Link Report for Sun. 6/17 -- Congrats to Huntsville!

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Sunday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP R.A. Dickey at home vs. Omaha (Royals), 5:45 PM pre-game; 6:00 PM gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 1:50 PM pre-game; 2:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Brevard County: Idle until Monday for the All-Star Break

 

West Virginia: LHP Mike Ramlow at home vs. Lake County (Indians), 3:55 PM pre-game, 4:05 gametime

 

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

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

[Mass Haas]

Follow Sunday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Open the Nashville Gameday. For the others, 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.

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_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:

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

 

Huntsville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Saturday's action:

First place, first place, first place, first place...

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]<span style="color:navy;">Nashville 40 29 .580 - 23-10 17-19 W4</span>[/b] Iowa 39 29 .574 0.5 21-13 18-16 L3 Omaha 33 36 .478 7.0 24-12 9-24 L2 Memphis 31 39 .443 9.5 18-18 13-21 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]<span style="color:navy;">Huntsville 36 31 .537 - 19-15 17-16 W1</span>[/b] Tennessee 36 31 .537 - 17-15 19-16 W1 West Tenn 30 39 .435 7.0 19-16 11-23 L1 Chattanooga 29 40 .420 8.0 17-18 12-22 L1 Carolina 27 42 .391 10.0 18-16 9-26 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]<span style="color:navy;">Brevard County 39 28 .582 - 22-11 17-17 W1</span>[/b] Palm Beach 34 33 .507 5.0 16-18 18-15 L1 Vero Beach 34 33 .507 5.0 24-12 10-21 W6 Daytona 31 35 .470 7.5 19-12 12-23 L1 St. Lucie 30 37 .448 9.0 17-17 13-20 L3 Jupiter 29 38 .433 10.0 14-19 15-19 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]<span style="color:navy;">West Virginia 47 20 .701 - 22-12 25-8 L2</span>[/b] Greensboro 38 31 .551 10.0 25-10 13-21 L1 Delmarva 34 32 .515 12.5 19-13 15-19 L2 Lakewood 32 32 .500 13.5 16-18 16-14 W2 Lake County 31 38 .449 17.0 17-18 14-20 W2 Hagerstown 29 37 .439 17.5 17-15 12-22 W2 Lexington 30 39 .435 18.0 16-19 14-20 L2 Hickory 27 39 .409 19.5 14-16 13-23 L1

[Mass Haas]

Happy Father's Day to all!

 

I'll be enjoying mine all day, and will not be online until late this evening.

 

You may see my bud pogokat around, but if not, you guys know the drill on checking those box scores, and I'm sure some of our Link Report regular commentators will chime in with notes to keep us updated (thanks!).

 

"Official" updates later this evening.

 

Good luck to the Stars, and yeah, it's too bad Manny Parra wasn't kept around until Monday if needed -- he still could have kept his Wednesday appointment in Nashville if not, and the Sounds' staff could have been kept on regular work if Manny's arrival was delayed.

[bball123h2]

Generic odds of the Brewers and all active affiliates leading their respective divisions: 1 in 5760.

 

Awesome to see the minor league teams performing as well as they have. Hopefully Nashville can keep it up now that we've taken away their 2 best players.

[Boy Jeenius]

2 walks and an HBP by Gulin lead to a run on a SF for Birmingham. So Brendin Katin decides to tie it up with a jack. 1 - 1 in the 5th for Huntsville.

[Cyanogen5]

Huntsville up 2-1 in the 8th...Come on Stars!!!!

[DKM4Boston]

First blown save of the year for Salas came at a bad time. 2-2 now, Birmingham has the bases loaded with 1 out.

 

Edit: Phew! Great job by David Johnson getting out of the 1-out, bases loaded jam. First got a grounder to 3B with Heether getting the force out at home and then struck the next batter out to end the inning. To the bottom of the 9th they go, tied 2-2!

[DKM4Boston]

Scoreboard update: West Tenn 4 Tennessee 1 going to the bottom of the 7th

[DKM4Boston]

Wild pitch! Stars win!!

[brettac1]

Brantley walked four times today, that gives him seven already in only 23 AB's at Huntsville.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 3, Birmingham (White Sox) 2

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...ewsId=1223

 

Stars Win, Wait for Tennessee Result

 

Michael Brantley scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to push Huntsville past Birmingham 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Joe Davis Stadium. With the win, the Stars finished the first half at 37-31 and moved a half game in front of Tennessee, which is currently playing at home against West Tenn. If the Smokies win, the teams will meet in a one-game playoff Monday night at Smokies Park but if the Smokies lose, the Stars will win the first half division title and clinch their first back-to-back playoff appearances since 1997-98.

 

Corwin Malone struck out Mel Stocker to open the home ninth and issued his sixth walk of the day to Brantley before being taken out and replaced by Fernando Hernandez, who earned his fifth save of the year on Friday night. He gave up a base hit to Steve Sollmann that pushed Brantley to third and walked Adam Heether to load the bases. Hernandez then worked ahead of Brendan Katin 1-2 before uncorking the wild pitch that brought Brantley home with the game-winner to ensure the Stars third 3-2 walk-off win of the series.

 

Malone walked Hernan Iribarren with one out in the eighth and he scored to give the Stars a 2-1 lead on a two-out double by Carlos Corporan, who knocked in the game-winner on Saturday night. Lindsay Gulin, who had given up a run on three hits through eight innings, opened the ninth on the hill for Huntsville and gave up a leadoff single to Ricardo Nanita and a sacrifice bunt by Chris Kelly before he was replaced by Marino Salas, who had been a perfect 13 for 13 in save chances.

 

Mike Myers singled to left on Salas? first pitch to move Nanita to third and Cory Aldridge followed by chopping a base hit to right field over Sollmann at first to plate Nanita to tie the game and move Myers to third. Jeremy Frost walked to load the bases and Salas was replaced by David Johnson, who worked out of trouble by getting Robert Valido to bounce into a force at the plate and Victor Mercedes on a called third strike.

 

Gulin gave up a run in the fourth without a hit on a sacrifice fly by Chris Kelly and finished his 8 1/3 innings allowing two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out 11, the most by a Stars? starter in a game this season. Brendan Katin?s leadoff home run in the fourth off of Kris Honel tied the game at one and ended a one-for-21 drought for the Stars? slugger.

 

The second half of the season begins Monday night at Smokies Park, as Huntsville will send southpaw Sam Narron to the hill against Smokies? right-hander Justin Berg. Coverage of the game begins at 6:00 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on Sports Radio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Stars draw 11 walks, four for Michael Brantley, as noted in the prior post...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Stars are three outs away from the postseason -- Tennesse trails 4-2 in the bottom of the 9th...

[Mass Haas]

Congratulations to your 2007
Southern League
North Division First-Half Champions,
the Huntsville Stars!
See you in the postseason in September!

[Mass Haas]

Tennessee scores one in the 9th, but falls short, 4-3.

 

Incredibly, the Brewers send three first-half champions to the postseason.

 

I believe each league has varying "benefits" for winning both halves, such as an extra home playoff game, but in reality, it will be interesting to see how things play out in the second half for these squads.

 

Let the focus return to proper player placement and development, but let's enjoy some wins as well.

 

September should be fun on both the major and minor league level!

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 11, Lake County (Indians) 7

Down 7-2 in the 7th, Power score the game's final nine runs...

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Undrafted free agent Andrew Lefave hits two home runs, is on base four times, and pushes his OPS close to 1.000; Brent Brewer and Kenny Holmberg reach three times apiece; Charlie Fermaint hits a go-ahead grand slam and drives in six...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

Power finish 48-20 in the first half -- how sweet is that!

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Go the 2 hour, 54 minute mark of the Power audio archive of June 17th for Andy "Bull" Barch's call of Charlie Fermaint's 8th inning AB -- can't think of any better way to cap the Power's first-half season! Jack-Jackety-Jack! (Andrew Lefave's 2nd HR two batters later):

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

[Boy Jeenius]

I think I stared at those standings with all the Brewers' farm teams in 1st place for a half hour and never blinked, except to wipe away a tear of joy..... or 2. All 3 in the playoffs? C'mon Helena and keep 'er going Nashville!

[TheCrew07]

Everyone should get help from below, with the exception of WV who landing LaPorta most likely... some power for that hack and slash offense.

[JoeHova]

Nashville with a nice 4-2 win guarantees all active Brewer teams are in first tomorrow.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Second Baseman Callix Crabbe:

High praise for Frank Kremblas...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...206-17.mp3

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 4, Omaha (Royals) 2

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for R.A. Dickey photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2392

 

Sounds Win Streak Reaches Five With 4-2 Victory

 

NASHVILLE ? The first-place Nashville Sounds won their fifth straight game on Sunday evening at Greer Stadium, coming from behind to hang a 4-2 defeat on the division-rival Omaha Royals.

 

Nashville improved the Pacific Coast League?s best record to 41-29 and won for the 14th time in the club?s last 18 games.

 

R.A. Dickey (5-4) turned in an outstanding spot start while filling the rotation slot vacated by the recently-promoted Yovani Gallardo. The Nashville native earned the victory after he allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over seven innings while striking out six batters. It was his third quality start of the year.

 

Omaha took a 2-0 lead against Dickey in the top of the fourth inning. Designated hitter Craig Brazell gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with an opposite-field solo homer to left. The blast was his team-leading 16th of the year. The Royals added a second run later in the frame in unearned fashion following a fielding error by Sounds shortstop Ozzie Chavez.

 

The Sounds halved the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an unearned run of their own. Callix Crabbe led off the frame with a walk but was erased at third one batter later when trying to advance an extra base on a Chris Barnwell single. Barnwell (3-for-4), who took second on the play, scored later in the inning when Joe Dillon singled to third and Mike Aviles threw wildly towards first base, making it a 2-1 contest.

 

Laynce Nix powered Nashville to a 3-2 advantage in the sixth when he slugged a two-run, opposite-field homer to left-center off Omaha reliever Thad Markray. Barnwell, who opened the frame with a single, scored on the roundtripper, Nix?s sixth of the year. The Sounds have homered in a season-high 10 straight games.

 

AUDIO: Laynce Nix's Go-Ahead HR --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...206-17.mp3

 

Nashville added an insurance run in the seventh when Chavez laid down a well-executed squeeze bunt to score Jose Macias, who had tripled, from third.

 

Grant Balfour followed Dickey on the hill and slammed the door on Omaha, working two hitless frames with a pair of strikeouts to earn his second save of the season.

 

Markray (3-3) took his second loss of the series for Omaha after allowing three runs on three hits over his 2 2/3 innings of relief work.

 

Omaha spot starter Nate Hoelscher turned in a strong outing in place of former Sound Ben Hendrickson, who was withheld due to a sore left side. The southpaw allowed one unearned run on five hits in 4 1/3 innings before being removed due to a pitch count.

 

The Sounds will look to complete the four-game sweep when the teams wrap up the series with a noon finale on Monday afternoon at Greer Stadium. Left-hander Zach Jackson (7-3, 4.85) will take the mound for Nashville to face Omaha southpaw Tyler Lumsden (5-4, 5.18).

 

Nashville Box Score:

Chris Barnwell 3-for-4; Grant Balfour still strong in the pen...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Link for Chris Barnwell photo, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Sounds skip drama, still pick up win

Pitching keeps first-place spot

By MIKE ORGAN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

After winning back-to-back games in dramatic ways, the Sounds picked up a win Sunday in familiar fashion.

 

The Sounds edged Omaha 4-2, marking the 39th time a Nashville game has been decided by one or two runs.

 

Friday's and Saturday's wins came on game-ending home runs. The Sounds are now 11-4 in two-run games.

 

"We have confidence in close games that we'll come through,'' said outfielder Laynce Nix, whose two-run homer in the sixth inning gave Nashville a 3-2 lead. "Our bullpen's done a great job keeping us close and we got a good outing out of (starting pitcher) R.A. (Dickey) tonight. If we keep swinging the bats in clutch situations we'll keep pulling out wins."

 

A Greer Stadium crowd of 5,861 saw Nashville hold onto its lead in the Pacific Coast League North Division by winning its fifth consecutive game.

 

After Craig Brazell's opposite field homer in the fourth inning for Omaha, Dickey and Grant Balfour did not allow a hit over the last four innings.

 

"The key in a game like this, and like so many we've been in, is to not panic,'' said Dickey (5-4), who was making a spot start. "When you get runners on and you have to anticipate over the course of the game you're probably going to have a couple of tough innings. During those innings you have to minimize the damage and just pitch hard."

 

Experience helps too. (Balfour) and I have both been around a while."

 

Dickey, who improved to 5-4, picked up his fourth consecutive victory. The former Montgomery Bell Academy and Tennessee star was taken out of the starting rotation last month, but started Sunday's game stepping into the rotation for Yovani Gallardo, who was called up to the Brewers last week.

 

Balfour got the save, his first of the season.

 

"Using all four of my pitches tonight really helped me,'' Dickey said. "It freed me up later in the game to do some things and (catcher) Mike (Rivera) and I worked real well together tonight."

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Dickey gets spot start to replace Gallardo

By MIKE ORGAN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Both pitchers in the Sounds-Omaha Royals game Sunday game were spot starters.

 

The Sounds' R.A. Dickey filled the rotation slot left open after Yovani Gallardo was promoted last week to the Brewers. Dickey played at Montgomery Bell Academy and Tennessee.

 

Nate Hoelscher started for Omaha in place of Ben Hendrickson, a former Sound who missed his scheduled start with tightness in his left side. It was Hoelscher's first start in 17 appearances this season.

 

Gallardo is scheduled to make his first major league start today against San Francisco.

 

Make it 10: The Sounds extended their streak to 10 games with a home run when Laynce Nix hit a two-run shot over the left-center field wall in the sixth inning Sunday. It was the Sounds' 81st homer this season. It was the sixth home run of the season for Nix.

 

Running the bases: The Sounds' three stolen bases Sunday tied the most they've had in a single game this season.

 

They've stolen three bases in a game seven times this season, including Saturday's game.

 

Bad start: The Sounds ended the first and second innings of Sunday's games by hitting into double-plays.

 

Back-to-back: The back-to-back game-ending home runs hit by the Sounds Joe Dillon and Callix Crabbe on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively, marked the first time Nashville accomplished the feat in 10 seasons since joining the Pacific Coast League in 1998.

 

Crabbe was the third opposing batter to smack a game-winning homer off an Omaha pitcher and the second to do it off Roberto Giron.

 

Back-to-back last at-bat home wins in general have been rare; prior to this series, the Sounds had done that only once in the last five seasons ? July 19 and 20, 2005, against Memphis.

 

It's the system: The Sounds aren't the only minor league team in the Brewers' system that is in first place in its respective division. In fact, all five active teams in the organization are in first place. Double-A Huntsville on Sunday clinched the first-half championship of the Southern League North Division.

 

Day game: Today's noon start will serve as Day Camp Day. About 1,300 children from 27 different local day camps will be special guests at the game.