Link Report for Games of Wednesday, May 7th

[squarepusher]

Huntsville at Chattanooga (Reds), postponed, rain

 

This one has been officially called off....

 

Huntsville Site Update:

Let's play two on Thursday!

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...?newsid=56

[MassBrew]

Indianapolis Media Notes for Wednesday:

 

TONIGHT: The Indians and Tides meet for game three of this four-game series. The teams have split the first two meetings. Last year, the Indians went 2-10 against the Tides. The Tribe dropped all six contests at Victory Field and went 2-4 at Harbor Park.

 

The Indians look to put back-to-back wins together for the first time since a four-game winning streak from April 9-12. Other than that four-game streak, the Tribe has not won consecutive games all season.

 

The Indians will have to accomplish the feat against a lefthanded starter. The Tribe is 0-8 against southpaws and are hitting just .219. Mark Smith (.379) and Wilton Veras (.333) are the Tribe's top hitters against lefties.

 

The Tribe roster remains at 22. The Indians had just three player moves the first three weeks of the season, but beginning last Monday lost six players in four days. Since Thursday the Indians have added pitchers Shane Nance, Robert Marquez, Nate Teut and Dave Burba. Nance and Teut are the Tribe's first lefties on the pitching staff this season.

 

YESTERDAY: The Indians beat Norfolk for the first time since last May 31 - a stretch of nine straight losses. The Tribe plated a season-high 11 runs on a season-high 17 hits. It was the first time the Tribe had scored more than 10 runs since July 4 of last season. In 2002, the Indians scored 10 or more runs just three times. Bill Hall, Joe Lawrence and Veras each went 3-for-5 and scored two runs to lead the Tribe. Jason Conti hit his team-leading fourth home run in a 2-for-4 night. Francisco Campos turned in seven solid innings to earn the win. He allowed two runs on a walk and seven hits.

 

ON THE MOUND: Righthander David Manning makes his third start and eighth appearance. He moved into the rotation on April 23 and in two starts has allowed two earned runs in 10.1 innings (1.74 ERA). Manning is coming off a seven-inning performance at Richmond last Friday where he gave up one run on five hits and two walks. He fanned seven as he earned his first win.

 

HOT AT THE PLATE: Two Indians boast batting averages above .300. Mark Smith leads the team with a .333 mark and a team-high eight-game hitting streak. Smith has hit safely in 19 of his last 21 games (.351, 27-for-77) and leads the team with 13 RBI and seven multi-hit games. Mark Budzinski is hitting .312. Over his last 13 games, Budzinski is hitting .302 (13-for-43).

 

Five Indians are hitting better than .300 on this road trip. Pete Zoccolillo has a five-game hitting streak during which he is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with four doubles and four RBI.

 

PITCHERS AT THE PLATE: The Indians are eight games into a stretch of 10 straight games where pitchers bat for themselves. Tribe hurlers are 4-for-24 with 10 strikeouts and three sacrifices so far this season. The pitchers have hit safely in three of the last four games.

 

LONG BALL PROBLEMS: The Indians have hit 18 home runs which ranks 11th in the IL while the pitching staff has surrendered a league-high 35 long balls.

 

A ROUGH 'ROAD' TO HOE: The Tribe opens the season with 22 of its first 32 games on the road. The Indians are 6-14 away from Victory Field. The Indians are hitting .224 on the road and have scored 69 runs (3.5 rpg). Four of the Tribe's 11 position players are hitting below .200 on the road. The Indians are hitting .288 on this trip and have scored 28 runs (4.7 rpg). Five Indians are hitting above .300.

 

TROUBLE IN THE FIELD: The Indians have committed 27 errors which is sixth-most in the IL. Twenty-two of those have come on the road leading to 27 unearned runs.

 

UPCOMING PROBABLES:

Thursday at Norfolk - RHP Dave Burba (1-3, 2.05) vs. RHP Jeremy Griffiths (1-2, 1.99)

Friday vs. Buffalo - TBA vs. RHP Pasqual Coco (2-4, 5.17)

Saturday vs. Buffalo - TBA vs. LHP Nate Teut (0-1, 7.20)

Sunday vs. Buffalo - TBA vs. RHP Francisco Campos (2-3, 5.80)

[Highroller720]

Indianapolis 5, Norfolk (Mets) 1

We scoffed a bit last winter at the signing of 30-year-old RHP David Manning, but he's been solid for the Tribe...

 

Indy Site Game Summary:

Excellent road trip for Bill Hall, but he still has a long way to go statistically to overcome a dreadful April...

 

NORFOLK, VA -- The Indianapolis Indians (12-19) improved to 4-3 on the current eight-game road trip with a victory over the Norfolk Tides (17-13) 5-1 on Wednesday night. David Manning (2-0) pitched seven solid innings to pick up the win for a second straight outing.

 

The Indians struck first, scoring four runs in the top of the third inning off of Norfolk starter Mike Bacsik (0-3). Steve Scarborough was plunked on the shoulder by Bacsik to lead off the inning. Manning sacrificed Scarborough to second, and Joe Lawrence drove him home on a double to right-center. Bill Hall followed with a single to score Lawrence. Then, after back-to-back singles by Jason Conti and Mark Smith loaded the bases, Scott Seabol's single to centerfield allowed both Hall and Conti to score, giving the Tribe a 4-0 lead. Smith was 1-for-3 in the game to extend his hitting streak to nine games, the longest for the Tribe this season.

 

The early cushion proved to be all that Manning needed, as he allowed only five hits and one unearned run in his 7.0 innings to lower his ERA to 1.80 on the season. Danny Kolb pitched a scoreless, and hitless, final two innings of relief to preserve the win. The Tribe's defense helped out both pitchers by turning three double plays in the contest, including one to end the game.

 

The lone Tides run came in the fifth inning when leadoff batter Prentice Redman reached second base when Seabol dropped a deep fly ball in left field. Redman scored two batters, and two groundouts, later when the pitcher Bacsik grounded out to Scarborough at second.

 

Seabol more than made up for his making the Tribe's only error, as he finished the day 1-for-3 with three RBIs, including a sacrifice fly to score Hall in the eighth. Hall and Keith Luuloa each went 2-for-4 on the day, as Hall also scored two runs and improved to 11-for-29 (.379) on the current road trip.

 

The Indians will finish up the current eight-game road trip on Thursday afternoon in the finale of the four-game series at Norfolk. Newly acquired Dave Burba (1-3, 2.05) will make his first start for Indianapolis after having pitched previously this season in the International League for Buffalo. Burba will be opposed by Norfolk's Jeremy Griffiths (1-2, 1.99). The Indians will return home to face Buffalo on Friday night beginning an eight game homestand that includes a fireworks show on Saturday evening.

 

Indianapolis Box Score:

 

 GAME DATE: 5/07/03 INDIANAPOLIS 5 AT NORFOLK 1 YTD YTD INDIANAPOLIS AB R H BI AVG NORFOLK AB R H BI AVG J.Lawrence CAT 4 1 1 1 .228 M.Scutaro 2B 4 0 1 0 .269 B.Hall SS 4 2 2 1 .222 J.Velandia SS 4 0 1 0 .169 J.Conti CF 3 1 1 0 .247 R.Johnson 3B 3 0 1 0 .256 M.Smith RF 3 0 1 0 .333 L.Mouton RF 2 0 0 0 .281 D.Kolb PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 H.Bell PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 S.Seabol LF 3 0 1 3 .225 J.Cerda PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 K.Luuloa 1B 4 0 2 0 .244 B.Shipp PH 1 0 0 0 .000 W.Veras 3B 4 0 1 0 .221 J.Toca LF 2 0 0 0 .237 S.Scarboroug 2B 3 1 0 0 .102 J.Toca RF 2 0 0 0 .237 D.Manning PIT 2 0 0 0 .200 J.Depastino CAT 3 0 1 0 .267 M.Budzinski RF 1 0 0 0 .308 P.Redman CF 3 1 1 0 .238 J.Pressley 1B 3 0 0 0 .000 M.Bacsik PIT 2 0 0 1 .000 V.Chevalier LF 1 0 0 0 .143 TOTALS 31 5 9 5 TOTALS 30 1 5 1 INDIANAPOLIS 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 1 0- 5 9 1 NORFOLK 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0- 1 5 0 E--S.Seabol. DP--INDIANAPOLIS 2, NORFOLK 1. LOB--INDIANAPOLIS 4, NORFOLK 4. 2B--J.Lawrence (5), J.Depastino (4). SB--B.Hall (3), L.Mouton (1), P.Redman (5). CS--M.Smith, K.Luuloa. HBP--J.Conti, S.Scarboroug. SF--S.Seabol. SH--D.Manning. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA INDIANAPOLIS D.Manning (W,2-0) 7.0 5 1 0 1 3 0 1.80 D.Kolb 2.0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0.54 NORFOLK M.Bacsik (L,0-3) 6.0 6 4 4 0 3 0 6.48 H.Bell 2.0 1 1 1 1 2 0 7.11 J.Cerda 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 HB--M.Bacsik 2. WP--H.Bell. SO--J.Lawrence, B.Hall, S.Seabol, D.Manning 2, M.Budzinski, J.Velandia 2, L.Mouton, B.Shipp, J.Toca, V.Chevalier. BB--M.Smith, R.Johnson, L.Mouton. T--2:33. A--6529

[Highroller720]

West Michigan (Tigers) 4, Beloit 2

 

Game Summary from the West Michigan site:

 

COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps were able to snap a couple of streaks Wednesday night, most notably a 10-game losing streak at home to the Beloit Snappers. It was also the first time in eight games the 'Caps played in a game decided by more than one run.

 

With two runners on in the bottom of the fifth inning and the 'Caps leading 1-0, SS Juan Gonzalez sent a blast into the DTE Energy Deck to give his team a four-run cushion. That would be all the runs the 'Caps would need.

 

Starter Humberto Sanchez (3-3) was effectively wild giving up just one hit through five innings and no runs despite walking seven and hitting a batter. The bullpen came in and gave up two runs but lefty Ian Ostlund came in after Juan Figueroa hit Snappers second baseman Callix Crabbe and nailed down the victory with his first save in a 'Caps uniform.

 

Jon Connolly (4-0, 1.17) will take his perfect record to the hill Thursday night to wrap up the series versus starter Luis Pena (0-0, 7.36) and the Beloit Snappers.

 

Beloit Box Score:

Prince Fielder on base in all five of his plate appearances; 13 men left-on-base spells doom for the Snappers; RHP Ryan Trytten with an excellent effort out of the Beloit pen; it's been ages since the Snapper staff has had a truly bad game...

 GAME DATE: 5/07/03 BELOIT 2 AT WEST MICHIGAN 4 YTD YTD BELOIT AB R H BI AVG WEST MICHIGAN AB R H BI AVG K.Bibbs CF 3 0 1 0 .255 J.Francia 2B 2 2 2 0 .270 C.Crabbe 2B 4 0 0 0 .231 J.Gonzalez SS 4 1 1 3 .262 S.Moss RF 4 0 0 0 .262 S.Moore 3B 2 0 0 0 .265 P.Fielder 1B 2 0 2 0 .354 W.Reynolds LF 4 0 1 0 .322 J.Eure 3B 5 0 0 0 .205 J.Roughton 1B 3 0 0 0 .286 M.Mendez DH 5 1 1 0 .267 B.Clevlen RF 4 0 1 0 .245 P.Esparragz CAT 1 0 0 0 .245 V.Mendez CF 4 0 1 0 .214 N.Carter LF 3 0 0 1 .126 M.Rabelo CAT 3 0 0 0 .300 C.Terni SS 2 1 0 0 .215 C.Maples DH 2 1 0 0 .172 D.Sarfate PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 H.Sanchez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Trytten PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Rodriguez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Gerk PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Parris PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Figueroa PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 I.Ostlund PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 29 2 4 1 TOTALS 28 4 6 3 BELOIT 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0- 2 4 0 WEST MICHIGAN 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 X- 4 6 0 DP--BELOIT 1, WEST MICHIGAN 0. LOB--BELOIT 13, WEST MICHIGAN 6. 2B--M.Mendez (2). HR--J.Gonzalez (2). SB--K.Bibbs (13), J.Francia (10). CS--P.Esparragz, S.Moore. HBP--S.Moss, C.Terni 2, S.Moore. SH-- N.Carter. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BELOIT D.Sarfate (L,2-1) 4.0 4 4 4 5 4 1 3.00 R.Trytten 4.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 5.96 WEST MICHIGAN H.Sanchez (W,3-3) 5.0 1 0 0 7 4 0 2.35 J.Rodriguez 1.2 1 1 1 0 2 0 4.91 J.Gerk 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.45 M.Parris 1.1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2.39 J.Figueroa 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.84 I.Ostlund (S,1) 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 HB--R.Trytten, H.Sanchez, J.Rodriguez, J.Figueroa. WP--M.Parris 2. BALKS--D.Sarfate, R.Trytten. PB--M.Rabelo. SO--C.Crabbe, J.Eure 4, M.Mendez 2, C.Terni, S.Moore, W.Reynolds, B.Clevlen, M.Rabelo, C.Maples. BB--K.Bibbs 2, C.Crabbe, P.Fielder 3, P.Esparragz 3, J.Francia 2, S.Moore, J.Roughton, C.Maples. T--2:54. A--2614

[Highroller720]

High Desert 1, Inland Empire (Mariners) 0

 

Boxscores in the morning from MB.

[DHonks]

High Desert Site Game Summary:

 

Mavs Earn First Shutout Since 2001

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- Not since July 23rd, 2001 have the High Desert Mavericks shut out an opponent. On Wednesday night, the Mavericks earned their third straight win, blanking the Inland Empire 66ers by a score of 1-0.

 

Chris Saenz, Jeff Robinson and Bobby Bystrowski combined on a four-hit shutout as the Mavericks won their third straight on the road, giving them five wins in their last six games overall.

 

Matt Parker combined with Jim Lynch on a one-hit shutout at Mavericks Stadium back on July 23rd, 2001, as the Mavs beat the San Jose Giants, 4-0.

 

The Mavs needed just one run on Wednesday night, as the only run of the game came in the fifth inning. Scott Candelaria doubled with one out, his second of three hits on the night. Todd West would then hit a two-out chopper to third base. Hunter Brown's off-balance throw pulled the first baseman off the bag and gave Candelaria the chance to score, as he beat the throw from first baseman John Castellano.

 

The run would stand up as the bullpen would hold strong for a second straight night. Robinson, in only his second appearance of the year, went three hitless innings. Bystrowski followed with a perfect ninth, earning his team-best eighth save of the year, tying him for first in the Cal League.

 

Chris Saenz started and had one of his best outings all year. In five innings, he struck out seven men and walked just one as he won his second straight decision.

 

Inland Empire's Troy Cate (2-3) was the tough-luck loser, giving up just one unearned run for the loss.

 

The Mavs will attempt their first three-game sweep, as they send Dan Hall (4-1) to the hill on Thursday night. The 66ers will throw southpaw Ryan Ketchner (3-1) at 7:05 (9:05 Central).

 

The Mavs return home this Friday to face Stockton.

 

High Desert Box Score:

Kudos again to Scott Candelaria (.284) on his big night; this Maverick pitching staff has given itself a huge confidence boost the past few days, with strong performances from many...

 GAME DATE: 5/07/03 HIGH DESERT 1 AT INLAND EMPIRE 0 YTD YTD HIGH DESERT AB R H BI AVG INLAND EMPIRE AB R H BI AVG J.Raburn DH 4 0 2 0 .319 S.Choo RF 4 0 2 0 .245 C.Morris CF 2 0 1 0 .242 I.Castro 2B 3 0 1 0 .234 D.Clark LF 3 0 0 0 .362 I.Castro SS 1 0 0 0 .234 K.Johnson CAT 4 0 0 0 .320 G.Jacobs CF 4 0 0 0 .333 J.Belcher RF 4 0 0 0 .314 J.Castellano 1B 2 0 0 0 .273 M.Ernster 3B 4 0 2 0 .378 R.Pohle DH 2 0 0 0 .307 S.Candelaria 1B 4 1 3 0 .284 H.Brown 3B 4 0 1 0 .309 R.Santana 2B 4 0 0 0 .270 J.VanMeetren LF 3 0 0 0 .241 T.West SS 3 0 1 0 .255 L.Oliveros PH 1 0 0 0 .333 C.Saenz PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Collins CAT 4 0 0 0 .129 J.Robinson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 E.Menchaca SS 2 0 0 0 .247 B.Bystrowski PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 E.BstdaMrtnz 2B 1 0 0 0 .174 T.Cate PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 E.Ulloa PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Steele PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 32 1 9 0 TOTALS 31 0 4 0 HIGH DESERT 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0- 1 9 2 INLAND EMPIRE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0- 0 4 2 E--K.Johnson, S.Candelaria, H.Brown, E.Menchaca. DP--HIGH DESERT 0, INLAND EMPIRE 0. LOB--HIGH DESERT 7, INLAND EMPIRE 8. 2B--S.Candelaria (3). 3B--S.Candelaria (2), I.Castro (1). SB--S.Choo (5), J.Castellano (3), H.Brown (2). CS--J.Raburn, T.West. HBP--D.Clark. SH--C.Morris 2. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HIGH DESERT C.Saenz (W,3-2) 5.0 4 0 0 2 7 0 6.32 J.Robinson 3.0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0.00 B.Bystrowski (S,8) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.18 INLAND EMPIRE T.Cate (L,2-3) 6.2 7 1 0 0 6 0 3.03 E.Ulloa 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 0 5.68 M.Steele 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.20 HB--T.Cate. WP--M.Steele. SO--J.Raburn, C.Morris, D.Clark, K.Johnson 3, R.Santana, S.Choo, G.Jacobs, J.Castellano 2, R.Pohle, H.Brown, J.VanMeetren 3, C.Collins. BB--J.Castellano 2, R.Pohle 2. T--2:40. A--2959

Special thanks to the overnight guys for the early box score links, looks like squarepusher and I each took advantage of some extra shut-eye after working out our Brewer frustrations early in the day...

[bork]

Good to see High Desert and Indy starting to play better.

 

Now the Brewer's minor league teams are only 3 games below .500. Quite an improvement from last year's 54 games below .500.

[igor67]

Couple of thoughts. After a great start last April Hall fell off a cliff into the depths of the Earth as we all know, if he intends to do the opposite this year I'd be darn happy with that.

 

Do we all remember Joe Lawerence, number 2398 on the list of catchers we brought in? Well he got off to a great start in Indy then seemingly nosedived with everyone else at the plate hitting a meager .223. Well while I was checking on Hall's stats I noticed Joe has an OPS over .860. So I looked deeper he has hit rather well for much of his minor league career though he's had trouble staying healthy recently. BP was hammering on the Brewers for keeping him behind the plate and not continuing with a position switch. I'm not sure his bat is that good that he's worth moving, but he's a secondary average guru with a good eye and respectable power. So I looked up his minor league EQA equivalnecy. It translates into a whole .223 major league EQA or about what Perez has done so far and 50 points better than Osik. I think he's a legitimate call-up as a back-up catcher who can be a little more versatile to keep him healthy and all.

[MassBrew]

Well, Today's Menu spreads the dining in such a way that you can tune in to three Brewer broadcasts (four if you squeeze in both Huntsville games before High Desert), even with the parent club off for the day.

 

All listed times Central; pitchers subject to change; pre-game audio approx. 15 minutes prior to game time, except for Beloit, with no audio available Thursday...

 

INDIANAPOLIS: RHP Dave Burba in his Tribe debut at Norfolk (Mets), 11:15 AM

 

HUNTSVILLE: LHP Derek Lee and RHP Pedro Liriano in a double-dip at Chattanooga (Reds) at 5:00 PM; remember former farmhand SS Santiago Perez? The Reds just inked him to a Chattanooga deal....

 

HIGH DESERT: RHP Dan Hall looks for win #5 when the Mavs look to continue their newfound winning ways on the road when they battle the evil Inland Empire (that's San Bernadino, Mariners) at 9:05 PM.

 

BELOIT: RHP Luis Pena at West Michigan (Tigers), 5:35 PM

 

EZBoard ate an hour's worth of my editing on the Alumni thread the other night; I'll be more careful and try another update soon; a whole bunch of guys have recently signed independent league deals and some have begun play. Look for all former Brewers now active in the major leagues to be added with links as well, thanks to the research of pogokat and others....