Link Report for Games of Friday, April 8th

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Friday's Daily Menu -- tune straight form the Brewers / Cubs to the kids...

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change

 

Nashville: RHP Ben Hendrickson at home vs. New Orleans (Nationals), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Dennis Sarfate at Carolina (Marlins), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Luis Pena at home vs. Daytona Beach (Cubs), 6:00 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's feed):

stream.netro.ca/wele

 

West Virginia: LHP Greg Kloosterman at Hagerstown (Mets), 5:35 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's feed):

streaming0.ctinetworks.co...uns-wa.pls

[Ralph Wiggum]

Nice little Fab-4 of pitching going tonight, too. Wow, is it nice to have pitching depth. I would say three of those four (Hendrickson, Sarfate and Pena) are legit middle-of-the-rotation prospects. Here's hoping Little Ben has ironed out his mechanical issues, and makes his stay in the land of the Grand Ole' Opry a short one.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Hagerstown (Mets) 3, West Virginia 2

 

Listening to Dana Eveland on the Huntsville pre-game, will check out the Stars this evening...three other choices as well, split up and cover it all, kids!

 

I like the Hagerstown double announcer team, though they kind of sound alike. - Toby

[950opsLHcatcher]

I'll be checking out the Stars game for awhile tonight. The "new" Sarfate has to convince me he's actually a pitcher and not a thrower.

[Mass Haas]

OK, Toby, I'll slide over to the Manatees, especially since it's been a HBP, bunt base-hit, and three-run HR for the Mudcats.

 

The Stars are facing Marlins' #2 prospect Scott Olson on the mound.

 

In progress: Carolina (Marlins) 5, Huntsville 0, end of fourth inning

 

Not sure what happened, but the Stars game is no longer on the radio.

[Mass Haas]

In progress: Brevard County 1, Daytona Beach (Cubs) 0, bottom of the third at Space Coast Stadium

 

Obviously, the little Cubbies are traumatized from this afternoon's turn of events at Wrigley; 3B Adam Heether with a HR in his first high-A at-bat...

 

Update, in progress: Brevard County 1, Daytona Beach (Cubs) 0, bottom of the fifth at Space Coast Stadium

 

RHP Luis Pena is dealing. He's only struck out two, but one just came in the fifth after a leadoff triple. After a walk, a double play ball ended the inning -- Pena has induced three double-play grounders in five shutout innings, I believe.

 

Fun fact: Josh Brady's theme as he walks to the plate is the theme from "Knight Rider" -- rock on, David Hasselhoff!

 

We need someone to volunteer for a listen-in and update on Charleston...

[DHonks]

i'm gonna listen to Li'l Ben

 

-Capellan likely to miss a start because of a blister.

-towards the end of his outing last night he started overpowering hitters --Stan Kyles

 

In Progress: Nashville 14, New Orleans 4 --top 5

-Li'l Ben walks first 2 batters, then serves up a 1 out homer.

-after 1/2, 26 pitches (12 strikes), 2 groundouts, one K-looking

-bottom 1--Krynzel leads off second consecutive game with a walk, then steals second; Weeks 2 run HR to left

-bottom 2--Orie leads off bottom 2nd w/solo HR; RBI 2b just inside 1b bag for Krynzel

-top 3--Hendrickson retires the side in order; 6 consecutive put down

-bottom 3--Prince with massive bomb to leadoff the inning, standing ovation; Krynzel 2-run RBI pure-hustling 2b; Weeks RBI 2b to complete batting around

-top 4--Hendrickson with 2 K's, then a hit and a walk. had retired 8 in a row, throwing more strikes.

-bottom 4--Nelson 2b to leftcenter gap

-top 5--Meyers in for Hendrickson (4 IP 3 H 3 R 3 ER 4 BB 5 K)

 

I'm gonna head out. As of now, Krynzel 2-3 with 2 doubles and 2 walks, Weeks with a double, triple, and homer. Fielder with the homer. Hart 1-5, Nelson 2-3 with a walk

[950opsLHcatcher]

I hope Capellan gets that blister taken care of right now, and misses as many starts as needed to get rid of it. Pitchers tend to lose more and more time with those things because they never get the problem behind them.

[Mass Haas]

Multi-tasking on a Friday night -- the gameday feature from the Nashville site is working just fine, auto-updating after each better. Lil' Ben walks the first two -- how's that arm slot?

 

Your show, DHonks, I just wanted to point out the gamecast...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/live/xlive.htm

[brosto1]

Hurricane with an RBI double off the center field wall scoring Escobar.

Josh Murray surprisingly is 0-4.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Past Member]

Any update on the Huntsville game at all?

[950opsLHcatcher]

I'll switch back to Huntsville after the 9th inning of the WV game.

[Mass Haas]

Pohlman, the posts earlier in the thread are often updated -- look in those posts for the little baseballs indicating new text...

 

Or better yet, click on the Huntsville link above and listen in -- don't be shy!

[Mass Haas]

Update, in progress: Brevard County 1, Daytona Beach (Cubs) 0, after eight innings

 

Daytona Beach-area native Nick Slack is coming on in the ninth to try and close it out...

 

Update, still in progress (unfortunately): Daytona Beach (Cubs) 2, Brevard County 1, going to the bottom of the ninth

 

Slack and LHP Jeremy Lewis can't hold the lead...

 

Final: Daytona Beach (Cubs) 2, Brevard County 1

 

Ugh -- Manatees go in order in the 9th; Luis Pena's six scoreless innings wasted...

[scoop53714]

prince and weeks with bombs....nice.

[DHonks]

prince and weeks with bombs....nice.

 

yeah Scoop. Not sure the most encouraging news:

-Krynzel with a walk, 2 doubles, 3 RBI, and SB

-Weeks with 2-run homer (beginning to show the power we've all read about??) and RBI 2B

-Fielder with his second jack in 2 nights; PCL, meet Mr. Fielder

-Nelson with his a walk (didn't he have 2 last night?)

[scoop53714]

I know I get grilled for talking about swings but Weeks concerns me a bit because if just looks SO different. Its like he has a wiffle ball bat in his hands. The reason that concerns me is that (stay with me) no one really likes hitting with a wiffle ball bat. Everyone tapes them up to get some weight at the end of the bat. It allows the bat head to whip out and gain speed. Centrifical force and all that. Adding ounces to the end of a wiffleball bat allows much better control much like swinging a golf club is much easier than swinging a straight stick with no clubhead attached.

 

I feel like RW would benifit from perhaps a skinnier handle and a heavier bat with the weight more centered toward the barrell end of the bat. Sounds odd but I feel like his wrists are TOO strong for the equiptment he uses.

 

As I write this RW just laced a double, so maybe I should shut up.

[scoop53714]

AAA annoucer declares Fielders HR was the longest by a lefthander he has ever seen in person.

[ja002h]

but I feel like his wrists are TOO strong for the equiptment he uses.

 

You probably aren't far off, scoop. That's why he took up the Sheffield swing, after all, because he was "too fast" with his old swing.

[bball123h2]

Although he now has 2 bombs this year, it sounds like Prince definately needs some Tom Emanski in his DVD collection. Hard to tell over the radio how bad those throws were, but 2 throws just ate him up. Here's hoping the defense comes together this season.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 14, New Orleans (Nationals) 5

 

Sounds' Site Game Summary -- link, text follows:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1497

 

Sounds Improve To 2-0, Pound Zephyrs 14-5

 

The Nashville Sounds put in ?extra? effort in the batter?s box on Friday evening, compiling 10 extra-base hits including three home runs to defeat the visiting New Orleans Zephyrs, 14-5, in front of 6,814 fans in the second game of a four-game series at Greer Stadium.

 

Brewer top prospect Rickie Weeks led the offensive charge, finishing a single short of the cycle with a 3-for-5 effort that included four RBIs and two runs scored. The second baseman started his night by drilling a two-run blast off the guitar-shaped scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning for his first career Triple-A hit.

 

New Orleans rightfielder Matt Cepicky had spotted the visitors a 3-0 lead with one swing of the bat in the top of the inning, belting a three-run homer off Sounds starter Ben Hendrickson, who had walked Endy Chavez and Tyrell Godwin to open the inning.

 

Nashville third baseman Kevin Orie tied the contest at 3-3 when he led off the bottom of the second with a solo shot before the Sounds busted the game wide open with a six-run third. Prince Fielder opened the frame by crushing Zephyrs starter Chad Durbin?s first offering 425 feet in the air onto Chestnut Street beyond the right field fence at Greer Stadium.

 

The onslaught continued when the Sounds quickly loaded the bases and erupted for five more runs, capped off by Dave Krynzel?s two-run double to right, his second two-bagger in two innings, making it 10-3.

 

After New Orleans netted an unearned run in the fifth, a leadoff Brad Nelson double in the sixth led to an additional Nashville run, courtesy of Steve Scarborough?s two-out RBI single. The Sounds pushed the lead to 14-4 on RBIs by Weeks (triple) and Fielder (groundout). The Zephyrs plated the game?s final run in unearned fashion in the eighth.

 

Reliever Mike Meyers (1-0) earned the victory for Nashville, allowing one run in two innings after replacing starter Hendrickson. Durbin (0-1) took the loss after allowing eight runs on five hits, including all three Nashville homers, in 2 1/3 innings.

 

The teams meet in the third game of the four-game set on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium. Left-hander Jeff Housman makes his 2005 debut for the Sounds and will face 6-foot-11 New Orleans right-hander Jon Rauch.

 

Nashville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Audio of Rickie Weeks' HR:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%204-8.mp3

[Mass Haas]

Final: Carolina (Marlins) 5, Huntsville 0, five innings, rain

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary -- link, text follows:

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/s...newsId=557

 

Stars Stymied by Olsen and the Weather

 

Scott Olsen tossed five shutout frames and Jeremy Hermida hit his first home run of the season in Carolina?s 5-0 rain-shortened win over the Stars Friday night in the second game of a four-game series at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, NC. The Mudcats have won the first two games of the season and have not allowed a run in the first 14 innings of play.

 

Olsen retired the first 10 hitters he faced before allowing an infield single to Callix Crabbe with one out in the fourth. The base hit was promptly erased when Vinny Rottino bounced into an inning ending double play. The Mudcats southpaw allowed a one-out single to Ben Van Iderstine in the fifth inning before striking out Brandon Gemoll and inducing Tony Zuniga to bounce into a force out at second base to end the frame.

 

Olsen, ranked by Baseball America as the Marlins? second best prospect, fanned eight, including five in a row from the last out of the first inning through the first out of the third, and did not walk a batter in his first outing at the double-A level. Six Carolina pitchers have held Huntsville to five singles in the first two games.

 

Huntsville starting pitcher Dennis Sarfate hit Eric Reed to open the home half of the first inning and yielded a bunt base hit by Robert Andino before Hermida launched his long ball to right field. Hermida is ranked by Baseball America as the Marlins? top prospect and is also playing at the double-A level for the first time. Carolina catcher Chris Ashby doubled with two outs and scored when Chris Bass followed with a base hit to center field to push the home side?s lead to 4-0.

 

Sarfate retired the Mudcats in order in the second and third innings before allowing a two-out, run-scoring single by Eric Reed in the fourth. Andino followed with another single and it looked like the lead would grow to 6-0 but Reed was thrown out at third base by Tony Gwynn, Jr. before Rex Rundgren could cross the plate. Hermida grounded out to Enrique Cruz for the first out of the fifth inning before the teams were taken off the field. The umpiring crew waited the mandatory 30 minutes and with no let up in the rain called off the remainder of the contest.

 

The series continues Saturday night with left-hander Manny Parra taking the hill for Huntsville against Mudcats? right-hander Nic Ungs. Coverage on ESPN 1450 AM begins at 6:00 p.m. central time.

 

David Weiser's starsboxscore.com site -- link, then text:

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

If you missed it, you blinked.

 

Two records were broken in this rain delay interrupted by a baseball game....... In a record one hour, 10 minutes, the Stars went to the plate 16 times, erasing the June 2, 1987 records of 17 Huntsville at-bats in a seven-inning, 2-0 shutout against Chattanooga that took one hour and 21 minutes....... In innings, it was also the shortest. Enrique Cruz had just wowed a small crowd that had expected to see post-game fireworks by backhanding a smash off the ground by Jeremy Hermida, and firing to Brandon Gemoll for the first out of the bottom of the 5th inning....... Then the driving rain forced the umps to call the players in........ After a 34-minute delay, this game was called and closed in the books as official........ The good news is that the weather is expected to clear up this weekend and warm up gradually from tonight's 65°....... The bad news is that this kind of start isn't going to win the Stars many games.

 

I don't have to dig into the record books to tell you that no Stars team in history has ever failed to score in their first two games of the season, nor collect fewer than six hits in the process...... But I did anyway....... The fewest number of hits in the first two games of the season had been nine in 1988.

 

The Stars were knocked out not just by the unexpected rain (it had only started as a drizzle in the top of the 4th, and escalated into a sideways storm in the 5th), but also by the Marlins' top two prospects in their organization....... Jeremy Hermida, the Marlins' top prospect for the 2nd year in a row, launched a first pitch from Dennis Sarfate over the Mudcats scoreboard with Eric Reed and Robert Andino aboard, giving the Mudcats a quick 3-0 lead...... Sarfate retired the next two hitters, Todd Sears and James Shanks, but returning catcher Chris Ashby doubled and 3rd baseman Chris Bass singled him in to make it 4-0.

 

Sarfate then settled down and retired the next six hitters, striking out three, but Bass returned in the 4th to force a walk on a 3-2 pitch, then reach second on a bobbled ground ball by Enrique Cruz. After another strikeout, Eric Reed singled to center, scoring Bass.

 

Pitcher Scott Olsen, the Marlins' #2 prospect, retired the first 10 Stars to come to the plate, striking out six, including five straight. Olsen chucks that flamethrower at 92-94 mph and can top out at 98 as late as the 8th inning. He has a plus change, good action on his sinker, and a developing slider that he used to strike out Nelson Cruz swinging twice. He's been learning to use that slider as an out pitch over the spring........ Callix Crabbe broke up Olsen's no-hitter in the 4th with an infield single, beating out Scott Olsen's throw from the third base side of the infield...... In the 5th, Ben Van Iderstine singled for the second night in a row, but Brandon Gemoll struck out for the 5th time in six at-bats this season and Tony Zuniga hit into a force to end the side for the Stars.

 

Tomorrow, the Stars will try again to cross the plate, and if they're really, really good --- maybe even win a game........ Manny Parra will take the mound for Huntsville against Nic Ungs. Ungs led the Mudcats with 11 wins and in innings pitched last year. In 2003, he beat the Stars in Game 4 of the Southern League Championship, 7-1, with a 3-hitter.

 

Indianapolis pitcher and former Stars closer Brian Mallette joins six former Southern Leaguers who were among 38 who are being suspended for 15 days by Minor League Baseball for violating "Major League Baseball's Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program" against performance-enhancing substances (steroids and steroid precursors)..... Mallette, because of a double-violation, has been suspended for 30 days. The remaining: David Cash (Diamond Jaxx, '03), Clay Hensley (11-10 last year for Mobile), Robert Machado (Barons '96), Jesus Medrano (Mudcats '03), Damian Moss (G'Braves '96, '97, '99, '01), and Kevin Reinking (Bay Bears "02, '03)........ Random unannounced testing will continue to be conducted throughout the Minor League season.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cmcaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Daytona Beach (Cubs) 2, Brevard County 1

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.floridatoday.com/apps...90328/1002

 

Manatees fall, but spring's sights thrill fans

Daytona rallies for two in ninth to spoil opener

BY SCOTT BROWN

FLORIDA TODAY

 

VIERA - A few gray clouds loitered overhead and a spirited wind caused fans to break out the light jackets as darkness fell.

 

The weather, as uncompromising as it has since been late last summer, did permit the return of minor league baseball to the area Friday night.

 

The Brevard County Manatees got an early home run by Adam Heether as well as four double plays behind Luis Pena, but they lost 2-1 to the Daytona Cubs after the visiting team scored twice in the top of the ninth inning.

 

"We got to have a baseball game without rain," said Buck Rogers, the general manager at Space Coast Stadium.

 

Amen, indeed.

 

Thursday's season opener for each team had been rained out, but Friday brought good weather as well as the equally pleasant sights and sounds of minor league baseball.

 

There were kids hoping to get a hug from the mascot -- in this case the ever-popular Manny the Manatee -- as much as they wanted a foul ball to land in their oversized gloves.

 

There were fans filling out scorecards with names they had never heard.

 

Most of all there was an intimacy that big-league baseball cannot provide once the regular season starts.

 

Bert Brown found that out as he settled into seat behind the first-base line.

 

A Toronto resident who is in the area visiting friends, Brown said he sometimes attends Blue Jays games.

 

When asked if his seats to those games compare to where he sat Friday, Brown laughed and said, "No, it's not this close."

 

Brevard County's defense helped Pena overcome some early control problems in front of an announced crowd of 1,345, who were treated to a fireworks show afterward.

 

Daytona tied the game in the ninth on a wild pitch and Brian Dopirak accounted for the winning run when he blasted a mammoth home run.

 

Brevard County Box Score:

These milb.com boxes aren't including innings pitched tonight...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_breafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Hagerstown (Mets) 3, West Virginia 2

 

Hagerstown Site Game Summary:

 

After winning their season opener with an offensive explosion, the Suns made it back-to-back wins, and showed they are more than just a collection of big bats turning away the West Virginia Power 3-2, despite only notching three hits.

 

The Suns scored first off a solo homerun by Dante Brinkley in the first inning and starting pitcher Blake Eager made the slim lead stand up through the first five innings.

 

Eager picked up the win, hurling five innings allowing just one hit and striking out two. The Suns would widen their lead in the 6th inning, thanks to costly errors by the Power defense.

 

Brinkley reached on an infield single, when pitcher Brian Montalbo dropped the ball on a force play at first. The next batter, Carlos Gomez, pushed a bunt to the left side of the mound, but first baseman Grant Richardson couldn't handle the throw and both Brinkley and Richardson took another base.

 

They would both later score thanks to consecutive RBI sacrifice flies by Mike Carp and Ambiorix Concepcion.

 

The Power tried to claw back in the game cutting the lead to just one run before their final at-bat. But closer Marcelo Perez secured the win and picked up his first save of the young season.

 

Although he is credited with the loss, Greg Kloosterman pitched a fabulous game for West Virginia, fanning four Suns batters and giving up just one run off of two hits in five innings.

 

The Suns will try and make it three in a row when they take on the Power again Saturday night at 5:35 Central at Municipal Stadium.

 

Charleston Gazette:

 

HAGERSTOWN, Md. ? The West Virginia Power?s rally fell short Friday night as the Hagerstown Suns held on for a 3-2 victory in South Atlantic League play.

 

Dante Brinkley staked the Suns (2-0) to a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Ambiorix Concepcion and Mike Carp gave Hagerstown a 3-0 edge in the bottom of the sixth.

 

Freddy Parejo began the Power?s comeback with a run-scoring groundout in the top of the seventh. Hernan Iribarren added an RBI double in the eighth to close the deficit to the final margin as West Virginia, which lost its second straight to open the season, left the tying runs in scoring position in the eighth and ninth.

 

The Power?s Greg Kloosterman (0-1) took the loss despite tossing five strong innings. He surrendered just a run on two hits and struck out four.

 

The Power and Suns face off at 7 PM today (6 PM Central) in the third game of the four-game series. Power right-hander Yovani Gallardo will take the mound while the Suns will counter with right-hander Jeff Landing.

 

West Virginia Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hagafx_1