Link Report for Thurs. 6/23 - Opening Day Arizona Box Score

[clancyphile]

Vanden Berg: 18 walks in 103 ABs. Plus a .262 average, and his 8th double...

 

Not bad for a guy with sporadic playing time. I'm pretty sure he's going to be good as a #2 catcher. He's Chad Moeller's replacement in 2007. Possibly sooner.

[Katuluu]

I'm wondering how much more Corey needs to do to force his way to Milwaukee. He's been lights out for a while now.

[SoCalBrewfan]

By the way, Corey Hart's only 4-for-5 thus far tonight for Nashville, with two doubles and a triple.

 

God, that kid has done nothing but produce his entire career.

 

Can we save Al the trouble and insert his usual comment here?

[brettac1]

He must have that elbow thing fixed.

[Katuluu]

I still think my usage of it in the Gagne thread was the best so far.

 

But I'm biased.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Among the many amazing things in that 12-run inning: Nelson Cruz, the offensive star of the team, hits into a DP then Ks to end the inning.

 

After three games there looks to be very little room on the Salome bandwagon...perhaps the Gamel bandwagon can spare some seats. (Small sample blah blah blah...please don't take this seriously as I expect Gamel will be fine.)

[Katuluu]

I think even EDR may have abandoned the Fermaint bandwagon.

[clancyphile]

Katuluu

 

A good question. The Brewers seem to have a lot of good options everywhere for 2006...

[And That]

How about the Darren Ford bandwagon? Represent.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Given his scouting report, they should call him Eighty Ford. Come to think of it, I think I drove an Eighty Ford for a while...or was it a 78?

[And That]

I also want to give some love to Steve Chapman for another stolen base tonight. With his tools, he could turn into the next Steve Moss pretty quick. And Katin in as a pinch runner? Ryan Crew must be slower than dirt.

 

Nice to see Morrison with a nice outing. He's a decent sleeper relief prospect.

[Katuluu]

That's the closest you've ever come to giving Steve Moss love.

[And That]

Hey, I've loved Steve Moss from the very beginning. I've been hacked to pieces over the last few years for his high P50 position.

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewPow...ayerId=350

 

Hasn't been any lower than 29 in the past 2.5 years.

 

Speaking of the Power 50, there's going to be a lot of love for Will Inman here pretty quick.

[Katuluu]

I still think you were drunk and accidentally switched Captain Lou and Moss on the p50.

[And That]

As someone else alluded to, the Cap'n has been demoted to Sargeant, and that will be reflected on the next Power 50. Though I might have been drunk. Who knows?

 

Steve Moss is basically the upside of what Josh Murray could have been, had Murray been an outfielder. Moss has made more of his tools, though even so, he has a bit of work to do at the plate to become a bona fide MLB prospect. He's been a streaky hitter (mostly on the bad side of streaks), and he needs to get that ironed out.

[Katuluu]

You forgot his penchant for injuries, and his sporadic plate discipline. The guy definately has areas to work on, but you have to love his tools. Though it looks more like his ceiling is as a 4th outfielder, but I can hope.

[SoCalBrewfan]

It's important to have an irrational attachment to a talented but flawed prospect. I'm looking for a new one while I wait for Pedro Liriano to prove everyone wrong.

[DKM4Boston]

Some fun numbers from Thursday from the Sounds, Stars, Power, and H.Brewers combined (not counting Arizona, since nothing is available yet.)

 

Hits: 66 or 16.5/game

Runs: 51 or 12.75/game

Doubles: 16

Players w/ multi-hit games: 21

Players w/ 3+ hit games: 9

 

I'll be very disappointed if the baby Brews didn't put up at least 9 runs...

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site Game Summary:

 

Hart, Lehr Star; Sounds Hammer Isotopes, 11-5

ALBUQUERQUE ? The Nashville Sounds enjoyed a productive all-around effort on Thursday evening, lighting up the Albuquerque Isotopes for 14 hits in an 11-5 victory in the third game of a four-game series.

 

Corey Hart paced the Sounds offense with four hits, missing the cycle by a homer, and second baseman Warren Morris and third baseman Tony Zuniga each posted a season-high four RBIs on the evening.

 

On the mound, Nashville starter Justin Lehr tossed his fourth quality start in his last five outings to pick up his team-leading seventh victory and went 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of runs scored to help his own cause.

 

With the victory, Nashville (40-35) maintained its 2 ½ game lead over Memphis in the PCL American Conference Northern Division. The Sounds posted a double-digit run total for the tenth time this season.

 

The Sounds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning against Albuquerque starter Peter Bauer. Hart ripped a one-out double into the left field corner and advanced to third on a throwing error by Isotopes left fielder Mark Little. Zuniga put the Sounds on the board when he followed with an RBI groundout to second, his first run produced in a Nashville uniform.

 

Nashville upped the advantage to 4-0 with a three-run third. Lehr led off the frame with an infield single, his sixth hit in 10 at-bats this season. After Dave Krynzel popped out, Ryan Knox followed and was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.

 

PCL All-Star Trent Durrington extended the Sounds? longest hitting streak of the season to 15 games with an RBI single to left, plating Lehr to make it a 2-0 game. Morris continued his hot start for the Sounds when he followed with a two-run triple to center off Bauer to clear the bases and extend the lead to 4-0.

 

Durrington?s 15-game hit streak is the longest by a Nashville player since 2001, when outfielder Adam Hyzdu led all minor leaguers with a 26-gamer.

 

Audio Link to Durrington's Hit to Extend the Streak:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...206-23.mp3

 

The Isotopes halved the Sounds? lead in the bottom of the third. Catcher Ryan Jorgensen led off the frame with a solo homer off Lehr, his second of the campaign, to put Albuquerque on the board. Bauer followed with a single and scored the second run of the inning on Chris Aguila?s RBI single later in the inning.

 

The Sounds took command of the game in the fourth, when they sent 11 batters to the plate and erupted for five runs to pull ahead 9-2. The heart of the order did the damage for Nashville. With one out, cleanup hitter Morris stroked a bases-loaded, two-run single to right, Hart followed with an RBI double (his second two-bagger of the evening), and Zuniga added a run-scoring single to chase Bauer. Mike Rivera greeted Isotopes reliever Mike Flannery with a sacrifice fly to bring in Hart with the final run of the inning.

 

With his pair of doubles on the evening, Hart jumped ahead of the departed Kevin Orie for the team lead with 19 two-baggers.

 

Albuquerque got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when former Sound Jason Wood scored on a Jorgensen RBI single.

 

Zuniga put the Sounds into double digits with a two-run homer to deep center off Isotopes reliever Carlos Martinez in the top of the seventh, the infielder?s first roundtripper in a Nashville uniform. The blast, which increased Nashville?s lead to 11-3, brought home Hart, who ripped his sixth triple of the season to lead off the frame.

 

Albuquerque wrapped up the evening's scoring with a pair of ninth-inning runs against Sounds reliever Clint Weibl. Mark Little ripped a one-out solo homer and Todd Sears added an RBI single in the frame.

 

Lehr (7-6) earned his team-leading seventh victory by holding Albuquerque to three runs on eight hits over six innings of work. The right-hander reached base in all three of his plate appearances and scored a pair of runs to help his own cause, upping his average to .636 on the year (7-for-11).

 

Bauer (3-5) took the loss after getting hammered for nine runs on 10 hits over only 4 1/3 frames.

 

Weibl worked the final three innings, allowing two runs, to pick up his second save of the season for the Sounds.

 

The teams wrap up the four-game set with an 8:05 p.m. CT finale on Friday evening. Right-hander Gary Glover (1-0, .086) takes the hill for the Sounds to face Albuquerque southpaw Les Walrond (4-5, 4.57).

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio with Brad Nelson:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...206-23.mp3

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Sarfate Sets the Tone in Stars Victory

Dennis Sarfate blasted a home run, drove in four runs and lasted into the seventh inning to win his third straight start in Huntsville?s record-setting 14-3 win over Mobile Thursday night in the third game of a four-game series at Hank Aaron Stadium. The Stars won their second straight game to improve to 2-1 in the second half and 31-41 overall, while the BayBears fell to 1-2 in the second half and 29-44 overall. The Stars won back-to-back road games for just the third time this season and for the second time in Mobile, having taken the first two games of a four-game set on May 9-10.

 

Trailing 1-0 entering the fifth inning, the Stars sent 17 batters to the plate and scored a franchise-record tying 12 runs on 11 hits, three walks and an error to forge a 12-1 edge. Sarfate knocked in the first run with a bases loaded fielder?s choice grounder that scored Enrique Cruz, who had started the inning with a single. The Huntsville hurler hit a ground ball to shortstop Ronnie Merrill, who tried to start a double play by throwing to second baseman Casey Baker, who could not handle the throw. The error allowed Callix Crabbe to remain alive on the bases, keep the bases loaded with nobody out and set the tenor for the remainder of the inning.

 

Tony Gwynn, Jr. singled in John Vanden Berg, who had walked, and Crabbe, who had singled, to put the Stars ahead to stay at 3-1. Vinny Rottino singled home Sarfate, Nelson Cruz grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to score a run to make it 5-1, Brandon Gemoll knocked in the next run with a single and knocked starter Mike Thompson out of the game before Crabbe singled home a pair to push the lead to 8-1.

 

Sarfate then punctuated the inning by slamming a 1-0 offering from Angel Tovar over the wall in left field for his second long ball of the year, and the third for Stars? pitchers, to increase the advantage to 11-1. Rottino singled again to knock in the final run of the frame and complete the Stars' biggest scoring inning since they tallied 12 runs in a frame on April 17, 1988 against Orlando. Nelson Cruz struck out for the final out of the inning and was the only Stars hitter not to reach base at least once in the inning. The 11 hits in the inning were a season-high, easily eclipsing the previous mark of six set against Mississippi in the sixth inning on June 4.

 

Mike Thompson was charged with seven runs, three earned, on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings to suffer the loss to fall to 5-5. The right-hander has been knocked around for 26 runs, 22 earned, on 36 hits over 21 2/3 innings in his last four starts. Tovar allowed the first seven hitters he faced to reach base and recorded only one out and was charged with five runs, all unearned.

 

Crabbe doubled in two runs in the sixth to complete the Stars scoring and finished the night with a season-high four runs batted in and three hits in five at-bats. Gwynn collected three hits, scored twice and drove in two, while Vanden Berg became the fourth Stars player to score three runs in a game. Every position player had at least one hit, as Huntsville set a season standard with 18, besting the 17 collected at Jacksonville on April 11 and at home against Tennessee on May 30. The 14 runs matched a season-high set in a 14-13 10 inning win over the Smokies on April 28.

 

Sarfate allowed three runs on five hits and three walks to win his third straight start and for a third time in three tries against Mobile. The right-hander struck out eight and has fanned 20 BayBears in 17 2/3 innings over three starts. Sarfate won for the fifth time in six starts to improve his record to 7-3 and move into a second place tie in the league in wins. Brett Evert worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings and worked out of bases loaded jams in the seventh and eighth innings.

 

The series concludes Friday night with left-hander Manny Parra taking the hill for the Stars against BayBears right-hander Travis Chick. Coverage of the game gets underway at 7:20 p.m. central time on ESPN 1450 AM and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.kentucky.com/mld/kent...972742.htm

 

West Virginia gets physical

By Mark Maloney

LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

 

The hits just kept on coming, rock 'n' roll style, last night at Applebee's Park.

 

The West Virginia Power did most of the hitting, with 14 hits en route to a physical 9-3 victory over the Lexington Legends.

 

Legends catcher J.R. Towles took a beating. Twice he was bowled over by runners trying to score, holding on both times. And twice he was hit by pitches from Power starter Yovani Gallardo.

 

Although there were no ejections, tempers flared after the plays at the plate. The catcher had words with Josh Brady after holding on for the final out of the fourth inning, and flipped the ball high in the air after nabbing Grant Richardson for the final out of the seventh.

 

"You've just got to block the plate and catch the ball," said Towles, smeared head-to-toe with red dirt. "Catch the ball, that's the main thing. And then tag."

 

Players from both benches took several steps on the field after the fourth-inning play, but plate umpire Mike Jarboe intervened.

 

Then Legends Manager Tim Bogar engaged field umpire John Conrad in an animated argument.

 

"It had nothing to do with the play. It had everything to do with a comment that was made to me," said Bogar, who would not elaborate. "It's not worth it. I had my say."

 

Bogar and Power Manager Ramon Aviles agreed that no bad blood will carry over from the physical play.

 

"It's just boys being boys. They're playing the game hard, and that's the way I like it," Bogar said. "I told Ramon, 'I can't blame your player for doing what he did. That's what he's supposed to do.' I have no hard feelings over it."

 

Aviles said much the same and praised Towles.

 

"I am impressed with him that he took two pretty good shots and he stayed behind the plate for the rest of the game," Aviles said. "He's a tough kid. I like it."

 

Power catcher Carlos Corporan nearly went on overload in the sixth, when Frankie Caraballo slid home and was called safe on the back end of a double steal.

 

But that was when the game was close.

 

Tied 3-3, West Virginia blew the game open with four runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. Lexington is now 13-4 overall against the Power, 5-1 at home.

 

The Legends will try to regroup tonight, then head to Hagerstown for Saturday's game that will double as the first-half-title tie-breaker.

 

Freddy Parejo had three of West Virginia's 14 hits, including a pair of doubles. Richardson, Brady, Alcides Escobar and Hasan Rasheed had two hits each.

 

Luke Barganier had two of the Legends' six hits.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Helena 17, Missoula (Diamondbacks) 5

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.missoulian.com/articl...orts01.txt

 

Brewers bomb O's again

By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian

 

To say the wheels have come off for Missoula's Pioneer League baseball team would imply the Osprey have had time to put wheels on.

 

Helena hijacked the Osprey for the third night in a row Thursday, this time in a 17-5 yawner at Play Ball Park. Attendance in the 3-hour, 38-minute game was 2,002 - for awhile.

 

The Brewers lashed 20 hits, raising their three-game total to 53. They scored in every inning but the eighth, when Missoula's fourth pitcher, Lorenzo Church, struck out Ned Yost with runners on first and second.

 

Helena (3-0) turned five double plays, two of them on fly balls to the outfield with no outs, when Osprey base runners took off running on contact.

 

Brewers leadoff hitter Darren Ford went 4-for-5 with three more runs. He's scored eight times this week already. Catcher Angel Salome, who hit a home run in each of the first two games, didn't go yard on this pleasant summer night. Instead he hit two doubles, drove in four runs and finished 4-for-5.

 

Second baseman Kenny Holmberg, batting ninth in the order, was a perfect 5-for-5 with two runs batted in.

 

Missoula's starting pitcher was tattooed for the third straight night. Donald Julio, a third-year Osprey, surrendered nine runs on as many hits in four innings, although only six of the runs were earned.

 

The next three relievers were touched for at least two runs apiece. The highlight of the night for Missoula came in the ninth, when the outcome was long decided. Right-hander Eddie Baeza, a draft-and-follow pitcher who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks hours before the deadline at the end of May, relieved Church with bases loaded and no outs.

 

Baeza got one out on a ground ball in which Brendan Katin scored Helena's final run. He then whiffed Bryan Opdyke and Matt Gamel for an impressive debut in professional ball. Baeza was a junior college All-America this spring for Valley College of Los Angeles.

 

Tyler Morrison, Helena's second of three pitchers, earned the victory after relieving Ryan Marion in the middle of a fifth-inning jam. Morrison gave up just a run and two hits in three innings of work.

 

Marion danced in and out of trouble before his exit. Jayson Santiago greeted him in the bottom of the first with a leadoff home run to right field, Missoula's first of the season. It was also Santiago's first round-tripper in three seasons with the Osprey.

 

Marion hit the first two O's he faced in the fourth inning, Bryan Byrne in the helmet and Rusty Ryal in the ribs. He plunked catcher Jake Elder later in the same frame, tying a Pioneer League record. But Missoula squeezed just one run out of the inning, on Luis Lajara's RBI single.

 

Byrne had a single and a double to lead the Osprey attack. Lajara had two RBIs singles and a walk.

 

Osprey shortstop Pedro Ciriano had the fielding play of the game in the sixth inning. With a runner on third and two outs, Ciriano went deep in the hole to backhand a one-hop shot by Helena's Brad Willcutt, then skipped a long throw to Byrne at first to nip Willcutt.

 

Missoula finished with eight hits and maintained a batting average of above .300 for the week. But the base-running mistakes and three fielding errors, and especially a staff ERA that climbed to 10.60, made for another long night.

 

The finale of the season-opening series between the Brewers and Osprey is Friday at 7:05 p.m (8:05 Central).

 

Notes: Helena's team batting average in the first three games is .393. The Brewers have beaten the Osprey 17 times in their last 19 meetings dating back to the start of last season.

 

Missoula added pitcher Maels Rodriguez to its roster Thursday. The hard-throwing right-hander pitched for Cuba in a 3-0 loss to Ben Sheets and Team USA in the 2000 Olympics and defected in 2003. He was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 22nd round of this year's draft and becomes the first 25-year-old Osprey.

 

The five double plays turned by Helena were one short of the league record, set by Medicine Hat in 1998 against Helena.

 

A pitch by Church hit Helena shortstop Ryan Crew in the helmet in the ninth inning and Crew went down like a shot. He recovered enough to walk to the dugout.

 

Helena Box Score:

4th rounder Matt Gamel 1-for-11 with 7 K's as we micro-sample things needlessly...

 YTD YTD HELENA AB R H BI AVG MISSOULA AB R H BI AVG D.Ford CF 5 3 4 2 .533 J.Santiago CF 2 2 1 1 .500 M.Bell SS 0 0 0 1 .300 N.Melendez CF 2 0 0 0 .000 C.Fermaint DH 2 2 0 3 .000 P.Ciriaco SS 3 0 0 0 .357 O.Emeterio PH 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Cruz SS 2 0 0 0 .167 O.Emeterio DH 2 0 0 1 .000 G.Thomson RF 4 0 1 1 .333 A.Salome CAT 5 2 4 4 .571 B.Byrne 1B 3 0 2 0 .200 B.Opdyke CAT 1 0 0 0 .000 R.Ryal 3B 3 1 0 0 .333 M.Gamel 3B 6 0 0 0 .083 S.Mena DH 4 1 1 0 .400 B.Willcutt 1B 5 1 1 0 .308 L.Lajara LF 3 1 2 2 .667 C.Gallardo 1B 1 0 1 0 .333 J.Elder CAT 1 0 0 0 .250 S.Chapman RF 3 0 0 0 .250 G.Bustamante PH 0 0 0 0 .333 N.Yost RF 0 0 0 0 .250 G.Bustamante CAT 2 0 1 0 .333 N.Yost LF 2 0 0 0 .250 J.Batten 2B 2 0 0 0 .143 A.Septimo LF 0 0 0 0 .455 D.Julio PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Septimo CF 6 3 3 0 .455 C.Evans PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Crew SS 0 0 0 0 .545 M.Venas PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Crew CF 5 2 2 1 .545 L.Church PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Katin PR 0 0 0 0 .250 E.Baeza PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Katin RF 0 1 0 0 .250 K.Holmberg 2B 5 3 5 2 .667 R.Marion PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Morrison PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 W.Laureano PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 48 17 20 14 TOTALS 31 5 8 4 HELENA 1 2 1 5 1 4 1 0 2-17 20 2 MISSOULA 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1- 5 8 3 E--A.Salome, K.Holmberg, P.Ciriaco, J.Batten, D.Julio. DP--HELENA 5, MISSOULA 0. LOB--HELENA 14, MISSOULA 6. 2B--A.Salome 2 (2), A.Septimo 2 (2), K.Holmberg (1), B.Byrne (1), S.Mena (1). 3B--D.Ford (1). HR--J.Santiago (1). SB--D.Ford (2), S.Chapman (3), J.Batten (1). HBP--R.Crew, B.Byrne, R.Ryal, J.Elder. SF--C.Fermaint 2. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HELENA R.Marion 4.0 4 3 2 2 0 1 4.50 T.Morrison (W,1-0) 3.0 2 1 1 0 3 0 3.00 W.Laureano 2.0 2 1 1 2 2 0 4.50 MISSOULA D.Julio (L,0-1) 4.0 9 9 6 2 4 0 13.50 C.Evans 1.1 5 4 4 2 0 0 27.00 M.Venas 1.2 3 2 1 1 0 0 15.00 L.Church 1.0 3 2 2 2 2 0 7.71 E.Baeza 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 HB--R.Marion 3, L.Church. WP--C.Evans, M.Venas. PB--G.Bustamante. SO--B.Opdyke, M.Gamel 4, S.Chapman, N.Yost, A.Septimo, N.Melendez, R.Cruz 2, B.Byrne, S.Mena. BB--D.Ford, M.Bell, C.Fermaint, B.Opdyke, M.Gamel, S.Chapman, K.Holmberg, J.Santiago, L.Lajara, J.Batten 2. T--3:38. A--2002

Helena Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_misrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Only one of the four Arizona League games reported their box score yesterday -- an all-too common occurance.

 

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

 

We have no idea what took place -- anyone with any info or who can supply me with a boxscore can post here or mail me at:

 

jgoulart@brewerfan.net

 

In past years we've had some folks who work at the various minor league offices with access to this info that have assisted us.

 

Thanks.

[molitor fan]

A pitch by Church hit Helena shortstop Ryan Crew in the helmet in the ninth inning and Crew went down like a shot. He recovered enough to walk to the dugout.

 

Just to answer the earlier "concern" on Crew's footspeed.