Link Report Wed. 7/11 -- Toneguzzi Article Wraps Things Up

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: Please use this linked thread to follow and discuss tonight's AAA All-Star Game --

 

p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...mp;stop=25

 

Huntsville: RHP Will Inman at Chattanooga (Reds), 6:00 PM pre-game; 6:15 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Brevard County: LHP Chris Cody at Sarasota (Reds), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

NOTE: Sorry, no audio for this Brevard County series

 

West Virginia: RHP Chris Toneguzzi at home vs. Hickory (Pirates), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime

 

Audio link (game will also archive at this link):

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

 

Helena: TBD at Idaho Falls (Royals), 8:00 PM pre-game, 8:15 gametime

 

Audio link (game will also archive at this link):

www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

 

Arizona: 18-year-old LHP Kristian Bueno makes his 4th appearance and 2nd start, at the A's complex in Phoenix, 10:30 AM local time in Arizona, 12:30 Central; never any audio for Arizona Rookie League games

[Mass Haas]

Follow Wednesday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Choose "Log". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often.

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sarafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

Helena:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_idarok_1

 

Arizona:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_athrok_1

[Mass Haas]

These links will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds and/or Huntsville Stars are scheduled to play. Normally they are updated an hour or two prior to gametime, with Nashville's usually earlier:

 

Huntsville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

Standings as of 5:00 PM Central Wednesday:

There was some earlier action elsewhere, including an Arizona Brewers loss, discussed below...

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 55 35 .611 - 29-13 26-22 W4 Iowa 50 40 .556 5.0 29-19 21-21 W4 Omaha 42 49 .462 13.5 27-16 15-33 W2 Memphis 39 52 .429 16.5 21-27 18-25 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 12 8 .600 - 6-4 6-4 L1 Tennessee 10 10 .500 2.0 7-3 3-7 L2 Huntsville 9 11 .450 3.0 5-5 4-6 W2 Carolina 8 12 .400 4.0 5-5 3-7 L2 West Tenn 7 13 .350 5.0 5-5 2-8 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 12 7 .632 - 5-3 7-4 W2 Palm Beach 10 8 .556 1.5 4-5 6-3 L2 Jupiter 9 9 .500 2.5 5-4 4-5 W1 St. Lucie 8 10 .444 3.5 3-6 5-4 L1 Daytona 8 11 .421 4.0 5-6 3-5 W2 Vero Beach 4 14 .222 7.5 2-7 2-7 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lakewood 12 6 .667 - 7-2 5-4 W2 Hickory 11 8 .579 1.5 8-5 3-3 W3 Lake County 10 8 .556 2.0 5-4 5-4 L5 West Virginia 10 9 .526 2.5 5-3 5-6 L2 Delmarva 8 10 .444 4.0 3-6 5-4 L2 Lexington 8 11 .421 4.5 7-4 1-7 W2 Hagerstown 6 12 .333 6.0 3-6 3-6 W3 Greensboro 5 14 .263 7.5 4-4 1-10 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great Falls 13 8 .619 - 7-3 6-5 W2 Helena 13 8 .619 - 5-6 8-2 W2 Billings 8 13 .381 5.0 4-5 4-8 L2 Missoula 8 13 .381 5.0 5-7 3-6 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Mariners 13 3 .813 - 7-1 6-2 W4 AZL Angels 12 4 .750 1.0 10-2 2-2 W1 AZL Padres 10 6 .625 3.0 5-2 5-4 L1 AZL Cubs 8 8 .500 5.0 5-3 3-5 W2 AZL Giants 7 9 .438 6.0 4-4 3-5 L1 AZL Royals 7 9 .438 6.0 3-4 4-5 W1 AZL Rangers 6 10 .375 7.0 2-5 4-5 L5 AZL Athletics 5 11 .313 8.0 3-4 2-7 W1 AZL Brewers 4 12 .250 9.0 1-7 3-5 L4

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona A's 11, Arizona Brewers 2

 

Arizona Box Score:

Five errors contribute to seven unearned runs; catcher Brett Whiteside continue to play like team MVP, although he DH'd again today as Matt Czimskey, also hitting well, was behind the dish...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_athrok_1

 

Arizona Game Log:

Just more general yuckiness from this squad...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_athrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2007071021

 

Power returns home tonight to start three-game series with Hickory Crawdads

Charleston Gazette

 

The West Virginia Power will return home for a three-game series with the Hickory Crawdads, beginning at 7:05 tonight (6:05 Central).

 

After dropping its last two games on the road at Lexington, the Power will turn to right-handed pitcher Chris Toneguzzi to try to get the team back in the win column. Toneguzzi is 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA.

 

In the back-to-back losses at Lexington, the Power stranded 25 runners and scored just three runs. The team?s defensive woes also continued, as the Power has committed at least one error in four consecutive games.

 

The Power has had Hickory?s number so far this season, winning six of seven meetings. West Virginia swept the Crawdads in a four-game series at Appalachian Power Park in April, part of the Power?s 14-game win streak in the first half of the season. When the teams met in Hickory in June, the Power ripped off 25 hits in a 24-13 victory.

 

Stephen Chapman has been a bright spot for the team in the second half. The outfielder is on a 15-game hitting streak and is batting .268 on the year with 12 home runs and 54 RBIs.

 

Outfielder Andrew Lefave leads the South Atlantic League in batting with a .341 average. Power third baseman Taylor Green is 10th with a .318 average.

 

The Power is 10-9 in the second half of the season, and 2 1/2 games behind division-leading Lakewood in the South Atlantic?s Northern Division. Hickory is 11-8 and a game ahead of the Power in the North.

 

The Power is 58-29 overall on the year.

[Mass Haas]

Buck Rogers, Manatees GM:

 

The inaugural MLB All-Star Game Party was a success!

 

Held at Hooters Merritt Island, Manatees fans joined players and staff in downing some wings, cold drinks, winning tickets and prizes in raffles and enjoying the All-Star Game.

 

The Manatees players, fans and staff had a great time and everybody walked out with at least Manatees game tickets just for showing up and joining us in the festivities!

 

Additionally, we had a free All-Star Game prediction contest where fans predicted the results of the game, the score and who they thought the game's MVP was going to be. If anybody correctly hit the four categories, he or she would win a lifetime season ticket. A pair of season tickets to the 2008 Manatees was offered as the consolation grand prize for the person predicting the closest if the lifetime season ticket were not won. There were some fans that were close, but in the end it was Don Leyko who walked away with a pair of season tickets for next season!

 

In the 'how did this stupid trick backfire?' department, an unnamed Manatees Pitcher whose last name begins with 'McC' and ends with 'lendon' informed a Hooters Waitrees that it was his birthday (it wasn't). The waitress grabbed him and another Manatees Pitcher who is a recent Brewers acquisition from the Detroit Tigers organization (see photo on home page), and had the duo acting out 'I'm a Little Teapot...' in front of the crowd. If either of them ever leave the game of baseball there will be work available for them on Dance Fever. All in all, everybody had a great night enjoying the game as part of the Manatees family.

 

We'd like to thank Maggie Scott and the good folks at Hooters Merritt Island for hosting this event and making it a fun place to watch the game and hang out with fans. As promised, the drinks were cold, the wings hot and the Hooters Girls were in top-notch form all night long.

 

Manatees Pitchers Chris Cody (middle) and Mike McClendon (right) show their true talents. "I'm a little teapot short and stout..."

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2007/07/11/58yQL4EP.jpg

 

Manatees' players signed autographs, posed for photos with fans and performed magic tricks (like making a platter of wings disappear in seconds flat).

 

The team is heading to the left coast today for a four-game series against the Sarasota Reds. When the teams last faced off the Manatees took three of four here at Miller Lite Park. The Reds, you will recall, have won the Western Division's first half and like the Manatees, have secured a post-season playoff berth.

 

On Saturday, the Milwaukee Brewers will be conducting open tryouts for those 15-25 years of age here at Space Coast Stadium. Registration will begin at 8:00 am and tryouts commence at 8:30. You must have a government issued photo ID, e.g., Driver's License, Passport, etc., to register. Parents or Legal Guardians must be present to sign for those under the age of 18; NO EXCEPTIONS! These tryouts will be conducted by the Milwaukee Brewers Scouting Department. All participants should be dressed, ready to play and have their own gear.

 

This Sunday is another Snip-it's Sunday. But the game time has been changed to a special 6:00 pm start. The Manatees will face the Dunedin Blue Jays beginning Sunday. Minor League Baseball rules dictate that a game cannot begin before 4:00 pm the day after one of the participating teams has had a night game and had to travel at least 150 miles. The distance from Space Coast Stadium in Viera to Knology Park in Dunedin is 153.3 miles. So this game, and the game on August 5th against the Tampa Yankees, will begin at 6:00 pm. And you thought we just made this stuff up, didn't you?

 

But here's the good news.

 

This Sunday night's game will be followed by post-game fireworks, courtesy of Harris Corporation as a part of our salute to the United Way. It gets better for those of you with kids: it's still a Snip-its Sunday. Kids simply have to go to a ticket window and say, "Snip-its haircuts for kids, where haircuts are fun," and they will receive a free ticket to the game, just like every other Snip-it's Sunday!

 

More mail from the masses, and some of it's just weird:

 

Any transactions in the last couple days?

 

Pitcher Vince Perkins has been promoted to AA Hunstville and pitcher Josh Baker has been activated from the Disabled List. My sanity was placed on the DL.

 

Why does the Radar Gun display show a pitcher's ball speed and then jump into the 40 mph range?

 

Because the radar gun is aimed at the pitcher's mound from behind home plate, it also picks up the traffic traveling up and down Stadium Parkway. Those speeds in the 40's are simply the vehicles' speeds traveling on Stadium Parkway. I know, I know, I know.they're breaking the law. The speed limit on Stadium Parkway is 30 mph when the road construction is on-going but our radar gun isn't certified so our Sheriff's Deputies cannot call in for a squad car to book 'em, Dan-o. Radar guns are calibrated using tuning forks, for those that were wondering. No kidding.

 

What did Mat Gamel do differently on the day the streak ended?

 

A clubhouse report said that he didn't make his bed, put on his left shoe before his right, ate Frosted Flakes instead of Cheerios and forgot to strain the pulp from his orange juice. We'll try to confirm those reports. Back to live action here.

 

Mat Gamel, for those that weren't in the loop, recently had a 33-game hitting streak end. The FSL record is 36 games and Mat was this close to erasing that record. I don't know what Mat did differently, but I do know the situation was tougher because the streak ended during a seven-inning doubleheader game, and he didn't receive a 4th or possibly a 5th at-bat that he would've seen in a nine-inning game. That may not sound like a lot, but streaks are ended with peculiar circumstances. When the Brewers' Paul Molitor's 39-game streak ended in 1987 he was on-deck and although I can't remember who was batting (Rick Manning), the player could've went down swinging to give Molly another AB, but he drove in a game winning run and that was that. Mat is a pretty low key guy and I don't think he did anything different, but if he did, we'll try to find out for you.

 

Where do I find hardcore Brewers fans?

 

Locally, they're around. Hit some of the local sports bars and you'll see them. You'll also see Brewers baseball caps at Manatees games and I think the number will grow as the season progresses with the pennant races. If the Brewers seal the deal and wrap up a playoff berth you'll see as many Brewers fans running around as you do Dallas Cowboys fans when they're winning, because they'll be jumping on that bandwagon just like we said they would back in this newsletter in March or April. But look close and you'll see the real Brewers fans from the wannabe Brewers fans.

 

What's that? How do you recognize a real Brewers fan?

 

Good question. A real Brewers fan will have a stain on his or her shirt from where the bratwurst grease dripped out on the first bite. It won't wash out, you can't Shout it out, but the shirt is just too valuable not to wear. A real Brewers fan knows what secret stadium sauce is and what it tastes like. A real Brewers fan knows about the 25-year cycle of success. A real Brewers fans hates the Cubs and won't even chew Wrigley's gum because of the name. Hello, Bazooka Joe. Good-bye Doublemint Twins. A real Brewers fan says a prayer and takes a deep breath every time he or she drives over the Cheddar Curtain into Illinois because he or she just inherited a day full of toll roads, crazy drivers and bad attitudes. Hey, I lived in northern Illinois for two years and lived that experience and I relive it every night in my nightmares. Look close, you'll see die-hard Brewers fans here in Brevard County.

 

If you're looking for Brewers fans behind the scenes or you just can't get enough of your daily dose of Vitamin B(rewers), hit the web. Those that want to really be in touch with what's going on can find a plethora (today's Pee Wee's Playhouse word of the day) of web sites that follow every team in every sport at every level. For the Brewers there are no exceptions. If you can't find what you want at www.brewers.com then go to www.brewerfan.net for everything Brewers. The guys there are pretty hardcore and if you don't have Brewers Blue blood in your veins, carry your fingers with the carpal tunnel syndrome down the information superhighway to something in a more royal Cubbsie-Wubbsie lighter shade of blue, because this site probably isn't for you. You know what I mean.if the Brewers lose a game of have a bad year they don't blame goats. It's all about reality -- really.

 

How much caffeine do you drink a day? You're really flying when you right the newsletters, aren't you?

 

Guilty. Sentenced to a lifetime drinking caffeine free drinks, right? Wrong. Ah, yes, the squelcher of yawns, the defeater of sleep, the liquid of all things baseball. Diet Coke with Lime. Yeah, I'm a caffeine junkie. I don't do coffee or tea. Hate the taste. The sugar and caffeine combo would put me over the top if I drank the high octane Coke Classic, and energy drinks would probably stop my heart and set me off like a Roman Candle, so I settle for Diet Coke with Lime; usually a 2-liter a day on game days. Low sodium, no sugar and just the right amount of caffeine. Check the label. Wish I was lying about that 2-liter part but it's true. And when we find a few minutes between rain drops and tarp pulls to crank out newsletters, it's usually under the influence of caffeine. My greatest horror is having the Wicked Witch of the West standing over me at my desk saying in that nasty, soothing voice, "Sleep.sleep, my pretty." Sleep is over-rated. So is the Wicked With of the West. Think Beavis on Cappuccino at the poetry reading. Yeah, that's us on game days.

 

If the season ended right now who would you want to face in the FSL playoffs?

 

Wow. That's like a Frosted Mini-Wheats commercial. OK, the kid in me says Vero Beach because one of their co-GM's Shawn Marrette is a Minnesota Vikings fan like a few of us on staff here and we'd have playoff games around the opening of the NFL season and it'd be like Christmas, New Year's, Birthday and 4th of July rolled into one with FSL playoffs and Vikings football in a span of a few days. That would be a good thing. And the fact that we're 5-0 against the Devil Rays at home this year and two of the three game of the playoff series would be here at Miller Lite Park would be a great thing. And their coaching staff and players are OK guys.

 

In fact, former Brewers outfielder Ben Oglivie is on their coaching staff. Then they have Suzanne Felten, their superfan who makes games interesting for our fans. Then, they're the closest team to us geographically so we could expect a mega-Manatees crowd down at Dodgertown when we're playing there. But on the flipside the baseball business guy side of me says that we want to put the smackdown on the Daytona Cubs just because they're the Cubs. Anytime you can get the Cubs and Brewers teeing off on each other, it's like my ol' Army First Sergeant used to say, "This is just darn good training." Their fan base will come down here and buy more beer and hot dogs than any other team's fan base, bar none. So, for business sake, the Cubs. The rivalry is legendary, even the Minor League side of it in the FSL.

 

In the west I'm glad it's Sarasota because the Manatees and Reds are teams that don't normally make the playoffs, so it's an underdog thing and Milwaukee and Cincinnati are small market teams. Our coaching staff and their coaching staff go back a few years. The kid in me is rooting for Ft Myers in the 2nd half because the Miracle is another underdog team, but the baseball business non-frosting side guy wants Lakeland because they're the closest team and we'd see more of their fans in-house here if we made it to the League Championship Series.

 

That's it for today. Like Kyle Smith says, "This is going to be another one of your epic newsletters that's four-pages long without the benefit of spell-check, full of typos, isn't it?"

 

What do you think?

 

Pass the 2-liter and Rock On!

[molitor fan]

To Buck Rogers, I want to say that it is not too late to throw your hat into the 2008 Presidential Election - as of right now, I think you would have my vote.

 

edit: except for the Vikings part - that part wasn't so great.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Jose Garcia is your Helena starter.

 

It's been years since the Brewers went with such a straightforward Pioneer League rotation (Seidel, Anundsen, Garcia, Mercedes, Hand) without "piggy-backing" and shuffling of starters.

[biedergb]

Will Inman with better results: 4 IP, 0 R, 5 K

But he did walk 5 batters, and had 1 WP (with 2 BB, 2K and the wild pitch all in the 1st inning)

 

So after his first 3 disastrous outings, he's now allowed just 4 ER in about 17 IP, with 18 K to 9 BB.

[And That]

Adam Heether may have firmly planted himself back on the prospect radar with tonight's showing.

[molitor fan]

Heether now has close to an .800 OPS in the Southern League while having a rep for gold glove caliber d.

 

That works for me.

[TheCrew07]

I had to double take Iman's line tonight... 5 BBs? But hey, if he walks 1 or 2 more batters per game and keep throwing 0s up there, it's all good. I'm still waiting for a hit there kiddo, a first hit HR would be nice.

 

edit. Cody has a real nice K:BB ratio, it's so nice to have so many control pitchers floating around the minors. He's finding a few too many bats, but there's potential there. Thank you Latin Cappy.

 

Heether's OPS was south of .800 before the game, not sure where it will end up fter as I'm too lazy to do the math. His glove will play, but will his bat? I'm much more inclined to ride out a bat than I am a glove.

 

If Lou could eliminate the 3-4 straight 0fers he seems to have every couple of weeks his batting average would still be over .300. I was hoping both Lou and Salome would move up, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

 

Does Katin really excite anyone? I'm not sure exactly why, but he's always been the other guy from Miami to me, and never on my radar. I only seem to notice his lines like tonight when he Ks 4 times. He has a nice OPS and has hit quite a few HRs... I don't know, he just never caught my fancy.

 

Even after an Ofer tonight Haydel is up over .270... his OPS is under 700, but 5 of his 22 hits have been for extra bases. Having HR power from a CF is fine in a guy like Hall, but I'm intrigued by Haydel, if he can become a doubles machine that would be fine by me.

[And That]

I'm much more inclined to ride out a bat than I am a glove.

 

Heether had a bad back for most of the last year. He's been getting back into it since May, it appears. When I dropped him on the Power 50, I didn't know about the back. Had I known about it, I never would have dropped him. He's a really good strong glove/decent bat combo guy. I'd play him more at second if I were the Brewers.

[TheCrew07]

Wow that's weird, I was going to post his numbers look like a classic middle infielder to me, but then I thought better of it because I really don't know that much about him. He's always been someone I notice, not someone I follow, if that makes sense.

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 9, Hickory (Pirates) 8

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER OVERCOME EARLY DEFICIT TO DEFEAT CRAWDADS

 

The Hickory Crawdads took an early 4-0 lead on the first inning of Wednesday night?s game at Appalachian Power Park, but West Virginia rallied back, took the lead in the fourth inning, and took the first game of the series 9-8.

 

Jim Negrych tripled in the first of four runs in the first. Negrych scored on Bobby Kingsbury?s single and Kingsbury scored along with Jonel Pacheco on Eddie Prasch?s double to cap the big inning. Chuckie Caufield brought the Power within a run on a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, his seventh of the season. West Virginia tied the game in the third when Caufield scored on Kenny Holmberg?s groundout.

 

The Power took the lead in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Charlie Fermaint. Brent Brewer?s sacrifice fly plated Brad Miller and Fermaint scored on Kent Sakamoto?s fielding error at first base. Pacheco got the Crawdads within a run on a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Taylor Green provided West Virginia with a pair of much-needed insurance runs on a double in the seventh inning. In the ninth, Negrych and Kingsbury both brought in runs on groundouts but it was not enough.

 

Chris Toneguzzi (3-1) allowed six runs on nine hits through five innings to get the win, Travis Wendte (3) got the save and Dustin Craig (0-2) was tagged with the loss.

 

The Power improved to 59-29 overall and 11-9 in the second half, while the Crawdads fell to 38-49 overall and 11-9 in the second half with the loss. Andrew Lefave and Caufield paced the Power with two hits each. Caufield scored three times and knocked in three runs.

 

The Power will continue the three game series against Hickory Thursday night. The Power will start right hander Jeremy Jeffress (5-2, 2.36) and the Crawdads will counter with right hander Brad Clapp (3-7, 6.61). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2007071128

 

Power erases another lead

Confidence breeds rally, 9-8 victory

By Tommy R. Atkinson

Charleston Gazette Staff Writer

 

No lead is safe against this West Virginia Power offense.

 

The Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the top of the first inning Wednesday night but the Power showed why it?s the top hitting team in the South Atlantic League, clubbing its way to a come-from-behind 9-8 victory. A paid crowd of 4,765 attended at Appalachian Power Park.

 

Hickory (11-9) sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the first, scoring four runs as the first four batters rapped out hits. The Power didn?t waste any time chipping away, starting with Chuckie Caufield?s three-run home run to left field in the bottom of the first that pulled his team to 4-3.

 

?It?s just confidence,?? said Caufield, the All-Star who finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBIs Wednesday. ?You never feel like you?re out of a game. I don?t feel there?s any lead we can?t come back from. I?ve seen us score over 10 runs in an inning.??

 

The Power knotted the game at 4-all on Kenny Holmberg?s run-scoring groundout in the bottom of the third. The Power took the lead for good the next inning on leadoff hitter Charlie Fermaint?s RBI double for a 5-4 edge, then added two more runs on Brent Brewer?s sacrifice fly and an error that allowed Fermaint to come around for a 7-4 advantage.

 

Jonel Pacheco?s two-run homer to left field helped the Crawdads cut the Power?s lead to 7-6 in the fifth, but the Power fired up its bats again. Taylor Green laced a two-run double off the left-center field wall as the Power went ahead 9-6.

 

?We?ve had a lot of success early in the season coming back so [the players] believe in themselves and they know they can do it,?? said Power hitting coach Corey Hart, who has overseen the team?s league-high .295 batting average. ?We stress to them all the time don?t try to do it all in one swing. These guys know we?ve got a lot of game left [and they] don?t press.??

 

The Power (11-9) needed the three-run lead as Hickory rallied in the top of the ninth. Jim Negrych and Bobby Kingsley each had run-scoring groundouts, pulling the Crawdads to 9-8 with two out. Power reliever Travis Wendte struck out Pacheco swinging to pick up his third save.

 

Power starter Chris Toneguzzi (3-1) earned the win despite allowing six earned runs on nine hits in five innings. After the first inning, Toneguzzi settled down and retired eight straight batters and 10 of 11 spanning the first to fourth innings. Toneguzzi?s only other miscue was the two-run round-tripper by Pacheco in the fifth.

 

Power relievers Jose Romero and Omar Aguilar held Hickory in check until the ninth, combining for three innings of two-hit, shutout ball.

 

The Power will play host to Hickory at 7:05 tonight (6:05 Central) in the second game of the three-game series.

 

Power points

 

Wednesday?s crowd pushed the season attendance total over the 160,000 mark to 162,763. ...Entering Wednesday?s play, the Power was seventh in attendance in the 16-team Sally League, averaging 3,854 for 41 home dates. ... The Power?s Andrew Lefave, who tops the league with a .341 batting average, went 2-for-4. ...The Power will start right-hander Jeremy Jeffress (5-2, 2.36 ERA) tonight while the Crawdads will counter with righty Brad Clapp (3-7, 6.61 ERA). In Jeffress? last outing, he allowed only an earned run on three hits in six innings, with six strikeouts.

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Taylor Green on base three times...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

Charleston Gazette Photographer: Chip Ellis

Chuckie Caufield (right) is congratulated after his three-run homer in the first that wiped out most of an early 4-0 Hickory lead.

 

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/images/stories/Power1.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Final: Idaho Falls (Royals) 7, Helena 2

 

MiLB.com:

 

Leonard stifles Brewers

 

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho ?The best in the south got the better of the best in the north Wednesday.

 

John Leonard pitched six strong innings as Idaho Falls smacked three homers in a 7-2 victory over visiting Helena on Wednesday.

 

Leonard (2-1) yielded a run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts to lower his ERA to 3.38. The 23-year-old right-hander tossed six scoreless frames in his last outing on July 5.

 

Clint Robinson, who had two homers and seven RBIs on Sunday, crushed a solo shot, his fifth, in the fourth for the Chukars (16-6), who have won three straight. Ryan Eigsti launched a two-run homer in the fourth and Nick Van Stratten delivered a two-run blast in the eighth.

 

Brewers starter Jose Garcia (3-1) surrendered five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in four frames.

 

Kurt Crowell launched a solo homer and Zelous Wheeler belted a run-scoring double for Helena (13-9).

 

The two teams meet again today in Idaho Falls, First pitch is at 7:15 PM (8:15 Central). -- Ryan McConnell/MLB.com

 

Helena Box Score:

Lee Haydel's 13-game hit streak ends; nice relief stint for RHP Craig Langille...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_idarok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_idarok_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Sarasota (Reds) 4, Brevard County 1

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.heraldtribune.com/art...9/SPORTS05

 

Reds top Brevard on 2-hitter

BY PHIL DENIS, Sarasota Herald-Tribune Correspondent

 

SARASOTA -- Three Sarasota pitchers combined on a two-hitter and Chris Kroski unloaded a mammoth three-run home run Wednesday night when the Reds earned a 4-1 victory over the Brevard County Manatees in the opener of a four-game series.

 

First-half West Division champion Sarasota evened its record at 10-10 during the second half and is 53-37 overall, while the Milwaukee Brewers' affiliate, which won the East's first half, dropped to 12-8 and 53-36.

 

SaraReds left-handed starting pitcher Ben Jukich (2-1), obtained in the trade that sent Cincinnati's Chris Denorfia to the Oakland A's, allowed the two singles and one run over the first six innings.

 

Sarasota relief pitchers Thomas Pauley (first hold) and closer Derrik Lutz (10th save) were perfect as Pauley worked the seventh and eighth innings and Lutz came on to finish the game in the ninth in front of 543 spectators at Ed Smith Stadium.

 

Offensively, Eric Eymann led off the bottom of the second with a double to left-center field and Tonys Gutierrez followed with a single to center that set up Kroski's third homer of the season, a shot high over the right-field wall.

 

Sarasota scored its other run in the fifth when Mike Griffin doubled to left, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Eymann's single to left.

 

Chris Cody (1-2) surrendered four runs on nine hits while fanning eight and walking two over 5 2/3 innings in his second start for the Manatees (12-8).

 

Yohannis Perez stroked a run-scoring single in the fourth for Brevard County.

 

SaraReds notebook

 

The teams will continue the series here through Saturday. ... Brevard County's pitching coach is Fred Dabney, a Venice resident. ... In 41 openings, the Reds are averaging 623 spectators.

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Darren Ford and Lorenzo Cain 0-for-8 with five K's at the top of the order; Josh Wahpepah strands two inherited runners in a nice relief effort...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sarafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sarafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 8, Chattanooga (Reds) 2

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...ewsId=1264

 

Hot-Swinging Heether Leads Stars to Win

 

Adam Heether knocked in a season-high four runs and finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle in Huntsville?s 8-2 win Wednesday night over Chattanooga in the opener of a five-game set at AT&T Field. The Stars won their third straight and for a fourth time in five games to improve to 10-11 in the second half and 47-42 overall, while the first place Lookouts dropped to 12-9 in the second half and saw their lead shrink to a game over Tennessee.

 

Lookouts? starter Sam LeCure retired the side in order in the first inning before his streak of 22 consecutive Huntsville hitters retired dating back to the first inning on June 28 was brought to an end by a Lou Palmisano leadoff home run in the second inning. Heether followed with his fourth long ball of the season, marking the first time the Stars had hit back-to-back home runs in a game this season.

 

Michael Brantley walked with one out in the third, stole second base and scored on a double by Steve Sollmann to push the Huntsville lead to 3-0. LeCure worked out of further trouble in the inning when Heether was thrown out at second on the back end of a double steal try and was taken out after giving up three runs on five hits and four walks over four frames. He suffered his second loss of the season, both to the Stars.

 

Will Inman struck out Tyrell Godwin and Craig Tatum with the bases loaded to end the first inning and stranded two runners in each of the next three frames before being lifted from the game. He allowed four hits, walked five and struck out five and was followed to the hill by Corey Thurman, who picked up his first win since May 31. The veteran right-hander retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, save for a Craig Tatum home run in the fifth inning that got the Lookouts on the board.

 

David Johnson took over in the eighth and issued back-to-back two out walks to Luis Bolivar and Canaobo Cosme before Marland Williams? pinch-hit single plated Bolivar to cut the visitors lead to 4-2. Huntsville tacked on four runs in the ninth against Brock Till on a Sollmann fielder?s choice grounder, a two-run double by Heether and a run-scoring double by Brendan Katin, who had struck out in each of his first four at-bats. The Stars have now scored at least six runs in eight of their last ten games.

 

Marino Salas gave up three straight singles to open the ninth before getting Godwin to bounce into a home to first double play and getting Tatum to fly out to end the game. The Lookouts left 13 runners on base and stranded at least two in six of the nine innings.

 

The series continues Thursday night with left-hander Derek MIiller taking the mound against Lookouts? southpaw Camilo Vazquez. Coverage of the game begins at 6:00 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

 

Chattanoogan Photo by Tim Evearitt

Huntsville starting pitcher, Will Inman, is one of the top pitching prospects for the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

http://images.chattanoogan.com/article_images/article_109994_large.jpg

[bork]

Will Inman is putting up those kind of numbers without a right forearm? That's crazy. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/story/S...g+strides/

 

Power pitcher making strides

Michael Dailey

Charleston Daily Mail Sportswriter

 

The transition from amateur baseball player to minor leaguer is a tough one.

 

Often thousands of miles from home, long bus rides and 100-plus game seasons can quickly take their toll on aspiring Major Leaguers.

 

Add to these hurdles, a change of playing position, and the already long road to the bigs can become even longer.

 

That's the road that West Virginia Power pitcher Chris Toneguzzi is currently traveling as he navigates through the Milwaukee Brewers' farm system.

 

Toneguzzi, a 6-foot-5, 250 pound right-hander, made a name for himself at the collegiate level as a steady force in the Purdue University bullpen.

 

The Thunder Bay, Ontario, resident started for the Boilermakers as a freshman and sophomore before making the transition to closer for his junior and senior seasons.

 

When selected in the 13th round of the 2006 June draft, Toneguzzi left Purdue ranked third on the school's career saves list with 12, and with 78 appearances, good for second on that all-time list.

 

As a rookie at Helena last season, Toneguzzi remained in the bullpen, going 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA and three saves in 19 relief appearances.

 

This season, however, Toneguzzi has spent time as a reliever and a starter in splitting time between Arizona and West Virginia.

 

On Wednesday night at Appalachian Power Park, Toneguzzi's transition to the starting rotation continued in a 9-8 Power win over the visiting Hickory Crawdads. A crowd of 4,765 looked on as the Power improved to 11-9 in the South Atlantic League's second half.

 

While Toneguzzi's numbers were a bit shaky - he allowed nine hits and six runs through five innings -- he did pick up the win in improving his record to 3-1 on the season.

 

After a rough first inning, in which the Crawdads (11-9) scored four runs on six hits, Toneguzzi settled down, tossing scoreless innings in the second, third and fourth innings.

 

The Crawdads plated two more runs in the fifth inning before Toneguzzi retired for the evening.

 

"I think he did a good job making an adjustment tonight," said Brewers Director of Player Development Reid Nichols, who watched the game from the seats behind home plate.

 

"They (Hickory) were free swinging early in the game and he wasn't working the plate. He was getting too much of the plate most of the time.

 

"Then he made an adjustment and started throwing his changeup and his slider. We had a need at starter and he's worked hard to get to where he is now. We just expect him to get better."

 

Toneguzzi was also pleased with his outing, aside from the first inning.

 

"I think I was getting too much of the plate," Toneguzzi said. "I felt good out there, but my balls were finding the middle of the plate and they were putting the barrel on it.

 

"I cut the plate in half and starting hitting the corners after the first inning. Keeping them scoreless when we started scoring runs was also big for me in this game."

 

Power pitching coach John Curtis has been pleased with Toneguzzi's work since the right-hander's arrival in mid-June.

 

"He's been used exclusively as a starter here and we plan to keep him there," Curtis said. "He's done very good work there. Tonight they jumped on him early with four quick runs in the first.

 

"We've been working on a few things to try to get him down in the zone consistently. But the kid's a bulldog who goes out and gives you everything he's got.

 

"Now we're just trying to extend him a little bit to get him past that fifth inning. I think what he can learn from being a closer is to stay aggressive on the mound.

 

"When you're a closer, there's very little room for error. As he found out tonight, had he closed and the first inning been the ninth, he'd have had a big ?L' on his record. He's just got to continue to be aggressive."

 

Power hitters certainly remained aggressive in piling up nine runs and nine hits against four Crawdad pitchers.

 

West Virginia entered the game with a .367 average against Hickory this season, and was tagging Crawdad pitchers with an 8.85 ERA. The Power did nothing to hurt those numbers.

 

After falling behind 4-0 in the first, Chuckie Caufield got the Power rolling in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run blast to left field.

 

The Power tied the game at 4 in the third inning and took the lead for good at 7-4, with three runs in the fourth inning.

 

Andrew Lefave added a pair of hits for the Power, while designated hitter Taylor Green chipped in with a pair of RBI.

 

Charlie Fermaint, Brent Brewer and Kenny Holmberg also collected RBI for West Virginia.

 

Power reliever Travis Wendte surrendered a pair of unearned runs in the ninth before recording his third save.

 

Charleston Daily Mail Photo: Tom Hindman

West Virginia Power Manager Mike Guerrero sends in a signal during the team?s 9-8 win over Hickory on Wednesday.

 

http://www.dailymail.com/images/MIKE0712.jpg