Link Report for Wed. 7/6 -- Brad Nelson a Walk-Off Blast

[Mass Haas]

Adam McCalvy at MLB.com:

 

Double-A Huntsville pitchers Manny Parra and Dennis Sarfate have spent more time than they'd like of late in the training room.

 

Parra missed a start on Tuesday because of lingering discomfort in his left shoulder, a problem that dates to last season. Parra was in Milwaukee for an MRI earlier this season but, according to player development director Reid Nichols, doctors saw only normal wear.

 

"Every pitcher has a little wear and tear in there. We'll know more once the doctors have a chance to look at it and we can all sit down," Nichols said. "There's something minor in there. He's been able to pitch with it so far and it doesn't appear to be serious."

 

Parra is 5-6 with a 3.96 ERA this season. He is one of the Brewers' top left-handed pitching prospects.

 

Sarfate, who is 7-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 17 starts, left his last start after walking a hitter to open the seventh inning.

 

"It's a first-time thing," Nichols said. "It's not serious."

 

We've since learned that Sarfate is battling a bit of a blister issue -- Mass Haas

[Mass Haas]

Final, Game Two: Nashville 9, New Orleans (Nationals) 6

Home, road, just doesn't matter for this very successful group -- huge comeback tonight...

 

Nashville Game Two Box Score:

Nice work for Clint Weibl and Mike Adams spelling Ben Hendrickson; Nelson Cruz with a monster doubleheader...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_2

 

Nashville Game Two Game Log:

Sounds now 11 games over .500 -- look for the always detailed Nashville site summary in the AM...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_2

[Rightomac13]

Ouch, not a good night for Prince Fielder. a big 0 FOR 8 with 4 strikeoutshttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eek.gif

[huntsvillefan]

On the Stars broadcast tonight they said that TGJ is going to DH on the All Star team (honest). I wonder if there'll ever be a DH anywhere with a lower SLG %?

[PeaveyFury]

So Nelson Cruz went 4/6 with 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases on the day? Good grief... .435 average in a small sample, but wow.

[hsvstarsfan]

Nellie in the Night

"We Wanna Win Wednesday"...... The angle here was fans get to see Thursday's game free with their ticket stub if the Stars win, for which a debt of gratitude goes to Brad Nelson....... Problem is, there weren't many fans to take advantage of the good fortune tonight....... It rained throughout the game, sending the majority of fans who were there to the upper rows of the stadium to stay dry. I counted only 16 umbrellas below from where I sat........ Most "fans" in this city will only see a game under the most perfect of weather conditions, so under those conditions, the promotion was a failure. The rain resulted in the lowest attendance for a game since May 2, when the Stars kicked off a disastrous losing streak with a 6-1 loss to Mississippi.

The few who stayed saw one of the best games of the season....... In fact, it will come in somewhere on my top ten list at the end....... The wind blowing out to left ushered five home runs over the wall, one of them, a 415-foot shot by Enrique Cruz in the 8th that tied the game....... One out earlier, Vinny Rottino blasted one that landed in front of the scoreboard on the fly........ But if defense is what you like to see, you got it. The Stars weren't all thumbs tonight.

They cut down a lead runner in scoring position on six different occasions...... Darren Blakely was cut down at third on a fielder's choice by Cruz after Blakely reached on an Guilder Rodriguez's error in the 2nd, and then cut down at home in the 4th on a sacrifice fly attempt. Then to end the 4th, Chris Stewart was erased on a close play to end the inning, when Guilder pranced over with an outstretched glove behind the bag at second to cut off a hard hopper up the middle. With no chance to get the hitter, G. Rod made an accurate, if not risky throw on the run to third. Nelson Castro was able to tag him out on a close play....... In the 6th, Josh Fields was erased by Khalid Ballouli on a stolen base attempt, which seemed more like a missed signal on his part........ The most important defensive play, though it may not have seemed so at the time, came in the Barons' 2-run 9th in which they retook the lead, 5-4....... Mitch Stetter was looking for his 9th save with two out in the 9th, when with runners on the corners, Ryan Sweeney lined a 1-0 pitch off the right field wall to drive them in. Josh Fields followed up by lining a pitch to Brad Nelson for a one-hop single. Nelson's throw home was right on the money and Sweeney, representing an insurance run, barrelled into catcher John Vanden Berg, but Vandy held onto the ball, holding it up for home plate ump Jeff Latter to see.

Preventing that run allowed Nelson his hero moment....... The Stars had never this season won a game when it trailed after seven innings........ Thrity-seven times.

Tony Gwynn struck out to lead off the Stars' 9th, extending his slump going back to the Stars' last off-day to 2-for-25. Gwynn is hitting .226 in the second half and is .215 as a leadoff hitter. Batting in the #2 slot, he's .304....... Guilder Rodrigez kept hope alive by lining the first pitch he saw for a single to left. He was forced out at second by Vinny Rottino, whose speed prevented a double play from ending the game....... But it's never over till it's over in baseball. I told the guy next to me, "All we need is a two-run homer, and Brad Nelson is just the person you want right now."........ On a 2-0 pitch, Nelson cranked one high to left, into the rain, catching the wind enough to propel it over the Yellow Pages sign in left field........ There was no energy from the stands over it. About half the sparse crowd had left in the 7th with the Barons commanding a 3-1 lead. Play-by-play voice Brett Pollock made up for it though at the mike....... The Stars are now 4-4 in games decided in the last at-bat.

The two solo home runs given up tonight by David Bradley were as many as he gave up in April and May combined. Bradley made the All-Star team, replacing WT's Talley Haines, who only a little more than a month ago, had been released by the Red Sox organization...... Brandon Gemoll's average is going up with the oil prices. After a 2-for-4 night, he's now at a season-high .269. That's second-best to Rottino's second-half .400 average (.35http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/glasses.gif and with 14 games played this half, he has more RBIs (15) than all of June and more than April and May combined......... Brad Nelson, still proving he's overclassed for this level, is 13-for-26 with 7 RBIs in as many games....... The Brewers, sensitive about the problems they've had keeping their best pitching prospects healthy, are keeping quiet about the condition of Manny Parra's shoulder, according to radio voice Brett Pollock........ Ryan Miller pitched an inning as the starter in tonight's Arizona Rookie League game with the AZL Cubs. He gave up a run on two hits, but the Brewers won on the strength of a 10-run inning on the way to a 16-8 clubbing. It was Miller's 2nd game in his rehab assignment there......... The Brewers' #1 draft choice Ryan Braun has been promoted to the West Virginia Power. Braun was hitting .341 for Helena (Pioneer), 13th best in the league.

The lineups have been announced for the Southern League All-Star Game in Mobile set for next week and Tony Gwynn will start, batting in his more successful #2 slot in the order. The Northern All-Stars will be managed by Tennessee skipper Tony Perezchica. The Southern All-Stars by former Stars second-baseman and manager Gary Jones:........ The starting pitchers will be Ricky Nolasco (8-0, 2.71) of the Diamond Jaxx and Mobile's Mike Thompson (5-6, 3.32), the league-leader in innings pitched........ Nolasco is the SL's strikeout leader, 4th among ERA leaders.

[Mass Haas]

There was no energy from the stands over it. About half the sparse crowd had left in the 7th with the Barons commanding a 3-1 lead. Play-by-play voice Brett Pollock made up for it though at the mike.......

 

Yes, David Weiser, I agree -- awesome call; it was a chill-up-your-spine moment, and Brett did it justice nicely. Memo to Stars management -- contact the Sounds front office and work with them on duplicating their audio archiving of play-of-the-game calls and pre-game interviews.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.helenair.com/articles...705_09.txt

 

Katin's slam lifts Brewers over Sox

By TOM COTTON - IR Sports Editor

 

It wasn't the hardest hit ball Brendan Katin has ever smacked, but it was certainly good enough for the Helena Brewers and their right fielder.

 

Katin launched a grand-slam in the seventh inning to lift the Brewers (12-3) to a 10-8 win over Great Falls (5-10) in a Pioneer League contest. The win ended Helena's two-game losing streak and was Katin's first hit in his last six at bats.

 

"I didn't think I got it good, but I did, thank God," the University of Miami graduate said.

 

Katin's hit came after the Brewers had tied the game at six and he had worked the count to 3-1 against Jay Marshall. His shot hugged the leftfield line and hit the foul pole for a home run.

 

"I had been struggling all night long and I just wanted to stay back and hit the ball up the middle," Katin said.

 

Katin's blast was one of three home runs on the night in an offensively-charged ball game. The two teams combined for 29 hits and nine pitchers took to the mound combined.

 

The Brewers were paced by leadoff hitter Darren Ford and No. 2 hitter Charlie Fermaint. The pair combined to go 4-for-7 in the contest. Fermaint drove in three runs.

 

Fermaint, who played for Helena last season, drove in Ford in the first inning with a triple and came home one batter later when Angel Salome hit a ground ball to second base.

 

The duo would both score again in the third when Fermaint launched a home run over left-center field at Kindrick Legion Field.

 

"Ford and Fermaint have done a great job getting on base and creating things all year," said Brewers batting coach Bobby Randall.

 

Great Falls pulled within a run, 4-3, in the third inning on a mammoth blast by Manny Rodriguez that traveled approximately 450 feet and landed on Lyndale Ave. The White Sox broke through in the sixth with a little help from the Brewers defense.

 

Matt Sharp reached on an error and would come home one-batter later when Helena committed two errors on one play. Great Falls second baseman Rolando Acosta hit a single and Fermaint and Salome each uncorked wild throws. Acosta, Sharp and Javier Castillo each came around to score and Great Falls was up 6-4.

 

That score held until the bottom of the seventh when Ford and Salome drove in runs to tie the game before Katin hit his home run.

 

Randall said that the home run gave the Brewers a lift and they showed patience at the plate for the entire frame.

 

"What we did that inning was do a great job laying off pitches," he said.

 

Ryan Marion got his second win of the season for Helena and Matt Nachreiner got the loss for Great Falls.

 

"I think we were well prepared for the first 12 or 13 games," Helena pitching coach Mark Littell said about his staff. "Now I think the other teams are coming up and doing their thing."

 

The win, combined with a Missoula victory over Billings gives Helena a three-game lead in the North Division standings. The two teams will meet tonight at Kindrick-Legion field with Noe Rodriguez pitching for Great Falls and Derek Miller throwing for Helena.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section.../200507071

 

Legends defeat Power 7-4

By Jay Srinivasan

For the Charleston Gazette

 

West Virginia Power shortstop Alcides Escobar casually ambled across the infield and watched the ground ball pop out of his glove. From that point on, the match popped out of the Power?s hands.

 

Quelling a sixth-inning rally by the Power, the Lexington Legends registered a 7-4 victory in front of 3,725 fans Wednesday night at the Appalachian Power Park.

 

Power manager Ramon Aviles blamed his bullpen for the defeat.

 

?We are having trouble in the bullpen,?? said Aviles. ?They are not doing a good job. I thought the pitching overall wasn?t good tonight. We are swinging the bat. We got 12 hits. We are just not hitting with men in scoring position.??

 

The Legends took the lead in the top of the third. Beau Torbert reached on Escobar?s error, stole second and scored on Bryan Triplett?s double. A two-run double by J.R. Towles made it 3-0. An Ole Sheldon home run to left-center field off Mark Rogers in the fourth increased the Legends? lead to 4-0.

 

The Power cut it to 4-1 in the sixth on a Josh Brady RBI single after Grant Richardson walked and Hasan Rasheed singled to left field. With runners on first and second base, Josh Murray crushed a three-run homer to tie the score at 4.

 

Brian Montalbo replaced an ineffective Rogers after 4 2/3 innings. But he fared no better.

 

After throwing a wild pitch to Towles in the seventh, almost starting a fight, Montalbo gave up two more hits, allowing the Legends to go ahead 5-4. In the eighth, second baseman Clint McGill hit a two-out triple to right field to make it a 6-4 Legends lead, chasing Montalbo in the process.

 

A triple by Towles and a sacrifice fly by Kevin Vital off reliever Justin Barnes in the ninth put the Legends on top 7-4.

 

The Power responded with three more hits in the seventh and eighth innings, but failed to capitalize. Legends reliever Ryan Thompson then pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

 

Lexington?s Andrew Alvarado (2-0) threw 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one earned run for the victory, while Thompson pitched 2 1/3 innings, striking out three and allowing just one hit. For the Power, Montalbo (1-5) took the loss, permitting three hits and two earned runs while fanning one.

 

The Power next plays a two-game road series against Hagerstown (Md.) starting at 7:05 tonight (6:05 Central).

 

Notes: The Power made a few changes to its roster Wednesday.

 

Third baseman Ryan Braun, the Brewers? first-round draft pick in June, was added along with pitchers Eric Thomas and Steve Hammond. All three players moved up from Helena (Mont.) of the rookie Pioneer League.

 

Braun, a standout from the University of Miami (Fla.), was hitting .324 with two homers and 10 RBIs in nine games. The right-hander Hammond posted a 1-0 record with a 1.06 ERA and struck out 23 in 17 innings and southpaw Thomas had an 0-1 mark with a 2.53 ERA while holding opponents to a .167 batting average.

 

Right-hander Forrest Martin was promoted to high Class A Brevard County (Fla.) while righty Dave Johnson and third baseman Tony Festa headed to the disabled list.

 

Power shortstop Alcides Escobar comes down with a high throw as Lexington?s Beau Torbert slides in safely at second base.

Charleston Gazette Photographer: Kenny Kemp

 

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/images/stories/p1.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site Doubleheader Summary:

 

Cruz Stars As Sounds Sweep Twinbill From Z's

METAIRIE, La. ? The first-place Nashville Sounds recorded their first doubleheader sweep in nearly two years on Wednesday evening, defeating the New Orleans Zephyrs, 5-3 and 9-6, in a pair of seven-inning contests at Zephyr Field.

 

With the wins, Nashville (49-38) maintained its 4½ game lead in the PCL American Conference Northern Division and improved to a season-best 11 games over .500. The twinbill sweep was the Sounds? first since taking two from Albuquerque on July 31, 2003 at Greer Stadium.

 

The never-say-die Sounds capped off the evening with their 17th last at-bat victory of the season, recovering from a 6-1 deficit to post a 9-6 win over the Zephyrs with three seventh-inning runs in the nightcap.

 

Sounds outfielder Nelson Cruz was the star of the evening, finishing a combined 4-for-6 with four runs scored, two stolen bases, one RBI, and a homer over the course of the two contests to extend his hitting streak to seven games (each of his contests played with Nashville).

 

All-Star outfielder Corey Hart extended his career-best hitting streak to 14 games with a 1-for-3 effort in the opener that included his team-leading 27th double of the season. He did not play in the nightcap.

 

Cruz put the Sounds on the board in the opener by belting his third home run for Nashville and 19th overall tater of the season, a second-inning solo shot off New Orleans starter Brian Powell.

 

Sounds shortstop Steve Scarborough, who finished 2-for-3 in the opener, added his ninth home run of the year later in the frame, a two-run shot to up the advantage to 3-0.

 

The recently-improved Nashville defense made only one error in the opener but it was a costly mistake. Third baseman Tony Zuniga committed a two-out throwing error in the fourth that allowed the Zephyrs to plate a pair of runs and pull within 4-2. New Orleans made it a one-run game in the fifth when Brandon Watson scored on a Tyrell Godwin groundout.

 

Corey D. Hart recorded his first Nashville hit in the sixth, slapping a pinch-hit single, before scoring the final run of the contest on Warren Morris? RBI single, which snapped a season-high 18 at-bat hitless funk for the second baseman.

 

Gary Glover (2-0) continued his string of solid performances for the Sounds, picking up the victory after allowing three runs (only one earned) over five innings of work. Kane Davis matched his season high with five strikeouts during his 1 2/3 scoreless frames of relief before Jeff Bennett came on to record the final out to earn his team-leading tenth save of the year.

 

Things got off to a sloppy start in the nightcap for Nashville as Sounds fielders committed a trio of errors in the bottom of the first inning, resulting in two unearned runs for New Orleans. Nashville got an unearned run of their own in the second when Cruz, who had singled, scored on Mike Rivera?s sacrifice fly to make the score 2-1.

 

Cruz continued his solid evening with an outstanding diving catch of a Josh Labandeira liner in right in the bottom of the second, robbing the Zephyrs shortstop of a base hit.

 

New Orleans infielder Rick Short increased the home club?s advantage to 3-1 with an RBI single in the third before ex-Sound Kevin Orie padded the cushion with a three-run homer off Sounds starter Ben Hendrickson. The blast, which put the Z?s ahead by a 6-1 count, was the veteran?s 13th home run of the season and first in a New Orleans uniform.

 

The Sounds rallied to make a game of it in the top of the fourth, plating four runs in the frame to reduce the lead to one. Morris cut the lead to 6-3 with a pinch-hit, two-run single. With the knock, the infielder improved his average to .500 (10-for-20) with runners in scoring position this season. New Orleans starter Chad Durbin followed with a wild pitch that allowed Zuniga to score and pulled the Sounds within a pair. Dave Krynzel greeted Zephyrs reliever Travis Hughes with an RBI single through the right side to plate Morris.

 

Cruz was a one-man show in tying the contest in the fifth. After leading off by drawing a walk from Hughes, he stole second then stole third and came home on a Hughes throwing error to tie the score and make it a new ballgame at 6-6.

 

Cruz opened the seventh with a single off Zephyrs reliever C.J. Nitkowski and moved to third on a Zuniga single to right. Rivera gave the Sounds their first lead of the nightcap when his RBI single up the middle scored Cruz to put Nashville ahead, 7-6. The Sounds plated a pair of runs later in the frame on a throwing error by Labandeira to up the lead to 9-6.

 

Reliever Mike Adams (3-1) earned the nightcap victory with two scoreless innings of work for Nashville. Nitkowski (1-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs in his lone inning of work. The southpaw has struggled against the Sounds in his career, falling to 1-5 in 13 appearances against Nashville with the defeat.

 

The teams wrap up the four-game set with a 7:05 p.m. finale on Thursday evening at Zephyr Field. It will be a battle of southpaws as Nashville?s Jeff Housman (3-7, 5.62) takes the hill to face Matt White (3-3, 3.34) of the Zephyrs. It will be the teams? last of 16 meetings during the 2005 season.

[ja002h]

So Nelson Cruz went 4/6 with 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases on the day? Good grief... .435 average in a small sample, but wow.

 

Between Cruz and Hart (and Nelson), Jenkins must be hearing the footsteps.

[Brian the Automator]

[ So Nelson Cruz went 4/6 with 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB, 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases on the day? Good grief... .435 average in a small sample, but wow. ]

 

He also rescued a kitten from a tree, ran a four minute mile, and beat super mario brothers in a minute and a half.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Nelson's shot gives Stars boost

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

0-for-37, turned around. Then turned into "oh, no." Then turned, on one quick swing of the bat by Brad Nelson, into "oh, wow!''

 

Nelson, a Southern League All-Star last season who was demoted last week from Triple-A, hit a one-out, opposite-field walk-off homer in the ninth, giving the Stars a dramatic 6-5 win over Birmingham on an otherwise dreary, drizzly evening.

 

When Nelson made contact, he looked up to follow the ball for an instant as he began to trot to first.

 

"I saw the left fielder going back, and I thought 'No way,' '' Nelson said.

 

It was a no way kind of night for the Stars.

 

No way they could come back from an early deficit, according to history. No way they could lose a lead. No way they could come back.

 

No way, the stats say, Nelson is a mere Double-A hitter. He has hit safely in six of his seven games and reached base on 19 of 29 plate appearances. Nelson is batting .500, with two homers and seven RBIs.

 

"If I'm going to get back (to Triple-A), I've got to do the job here,'' Nelson said, standing in the ramp leading to the Stars' clubhouse, still receiving congratulations from his teammates.

 

The Stars, who had mustered only one run in the two previous games against Birmingham in this series, were 0-for-37 this year when trailing after seven innings.

 

But they erased a 3-1 Birmingham edge in the eighth on homers by Vinny Rottino and Enrique Cruz, and a clutch two-out Nelson Castro single, doubling in a hustling Brandon Gemoll, who had stretched a single into a double.

 

Enter All-Star reliever Mitch Stetter, normally as safe as Fort Knox. He gave up two mild singles, then got two outs.

 

Enter Birmingham's Ryan Sweeney, who had previously struck out three times. He slammed a two-run, two-out ninth-inning double off the fence in right field for the 5-4 lead.

 

No matter.

 

The Stars had one rally remaining, started when Guilder Rodriguez singled with one out in the ninth, then ended with Nelson's exclamation point.

 

David Bradley, the Swiss army knife of the Huntsville pitching staff, had seemingly toiled in anonymity until two days ago, when somebody noticed enough to add him to the Southern League all-star team.

 

Alas, this, his fourth start, was the most troublesome. He gave away a run in the first with a walk and error, then gave up a third-inning homer to Chris Young.

 

He got out of further damage when right fielder Kennard Bibbs threw out Darren Blakely at home, where there was a nifty, clean, old-school, runner-maim-the-catcher collision. John Vanden Berg may have lost the collision, but won the battle when he held onto the throw for the out.