Link Report for Games of Thursday, August 11th

[Mass Haas]

Final: Casper (Rockies) 6, Helena 2

OK, so they won't be undefeated in the second half; Casper's a possible playoff foe...

 

Helena Box Score:

That's Eric Young, Jr. for Casper; Matt Gamel with an ugly 12 errors at third base in fairly limited time...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Birmingham (White Sox) 17, Huntsville 11

Ridiculous...

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Stars lead 10-7 heading to the bottom of the 8th, then give up a ten-spot; only infielder Nelson Castro can say he pitched well, retiring the final batter in the 8th; Andy Pratt managed two wild pitches and a hit batter while walking three in his brief stint; Jerome Gamble's brief flashes of dominance have become so few and far between it's difficult to remember them; apparently Keith Stamler's knuckleball wasn't dancing, or maybe too much; Brad Nelson three singles...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_biraax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_biraax_1

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Ryan Sweeney singled in the go-ahead run and Chris Young drove in four during a 10-run eighth inning rally to push Birmingham past Huntsville 17-11 Thursday night in the first of a four-game set at the Hoover Met. The Barons won their third straight game to improve to 27-15 in the second half and maintained their game and a half lead over victorious Jacksonville in the South Division, while the Stars lost for a sixth time in seven games to drop to 20-26 in the second half. The Barons have won six of the eight games played between the two teams, including three of four in Birmingham.

 

Jerome Gamble relieved Andy Pratt with a runner at first base and one out in the seventh inning and worked out of trouble by retiring Josh Fields on a fly ball to left field on one pitch and Chris Stewart on a ground out to third base on one pitch. Pedro Lopez opened the home eighth with a double and scored on a base hit by Antoin Gray to trim the Stars lead to 10-8. Jerry Owens walked and Young doubled into the alley in right-center field to plate both runners to tie the game at 10. Young had been asked to bunt earlier in the at-bat but was allowed to swing away ahead in the count 3-1. Casey Rogowski walked, Darren Blakely fanned for the first out of the inning before Young stole third and scored the go-ahead run on a looping single to left field by Sweeney, who knocked in his 36th run of the year. Josh Fields singled in Rogowski to push the home team?s lead to 12-10 before Chris Stewart squeezed in a run, Gray singled in another run and Young capped the uprising with his second two-run, two-bagger of the frame. The 10 runs scored by the Barons were one short of the most ever allowed in an inning by the Stars, who yielded 11 runs in the eighth inning to West Tenn on June 3, 1999.

 

Kennard Bibbs?s two-out single scored Enrique Cruz to cut Birmingham?s lead to 6-4 in the sixth and knocked starter Sean Tracey out of the game. It was Bibbs? first run batted in since an RBI double in the fourth inning at Mississippi on July 9. Paulino Reynoso replaced Tracey and walked John Vanden Berg to load the bases. Guilder Rodriguez hit a ground ball to second base that was fielded by Gray but his throw sailed past Rogowski at first allowing two runs to score to tie the game, Vanden Berg to advance to third base and Rodriguez to reach second base. Tony Gwynn, Jr. was then hit by a pitch and Reynoso was replaced by Ehren Wasserman, making his fifth appearance since being promoted from high single-A Winston Salem. Callix Crabbe greeted the right-hander with a bases clearing triple to center field to put the Stars back in the lead at 9-6 and scored on a wild pitch to complete a seven-run rally.

 

Pratt took over for starter David Bradley in the sixth and walked Stewart and Gray and hit Lopez to load the bases with nobody out. The southpaw struck out Owens, retired Young on a foul pop and struck out Rogowski to end the frame. However, Pratt uncorked a wild pitch with Rogowski at the plate that allowed Stewart to score to slice the lead to 10-7 and end his scoreless innings streak at 9 2/3. Every Barons batter had at least one hit, every Birmingham batter but Lopez knocked in at least one run and Blakely was the only home side hitter not to score at least once.

 

The series continues Friday night with Stars right-hander Ty Taubenheim taking the mound against Birmingham left-hander Heath Phillips. Coverage of the game gets underway at 6:45 p.m. central time on ESPN 1450 AM and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 8, Salt Lake (Angels) 2

Sounds save the day, as they usually do...

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

 

SALT LAKE CITY ? The Nashville Sounds completed a four-game sweep of the fellow division-leading Salt Lake Stingers on Thursday evening, triumphing 8-2 in the finale of a four-game series at Franklin Cover Field.

 

The victory, the Sounds? fourth in a row and seventh in eight games on their current road trip, resulted in the club hitting two high-water marks. Nashville (67-52) improved to a season-best 15 games over .500 and stretched its lead over Memphis to a season-high 8 ½ games in the PCL American Conference Northern Division. The Redbirds had their scheduled series finale rained out in Colorado Springs.

 

The series sweep was Nashville?s second of the season and first in the club?s eight-year all-time series against Salt Lake. The Sounds scored eight runs in each of their four victories against the Stingers.

 

Julio Mosquera rapped out a season-high four hits, including a pair of doubles, and the ridiculously-hot Prince Fielder went 4-for-4 with three runs scored to lead the torrid Nashville offense, which matched a season high with 18 hits off Stingers pitching.

 

Fielder, who continues to punish the rawhide, is batting an incredible .655 (19-for-29) during his current seven-game hitting streak.

 

In the series, the Sounds batted a healthy .410 (66-for-161) against Salt Lake.

 

The Sounds jumped ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning using three consecutive two-out RBI singles against Salt Lake starter Eric Cyr off the bats of Nelson Cruz, Tony Zuniga, and Mosquera.

 

Rehabbing Salt Lake third baseman Dallas McPherson put the home team on the board when he homered for the second straight contest, belting a two-run longball to left off Sounds starter Mike Meyers in the bottom of the frame to pull the Stingers within a run at 3-2. The blast was McPherson?s fifth on the year for Salt Lake.

 

Nashville increased its advantage to 4-2 in the second when Steve Scarborough led off with a double and later scored on a Ryan Knox sacrifice fly. The Sounds added another run in the third when Fielder scored on Mosquera?s second RBI knock of the evening to put the visitors on top, 5-2.

 

The Sounds tacked on a sixth run in the top of the eighth when Mosquera doubled and scored on a Scarborough RBI groundout.

 

Cruz capped off the Nashville victory with a two-run homer, his sixth with Nashville and 22nd overall roundtripper of the season. The blast, which scored Fielder and increased the lead to 8-2, came at the expense of Stingers reliever Dusty Bergman.

 

AUDIO: Nelson Cruz's Two-Run HR

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...208-11.mp3

 

Dave Krynzel, who started in right field for the first time in his professional career, produced an eighth-inning single to extend his season-best hitting streak to 10 games, the eighth double-digit streak by a Sounds batter in 2005.

 

Zuniga went 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a season-best eight games, while outfielder Corey Hart?s 10-game streak came to a close following an 0-for-4 evening.

 

Salt Lake shortstop Brian Specht went 0-for-3 to snap the longest active hitting streak in the Pacific Coast League at 17 games.

 

Meyers (6-4) earned a win for the second consecutive start after allowing two runs on eight hits through 5 1/3 innings, while Cyr (4-5) was saddled with the defeat after being touched for five runs on 13 hits in his 6 1/3 frames.

 

Nashville reliever Brett Evert offered a solid outing behind Meyers, hurling 2 2/3 hitless innings that included five strikeouts. Jose Capellan worked a scoreless ninth for the Sounds to complete the contest.

 

The Sounds travel to Memphis tomorrow to open a four-game series against the cross-state rival Redbirds. Nashville has won six of the first eight contests between the division rivals in 2005 and is 23-16 all-time at Memphis? Auto Zone Park.

 

Nashville right-hander Ben Hendrickson (5-9, 4.81) will toe the rubber in Friday?s 7:05 p.m. CT opener. The Redbirds will counter will former Sounds right-hander Kevin Jarvis (10-3, 2.97).

 

Nashville Box Score:

Jose Capellan strikes out the side in the 9th (one hit, one walk)...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_slcaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_slcaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Manatees Late Rally Falls Short

The Manatees gave a valiant effort in the late innings, only to be downed by the Jupiter Hammerheads 5-4 on Thursday night.

 

The Manatees bats were silenced through the first seven innings before finally breaking out in the eighth. Nestor Corredor singled to start off the inning. After a Robby Deevers strikeout and a Steve Sollmann single, a throwing error by Hammerhead third baseman Lee Mitchell put Manatees runners on the corners.

 

The next batter, Steve Moss, singled to score Corredor from third and put the Manatees on the board. Drew Anderson flew out to bring up third baseman Adam Heether. Heether doubled in both Sollmann and Moss to make the score 5-3. Jeff Eure's double to score Heether pulled the Manatees to within one, but a Josh Brady pop out ended the Manatees rally.

 

Manatees starter Ryan Costello found it difficult to retire the Hammerheads, allowing five runs in six innings. He struck out five while surrendering five hits and four walks. Jupiter's Patrick Arlis would add his sixth home run of the season, and Lee Mitchell added two RBI's on a 1-3 performance.

 

The Manatees start a new series tomorrow night with a doubleheader against the St. Lucie Mets. The gates open at 4:30 pm with game # 1 starting at 5:00 pm (4:00 Central).

[huntsvillefan]

only infielder Nelson Castro can say he pitched well, retiring the final batter in the 8th

 

I just want to say again something I said in another thread. I know you all think I'm hard-nosed on D, but charging anything other than a homerun or a walk against any pitcher on this team is probably unfair, especially in the last couple of weeks.

Apart from padding their own stats, they have more or less given up on everything that resembles baseball. Why move 3 feet to catch a ball when you can stand still and watch it going past you and become someone elses problem? And guess what - you don't even get charged an error playing that way - http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

[H0FFY]

h-fan, if what you say is true (or even 10% true) the great cull should start now; I would even advocate signing anyone for a couple of weeks of baseball - as long as they give 100%

 

I am sure we could find a dozen undrafted college guys who are in some summer league and pay them a couple a grand each for two weeks of baseball

 

then you cut a dozen of the malcontents and send a big time message through the organisation

 

i am really serious about what I say

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.helenair.com/articles...205_05.txt

 

Rockies end Brewers streak

By TOM COTTON - IR Sports Editor

 

A good thing didn't keep going Thursday night for the Helena Brewers.

 

Helena saw its 10-game winning streak snapped with a 6-2 loss to the Casper Rockies at Kindrick Legion Field.

 

Casper first baseman Chris Cook had a 4-for-4 night at the plate and drove in three runs.

 

"The biggest thing was I felt confident, calm and quiet (at the plate)," the Grand Canyon University product said. "I got some good pitches to hit and I got some good swings."

 

Cook's swing in the first inning was just fine as he staked the Rockies to a 2-0 lead after taking a David Welch offering over the left field wall at Kindrick Legion Field.

 

"I just kind of threw my hands at it to try and stay alive and it went out of the park," Cook said.

 

The two-run lead for Casper would hold until the fourth inning, when Helena's Stephen Chapman drove in Freddy Parejo with a double.

 

That would be as close as the game would get, however, as the Brewers defense? which has been reliable as of late? self destructed in the sixth.

 

Helena was charged with three miscues in the inning and two runs scored. Both tallies, however, were unearned. Helena had four errors in the frame.

 

The four runs were enough for the Rockies pitching staff who limited the Pioneer League's best offensive team to just five hits.

 

Chaz Roe, a first round draft pick in 2005, went five innings striking out six in that span.

 

"I just tried to keep the ball down in the zone and throw strikes," Roe said.

 

The Kentucky product was able to work out of a jam in the fifth. With runners on the corners and two out, he induced Mat Gamel to fly out to center field.

 

The Rockies pitching staff was solid all the way through, striking out 12 Brewers.

 

Roe got the win to move his record to 4-1. Welch, who was part of Helena's no hitter Friday against Billings, got the loss and saw his record fall to 2-1.

 

The two teams will meet again tonight for the rubber-match of their three game set. First pitch will be at 7:05 at Kindrick Legion Field (8:05 Central).

 

Jon Ebelt IR Staff Photographer - Helena's Freddy Parejo dives back to first to avoid a pick off attempt early in the game against the Rockies Thursday. The Rockies went on to crush the Brewers' winning streak after beating Helena 6-2.

 

http://www.helenair.com/content/articles/2005/08/12/sports_top/b01081205_05.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section.../200508121

 

Lexington homers bury Power

By Jay Srinivasan

For the Charleston Gazette

 

It was a long night for the West Virginia Power.

 

Drew Sutton hit two home runs and Ryan Reed, Lou Santangelo and Francisco Caraballo had one apiece to lead the Lexington Legends to a 12-1 victory in front of 4,208 paid fans Thursday at Appalachian Power Park Thursday.

 

?We were outhit and outpitched,? said Power manager Ramon Aviles, whose club had a three-game winning streak snapped. ?They are a good hitting club and they have hit a lot of home runs during the season. We just couldn?t locate the fastball.?

 

The top of the ninth summed up the night for the Power. Leading 8-1, Reed blasted a homer into the bleachers to lead off the inning against reliever Justin Barnes. Santangelo followed later in the inning with a two-run round-tripper to left-center to make it 11-1. Carabello then slammed another home run to right to complete a miserable inning for Barnes.

 

West Virginia had its best chance to take the lead early in the game when runners were in scoring position in the bottom of the first and second innings. But each time, Lexington starter Felipe Paulino pitched his way out of trouble.

 

?I am pretty proud of our starting pitcher Paulino,? said the Legends manager Tim Bogar. ?Had a couple of jams that he got out of early and kept us ahead. I think that was the key to the whole game.?

 

?We got chances,? said Aviles. ?We didn?t put the ball in play with men in scoring position. We struck out six times with men in scoring position.?

 

Lexington pulled away in the top of the third, scoring three runs. Sutton hit the first of his two home runs into the bleachers for a 2-0 lead. Mitch Einertson made it 4-0 with a two-run double to left. RBIs by Einertson and Santangelo in the fifth and a Sutton homer in the sixth put the Legends on top 7-1.

 

Santangelo went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a home run while Einertson went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. The Legends piled up 18 hits compared to West Virginia?s eight.

 

?We played pretty well offensively,? said Bogar. ?We got some good pitches that we could hit. We didn?t miss them.?

 

Reliever Paul Estrada (4-7) pitched three strong innings, allowing no runs and only one hit while striking out three for the win. Raymar Diaz pitched a perfect last two innings for the save. For the Power, Eric Thomas obtained his first loss after giving away seven hits and four earned runs.

 

Stand-in pitching coach Jim Rooney replaced John Curtis for the first time at home this season. Curtis suffered a skull fracture when he was hit by a line drive on the back of his head last weekend. Curtis is said to be recovering but won?t be available for the rest of the season.

 

?The doctors have told me that John is going to be fine and he is going to recover and be at 100 percent,? said Rooney.

 

?As for the game, it?s just that sometimes you are going to have off days. The key is how quickly you can make the adjustments. That was the rough part of the night, that really no adjustments were made.?

 

The Power continues its four-game home series against the Legends tonight. Left-hander Derek Miller will make his first home start for West Virginia while righty Evan Englebrook (7-4, 4.12) will counter for Lexington. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 (6:05 Central).

[Mass Haas]

If you go to the Helena web site, you'll learn the story about the H-Crew's floral Hawaiian "Tuesday" jerseys, and can learn about bidding on one, part of a season-long attempt to raise money for charity:

 

www.helenabrewers.net/html2/index.php

 

http://www.helenabrewers.net/html2/images/Misc038.jpg

[ThePurpleStorm]

Holy Cow! Cruz and Fielder with monster nights. Awesome to see. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...005081214/

 

New Power pitching coach settles in

Michael Dailey

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

As the Milwaukee Brewers' minor league pitching instructor, Jim Rooney is already very familiar with every pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers' system.

 

But because of the season-ending head injury to former West Virginia Power pitching coach John Curtis, Rooney will now concentrate most of his efforts on the 14 current members of the Power pitching staff.

 

Curtis, who was struck in the back of the head by a line drive Saturday in North Carolina, will return to his California home following rehab.

 

Meanwhile, Rooney, who was the Brewers' roving pitching instructor, will empty his suitcase and finish the season as the Power's pitching coach.

 

Fortunately for Rooney, his familiarity with the Power pitching staff should make for a seamless, midseason transition.

 

"As the minor league pitching coordinator, I've worked with each of these guys before," Rooney said. "If it's their second year in the organization, I've been with them for two years. If it's their first year, I've seen them in Helena where I went through a mini camp with them.

 

"Most of all the things that we work on with each individual comes through me. I delegate what's going on, so for the most part, I feel that I've got a pretty good handle on the guys and what they need to continue to work on.

 

"How they react in games to different things, that's going to be new territory. But as far as what they throw, how they throw and how they're supposed to do it, most of it already goes through me during the course of the year."

 

Power hurler Josh Wahpepah agreed.

 

"It's basically just having our boss above our pitching coach here all the time," said Wahpepah, a third-round pick in 2004. "We all know him. He comes around during the season anyway. We know him and he knows us. It's not really an adjustment at all.

 

"There's nothing bad that could come out of it, really."

 

Nothing bad, except for nights like Thursday evening at Appalachian Power Park, where Lexington hitters battered Power pitching for 18 hits en route to an easy 12-1 win.

 

A Thursday "Buck Night" crowd of 4,208 looked on as the Power dropped to 24-21, while the Legends improved to 25-20.

 

On nights like that, there's nothing good about having your boss looking on from the dugout steps.

 

Power starter Eric Thomas (0-1) took the loss in allowing four runs and seven hits and 2 2/3 innings.

 

Wahpepah allowed five hits and two runs in 2 1/3 innings, before giving way to Justin Barnes in the sixth inning. Barnes allowed six hits, including three ninth inning homers, and six runs in four innings on the mound.

 

"Overall, for the three guys that threw, their fastball command was poor," Rooney said. "It was below average and not acceptable. That's what happens in situations like that."

 

"Eric Thomas is in a rehab situation coming back from Tommy John surgery. He's been getting stronger and doing very well, but he just had an off night tonight.

 

Sometimes that happens when you're doing rehab.

 

"Wahpepah is a warrior. He's just kind of tired right now and worn out. It's a long season.

 

"And we needed Barnes to go in and give us four innings and that's what we got."

 

Drew Sutton led Lexington, banging out a pair of solo homers.

 

Beau Torbert, Ryan Reed, Mitch Einertson, Lou Santangelo and Francisco Caraballo each collected three hits.

 

Reed, Santangelo and Caraballo each smacked ninth inning homers.

 

For the Power, Will Lewis led an eight-hit attack with a pair of singles, while Hasan Rasheed added an RBI single.

[JoeHova]

Thanks Homer and Mass for the RS/RA info. Interesting stuff.