Link Report for Sat. 6/26 -- RHP Greg Bruso Back In Action

[MassBrew]

Helena Game Story from the Missoulian:

Lots more detail as you'd expect from the home team coverage...

 

Centeno's bat helps O's snap skid

By KIM BRIGGEMAN of the Missoulian

 

Manager Jim Presley held a brief meeting with his Missoula Osprey before their baseball game Saturday night and delivered a succinct message: "It's time to start winning."

 

The O's didn't hit very well, and they had to avert disaster when pitcher Ben Krantz got off to a rocky start.

 

But they beat the Helena Brewers 3-1 in Pioneer League action, breaking a five-game losing skein against the suddenly punchless Brewers. Now 2-7 in the young season, they'll take Sunday off before playing four more home games, two against Billings and two more against the Brewers again.

 

It was Missoula's first win in its new stadium, Play Ball Park. A crowd of 2,014 celebrated the milestone as rain and wind visited briefly but had the good grace to keep moving up the valley.

 

Jaen Centeno continued to wave his magic bat for Missoula, driving in two of the three runs and finishing 3-for-4.

 

Esperling Vasquez recorded the Osprey bullpen's first save with a 1-2-3 ninth. Donald Julio blanked the Brewers for the previous 3 1-3 innings to get the victory.

 

Presley's meeting wasn't long. The Osprey had found numerous ways to lose their five previous games to Helena, though they'd played well in most of them.

 

"I said we've got everybody healthy now. We're going to start playing situational baseball," said Presley. "If we're giving up two, three, four runs in the first inning, they aren't going to be out there very long."

 

Krantz's line shows no indication of a 3-1 victory. He walked six Brewers, hit two others and threw a wild pitch in 4 2-3 innings.

 

The 23-year-old Canadian right-hander, who pitched at Penn before the Arizona Diamondbacks drafted him in the 16th round last year, was in deep, roiling water within minutes of his first pitch. He walked two of the first three batters, and between that Steven Sollman doubled off the left-field wall.

 

With bases load, Krantz plunked Grant Richardson on his first pitch to force in a run. There were still no outs.

 

Osprey pitching coach Wellington Cepeda paid a visit to Krantz, who'd missed Presley's pregame meeting while getting ready for his start. Cepeda passed the message on at the mound.

 

And then Lady Luck interceded. Helena's Tony Festa smashed a screaming liner down the first-base line. Osprey first baseman Javier Brito, who's had a number of fine defensive plays this week, snagged it at knee level and stepped on first for a double play.

 

Adam Mannon, a Bird killer most of the week, then lined out to center field and Krantz was off the hook.

 

Helena went on to leave 11 runners on base. Charlie Fermaint stalled a potential game-breaking inning in the fifth when he inexplicably broke for third base while a surprised Julio, just in the game, watched from the mound. Fermaint was disposed of in a rundown for the third out.

 

Missoula cobbled together seven hits, its fewest since a 7-2 opening-night loss at Great Falls. But many came at key times.

 

Wilkin Castillo led off the fourth with a double that bounced off the high wall in right field, mere feet from becoming the first home run in Play Ball Park (that's still pending). Two outs later, Centeno lined a single to left-center to score Castillo.

 

Centeno, a 20-year-old Venezuelan left fielder, added an RBI single in the sixth and another base hit on a hit-and-run in the eighth.

 

In five games against the Brewers, he was 13-for-17 to take over the Pioneer League batting lead with a .538 batting average.

 

Helena, the league's top hitting team going in, collected just six hits off the three Missoula pitchers. The Brewers' No. 3-6 hitters - Fermaint, Richardson, Festa and Mannon - went 0-for-10.

[MassBrew]

International League Standings:

 

www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...league=INT

 WEST DIVISION W L PCT GB [b]HUNTSVILLE STARS (MILWAUKEE) 4 0 1.000[/b] BIRMINGHAM BARONS (CHICAGO WHITE SOX) 3 1 .750 1.0 *MOBILE BAY BEARS (SAN DIEGO) 2 2 .500 2.0 WEST TENN DIAMOND JAXX (CHICAGO CUBS) 1 3 .250 3.0 MONTGOMERY BISCUITS (TAMPA BAY) 1 3 .250 3.0

 SOUTH DIVISION W L PCT GB *LANCASTER JETHAWKS (ARIZONA) 5 0 1.000 RANCHO CUCAMONGA QUAKES (ANAHEIM) 4 1 .800 1.0 INLAND EMPIRE 66ERS (SEATTLE) 4 2 .667 1.5 [b]HIGH DESERT MAVERICKS (MILWAUKEE) 2 4 .333 3.5[/b] LAKE ELSINORE STORM (SAN DIEGO) 1 4 .200 4.0

 WESTERN DIVISION W L PCT GB QUAD CITY RIVER BANDITS (MINNESOTA) 2 1 .667 PEORIA CHIEFS (ST.LOUIS) 2 1 .667 *KANE COUNTY COUGARS (OAKLAND) 2 1 .667 CLINTON LUMBER KINGS (TEXAS) 2 1 .667 WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS (SEATTLE) 1 2 .333 1.0 CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS (ANAHEIM) 1 2 .333 1.0 BURLINGTON BEES (KANSAS CITY) 1 2 .333 1.0 [b]BELOIT SNAPPERS (MILWAUKEE) 1 2 .333 1.0[/b]

 NORTH DIVISION W L PCT GB [b]HELENA BREWERS (MILWAUKEE) 6 3 .667[/b] GREAT FALLS WHITE SOX (CHICAGO WHITE SOX) 5 4 .556 1.0 BILLINGS MUSTANGS (CINCINNATI) 5 4 .556 1.0 MISSOULA OSPREY (ARIZONA) 2 7 .222 4.0

 W L PCT GB ROYALS (KANSAS CITY) 4 0 1.000 GIANTS (SAN FRANCISCO) 4 0 1.000 MARINERS (SEATTLE) 3 1 .750 1.0 PADRES (SAN DIEGO) 2 2 .500 2.0 ANGELS (ANAHEIM) 2 2 .500 2.0 RANGERS (TEXAS) 1 3 .250 3.0 CUBS (CHICAGO CUBS) 1 3 .250 3.0 ATHLETICS (OAKLAND) 1 3 .250 3.0 [b]BREWERS (MILWAUKEE) 0 4 .000 4.0[/b]

[colbyjack]

42:36 BB:K

 

Ye of little faith.

 

I could really care less about his BB:K ratio if a college draftee can't hit .250 in low-A.

 

Of course, it's early, as our phenoms are struggling to hit .250 at AA. But, I just had to throw that out there.

[MassBrew]

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com Huntsville update:

 

WOOLY BULLY

The last time Brian Moehler faced Huntsville, he was staring at the likes of 2nd baseman Mark Bellhorn and right fielder Ben Grieve, among others........ That was on August 15, 1996 at Wolfson Park in Jacksonville....... The Double-A All-Star won his 14th game that day, beating the Stars, 10-4........ Eventually he would win 15, rare in the Southern League, despite its reputation as a pitchers league........ His efforts won him a trip to the majors with the Tigers in September and for the next four seasons, he would become part of the Tiger rotation, winning in double figures each year until 2000........ Then the bottom fell out........ Going from double-figures to just three major league victories over the next three seasons, he was in and out of surgery as well as in and out of one organization after another........ First visit was appendicitis in 2000, but then a weak shoulder was misdiagnosed as tendinitis a year later. It turned out he had a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum as well........ If that wasn't enough, a torn elbow ligament followed and that required Tommy John surgery........ Now 32, he's trying to come back with the Braves organization........ Never a durable pitcher to begin with, he gave up all six of the Stars runs, as well as all ten hits in an unconventional victory for the Stars, their first over Moehler since May 3, 1996.

 

Unlike their four previous wins, the Stars got off to a shaky start........ Matt Ford needed only 13 pitches to get the G'Braves out 1-2-3 in the 1st, but the 2nd inning took a toll as the Braves scored a pair of unearned runs....... Chris Barnwell's low throw to first put Bill McCarthy on to lead off the inning. With one out, a wild pitch by Ford got him to second and Tony Pena's fly ball to right sent him to third. Aaron Herr (former #1 draft pick, the son of former St. Louis Cardinal leaguer Tommy Herr) walked to put runners on the corners....... That set things up for catcher Jean (J.C.) Boscan........ Boscan lined a 3-2 pitch deep to right-center off the wall for a double scoring both runners....... Ford followed that by walking the pitcher, but recovered to strike out Adam Stern, the 7th leading hitter in the league, but the inning took 37 pitches out of him......... By the time Ford was gone from this game after more non-support from his defense, he had thrown 66 pitches in just three innings.

 

In the top of the inning, the Stars got on the board........ Kade Johnson walked, stole 2nd, and advanced to 3rd on Ford's grounder........ Rickie Weeks then extended his hitting streak to six games, chopping a ball through the infield to right for a two-out RBI-single........ Weeks is playing as well as he did in April when he hit .311, making only 2 errors while learning the ropes at second. He's setting the table with a .438 average to start the second half, and has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games for a .296 average........ One run is all the Stars got, but it looked like they would get more. Tony Gwynn singled, sending Weeks to third, then stole second putting runners in scoring position, but Prince Fielder popped out to end the inning.

 

The G'Braves extended their lead to 4-1, thanks in part to some more sloppy defense........ With one out, Jackson Melian reached on an error by Fielder and stole second. The former Huntsville Stars outfielder had been acquired by the Braves from the Yankees earlier that day for a player to be named. He was once the fifth best prospect in the Braves' organization in 2000, and projected to be part of their outfield in 2002, but he was traded to the Reds in a multi-player deal. His stock went down and Cincinnati put him on waivers, the Brewers claiming him prior to the 2002 season. Hitting only .223 for the Stars, he was traded to the Cubs, and now he's playing for his 4th Southern League team ....... Ford walked Bill McCarthy, sending up Scott Thorman, a Florida State League All-Star last year. Thorman hit a breaking ball past a diving Fielder for a base hit. Melian rounded third and scored. Raburn's throw was late. McCarthy, on the throw, raced to third and the Stars had Thorman caught between first and second, but no one was covering second for the rundown. All three Stars outfielders rushed in to try to cover, but it was much too late and Thorman was on second.

 

It got even more bizarre...... Tony Pena, Jr. sent a rocket to third, backhanded on a fine play by Chris Barnwell. He ran down McCarthy, tagging him out in a short-lived rundown between home and 3rd, then promptly threw the ball into centerfield in an attempt to get Thorman, who was able to succeed where McCarthy didn't...... It was now 4-1..... Two errors by Barnwell in the inning. Manager Frank Kremblas still believes in him, though, despite 16 errors --- most in the league for a 3rd baseman........ Getting that third out to get out of the inning was no easy matter. Aaron Herr singled to left. Pena took a gamble and rounded third. The throw from Brad Nelson was a little off-line, forcing Kade to scramble into foul territory, but Johnson made a great defensive effort, stealing back across the plate to make the tag on Pena to end the inning and the game for Matt Ford.

 

The Stars would get Ford off the hook and the person to get things going was none other than Glenn Woolard, who would help extend the bullpen's string of scoreless innings in this half to 15 1/3 innings, and take the credit for his first Double-A victory......... Woolard, with one out, singled up the middle. Weeks then followed with one to the left side, moving him to second......... Tony Gwynn, Jr., jammed, hit a 1-2 pitch, a slow roller to Herr, who instead of taking a direct path to the ball, moved out of the runner's way, instead of letting the runner avoid him, thus taking himself out of position to field the ball........

 

It was the turning point of the ballgame.......... Woolard scored. Gwynn went to third, and Gwynn took second for a double, only his 2nd extra-base hit this month........ Greenville manager Brian Snitker pleaded obstruction to the ump, but it was like the apocryphal boy who pleads to the court to let him free on a charge of killing his parents because he's now an orphan.........Prince Fielder's grounder scored Gwynn to put the Stars within one........ Brad Nelson (.389 now vs. Greenville) then put the Stars in front, 5-4, driving a fast ball deep over the 405 sign in dead center at Greenville Muni --- his 15th homer of the season, his 3rd vs. this team this season....... In two days, Nelson passed the season-leading HR total of Corey Hart from last year. It seems Brad will easily have the most home runs for a Milwaukee-affiliated Huntsville Stars team, eclipsing Jeff Deardorff's total of 19 in 2002......... John Novinsky recorded his 7th save and 4th in as many appearances, but it was a prolonged, thrilling finish.

 

Novinsky got two quick outs -- striking out pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson and getting Adam Stern to ground out to Barnwell, with Fielder making a fine scoop on the low throw......... But Napoleon Calzado walked on a 3-2 pitch and Jackson Melian hit a broken bat roller to short for a hit. Brazenly, Greenville manager called for and pulled off the double steal with an 0-2 count on .300 hitter Bill McCarthy at the plate, Greenville's leading RBI man....... With the tying run at second, and after a tough call on a check swing, Novinsky gave him a 2-2 breaking ball. McCarthy swung and missed and the Stars won their 5th straight for the first time this year, and the first time since August 2002.

 

Saturday night, Greg Bruso pitched three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit for the Baby Brewers in an Arizona League game against the Cubs, but the Brews lost 8-6. Nestor Corredor, who was dropped from the Helena Brewers by going 1-for-18, went 2-for-3 in that game........

 

Kevin Haverbusch, who was released by the Brewers after a spring training stint with the Stars, is 7th among independent Atlantic League hitters with a .350 average for the Nashua Pride....... Francisco Matos, who worked out with the Stars before their season opener this year, and played for them from 1990-93, is 9th among Northeast League batting leaders with a .340 average.