Link Report for Thur. 7/19 -- Ten In A Row For Huntsville!

[Mass Haas]

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Thursday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Adam Pettyjohn at New Orleans (Mets), 6:45 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Tennessee (Cubs), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Mike McClendon at home vs. Daytona (Cubs), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link (game will also archive at this link):

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

 

West Virginia: RHP Alex Periard at Lakewood (Phillies), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link (game will also archive at this link):

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

 

Helena: RHP Donovan Hand at home vs. Idaho Falls (Royals), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime

 

Audio link (game will also archive at this link):

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

 

Arizona: TBD at the Rangers' complex in Surprise, 10:30 AM local time in Arizona, 12:30 Central; never any audio for Arizona Rookie League games

[Mass Haas]

Follow Thursday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Open the Nashville Gameday. For the others, choose "Log". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often.

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lwdafx_1

 

Helena:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

 

Arizona:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_rngrok_1

[Mass Haas]

These links will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds and/or Huntsville Stars are scheduled to play. Normally they are updated an hour or two prior to gametime, with Nashville's usually earlier:

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

 

Huntsville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Wednesday's action:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 59 38 .608 - 32-14 27-24 L1 Iowa 54 44 .551 5.5 31-20 23-24 W1 Omaha 46 52 .469 13.5 30-17 16-35 L1 Memphis 41 57 .418 18.5 22-29 19-28 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 16 11 .593 - 7-5 9-6 W9 Chattanooga 14 13 .519 2.0 6-9 8-4 W2 Carolina 13 14 .481 3.0 6-6 7-8 W1 Tennessee 13 14 .481 3.0 10-5 3-9 L2 West Tenn 10 17 .370 6.0 6-9 4-8 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 15 12 .556 - 7-5 8-7 L1 Palm Beach 13 13 .500 1.5 7-10 6-3 L1 Jupiter 11 15 .423 3.5 5-4 6-11 L3 Daytona 11 16 .407 4.0 6-9 5-7 L2 St. Lucie 10 16 .385 4.5 4-9 6-7 L2 Vero Beach 6 20 .231 8.5 3-10 3-10 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 15 10 .600 - 8-6 7-4 W3 Lakewood 15 10 .600 - 8-5 7-5 W1 Hickory 15 12 .556 1.0 9-7 6-5 W2 West Virginia 15 12 .556 1.0 7-4 8-8 L1 Lexington 13 14 .481 3.0 8-6 5-8 W3 Delmarva 12 14 .462 3.5 5-9 7-5 L2 Hagerstown 8 18 .308 7.5 4-10 4-8 L3 Greensboro 8 19 .296 8.0 5-6 3-13 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great Falls 20 8 .714 - 14-3 6-5 W9 Helena 18 10 .643 2.0 5-6 13-4 W4 Billings 14 14 .500 6.0 10-6 4-8 W5 Missoula 13 15 .464 7.0 5-7 8-8 W3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Mariners 16 6 .727 - 9-2 7-4 W3 AZL Angels 15 7 .682 1.0 13-3 2-4 W1 AZL Padres 14 7 .667 1.5 7-2 7-5 W2 AZL Giants 12 10 .545 4.0 7-4 5-6 W3 AZL Cubs 11 11 .500 5.0 6-4 5-7 L3 AZL Rangers 9 13 .409 7.0 4-6 5-7 W1 AZL Royals 9 13 .409 7.0 4-6 5-7 L2 AZL Athletics 7 15 .318 9.0 4-6 3-9 L1 AZL Brewers 5 16 .238 10.5 2-9 3-7 L1

[TheCrew07]

Nashville with a nice comeback... It's worth noting that Anderson and Nix now have exactly the same BA, while Anderson has a slightly higher OBP but much less SLG.

 

Huntsville with an excellent pitching performance thus far, no Brantley today though... Katin and Sollman with a nice day, the middle infield duo not so much.

 

No BC today.

 

WV losing late, Periard with a forgettable outing by the organization's pitching standard this year. Maybe if I had gotten proper contacts earlier I could have hit LeFave, geez.

 

Helena just keeps on rollin... the usual suspects all mashing. 3 Idaho errors have helped tremendously. Hand has impressive secondary numbers except for his K:BB ratio.

[Boy Jeenius]

Third straight impressive start for Donovan Hand. He seems to be more confident every time out. Hand, Pasma, Garcia, Anundsen, Seidel, Mercedes, Bryson, Tyson are all looking like they are finding a direction to head.

[colbyjack]

Chad Robinson makes his pro debut this evening. So far, so good. Nice to see his name in the box score.

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com:

 

Cubs, Manatees washed out

 

Thursday night's Florida State League game between Daytona and Brevard County was postponed due to wet grounds at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Sunday, starting at 1:00 PM (noon Central).

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona Brewers 8, Arizona Rangers 4

Probably the most "complete" team effort from the A-Crew this season...

 

Arizona Box Score:

17-year-old RHP Adrian Rosario with a fine middle relief stint to get the win; four doubles among the 17 Brewer hits; Carlos Hereaud and Edgar Trejo three hits apiece -- four others with multi-hit games...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_rngrok_1

 

Arizona Game Log:

Four runs in the 1st, three in the 4th for the good guys...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_rngrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Lakewood (Phillies) 7, West Virginia 2

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

BLUECLAWS BURY POWER

 

Gus Milner?s three-run shot in the first inning of Thursday?s game set the tone at First Energy Park as the BlueClaws went on to defeat the Power by the final score of 7-2 to take the third game of the series.

 

Milner?s three run bomb off Alex Periard in the first inning was setup by back-to-back two-out singles from Adrian Cardenas and Charlie Yarbrough. Milner led off the fourth inning with a base hit and scored later in the inning on a base hit from Tuffy Gosewisch.

 

The Power scored their first run with two outs in the seventh. Charlie Fermaint got caught up in a run down with Steve Chapman on third base. First baseman Charlie Yarbrough dropped a throw during the rundown allowing Chapman to score.

 

In the bottom of the seventh, Quintin Berry scored on Brent Brewer?s throwing error. Lakewood scored two more times in the eighth inning. Taylor Green?s error at third allowed Gosewisch to score and Berry?s sacrifice fly plated Welinson Baez. Andrew Lefave?s base hit scored Brad Miller in the top of the ninth inning but it was too little too late.

 

Antonio Bastardo (6-0) allowed an unearned run on four hits and struck out five over six and two thirds to get the win while Alex Periard (5-2) was tagged with the loss after surrendering four runs on eight hits over five innings.

 

The Power fell to 63-33 overall and 15-13 in the second half, while the BlueClaws improved to 49-42 overall and 16-10 in the second half with the win. The start of the game was delayed 47 minutes because of rain. West Virginia left six runners stranded in scoring position. Fermaint and Lefave led the Power with two hits a piece.

 

The Power will finish the four game series against the Lakewood BlueClaws at First Energy Park on Friday night. The Power will start left hander Mike Ramlow (4-4, 6.50) and the BlueClaws will counter with right hander Carlos Monasterios (8-6, 4.88). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Alex Periard's ground ball ratio remains over 2.00 (11:3 in this outing)...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lwdafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lwdafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 3, Tennessee (Cubs) 0

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Gulin Gets Job Done Again in Stars' Victory

 

Lindsay Gulin and three relievers combined on a three-hit shutout, as Huntsville made early offense stand up in a 3-0 blanking of Tennessee Thursday night in the fourth of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars won their tenth straight game to improve to 17-11 in the second half and 54-42 overall, while the Smokies dropped to 13-15 in the second half and four games behind the North Division front-runners. The Stars have taken six of the last seven meetings, including five straight, between the teams after dropping four out of six at Smokies? Park to open the second half.

 

Steve Sollmann and Brendan Katin delivered back-to-back run-scoring singles in the first inning to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. Tennessee starter Donnie Veal worked out of further trouble by retiring Carlos Corporan, Hernan Iribarren and Alcides Escboar with the bases loaded to end the inning but was lifted after just the one frame of work. He was charged with two runs on three hits and a pair of walks and suffered his eighth loss of the season and his fourth in as many starts against Huntsville. The Stars added a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Sollmann but wound up stranding 13 runners.

 

Gulin allowed a leaoff double to Casey McGehee, the only runner to advance to third base, in the second and singles to Chris Walker in the fourth and sixth innings over his seven shutout innings. He walked one and struck out six in winning his fifth straight start to improve to 9-3 and move into a three-way tie for the second most wins in the league. He has limited the Smokies to a run on nine hits over 14 innings in his two starts against them.

 

Corey Thurman retired the side in order in the eighth and Mitch Stetter set down the first two hitters in the ninth before giving way to Luis Pena, who walked Chris Walker before striking out Matt Craig to end the game and earn his fourth save. The Stars bullpen has now tossed 20 consecutive scoreless innings over the last eight games.

 

The series continues Friday night with Stars? left-hander Steve Hammond taking the hill against Smokies? right-hander Mark Holliman. Holliman tossed a seven-inning no-hitter against the Stars in Tennessee on June 21st but lost at Huntsville July 6th. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Michael Brantley a pinch-hit single in the 8th...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Reliever Dennis Sarfate:

Dennis showing a lot of class and humility throughout the conversation...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...207-19.mp3

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 4, New Orleans (Mets) 3

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Adam Pettyjohn photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2462

 

Sounds Earn Split With 4-3 Win Over Z's

 

METAIRIE, La. ? The Nashville Sounds wrapped up their four-game series against New Orleans with a 4-3 victory on Thursday evening at Zephyr Field.

 

Nashville (60-38) became the first Triple-A club to reach the 60-win plateau and earned a series split with the victory, their eighth consecutive victory in one-run contests.

 

Sounds starter Adam Pettyjohn (6-2) stayed in his recent groove from the hill and notched his eighth victory in his last 11 starts, dating back to his time spent at Double-A Huntsville.

 

The left-hander, who went 2-for-3 at the plate to supplement his work from the hill, allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out six batters over six innings of action. His ERA stands at 3.65 (27 ER / 66.2 IP) over his last 11 starts.

 

New Orleans took a 2-0 lead against Pettyjohn in the bottom of the first inning using a trio of doubles. Anderson Hernandez (2-for-4) led off with a two-bagger and scored the game?s first run when Fernando Tatis (2-for-3) followed with an RBI double. After Pettyjohn recovered to strike out the next two hitters, Jason Alfaro (3-for-5) ripped a two-out run-scoring double to right to double the lead.

 

Nashville jumped in front by a 3-2 count with a three-run sixth against Z?s reliever Ryan Cullen. The Sounds hopped on the board with a pair of back-to-back doubles. Joe Dillon led off with a two-bagger to center and Andy Abad followed with a rip to right that made it a 2-1 contest. Two batters later, Brad Nelson swatted his 13th home run of the year, a two-run shot to left-center, to push the visitors into the lead and chase Cullen from the contest.

 

AUDIO: Brad Nelson Go-Ahead HR --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...207-19.mp3

 

The Sounds added to their lead in the seventh when Callix Crabbe (3-for-5) opened the frame with a triple to left off Eddie Camacho and came plateward on a Drew Anderson RBI single to make it a 4-2 contest.

 

New Orleans cut the deficit to 4-3 in the home half of the seventh when Jesus Feliciano scored an unearned run on a Dennis Sarfate wild pitch.

 

The Sounds worked out of several late-inning jams to secure the victory. Sarfate stranded runners at second and third in the seventh by inducing a frame-ending Andy Tracy groundout and Greg Aquino fanned Hernandez to escape a bases-loaded jam unscathed in the bottom of the eighth.

 

Luther Hackman hit a pair of batters in the ninth to put the potential tying and winning runs on base but struck out veteran catcher Mike DiFelice to end the contest and record his team-leading 13th save of the year.

 

Zephyrs spot starter Adam Bostick worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings before turning things over to Cullen (2-3), who absorbed the loss after allowing three runs on five hits over three frames of work.

 

The Sounds continue their road trip on Friday in Des Moines, Iowa, where they?ll take on the division-rival Cubs in a three-day, four-game series that includes a Saturday doubleheader. Nashville has won seven of the 11 meetings between the clubs in ?07.

 

Right-hander Mark DiFelice (0-0, 0.00) will man the bump for Nashville in Friday?s 7:05 p.m. CT series opener. Iowa will counter with right-hander Juan Mateo (1-0, 1.50).

 

Nashville Box Score:

Laynce Nix and Vinny Rottino hitless in their last three games...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

Real tightrope act from the bullpen crew...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Helena 8, Idaho Falls 0

 

Helena Site Game Summary:

 

Brewers combine to shut out Chukars

 

HELENA--Four Helena pitchers combined to toss a shutout and the Brewer bats provided plenty of support to defeat the Idaho Falls Chukars 8-0 Thursday night. The Brewers began a seven-game home stand in the right direction behind a solid starting performance by Donovan Hand. Three Helena relievers each threw a single inning to complete the shutout.

 

Hand went six innings and earned the win to even his record at 2-2 on the season. The right-hander allowed five hits and struck out three Chukars. Chad Robinson, Dan Merklinger, and Wes Etheridge followed consecutively with individual scoreless innings; each reliever struck out two batters.

 

The Brewer hitters provided their pitchers with the only runs the team would need for the game in the third inning when Helena pushed across two runs. Lee Haydel knocked in a run on a groundout and Eric Farris singled another run home to take a 2-0 lead.

 

Helena did not wait long to add to its advantage, striking for five more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ten Brewer batters came to the plate as Helena took a 7-0 advantage. Mike Goetz and Caleb Gindl provided RBI singles during the rally and Haydel contributed with another RBI groundout. Two other runs scored when Farris reached on a wild throw to first and Helena runners from second and third came home on the error.

 

Goetz ended the night's scoring in the eighth inning by tacking on another run on an RBI single for the eventual 8-0 final.

 

The win, combined with a 12-7 Great Falls loss to Ogden, pulls Helena (19-10) within one game of Great Falls for first place in the Pioneer League's North Division. Idaho Falls drops to 19-10 and its magic number remains at four. The two teams will play the second of their four-game series Friday night at 7:05 PM (8:05 Central).

 

Helena Box Score:

Keep in mind pitchers like Dan Merklinger and Wes Etheridge are having their innings limited as a carryover from their heavy college season workloads -- expect some starts from them in West Virginia and/or Brevard next year; Mike Goetz can hit...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

[And That]

I imagine Donovan Hand must compare somewhat to Mike McClendon... good GB/FB ratio, a college guy drafted in the mid-rounds from a smaller school. Good to see the results so far.

 

And of course, very nice to see Chad Robinson out there.

[hsvstarsfan]

NO FOOLIN' GULIN

In this corner, Tennessee starter Donnie Veal, the Cubs top-ranked pitching prospect and #2 prospect in the organization......... And in this corner, for the Huntsville Stars, 8-game winner and ace pitcher Lindsay Gulin, 17-9 as a Southern League hurler since his days with Jacksonville in 2000, and the oldest player on the Stars' roster........ Think you're going to see a pitching duel?........ Sure. But it didn't involve Veal.

And it shouldn't have been any surprise....... On April 12, at Smokies Park, he walked 7 in 4 innings and lost, 5-1...... On June 22, the Stars ended a 10-game string of scoring 3 or fewer runs, by getting 6 runs off Veal on 9 hits and 3 walks, en route to an 8-1 victory....... Then on July 7, just before the All-Star break, Veal lasted only 3 innings, losing 7-1....... Tonight, Veal became the 7th pitcher in history to lose 4 games in a single season to the Stars.

That's how it will likely end since we'll no longer see the Smokies this year after Saturday....... For the record, Veal, 0-4 vs. the Stars, gave up 16 runs (15 earned) on 19 hits and 14 walks in 13 innings for a 10.38 ERA....... Of the 6 pitchers Veal has joined dubious company with, none have a worse ERA. (Steve Foster of the 1990 Chattanooga Lookouts just misses with a 10.29 ERA in 7 innings, the fewest of the six.)

Veal's one and only inning lasted 45 pitches........ Leadoff hitter Steve Moss worked a full count, fouled off a pitch, then walked. Veal was ahead of Ryan Crew 1-and-2, when he lined a two-hopper to right, sending Moss to second....... Steve Sollmann worked a 3-2 count, then dropped a hit into shallow center. Moss, who was on the move, scored to give the Stars a 1-0 lead........ Brendan Katin then kept the party going with a sharply-stroked grounder up the middle for a single to score Crew from third, then Adam Heether walked to load the bases........ The Stars, however, squandered the opportunity for a big inning when Carlos Corporan, 0-for-1 with the bases full this year, extended a month-long slump to 0-for-26 when he struck out on a 94 mph fastball....... The next hitter, Hernan Iribarren was ahead on the count, 3-and-1, when he tossed the bat away, thinking he had just walked to force in another run, but home plate ump Doug Levy motioned him back and instead, he flied out to left for the 2nd out....... Veal then got out of the inning after going full on Alcides Escobar, when after fouling off a couple of pitches, he hit a broken-bat grounder to 3rd....... The Stars left the bases loaded in the 2nd, too, against reliever Adelberto Mendez, when Heether grounded a 1-1 pitch to short.

But Gulin got all the support he needed....... Casey McGehee led off with a double into the gap in right-center in the 2nd inning, then was stranded on 3rd after a couple of ground outs and a strikeout on Nate Spears. Chris Walker led off with a single to center in the 4th, and was stranded in scoring position after a wild pitch to Matt Craig, and Walker hit a hard grounder past Heether for a single in the 6th, but was thrown out stealing to end the inning....... Walker and McGehee, would later reach base on walks, but that was the extent of Tennessee's offense against Gulin, Corey Thurman, Mitch Stetter (his first appearance for the Stars since July 6, 2005), and Luis Pena, who finished the game with a 97 mph strikeout (swinging) on Craig.

The Stars won their 10th straight ballgame behind Gulin, who won his 5th straight and the bullpen extended their scoreless streak to 20 innings. Carlos Corporan also ended an 0-for-27 slump at the plate when he crushed a ball to center for a double in the 5th. And Alcides Escobar, who had made an error in three straight games, put an end to that streak...... Not all the streaks were good. Adam Heether's 9-game hitting streak came to an end in the 7th when he tried to send a fly ball into the gap in left-center, but Tyler Colvin caught up to it........ Heether, nevertheless, is hitting .451 for July and .331 since leaving April with a .132 average........ The Stars will go for their longest winning streak since 1988, Friday, when Steve Hammond and Mark Holliman face each other. Talk about your pitching duels, Hammond and Holliman are two of only four pitchers in the league with a complete game shutout this year and Hammond is the only pitcher, other than Mobile's Greg Smith, with two complete games....... Despite a rough start to the season, Hammond is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 9 appearances, including 6 starts, since the start of June.

The Stars are now 17-11, as their winning percentage this half climbs over .600, and they have a 3-game edge over Chattanooga, who took Tennessee's spot in 2nd place....... The Stars are now 5-9 in shutouts this year. The last time they finished the year with a winning record was in 2003 when they were 12-9....... Michael Brantley stole his 10th base this month, the most since Callix Crabbe stole 16 in August of last year.

David Weiser's Huntsville box score link

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1

 

Gulin, Stars still streaking

Pitcher's fifth straight is team's 10th win in row

By JOHN FERRY

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, john.ferry@htimes.com

 

Huntsville Stars manager Don Money gave a rundown on Thursday night's starting pitcher, left-hander Lindsay Gulin.

 

"Not overpowering," the manager said after Gulin went seven innings against Tennessee at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

"Slow curve, slow change-up, slow everything."

 

All may be true, but so is the word "effective."

 

Gulin allowed only three hits, walked one and struck out six and the Stars defeated the Smokies 3-0.

 

It was the 10th straight win for Huntsville and the fifth straight for Gulin, who is now 9-3 since joining the Stars on May 22.

 

"I've been competitive from the first year (as a pro in 1995) to now," Gulin said. "I enjoy pitching. I thank God I've been healthy my whole career."

 

The 30-year old Gulin knows he is not as fast as some pitchers, including Thursday's closer, Luis Pena. Still, he knows winning is the bottom line.

 

"I throw strikes, change speeds and keep hitters off-balance," Gulin said. "We are all trying to reach the same goal and get hitters out."

 

Incidentally, a fastball for Gulin is, he estimates, around 80 mph.

 

As for the team's streak, Gulin said it's a case of everything coming together.

 

"When we're pitching, we're getting some runs," he said. "We're having fun. Everyone gets along."

 

As for whether he can go up again from Double-A, as he did in 2003, Gulin said that is out of his hands.

 

"I can't tell (management) what to do," he said. "Thank goodness I'm getting this opportunity. I get paid to pitch."

 

Not bad for a guy who for a while in 2005 was without a team.

 

The Stars gave Gulin (and relievers Corey Thurman, Mitch Stetter and Pena) all the support they would need in the first inning. Steve Moss walked, Ryan Crew singled, Steve Sollmann singled home Moss, and Brendan Katin singled to score Crew.

 

Huntsville left the bases loaded in both the first and second innings and stranded a total of 10 through the fifth and a total of 13 for the game.

 

"It should have been more than 3-0," Money said.

 

The Stars got their final run in the eighth when Alcides Escobar singled and later scored on Sollmann's sacrifice fly.

 

Fox goes to the bigs: Multi-position player Jake Fox reached his big goal late Wednesday night. Fox, a Southern League All-Star who was tied for the league lead in home runs with 18, was promoted from Tennessee to the Chicago Cubs.

 

Room for Fox on the Cubs roster was created when Cesar Izturis was sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

 

Mincher is smiling: Southern League president Don Mincher attended Thursday night's game, still glowing from the success of the league's recent All-Star Game in Pearl, Miss.

 

"I was very happy with the game," Mincher said. "It was a huge success, of which (Stars) Sandy Guererro (hitting coach) and Rich Sauveur (pitching coach) were a part."

 

Seven players from the Stars also took part in the game.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.helenair.com/articles...007_01.txt

 

Brewers blast Idaho Falls

By TOM COTTON, Helena Independent Record Sports Editor

 

Helena Brewers manager Jeff Isom says that if his team plays good defense and gets good pitching, playing deep into September is a likely possibility.

 

The Brewers certainly looked like post-season contenders Thursday night.

 

Helena got a strong pitching performance and had a perfect day in the field as they routed the Idaho Falls Chukars, the top team in the Pioneer League?s Southern Division, 8-0.

 

?If we continue to get good pitching and good defense, we should get the opportunity to be in the playoffs,? Isom said.

 

The win was the fifth in a row for Helena and it was the second straight outing in which their pitching dominated their opponent. Helena downed Casper 4-1 on Tuesday and the Chukars were unable to break through against starter Donovan Hand and three relievers. Hand fought through some early troubles and was able to keep Idaho Falls at bay.

 

In the second and third innings, the Chukars got runners on first and second, with just one out, but Hand was able to keep them from getting the big hit to bring the runners home. Idaho Falls stranded nine in the game.

 

?Early in the game he allowed some runners, but he found a way to get out of it,? Isom said. ?It wasn?t a great start, but he improved as the game went on.?

 

After Hand was lifted in the sixth, Chad Robinson, Dan Merklinger and Wes Etheridge combined for near perfect relief. Robinson, a right hander from Southern Nevada Community College, made his first professional appearance and went one inning. He struck out two over that span.

 

The trio gave up just two hits over the final three innings as the Chukars couldn?t mount any offensive threat.

 

?We wanted to give the newer guys an opportunity to be successful and there is no better time than when you are up 7-0 in the seventh inning,? Isom said.

 

The Brewer bats provided plenty of support as they scored two in the third and five more in the fourth.

 

Helena sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth and the first four got on base.

 

Idaho Falls had three errors on the inning and a miscue in the fourth cost them two runs as a throw by shortstop Anthony Seratelli sailed over first baseman Clint Robinson?s head. That allowed Curt Rindal and Mike Goetz to score.

 

Caleb Gindl had an RBI single in the frame as did Goetz.

 

Isom said he was pleased with his team?s situational hitting and their ability to get deep into counts.

 

Goetz was 3-for-4 on the night and Rindal had two hits as well for the Brewers. Helena chased Idaho Falls starter Chris Chavez in the fourth. The Chukars used four pitchers on the evening.

 

The win allowed Helena to pick up a game on a red-hot Great Falls? squad, which leads the Northern Division. They fell to Ogden 12-7 Thursday and that was just their second loss in their last 11 games. Helena is one-game back.

 

The Brewers will face Idaho Falls again tonight at 7:05 PM (8:05 Central) for their second game in a four-game set.

 

Eliza Wiley, Helena Independent Record Staff Photographer

Helena Brewers? Eric Farris rounds first as Idaho Falls first baseman Clint Robinson turns to chase an overthrown ball during the fourth inning of Thursday night?s game at Kindrick Legion Field.

 

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