Link Report for Games of Monday, May 1st

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Jared Fernandez at home vs. Iowa (Cubs), 5:40 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Nashville Game Day Feature from MILB.com:

Please note that GameDay links will not become active until approximately 1-2 hours before game time

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville: RHP's Matt Yeatman and Khalid Ballouli in a doubleheader at home vs. Tennessee (Diamondbacks), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Mike Jones at St. Lucie (Mets), 6:00 PM; sorry, no web audio for this series

 

West Virginia: Idle

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday's action as it happens:

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

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Two:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_2

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sluafa_1

[Mass Haas]

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

 

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 Sunday's action:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 16 7 .696 - 7-1 9-6 W5[/b] Omaha 12 10 .545 3.5 8-6 4-4 L2 Iowa 8 13 .381 7.0 6-7 2-6 W1 Memphis 6 15 .286 9.0 4-4 2-11 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 16 9 .640 - 7-3 9-6 W2 West Tenn 14 10 .583 1.5 5-4 9-6 W1 [b]Huntsville 13 10 .565 2.0 7-6 6-4 L1[/b] Tennessee 11 12 .478 4.0 6-4 5-8 W1 Carolina 9 16 .360 7.0 4-6 5-10 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 16 7 .696 - 7-4 9-3 W5 [b]Brevard County 15 9 .625 1.5 5-4 10-5 L1[/b] St. Lucie 14 9 .609 2.0 6-6 8-3 W1 Daytona 9 14 .391 7.0 6-7 3-7 L1 Vero Beach 8 15 .348 8.0 6-6 2-9 L2 Jupiter 8 16 .333 8.5 4-9 4-7 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 14 10 .583 - 6-5 8-5 L1 Lexington 14 10 .583 - 10-5 4-5 L1 Delmarva 11 10 .524 1.5 4-5 7-5 L1 Greensboro 12 12 .500 2.0 9-5 3-7 W1 [b]West Virginia 11 12 .478 2.5 4-6 7-6 L1[/b] Hagerstown 10 12 .455 3.0 7-5 3-7 W1 Hickory 10 13 .435 3.5 4-5 6-8 W1 Lakewood 9 12 .429 3.5 7-4 2-8 W1

[Mass Haas]

Just a reminder about our Leaderboard Page, available off the "Brewerfan.net Features" button on the Home Page.

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewLeaderBoard.do

 

Use the filtering system as you wish, but this is one of Brewerfan's most unique features, and without High Desert skewing the numbers within the organization, gives you a nice overall look at things.

 

Brewerfan's Player Index Pages now have been updated to include 2006 numbers, as have other stat-related pages on the site (thanks, Brian).

[Mass Haas]

Speaking of Leaderboards, here's MILB.com's link to sortable league statistics:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...ilb/stats/

 

Just a reminder, but you'll want to visit and sort at the Pacific Coast, Southern, Florida State, and South Atlantic League sites.

 

The PCL skews the most within league; with the off-balanced schedule, western batters benefit and western pitchers suffer.

[DHonks]

interesting to see Luis Pena starting. I would imagine that Parra was activated to piggyback tonight. Wonder if they're trying to get Jones in it, since he was the projected starter

 

Also someone's mancrush throwing a gem in AA

[Mass Haas]

Final: St. Lucie (Mets) 1, Brevard County 0

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Five hits combined in the game, two for the Manatees; RHP's Luis Pena, Ben Stanczyk, and David Johnson all with strong efforts...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sluafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Two on, none out in the 8th, but a Carlos Corporan double play hurt -- did we need to see both catchers (Nestor Corredor DH) in the starting lineup?

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sluafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Outfielder Corey Hart:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-1.wma

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game One: Tennessee (Diamondbacks) 2, Huntsville 0, 11 innings (scheduled for seven)

 

Huntsville Game One Box Score:

Simply no offense, not even a big threat for the Stars; the best game of RHP Khalid Ballouli's career (8 IP, zero R, 4 H, 0 BB, 9 K)...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game One Game Log:

Ron Acuna's outfield assist kept this one scoreless in the 3rd...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

From poster djoctagone:

 

despite a nashville loss tonite, mike rivera extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

 

how wonderful it is to having emergency catching depth at triple-a.

 

i am . . .

 

scott

 

Edit: Moved to Link Report

[Mass Haas]

Final: Iowa (Cubs) 7, Nashville 4

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Jared Fernandez photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1931

 

Sounds Win Streak Snapped With 7-4 Loss

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The Nashville Sounds had their season-best five-game winning streak come to a close with a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the division-rival Iowa Cubs on Monday evening at Greer Stadium in the opener of a four-game series.

 

The visiting I-Cubs scored six of their seven runs in the contest with two outs in an inning as the first-place Sounds fell to 16-8 on the year.

 

Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning against Sounds starter Jared Fernandez. Buck Coats led off with a single and scored the game?s first run on a two-out RBI double by Brandon Sing, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Cubs.

 

The visitors upped the advantage to 3-0 in the fifth with two more two-out runs. Catcher Geovany Soto (3-for-4) opened the frame with a single, was sacrificed to second, and later scored on a two-out two-bagger off the bat of Ryan Theriot. The second run came across when Coats struck out swinging but reached on a passed ball by Nashville catcher Mike Rivera. Theriot came plateward on the throw to first to score unearned.

 

The Cubs scored for the third straight inning in the sixth, taking a 4-0 lead on Soto?s one-out RBI single to right.

 

Sounds shortstop Chris Barnwell put the home team on the board in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out, two-run homer to left off Iowa starter Les Walrond. Barnwell has homered in three straight games for the Sounds and has three roundtrippers on the year. The infielder hit just three home runs in 100 games with Nashville last season.

 

AUDIO: Chris Barnwell Two-Run Homer --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-1.wma

 

Nashville pulled within a run at 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth when Tony Gwynn, who opened the inning with a pinch-hit single, scored on a Kerry Ligtenberg wild pitch.

 

The Cubs put the game out of reach with three two-out runs in the top of the ninth inning against Sounds reliever Mike Adams. A two-run Sing homer to left-center, his third of the year, highlighted the outburst.

 

Rivera extended his PCL-leading hitting streak to 14 games with a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth. The Sounds rallied to load the bases when Vinny Rottino and Barnwell drew consecutive walks from Cubs reliever Michael Wuertz before Enrique Cruz grounded into an RBI forceout to make it a 7-4 game. Wuertz recovered to strike out pinch-hitter Brad Nelson and retired Brent Abernathy on a groundout to end the game and escape the jam.

 

Chicago Cubs top prospect Felix Pie went 0-for-5 at the plate but contributed two outfield assists, initiating two of the season-best three double plays turned against the Sounds.

 

Walrond (3-1) earned the victory after allowing two runs on five hits over seven frames. Fernandez (1-1) took the loss in his first start of the season after allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits in six innings.

 

The teams continue the series with a 6 p.m. meeting on Tuesday at Greer. Left-hander Justin Thompson (1-0, 5.65) takes the hill for the Sounds to face Iowa southpaw Raul Valdes (1-1, 7.13).

 

Nashville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

Pinch-hitting's tough, but Brad Nelson could have used a confidence-builder in the 9th; Mike Adams' struggles of late continue...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

In progress, Game Two, scheduled for seven: Huntsville 5, Tennessee (Diamondbacks) 0, after two innings

Oh sure, where were the runs in Game One? Lots of help from the Smokie starter in Game Two -- here's the Stars' first inning:

 

- Ozzie Chavez singles on a ground ball to shortstop Alberto Gonzalez. Ozzie Chavez advances to 2nd, on throwing error by shortstop Alberto Gonzalez.

 

- Steve Moss out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Clint Goocher to first baseman James D'Antona. Ozzie Chavez to 3rd.

 

- Adam Heether walks.

 

- With Greg Sain batting, wild pitch by Clint Goocher, Ozzie Chavez scores. Adam Heether to 2nd.

 

- Greg Sain walks.

 

- Ron Acuna singles on a ground ball to right fielder Jarred Ball. Adam Heether to 3rd. Greg Sain to 2nd.

 

- Jean Boscan walks. Adam Heether scores. Greg Sain to 3rd. Ron Acuna to 2nd.

 

- Kennard Bibbs singles on a ground ball to third baseman Agustin Murillo. Greg Sain scores. Ron Acuna to 3rd. Jean Boscan to 2nd.

 

- Guilder Rodriguez reaches on catcher interference by Miguel Montero. Ron Acuna scores. Jean Boscan to 3rd. Kennard Bibbs to 2nd. Guilder Rodriguez to 1st.

 

- Matt Yeatman grounds out, second baseman Danny Richar to first baseman James D'Antona. Jean Boscan scores. Kennard Bibbs to 3rd. Guilder Rodriguez to 2nd.

 

- Ozzie Chavez grounds out, second baseman Danny Richar to first baseman James D'Antona.

[bork]

What's up with Barnwell this year? He hasn't hit above .250 since rookie ball. Now he's hitting home runs and batting .360. Always nice to see guys like him do well.

 

And Yeatman looking good so far. He's only 23. Could he be working his way back to prospect status?

 

He's almost all that's left from that 2002 Beloit pitching staff. (Jones, Saenz, Dan Hall, the other Dan Kolb, Artman, Oakes, Steitz, Nolasco, Stavros). Yikes. And Fielder and Chavez are the only position guys left.

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game Two: Huntsville 8, Tennessee (Diamondbacks) 0

All the details in the AM...

 

Huntsville Box Score:

In 18.1 IP, RHP Steve Bray has a K-to-BB ratio of 20-to-zero -- how about that! Matt Yeatman was floundering with the Twins, nice story with his return; Huntsville staff survives 18 innings in good shape overall with a road trip awaiting Tuesday...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_2

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_2

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Doubleheader Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=805

 

Stars Shutout Smokies to Gain Split

 

Matt Yeatman, Steve Bray and Andy Pratt combined on a four-hit shutout, as Huntsville blanked Tennessee 8-0 in the night cap to earn a split of a doubleheader at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars improved to 14-11 with the win and are positioned two games behind Chattanooga in the Southern League North Division, while the Smokies dropped to 12-13 and four games behind the front-running Lookouts.

 

The Stars used three hits, three walks and two errors to jump on Smokies' starter Clint Goocher for five first inning runs in game two. J.C. Boscan forced in a run with a bases loaded walk, Kennard Bibbs picked up an infield hit with the bases loaded to knock in a run and Yeatman helped his own cause with a run-scoring ground out to finish the rally. Goocher, who allowed 13 runs on 28 hits over 20 1/3 innings in four starts against the Stars last season, was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs, three earned, on three hits and four walks over three innings.

 

Ron Acuna singled home two runs and Adam Heether drove in a run with a base hit in a three-run fourth inning against Bill White, marking the first time in the series the Stars had scored against the Tennessee bullpen. The Smokies relievers had combined to throw 14 straight scoreless frames and wound up giving up just the three runs in 17 innings of work.

 

Yeatman allowed three hits, struck out six and walked three in his first start of the season. Bray earned a win in his third straight outing by tossing two scoreless innings and fanning four and Pratt closed out the Stars first shutout of the year by retiring the side in order in the seventh inning.

 

Khalid Ballouli tossed eight scoreless innings, struck out nine and retired the last 15 hitters he faced in the opener but left in a scoreless game. It was the longest outing by a Stars? starting pitcher this season and the most strikeouts for a Huntsville hurler in 2006. Gerrit Simpson set down the next seven Tennessee hitters before Agustin Murillo singled with one out in the 11th, moved to second base on a Jeff Eure fielding error and scored when Miguel Montero singled into center field. It was the second time in as many games that Montero broke up a scoreless game with a run-scoring hit. Danny Richar added another run in the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Alberto Gonzalez.

 

Tennessee starter Ross Ohlendorf tossed seven shutout innings, to match his longest outing of the year, allowing three hits and fanning five. Tony Pena tossed two shutout innings and was followed by Dustin Glant and Matt Wilkinson, who each threw a shutout inning in relief. Glant earned the win and Wilkinson his first save of the season.

 

The Stars begin a five-game series against West Tenn Tuesday night in Jackson, TN. Huntsville will have right-hander Carlos Villanueva take the mound against Diamond Jaxx left-hander J.R. Mathes. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on ESPN Radio 1450 AM and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Stars, Smokies split difference

Huntsville pitching dominant during doubleheader

By BRAD SHEPARD For The Huntsville Times

 

Even the great Ernie Banks' patience may have been tested at Joe Davis Stadium on Monday night.

 

The Chicago Cubs' Hall of Famer remembered for his catch phrase "Let's play two," among other things, wouldn't have minded the doubleheader between the Huntsville Stars and Tennessee Smokies.

 

It's the four extra innings in Game 1 on a getaway day that may not have sat well.

 

The Stars had a satisfying finish to a long night, though. After giving up two unearned runs in the 11th inning to lose 2-0 in the opener, they surged for five first-inning runs and never looked back in an 8-0 nightcap victory over Tennessee (12-13).

 

Five Stars pitchers did not allow an earned run in 18 innings of work, but the team salvaged only a split.

 

Huntsville (14-11) used three hits, three walks and a catcher's interference call to get off to the quick start in the second game, and the Stars added three more runs in the fourth inning. The big blow was a two-run single by Ron Acuna.

 

Stephen Bray got his second win of the series for Huntsville in relief of Matt Yeatman.

 

The late-night victory provided some solace for the Stars after they spoiled a sterling performance by Khalid Ballouli in Game 1.

 

Ballouli pitched eight shutout innings for the Stars and retired the final 15 Smokies he faced. It was the longest outing for any Huntsville pitcher this year, and his nine strikeouts were also a team season high.

 

Tennessee's Ross Ohlendorf, though, was just as good in his seven innings of work, allowing three hits and no runs.

 

Both teams' pitchers made the hitters look like they were swinging corn stalks through the first 10 innings.

 

Dustin Glant got the win in relief of Ohlendorf after he and Tony Pena continued the pitching mastery.

 

Though Simpson wasn't bad for the Stars, he was the tough-luck loser.

 

After Simpson got an out to start the 11th, Agustin Murillo singled to start the rally. Alberto Gonzalez then hit a chopper to third, and Jeff Eure booted it after being caught between hops.

 

Miguel Montero made Simpson pay with an RBI single up the middle, and Danny Richar added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly.

 

At one point, Ballouli and Simpson retired 22 consecutive hitters.

 

Scoring chances were few and far between for either team in the first game, but Huntsville did have a squandered opportunity.

 

That came in the bottom of the 10th inning when Drew Anderson led off with a single to left field.

 

But Acuna - who threw out Richar at the plate way back in the third - failed to come through at the plate.

 

Acuna wasn't able to put down a sacrifice bunt before hitting into a double play to kill the threat.

 

The next batter, Lou Palmisano, ripped a sharp single that could have scored the go-ahead run. Instead, it was Tennessee that won in its next at-bat.

 

Huntsville's flurry was an offensive breakthrough at the time.

 

Neither club had gotten a hit since Ozzie Chavez's sixth-inning double.

 

Huntsville will make a quick turnaround as they travel to Jackson to face West Tenn tonight at 7:05. Carlos Villanueva (2-2, 5.26 ERA) is scheduled to face J.R. Mathes (2-2, 5.40).

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=49547

 

Sounds? win streak comes to an end

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

If it was just another game, nobody told the Nashville Sounds.

 

Having grown accustomed to winning as of late ? Nashville had won five straight and nine of ten ? the Sounds took Monday night?s 7-4 home loss to Iowa hard.

 

A kicked-in-the-gut silence ruled the locker room after the game as the team lost its first game in over a week.

 

Les Walrond did the job for the Cubs on the mound. The Iowa starter allowed just two runs over seven innings en route to the victory.

 

?I don?t know what happened,? Sounds shortstop Chris Barnwell said. ?We?ve faced him several times and he just mixes it up pretty good and he got in a pretty good rhythm.?

 

Even so, the Sounds would have had at least seven runs if the Greer Stadium wind hadn?t been blowing in. The wind knocked down a would-be home run by Nelson Cruz in the first inning and another from Corey Hart in the eighth. Hart?s shot, caught on the warning track, would have given the Sounds a 5-3 lead.

 

?The wind was blowing in a little bit,? Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. ?When the wind blows in here, it plays big.?

 

Kremblas said the team didn?t have its ?mental energy? early in the game and by the time the Sounds got going, it was too late.

 

?We didn?t have very much energy early in the game,? Kremblas said. ?Walrond threw the ball well also. It didn?t seem like we had our mental energy there tonight. Some of the pitches he made, we swung at them instead of taking some balls.?

 

The only Nashville runs off Walrond came courtesy of Barnwell, who is off to a phenomenal start this season. Barnwell, whose average stands at .360, hit his third homer in as many games. He only had three homers all of last year.

 

Barnwell said he couldn?t explain his hot start, but Kremblas had an idea.

 

?His [plate] approach is probably better than it was last year,? Kremblas said. ?He worked pretty hard in the offseason and spring training, I know that.?

 

Knuckleballer Jared Fernandez got the start for the Sounds and had mixed results. Fernandez went six innings, scattering eight hits, but allowed four runs. They were his first earned-runs of the season.

 

Krynzel update: Sounds outfielder Dave Krynzel, who aggravated his surgically repaired shoulder during the team?s last home stand, pinch-ran for the team during its road trip. Krynzel has been taking batting practice with the team and could return soon, Kremblas said.

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Soler, Mets down Manatees

 

Alay Soler was spectacular again Monday night, tossing seven shutout innings as St. Lucie downed visiting Brevard County, 1-0.

 

Soler (2-0) got one run of support in the first inning and made it stick. The 26-year-old right-hander allowed one hit and did not walk a batter. He has struck out 32 batters in 28 innings for a miniscule 0.64 ERA.

 

Edgar Alfonzo tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to hold the lead and help the Mets (15-9) win the rubber match of the three-game series.

 

Carlos Muniz got the final out in the ninth to complete shutout and get his sixth save. In ten relief appearances, Muniz has two wins without a blown save and a 0.84 ERA.

 

Jose Coronado doubled in the first and scored on a Mike Carp single. That later proved to be the winning run for St. Lucie.

 

Manatees starter Luis Pena (1-2) gave up a run on two hits while striking out six in four innings in the loss.

 

After Soler had set down the first 11 Brevard County batters, Ryan Braun hit a two-out triple in the fourth. Steven Sollmann had the only other hit for the Manatees (15-10), singling on a bunt in the eighth.

 

Brevard County hosts Jupiter for the first of three games Wednesday evening. -- Christopher Heine/MLB.com