Link Report for Games of Monday, June 13th

[bork]

Nashville's rotation is scary bad now, but the bullpen is looking great. With the Brewers bullpen getting beat up a bit, at least there are some options in Nashville.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...005061411/

 

Iribarren benefits from 'gift of good legs'

Matt Lockhart

Charleston Daily Mail Sportswriter

 

Your dad would've liked Hernan Iribarren. His dad would've liked Hernan Iribarren. And his buddies would've toasted a drink for the West Virginia Power second baseman.

 

He's a throwback.

 

"Run fast," Iribarren says. "Once you see the ball, keep running fast. That's the key, man. Keep running fast."

 

He's explaining the triple, a not-so-common feat in what's becoming known as the steroid era in baseball.

 

So, what's better, a homer or a triple?

 

"I love triples," said Iribarren. "I'm a line drive hitter, so I like triples more than home runs."

 

His Power teammates are toasting to that. Iribarren's eighth-inning RBI triple scored the go-ahead run in the Power's 10-8 win over Lakewood on Monday night at Appalachian Power Park.

 

His game-turning hit not only tied Iribarren with teammate Alcides Escobar for the South Atlantic League lead in triples (6), it also gave the Power (24-41) its longest win streak -- four games -- of the season.

 

"The kids are playing great baseball," Power Manager Ramon Aviles said. "Even when we're behind, we feel like we can come back. We have a lot of confidence, and we're getting some big hits."

 

West Virginia trailed until Iribarren ripped one down the right field line to score Escobar. Utility man Will Lewis knocked in Iribarren from third to set the final at 10-8.

 

"They've got good speed," Aviles said of Iribarren and Escobar, who both are top-10 in the minor leagues in triples. "They know how to run the bases. They turn singles into doubles, and doubles into triples. Those are gifts from the good Lord. A gift of good legs."

 

Sure, there are some who wonder about Iribarren. They ponder whether he'll project as a singles hitter in the Majors, or if the 20-year-old will develop more power over time.

 

There's no question about his bat.

 

In two minor league seasons, Iribarren is batting .371 (183-for-493) with 20 triples, 22 doubles and seven homers. Scouts are impressed about how well he covers the plate.

 

Word of mouth suggests Iribarren even held his own against Milwaukee's big league ace Ben Sheets in spring training.

 

One thing is for sure, he's no longer the guy who struggled to a .240 April batting average when the Power looked destined to finish last in the SAL Northern Division. Now, two clubs have worse records and Iribarren is a SAL All-Star.

 

"Sometimes you have bad moments," said Iribarren, who is hitting .316 after posting a .351 average in May. "We need to keep our head up and keep working."

 

In a way, that's what Iribarren does when he hits the ball. Instead of admiring its distance, he focuses on that extra base.

 

So, on a night when both teams wore Sally League throwback jerseys, Iribarren stood out.

 

He's the one that's old school.

 

POWER PLUGS: South Atlantic League throwbacks were in style Monday, as both teams dressed in various past uniforms from around the league. Lakewood starter Maximo De La Cruz wore a Charleston Wheelers jersey ... Front row heckler Rod Blackstone got shown up in the game's first inning after calling Lakewood first baseman Doug Gredvig "Mr. Big Stuff." Gredvig hit a solo homer off the Kyle building behind the wall in left field, and pointed at Blackstone after he rounded the bases ...

 

Power Starter Brian Montalbo was yanked after just 1 1/3 innings. He had given up three earned runs and thrown 45 pitches before being pulled in what would become a tie for the shortest outing by a Power starting pitcher this season. Josh Baker went 1 1/3 in a May 3 start ... The Power will look for a sweep Tuesday night when the teams wrap up a five-game series.

 

Contact sportswriter Matt Lockhart at mattlockhart@dailymail.com

[bork]

I just noticed that after a 5-22 start, the Power has been .500 since May 7th (20-20). What an amazing turnaround. They could make a run at the second half title.

[Mass Haas]

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

Stars get bullpen help... Meyers added

Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks were reunited Monday in Tampa Bay in Brewer uniforms....... While Rickie had a two-hit night to raise his average to .308, Prince DH'ed and went 0-for-4 in his major league debut against Tampa Bay pitchers Doug Waechter and Danys Baez....... Fielder said he was "anxious" in his first major league at-bat, but got more comfortable in subsequent trips. He grounded out twice, popped out, and flied out in the 9th and left one runner on..... Prince was hitting .253 with 15 HRs and 47 RBIs for the Sounds in 64 games prior to his promotion Monday........

 

The Nashville Sounds purchased outfielder Warren Morris, a familiar face in town when the Sounds were a Pirates' farm club.

 

Pitchers Blaine Boyer and Jorge Vazquez, who pitched for the Mississippi Braves only a little more than a week ago, made their major league debuts tonight against the Texas Rangers as the Braves came to Arlington and speaking of Texas, John Wasdin, who was 12-3 for the Stars in 1994, had his contract from Class AAA-Oklahoma (PCL) purchased by the Rangers........ Wasdin has been up in the majors already with the A's, Red Sox, Rockies, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Rangers last year.

 

The Stars needed a crowd of 3,274 tonight (Monday) to match last year's pace in attendance, and fell far short, as expected. After all, it's been a long time since the park decently filled up on weekdays, even in summer.......The Stars are 9th in the league in average attendance (2,903) and you get one guess who's last (visiting West Tenn) ........ The Stars were looking for their 4th straight win for the first time in well more than a month, but the Diamond Jaxx, in an exciting race for a playoff spot, were just a little more determined. They got what they came for, and with Carolina's 7-1 loss to Jacksonville, Carmen Pignatiello helped vault the D'Jaxx to the top of the Northern Division by a game, with two more left in the 1st half.

 

Playing like they were late to an appointment, Diamond Jaxx hitters swung at Glenn Woolard's first pitch five times in the first go-around in the order........ After just the first three pitches in the game, the D'Jaxx had a single, a sacrifice, two out and a runner on third! I've seen it take 17-18 pitches to get that far........ Leadoff hitter Felix Pie, the Cubs' # 2 prospect, scored on Woolard's 13th pitch, a wild pitch outside to shortstop Buck Coats....... Jeff Winchester scrambled for the ball, which came to a rest on the first base side of the dirt circle that surrounds home plate, but he slipped trying to pick it up, otherwise he may have had a chance to get the ball in time to Woolard who was covering the plate.

 

If the hitters for WT had aspirations of ending this game quickly, they couldn't match Pignatiello, who's a quick worker anyway....... After three no-hit innings, he threw just 26 pitches, 17 for strikes...... Last May 23 against Mobile, Pignatiello was one out away from a no-hitter before Ronnie Merrill found the space between first and second to break up his no-hit bid at Pringles Park. ........With two out in the 4th, Nelson Cruz finally broke the ice with a single to right field on Pignatiello's first pitch, but Tony Zuniga, who's been hot at the plate lately, earning him the cleanup spot for the Stars, grounded out to end the 4th....... Zuniga came in 7-for-15 in his last four games.

 

Pignatiello was in total command, giving up just that lone hit in five innings, while his teammates built an early 4-0 lead....... Casey McGehee rocked a two-run homer over the first fence in left-center field on a 1-2 pitch from Woolard in the 3rd inning and Richard Lewis, last year's Southern League MVP, drove one about 405 feet to the alley in right center for their second homer, to leadoff the 4th.

 

Despite a 4-0 deficit, the Stars had their chances....... They came on late, gathering nine of their 10 hits in the last four innings.

 

In the 6th, they loaded the bases with two out on a bunt single by Tony Gwynn, a hard ground single to left by Vinny Rottino, batting in the # 2 hole for the first time this season, and a hit batter. Nelson Cruz got a piece of a 1-2 pitch off his elbow......... But Zuniga hit into a force play to end the inning.

 

In the 7th, the Stars loaded the bases again....... After a leadoff double off the wall in right field by Ben Van Iderstine, Enrique Cruz drew a one-out walk and Guilder Rodriguez, now hitting .290, hit a slow grounder to the left side for a hit........... The bases again were loaded with one out...... John Vanden Berg singled on a 2-0 pitch to shallow left to drive in Van Iderstine, but Cruz, trying to score on Gwynn's fly ball to left, was nailed at the plate to end that inning.

 

The Stars left Rottino on second after he led off with a double and in the 9th, with runners on the corners, Gwynn singled to center to score Cruz to make it 4-2........ Rottino was up with runners on the corners -- potentially the tying run in the game, but on a 2-2 pitch he checked his swing and paid the consequences. He was rung up by home plate ump Scott Childers (brother of former Star and current Brave, Matt Childers).

 

Gwynn, Jr. and Rodriguez collided on a short pop up beyond the infield grass by leadoff hitter Buck Coats in the 8th....... Legs and arms tangled like a crash of two bi-planes. Rodriguez who was racing back into Gwynn's territory, a little too deep in the outfield for him to be in, didn't call him off and play was stopped for about four minutes....... Gwynn seemed to had gotten the worst of it and was down on his back with his knees up. Nelson Cruz picked up the ball from right and threw it in holding Coats to a double, but neither player was seriously hurt. At least that's the way it looked, although there was considerable pain on Gwynn's face as he was helped up.

 

Mike Meyers, a former Diamond Jaxx pitcher in 1999-2000, joined the Stars today after being sent down from Nashville....... Meyers was 3-3 with a 6.17 ERA in 22 relief appearances for the Sounds....... He threw the final two innings for the Stars, 26 pitches in all, and got the ball on the ground........ It saved him in the 8th as he got brilliant defensive play from Enrique Cruz for the first of two force outs and a ground out. He gave up one infield single in the 9th, but held D'Jaxx hitters to the infield, even thought they nearly scored when pinch-hitter Dwayne Bacon hit a pinch-single to third, stole 2nd, and was bunted over to third........ When Adam Greenberg hit a slow grounder to Rodriguez, Bacon was caught in a rundown going from Rodriguez to catcher Winchester, to Zuniga, and finally to Meyers for the out......... Meyers is in his 9th year of professional baseball after spending the 2004 season with St. Lucie, Norfolk and Binghamton in the Mets organization, going 4-5 with a 6.36 ERA in 51 games, including 11 starts, at all three levels....... Meyers was originally selected by the Cubs in the 26th round of the 1997 draft. He was released by Chicago in May of 2002 and re-signed with the organization one month later....... Meyers signed with the Mets as a free agent in January, 2004 and signed as a free agent by Milwaukee in February of 2005........ Meyers compiled a 9-2 record in 14 starts with the Diamond Jaxx in 1999-2000........ That brings the Stars roster to the 23-man limit..

 

Ryan Costello makes Tuesday's start against last year's ERA leader in the SL, Renyel Pinto (2-0, 1.96). Pinto came down from Iowa on May 9....... Pignatiello is one of four pitchers among the top 12 ERA leaders in the league, and with a 3.06 ERA, is now 4th.

 

The Brewers signed four of their draft selections, including their # 2 pick (*third round), right-hander Will Inman. Third baseman Michael Bell, outfielder Brendan Katin, and right-hander Christopher Jean were the others. The latter three will be assigned to Rookie League-Helena, which starts their Pioneer League season soon....... Inman may be assigned to the Arizona Rookie League, although that is not certian...... The Brewers have now signed 15 of their 49 selections and five of their top 10 picks.