Link Report for Wed. 5/6 - Power's Magic Number Down to Two

[Mass Haas]

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

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: Idle

 

Huntsville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at Chattanooga (Reds), 11:00 AM pre-game; 11:15 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Brevard County: TBD at home vs. Lakeland (Tigers), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime; it's probably LHP David Welch, it's his turn

 

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

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

 

West Virginia: LHP Brae Wright at home vs. Greensboro (Marlins), 9:25 AM pre-game, 9:35 gametime

 

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

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

[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_breafa_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:

 

Huntsville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Tuesday's action:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa 35 23 .603 - 17-7 18-16 W2 Nashville 33 26 .559 2.5 21-10 12-16 W2 Omaha 30 29 .508 5.5 22-10 8-19 L2 Memphis 27 33 .450 9.0 17-15 10-18 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 31 26 .544 - 17-13 14-13 L1 Tennessee 31 26 .544 - 13-14 18-12 L1 Chattanooga 26 33 .441 6.0 17-17 9-16 W1 West Tenn 25 34 .424 7.0 16-14 9-20 L6 Carolina 20 39 .339 12.0 11-14 9-25 L8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 33 25 .569 - 19-8 14-17 L4 Palm Beach 31 26 .544 1.5 14-13 17-13 L1 Daytona 27 30 .474 5.5 16-11 11-19 L1 Vero Beach 27 30 .474 5.5 18-12 9-18 L1 Jupiter 25 32 .439 7.5 12-18 13-14 L2 St. Lucie 24 33 .421 8.5 11-16 13-17 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Virginia 39 16 .709 - 19-10 20-6 W2 Greensboro 31 27 .534 9.5 19-9 12-18 L2 Lakewood 28 27 .509 11.0 14-17 14-10 W1 Lake County 27 30 .474 13.0 15-13 12-17 L2 Delmarva 26 29 .473 13.0 15-12 11-17 W5 Lexington 26 32 .448 14.5 15-16 11-16 L1 Hagerstown 24 33 .421 16.0 14-13 10-20 L1 Hickory 23 32 .418 16.0 10-12 13-20 W1

[Cyanogen5]

Can we just promote this entire West Virginia team? The hitters at least? They just can't seem to be stopped!

[homer]

Unless I missed something, I believe WV has the best record in professional baseball. I couldn't find a team with a winning % greater than .700 - second is fellow Sally League member Augusta at .695.

 

And that record looks like it will only improve - they are up big today.

 

Can Chuckie Holden Caufield be considered a prospect? Every time I look he's got two hits. He is a bit old for that league.

[wibadgers23]

Quote:

---

Can we just promote this entire West Virginia team? The hitters at least? They just can't seem to be stopped!

---

 

If I remember correctly, didn't a lot of these kids mash in Helena last year too? It'll be very interesting to see how they do in A+ and AA.

[olliegjw]

If only WV could improve on their pathetic 19-10 home record. They should get it more in line with their 20-6 road record.

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 10, Greensboro (Marlins) 3

Magic number down to 2!

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Team mashes extra-base hits, team steals bases, team takes walks, team is solid defensively, team is a joy...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

LHP Brae Wright's best start of the season...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

[DHonks]

which is more shocking...that Brae Wright threw well, or Brantley failed to reach base?

[bork]

If I remember correctly, didn't a lot of these kids mash in Helena last year too?

 

Green and Caufield put up very pedestrian numbers in Helena last year. Errecart and Gillespie were the big mashers and they went to Brevard. Chapman put up good numbers in Helena, but he was repeating at Helena.

[aintbize]

Man, I am really glad to see Brae Wright have a good game. Here's hoping for a turn around!! These guys are certainly exciting to follow, seems to be great chemistry, too.

 

Anyone know where the SAL All-Star lists are posted?

[Mass Haas]

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER WIN 40TH GAME

 

The West Virginia Power used a four-run third inning and a three-run fourth inning to win their 40th game of the season, defeating the Greensboro Grasshoppers 10-3 on Wednesday morning at Appalachian Power Park.

 

Chuckie Caufield?s two-out RBI double in the first inning gave the Power an early lead. In the third, Brent Brewer scored on a wild pitch and Steve Chapman hit a three-run bomb, his ninth of the year. The Power pulled further away with a three-run fourth inning. Caufield and Andrew Lefave hit back-to-back RBI singles and Kenny Holmberg was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

 

The Grasshoppers plated their first run of the game in the fifth inning on Justin Webb?s sacrifice fly. The ?Hoppers scored two more times in the top of the eighth inning. Logan Morrison walked with the bases loaded and Spike McDougall reached on Brent Brewer?s error, plating Guillermo Martinez. The Power answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Kenny Holmberg knocked in the first run on a sacrifice fly and Steve Chapman drove in the final run with a base hit.

 

Brae Wright (4-3) was outstanding through six innings, allowing just a run on three hits with four strikeouts and got the win, while Hector Correa (0-2) was tagged with the loss.

 

The Power improved to 40-16 with the win and the Grasshoppers fell to 31-28 with the loss. Three Power players knocked in multiple runs, including Chapman who paced the Power with four. The Power have now recorded double digit hits in their last seven games. West Virginia?s magic number is two. They can wrap up the division as early as Thursday.

 

The Power will begin a four game series against the Lexington Legends at Applebee?s Park on Thursday night. The Power will start left hander Mike Ramlow (2-2, 7.83) and Lexington will counter with Casey Hudspeth (2-4, 5.90). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

[Mass Haas]

All the Power's games at Lexington this week will be broadcast by MiLB.TV.

 

So with the Brewers off on Thursday, what better time to pony up the $3.95 for all those that have said they'd love to see this club in action. You may even see a playoff-clinching celebration Thursday night!

 

We'll provide details on that option in Thursday's Link Report.

[wvpowerblkwel]

Brae Wright: Guys, go easy on Brae. My understanding is that the club has been tinkering with his mechanics and telling him to "give it more time" repeatedly, but I think he has grown frustrated with that and went back to his old delivery....I could be wrong but that's what I heard....we'll see after next time out because he was very good today! He was the opening day starter here if I recall! Also as for the comment about the home record earlier....these guys lost 3 of their first 5 playing in 30 degree weather and snow....I don't think you can find ANY fault in these guys first half!

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 8, Chattanooga (Reds) 4

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...ewsId=1201

 

Stars Finish Strong and Finish Off Looks

 

Brendan Katin knocked in two runs and the struggling bullpen worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings to preserve Huntsville?s 8-4 win over Chattanooga Wednesday afternoon in the last of a five-game set at AT&T Field. The Stars took three out of five to improve to 32-26 and maintained at least their share of the lead in the North Division, pending the outcome of tonight?s game between Birmingham and Tennessee, while the Lookouts dropped to 26-34 and seven games off the pace. The Stars have taken six out of 10 from the Looks and wound up scoring 31 runs on 57 hits in the series.

 

Steve Moss singled with one out in the third, moved to second base when Guilder Rodriguez drew a walk, advanced to third when Steve Sollmann was hit by a pitch and scored on a Katin sacrifice fly, his sixth of the year. Rodriguez moved to third on the scoring fly ball and came home to make it 2-0 when starter Luke Lockwood uncorked his second wild pitch of the season.

 

Lockwood kept the Stars off the board in innings three through five before the visitors erupted for four in the sixth, stringing together six consecutive hits and a sacrifice fly to push the margin to 6-0. Adam Heether started the rally with a one-out double to break up a nine at-bat hitless drought and came in to score on a base hit by Yohannis Perez, who had been hitless in eight at-bats. Moss and Rodriguez drove in runs with singles and Steve Sollmann?s scoring fly ball capped the rally. Carlos Corporan was the only Stars? position player not to collect a hit and score a run, as Huntsville posted at least five runs in every game in the series and totaled 12 hits in four of the contests.

 

Stars? starter Lindsay Gulin, who had a key bunt base hit in the sixth inning rally, had blanked the home side on four singles through five frames but got knocked out in the sixth. Luis Bolivar singled to open the frame and advanced to third base on two wild pitches and scored on a two-out single by Enrique Cruz, who knocked in his sixth run against his former team. Cody Strait worked a walk and Marland Williams followed with a home run high off the scoreboard in left field to cut the Stars? lead to 6-4. It was his third long ball of the series and the fourth time in the set that the Lookouts had plated at least four runs in a frame.

 

Luis Pena took over for Gulin after the home run and fanned Caonabo Cosme to end the sixth and retired the home side in order in the seventh. Drew Anderson reached on a Rodriguez fielding error in the eighth, moved to second on an errant pick-off attempt and advanced to third on Enrique Cruz?s third single of the day but stayed put when Cody Strait struck out and Williams lined out to center to end the threat. Pena struck out three and allowed one hit in his 2 1/3 scoreless before Marino Salas came on to toss a shutout ninth inning to end the game.

 

The Stars open a five-game series Thursday night at West Tenn and will send southpaw Sam Narron to the hill against Lookouts? left-hander Justin Thomas. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Steve Moss and Ryan Crew on base four times apiece, Guilder Rodriguez and Steve Sollmann three times; Marion Salas is darn near the Stars' equivalent of Francisco Cordero...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

[Cyanogen5]

Quote:

---

Also as for the comment about the home record earlier

---

 

Remember...blue text means sarcasm

 

Everybody here is amazed at how good that West Virginia Power team is.

[olliegjw]

Quote:

---

Remember...blue text means sarcasm

 

Everybody here is amazed at how good that West Virginia Power team is.

---

 

Yes, I was being quite sarcastic. Sorry if you didn't catch that. The team has definitely had it going good all year so far.

[Mass Haas]

Flying Tigers, Manatees rained out

 

Wednesday's Florida State League game between Lakeland and Brevard County was postponed due to rain at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Thursday, starting at 5:00 PM (4:00 Central).

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.wvgazette.com/section...2007060632

 

Long ball sparks Power romp

10-3 win over Greensboro cuts magic number to 2

By Mitch Vingle

Charleston Gazette Sports Editor

 

Relative to his West Virginia Power baseball teammates, left fielder Steve Chapman is a different bird.

 

Mixed within a flock of high-average hitters, he?s one that gives flight to a pitch.

 

On Wednesday, Chapman sent a Hector Correa pitch sailing 390 feet over the Appalachian Power Park right-field wall, pushing the hosts to a 10-3 win over Greensboro and a step closer to the South Atlantic League Northern Division title.

 

With two on base and his team up 2-0 in the third inning, Chapman ? a .261 hitter on a team with a whopping .303 average ? broke open the game with his bomb. The Power (40-16) then rolled, finishing with 14 hits. West Virginia has now recorded double digits in hits in each of its last seven games. Lefty Brae Wright moved to 4-3 with what he called his best outing of the season.

 

?I?ve been chasing changeups and sliders and everything away,?? Chapman said. ?I finally got a pitch to hit, made contact and it went somewhere. I was happy to get a couple of RBIs and break open the game for us a little bit.??

 

The Power has five starters hitting over .300. Chapman isn?t one of them. Yet he leads the team in home runs with nine.

 

?I?d rather be hitting .330 with two home runs than .250 with nine home runs,?? he said. ?But if that?s my role on this team ? driving home runs with runners on base ? I?ll take that too. As long as I?m in the lineup. It does feel good to hit home runs, but I?ve got to cut down on my strikeouts.??

 

The fact is, though, it never hurts a minor league career to be hitting homers.

 

?No, I?ll take ?em,?? Chapman said with a laugh. ?Bloops, home runs, anything I can get, I?ll take.??

 

The outfielder committed to play for Auburn before being drafted by Milwaukee in the sixth round in 2004. He played rookie ball in Arizona before spending his second season in Helena. In his third season, Chapman played in Charleston for a month, then went back to Helena.

 

Now he?s here playing every day and hopes to stick via the homers.

 

?I?ve been more of a doubles, triples kind of guy before,?? Chapman said. ?For some reason they?ve been carrying a little more. Maybe it?s the [Power] fans blowing them out of here for me.??

 

Chapman finished the day 2-for-5 with four runs batted in and a run scored. Chuck Caufield, the Power?s right fielder, was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. Brent Brewer, the shortstop, was 2-for-4 with three runs and three stolen bases. The only West Virginia starters not to have hits were Michael Brantley, who still managed to score, and third baseman Taylor Green, who entered the game batting .364 from the nine spot.

 

And all the hitters needed was a little help from starter Wright, who did more than his fair share. Wright, a 2006 sixth-round draft pick, gave up but one hit over the first four innings. Relying heavily on changeups and sliders, he surrendered just three hits in six innings with four strikeouts on just 77 pitches. Three of his four victories this season have been against Greensboro, which fell to 31-28.

 

?As far as this season goes, this is my best outing yet,?? said Wright. ?I felt a lot more comfortable. I was throwing for more strikes than I have been. I got ahead more instead of pitching from behind and on the defensive.??

 

Wright entered the game as the underdog. He had a 7.04 earned run average, while Greensboro starter Correa toted one of 2.00.

 

Correa struck out six in 3 1/3 innings but was lit up for eight earned runs on eight hits and four walks.

 

?It?s always a plus to see that,?? Wright said. ?Our guys are doing this day in and day out.

 

?All the credit goes to our offense and the way our defense has been playing. Our staff always feels we have a chance to win. It gives you a little extra confidence, even when you get on the mound and don?t feel your stuff is working.??

 

The win over the second-place Grasshoppers reduced the Power?s magic number to two. Any combination of Power wins and Greensboro losses totaling two clinches the franchise?s first Sally League postseason berth since 2004.

 

Chances are it will happen away from Power Park. The Power begins a seven-game road trip tonight with the first of four games at Lexington.

[Mass Haas]

RHP Patrick Ryan of the Manatees followed by his local paper, the St. Petersburg Times:

 

www.sptimes.com/2007/06/0...seco.shtml

 

Ryan made a homecoming of sorts last weekend. The former Central High star made two appearances at Legends Field as the Brevard County Manatees played a five-game series against the Tampa Yankees.

 

A large contingent from Hernando County, including his parents, grandparents, wife and former coach at Central, made the 45-minute trip south to watch the 24-year-old pitch. He did not allow a run in either appearance, giving up one hit in one inning of work Tuesday and two hits in two innings Saturday.

 

His final line for the series: three innings, three hits, three strikeouts, no walks, no runs allowed.

 

In his five appearances since being called up from low-Class A West Virginia, Ryan is 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA, having allowed one run and seven hits in 8 1/3 innings.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/story/S...justments/

 

Power pitcher making adjustments

Jeff Bergren

For the Charleston Daily Mail

 

He finally found the "Wright" approach.

 

After getting rocked for seven runs and six hits in only four innings during his last start, West Virginia Power pitcher Brae Wright decided to change his mindset.

 

It worked.

 

The left-hander pitched six strong innings while leading the Power to a 10-3 win over Greensboro Wednesday at Appalachian Power Park.

 

Wright was so impressive, he threw only 77 pitches while limiting the Grasshoppers to one run on three hits.

 

Not bad for a hurler that came into the game with a 3-3 record and an embarrassing 7.04 earned run average.

 

"I think today I came out with a different mental approach," Wright said. "It's been a rocky season for me so far, but I've been working hard with J.C. (pitching coach John Curtis) to make a few adjustments.

 

"I decided to take a little bit different of an approach, go out there and try to pitch a little bit instead of stressing out or trying to do too much.

 

"I went back to the basics and threw strikes and tried to keep the ball down in the zone. I let the defense do the work behind me rather than try and strike everyone out and put too much pressure on myself."

 

The Power hitters did the rest.

 

For the seventh consecutive game the Power rapped double-figure hits (14) and put this one away early after battling from behind the night before against second-place Greensboro (31-28).

 

The two-game series sweep reduced the Power's magic number for clinching the South Atlantic League's Northern Division to two.

 

The Power (40-16) increased their lead to 10 1/2 games.

 

West Virginia used a four-run third inning to spark the blowout and knocked in three more runs in the fourth to the delight of the 5,421 fans.

 

Steve Chapman slammed a three-run home run in the third inning off Greensboro starting pitcher Hector Correa. It was Chapman's team-leading ninth homer of the season. Then, Chuckie Caufield and Andrew Lefave hit back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth to take over the game.

 

That's the kind of explosive offense a pitcher has to appreciate. And Wright certainly does.

 

"Of course, our offense has been phenomenal this year and they stuck with me through the rough times," said the left-hander. "I really appreciate those guys.

 

"Individually, I want to turn things around and get more outings like this. I was happy to take a step in a positive direction.

 

"Our staff gets to pitch with confidence because we know our team is going to play hard and battle for us and score runs. ... As a pitching staff, we always know we have a chance to win every time out as long as we keep it from getting out of hand."

 

West Virginia also became only the eighth team in the 20-year history of Charleston's involvement in the SAL to win 40 games in a half. The most wins in a half was 47 posted by the 1990 Charleston Wheelers when they were an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

 

The best record in a half in terms of percentage was the 1991 team, which went 46-24 (.657). This team has a chance to surpass that total with 12 games remaining before the break.

 

Chapman feels the sky's the limit for this team, especially if the pitching staff gets going.

 

"We are hoping to get a ring this year," said the power-hitting left-fielder. "If our pitching is on, we know the hitting is going to be there. It has been there almost all season and hopefully it will stay there."

 

"We play all nine innings; we come from behind a lot. If our pitching staff gets it done a little bit we know we can break it open.

 

"Brae has been struggling a lot but he brought his 'A' game today and everyone knows he can pitch and, hopefully, it will continue."

 

West Virginia's powerful offense is predicated on confidence and not being intimidated no matter what opposing pitcher is on the mound.

 

"There is no way you can pitch around our entire lineup," Chapman said. "It doesn't matter how good a pitcher may be. He may get us for the first eight innings, but we will get them in the ninth. There is no pitcher out there that can bring it to us for the whole nine innings.

 

"We are a solid lineup one through nine."

 

Caufield, who was named the "Offensive Player of the Week" by the SAL, sees endless possibilities for the Power. Especially with the unique balance of speed and power the lineup possesses.

 

"Each and everyone of us knows we have jobs to do in the game," said the right-fielder. "One day your role might be to get on base for someone else to drive you in. We try to play small ball and use our speed to the best of our ability.

 

"I don't see a limit for this team. If we come out everyday and play like we are capable I don't see many teams beating us."

 

If Wright's performance is any indication, the pitching is beginning to catch up to the hitting for the Power.

 

POWER POINTS: Manager Mike Guerrero has been chosen to lead the Northern Division squad in the SAL All-Star Game on June 19 at State Mutual Stadium in Rome, Ga. ... West Virginia begins a four-game series against the Lexington Legends at Applebee's Park tonight. Mike Ramlow (2-2, 7.83) will be the Power's starting pitcher, while the Legends send Casey Hudspeth (2-4, 5.90) to the mound.

 

Charleston Daily Mail Photos: Tom Hindman

The West Virignia Power?s Brent Brewer hits a sacrifice bunt that turned into a single when he beat the throw to first during Wednesday?s game at Appalachian Power Park.

 

http://www.dailymail.com/images/0607brewer.jpg

 

The West Virginia Power?s Chuckie Caufield is safe at second base as the tag is put down by the Greensboro Grasshoppers? Justin Webb at Appalachian Power Park on Wednesday. Caufield was later tagged out at home while trying to score on a hit to center field.

 

http://www.dailymail.com/images/0607power.jpg