Link Report for Games of Tuesday, June 8th

[Al the Thinking Man]

No way I start Corey's clock with the numbers he has. He translates to about a 750-775 OPS right now, far below average for a RF. Bringing him up to the bigs, while having other options that are doing fine, would be silly at best.

[MassBrew]

Final: Lancaster (Diamondbacks) 8, High Desert 3

 

High Desert Box Score:

 GAME DATE: 6/08/04 LNC at HD LANCASTER 8 AT HIGH DESERT 3 YTD YTD LANCASTER AB R H BI AVG HIGH DESERT AB R H BI AVG J.Ball CF 5 1 1 0 .282 K.Bibbs CF 4 1 2 1 .306 J.Ball RF 0 0 0 0 .282 C.Crabbe 2B 4 0 0 0 .308 D.Richar DH 4 0 1 0 .352 D.Boyd LF 4 1 1 1 .299 C.Jackson LF 4 1 3 0 .338 T.Hinton 1B 4 0 1 1 .306 C.Quentin RF 3 1 0 0 .290 S.Candelaria RF 4 0 0 0 .249 B.Simon CF 1 0 0 0 .157 F.Villanueva CAT 3 0 0 0 .242 J.D'Antona 3B 3 2 3 2 .321 J.Frost DH 3 0 0 0 .263 S.Luellwitz 1B 3 1 0 0 .235 T.Farnsworth 3B 3 0 0 0 .163 M.Morgan 2B 4 1 2 1 .256 E.Cruz SS 3 1 1 0 .221 P.Avlas CAT 5 1 1 3 .299 C.Capuano PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Haley SS 4 0 0 1 .303 C.Breslow PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Bass PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Parra PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 H.Rivera PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Kusiewicz PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 36 8 11 7 TOTALS 32 3 5 3 LANCASTER 1 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0- 8 11 1 HIGH DESERT 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2- 3 5 1 E--A.Haley, E.Cruz. DP--LANCASTER 1, HIGH DESERT 0. LOB--LANCASTER 11, HIGH DESERT 2. 2B--J.D'Antona (18), D.Boyd (12), T.Hinton (17). 3B--K.Bibbs (6). HR--P.Avlas (6). SB--J.D'Antona (2). CS--J.Ball. SF--J.D'Antona, A.Haley. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA LANCASTER A.Bass (W,4-4) 9.0 5 3 2 0 7 0 5.31 HIGH DESERT C.Capuano (L,0-1) 2.0 6 6 6 3 2 1 27.00 C.Breslow 2.0 1 1 0 1 3 0 8.29 M.Parra 3.1 3 1 0 3 6 0 5.06 H.Rivera 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 0 5.40 M.Kusiewicz 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.57 WP--M.Parra. PB--F.Villanueva 2. SO--J.Ball 2, D.Richar, C.Jackson, C.Quentin 2, P.Avlas 2, A.Haley 3, C.Crabbe, T.Hinton 2, S.Candelaria, F.Villanueva, J.Frost, T.Farnsworth. BB--J.Ball, D.Richar, C.Jackson, C.Quentin, J.D'Antona, S.Luellwitz 2, M.Morgan. T--2:35. A--1701

High Desert Game Log:

 

www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=17912

[huntsvillefan]

750-775 is pretty good for a catcher though and they haven't even tried him there yet. Perhaps if Kade gets taken on waivers we'll see Corey back at Huntsville behind the plate.

I'm pretty certain that they aren't going to make him pitch instead of Bausher, but in this set-up who knows!!!!

[MassBrew]

 WEST DIVISION W L PCT GB COLUMBUS CLIPPERS (NEW YORK YANKEES) 31 25 .554 [b]INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS (MILWAUKEE) 30 26 .536 1.0[/b] TOLEDO MUD HENS (DETROIT) 30 29 .508 2.5 LOUISVILLE BATS (CINCINNATI) 28 30 .483 4.0

 WEST DIVISION W L PCT GB WEST TENN DIAMOND JAXX (CHICAGO CUBS) 32 27 .542 MOBILE BAY BEARS (SAN DIEGO) 31 27 .534 .5 [b]HUNTSVILLE STARS (MILWAUKEE) 30 29 .508 2.0[/b] BIRMINGHAM BARONS (CHICAGO WHITE SOX) 29 30 .492 3.0 MONTGOMERY BISCUITS (TAMPA BAY) 25 34 .424 7.0

 SOUTH DIVISION W L PCT GB LANCASTER JETHAWKS (ARIZONA) 36 22 .621 INLAND EMPIRE 66ERS (SEATTLE) 33 25 .569 3.0 LAKE ELSINORE STORM (SAN DIEGO) 30 28 .517 6.0 RANCHO CUCAMONGA QUAKES (ANAHEIM) 28 30 .483 8.0 [b]HIGH DESERT MAVERICKS (MILWAUKEE) 20 39 .339 16.5[/b]

 WESTERN DIVISION W L PCT GB KANE COUNTY COUGARS (OAKLAND) 36 22 .621 PEORIA CHIEFS (ST.LOUIS) 35 22 .614 .5 CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS (ANAHEIM) 35 23 .603 1.0 [b]BELOIT SNAPPERS (MILWAUKEE) 32 27 .542 4.5[/b] CLINTON LUMBER KINGS (TEXAS) 30 27 .526 5.5 QUAD CITY RIVER BANDITS (MINNESOTA) 26 28 .481 8.0 WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS (SEATTLE) 25 33 .431 11.0 BURLINGTON BEES (KANSAS CITY) 18 41 .305 18.5

[MassBrew]

Indianapolis Post-Game Notes:

 

Michel Hernandez hit a grand slam over the left-field wall in the eighth inning Tuesday night, giving Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a 6-5 victory over the Indianapolis Indians.

 

It was the fifth straight victory for the Red Barons, whose five runs in the eighth inning erased a 3-1 Indians lead.

 

Jim Rushford's RBI single brought home the first run and sent Mark Budzinski to third base. Pablo Ozuna was then intentionally walked, loading the bases, and Hernandez followed with his fourth homer of the season.

 

"I knew the pitcher had good sliders and good sinkers and I was looking for a sinker," Hernandez said. "I got the pitch I was hoping for and was able to get a lot of power into it.

 

"We just go out and do what it takes to win," Hernandez said. "No one got nervous when we got down because we were patient and just waited for our chance."

 

The Indians got two runs back in the bottom of the ninth when Steve Scarborough hit an RBI double and scored on a single by Peter Bergeron. Reliever Jim Crowell then struck out Chris Magruder and earned his ninth save when Bergeron was thrown out at second on a fielder's choice to end the game.

 

Spike Lundberg (2-0), the second of the Red Barons' four pitchers, got the victory. Dan Reichert (3-1) took the loss.

[MassBrew]

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

 

A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK

It was nice to see after only 800 showed up Monday night, but can anything else but a buyout night lure over 4,500 fans into the Joe on a weeknight?...... It's an old marketing tactic that was used a lot in the early years by former owner Larry Schmittou. It seems like every business in town gave away free Stars tickets on their counter........ Give 'em a sample of Southern League baseball, and they'll come back for more....... It served its purpose after several years in introducing Huntsvillians to professional baseball, but new ownership decided it wasn't good business to give away your product, and it became rarer to see, but it comes around once in awhile....... Redstone Federal Credit Union still sponsors these, and tonight, the general admission seats were filled with fans........ And it was fans for fans, as they walked in. The old-fashioned way to cool off was handed out as free gifts, along with water bottles, but a nice breeze and dry air made them needless.

 

Those who actually paid money to get in, got their money's worth....... It was so typical of a Barons-Stars game. Well-fought, well-pitched, and full of sudden turns and twists of fate.......... One of the best games of the year, and will probably earn a place on my Top Ten at the end of the season, but the real excitement didn't come until the 9th inning...... Matt Ford had a 50-pitch limit, but only threw 41 before manager Frank Kremblas came to pull the plug..... Ford had given up a two-run double to left-centerfield by Scott Bikowski on his first pitch.......

 

Ford left a runner in scoring position in the first two innings, saved by his infield each time, but a throwing error by Ozzie Chavez, followed by a single and a wild pitch, opened up trouble in the 3rd........ For Chavez, it was his fourth straight game with an error, one short of the record by a shortstop, held by Dionys Cesar in 2001 and Francisco Matos in 1990....... Ford managed to strike out Aaron McNeal on an 89 mph fastball, but Bikowski would be the last batter he would pitch to....... Glenn Woolard came in and pitched the best of his four appearances for the Stars since joining them on May 26. Carlos Maldonado greeted him with a long drive to left field, nearly over Brad Nelson's head, but Brad's last-second leap to spear it was successful....... The Stars' good luck in this game started right here.

 

Woolard would retire nine of the next ten Barons to face him, with a mix of fastballs, sliders, change-ups, and curves, as opposed to Birmingham's pitchers who fed the Stars a steady diet of breaking balls tonight....... They went a long way. The Barons were able to hold onto a 2-1 lead for most of this game, adding what they thought to be an insurance run in the 8th on Carlos Maldonado's double to the left field wall........ Prince Fielder, with another good game, hit his 12th HR --- an opposite-field shot that snuck into the left field corner, 345 ft. away........ Prince is now 11-for-24 (.458) in his last six games, and 10-for-20 in his last five with two doubles and two HRs....... His 12th HR of the year puts him behind Jason Stokes, Greg Sain, and Birmingham's Aaron McNeal among the SL's home run leaders.

 

Rickie Weeks, who also had a good night at the plate, doubled in the 5th with two out........ He had swung late on the previous pitch, fouling it down the left field line, but on the next pitch, turning on another fastball late again, with his quick wrists, got it inside the left field line for a double this time....... The opportunity to score was wasted, however, when he tried to steal third base after Tony Gwynn, Jr. took Ryan Meaux's fifth pitch for ball four. I'll never live to see anything as dumb as that........

 

Fans around the stadium are starting to get mighty displeased at Weeks, Gwynn, and Fielder (not so much on the latter, now that he's gotten hot), promised by all the hype that this trio would easily lead their Stars to a first half title, and now cynical at their chances, and aching for an end of the Kremblas regime......... I can back up some of their complaints by saying that I've seen Weeks and Fielder lolligag and not run out the bases during infield practice and BP, where Tony goes in the cage every day to practice and runs everything out in field practice....... Gwynn is a hard worker and is trying to prove he belongs in Double-A....... I've always believed this team was underachieving and while Gwynn is trying, and may be playing at a level too high, Weeks and Fielder seem to think the effort in practice is a waste........ So much for that rant.

 

The Stars had another chance to score in the 6th....... With one out, Brad Nelson and Ryan Knox put together back-to-back singles....... Some of Frank's ideas work, some not. The person next to me voted 60-40 not, but anyway, this was another stroke of luck for the Stars........ Kremblas called for the hit-and-run. With the runners going, Chris Barnwell hit a sharp one-hopper right back to the pitcher, but instead of a double play, the Stars had runners in scoring position........ Unfortunately, the Stars were in the bottom half of their order, and Razor Shines called for the intentional walk to get to Nestor "0-for-redor" Corredor....... He bounced out to the pitcher for the third out......... Going into this game, the Stars were 5-23 when trailing after six.

 

The bottom of the 9th began with Corredor striking out swinging. Barons' closer Josh Fields, with a strikeout-walk ratio of 31:3, walked weak-hitting Ozzie Chavez, who is only 3-for-27 this month....... More luck........Weeks then came up with his first three-hit game since May 14 when he singled straight up the middle........ Shortstop Michael Morse smothered the ball near the outfield grass, but could not make a play........Gwynn then laced a 1-1 pitch to right going through the gap on the right side of the infield, scoring Chavez, and sending Weeks, who was going, to third........ Now for the first time in a long time, I felt confident when Fielder came to bat........ Maybe he's learning how to be more patient and wait for his pitch. He took the first two pitches, which were outside, fouled a ball in back of the plate, then drove a 3-1 pitch into right field on one hop to bring home Weeks, tying the game, 3-3........ Brad Nelson was wisely walked (from Birmingham's point-of-view) to load the bases and pitch to Ryan Knox, only a day after returning to Huntsville........ That mad scientist, Frank Kremblas, put the squeeze sign on and Knox made an attempt, but fouled it off........ He took the sign off and this time Knox swung........ Unfortunately, Knox did not get a good piece of the ball, making contact on the middle part of his bat, but the results were better than a bunt........ The ball rolled on the grass on the third base side of the infield. 3rd baseman Rob Sasser had to come in quick on it and could not pick up what would have been a difficult play to make anywhere........ Gwynn, the stolen base leader on the team, raced home as the ball lay dead on the grass.

 

For all their luck, the Stars could gain only a half-a-game on Mobile, washed out in Greenville...... The Diamond Jaxx kept their two-game lead over the Stars by shutting out Montgomery, 6-0........ Brian Adams, who has done well in his last six appearances, giving up just two earned runs in 8 1/3 IP, got his first win since August 11 of last year........ Mike Jones will return to the mound for Wednesday afternoon's game, a 12:05 Businessman's Special. Jonesy will have a 35-pitch limit before he gives way to Jeff Housman (1-4, 3.54). He'll be opposed by Courtney Duncan, a major league veteran also trying to come back. Duncan pitched in 36 games in relief for the Cubs in 2001, and pitched for the Diamond Jaxx from 1998-2000.

 

Jason Belcher made his Eastern League debut for the Harrisburg Senators tonight, going 2-for-4 and driving in a run, but his team lost to Altoona, 9-3....... Elie Alfonzo, who was just called up by the Carolina Mudcats from Class A - Jupiter (Florida State), struck out in a pinch-hit appearance in his first game for the Mudcats........ Elie hit .258 with 7 HRs in 69 games for the Huntsville Stars in 2002.

 

Now up on my link are the top 20 draft picks by the Brewers in this year's high school/college draft....... Number 20 was pitcher Jose Garcia, a familiar name to many of you Stars fans, but this Garcia is from Iowa. Better luck to this Jose.

 

http://www.starsboxscore.com/standing.html

[MassBrew]

Daily Press High Desert Game Story:

Manny Parra was tossed from the game....

 

Lancaster's Bass fishes out win over High Desert

By MARK A. PEINADO/Staff Writer

 

ADELANTO ? The High Desert Mavericks ? in the midst of a nine--game losing streak ? had to have a little smile on their faces as they prepared for their game with the Lancaster JetHawks on Tuesday night.

 

Why? Adam Bass was on the mound.

 

In Bass' three previous starts against High Desert, he had a record of 0-2 with a 12.66 earned run average. It appeared the Mavericks had every right to feel good about possibly ending their season--worst losing streak.

 

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

 

Bass had his best outing of the season, allowing three runs, two unearned, on five hits in a complete ? game 8-3 victory for the JetHawks over High Desert at Mavericks Stadium.

 

"If he threw like that in every start he'd be 8-1 ? he was unbelievable tonight," Mavs manager Mel Queen said of Bass' outing. "That's probably as good as any pitcher has thrown against us all year. It's no good to take (pitches) because he was throwing nothing but strikes. He pitched a great game. When you're up against a guy like that, there isn't anything you can do."

 

The Mavs (20-39) have now lost 10 in a row. The season-high last season, in which the team went 42-98, was nine and the club record is 18, set in 1994. Bakersfield holds the California League record with 22.

 

Bass had the High Desert hitters silenced for much of the evening.

 

At one point, he retired 13 Mavericks in a row. Enrique Cruz broke up the string in the bottom of the ninth with a lead-off single with the Mavs trailing 8-1. Kennard Bibbs followed with an RBI triple. With one out, Dan Boyd doubled in Bibbs. But Bass retired the final two batters to end the game.

 

The ninth was one of the rare times that Bass was in trouble, the other occurring in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Boyd reached on an error and Travis Hinton drove him in with an RBI double.

 

Up until the ninth inning, Bass had held the Mavericks to two hits, their lowest total of the season.

 

"In the past, I was trying to throw it by everybody, that isn't the way to pitch," Bass said. "Maybe in high school and occasionally in college, but you can't get away with it at this level. I hit some spots, was working my off-speed pitches a lot more and I didn't feel I was throwing as hard even if I wanted to.

 

"It's a great feeling to get a good game under your belt. It hasn't been the season I would have liked, but it feels good have a good outing like this."

 

Especially in front of family and friends. Bass' parents are in town and they saw him get roughed up against Lake Elsinore on Thursday. He allowed five runs on four hits in two innings while walking two.

 

It was a different story against the Mavs as he notched his first complete game as a professional and improved his record to 4-4. Bass' last complete game came in college at Alabama-Huntsville a few years ago.

 

"(My parents) came in on Thursday and saw me get lit up against Lake Elsinore," Bass said. "They haven't seen me pitch in over a year and I really wanted to pitch well for them. Like I said, it feels great, especially against these guys."

 

If it weren't for a couple of poor innings from Mavericks starter Chris Capuano, the game might have actually tilted in High Desert's favor.

 

Capuano, on his fourth rehabilitation assignment for the Milwaukee Brewers, gave up six runs on six hits. He struck out two, walked two and didn't get out of the third inning. The Mavs were down 7-0 after three and trailed 8-1 after five innings.

 

High Desert's Craig Breslow, Manny Parra (the scheduled starter), Homero Rivera and Mike Kusiewicz combined for seven innings of relief. They allowed two runs on five hits and struck out nine.

 

Parra was tossed out of the game in the seventh inning by second base umpire David Rackley for questioning home-plate umpire Will Robinson's strike zone.

 

Mark A. Peinado can be reached at 955-5365 or via e-mail at mark-peinado@link.freedom.com.

[lend d money]

are getting healthy off a bad pitching staff. The ERA's of Dayton's starting pitchers for the last two nights have been horrible. It's nice to see Ramirez and Moss hitting, but I think we will have to wait to see after this series if it is a function of bad pitching or improved hitting.

[Katuluu]

I'm still waiting for people to stop worrying about Moss. He's been on fire for about 2 weeks now. Hopefully we'll start seeing some smart roster moves soon and get a few people moving up the latter to free up more playing time at Beloit.

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Times Game Story:

 

Huntsville could see rally was in the Stars

Gwynn says he could sense comeback in ninth

By PAUL GATTIS

Times Sports Staff pgattis@htimes.com

 

Roll 'em.

 

Roll your eyes as Tony Gwynn Jr. tries to sell you on the fact that he can apparently see the future just as well as he can hit a round ball with a round bat - no matter how well he did both Tuesday night.

 

"In the eighth and ninth innings, you had a sense that we weren't going to lay down," Gwynn said.

 

But this, Tony? You sensed this? Three runs for the Huntsville Stars in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 win over Birmingham to keep fanning the hopes of a first-half Southern League Western Division pennant?

 

Three runs in a rally that included two infield singles and another single off a broken bat?

 

Roll 'em.

 

Sure, in hindsight, the view is 20/20. Had it all the way.

 

But heading into that ninth inning against a pitcher who had allowed only three runs all season? Not even Lasik surgery could make that look good.

 

"In the 9-5 (loss on Monday), I didn't feel we were going to do anything late," Stars manager Frank Kremblas said. "But tonight, I felt like we were not done. We had put pressure on them the whole game."

 

Well, maybe Gwynn's not so crazy after all. Maybe the announced crowd of 4,512 at Joe Davis Stadium saw it coming, too.

 

Maybe the six straight batters that reached base with one out in the ninth off losing pitcher Josh Fields (3-2) should have surprised no one.

 

Nah, maybe not.

 

Still, this is what happened in the ninth for the Stars:

 

Nestor Corredor struck out, Ozzie Chavez walked, Rickie Weeks reached on an infield single, Gwynn stroked a missile to right that scored Chavez, Prince Fielder looped a broken-bat single to right to score Weeks, Brad Nelson was intentionally walked and Ryan Knox topped a slow roller down the third base line to score Gwynn.

 

Stars win.

 

Easy.

 

"It's great," Gwynn said. "You don't swing the bat well all day but you don't give up."

 

Sitting in the locker next to Gwynn, Fielder wore a smile almost of disbelief. Even though he, too, confirmed that sense of victory in the dugout when victory seemed so unlikely, Fielder appeared amazed that it actually came to pass.

 

"Tony got the big hit and we got something going," said Fielder, who was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and his 12th home run. "I knew we had a chance."

 

Indeed, just as last rites seem appropriate for the Stars, they score three in the bottom of the ninth to beat their biggest rival in the league.

 

After all, the research had already been done. In what would've been the seventh loss in the last eight games, the Stars would have dipped under .500 for the first time since April 17.

 

Instead, the Stars remain two games behind West Tenn in the West with 11 games to play after the Diamond Jaxx beat Montgomery 6-0. Meanwhile, Mobile dropped out of a tie for first after getting rained out in Greenville.

 

Unsung heroes for the Stars were relievers Brian Adams (1-1) and Glenn Woolard, who combined to pitch 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run on four hits with nine strikeouts.

 

So between that pitching and the string of hits in the ninth and Gwynn's soothsayer talents, maybe it's remarkable the Barons lost by only one run.

 

"You get lucky sometimes," Kremblas said of the soft hits that made a lot of noise in the ninth inning. "We hit the ball where they weren't standing."

 

And the game-winning hit - a roller from Knox that traveled maybe 60 feet - didn't even go far enough to where the Barons were standing.

 

"It's still a hit," Kremblas said with a grin.

 

Roll 'em.

[homer]

This quote is a little disconcerting:

 

Fans around the stadium are starting to get mighty displeased at Weeks, Gwynn, and Fielder (not so much on the latter, now that he's gotten hot), promised by all the hype that this trio would easily lead their Stars to a first half title, and now cynical at their chances, and aching for an end of the Kremblas regime......... I can back up some of their complaints by saying that I've seen Weeks and Fielder lolligag and not run out the bases during infield practice and BP, where Tony goes in the cage every day to practice and runs everything out in field practice....... Gwynn is a hard worker and is trying to prove he belongs in Double-A....... I've always believed this team was underachieving and while Gwynn is trying, and may be playing at a level too high, Weeks and Fielder seem to think the effort in practice is a waste........ So much for that rant.

[nikip43]

my hypothesis behind Hart playing 1st last night was maybe a team looking for a young first baseman enquired about the Brewers outfielder and whether or not he could still man the position. I dont think this team is in shape to start trading young prospects, but I think it was a smart move to allow Hart a chance at picking some balls with a first basemans mit for a game just to keep him fresh.

 

He should definatly be focusing on outfield, but versatility is important and could get Hart to the big leagues a lot faster (a Lyle Overbay minor injury).

[lend d money]

When I brought up Fielder's "work habits" last year as a Snapper, I got blasted. While we were on vacation in Huntsville, there were MANY times he chose not to run out groundballs. I don't know if d money(no relation) still has this policy, but all Snappers used to get fined if they didn't run to first at or under five seconds. If you fell on your butt while swinging, too bad. No exceptions. Perhaps, Kremblas needs to consider instituting a similar procedure.

 

However, I don't think Huntsville fans should be hanging Frank. That team has obvious, glaring weaknesses. Their lineup after the five hole stinks. Their bullpen, minus Novinsky, is deplorable. They have been in a constant state of flux between trades, demotions/promotions and, most prominently, injuries. It's difficult to win close games under those circumstances. The SL is very competitive this year. The Jacksonville team we saw would have a good chance of beating a healthy Stars team in a long series. Birmingham lacked overall team balance, but their pitching was awfully good.

 

Someone mentioned TGJ had good work habits. I couldn't agree more. In the five days we were there, I "caught" him in the cage twice. He does take his craft seriously. I cannot comment on Weeks work habits as he wasn't in Beloit long enough last year and didn't play much due to injury while down south. But, like last year, I wouldn't mind if someone got in Prince's ear. This is getting way off the beaten path, but that is another reason why high draft picks should get less money up front. The "carrot" is no longer in front of them, its already in their back yard(pocket).

[Al the Thinking Man]

I assume Hart is playng 1B for a few days because he's there best option there. As for Prince's work habits, I assume he'll pick them up soon, as both he and Weeks are probably shocked they aren't hitting .300 in their sleep.