Link Report for Games of Friday, April 9th

[Dogger192003]

I think we need to find a new high A affiliate, that place is a black hole for pitchers. The scores look like beer league softball scores. Maybe if you are in the Colorado or Arizona system that league will get you prepared for the majors, but not Milwaukee.

 

As I write this Boyd goes yard Mavs down 7-6.

[madbad2000]

Manny Ramirez picked off third in the 4th -- ugh. The batting averages here are off...

 

Actually...not really Manny's fault...I believe it was Guilder Rodriguez on First and Manny on third...pitcher change....Guilder went a shade early and the pitcher threw to first and then the first baseman threw to 2nd....Manny went on the ensuing rundown...throw home ... Manny caught....had a possible chance to go back to third...went home and was gone. Actually it was Guilder's "fault" for leaning and Money's for sending Manny.

 

Montalbo looked pretty good.

 

Captain Lou...I hope it's the cold as the Swing stole on him 3 out of 4 times.....Lou sent 2 into the outfield and the other bounced up and the guy on the bag had to pull up to stop it. The guy he threw out had a horrible jump...he ran on the pitch before...then got a bad jump as he was covering for a pick off attempt. Didn't look good. His bat was looking good.

 

Murray....hit the longest shot of the year so far for the snappers. A foul ball down the third base line...well foul but cleared the second level of advertising by a lot. Still seems confused at plate otherwise.

 

Stevie Moss...swing the bat man...swing the bat.

 

Trofholz is fast...very fast.

 

Nice night for a game at the park...not TOO cold. A fun time all around.

 

Michael

[MassBrew]

Thanks, Madbad -- never completely trust a box score; nothing like first-hand reports.

 

Beloit Site Game Summary:

 

www.snappersbaseball.com/...me_id=1252

[MassBrew]

Final: Huntsville 5, Montgomery (Devil Rays) 3

 

Not going to over-analyze the box or log -- we'll get detailed accounts from the Stars' site and David Weiser later on; no earned runs allowed; reason Brad Nelson left the game early?

 

Huntsville Box Score:

 

www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=11949

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=11949

[MassBrew]

7th inning: Lancaster 8, High Desert 6

 

Reason for update here -- the Mavs' third pitcher of the evening, RHP Josh Alliston, signaled into the dugout for the trainer after throwing a pitch midway through his first inning of work. He's left the game.

[Dogger192003]

The Hville announcer said that Nelson will be in the line-up either this weekend or Monday at the latest.

[MassBrew]

My final update till morning -- yes, sleep is allowed, even during Link Report season --

 

Maverick LHP Craig Breslow walked the first two men he faced (replacing Josh Alliston), and a series of base hits, some hit harder than others, followed, and followed, and well...

 

...after seven innings, it's Lancaster 14, High Desert 6

 

I want to tell myself it's only two games, really I do http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/ohwell.gif

 

Plenty of goodies on all the minor league fronts for you when you visit Saturday AM...

[batman]

Lancaster 15, High Desert 6

 

Not a good night for the Mavs.

 R H E ----------------------- Jet Hawks 15 16 2 Mavericks 6 11 1

Dave Nolasco got the loss; Travis Hinton (aka TH the DH) and Dan Boyd both went yard.

 

~Bill

[MassBrew]

From this brief account, it seems Corey Hart could have easily been credited with his 5th hit in the 13th inning...

 

Indianapolis Star:

 

NORFOLK, Va. -- Corey Hart of the Indianapolis Indians had four hits and a hard drive that was ruled an error in the 13th inning that delivered Chris Coste with the winning run Friday night in a 4-3 victory over the Norfolk Tides.

 

The 22-year-old Bowling Green, Ky., native also slammed an opposite-field home run to right field off Jose Parra to tie the score at 3-3 in the ninth.

 

Norfolk opened the scoring in the third. Jeff Duncan's double to right field scored Wilson Delgado with two outs off Tribe starter Ben Hendrickson. The Tribe tied the score in the fourth as Coste doubled to lead off the inning, then scored on a one-out single to center by Hart.

 

Indianapolis took the lead in the sixth with a single run. With two outs, consecutive singles by Coste and Jeff Liefer allowed Hart to drive in his second run of the game with a base hit to left field.

 

The Tides took the lead back in the sixth, jumping on reliever Mike Adams for a pair of runs.

 

Hart's leadoff home run in the ninth tied the score. Tribe reliever Dan Reichert then shut down the Tides, forcing extra innings.

 

The Tribe took the lead in the 13th with a one-out rally. Singles from Coste and Liefer, followed by Hart's wicked shot down the line, ruled an error on third baseman Rodney Nye, scored Coste.

 

Indians closer Matt Childers (1-0) shut down the Tides (0-2) in the final three innings to earn the victory.

[MassBrew]

High Desert Box Score:

 

www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=19006

 

High Desert Game Log:

 

www.sportsnetwork.com/mer...MEID=19006

 

Turning point -- while the game was 7-6 Jethawks, top of the 7th:

 

High Desert Top 7th

- MORRIS, C walked.

- CRABBE, C walked; MORRIS, C advanced to second.

- MORRIS, C out at second p to ss, picked off.

- CRABBE, C stole second.

- EURE, J flied out to rf.

- BOYD, D struck out swinging.

 

I was listening at this point, and this was one of those 'make you say "no!" out loud moments', even for a minor league game early in the season. Two walks to open the inning, and then a pick-off at second.

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Times Game Story:

 

It takes Weeks

Stars second baseman has four hits and knocks in winning run

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

Some days, if you're on a roll, even nightmarish mechanical things work out in your favor.

 

For instance, when a water pipe broke Friday at Joe W. Davis Stadium. The grounds crew couldn't water the field.

 

Thus, the field was pretty much the composition of a parking lot.

 

Thus, when Rickie Weeks chopped a low fastball from Montgomery reliever Josh Parker, it bounced like a Super Ball.

 

Thus, the Stars eased past the Montgomery Biscuits for the second consecutive evening, registering a 5-3 victory in front of an announced crowd of 7,396, lured by free tickets - always a thrill in the Huntsville marketplace - and fireworks.

 

Game three in the four-game series is tonight at 7:05, with a Sunday game at 2:05.

 

A two-game win streak to begin a season may not be considered "on a roll."

 

But it's probably a mere understatement to apply that to Weeks.

 

The Stars second baseman went 4-for-4, driving in three runs. He's a mere 6-for-8 on this young season. Four-hit games were nothing new for Weeks while piling up a ridiculous .467 career batting average at Southern University, but it was his first such game as a pro.

 

"I'm seeing the ball well. Some days you're seeing the ball and some days you don't,'' said Weeks. "I hope it's something that lasts until the end of the season.''

 

The Stars were tied 3-all going into the eighth, when Tony Gwynn Jr. walked and Ryan Knox singled off reliever Austin Coose. Gwynn and Knox pulled off a double steal, but Coose got Prince Fielder to ground to second.

 

With a base empty, the Biscuits still pitched to Weeks, who was "looking for something to drive up the middle.''

 

The high chopper off the concrete, er, infield sufficed as a two-run single.

 

The Stars took a 3-zip lead in the third when Kade Johnson, Enrique Cruz and Gwynn singled consecutively, loading the bases against Biscuits starter Scott Autrey. Knox and Fielder each hit sacrifice flies, then Weeks doubled home Gwynn.

 

A second consecutive excellent starting performance by a Stars' pitcher was spoiled by the Huntsville defense in the Montgomery fifth.

 

Jeff Housman had thrown four innings of five-hit shutout ball, twice getting key double-play balls along the way. This on the heels of Matt Ford's five innings of hitless work in Thursday's season opener.

 

But with one out, Fernando Cortez reached second when third baseman Chris Barnwell booted a chopper, and hit Cortez with the throw. Joey Gathright struck out, but reached base when Housman's third strike, a low breaking ball, eluded catcher Kade Johnson.

 

B.J. Upton, the top prospect in the Devils Rays' system, hammered a three-run homer to center to tie the game.

 

"Real good,'' manager Frank Kremblas said of Housman. "We helped them out a little bit, and he actually should have been out of the inning."

 

It wasn't merely good starting pitching. Ryan Miller pitched three innings of hitless relief, striking out four, then Bryan Adams notched the save with a scoreless ninth.

[MassBrew]

More details in the Huntsville Site Game Summary:

 

Huntsville, AL ? Before an electric crowd of over 7300 on a Pepsi Fireworks Friday, one of Huntsville?s budding stars shone brightly. Second baseman Rickie Weeks ? the consensus college player of the year in 2003 ? went 4-for-4 with a game-winning, two-run single in the Stars? 5-3 victory, their second straight over Montgomery (0-2) at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

After Thursday?s solid 2-for-4 start to his Southern League career, Weeks began Friday night with a second-inning infield single. Then his run-scoring double capped a go-ahead, three-run rally in the third, and another double led off the sixth. In the eighth, Weeks snapped a 3-3 tie, blooping a base-hit over the drawn-in infield to plate Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Ryan Knox. Over his first two games, Weeks is 6-for-8 with three doubles and three runs batted in.

 

Huntsville (2-0) got another solid start, this time from lefty Jeff Housman, who scattered six hits, walked none and fanned five while surrendering three unearned runs, the result of two errors by third baseman Chris Barnwell on the same play, and Housman?s own wild pitch that erased a strikeout. Barnwell?s bobble and bad throw put a runner at second, and a wild pitch on strike three allowed Joey Gathright to reach base. B.J. Upton followed with a first-pitch, three-run homer that tied the game, 3-3.

 

Sacrifice flies by Knox and Prince Fielder accounted for the Stars? runs not produced by Weeks. Knox finished 2-for-2 with two singles and a stolen base. Fielder learned about cavernous centerfield at Joe Davis Stadium, where his monstrous fifth-inning drive ran out of steam at the 405-foot sign. Fielder still seeks his first Southern League hit.

 

Ryan Miller (1-0) notched the win in relief for Huntsville, tossing three immaculate frames, allowing just one walk while fanning four. Austin Coose (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up two runs on one hit and one walk with two strikeouts in one inning. Josh Parker inherited two runners from Coose, and both scored on Weeks? eighth-inning single.

 

Saturday night is Budweiser adult t-shirt night at Joe Davis Stadium, with the first 1500 adults through the gates receiving a free Stars t-shirt. In addition, anyone 21 and over can register to participate in the Budweiser $10,000 pitch contest. The Stars look for a third straight win behind Huntsville right-hander Dennis Sarfate (0-0, 0.00), pitching the day after his 23rd birthday against Montgomery righty Jarod Matthews (0-0, 0.00).

[MassBrew]

More details on the Beloit loss:

 

The Swing of the Quad Cities got a late rally from the offense and 5.1 innings of scoreless work from the bullpen as they defeated the Beloit Snappers, 3-2, on Friday night at Pohlman Field. Julio DePaula kept the Swing in the game by going 2.1 scoreless innings, and Levale Speigner picked up the save with three shutout frames.

 

Down 2-1, the Swing fought back to take the lead in the top of the seventh inning. With two outs and two strikes, Sam Taylor singled into right field and promptly stole second base. Ben Pattee then laced a double down the right field line, scoring Taylor to tie the game. Denard Span followed by hitting a chopper to the left side of the infield. He hustled down the line and forced a wild throw from shortstop Josh Murray, allowing the lead run to score for the Swing.

 

From there, Speigner closed things down without a problem. He allowed just three baserunners ? two walks and an infield single ? in his three frames. Speigner finished strong, striking out Terry Trofholz and Steve Moss to end the game. Speigner relieved DePaula, who allowed just one baserunner, a hit-by-pitch, and struck out two in his 2.1 frames.

 

The Snappers jumped out to the early lead, scoring once on a two-out base hit in the first. Trofholz opened the game by drawing a leadoff walk, and then moved to third on a pair of groundouts. With two away, Lou Palmisano stroked a single to right to put Beloit up an early run.

 

But the Swing struck back ? immediately ? in the next half-inning. Swing catcher Kyle Phillips drilled the first pitch he saw from Brian Montalbo deep to right-center field, a game-tying blast on the Swing?s first homer of the season.

 

The Snappers regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Adam Heether led off with a single to left, and moved to third on a walk. After a sacrifice bunt, another walk loaded the bases for Beloit. With one out, Trofholz hit an RBI fielder?s choice on a chopper up the middle. Second baseman Ben Pattee made an acrobatic backhanded pickup to keep the ball on the infield and to keep the damage at just one run.

 

Starter Evan Meek went 3.2 innings for the Swing, allowing two runs on five hits. The Twins? 14th-ranked prospect struck out one and walked five in his Midwest League debut.

[MassBrew]

Daily Press High Desert Game Story:

 

"The pitchers just couldn't find home plate tonight," Mavericks manager Mel Queen said. "So, tomorrow I'm going to bring a hammer and a nail. I'm going to nail home plate down so it's not jumping around."

 

Josh Alliston relieved Nolasco and got Mayobanex Santana to ground out. But Alliston had to leave with a twinge in his throwing elbow. Queen said the extent of the injury is not yet known.

 

Full Article:

 

www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...3042,2807,

[MassBrew]

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

 

WEEKS FLIES BY

Last night, despite the cooler weather, it was good to see an encouraging crowd of nearly 7,400, but Friday and fireworks will do that for you in nearly any kind of weather........ Saturday will not seem half as promising, despite free T-shirts.

In all the 19 previous years I've been going to the stadium to see the Stars, I've never seen anyone fly on the bases like Rickie Weeks. What a perfect fit into Frankie's aggressive managerial style........ Not only speed, but Weeks showed me how well capable he is of hitting to the opposite field and getting the jump on the pitcher.

 

After Thursday's 2-for-4 start, Weeks burned his way around the bases on a cool Friday evening, leading the Stars --- off to their best start since 1999 --- to a 5-3 victory over the Doughboys. In the 2nd inning, he pounced on a 1-1 pitch and knocked it on the ground to B.J. Upton. It took the high hop, but Weeks beat out Upton's impressive rifle arm for an infield hit. Weeks advanced to third on Brandon Gemoll's single to right and Chris Barnwell's fly ball to right, but that's as far as he got.

 

Weeks never crossed the plate in any of his at-bats. What he did at the plate, as well as on the bases gives him special notice here. In the 3rd inning, the Stars loaded the bases on a single straight up the middle by Kade Johnson, another single to center by Enrique Cruz, and a bloop hit to left by Anthony Gwynn. Ryan Knox hit a long fly ball to left that scored Kade and Prince Fielder's liner to center (2nd of three hit in that direction, including one to the 405-ft. sign) scored Cruz...... With two out, Weeks stepped up and hit what looked like a single through short into left-center, but Weeks turned on the jets and turned heads by reaching second base. Gwynn, who had stolen 2nd during Fielder's at-bat and reached third on Iker Franco's throwing error, scored easily.

 

In the 6th, Weeks doubled again -- this time into left-center gap to the wall. Weeks, however, to prove that he's still learning, tried to steal third on the first pitch to left-handed hitting Gemoll. Franco, with an unobstructed target to throw at, easily threw out Weeks, and the score remained tied at 3-3.

 

We go to the 8th inning --- Weeks' inning......... Orlando manager Charlie Montoyo brought in a fresh pitcher, Josh Parker to face the top of Huntsville's lethal lineup........ Gwynn walks on a 3-2 pitch and Knox follows with a single through the infield and into right. With a 2-0 count of Fielder, Kremblas successfully gets the double steal from his reckless runners. Up steps Weeks, and unlike so many players who have come before him, you have the utmost confidence that Weeks is going, somehow, someway, to break this tie and win this game.

 

Sure enough. He goes the opposite way and bloops a hit into right over the outstretched glove of Fernando Cortez. Gwynn scores and the unabandoned hustle of Knox beats the tag from Franco........ In just two games, Weeks is 6-for-8 with 3 doubles and 3 RBIs, as well as showing a lot of quickness in the field.

 

Not too many oohs and aahs elsewhere, but Montgomery centerfielder Joey Gathright in the 3rd stole a hit from Fielder, now 0-for-7 with a sac fly, who at least hit the ball today. Gathright sprawled himself out in left-center to make a diving catch of a bloop fly........ One hitter later, Gemoll ended the inning when B.J. Upton deftly snagged Gemoll's liner off his shoetops.

 

It wasn't all gravy tonight....... Chris Barnwell was charged with two errors on one play in the 5th inning when he dropped a one-out grounder hit by Cortez, then threw the ball away trying to get the out at first. He also had a throwing error in the 2nd inning....... That would have put him in the record books for most errors by a Stars' 3rd baseman in a game, but I believe, from looking at Don Rizzardi's official box score, that Fielder was given Barny's error on the throw in the 5th........ The Biscuits scored all three of their runs on a 3-run HR by Upton in Jeff Housman's final inning. Housman threw the limit --- 80 pitches, 57 (71%) for strikes, and looked very good tonight with his off-speed and breaking balls. They were sharp!........ Ryan Miller was immaculate in three innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out four. His slider tonight was just plain filthy, using it to get three of his strikeouts.

 

Saturday night, if the rains don't come as forecast, I'll have my first look at Dennis Sarfate since last Tuesday's exhibition game. Jarod Matthews, a 21st round right-hander from 2001, 8-7 at Bakersfield last year, will get the start for the Biscuits.........

 

Brad Nelson got the clearance to play left before today's game. He's been out with a sore knee, as the result of sliding into a play in the latter stages of spring training. He wasn't expected to play in the lineup until Monday, but he got in one at-bat tonight, striking out on a low fastball from starter Scott Autrey. Nelson's removal from the game was just cautionary.

 

According to owner Miles Prentice, we're now looking at a mid-May date now for the new scoreboard. He was up in the booth during the early part of this night's game........ Prentice is still as much a fan as the rest of us stiffs. During BP, he hung around the dugout getting autographs for his program, just like any ordinary fan.

[igor67]

Is Jeff Housman's secret some sort of Jamie Moyer yougner twin thing? I can't help but be skeptical. Still if he succeeds with an infield of Weeks, Barnwell, and Prince he's doing something right.

[MassBrew]

Beloit Daily News Game Story:

 

``He (Terry Trofholz) fell for the classic third to first move,'' (Manager Don) Money said. ``That happened about 10 seconds after I told him. We told him to be heads up for a third to first move.

 

``In this game you've got to be thinking all the time,''...

 

Full Article:

 

www.beloitdailynews.com/404/snap10.htm

[MassBrew]

From Montgomery:

 

Birthday candles: The high definition television had sports highlights running while Huntsville Stars pitcher Matt Ford remembered a lowlight.

 

A birthday start wasn't always so memorable.

 

Ford, who had five no-hit innings to win on his 23rd birthday Thursday, took a loss to an arch rival in high school before blowing out his candles.

 

"It was awful," Ford said before Friday's game with the Biscuits. "I had to break that trend."

 

Ford was with the Brewers last year on his birthday and had the day off. This year, he started and has his girlfriend in town, though his catcher was unaware.

 

"He didn't let anybody know," Kade Johnson said. "Once you get into the mid- to late-20s, if you're in baseball, you stop counting." http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif