Link Report for Games of Saturday, May 29th

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

On a frustrating Saturday when Huntsville stranded 12 runners, slugger Ben Johnson broke up a taut 2-1 game and a procession of five Bears pitchers held off the Stars in Mobile's 9-3 win at Joe Davis Stadium. Huntsville (26-23) dropped 2 1/2 games behind leader West Tenn in the Southern League West.

 

Leading 2-1 in the fifth, Mobile loaded the bases against reliever Reggie Rivard. After Greg Sain struck out, Johnson hit a searing line drive over the leftfield wall for a grand slam, his ninth homerun this season.

 

Huntsville scored twice in the seventh, as Rickie Weeks led off with a solo homer, his third of the year. With two outs, Brad Nelson reached on a passed ball after swinging and missing for strike three, and Nelson stole second base. Jason Belcher ripped a double to left-center, scoring Nelson to make it 6-3, Bears.

 

Mobile sealed the game with a three-run eighth against reliever Fernando Rijo. Steve Morales launched a solo homer and Jason Clements walked, then Todd Donovan tripled home Clements and scored on Ronnie Merrill's single, his third hit of the night.

 

Clay Hensley (4-6) notched his fourth win, scattering eight hits and allowing only one run while fanning three and walking none over five innings. Jeff Housman (1-3) suffered his third loss, permitting just two runs, one earned, with three walks and two strikeouts in four innings.

 

Huntsville and Mobile conclude the four-game series at 6:05 p.m. on Sunday at Joe Davis Stadium. Stars righty Chris Saenz (3-2, 4.06) meets Bears right-hander Brian Whitaker (2-2, 3.26), and a Memorial Day weekend fireworks spectacular follows the game.

[MassBrew]

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

 

STARS SPILL THE BOUNTY

Only for the third time this season, has an opponent knocked the Stars pitching staff like a rag doll like this....... Nine runs........ Instead of knocking around a pitcher who was being ripped for a .324 average by Southern League hitters this season, our pitchers, aggregately the third best in the league, were the ones being ripped, with the exception of Brian Adams, who retired the 9th in order........ It was just one of those nights.

 

Clutch hitting was the key, and the Stars had trouble opening the lock....... They knocked around Mobile's Clay Hensley for eight hits in five innings --- six in the first three, but walked away with just one run, because they couldn't get that big two-out hit...

 

Opportunities were bountiful, but only after Hensley retired the first two batters in each of the first three innings....... In the first, Chris Barnwell singled to right and Brad Nelson followed with a single off the glove of Hensley for a hit to the right side, but Jason Belcher hit into a force play.......

 

In the second inning, Ozzie Chavez singled up the middle, the ball glancing off Hensley's glove, then starter Jeff Housman, who was not his sharp self tonight, singled to right. A wild pitch moved them into scoring position and a hit could have given the Stars a 2-1 lead, but Rickie Weeks struck out after taking Hensley full.......

 

In the 3rd, again with two outs, Nelson doubled to the gap in left-center --- his 12th of the month, the last Huntsville Star since Jim Rushford in 2001 to chalk up that many...... Belcher was hit by a pitch, then Kade Johnson singled to left-center, scoring Nelson, but Johnny Raburn grounded out to end the inning........ The Stars trailed only by a 2-1 margin, but they had left six on base in the first three innings...... By comparison, Hensley breezed through the 4th and the 5th, while two sterling defensive plays in the infield, and a double play left the Stars empty......... Through Hensley's five innings, the Stars, now down 6-1, had left five runners in scoring position.

 

Mobile outfielder Ben Johnson struck the big blow, the one that for all intents, did the Stars in -- a one-out grand-slam HR off Reggie Rivard -- his 17th pitch of the inning. That ballooned Rivard's season ERA to 5.76, close to his April ERA........ Housman threw more pitches in three innings than Dennis Sarfate did Friday night, leading to his early exit. Housman just wasn't sharp at all tonight, frequently getting behind on hitters...... 31 of his 63 pitches in his first three innings were thrown for strikes and he left after throwing 75 in four innings...... Of Rivard's 21 pitches, 10 were thrown for strikes....... An uncustomary bad night for our pitchers....... Fernando Rijo's line looks bad, but he actually retired the side in the 7th inning, striking out Josh Barfield for the 17,000th strikeout in Stars history, and facing only four hitters in the 6th, giving up just a single....... In the 8th, however, Rijo fell apart, giving up a leadoff HR to Steve Morales, a one-out walk to Jake Gautreau, and an RBI triple to left center by Todd Donovan....... The inning for Mobile ended with a 9-3 lead.

 

Any good news?...... Rickie Weeks lined a home run over the Corr Wireless sign in left in the 7th inning, and Frank Kremblas called on pitcher Chris Saenz, who starts tomorrow against Brian Whitaker (2-2, 3.26), who came through with an 8th inning single, making him 6-for-15 this year.

 

As for the fans, they had part of their scoreboard working tonight........ The line score was brightly lit in red numerals, and that was basically it......... The message board came on in the bottom of the 6th, but offered nothing more than an understated cheer of "Go Stars"........ Later in the game, it was used to remind the ladies in the park to "WIn a Date with Frank", splashed and animated many times on the new board, while Frank was looking on from the top steps of the dugout, trying to ignore the laughs and kidding from his players........ The pitch indicators were not working. Neither was the video screen used at all........ GM Bryan Dingo said there were some bad cards (you geeks know what I mean) preventing the new scoreboard from being fully utilized....... Wednesday was the earliest they could be replaced....... The pitch speed indicator has yet to be connected, and perhaps tomorrow it will, perhaps it will even work, but they're supposed to get the clock up there tomorrow before the 6:05 game...... Today they were working on some cosmetic additions to the top of the scoreboard (blue stars on top of the scoreboard), and checking the wiring on the board.

 

There may be some bone fragments in Ryan Miller's elbow........ Doctors came to that conclusion after rehab wasn't working for him....... Among the scouts attending the game tonight, I'm told former major league outfielder Lee Thomas was behind home plate.

 

After 49 games, the Stars have committed 49 errors. the club record for fewest errors after 50 games is 53, set by the 1999 Stars....... The Stars already broke the record for fewest errors after 40 games (with 39), also previously held by the 1999 Stars.

[Danagger]

but this team has had a lineup of top prospects all year...

 

Weeks, Gwynn, Fielder, Nelson, Belcher, Johnson are considered upper level prospects and Weeks and Fielder are considered extraordinary top 10 type prospects with Nelson not far behind. This lineup should be better than it is. I agree that near the bottom 3rd and SS are unsettled and Johnson is woefully inconsistent. But the the bottom line is that you shouldn't really be able to pitch around the entire top 5-6 in the order and Weeks and Fielder who are both struggling deserve a lions share of the blame for the offensive woes of Huntsville. Both are exceptional talents, but I don't feel that up til this point (5/30) neither has come anywhere close to fulfilling their expectations for 2004. If our #1 and #3 prospects (BA's 5 and 10 in all of minors) aren't enough to jump start the top of the order, I think it is far-fetched to suggest that another bat in the system is going to help when those guys aren't hitting. Enrique Cruz has been a major disapointment for Huntsville, but given their respective ceilings...Fielder and Weeks have as well.

[Cyanogen5]

I was at the Indy game last night, and had an opportunity to see Liriano pitch. He was hitting 87 - 88 on the gun consistently, but he couldn't seem to find the strike zone. He was lucky to only give up 1 run in each of the first two inning. He always seemed to be in a 3 ball count. His trouble came in the 6th, where he had a run in and a man on 2nd. He walked the guy to set up the double play, then promptly threw a wild pitch that moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. He then walked the next guy (unintentional intentional), and then pintch hitter Mark Smith hit a bases clearing double. His counterpart, Hancock, was pounding the strike zone. He seemed to be 0-2, 1-2 to everyone. Nobody seemed to hit him really hard. Hart's single in the first was a weak ground ball that found its way to the outfield, and Figueroa's double was a hustle double. Overall I wasn't too impressed with Liriano...although I know he has pitched much better. Maybe I will see a little more offence from the tribe on Monday.

 

On a side note, I got Cory Hart to autograph a ball and a card, but he seemed pretty shy. I asked him how he liked the standing ovation he got at Miller Park, and he said it was cool. I didn't ask him much more (like about J.J. or Dave) because he seemed like he didn't want to talk much. When Jeff Fassero was warming up in the bullpen, my girlfriend asked me who #17 was...I looked on my roster sheet and it showed it to be J.J. Hardy. I told her it couldn't be...but walked over to be sure. Turned out it was Fassero, but I was puzzled for a little bit!

[biedergb]

When Jeff Fassero was warming up in the bullpen

 

Did you mean Farnsworth, or did we sign Fassero to a AAA deal?

[MassBrew]

Daily Press High Desert Game Story:

Interesting quotes from Parra, along with Morris, Queen, and Hinton...

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...648,54160,

[madbad2000]

I was going to post this last night but I was too furious. No way we lose that game last night. Lend d money hit the nail on the head with Guilder. Got excited and made two crucial errors The 2nd one the worst as his throwing error caused two to score and was unnecessary as he had time to set his feet. Without that one we still win as we scored one in the bottom.

 

Lend d money didn't mention the backbreaker for the Snappers last night. The Guilder Errors hurt us but we were still in a position to tie it up or more in the bottom half. Acosta drew a walk....Don then bunted with Guilder to move Acosta to second. Down by TWO? Didn't understand that one. Acosta would come around to score though. The biggest blunder occurred to end the game. Down by one...Anderson on first...Lou at the plate...Vinny on deck...2 outs....what happens.....Drew Anderson thrown out at 2nd on a STEAL!!!! What the hell?!?!?! You have your two best hitters at the plate/coming up so you steal with Drew who isn't the fastest and who had already been thrown out earlier and was probably a bit jittery hence a late jump. You take the game out of the hands of your two best hitters and give it to Drew's feet. I may not be the smartest man but I know for a fact that Drew's base stealing is not better than Lou or Vinny's bat. Horrible job of coaching. I'm still furious this morning. Heck, even my uncle who rarely goes to games was questioning Money's style. He bunts too much, steals too much with the wrong people. If Don had not had Guilder bunt the previous 2 or 3 times at the plate then maybe Guilder could have reached base with a bunt single in the ninth instead of becoming a sacrifice where even my 8 year old cousin knew a bunt was coming.

 

Great post Lend about the previous opportunities that just magnified Guilder (and Don's) errors. 17 hits and still be in a game that we should have WON.

 

Pena...what to say...I'm not sure if he wasn't on or what. West Michigan was hitting the ball where we weren't. A couple doubles right down the line, bloop singles, gap shots. Not much was hit hard so it's tough to blame Pena.

 

McKenna and Dillard did awesome. Came in and shut the door. Taubenheim deserved a win which he would have received if not for the blunders in the ninth.

 

Heether...I've been clamoring on here for a few weeks now that if only Adam could start to hit he'd be golden....well folks he's now hit something like 5 dongs in the past week....but I'm not taking credit for calling him out.... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

We deserved better last night....we deserved free culvers ice cream too...maybe that's what is making me so mad...getting jipped out of ice cream.

 

Play of the game...2nd inning...Guilder up...hits a slicing foul ball to the left field Lenie's area....I backpedal and make a grab on the slicing ball... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Nice crowd last night and I'm sure most were there for the fireworks. If this rain keeps up look for a doubleheader on Memorial Monday.

 

Talked with Mrs. Lend D Money during the game...very nice to have met you.

 

I'm amazed at how fan friendly Pohlman field is. Parents can come to the game and just let the kids run around and not have to feel overly worried about their safety.

[Al the Thinking Man]

Upset over the result of a low A game? It's about development.

 

Parents can come to the game and just let the kids run around and not have to feel overly worried about their safety.

 

Ooof. That must be wonderful for those folks who wanted a nice quiet nigth at the ballpark.

[madbad2000]

Upset over the result of a low A game? It's about development.

 

From a Milwaukee Brewer front office perspective absolutely. From a Snappers baseball fan who attends ball games it's not. Emotions, feelings, blood...us humans have them...maybe someday you'll learn "Data".

 

Parents can come to the game and just let the kids run around and not have to feel overly worried about their safety.

 

Ooof. That must be wonderful for those folks who wanted a nice quiet nigth at the ballpark.

 

Actually it's not too bad as there is a playground area behind the stands and others congregate around where I sit in the left field picnic area. So those who want a quiet night sit in the stands.

[Al the Thinking Man]

Me will never understand what you call "feelings".

 

 

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[biedergb]

Lend or MadBad (or anyone who's seen the Snappers play):

 

I noticed that Adam Heether is coming around at the plate. I'm curious whether he is a true 3b, meaning does he have the range, glove and arm to handle the "hot corner"?

Even though it's low-A, it would be nice.

[madbad2000]

Adam Heether at 3b is amazing. His arm is the best I've seen there in a long time....better than any other 3b I've seen play on other teams. He throws a bullet and is accurate. His range is pretty good as well. He made a diving play last night to end the Guilder fiasco and save yet another run. I've been saying it for awhile now that all he needs to do to move on is just hit some more...and he's finally coming around.

[DuWayne Steurer]

From what I've seen in person, I have to 100% agree with Madbad. Heether's definately turned a corner, and *might* actually be pushing himself into "prospect" consideration.

 

Oh, and to add onto what madbad said, these games are all about development, but that doesn't mean us "minor league fans" don't want to see wins from our team, and I'm sure the players want to win just as bad as if the uniform said "Milwaukee" on it instead of "Beloit".

[danzig6767]

Who goes to a ballpark for a quiet night??

 

Why not just stay home then.

[biedergb]

With regard to Heether's comments, Thanks Madbad.

 

By the way, how is Guilder defensively. I know he had a rough night, but overall he is decent at defense. THe kid sure know how to get on base, his OBP has generally been .100 above his BA, and BB:K ratio is about 1:1 in his young career so far.

(With all these injuries and struggles to our top level prospects, I'm getting around to really learning the low level prospects.)

Thanks in advance.

[madbad2000]

Tell you what...I've liked Guilder's defense up until last night. I still like it...I'll chalk up last night to nerves and being over anxious to be the hero. Generally it's pretty good. Arm isn't the strongest but range and glove are nice.