Link Report for Tuesday, August 9th -- A Power Lunch

[Katuluu]

I'm very interested to see what happens with how the promotions of Heether and Braun are handled. I know a lot of people on these boards are advocating bumping Braun up to Huntsville next year, but then what do you do with Adam who's had a fantastic year and deserves to be starting in Huntsville?

[H0FFY]

I think you put Heether at AA and see what happens. If he stumbles you are hoping that Braun will be hardened by his A+ time. If either guy does well we are laughing. If both do well, what the heck, we can double laugh.

[colbyjack]

Interesting thought on Richardson being part of the reason Braun, Escobar and Iribarren all having the error totals that they do despite getting high reviews for their defense from those that have seen them first-hand. However, I think the comparison to Billy Hall probably speaks more truth. We've all seen Hall make the spectacular play, and we've all seen him boot the one he should make 100% of the time. The same goes for Rickie Weeks.

 

Robin Yount commited something like 44 errors his rookie year, whle Derek Jeter had 56 or so errors in the minor leagues. While Jeter isn't as good defensively as his reputation has carried him, but he still is plenty good enough to stay at SS. In other words, I don't want to make too many excuses for our minor leaguers, but at the same time they are playing at low-A ball and have plenty of time to get better.

 

As for Heether & Braun both possibly playing 3B at Huntsville next year, in no way, shape or form do you let the presence of Heether affect where you put Braun next year. Don't get me wrong, I like Heether and think he could contribute at the MLB level down the road even if it is for a cup of coffee. However, the money is invested in Braun, and the more I hear about him the more I get excited about him.

 

And it may actually be a blessing for Heether, who may be better served to expand his versatility. He's athletic enough to learn to play a corner OF spot, along with seeing some time at 1B. The DH will also allow Heether & Braun to co-exist in the same lineup.

 

My night feels incomplete with no Helena box score to look forward to...

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 8, Salt Lake (Angels) 5

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

 

SALT LAKE CITY ? Prince Fielder and Corey Hart each homered to lead the first-place Nashville Sounds to an 8-5 victory over the Salt Lake Stingers on Tuesday evening at Franklin Covey Field.

 

With the win, Nashville (65-52) extended its division lead to a season-best eight games over Memphis.

 

Every Sounds batter except Corey D. Hart recorded a hit, led by three-hit evenings from Julio Mosquera and Steve Scarborough.

 

The Sounds took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on Scarborough?s two-out, two-run single that plated Fielder and Mosquera.

 

Nashville doubled the lead to 4-0 with another two-out knock in the third ? Tony Zuniga?s two-run double that scored both of the Sounds? Corey Harts.

 

Salt Lake pulled within a run at 4-3 with a three-run fifth against Sounds starter Wes Obermueller. Chris Prieto?s two-out, two-run single highlighted the scoring.

 

The Sounds scored a single run in each of the final four frames to pull comfortably ahead.

 

Chris Barnwell produced an RBI single in the sixth before reigning PCL Batter-of-the-Week Corey Hart belted his 17th home run of the year, a solo blast to left off Stingers reliever Jake Woods in the seventh.

 

Ryan Knox plated Mosquera with an eighth-inning RBI single, then Fielder capped off the evening with his team-leading 25th home run of the year in the ninth, a leadoff solo shot to right off Greg Jones. The 25 dingers are tied for 10th-best in a single season in Sounds history.

 

Salt Lake rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth against Sounds reliever Jeff Bennett to bring the score to its final 8-5.

 

Obermueller (3-0) picked up a win in his third consecutive start after holding Salt Lake to three runs on five hits over his five innings of action. Stingers starter Clayton Andrews (6-7) absorbed the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits over five frames.

 

The teams meet in the third game of the series at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday evening. Right-hander Gary Glover (4-2, 2.79) toes the rubber for Nashville to square off against Stingers right-hander Evan Thomas (5-2, 7.69).

 

AUDIO: Bennett Strikes Out The Final Batter

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%208-9.mp3

 

Nashville Box Score:

Steve Scarborough red-hot -- if not for a 40-man roster crunch, he'd be a fine September bench choice for the Crew, and some organization will scoop up the minor league free agent quickly this fall...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_slcaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_slcaaa_1

[Katuluu]

Fielder's BA up to .274 now, is that high enough for people to stop complaining about it?

[huntsvillefan]

Final: Mobile (Padres) 14, Huntsville 3, 7 1/2 innings, rain

They say the rain stopped it, but it was more likely the mercy rule...

 

Not that it matters, but it actually went the full 9, and for some reason I sat through each and every one of them. I think it was the same sort of morbid fascination that some people get from watching a train wreck.

This is an incredibly poor team, even by last year's dismal standards. At times watching them in the field is like looking at some sort of baseball still life. I have seldom seen pitchers get less help from a defense

Of those with talent, the lucky ones like Cruz & Eveland were permitted to escape to somewhere where a game resembling baseball was actually played, the unlucky ones like Sarfate were left to be tortured and pulled down into the parody of the game currently practiced in Huntsville.

I just feel so sorry for the few guys on this team who have legitimate hopes of some sort of baseball career.

[batman]

Fielder's BA up to .274 now, is that high enough for people to stop complaining about it?

 

Just 'cause it's interesting, Overbay is now hitting .276.

 

Hmm.

 

~Bill

[Katuluu]

I think too many people were spoiled by Weeks, but Fielder is having a ridiculously dominant season for a 21yo at AAA. And in a pitcher's park no less.

 

Excuse me while I mop up my drool.

[H0FFY]

Poor huntsvillefan. Just wait until next year. Your crops will be renewed and an abundant harvest will blossom. Either that or the locus will eat all our prospects.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.news-record.com/apps/...EWSREC0205

 

Surging Power upends Hoppers

By Bill Hass

Greensboro News-Record Staff Writer

 

GREENSBORO -- One of the quirky things about the low minor leagues is the split season.

 

Fortunes can turn for better or worse from one half to another, and a prime example is the West Virginia Power.

 

In the first half of the South Atlantic League season, the Power suffered through a 25-45 record. But in the second half, infused with some new blood, West Virginia has turned things around.

 

Following a 5-3 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Tuesday afternoon at First Horizon Park, the Power improved to 24-20 in the second half. They took the final three games of the series after dropping the opener Saturday.

 

"Even though we had a tough first half, we always stayed positive with the players," said manager Ramon Aviles. "We had a meeting after every game. We'd mention the things to correct and tell them what they were doing good, and if they kept doing good things they would win some games."

 

Hoppers manager Brandon Hyde, whose club is 18-26 in the second half, agreed the current Power bears little resemblance to the first-half club.

 

"They swing the bats well, they're aggressive, they run well and have some guys in the middle of the order who can hurt you," Hyde said.

 

One of those is Ryan Braun, drafted in the first round by the Milwaukee Brewers in June, the fifth player selected overall. The University of Miami alumnus had a pair of doubles and drove in two runs Tuesday to finish the series 10-for-17 with eight RBIs.

 

Another new player who wasn't around for the first half is catcher Angel Salome, a fifth-round choice from 2004. He made an excellent play on a popped foul bunt by Steve Gendron, diving to make a full-extension catch in the bottom of the eighth.

 

"That was an outstanding play," said Hyde, a former catcher. "He's very athletic."

 

Pitcher Kevin Roberts, appearing in only his third game, contributed by throwing five excellent innings in relief Tuesday. Jai Miller greeted him with a long home run, the second of his three hits, but that was all Roberts allowed.

 

Roberts got out of a jam in the bottom of the ninth, freezing J.T. Restko on a 3-and-2 breaking ball for a called third strike to end the game, leaving runners on second and third.

 

It was the second straight game in which the Hoppers took a called third strike to end it.

 

"We want the hitters to be aggressive with runners in scoring position," Hyde said, "especially early in the count. Hopefully, they'll be able to make that adjustment, if not this year, then down the road."

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Two Big Frames Propel Mobile to Win

Corey Smith collected four hits and knocked in two runs and Steve Baker totaled three hits and three runs batted to pace a 16-hit attack in Mobile?s 14-3 win over Huntsville Tuesday night at Joe Davis Stadium. The BayBears improved to 17-24 in the second half of the season and won their fifth straight game over the Stars, who lost their fifth straight game to drop to 19-20 in the second half and 25-33 at home. Huntsville suffered an 11-run loss for the second time this year, having lost 11-0 to West Tenn on July 2.

 

The Stars got on the board in the home first on a run-scoring single by Brad Nelson and a run-scoring ground out by Vinny Rottino. The BayBears tied the game in the top of the second inning on a Joe Gerber double that knocked in a run and a wild pitch by Huntsville starter Dennis Sarfate that plated Gerber. It was Sarfate?s staff-high 11th errant pitch of the season.

 

Brian Burgamy singled home Peeter Ramos with two outs in the fourth to put Mobile ahead to stay at 3-2 before George Kottaras doubled home a pair of runs to extend the lead to 5-2. Smith followed with a single that scored Kottaras and spelled the end of the night for Sarfate, who suffered his eighth loss of the year and second against Mobile. Steve Baker greeted Brian Wolfe with a triple to chase home Smith and came around to score on a double by Ronnie Merrill that capped off the fourth six-run inning allowed by Huntsville this season.

 

Smith doubled in a run and Baker doubled home a pair to highlight a six-run eighth inning that also saw two runs score on wild pitches and another on a passed ball. Baker finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle and scored twice. Five of the seven Mobile starters who finished the game collected at least two hits and every starter except Kennard Jones, who was thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes after striking out to begin the game, scored at least one run.

 

Brian Whitaker earned his first win over Huntsville in five starts this season. The right-hander, who had appeared in one start and one game in relief for triple-A Portland before being sent back to start Tuesday?s game, allowed three runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. Geoff Jones retired all four hitters he faced and Wilmer Villatoro tossed two scoreless frames to finish off the night.

 

The series concludes Wednesday night with Stars right-hander Glenn Woolard taking the mound against Mobile right-hander Cesar Carillo. Coverage of the game gets underway at 6:50 p.m. central time on ESPN 1450 AM and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Stars stumble in loss to Mobile

Bibbs' two runs only highlight for Huntsville

By SKIP VAUGHN

For The Times skipv@htimes.com

 

Mobile leadoff batter Kennard Jones got Tuesday night's game off to an explosive start against the Huntsville Stars without putting the ball in play.

 

He was ejected by home plate umpire Pete Pederson for protesting a called third strike from Stars pitcher Dennis Sarfate. He argued for a few minutes and kicked at the dirt at home plate before finally leaving.

 

Mobile also had all the fireworks the rest of the way in a 14-3 win over the Stars before an announced crowd of 1,117 at Joe Davis Stadium. The BayBears beat Huntsville for the second straight night while the Stars lost their fifth straight.

 

Sarfate (9-8) went 3 2/3 innings with seven earned runs, eight hits, three walks and three strikeouts. Mobile out-hit Huntsville 16-6; and the Stars committed two errors.

 

"We got bad pitching, bad defense," Stars manager Don Money said. "We take a 2-0 lead and then the pitching falls apart. We make two errors. Pitching was just flatout sour from first guy on. Every day it's something. Today it was just ugly, ugly and ugly."

 

The only bright spot for the Stars was Kennard Bibbs, who tripled and scored twice.

 

"The two six-run innings, that was the difference in the game," BayBears manager Gary Jones said. "I thought the guys swung the bats well. We know Sarfate's got good stuff. We were just fortunate tonight he was a little off with his command. I thought the guys did a good job of being patient and making him work a little bit, getting him to go into some deep counts."

 

The Stars (19-25 in the second half) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Brad Nelson and a run-scoring groundout by Vinny Rottino. Tony Gwynn Jr. and Bibbs scored.

 

The BayBears (17-24) tied the game 2-all in the second when Joe Gerber had an RBI double, advanced to third on Peeter Ramos' bunt single and scored on a wild pitch.

 

Mobile took a 8-2 lead with a six-run fourth. The six hits that inning included a triple by Steve Baker, doubles by George Kottaras and Ronnie Merrill and singles by Gerber, Brian Burgamy and Corey Smith.

 

Bibbs tripled and scored on Brandon Gemoll's groundout for the Stars in the fifth.

[filthyfrog]

I'm very interested to see what happens with how the promotions of Heether and Braun are handled.

 

As colby already mentioned, I think there's plenty of room for both Braun and Heether at Huntsville next year. If Heether is already a good defensive 3B, then he doesn't need to be out there every day as much as Braun does. He can play some OF and 1B and spell Braun at 3B occassionally. And who knows, maybe one of them will show that they deserve a promotion at midseason in which case the problem is solved.

[madtownbrew]

Wow, Fielder now has 25 dingers and 80 rbi's! That's pretty damn impressive, especially when you consider that he missed 3 weeks when called up to the Brewers. Oh, and he was red hot when he got called up, so who knows what his numbers would be had he not been called up. I too need to stop typing to clean up the drool that is now sitting on my desk.

[PeaveyFury]

From the Nashville box score:

 

Hart, C CF

 

Bah? Did I miss something along the way that said they were going to try Hart in CF? If anything, I thought it would be Cruz playing there since they had been experimenting with him a bit.

[DHonks]

peavey, it's no surprise. When I saw him in spring training, I came on here and said he has CF speed, just is terrible at judging flyballs. If he's made strides with tracking balls and getting jumps, he could play a CF in the mold of Brady Clark (ie, avg at best)

[tom40208]

His (Escobar) defense will be fine, he's only 18 years old. You'll find similarities in Derek Jeter at that age with all the errors. Look where he's at. The defense will come. I remember reading an article where Doug Melvin is quoted as saying he could be the best of all the position prospects on that team.

 

By the way, the link report is the highlight of my day

[Brian the Automator]

welcome aboard, tom!