Link Report for Games of Thursday, April 21st

[dadofandrew]

WEEKS!!!!!

 

4RBI already, another dinger, and a triple.

 

Overrated.

[hardytheman]

WEEKS!!!!!

 

4RBI already, another dinger, and a triple.

 

Overrated.

 

 

Sarcasm? Or are you being serious?

[Mass Haas]

Final: Oklahoma (Rangers) 13, Nashville 10

Pretty wild couple of days in the Sooner State...

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

 

The Oklahoma RedHawks scored eight unanswered runs to break an early tie and held off a late Nashville comeback to post a 13-10 victory over Nashville on Thursday evening at SBC Bricktown Ballpark, snapping the Sounds? two-game winning streak.

 

Trailing by eight in the top of the ninth, Nashville whittled the deficit to three and had the potential tying run at the plate by the end of the contest.

 

Rickie Weeks matched a career high by driving in five of the 10 Nashville runs during a 3-for-5 effort which included a home run for the second straight game as well as his league-leading fourth triple of the year. The Brewers? top prospect missed the cycle by one hit for the second time in the young season, finishing a double short of the milestone.

 

Despite the loss, Nashville (8-7) retains a one-game lead over Omaha in the American Conference Northern Division.

 

In the first three games of their high-scoring series, Nashville and Oklahoma have combined to score 70 runs, an average of 23 cumulative runs per contest.

 

Oklahoma's 18 hits matched the most allowed in a single game by the Sounds this season. Six RedHawks batters turned in multi-hit efforts and four players produced multiple-RBI contests. Catcher Gerald Laird went 3-for-4 with a game-high four runs scored for the home team.

 

Weeks put Nashville on the board in the top of the first inning with a one-out solo homer off former Sound John Wasdin. The roundtripper -- which left the entire ballpark -- was Weeks? third of the season and second in the last two games.

 

Audio Link To Weeks HR:

Check out the statement made just before the pitch -- neat...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...204-21.mp3

 

The host RedHawks responded with five runs against Sounds starter Andy Pratt as they batted around in the bottom of the frame to take a 5-1 advantage and knock the Nashville left-hander out after only one inning of work. With one out, five consecutive batters reached base, capped off by Manny Alexander?s bases-loaded, bases-clearing double.

 

Nashville tied the contest with four runs in the top of the second. Kevin Orie started things with a one-out double, which extended his team-beat hitting streak to 10 games. After a pair of walks to load the bases, Dave Krynzel plated Orie with an RBI infield single to keep the sacks full before Weeks delivered again, driving in three runs with a bases-clearing triple to right to make it a 5-5 game.

 

From that point, the Oklahoma offense took over and scored eight unanswered runs over the next seven innings against the Sounds bullpen to jump out to a 13-5 lead.

 

Marshall McDougall broke the 5-5 tie in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice fly against Nashville reliever Clint Weibl. Jason Botts added a second run in the inning with a two-out RBI double.

 

Ian Kinsler, who led Oklahoma with four RBIs in the contest, doubled the advantage in the fourth with a two-out, two-run double. The RedHawks plated two more in the sixth against Weibl on a McDougall RBI double and a Kinsler RBI single.

 

Jason Conti provided the game?s second homer when he belted a two-out solo shot to right off Chad Paronto in the bottom of the seventh inning, the outfielder?s fifth tater of the season. Kinsler capped off the RedHawks? scoring with a two-out RBI single off Paronto in the bottom of the eighth, making it a 13-5 game.

 

The Sounds, who had not scored since the second inning, put up quite a fight in the ninth against Oklahoma reliever Vladimir Nunez, opening the inning with five straight hits and batting around in the frame to reduce the lead to its final 13-10.

 

Pat Borders and Steve Scarborough opened the ninth with consecutive singles before Krynzel added his second RBI of the game with an RBI double to bring in Borders. Weeks followed with another run-scoring knock, bringing in Scarborough with a single to left. Krynzel also scored on the play when Botts, the Oklahoma leftfielder, overran the ball for an error.

 

After Jose Veras relieved Nunez, Prince Fielder greeted the right-hander with an RBI double off the left field wall to drive in Weeks and make it a 13-9 contest. The two-bagger extended the first baseman?s season-best hitting streak to four games. Brad Nelson followed by drawing a four-pitch walk. Veras tossed a wild pitch to move the runners to second and third, respectively, before retiring Corey Hart, the inning?s seventh batter, on a groundout for the first out.

 

Orie drew a walk on a 3-2 wild pitch that sailed wide of Laird behind the plate, allowing Fielder to score and bringing the potential tying run to the plate with only one out in the person of Trent Durrington. Keith Stamler, the third RedHawks reliever to appear in the ninth inning, fanned Durrington and induced a lineout from Borders to end the threat.

 

Wasdin (2-1) picked up the victory after allowing five runs in four hits over seven innings of work, while Weibl (0-2) took the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits in his 4 1/3 innings of work. Stamler picked up his second save after recording the final two outs.

 

The teams wrap up the four-game series with a 7:05 PM finale on Friday evening. Right-hander Jose Capellan (0-0, 4.32) takes the hill for Nashville to face Oklahoma right-hander Jason Standridge (2-1, 2.75).

 

Nashville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_orhaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

Kevin Orie's OPS hovering around the 1.400 mark...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_orhaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Link with Callix Crabbe photo, text follows:

 

Might I add that the game summaries from each affiliate have been very good, and particularly outstanding from Nashville and Huntsville -- Brett Pollock's writeups have been as detailed as his predecessor Robert Portnoy's...

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/s...newsId=569

 

Callix Crabbe knocked in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Stars to a 6-5 win over the Mobile BayBears Thursday night to complete a four-game sweep at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars finished their first home stand of the year with six straight wins after an Opening Night loss to improve to 7-7, while the visitors lost their franchise worst 10th consecutive game to drop to 4-10 on the season.

 

Enrique Cruz led off the home ninth with a double and advanced to third base one out later on a wild pitch uncorked by Rusty Tucker, who then walked Kennard Bibbs and Tony Gwynn, Jr. to load the bases. Dale Thayer was brought on to pitch as part of a double switch and Crabbe drove his 3-2 offering deep into right field where it was caught by Casey Baker, who was on the move toward the corner. Cruz scored easily to give the home team its second walk-off win in the series.

 

Mobile was undone by a lack of control in the bottom of the seventh inning that turned a 4-0 lead into a 5-4 deficit. Starting pitcher Mike Bumstead, who had retired 16 of 17 hitters since a Crabbe single in the first inning, walked Crabbe and Nelson Cruz to open the frame and was replaced by Jack Cassel, who was making his second appearance of the series. The right-hander walked Tony Zuniga to load the bases and Jeff Winchester followed with a two-run single to cut the visitors? lead to 4-2. John Vanden Berg bunted for a base hit to reload the bases and Enrique Cruz struck out for the first out of the inning before Vinny Rottino delivered a two-out, pinch-hit single to tie the game. Rottino had been hitless in his last 13 at-bats and knocked in his first two runs of the season. Southpaw Geoff Jones was brought on to face the lefty swinging Kennard Bibbs and fanned him for the second out of the inning. Gwynn then walked to reload the bases and Crabbe walked for the second time in the inning to force in Vanden Berg with the go-ahead run. Crabbe walked three times in a game for a second time this year and drove in his first two runs of the year. The Stars five-run rally was their second in as many days and the third time this year they had plated five runs in an inning, their largest output in a single frame.

 

Mitch Stetter retired the BayBears in order in the eighth and recorded the first out in the ninth before giving way to Jerome Gamble, who came on to try to nail down his second save of the series. Nick Trzeskniak and Corey Smith singled before Ronnie Merrill doubled to left, just out of the reach of a diving Bibbs, to knock in the tying run. Luke Carlin was intentionally walked to load the bases but Gamble battled back to strike out Mike Richardson and Luis Cruz to keep the game tied at five.

 

Trzesniak?s leadoff home run in the seventh inning had staked the BayBears to a 4-0 lead. It was his first of the year and just the fifth for the team, one more than the Stars league-low output of four long balls.

 

The Stars begin a six-game road trip with a three-game set in Jackson, TN against the West Tennessee DiamondJaxx Friday night. Right-hander Khalid Ballouli takes the ball for the Stars against Jaxx lefty Raul Valdez. Coverage of the game gets underway at 6:20 p.m. central time on ESPN 1450 AM and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2005042148

 

Power pummeled

First homestand in new park ends with 2-5 record

By Mike Whiteford

Charleston Gazette Staff Writer

 

As a modest contribution to the Power?s needy offense, Will Lewis opened the game with a wicked single to left.

 

Three batters later, the Power had a run and some hope for an upgrade on a team batting average, season run total and won-lost record that rank last in the South Atlantic League.

 

The early optimism quickly gave way to more of the same, however. The Lexington Legends matched the Power?s run in the second inning, scored three more in the fourth and kept building on their lead en route to an 8-1 victory Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park.

 

Thus, the Power posted a 2-5 record in its first-ever homestand and stands 2-12 on the season. On a night marred by nearly two hours of rain before game time, a crowd of about 2,000 attended.

 

The Power, who entered the game with a .205 average, collected just four hits and has scored only 37 runs in its first 14 games.

 

In a season that has brought little to cheer about, the home team?s first-inning run stirred up considerable noise at APP, where the fans have been reveling in their new park and seem eager to rejoice at the first hint of Power success.

 

?The fans have been great, even though we?ve had a couple rough games,?? said Power first baseman Grant Richardson. ?They jump on every positive thing they can, and that helps us. Things will get better. You can?t dwell on the first few weeks.??

 

Power manager Ramon Aviles and his coaches addressed the team after the game and took a positive approach.

 

?We told them we believe in them and we know we?re going to get better,?? said Aviles. ?They probably get tired of hearing that every day, but we believe in this group. We hit and played a lot better in spring training than we are now. Defensively, we?re doing fine and making all the plays, but we?re just not hitting consistently.??

 

The Power?s only run was unearned. After Lewis singled, Alcides Escobar reached on a fielder?s choice, took second on another fielder?s choice and scored on Richardson?s infield single, on which the throw to the plate bounced away for an error.

 

In the fourth inning, the Legends took advantage of wildness by Power starter Forrest Martin to score three runs. Francisco Carabollo cleared the bases with a double to left center following a single and back-to-back walks to load the bases.

 

The Legends hit two solo homers ? Hunter Pence sliced an opposite-field drive just over the right-field fence in the seventh inning and Mario Graza blasted a much longer one to deep right-center in the eighth.

 

?I think the ball carries pretty well here,?? said Lexington manager Tim Bogar. ?It?s not the biggest park I?ve every played in, but it?s not the smallest either. I think if you pitch well here and keep the ball down, you?ll be all right.??

 

Power?s Alcides Escobar slides home safely, beating the tag by Lexington catcher Lou Santangelo.

Charleston Gazette photo by Kenny Kemp

 

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

[emunney]

Nice little game for C. Crabbe tonight what with the base hit, the three walks, and the sac fly. And an 11:5 BB:K ratio so far... tasty.

[gregmag]

Random thought from today's Huntsville game and yesterday's Nashville game: pitchers' wins are possibly the stupidest statistic in baseball, arguably worse than even fielding percentage.

 

The WV kids are really going to stink for the first half, aren't they, and then start to warm up to their level in the second half? God, I hope so.

 

Greg.

[Brian the Automator]

[ Random thought from today's Huntsville game and yesterday's Nashville game: pitchers' wins are possibly the stupidest statistic in baseball, arguably worse than even fielding percentage. ]

 

I'll actually disagree with that. I think ERA and WHIP are most important, but there are pitchers who go out there looking to earn their team a win, even if it means attacking hitters and making themselves suseptible to giving up some earnies.

[DevilDog1775]

man, could things at the plate get any worse for Josh Brady?

[Brian the Automator]

[ man, could things at the plate get any worse for Josh Brady? ]

 

I suppose he could get hit in the eye with a baseball.

[bork]

Quote:

---

Why does Andy Pratt have a job?

---

 

He stunk up AA last year and he's stinking up AAA this year? Who would have guessed it.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif

 

The Brewer's organization finished 69 games under .500 last year. They're already 19 games under this year, and we're not even a month into the season.

[brewmann04]

great statement Bork

 

but we still ranked #3 by Baseball America

[hardytheman]

great statement Bork

 

but we still ranked #3 by Baseball America

 

 

Lemme just say this. Winning breeds winners. Losing breeds individuality.

[hsvstarsfan]

A Tale of Two Streaks

This game is a perfect example of what makes baseball so great....... In this instance, nothing happened for 6 1/2 innings. Mobile seemed well on a path of ending its miserable 9-game losing streak. Mike Bumstead was totally in control of this game, holding the Stars to a pair of 1st inning hits. And from the time Nelson Cruz hit into an inning-ending double play that inning until retiring the side in the 6th, he had set down 16 of 17 hitters, striking out four straight in the process....... All-in-all, a relaxing, quite ordinary game to that point, unsatisfactory only in the respect that it looked as if the Stars' 5-game win streak would be coming to an end........ Then everything happened.

It had rained early in the morning, making the skies dreary and gray, but by early afternoon, the sun had broken through, and humidity had filled the air with a thick, redolent scent. By an hour before gametime, it was 80° and cloudless....... Huntsville apparently wasn't too thirsty for "Thirsty Thursday" --- dollar beers and sodas...... In kitchen-sized dixie-cups........ Only a little over 1,300 -- most of them from the Chamber of Commerce, who had the run of the picnic tent tonight, came out.

Glenn Woolard struggled with his control early, got behind on a couple of hitters in the 1st inning, and threw a lot of pitches (34 in the first two), but it wasn't until the 3rd that Mobile began to do damage.

Kennard Jones hit Woolie's first pitch through a diving Enrique Cruz into left field for a single, then stole second on an 0-1 pitch to Casey Baker. A lot of people were unhappy with the call of local umpire Matt Wilbanks, who was filling in for Jason Dunn, who as I mentioned the past three days, was attending the funeral of his grandfather....... Nick Trzesniak then hit a sharp grounder to Enrique Cruz, who made a wild throw to first. It was a tough play for Cruz, who had to make the play on the run behind the bag as the ball tried to escape into the oufield, so Trzesniak was given a hit, but Cruz was given the error on the throw to John Vanden Berg, making his first start. Jones scored........ Brandon Gemoll, who normally mans 1st base, was injured in Wednesday's collision with Greg Sain, and will be out at least a week. He has a cut on the underside of his chin and a deep bruise on the right calf...... Corey Smith followed up by stinging a 2-1 pitch up the middle to the left of the bag for a hit sending Trzesniak to second....... Ronnie Merrill followed with a bloop hit to right, scoring Trzesniak to give the Bay Bears a 2-0 lead.

An error led to another Mobile run in the 4th....... Luis Cruz, an .093 hitter, who wound up collecting three straight hits, got his second --- a single over the glove of Enrique into left. Mike Bumstead laid down a good bunt in front of Woolard on the 3rd base side. Woolie reacted at once. It was a close play, but his throw beat Bumstead by an eyelash, moving Cruz to second....... Kennard Jones then hit a 3-2 pitch through the legs of Tony Zuniga for a two-base error, making the score, 2-0. After that Woolard retired 7 of the next 9 hitters, and left after expending 91 pitches, 58 (63.4%) for strikes........ A leadoff home run to dead center on Alec Zumwalt's first pitch made the score 4-0 for Mobile......... That's the way it stood going to the bottom of the 7th........ The next half-inning would take more than 30 minutes to play.

I think I put the curse on Mobile by notating in my scorebook: "MOBILE ENDS A 9-GAME LOSING STREAK" ........ After Bumstead issued walks to Callix Crabbe and Nelson Cruz on a combined 11 pitches, Mobile manager Gary Jones came out and called for Jack Cassel........ Cassel had pitched in the opening game of this series, holding the Stars scoreless for two innings of that 2-1 11-inning game, although he gave up five hits........ He started out by walking Tony Zuniga on eight pitches, loading the bases for Jeff Winchester. Zuniga has now drawn a walk in 8 of his last 11 games....... On 1-and-0, he singled up the middle, scoring Crabbe and Nelson Cruz, making it a 4-2 game....... With runners on first and second, John Vanden Berg was up there to bunt. After fouling it off twice, the count on him was 1-and-2. Would the sign be taken off?....... NO........ Vandy lays it down to the left side of the infield. Cassel comes off the mound, looks to 3rd, looks to 1st, still with the ball in his hand....... TOO LATE!........ The bases are loaded again.

Enrique Cruz struck out swinging on a 2-2 inside breaking ball for the first out........ Up comes Vinny Rottino. Rottino, mired in an 0-for-13 slump, was hitting .118......... This was the best time to break out of it....... On a 1-1 pitch, Vinny singled up the middle, bringing in the two runs that tied the game....... Out goes Jack Cassel. In comes sidearm/submariner Geoff Jones. He will face the top of the order.

He gets behind Kennard Bibbs 2-and-0, but strikes him out on a sweeping breaking ball for a strikeout....... But then he gets behind 3-and-0 on Tony Gwynn and walks him, then with the bases loaded again, throws an 87 mph pitch into the dirt for ball four, giving the Stars a 5-4 lead....... Out goes Geoff Jones. In comes Nate Mateo to face Nelson Cruz, the 11th batter of the inning....... At this point, Mobile pitchers were able to deliver a first-pitch strike to only two of 10 batters. But Mateo gets the Bay Bears out of the inning by getting Nelson to hit into an easy force play at second.

Southpaw Mitch Stetter retired the side in the 8th, but after getting righty Casey Baker to pop out in the 9th, Don Money deferred to his right-handed flamethrower Jerome Gamble to get the final two outs on right-handers Nick Trzesniak and Corey Smith........ Gamble's 1-0, 94 mph fastball is blooped to right for a single, then Smith clocks a 95 mph 0-1 pitch up the middle for another hit. Runners on 1st and 2nd. Mobile has outhit the Stars to this point, 12-5.

Right-hander Ronnie Merrill then gets a hold of a 1-0 pitch and sends it to the opposite field in no man's land for double and this game is tied again....... With runners on 2nd and 3rd, Luke Carlin is intentionally walked and the heat is on Gamble as the bases are loaded for Mike Richardson, who is 0-for-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts........ Gamble throws a 94 mph fastball down the middle, get his to foul off the next pitch to the screen, and takes something off the next fastball and throws it outside. He goes fishing......... Richardson slams his bat....... Two out......... Here's Luis Cruz, who struck out his last time up against Stetter........ Gamble blows a 96 mph fastball by him and Cruz comes up empty for strike two, wastes a change-up, then gets him fishing at a 94 mph pitch.

Now it feels like the final 2 2/3 innings have lasted as long as the first part of the ballgame, but the unexpected turn of events is what endears baseball to so many people. When this season is over, I feel this game will be a strong candidate to wind up on my list of Top Ten games of the year......... Enrique Cruz snaps an 0-for-8 slump with a leadoff double off Rusty Tucker, a former SL All-Star reliever who missed most of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery......... Gamble comes up. Stars pitchers are 2-for-26 this season, but he's up there to bunt. On 3-and-2, he strikes out, but Carlin drops the ball and makes the tag just as Gamble is trying to get out of way, thinking that Carlin held on to the ball. Gamble apparently didn't know that and thinks Carlin is being confrontational, so he pushes Carlin and the two nearly trade swipes while they eyeball each other, Gamble with the bat still in his hand........ The home plate ump gets between him as both benches begin to empty and the crowd rises in gladitorial anticipation....... Does this throw Tucker off? A wild pitch sends Cruz to third with the potential winning run, then Bibbs walks and steals second on a 1-0 pitch to Gwynn....... Tucker walks Gwynn on five pitches and now Gary Jones calls Dale Thayer, Mobile's 6th pitcher, in from the bullpen to pitch to Crabbe.

It seemed like the longest full count to any batter I have witnessed, but that could just be the heat of the moment........ Crabbe hit Thayer's 3-2 pitch deep to right field and it looks like it's going over all three signs, but it doesn't........ Richardson goes deep to the track to make the catch, but it doesn't matter. Cruz strides in with the winning run........ The Stars finish with a 6-1 homestand and win their 6th straight game --- their longest since 2002 when they closed the season winning 9 of their last 11 games......... Mobile loses their 10th straight --- the longest losing streak in their history, which goes back to 1997. They now go to Trustmark Park where they will battle another 4-10 team, the Mississippi Braves........ After losing Wednesday, I'm told Gary Jones, who has the look of a bulldog when he's upset and a temperament to match, had a meeting with his team that lasted an hour and a half. After this loss, I almost feel sorry for the players, but I don't think anyone felt sorry for us when we lost 9 straight in 1995 and 1996.

The Stars now go to Jackson, where they will try to win their 7th straight........ They haven't had a streak that long since 1994 (May 7-13)....... It was also the first four-game sweep of Mobile since 2001....... The Stars are now 3-5 in one-run games. The Stars' record for one-run games in April is 12, when they went 7-5 that month in 1994........ Glenn Woolard's ERA goes down to 3.07, but his strikeout-walk ratio is 9:8....... Josh Habel, who pitched to one batter in the 6th, is unscored upon in his last four games covering 4 2/3 innings........ Mitch Stetter's ERA is now a microscopic 1.04. In 8 2/3 innings, he's struck out eight and walked none........ Callix Crabbe now has a 6-game hit streak. Combine him and Tony Zuniga, and you have 20 walks and 10 strikeouts...... Nelson Cruz hit .370 on this homestand....... Dana Eveland is 2nd among SL ERA leaders (14 IP min.) with a 1.15 ERA....... The Stars' team ERA of 2.99 is 2nd best in the league, but curiously, the staff leads the league with 12 wild pitches......... Khalid Ballouli (0-0, 2.00) will start the first game of a three-game series against the Diamond Jaxx. He'll be opposed by Raul Valdez (0-0, 11.57). Then the Stars go to new Trustmark Park for three games before they return home next week to play the Smokies.

At the Brickyard in Oklahoma City, Rickie Weeks drove in 5 runs, but Nashville lost a 13-10 slugfest with the Redhawks........ The Brewers other affiliates, Class A Brevard County and West Virginia, are doing poorly. The Manatees are in last in the FSL East at 4-9, hitting .235 --- 10th among 12 Florida State League clubs and their 4.46 ERA is 9th in the league. They have also scored just 42 runs, fewest in the league, in 13 games........ The West Virginia Power are 2-12 in the SAL North and have yet to win on the road. They are hitting just .200 -- dead last in the 16-team league and are last in hits (37), runs (37), doubles (14), and on-base pct. (.267). The team ERA of 5.60 is also the worst in the league.

[11]

"man, could things at the plate get any worse for Josh Brady?"

 

Yes.

 

Look at Minnesota's 1st round pick in 2004 (20th overall), Beloit's Trevor Plouffe. In 12 games he is 3-44, an average of .068.

 

I wonder if he isn't going to be a poster child for a player who was brought up to low A level too early? I don't know but I think that because the expectations as a 1st rounder and 19 y/o millionaire to succeed are great, it appears at least early on he not ready to produce in that level. How would Plouffe deal with a demotion to rookie ball? The pressure on him to perform right now is great.

 

The problem for Minnesota is this: do they send him down to gain his lost confidence, or do they continue to allow him to stay in A ball and risk ever regaining his confidence again?

 

Good luck to Trevor.