legends are playing a rare six-game series this week at Appalachian Power Park.

 

As it turns out, there is.

 

The original 2006 South Atlantic League schedule, put together by Charleston mayoral assistant (and APP ?Toast Man?) Rod Blackstone, called for Lexington to be home this weekend. According to Blackstone, Lexington didn?t want to be home this weekend because the series would run up against the Kentucky Derby, and the sporting interest in the Bluegrass State would be diverted toward the horse race in Louisville.

 

To accommodate Lexington?s request, the league approved schedule changes resulting in the unusual six-game set here. Meanwhile, the Power and Legends have six days to, um, get better acquainted.

 

"You never get tired of playing the game," said Power pitching coach John Curtis, who couldn't remember ever playing or coaching in a scheduled six-game series. "The only thing you worry about is if something bad happens, like guys getting hit [by pitches], that kind of thing. Familiarity can breed a little bit of contempt.

 

"But it's been fairly played so far, and the good thing about it is we're home for the six games."

 

Curtis said the hitters have an advantage over the pitchers when teams become overly familiar.

 

"I always hated seeing the same team two starts in a row," said Curtis, who pitched 15 years in the major leagues. "The hitters get to know the pitchers over a six-game series. Hitters will tell you, the more times they see a staff, the better for them. They're going to see relievers two or three times this series. Familarity's going to benefit them, it's up to the pitchers to do something a little different each time."

 

Rivals or not?

 

Thursday's game was the ninth of 20 scheduled meetings this season between the Power and Legends. Last year, they played an astounding 32 times.

 

They're in the same division of the Sally League. Geographically, there's no team in the league closer to the Power than Lexington.

 

Is there a rivalry brewing?

 

"Whether or not we're rivals, I really don't know," Curtis said. "We had a little thing going with them last year, running into catchers and things like that, but I think it's the sheer number of times we've played them. Things are going to happen when you play a team that much.

 

"But I don't have a sense that there's a big rivalry here, that there's bad feelings, or that we're playing for bragging rights. It's just that we're neighbors in this league, we're close, and we happen to play each other a lot."

 

Curtis said the fans may sense the rivalry more than the players, since the players rarely remain at this level of the minor leagues for more than one season.

 

"Nothing carries over," Curtis said. "You've got a new skipper on the other side, we've got a new skipper here, players are different every year. You've got something, but nothing that would foment a good, hard-fought rivalry."

 

***

Outfielder Steve Chapman was added to the Power roster, replacing outfielder Michael Brantley, who was placed on the disabled list after experiencing soreness in his right shoulder.

 

Chapman, a sixth-round pick in the 2004 draft, hit .269 with six home runs and 25 RBIs in 54 games in 2005 with Helena, the Milwaukee Brewers? rookie-league team. This season, Chapman has been with the Brewers? extended spring training.

 

Right-handed pitcher Robbie Wooley is also headed to the DL with an elbow injury, Curtis said. In four starts, Wooley was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. He walked 10 and struck out seven in 18 innings.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=49642

 

Sounds run past Cubs

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

Frank Kremblas manages the Nashville Sounds with a pedal-to-the-metal approach, chocked full of suicide squeeze plays, hit-and-runs and plenty of stolen bases.

 

So far this season, the Sounds have a Pacific Coast League-best 52 steals. Against the Iowa Cubs on Thursday, however, Kremblas? Sounds had four would-be runs tagged out between third base and home plate.

 

Yet, Nashville won anyway. The first-place Sounds downed the Cubs 3-2 for their third-straight win.

 

?The typical thing is to say, ?Yeah we got caught [too many times on the base paths],?? Kremblas said. ?But I don?t take it that way. You?re going to get caught.?

 

The Sounds (19-8) got clutch hitting from some of the usual suspects. Corey Hart and Mike Rivera each notched two hits and scored a run apiece. Rivera?s hit streak is at a PCL-best 16 games.

 

Brad Nelson, Vinny Rottino and Nelson Cruz all had RBI doubles for the Sounds, who could have scored more off Cubs starter Jae-Kuk Ryu had it not been for all the base runners gunned down between third and home.

 

?If you?re going to be aggressive, sometimes you?re going to get caught,? Kremblas said. ?It?s just part of the game.?

 

Sounds starter Dana Eveland turned in another outstanding performance. Eveland went seven innings and only allowed two hits and one earned run.

 

Eveland (3-0) entered the game having surrendered only three walks, although he walked three more against the Cubs.

 

?[Eveland] pitched well again,? Kremblas said. ?His command has been good and his command wasn?t bad tonight.?

 

In the top of the ninth with the Sounds up two, the Cubs threatened. Iowa?s first two batters registered hits to trim the lead to one, but closer Mike Adams didn?t allow any more damage.

 

Adams had struggled in his previous two outings, before picking up his second save of the season on Thursday.

 

?As a late relief guy, that?s the situation you always want to be in and it?s always good whenever you can come out successfully,? Adams said. ?[it] was a real good night for me especially after last outing. You?ve got to keep those bad outings out of your mind. They?re going to happen, you?ve just got to limit them to very few.?

 

Fernandez promoted: Sounds reliever Jared Fernandez was promoted to Milwaukee prior to the game, just two weeks after joining the Sounds. Fernandez?s roster spot was not immediately filled and Kremblas said he didn?t know when that would happen.

 

No piece of the pie: Iowa outfielder Felix Pie ? widely regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball ? had a forgettable first trip through Music City. Pie went 0-for-13 over the course of the four-game series.

 

Barnwell keeps rolling: Sounds shortstop Chris Barnwell extended his on-base streak to 20 games.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Sounds better in close games

One-run victory second in a row

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

After losing six of their first 10 games decided by two runs or less, the Nashville Sounds have turned their close-game fortunes around of late.

 

Back-to-back sixth-inning doubles by Mike Rivera and Vinny Rottino, and an RBI double by Nelson Cruz in the eighth, spelled the difference for the Sounds in a 3-2 win over visiting Iowa.

 

Nashville has won consecutive one-run decisions. The Sounds defeated Iowa 4-3 on a Corey Hart game-winning home run Wednesday afternoon.

 

"I think a little has to do with where you're playing," Manager Frank Kremblas said of his Nashville squad, which has won all four of its one- or two-run outcomes at Greer Stadium but is 2-6 in such road results.

 

"Early in the year, we didn't pitch very well at the end of games," he said. "Pitching in tight games, you're not always going to get it done. You want to, you hope to, but you don't always."

 

The Sounds pitchers got it done all night last night, starting with starter Dana Eveland. The left-hander allowed just two hits over seven innings while striking out seven, and left the game with a 2-1 lead.

 

Behind him, Jason Kershner allowed a ninth-inning run to snap his string of 12 1/3 scoreless innings, but Mike Adams stopped any further damage to claim his second save of the year.

 

"This is the best start I've had," said Eveland, who has won all three of his decisions. "I'm doing what I can to keep getting better, keep pounding the strike zone.

 

"Our bullpen came together and got it done. It's always a bonus to take home the 'W'. If I give up eight runs and get the win, I'm not going to care too much."

 

Nashville, which has the Pacific Coast League's best record at 19-8, has won its last five series after losing its season-opening series at Omaha and splitting with Iowa in Des Moines.

 

"That gets you in the playoffs, if you do that," Kremblas said.

 

Rivera, who singled in the second inning, extended his hitting streak to a PCL-high 16 games.

 

Hart and Chris Barnwell kept streaks alive as well, at nine and seven games, respectively.

 

What they said: "Frank (Kremblas) knows how to coach a winning team. He may not coach the way a lot of guys do, but it seems like at the end, we're on top." ? Eveland.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Fernandez headed to Milwaukee

MAURICE PATTON, the Tennessean

 

Jared Fernandez, who took the loss in his only Sounds start on Monday, was recalled Thursday by the Milwaukee Brewers to fill the roster spot vacated when Tomo Ohka was placed on the disabled list Wednesday.

 

Fernandez made Milwaukee's opening-day roster after coming into spring training as a non-roster invitee, then going 0-1 with a 4.22 ERA in nine spring games with two starts.

 

In two relief appearances with the Brewers in April, Fernandez had a 13.50 ERA before joining the Sounds on April 19. With Nashville, he threw 10 + relief innings without allowing an earned run, picking up a win and two saves.

 

Against Iowa earlier this week, Fernandez allowed four runs ? three earned ? on eight hits over six innings in a 7-4 Sounds defeat.

 

Guitar trio: Prior to Thursday's game, Corey Hart, Enrique Cruz and Nelson Cruz were each presented Copley guitars for home runs off the guitar-shaped scoreboard beyond the left-field wall.

 

Hart earned his guitar with his game-winning solo shot Wednesday, while Enrique Cruz accomplished the feat on April 21 against Omaha. Nelson Cruz homered off the scoreboard during Game 1 of the Pacific Coast League championship series against Tacoma.

 

Since the promotion's inception in 2004, Copley has awarded 11 guitars. Former Sounds catcher Keith McDonald earned the first one during the second half of the 2004 season. Eight more were awarded last year.

 

Return to action: Dave Krynzel made his first defensive appearance Thursday night since running into the center-field wall at Greer Stadium on April 17. Krynzel entered the game as part of a ninth-inning double-switch.

 

Krynzel had played in only two games since the collision, which resulted in a slight separation of his right shoulder. The injury is unrelated to the broken collarbone he sustained over the offseason, which resulted in surgery.

 

Krynzel pinch-ran on April 22, then struck out in a pinch-hitting role on April 27.

 

"He's hitting more each day; he's feeling better," Manager Frank Kremblas said. "He's available for pinch-hitting duties.

 

"This is completely different (from the collarbone injury). This is in the joint."

 

All-star skippers named: Omaha Manager Mike Jirschele has been named manager of the Pacific Coast League squad for the 19th annual Triple-A All-Star Game, which will be held July 12 at Toledo's Fifth Third Field.

 

Jirschele is in the fourth year of his second stint as manager of the Royals, having previously served in that role from 1995-97. He's had three other managerial stops in the Kansas City organization and has also served as the organization's roving infield instructor and coordinator of instruction. Toledo's Larry Parrish will manage the International League all-stars.

[Cyanogen5]

Quote:

---

I'd give it another month before getting too excited, but Barnwell is a prototypical Brewers player: gritty, smart, and a battler.

---

 

Yeah, I doubt it is anything to get too excited about, but it is nice to see the guy playing well. I would love for him to get a cup of coffee sometime this year as a sign of appreciation...but with him not being on the 40-man that seems unlikely. Still, if he can keep this up the whole year...well, we will deal with that when the time comes!

[JohnBriggs12]

TheCrew07: "I'm really starting to feel bad for Hart...maybe he should learn how to catch".

 

Don't worry Crew, Hart will get his chance but what about Mike Rivera? He IS catching, has a 16 game hitting streak, a .426 Batting average, and a 1.209 OPS, and raked the second half of 2005 and all spring training and the Brewers can't find a spot for him?

 

How many catchers in organized baseball are doing that?

 

FREE MIKE RIVERA!

[Mass Haas]

By the way, The Daily Mail is an afternoon non-weekend paper, their online viewing isn't available until later in the day as opposed to the overnight.

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...006050514/

 

A Powerful performance

Jack Bogaczyk

Charleston Daily Mail Sports Editor

 

The West Virginia Power went deep, perhaps like only one modern pro baseball club previously has.

 

Then, Charleston's minor league team left the game's archivists going deep.

 

It took the rain to stop the Power -- and the power -- on Thursday night. West Virginia belted a South Atlantic League single game-record seven homers against Lexington.

 

Six of those came in a 12-run, incredible bottom of the first inning at Appalachian Power Park.

 

In a dozen previous home dates this season, the Power had only six homers. The club had been hitting only .213 with runners in scoring position.

 

"I've never seen anything like it," said Power third baseman Mat Gamel, who stretched his West Virginia season-high hitting streak to nine games with back-to-back first-inning homers and a single.

 

"I'll probably never see anything like it again. I don't know anyone else will ever do that."

 

Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which compiles minor league statistics and handles record research, will begin double-checking today with all of the leagues and past minors' record-keepers on whether the Power's six-dinger inning is a record.

 

However, according to the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, which is published by Baseball America, the feat has occurred at least once before.

 

The Kansas City Blues hit six homers in the third inning of a 17-4 win over the St. Paul (Minn.) Saints in a Triple-A American Association game on June 29, 1952.

 

Coincidentally, that game came six days after Charleston took over an American Association team that had moved from Toledo, Ohio.

 

That week was Charleston's first with a Triple-A franchise.

 

The Major League record is five homers in an inning. That has happened five times -- four against the Cincinnati Reds, including the most recent when the Power-parent Milwaukee Brewers smacked five off Brandon Claussen on April 22.

 

West Virginia's 17-2 shredding of Lexington before 3,444 wetheads ended after a 24-minute rain delay -- and in the fifth with the bases loaded for the Power and leadoff man Darren Ford coming to the plate on a 4-for-4 night.

 

"I wanted to get another base hit," Ford said.

 

"There was maybe another RBI or two out there."

 

Power Manager Mike Guerrero's 20 years in pro ball are eclipsed by that of his coaches, former Major Leaguer players Mike Lum and John Curtis.

 

Together, the threesome has almost 100 seasons playing, coaching or managing.

 

"It was incredible," said Lum, the Power hitting coach. "Forty-three years, I've never seen that.

 

"They didn't only hit it; they hit it hard, too ... even the outs. The biorhythms were up today for everyone, I guess."

 

Curtis, who pitched 20 years professionally, said the six-homer start, erasing a 1-0 Lexington lead, "is something I haven't seen. It's something you don't even imagine."

 

Guerrero said, "Mike Lum has more than 40 years. He hasn't seen it. I think that's the first time it's ever happened in this game."

 

West Virginia's seven homers came from six different hitters -- Gamel (two), Ryan Crew, Ned Yost, Nate Yoho, Angel Salome and Mike Bell.

 

The six in the first inning came in a 10-hitter span off two Legends pitchers.

 

Lexington starter Brian Bogusevic (0-2), Houston's first-round draft pick last June from Tulane, faced eight batters, giving up seven hits and an error with no outs.

 

The Power finished with 23 hits in 4 2/3 innings, and still came only four short of Salisbury's 1961 league record of 27 in a game.

 

By the end of that memorable first, every batter had a hit for the Power (13-13).

 

West Virginia entered the game batting a robust .290 against Lexington, which came in with a share of the Northern Division lead.

 

Now, that average is .330, but the Legends (15-12) still lead the season series 5-4, with half of this week's six-game series left.

 

"Hitting is definitely contagious," said the lefty-swinging Gamel, who raised his average to .299 and is hitting over .400 in the last two weeks.

 

"I know myself, I'm more relaxed up there. I think we're all getting that way."

 

The left-handed hitter is batting .404 at Power Park this season and doubled his season home run total to four.

 

Gamel said a testy eight-game taste of the SAL to end last season (4-for-23) gave him a better idea what to expect in 2006.

 

"I was definitely pressing a little bit early this season, but now it's about being relaxed," he said.

 

"I'm trying to not get behind in the count. It's about being aggressive, but being selective. It's about being smart at the plate."

 

Power points -- Derek Miller (2-1) was the mound recipient of the offensive night after he had allowed back-to-back extra-base hits for a 1-0 Legend lead to start the first ... A six-homer game by the Legends in 2002 had shared the SAL single-game record ...

 

A strange end to a bizarre night: After his team was pounded, Legends third baseman Mike Thompson stood outside the clubhouse, pleading with official scorer Lee France to change a West Virginia error to a Thompson base hit on an infield pop fly that fell 40 feet from home plate, between three Power players ... West Virginia made more roster moves Thursday, putting right-hander Rob Wooley (arm tightness) and outfielder Michael Brantley (right shoulder pain) on the disabled list. Outfielder Steve Chapman was called up from extended spring training. With the roster at 24, the Power can activate second baseman Kenny Holmberg on Saturday without another move, if Holmberg's high left ankle sprain is healed ... Early season Power rotation leader Will Inman (2-0, 0.95 ERA) goes tonight at 7:05 against Lexington ace Levi Romero (4-0, 3.16).

 

Charleston Daily Mail Photo: Craig Cunningham

Teammates Angel Salome, left, and Lorenzo Cain, right, congratulate West Virginia?s Mat Gamel after one of his two first-inning homers Thursday versus Lexington. The Power hit a South Atlantic League-record six homers in the opening frame, including one by Salome.

 

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