Link Report for Games of Friday, August 26th

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Link Report Trivia:

 

The Brewers' organization probably leads the majors in number of farmhands / current big leaguers who have dads who were major leaguers, six by my count.

 

Don't reply, please, just play along at home and see how well you remember what you've read here this season. How many of these father / son duos can you name off the top of your head? Oh, OK, if you wimp out and need help, maybe the Brewerfan Player Index list will help you:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPlayerIndex.do

 

The list of six does not count Helena's Darren Ford, his grandfather Ted Ford played with Cleveland in the early 70's.

 

The answer will kick off Saturday AM's Link Report.

 

The official kickoff to Friday's Link Report will come early this afternoon.

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF!

 

All starts Central Time; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Mike Meyers at Round Rock (Astros), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime; somebody stop the bleeding for this team!

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Carlos Villanueva at home vs. Tennessee (Diamondbacks), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

If that link is down for bandwidth, use:

specs.eyecentric.com/pres...opup.shtml

 

Brevard County: TBD at home vs. Palm Beach (Cardinals), 6:00 PM; this is do-or-die for the Manatees, they really need to sweep this series!

 

Audio link (opponent's):

www.palmbeachcardinals.com/

 

West Virginia: LHP Greg Kloosterman at Lexington (Astros), 6:05 PM

 

Audio link:

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

 

Helena: TBD at home vs. Billings (Reds), 8:05 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's):

www.billingsmustangs.com/

 

Arizona: Idle

[Mass Haas]

Follow Friday's action as it happens:

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_rreaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_breafx_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lexafx_1

 

Helena:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

[Mass Haas]

This is it Manatees -- pressure's on !

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 70 63 .526 - 33-35 37-28 L5[/b] Omaha 66 67 .496 4.0 30-35 36-32 L2 Memphis 65 67 .492 4.5 33-31 32-36 W1 Iowa 61 69 .469 7.5 38-29 23-40 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 34 24 .586 - 19-11 15-13 L1 West Tenn 32 27 .542 2.5 17-11 15-16 L1 Tennessee 26 33 .441 8.5 13-14 13-19 L2 [b]Huntsville 24 35 .407 10.5 9-18 15-17 W1[/b] Chattanooga 23 36 .390 11.5 15-20 8-16 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 36 24 .600 - 18-14 18-10 W1 Vero Beach 35 24 .593 0.5 19-12 16-12 W2 [b]Brevard County 31 28 .525 4.5 13-16 18-12 L2[/b] St. Lucie 31 28 .525 4.5 14-14 17-14 W1 Daytona 28 30 .483 7.0 18-13 10-17 L1 Jupiter 23 35 .397 12.0 15-13 8-22 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delmarva 38 20 .655 - 21-7 17-13 L1 Lexington 33 25 .569 5.0 19-13 14-12 W5 Lake County 29 28 .509 8.5 14-13 15-15 L1 Hickory 29 29 .500 9.0 16-12 13-17 L1 [b]West Virginia 27 30 .474 10.5 15-14 12-16 L2[/b] Lakewood 27 31 .466 11.0 16-16 11-15 W1 Greensboro 27 32 .458 11.5 10-16 17-16 W3 Hagerstown 21 35 .375 16.0 11-16 10-19 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Helena 17 7 .708 - 7-4 10-3 L1[/b] Missoula 13 11 .542 4.0 8-5 5-6 W2 Billings 12 12 .500 5.0 6-5 6-7 W6 Great Falls 10 14 .417 7.0 6-7 4-7 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Athletics 16 8 .667 - 10-3 6-5 L1 AZL Mariners 15 8 .652 0.5 9-4 6-4 W2 AZL Giants 14 9 .609 1.5 5-6 9-3 W2 AZL Rangers 13 11 .542 3.0 7-6 6-5 W1 AZL Royals 12 11 .522 3.5 7-5 5-6 L3 AZL Padres 10 14 .417 6.0 4-9 6-5 W3 [b]AZL Brewers 9 13 .409 6.0 3-8 6-5 L7[/b] AZL Cubs 8 15 .348 7.5 4-8 4-7 L1 AZL Angels 8 16 .333 8.0 2-5 6-11 L2

Stats and League Leaders, USA Today (or go to MILB.com):

 

www.usatoday.com/sports/b.../index.htm

[Mass Haas]

Huntsvillefan or others heading to Joe Davis this weekend, please provide some scouting analysis on RHP's Carlos Villanueva and Ty Taubenheim, particularly Ty later this weekend. The folks at Baseball America are looking for some input, who knows, your comments may make it into their next prospect handbook http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ! Thanks.

[huntsvillefan]

Just wanted to say, that though I obviously don't mind pontificating on D http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif , I really don't feel that I can talk with any authority on pitching.

I can see if a fastball moves, I can look how well someone is locating their stuff, I can see if a breaking ball actually breaks -But the finer nuances of the slider, curve and slurve are well beyond me. A good change fools me a lot more than it fools the batter and I've been known to mistake a splitfinger for a curve.

I really do end up judging all the off speed stuff, more by result than by anything I understand about it technically, which really isn't the right way to go, especially over any sort of small sample.

I've now seen Ty twice and the first time just wasn't representative (he never topped 89). and to some extent I'm still trying to work out what all the fuss is about. That doesn't mean I think he's a bad pitcher, just that I know that I haven't seen him nearly often enough to have any real concrete thoughts about him. I know that scouts get used to making good quick judgements, but I really want to see someone at least 5 times, before I start thinking about how good they are.

Sometimes a guy will have a pitch that really stands out, Dennis' fastball, Hendrickson's curve(s) but usually it takes a lot longer for me to appreciate what a pitcher is doing. For example I still haven't really worked out why Dana was so successful and I never came to terms with what Housman did at all - even though they both did great here.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes for Friday (PDF format):

LHP Tommy Phelps gets the start Sunday -- Jeff Housman will likely be the long-relief follow-up guy...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

Final: Palm Beach (Cardinals) 7, Brevard County 4

 

Weather: 0 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 0 mph, In from LF.

T: 3:05.

Att: 991.

 

Must have been a cold front coming through Florida http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

Brevard County Box Score:

RHP Bo Hall's line more reminiscient of his High Desert days -- the bullpen followed up nicely; 13 Manatee hits, but only one for extra bases; Lou Palmisano on base four times -- .649 OPS coming into the game isn't particularly exciting, even in the FSL; looks like Josh Murray was activated from the DL and made his high-A debut -- Manatees really got sold short in losing Adam Heether to Huntsville when Ryan Braun was shut down for the season....

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_breafx_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Four outfield assists for the 'Tees, Drew Anderson with a throw to home for an out...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_breafx_1

[Mass Haas]

As of 10:00 PM Central, listen in:

 

In progress: Nashville 4, Round Rock (Astros) 4, after nine innings

Mitch Stetter awesome in his three-inning relief stint...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Lexington (Astros) 9, West Virginia 3

Not sure, but we believe LHP Greg Kloosterman may be the very first pitcher in the long storied history of the South Atlantic League to lose 18 games in a single season...

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Power commit four errors in loss to Lexington

Lexington, KY ? The Lexington Legends capitalized on four West Virginia Power errors in Friday night?s game at Applebee?s Park, and the Legends went on to win their sixth game in a row, beating the Power 9-3.

 

The Legends scored three runs in the first inning to take an early lead. Justin Humphries knocked in the first run on an RBI single, he scored later in the inning on Beau Torbert?s double and Torbert crossed the plate on Grant Richardson?s fielding error. Richardson made up for the error with a leadoff double in the top of the second inning and he later scored on Carlos Corporan?s single.

 

In the bottom of the second inning the Legends took advantage of Angel Salome?s throwing error, which allowed Chris Clark to score and make it a 4-1 game. The Power plated another run in the top of the third inning on Richardson?s double making it a 4-2 contest.

 

Drew Sutton hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to give the Legends a four run lead and Torbert added to the advantage in the fifth inning with his second RBI double of the game. The Power plated their final run of the contest in the top of the sixth inning on Salome?s RBI groundout. Mitch Einertson drove in a run on an RBI single in the sixth inning and Humphries followed him with a sacrifice fly to plate the final run of the game.

 

Chad Reineke (10-8) earned the victory, and Greg Kloosterman (4-18) obtained the loss. The Power are 27-31 in the second half after the loss and the Legends move to 34-25 with the win.

 

The Power will continue the four game series with Lexington at Applebee?s Park on Saturday night. The Power will throw LHP Derek Miller (1-1, 5.03) and the Legends will counter with RHP Jimmy Barthmaier (11-5, 2.38). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Grant Richardson 3-for-4 with three doubles; where are those gaudy offensive numbers for all the Helena callups -- not as easy as it seems to make that jump; wow - a Josh Baker sighting (two innings in relief)...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lexafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lexafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Walk-off HR loss for Nashville - lead down to just three games, amazing...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 7, Tennessee (Diamondbacks) 5

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Carlos Villanueva the winner, he can thank his teammates for backing him with that pitching line -- all five hits he allowed for extra bases; RHP Keith Stamler wrapped it up with a pretty bow, nice job...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

Enrique Cruz (cleanup hitter) with a two-run HR for a quick first inning lead...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Round Rock (Astros) 5, Nashville 4, ten innings

 

Nashville Box Score:

Jeff Bennett gave up the walk-off line drive HR just over a stretched-out Nelson Cruz; Sounds pitchers strike out 13 -- Sounds batters struck out 14 times; Mike Adams with his best outing in a while, came in to escape a bases-loaded situation...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_rreaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

Except for scratching out an eighth-inning run, the Sounds never challenged offensively after the first inning; none of the big Milwaukee bats are coming back to AAA, so these boys best get to steppin'....

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_rreaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

From the Baseball America chat Friday afternoon:

 

Q: David from Kennesaw, GA asks:

Matt, now that the season is coming to a close, is it safe to say that even despite his early struggles, Homer Bailey is by far the better prospect over Mark Rogers?

 

A: Matt Meyers: David, Neither of these guys have had spectacular full season debuts, but Bailey is certainly a step ahead at this point, I wouldn't say "by far" though. Rogers has never gotten it going and has also battled some blister problems which aren't helping. From what I hear, the Brewers are still high on him and believe that he is picking things up slowly and one day it is just going to "click." This is a guy from Maine though, and while I have a lot of Maine pride since I went to college there, the competition he faced in high school was not particularly tough and he should be given the benefit of the doubt. He does have 100 strike outs in 89 innings, but also 61 walks. Way too early to give up on him. Hopefully he can replace Bill Swift as the greatest big leaguer from Maine, Bailey has not put up great numbers either in the Midwest League, but I had a scout recently raving about him and his "hammer curve." His 3.52 ERA in August (with 33 Ks in 23 innings) is his second best ERA of any month so it is good to see he isn't tiring.He has a lot of moxie too. As a writer, I want to see him get to the big leagues for his outlandish quotes if nothing else.

[Mass Haas]

Big 8th inning comeback rally in Helena by the H-Crew -- hope you're listening, we make it easy for you to bounce from the end of one game to another...

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Stamler Slams Door on Smokies

Four different hitters knocked in runs in a decisive five-run third inning and Keith Stamler worked three scoreless frames in relief in Huntsville?s 7-5 win over Tennessee Friday night at Joe Davis Stadium in the opener of a four-game series. The Stars won their second straight to improve to 25-35 in the second half, while the Smokies dropped to 26-34 in the second half. The Stars have taken four of the last five with Tennessee to move ahead 8-7 in the season series.

 

Enrique Cruz drilled a two-run line drive home run to left field in the first inning to put the Stars on top 2-0. It was Cruz?s 14th home run of the season, ninth straight at home and just his second since July 7 and marked a third straight night during which the home team scored to take the lead in the first inning.

 

Noochie Varner?s two-out, run-scoring double in the second inning and Dan Uggla?s two-out, run-scoring double in the third inning tied the game against starter Carlos Villanueva.

 

Adam Heether and Brad Nelson singled home runs to put the Stars ahead 4-2 in the home third before Ben Van Iderstine delivered a two-run single to push the lead to 6-2. John Vanden Berg followed with a double to drive in Van Iderstine to complete the rally against Tennessee starter Clint Goocher, who was knocked out after the inning. The Stars have scored 19 runs on 28 hits in 11 innings over their last three meetings with Goocher, who suffered the loss to drop to 7-11.

 

Villanueva lasted six innings in his second double-A start and was charged with five runs, four earned, on five hits and three walks, along with five strikeouts. Stamler took over and retired the first six hitters he faced before encountering trouble and working out of it in the ninth.

 

Varner singled to open the inning, moved to second on a Mike DiRosa single before Matt Morgan dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Adam Haley then hit a bouncing ball back to Stamler, as Varner was breaking on contact. Stamler threw to the catcher Vanden Berg, who ran Varner back towards third base and tagged him out for the second out of the inning. Jarred Ball then flied out to center field on the next pitch to end the game. Stamler recorded his first save with Huntsville.

 

The series continues on Saturday night with Huntsville right-hander Glenn Woolard meeting Smokies? right-hander Enrique Gonzalez. Coverage of the game gets underway at 6:50 p.m. central time on ESPN 1450 AM and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

[Jaylyn]

With no Prince or Hart, Nashville is having a hard time hanging on to that division lead and Nelson Cruz sure has cooled off after starting hot.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Billings (Reds) 8, Helena 7

 

Helena Box Score:

It was a decent listen to a wild last few innings from the Billings broadcast; we'll get a Helena newspaper out to you in the AM...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

[DHonks]

it's fun knowing that Inman should be going this weekend...I've been converted I guess

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Manatees Late Rally Not Enough

The Manatees found little relief from their recent struggles, falling to the Palm Beach Cardinals 7-4 Friday night.

 

Manatees starter Bo Hall struggled against a tough Cardinals offense. He was roughed up for seven runs, four earned, on eleven hits in his 4 1/3 innings of work. Relievers Darwin Soto, Ben Diggins, and Forrest Martin pitched a scoreless final 4 2/3 innings, but it wasn't enough as a late Manatees rally fell short in the ninth.

 

The Manatees made things interesting in the ninth after being down 7-2. A Travis Ezi double to lead off the inning was followed by a Steve Moss single to put runners at the corners. The next batter, Drew Anderson, singled to score Ezi and sent Moss to second. Jeff Eure followed suit and singled to load the bases for Lou Palmisano. Palmisano, already 2-3 in the game, came through with an RBI single to draw the Manatees to within three, however, that would be all the runs the Manatees would muster as Josh Murray struck out, and Ozzie Chavez lined into a double play to end the threat.

 

With the loss, the Manatees fell to 5.5 games behind the Cardinals in the race for first place in the East Division. The Manatees look for payback tomorrow night at 7:00 pm (6:00 Central). Tomorrow night is the last Fireworks Extravaganza of the year here at Space Coast Stadium with ?Brevard's Best Fireworks? being shot off during post-game activities.

 

Additionally, the Manatees will attempt to break the world record for honorary first pitches at a baseball game. Early arriving fans will be invited onto the pitchers mound here at the ballpark to throw out a first pitch in an attempt to break the record of 2,052. The gates open at 2:00 pm and the first pitches start immediately. All tickets are $7 and include a free ticket to a future Manatees home game.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Game Summary (from the Round Rock site this AM):

 

(Round Rock, TX) - The Round Rock Express, on Bud Light Fireworks Friday, relied on game winning homer fireworks from E-Train first baseman Carlos Rivera. Rivera, with one out in the bottom of the tenth inning, delivered the game winner, a solo homer onto the right field berm off Nashville closer Jeff Bennett for a 5-4 win.

 

The victory, coupled with a 1-0 Oklahoma loss to Omaha, moves Round Rock to within a game and a half of the RedHawks in the American Southern Division pennant race with ten games left.

 

Express starter Fernando Nieve gave up three runs in the first to the Sounds. His teammates responded in the bottom of the first with a solo run off Nashville starter Mike Meyers.

 

After that first inning Nieve settled in, finishing the evening giving up only those three runs, while striking out a season high eleven batters, while walking none. In one stretch from the fourth inning until the end of the seventh inning, the twenty-three year old PCL rookie retired twelve in a row, but ultimately did not figure in the decision.

 

The Express put up three runs off Meyers in the fourth inning, with an RBI single from catcher Raul Chavez and a two-run Charles Gipson single for a 4-3 Round Rock lead.

 

Reliever Roberto Giron, the longtime Milwaukee farmhand, pitched the eighth inning and gave up a run that tied the game at four.

 

That set the stage for Rivera, who smacked a Bennett pitch onto the right field berm for the game winner, 5-4.

 

Reliever Scott Strickland won his second game on the season.

 

Game four of the five game series begins at 7:05 PM on Saturday with righty Brian Tollberg going for the Express. Ben Hendrickson pitches for the Sounds.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Stars suture Goocher

Huntsville hitters Smokies pitcher's nemesis

By MATTHEW NASCONE

For the Huntsville Times

 

The Huntsville Stars continued to dominate Tennessee Smokies pitcher Clint Goocher on Friday night at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

In his last three starts against the Stars, Goocher has been roughed up for 19 runs on 28 hits in 11 innings. The Stars won Friday's game 7-5 for their second consecutive victory.

 

"The main reason we won is because we came out and scored early," said Huntsville manager Don Money. "We scored two in the first and five in the third after they tied it up in the top of the third.

 

"And we just held the lead for the rest of the game."

 

Callix Crabbe reached base on a single through the middle for the first hit of the game. Enrique Cruz hit a laser over the left field fence to score Crabbe and give the Stars a 2-0 lead.

 

In the second inning Chris Carter scored the Smokies' first run on a double by Noochie Varner. Dan Uggla scored Adam Haley for his 86th RBI on a double to left field in the third inning, tying the game at 2-2. Varner was 3-for4 for the game with two RBIs.

 

A crowd of 2,926 saw an offensive explosion by the Stars in the third inning. Kennard Bibbs, Crabbe and Adam Heether opened with singles. Bibbs scored on Heether's single and Crabbe scored on a single by Brad Nelson.

 

Heether and Nelson scored on a single by Ben Van Iderstine. Van Iderstine scored on a double by John Vanden Berg, increasing the Stars' lead to 7-2.

 

The five-run third inning closed the book on Goocher (7-11). He gave up six earned runs on nine hits and struck out four Stars.

 

Carlos Villanueva (1-1) grabbed the win for the Stars, allowing four earned runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked three.

 

Keith Stamler relieved Villanueva in the seventh inning to pick up his first save of the season.

 

Crabbe was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a sacrifice bunt.

 

Money said he gave leadoff man Tony Gwynn Jr. the day off against the left-handed starter. Bibbs filled in at the top of the lineup and went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and a run scored.

 

Tennessee scored one run in the fourth inning. Mike DeRosa blasted a home run off the scoreboard in left field.

 

In the sixth inning, Tennessee scored two runs on two hits. Carter walked to open the sixth inning and scored on a fielder's choice to the first baseman two batters later. Jon Zeringue doubled and scored on a double by Varner, cutting the Stars' lead to 7-5.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Stars owner joins bidders interested in Cincinnati Reds

Prentice wants to buy majority stake in team

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

Miles Prentice, the owner of the Huntsville Stars, has yet to renew a lease with the city of Huntsville that expired after the 2003 season. Perhaps that's because he has his eye on a bigger target.

 

Prentice, a New York attorney, has emerged as one of the bidders to purchase majority ownership of the Cincinnati Reds, according to a report in Friday's Cincinnati Enquirer.

 

Prentice was out of the country and unavailable for comment.

 

He has made previous bids to purchase other major league teams, including the Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox.

 

In 1998, he put together a large group of potential co-owners to purchase the Royals from the Kauffman family, but the sale was rejected by Major League Baseball. Ostensibly, the rejection was because MLB feared too many owners were involved; other speculation was that the $75 million price tag undercut the value of other franchises.

 

According to the Cincinnati paper, the price tag for the 51.5 percent of the Reds could be as high as $80 million. Though it would garner the majority ownership, the sale "would not change operating control,'' according to the paper, and the buyer would negotiate with current CEO Carl Lidner "to take over team management.'' The shares being sold belong to two individual owners and to a third entity, Gannett Co., the publishing corporation.

 

Competing with Prentice to purchase the Reds are two Cincinnati-area groups. One includes Doug Flynn, the former Reds' infielder, and Ron Switzer, owner of the Lexington (Ky.) Horsemen arena football team.

 

Along with the Stars, whose ownership he shares with other out-of-town investors, Prentice owns the Midland (Tex.) Rockhounds of the Double-A Texas League.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.helenair.com/articles...705_01.txt

 

Brewers unable to comeback for win

By TOM STUBER - IR Sports Writer

 

The Billings Mustangs sidled into Kindrick Legion Field Friday, ordered a couple J.D. pokes, then staggered out with an 8-7 win.

 

The J.D.s in this case were Billings sluggers J.D. Reininger and J.D. Roberts, who each hit two- run shots to give Billings a 4-0 lead in the fourth.

 

Helena was able to hang around all game and finally broke through with a three-run eighth to tie the game at five only to give all three runs back in the Billings' ninth.

 

Helena starter Mathew Kretzschmar appeared to be settling down nicely after Reininger hammered his two-run blast off one of the net poles in left.

 

He struck out three of the next seven batters he faced and had two outs in the third when Roberts hurt him again with another two-run homer.

 

"He had good stuff, but it was location and pitch sequence," Helena pitching coach Mark Littell explained in regards to Kretzschmar. "He challenged, but it's those two factors right there."

 

Helena, besieged with light-hitting of late, scrambled back into the game somehow in the eighth. The Brewers had just one hit and all three runs were unearned after a passed ball on a third strike to Michael Bell kept the inning going and gave them a run.

 

Kenny Holmberg followed with a two-run single. On the play it appeared Helena may take the lead when the throw from the outfield rolled into the Helena dugout. The ruling on the field was that the throw came before the runner had passed third and the runners were sent back.

 

Things, however, fell apart in the ninth.

 

"When we got out there in the last inning I was just waiting for our left-hander to take charge and it just didn't happen," Littell said of reliever Rafael Lluberes.

 

Lluberes allowed six hits and walked two in just three innings of work. His big downfall was the ninth, however, as he gave up two hits and a walk with one out to load the bases.

 

Helena second baseman Scotty McKnight was unable to come up with a potential inning-ending throw to second as the ball skittered into right field allowing two runs to score.

 

Josh Holden hit a groundball to short that Helena's Ryan Crew fielded and threw to second for what looked like the start of crucial double-play only to see McKnight mishandle the throw and extend the inning.

 

J.D. Roberts and Jay Bruce each had three hits for Billings, while Brandon Roberts, Reininger, and Mayker Sandoval all had two.

 

Bell, Holmberg and Adam Mannon had two hits apiece.

 

The Brewers will end a three home game series with Billings tonight before taking on Missoula at Kindrick Legion Field for another three game series.