Link Report for Games of Thursday, July 7th

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 49 38 .563 - 25-19 24-19 W4[/b] Memphis 44 42 .512 4.5 23-19 21-23 W3 Iowa 40 47 .460 9.0 25-22 15-25 L1 Omaha 39 48 .448 10.0 14-22 25-26 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 7 6 .538 - 5-5 2-1 L1 [b]Huntsville 8 7 .533 - 3-4 5-3 W1[/b] West Tenn 8 7 .533 - 4-4 4-3 L1 Chattanooga 7 8 .467 1.0 3-5 4-3 W1 Tennessee 6 9 .400 2.0 2-5 4-4 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Brevard County 10 4 .714 - 3-1 7-3 W1[/b] Palm Beach 9 6 .600 1.5 5-3 4-3 W2 St. Lucie 8 6 .571 2.0 3-4 5-2 W2 Vero Beach 8 6 .571 2.0 3-4 5-2 W1 Jupiter 6 8 .429 4.0 5-2 1-6 W1 Daytona 4 11 .267 6.5 3-6 1-5 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delmarva 10 3 .769 - 7-0 3-3 W8 Hickory 9 4 .692 1.0 4-2 5-2 W1 Lakewood 8 5 .615 2.0 5-3 3-2 L2 Lake County 7 6 .538 3.0 4-3 3-3 W2 Greensboro 6 7 .462 4.0 1-2 5-5 W1 Lexington 6 7 .462 4.0 4-4 2-3 W1 [b]West Virginia 5 8 .385 5.0 4-1 1-7 L1[/b] Hagerstown 3 10 .231 7.0 1-3 2-7 L6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Helena 12 3 .800 - 4-1 8-2 W1[/b] Billings 9 6 .600 3.0 2-4 7-2 L2 Great Falls 5 10 .333 7.0 4-6 1-4 L1 Missoula 4 11 .267 8.0 1-8 3-3 W2

Arizona League Standings:

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...mp;lid=121

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

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

Mass Haas · July 7, 2005

Nashville Media Notes for Thursday:

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

Brian the Automator · July 7, 2005

Nelson Cruz with what should have been a stand-up RBI triple, but the ump _competely_ blew the call on the tag at third base.

BrewCrewWS2008 · July 7, 2005

Capellan gives up 2 hits and 2 bb in a 1/3 of an inning for the blown save. The first mistake for him is a big one out of the pen.

High scoring game in Huntsville

Angel and Fermaint go yard, now have 4 a piece!

H0FFY · July 8, 2005

Poor Huntsville. Nashville demote a guy (Pratt) that should have been cut and he promptly causes Huntsville to lose a game and lose the lead in their division.

I wish the Crew would start being more hard on their older under-performers. They should start axing a few to send the message out: this is no longer the relax and who cares franschise. You perform or you are out.

I am not saying one thing BAD about any moral character of any individual. But if you are not a ball player, you are not a ball player. You should be gently shown the door.

Mass Haas · July 8, 2005

Final: New Orleans (Nationals) 3, Nashville 2

Nashville out of Louisiana just in time -- the Zephyrs have had to postpone their entire upcoming weekend series against Iowa because of the threat of Hurricane Dennis...

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Zephyrs Avoid Sweep, Defeat Sounds In Last AB

METAIRIE, La. ? Former Sounds outfielder J.J. Davis belted a game-tying homer to key a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning as the New Orleans Zephyrs scored a 3-2, last at-bat victory over the Nashville Sounds on Thursday evening in the finale of a four-game series at Zephyr Field.

With the loss, Nashville (49-39) failed at its attempt to become the Pacific Coast League?s first 50-game winner and saw its lead over Memphis in the PCL American Conference Northern Division reduced to 3 ½ games.

Nashville starter Jeff Housman turned in his best outing of the season, allowing only one run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts in a season-high seven innings, but took a hard-luck no-decision following Davis? ninth-inning heroics.

Trailing 2-1 in the last of the ninth, Davis tied the contest with a leadoff solo homer to left off Nashville reliever Jose Capellan, the first run allowed by the fireballer in 14.0 relief innings. The blast was Davis? 12th of the year. Zephyrs leadoff hitter Brandon Watson followed with a double to right-center and Brendan Harris was intentionally walked before Melo sacrificed both runners up a base. After issuing an intentional walk to Short to load the bases, Capellan hit shortstop J.J. Labandeira with a pitch to force home the winning run.

The Z's late rally gave Nashville, which has posted 17 wins in the final inning this season, a taste of its own medicine. It was the seventh last AB loss for the Sounds.

Chris Barnwell belted his first home run of the year to spot the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. His one-out solo shot to left off New Orleans starter Matt White ended Nashville?s longest home run drought (142 at-bats).

The Zephyrs quickly tied the contest with a two-out rally in the bottom of the frame. With two down, Juan Melo doubled to right then scored on Rick Short?s RBI single to make it a 1-1 game.

Both offenses remained dormant over the next five innings until Nashville took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh. Prince Fielder led off the frame with a double to left, his first hit in 10 at-bats since rejoining the Sounds. Nelson Cruz followed with an RBI double to right-center to extend his hitting streak to eight games and give the visitors the lead. Cruz appeared to reach third safely on the play but was ruled out by umpire Jason Kiser, a highly-disputed call that cost Nashville a valuable run when Tony Zuniga produced a fly ball to right that would have scored Cruz.

All-Star outfielder Corey Hart had his career-best 14-game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-3 evening that included a walk and three strikeouts.

Zephyrs reliever Bill Bray (1-0) picked up his first victory with a scoreless inning of relief. Capellan (5-3) was saddled with the loss after allowing two runs while retiring only one batter in the decisive ninth.

The Sounds continue their road trip on Friday when they travel to Round Rock, Texas for their first-ever visit to The Dell Diamond, home of the Round Rock Express (AAA-Astros). The franchise joined the PCL in 2005 after moving from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Right-hander Rick Helling (6-3, 4.58) takes the hill for Nashville in the 7:05 p.m. CT series opener on Friday. Round Rock will counter with right-hander Brandon Duckworth (3-2, 4.38).

Nashville Box Score:

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

Nashville Game Log:

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

Mass Haas · July 8, 2005

Link while active, text follows:

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=42723

Branyan enjoys brief trip home

By Terry McCormick, tmccormick@nashvillecitypaper.com

When the Milwaukee Brewers sent third baseman Russell Branyan to Nashville two weeks ago for a rehab assignment from a broken left middle finger, they sent him to a familiar spot.

Branyan had never been a Sound before, but last August he, his wife Jill and their young daughter Kylie relocated to Franklin.

Other than being a Southern boy who likes to hunt and fish and enjoying country music enough to visit the Grand Ole Opry, Branyan has no real ties to the Nashville area, other than it was a good fit for him and his family.

?I?m originally from Georgia, and my wife is from Cleveland, Ohio,? Branyan explained. ?She lived in Atlanta before we got married. She liked the South, and we just talked about moving to a nice neutral area between Georgia and Ohio. I?ve got family in the area in Chattanooga and Asheville, N.C., and for her family, it?s an easy flight to Nashville, so they come down to visit a lot.?

After joining the Sounds on June 27, Branyan played in six games before being called back up by the Brewers Monday.

But coming back to Nashville wasn?t quite the homecoming one might have expected for Branyan, whose wife and family are currently in Cleveland to be near his in-laws. So much for getting the chance to sleep in his own bed for a few nights.

?We bought a place in Ohio, and we leased our house out before we went to spring training,? Branyan said. ?We?re either going to either look for another place down in Nashville, or keep what we?ve got in Cleveland for this upcoming offseason.?

That might not be the only decision the 29-year-old Branyan will have to make this offseason. He is scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the 2005 season.

Branyan, currently hitting .262 with six homers and 19 RBI for the Brewers in 103 at-bats, has always been a big left-handed hitter who has put up good power numbers in a limited amount of plate appearances over the years.

He had 16 homers for Cleveland in just 193 at-bats in 2000, while hitting .238 and had 20 home runs the following year in 315 at-bats for the Indians.

He followed that with a career-high 24 homers in 378 at-bats in 2003, splitting the year between the Tribe and the Cincinnati Reds.

Last season, after opening the year back in Triple-A with the Atlanta Braves organization, the Brewers offered Branyan a return trip to the majors.

And while he longs for the chance to play every day, he realizes too that simply being a big leaguer is plenty rewarding.

?I wish I could have gotten [a chance to play regularly] when I was 22 or 23,? Branyan said. ?I wish it would happen. It hasn?t happened yet. I get in there against the righties for three or four games a week and get 300 at-bats or so. There is a big plus in facing lefties as well as righties. They keep you locked in. They keep you seeing the ball good. They kind of work me out of slumps. If I could face a lefty here and there, it would keep me in line to go after righties. I haven?t been given that opportunity yet.

?You can?t argue when you?re in the big leagues and getting the opportunity to help out a ballclub, whether it?s one game a week or seven.?

And though he hopes his in-season address will stay in Milwaukee, his off-season locale of whether to stay in Franklin or endure the winters in Cleveland to be closer to his wife?s family remains a bit undecided.

?I?ve spent my whole life in the South. ?We?re either going to stay here or go to Cleveland a little bit,? Branyan said.

Mass Haas · July 8, 2005

Final: Birmingham (White Sox) 19, Huntsville 15

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

A Wild, Memorable Night Ends in Barons Victory

Casey Rogowski hit a home run, singled three times and drove in six runs and Josh Fields? two-run home run capped off a six-run eighth-inning rally that carried Birmingham to a wild 19-15 win over Huntsville Thursday night in the final game of a four-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Barons took three out of four to improve to 11-4 in the second half, while the Stars dropped to 8-8 and into third place, one game behind Carolina, which defeated Chattanooga earlier in the night. The three previous games in the set had been decided by a total of four runs and the two teams had combined to score only 16 times.

Khalid Ballouli opened the eighth inning on the hill for the Stars and was taken out with one out and the bases loaded and replaced by Andy Pratt, who was making his first appearance with Huntsville after being optioned from triple-A Nashville. The veteran left-hander walked pinch-hitter Andy Gonzalez to force in Darren Blakely to tie the game at 14. Chris Young drew another bases loaded walk to push pinch-runner Cipriano Garcia across with the go-ahead run. Rogowski followed with a two-run single to finish off his night and Fields then blasted a two-run shot to straight away center field to make it 19-14 Barons. It was the 11th home run of the season for Fields, the reigning Southern League Player of the Week. Ballouli suffered the loss to fall to 3-7 on the season and 1-3 as a reliever, while Ryan Meaux picked up the win to improve to 4-1 by recording five outs and not allowing a run.

Enrique Cruz hit the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth from Dwayne Pollok for a home run, his second in as many nights and 12th of the season, to trim the lead to 19-15. Brandon Gemoll followed with a single for the 41st hit of the game to establish a single game Stars and opponent record for combined hits in a game, breaking the previous mark of 40 set by Huntsville at Charlotte on August 4, 1989. Kennard Bibbs walked with two outs but the game ended when Darren Blakely made a fine running catch on a drive to left field by Tony Gwynn, Jr.

Huntsville tallied seven runs in the third inning to move out to an 11-6 lead and the home team led 13-9 before Rogowski and Ryan Sweeney delivered two-run singles in the seventh to tie the game. Nelson Castro doubled with one out in the home seventh, stole second and scored on a base hit by Jeff Winchester to put the Stars back on top 14-13.

Winchester and Gemoll each finished with four hits to join Nelson Cruz and Tony Zuniga as the only Stars hitters to total four hits in a game this season. Gemoll knocked in five runs with a two-run first inning single and a three-run triple in the seven-run third inning rally. Callix Crabbe singled three times, scored twice, walked twice and knocked in two runs, while Bibbs collected two hits and scored twice. The Stars set season standards for runs and hits in a game and played in the second highest scoring game in league history, falling one run short of the 35 scored in an 18-17 win by Orlando over Huntsville on April 17, 1988.

Blakely totaled three hits, three runs and three runs batted in and Chris Stewart finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, knocking in three runs and scoring twice. Every starting position player for the Barons had at least one hit and scored at least one run.

The Stars open a four-game series at Mississippi Friday night with southpaw Dana Eveland taking the mound against Braves left-hander Matt Coenen. 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.

Huntsville Box Score:

If LHP Ryan Costello is hurting, he needs to speak up -- in his last three starts, he's managed one scoreless inning; the only error of the game hurt -- Enrique Cruz's 25th (!) let to three unearned runs in the Birmingham 7th...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

Huntsville Game Log:

Here's your manwich-sized game log -- digest carefully...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

Mass Haas · July 8, 2005

Final: Brevard County 5, Clearwater (Phillies) 1

This game took place in a black hole -- the Threshers' coverage between audio, team site, and newspaper, is weaker than that of the Manatees, if you can believe that...

Brevard County Box Score:

Tim Dillard -- what can you say, wow; four more Manatees with multiple-hit efforts -- on paper, the lineup is underwhelming, but let's face it, it's not just pitching and defense that's got them in first place this second half...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_clrafx_1

Brevard County Game Log:

With one run in, Brevard had the bases loaded and none out in the first and failed to add on; Dillard worked his way out of a one-out, bases loaded jam in the 6th; two Brian Wolfe walks made things mildly interesting in the 9th...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_clrafx_1

RHP Tim Dillard season-to-date statistics:

The lack of strikeouts may catch up to him outside of Florida's humid air, but we can't remember the last time the kid had a non-quality start -- check out the other ratios...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...pid=457422

Mass Haas · July 8, 2005

Final: Hagerstown (Mets) 7, West Virginia 1, 6.5 innings, rain-shortened

Put it this way -- Ryan Braun and the Helena reinforcements didn't arrive in time to save the Power, at least lineup-wise, anyway...

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

POWER LOSE TO SUNS IN RAIN-SHORTENED GAME

Hagerstown, MD ? The Hagerstown Suns scored in every inning except for two on Thursday night in a rain-shortened contest and went on to beat the Power in seven innings by the final of 7-1. The rain came after the top of the seventh inning making the field unplayable which prevented the teams from completing the game.

Grant Psomas started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when he hit a two-run homer to give the Suns an early lead. Hagerstown added to that lead in the bottom of the third inning when Carlos Gomez hit a solo shot to put the Suns on top 3-0. Russ Triplett hit a run scoring single in the bottom of the fourth inning and two batters later Carlos Gomez drove in two runs on a single to give the Suns a 6-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning Jim Burt added to the Hagerstown lead with an RBI base hit making it 7-0 Suns. The Power scored their only run of the game on Josh Brady?s sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning.

Mike Devaney (5-1) earned the victory, and Greg Kloosterman (3-12) obtained the loss. The Power are 5-9 in the second half after the loss and the Suns move to 4-10 with the win.

The Power will continue the four game series with the Suns in Hagerstown on Friday night. The Power will throw one of their newcomers, RHP Eric Thomas (0-0, 0.00) and the Suns will throw RHP Gabriel Hernandez (6-1, 2.57). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

West Virginia Box Score:

The Power squeezed three errors and a passed ball into six innings of defense; outfielder Adam Mannon was prepared to pitch had the game not been called by rain, apparently...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hagafx_1

West Virginia Game Log:

Even when he earned an out, LHP Greg Kloosterman allowed a hit -- one of those baserunners hit by batted ball plays...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hagafx_1

Cyanogen5 · July 8, 2005

Don't look now but Steve Sollman is heating up...has his average up to almost .280. I am finding it difficult to get overly excited about the Manatee pitching staff. I know they have been lights out, but that is just the problem, everyone has been (except, of course, the lone 40-man roster rep Luis Pena). I want to see them perform at a different place before I believe their stats are for real. I am hoping that they will get a taste of Huntsville this year...just to see if their A+ numbers were influenced environmentally...like a reverse High Desert.

Mass Haas · July 8, 2005

Final: Helena 9, Great Falls (White Sox) 0

Link while active, text follows:

www.helenair.com/articles...805_01.txt

Brewers blast five homers to topple White Sox

By KEVIN SHIVELY - IR Sports Writer

You might feel left out if you're one of the Helena Brewers who didn't hit a home run Thursday night.

If you do, its because you saw base-wraps from five of your teammates on the way to a 9-0 shutout of Great Falls.

The win ended a six game series between the Helena club and the White Sox, with the Brewers winning four of six.

"We're been without a few of our starters this last week," said Helena skipper Ed Sedar, who had three players move up recently. "So we've been looking at a lot of movement in the field. Today we had several players make it known that they want to be starters."

Catcher Brad Wilcutt made that assertion in more ways than one.

Willcutt was 2-for-3 in the game with a double and a three-run homer to jump start Helena's scoring.

"Willcutt looked good at the plate and behind it," said Sedar. "He called the shutout. Anytime a pitching staff does that well, the catcher has something to do with it."

The Helena pitching had a worth-mentioning day as well.

Derek Miller started the game and retired the first fifteen batters he faced. Miller didn't allow a single baserunner in the first five innings, and when he finally gave up a hit in the sixth, the Helena defense turned a double play to sit him down.

The Helena ace collected his first win and definitely drew some attention, throwing only 55 pitches through five.

Miller struck out six in his six-inning stint on the mound.

"Our pitching was outstanding tonight," said Sedar. "All three guys looked great."

Wilfrido Laureano and Luis Bernal joined Miller on the mound, and the trio only allowed a combined five hits.

After Willcutt's three-run job in the third, leadoff batter Darren Ford hit an inside-the-park home run off the centerfield wall. Centerfielder Evan Tartaglia just missed the catch at the wall, and by the time he could recover the ball, the speedy Ford was almost to third.

Kenny Holmberg hit a solo shot in the fourth, and Charlie Fermaint and Angel Salome had back-to-back knocks in the sixth.

The Brewers, who lead the Pioneer League with a 13-3 record will face off against the Billings Mustangs (10-6) in Billings tonight at 7:05 p.m (8:05 Central).

Helena Box Score:

Six more walks drawn in addition to all the slugging; Charlie Fermaint on base three of four plate appearances; nearly all of the position players with OPS above .900 and showing little sign of slowing down -- even in the Big Sky air, that's impressive; draft-and-follow LHP Derek Miller could be bumped to West Virginia or even Brevard County soon -- the University of Vermont and Tommy John surgery grad will be 24 in November...

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

Helena Game Log:

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

Mass Haas · July 8, 2005

I am hoping that they will get a taste of Huntsville this year...just to see if their A+ numbers were influenced environmentally...like a reverse High Desert.

Keep in mind Ty Taubenheim is now in Huntsville...

Cyanogen5 · July 8, 2005

Quote:
Keep in mind Ty Taubenheim is now in Huntsville

I saw that after I posted...this is good news for sure. Hopefully he can keep up his dominant ways, although I am a little concerned about the vast difference in the amount of innings he is throwing this year as compared to last. I wonder why Villanueva wasn't the first one called up? I will have to check their ages.

bork · July 8, 2005

How much longer before Costello gets sent back to Brevard County and someone else gets a chance in Huntsville? Give Habel a shot if they don't want to promote Villaneuva yet.

gregmag · July 8, 2005

Has Charlie Fermaint discovered the strike zone? Tiny sample, but he has walked 7 times (against 11Ks) in 52 ABs. Then there`s Salome, who, in addition to everything else, doesn`t strike out. Wow.

Capellan`s hiccup in Nashville obscured a hell of a start by Jeff Housman. It`s only one game, and he has been awful this year, but at every level he seems to go through an adjustment period and then start mowing people down. I`d say it`s worth staying tuned.

Re: the Huntsville game, I`m not sure I`ve ever seen a 19-15 game in the Brewers` system that contained less interesting news -- good or bad -- about our prospects.

Greg.

molitor fan · July 8, 2005

leadoff batter Darren Ford hit an inside-the-park home run off the centerfield wall. Centerfielder Evan Tartaglia just missed the catch at the wall, and by the time he could recover the ball, the speedy Ford was almost to third.

Ford sounds like more fun than a barrel of monkeys.....Raul Duke or others, could you give a first hand account of Ford's speed, cause he sounds like the kid from that The Incredibles movie.

brewmann04 · July 8, 2005

Also Heeter is Heating up at 3rb base very nice to see

clancyphile · July 8, 2005

His WHIP is just under 1.00

Who cares about strikeouts? He's just efficiently dominating the hitters. And he doesn't give up gopher balls, either. He'll be fine. Heck, I think he and Villanueva could be aces down the road.

clancyphile · July 8, 2005

gregmag

He's also kinda young for AAA (23, IIRC). Two years older than Prince, and with plenty of options left.

ja002h · July 8, 2005

he sounds like the kid from that The Incredibles movie.

That's begging for a nickname bestowal. Darren Ford, I christen thee - Dash.

Cyanogen5 · July 8, 2005

I love it!! Dash it is.

Link Report for Games of Thursday, July 7th

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