Link Report for Monday 8/22: Lil' Unit Sighting, AZ Box Up

[H0FFY]

My opinion is that Krynzel should be the left hand defensive 5th outfielder in Milwaukee next year. In fact, I guess he would get quite a few starts in center (I am hoping Clark is traded). I am for having our five outfielders be Lee/Jenks/Krynzel/Hart/Cruz.

 

So, c'mon Dave, get to .270 if you can, and we can breathe a little easier.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.casperstartribune.net...1ec3a4.txt

 

Warranted win

By CORY MATTESON

Casper Star-Tribune staff writer

 

After a dicey 5-4 win over the team with the best record in the Pioneer League, Casper Rockies manager P.J. Carey took a seat in his office and began to credit the Helena Brewers for their tenacity. And after two near comebacks in the final two innings which included two errors, it could be argued that the Brewers (15-6, 39-20) certainly deserved it.

 

But it could also be argued that they deserved what they got -- a second consecutive loss to Casper (12-10, 32-28) in this four-game series at Mike Lansing Field.

 

With leadoff batter Corey Wimberly on second, Brewers manager Ed Cedar elected to walk No. 3 batter Dexter Fowler in the hopes that Chris Cook, batting cleanup, would hit into a force-out or double play.

 

But that's not why they call cleanup hitters cleanup hitters.

 

Cook punished Simon Beresford's 3-2 fastball, sending his 10th home run of the season clear over the right field wall and, in the process, sending the Rockies to a 5-2 lead and a crowd of 1,552 into a tizzy.

 

The win pushed Casper to the top of the South Division standings, one game ahead of Ogden (11-11).

 

"I'm really proud of this team," Carey said.

 

Casper held off a Brewers' rally in the top of the ninth without the use of closer Andrew Johnston. Brett Strickland (4-2), who had blown a save opportunity in the eighth, scrapped his way through the final inning to record the win.

 

The late-inning outburst overshadowed a near-perfect outing from starter Chaz Roe. The 18-year-old pitched six innings of one-hit ball. And to the delight of Rockies fans at all levels, Roe kept his pitches low, forcing eight groundball outs thanks to a volatile mixture of wicked breaking balls and effective fastball. In front of his parents, visiting from Lexington, Ky., Roe also fanned five batters while walking three in the no-decision.

 

"This is probably one of my top performances," he said afterwards. "The first thing I tried to do was keep the ball low. It carries out here. The ball carries a heck of a lot more."

 

"He's something," Carey said. "He's got a good, good breaking ball."

 

On Monday, the Rockies also overtook the Brewers at the top of the Pioneer League standings in team stolen bases thanks to four steals. Casper has now swiped 94 to Helena's 91.

 

"They say speed kills, and it actually does," Carey said.

 

And if speed kills, Brewers catcher Bryan Opdyke could be charged with assisted suicide. Casper's first two runs plated thanks in part to two of Opdyke's four poor throws to second base.

 

The two teams meet again tonight at 7. Alan Johnson (2-1) will start for Casper against the Brewers' Tyler Morrison (4-1).

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1

 

Stars strand 11 runners in 2-1 loss

Offense sputters as BayBears win 1st game of series

By SKIP VAUGHN

For The Times skipv@htimes.com

 

The Huntsville Stars began a critical homestand Monday against the Mobile BayBears.

 

The Stars started the night in fourth place in the Southern League North, trailing first-place Carolina by 9 1/2 games with 15 left in the second half of the season.

 

"Every game's important to us," Stars manager Don Money said before the rain-delayed contest. "We're trying to win as many games as we can the second half just to try to make it the best half that we can.

 

"We dug ourselves a hole, it's difficult to get out. You can't quit. We've got 15 games left. You just try to do the best you can the rest of the year."

 

After more than an hour rain delay, Mobile beat the Stars 2-1 before an announced crowd of 939 at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

The BayBears (25-32) loaded the bases with one out in the second but failed to score when Stars starter David Bradley recorded two strikeouts. Bradley (5-5) went six innings and allowed two earned runs with six hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

 

Huntsville (23-33) had the bases loaded with two outs in the third against Mobile starter Jose Oyervidez but Brad Nelson grounded out to end the inning. Oyervidez (6-9) went six innings with one earned run on five hits, five walks and eight strikeouts.

 

BayBears closer Dale Thayer earned his 24th save with a scoreless ninth. Huntsville stranded 11 baserunners.

 

Mobile took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Peeter Ramos grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded.

 

George Kottaras scored from third.

 

Kottaras made it 2-0 with a towering home run to right in the sixth, his second homer of the year. He finished 3-for-4 on the night.

 

Nelson cut the Stars' deficit in half in the sixth with a leadoff homer to left, his sixth of the season.

 

The Stars and BayBears play the second of the four-game series tonight at 7:05 at Joe Davis Stadium. Probable starters are Huntsville right-hander Ty Taubenheim (1-4, 4.37) and Mobile right-hander Jared Wells (1-4, 3.77).

[Mass Haas]

Charleston Gazette:

 

Power begins brief homestand tonight

 

The West Virginia Power brings its seven-game losing streak to Appalachian Power Park today to begin a brief two-game series with Lake County.

 

The slide has essentially taken the Power (26-28) out of playoff contention. Before the losing skid, the Power sat 4 1/2-games out of first place. The Power now trails Northern Division leader Delmarva by nine games with 14 after Monday?s games.

 

A return to the friendly confines should help, as the Power has won 14 of 27 home games in the South Atlantic League?s second half. Just six of the team?s final 15 games are at Appalachian Power Park, including a four-game series with Delmarva Aug. 29-Sept. 1 on the final homestand of the season.

 

The Power and Captains have split their 10 meetings in the second half.

 

David Cook homered and drove in two runs to lead Kannapolis to a 4-3 win Monday night over the Power.

 

The Power took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out groundout by Ryan Braun.

 

The Intimidators broke through in the third, taking a 2-1 lead on Chris Getz? two-out, two-RBI single to left off Power starter Derek Miller. Cook?s two-run shot in the next inning effectively ended Miller?s outing and put West Virginia down 4-1.

 

Carlos Corporan singled in Grant Richardson from third in the fifth to make it 4-2. West Virginia drew to within a run in the eighth when Agustin Septimo came home on an error.

 

In the ninth, the Power couldn?t get anything going against Garry Bakker, who picked up his second save.

 

West Virginia has dropped seven straight, matched only by the team?s 0-7 start of the season.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=43829

 

Sounds stumble in worst loss of the season

By Nate Rau, nrau@nashvillecitypaper.com

 

If the Pacific Coast League regular season ended today, the Nashville Sounds and Oklahoma RedHawks would meet in the American Conference finals. And in a battle of the two division-leading teams, Oklahoma outclassed Nashville in every imaginable way Monday, downing the Sounds 12-1 in front of 3,301 fans at Greer Stadium.

 

Nashville?s playoff future will be in jeopardy if the Sounds don?t turn things around. In the last eight days, the team has had four of its key performers promoted to Milwaukee. Over that span of time, Nashville (70-60) is 2-7. The 11-run difference is Nashville?s worst loss of the season.

 

Sounds manager Frank Kremblas said he isn?t worried about where his team sits ? second place Omaha fell Monday night. That means Nashville?s lead is five games with 14 left to play.

 

?I?m not too concerned,? Kremblas said. ?In my opinion we?re still in good shape.?

 

It was another difficult outing for Sounds starter Ben Hendrickson, who hasn?t won at Greer since June. Last year, Hendrickson was voted Milwaukee?s minor league pitcher of the year, notching an 11-3 record and a 2.02 ERA. With the loss, Hendrickson dropped to 6-11 on the season.

 

?He didn?t have bad stuff,? Kremblas said of Hendrickson. ?He just left something up to everybody. With these guys, you can?t do that or they?ll punish you.

 

?If you look at the score, it was a punishment.?

 

The RedHawks blew things wide open in the sixth, when they tallied seven runs. Chris Richard, Gerald Laird and Jason Conti all registered base hits to start the inning, including a double by Richard. After a two-RBI single from Manny Alexander, Kremblas removed Hendrickson in favor of Brett Evert.

 

The Oklahoma offense pounded Evert as well. Before the inning was all said and done, the RedHawks had scored seven runs on seven hits off the two pitchers.

 

In the third inning, Oklahoma got on the board thanks to a pair of doubles from Will Smith and Drew Meyer. The damage came with two outs off Hendrickson.

 

The RedHawks kept the ball rolling in the top of the fourth, when catcher Laird hit a two-run homer to raise the Oklahoma lead to 3-0.

 

Sounds catcher Mike Rivera ended a streak of 12 scoreless innings with a home run in the fifth inning. It is the first homer by a Sounds player in five games ago, when Prince Fielder homered.

 

Rehabbing third baseman Jeff Cirillo was out of the Nashville lineup Monday. Kremblas said Cirillo would likely be in tonight?s lineup, which would end his scheduled rehab stint.

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO: Krynzel Extends Hit Streak With Triple

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...208-22.mp3

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Sounds pounded by RedHawks

Struggles continue as Oklahoma hands Nashville worst loss

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Trent Durrington's sixth-inning double gave the Nashville Sounds a team cycle last night against Oklahoma.

 

Still, the Sounds' offense didn't show much motion in a 12-1 loss last night ? the team's 23rd in 37 home games since June 1.

 

"I think we've gone through periods like this before," Nashville Manager Frank Kremblas said regarding the team's anemic attack. The Sounds had multiple baserunners on only two occasions last night, both times with two outs, and had just six hits.

 

"But (Oklahoma starter Kelvin Jimenez) had good stuff. He was able to work the corners, extend the strike zone," Kremblas said.

 

Omaha's 9-2 loss to New Orleans reduced Nashville's magic number for clinching the Pacific Coast League American North Division title to 10.

 

Prior to Durrington's two-base hit, Nashville had managed just three other hits. Dave Krynzel was retired trying to score from third after a first-inning triple, Ryan Knox was caught stealing after a third-inning single and Mike Rivera put the Sounds on the scoreboard with a fifth-inning home run that made it a 3-1 game.

 

The RedHawks re-sponded to Rivera's homer by sending 11 hitters to the plate in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs on seven hits to chase starter Ben Hendrickson. The RedHawks added two more runs in the seventh.

 

"Everything I threw, they hit," Hendrickson said. "I threw a changeup away, at about shin level, and (Oklahoma all-star catcher Gerald) Laird hit it out. You can't do anything about that."

 

The game marked the 11th time Nashville has allowed 10 runs or more. Oklahoma has accounted for four of those occasions. It was also the Sounds' largest margin of defeat this season.

 

Veteran infielder Chris Barnwell pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Sounds, allowing a pair of base hits but striking out three. In four innings over two relief stints, Barnwell has yet to allow a run.

 

Power outage: Rivera's solo home run was Nashville's first since recent Milwaukee callup Prince Fielder did so last Wednesday against visiting Round Rock. The four-game drought that ended with Rivera's homer was the team's longest of the season.

 

New position: In six games since moving to the No. 2 spot in the batting order, Krynzel has hit .450 (9-for-20) with a double, a triple, a home run, three runs and a pair of RBIs. Krynzel had batted leadoff in each of his first 94 starts before the move.

 

With a successful pinch-hitting appearance in the game prior to that, Krynzel has posted a seven-game hitting streak in which he's batting .476.

 

What they said: "We're still up five games. You'd hate to back your way into the playoffs. We have to go out and play every day. We could go win five of seven, and you'd forget all about the previous week." ? Hendrickson.

 

Maurice Patton covers the Sounds for The Tennessean. He can be reached at mopatton@tennessean.com.

[Mass Haas]

Nothing from Arizona yet...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona Athletics 15, Arizona Brewers 2

Well, that result wasn't worth the wait, although the Lil' Unit, Ryan Anderson, joins RHP Josh Alliston on the rehab trail...

 

Weather: 100 degrees, partly cloudy.

Wind: 7 mph, In from CF.

T: 3:15.

Att: 25.

 

Arizona Box Score:

Jhonathan Blanc and Oscar Emeterio, two non-pitchers, fared the best on the mound in this one; Roque Mercedes is Mark Rogers, just two levels down in the chain -- Mercedes' line was saved from further abuse by Blanc, who stranded three runners; lefty Julio Guzman is just 17 years old; only three of OF Michael Brantley's 53 hits have gone for extra bases -- when the power comes, watch out...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_brrrok_1

 

Arizona Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_brrrok_1

[reillymcshane]

I hope Krynzel can finish off the season well - pull back up to .270ish by season's end. The strikeouts totals are troublesome. Perhaps if he could spend 2005 as a back up in the bigs, get a couple of hundred at bats, learn from the new coaches, etc., he'd be ready to play full time in 2006.

[LouisEly]

On those occasions when lefty Ryan Costello is good, he's very good;

 

Anyone know why the Brewers are hell-bent on making him a starter? Why would he not be a prospect for a LH reliever, a-la Mitch Stetter?

[pogokat]

Even though they sent him to fall ball last year (that happened right??) i think they view him as more of organizational fodder than a prospect...i think they start him because he's good at getting a ballers out...and sometimes it's good to have guys like that