Link Report for Games of Wednesday, August 22nd

[Mass Haas]

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

 

 

[Mass Haas]

Wednesday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

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

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Carolina (Marlins), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Mike McClendon at St. Lucie (Mets), 5:45 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

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

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/audio.jsp?cid=503&sid=t503

 

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

 

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

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

 

Helena: RHP Roque Mercedes at home vs. Ogden (Dodgers), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime

 

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

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

 

Arizona: TBD at the Maryvale complex vs. the lil' Athletics, 7:00 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". 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:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_orhaaa_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_cmcaax_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_breafa_sluafa_1&did=t503&sid=t503

 

West Virginia:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_lexafx_wvaafx_1

 

Helena:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_ogdrok_helrok_1

 

Arizona:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_athrok_brrrok_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 Tuesday's action:

 

Arizona League 2nd Half Standings:

Arizona Rookie is 16-32 overall...

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...;period=h2

 

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 80 50 .615 - 42-20 38-30 W7 Iowa 72 59 .550 8.5 41-27 31-32 L1 Omaha 65 66 .496 15.5 41-26 24-40 L4 Memphis 52 79 .397 28.5 27-37 25-42 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 33 24 .579 - 16-11 17-13 L4 Tennessee 32 25 .561 1.0 20-10 12-15 L1 Chattanooga 29 28 .509 4.0 15-17 14-11 L6 Carolina 28 29 .491 5.0 15-15 13-14 W3 West Tenn 24 33 .421 9.0 12-18 12-15 W4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 31 26 .544 - 14-14 17-12 L1 Brevard County 29 28 .509 2.0 17-10 12-18 W1 Palm Beach 28 30 .483 3.5 15-17 13-13 W1 Jupiter 23 31 .426 6.5 13-12 10-19 L1 Daytona 22 36 .379 9.5 10-19 12-17 W1 Vero Beach 18 38 .321 12.5 10-19 8-19 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hickory 34 23 .596 - 20-12 14-11 L2 Lakewood 28 27 .509 5.0 15-11 13-16 L1 Delmarva 29 28 .509 5.0 13-16 16-12 W1 Greensboro 29 29 .500 5.5 18-10 11-19 W3 Lake County 27 27 .500 5.5 12-15 15-12 W1 West Virginia 27 29 .482 6.5 17-11 10-18 W2 Lexington 24 34 .414 10.5 16-14 8-20 L1 Hagerstown 19 38 .333 15.0 10-18 9-20 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great Falls 16 6 .727 - 8-1 8-5 W3 Helena 12 10 .545 4.0 6-7 6-3 W3 Billings 10 12 .455 6.0 5-5 5-7 L2 Missoula 10 12 .455 6.0 7-5 3-7 W1 

[Mass Haas]

It's been RHP Shawn Ferguson, not Chris Toneguzzi, for the Power tonight, and he's thrown very well save for one pitch to Koby Clemens.

Our thanks tonight to the Manatees' staff, as they have now added a direct link to Brewerfan.net on their home page at the MiLB.com site -- you'll see the logo just under the "Manatees Fan-O-Tees Club" link.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t503

West Virginia had linked to us prior among the icons in their left-crawl, again on their home page, which is appreciated.

http://www.wvpower.com/

Helena links to us on their "links" page -- if Huntsville or Nashville staff would care to do the same, our thanks would be forthcoming. Please contact Brian via webmaster@brewerfan.net if interested, and he'll get you a logo to help facilitate things.

http://www.wvpower.com/shared/content/logos/brewerfan.jpg

[Trowekamp]

Rough night so far.. on pace for an organization O'fer.. hopefully this means the major league team breaks out against Webb.

What's the book on Ferguson in West Virginia?

[gregmag]

I'm not sure what's more amazing: that the AZL Brewers have a chance to provide the only team highlight on one of the most utterly crap nights on the farm I can ever remember, or that Matt LaPorta hit two singles.

 

Greg.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Oklahoma (Rangers) 10, Nashville 2

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Laynce Nix photo, text follows --

 

http://www.nashvillesounds.com/news/news.asp?newsId=2525

 

Sounds Win Streak Halted By RedHawks

 

NASHVILLE - The Nashville Sounds had their season-best seven-game winning streak come to a close with a 10-2 loss to the Oklahoma RedHawks on Wednesday evening at Greer Stadium in the opener of a six-game series.

 

Nashville (80-51) dropped to just 12-22 in series openers on the year.

 

Note: I'll do the math -- The Sounds are 68-29 in the games following the series opener this season. -- Mass Haas

 

The eight-run loss matched the Sounds' largest margin of defeat this season. The lead in the PCL American Conference Northern Division remained at 8 1/2 games when Iowa lost to New Orleans later in the evening. The Sounds' magic number to clinch their third consecutive PCL American Conference Northern Division title stands at four (4) entering play on the evening of Thursday, August 23.

 

The Sounds took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Callix Crabbe walked to open the frame and stole second before moving to third and scoring on a Drew Anderson infield single combined with a throwing error by Oklahoma first baseman Nate Gold.

 

The visitors came back to grab a 5-1 advantage in the next half-inning of play with five runs off Nashville starter R.A. Dickey. Catcher Guillermo Quiroz got things started with a two-run homer to left-center that put the RedHawks in front. The blast, which plated Dave Matranga (single), was the backstop's sixth of the year. Desi Relaford drove in two more later in the frame with a one-out triple down the right field line before Kevin West capped off the scoring with a two-out RBI single.

 

Current PCL Batter-of-the-Week Laynce Nix continued his red-hot hitting in the bottom of the fifth when he slugged a leadoff solo home run to right to extend his season-best hit streak to 11 games. The 26-year-old outfielder has gone deep in seven of his last eight contests and now has 23 home runs this season (22 with Nashville) to match his career high, set in 2003.

 

AUDIO: Nix Goes Deep Again

 

Nate Gold, who was robbed of a home run in the first on an outstanding catch by Anderson in left, increased the Oklahoma lead to 6-2 in the seventh by belting a one-out solo homer to left off Sounds reliever Marino Salas, the outfielder's 24th longball of the year.

 

Dave Matranga added a solo homer to left-center off Salas in the eighth, increasing the RedHawks' lead to 7-2, before Oklahoma finished off the night's scoring with a three-run ninth against Salas.

 

Oklahoma starter Eric Hurley (4-6) held the Sounds to two runs (one earned) on two hits over seven strong innings to earn the victory.

 

Dickey (11-6) took the loss after he allowed five runs on 11 hits over his six innings of work. The 11 knocks matched the most allowed by a Sounds hurler in a single game this season.

 

Designated hitter Andy Abad took the hill for Nashville in the ninth inning to make the seventh pitching appearance of his 16-year pro career and worked two-thirds scoreless innings.

 

The teams continue the series with a 7 p.m. meeting on Thursday evening. Right-hander Tim Dillard (5-4, 4.72) will make a spot start for the Sounds and face Oklahoma right-hander Armando Galarraga (1-1, 4.97).

 

Nashville Box Score:

Callix Crabbe with a stolen base, but only 16-of-28 on the season; not Marino Salas' finest hour...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_orhaaa_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_08_22_orhaaa_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Carolina (Marlins) 3, Huntsville 1

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/news/news.asp?newsId=1330

 

Hernandez Handcuffs Stars and Hands Them a Loss

Gaby Hernandez worked eight very strong innings and got all the support he needed on a Dante Brinkley home run in Carolina's 3-1 victory Wednesday night in the middle of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Mudcats have taken all three games to improve to 29-29 in the second half and move to within four of the top spot with 12 games to go in the regular season, while the Stars dropped a season-high fifth consecutive game to slip to 33-25 in the second half. Huntsville remains one game ahead of Tennessee for the top spot in the North Division, as the Smokies lost by a similar 3-1 score at Mobile.

 

Mel Stocker led off the home first with a double, moved to third base on an Alcides Escobar sacrifice bunt and scored on a ground ball out by Hernan Iribarren to make it three straight nights the home side has scored first. From there, Hernandez retired the next nine hitters he faced before walking Adam Heether with two outs in the fourth. He then set down the next 12 batters he encountered before Steve Sollmann's two-out ground rule double in the eighth. Hernandez closed his performance by striking out pinch-hitter Steve Moss to end the eighth and match a season-high with eight strikeouts. He allowed two hits, walked one and improved to 9-9. Brandon Villafuerte threw a perfect ninth inning to record his second save of the series and third since joining the team. The Mudcats' bullpen has thrown eight scoreless innings in the series, allowing two hits. The Stars have been held to three runs on four hits in the last two games.

 

Hernandez singled with one out in the third and scored when Brinkley belted starter Lindsay Gulin's next pitch over the wall in left field for his 11th home run of the season. The Stars have yielded a long ball in seven of their last eight games, during which they have surrendered 13. Eric Riggs tripled with one out in the sixth, stayed put when Grant Psomas grounded out but scored on a wild pitch on ball four to Lee Mitchell to add an insurance run. Gulin was saddled with the loss, and stalled for a third straight start in search of his 12th win, after allowing three runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out six and lost for just a second time in nine starts at home.

 

The series continues Thursday night with left-hander Steve Hammond taking the hill for Huntsville against Carolina southpaw Blake McGinley. 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:

Robert Hinton and Luis Pena kept it close late with scoreless outings...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_cmcaax_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_08_22_cmcaax_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site:

Stars' trainer Dave Yeager has been selected as the 2007 Southern League Trainer of the Year in a vote conducted by his peers. He is now one of 17 league winners who will be considered for the Minor League Trainer of the Year Award, which will be announced at the Winter Meetings in Nashville in December.

 

Yeager is in his third season with the Stars and has also worked for minor league affiliates in the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox organizations. He makes his off-season home in Decatur, Alabama and has served as the Director of the Encore Sports Enhancement Center there.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Lexington (Astros) 5, West Virginia 3

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

LEGENDS RUIN POWER COMEBACK

 

After losing a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning at Appalachian Power Park on Wednesday night, the Lexington Legends scored twice with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and defeated the West Virginia Power 5-3 to take the second game of the series.

 

Koby Clemens had a huge night for the Legends. He hit a pair of bombs to give the Legends their 3-0 advantage. His first home run was a solo shot in the top of the second and his second was a two-run homer in the seventh inning. The two homers gave him 13 on the season and four against the Power.

 

In the eighth inning Taylor Green ripped an RBI single and scored when Steve Chapman walked with the bases loaded. One pitch after Chapman walked, Martin Maldonado was hit by a pitch to bring the tying run home. Nick Moresi's two-out single in the ninth inning scored Greg Buchanan to give the Legends the lead. Lexington added to their advantage when Moresi scored on Ronald Ramirez's double.

 

Kyle DeYoung (4-8) earned the victory, Reid Kelly (6) got the save and Omar Aguilar (7-4) suffered the loss. The starting pitchers, Shawn Ferguson and Bud Norris were fantastic. Norris tossed seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball and struck out seven while Ferguson allowed just a run on four hits with six strikeouts through six innings.

 

The Power fell to 75-50 overall and 27-30 in the second half, while the Legends improved to 56-73 overall and 25-34 in the second half. Andrew Lefave, Matt LaPorta and Green all had two hits for the Power. Power skipper Mike Guerrero was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Berry Lee. It was the first time that Guerrero had been ejected this season.

 

The Power will finish the three game series against Lexington Thursday night. The Power will start right hander Jeremy Jeffress (8-5, 3.49) and the Legends will counter with left hander Doug Arguello (6-10, 5.15). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Taylor Green 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, his bubble just refuses to burst, only Andy Lefave has been as consistent, but Green is just a pup...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_lexafx_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

Relievers D.J. Lidyard and Omar Aguilar with tough nights...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_08_22_lexafx_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: St. Lucie (Mets) 6, Brevard County 0

MiLB.com:

 

Stoner stifles Manatees

Tobi Stoner struck out a career-high 10 over eight dominant innings as St. Lucie blanked visiting Brevard County, 6-0, on Wednesday.

Stoner (4-3) gave up four hits and did not walk a batter as he lowered his ERA to 4.71. The 22-year-old right-hander, who fanned at least one batter in every inning, had allowed 10 runs on 19 hits over his previous two starts.

Joe Hietpas tossed a perfect ninth to complete the seven shutout of the season for the Mets (32-26), who have won nine of their last 10 and are three games ahead of the second-place Manatees in the Florida State League East Division.

Victor Mendez stroked a run-scoring single in the fourth and slugged a three-run homer, his first in four games with St. Lucie, in the sixth. The 27-year-old right fielder played five games in the Gulf Coast League before he was promoted last week. Nick Evans belted an RBI double and Emmanuel Garcia added a run-scoring single for the Mets.

Brevard County's Mike McClendon (4-6) lost his fourth straight start after giving up six runs -- two earned -- on nine hits while striking out four in seven frames.

Lorenzo Cain, Mat Gamel, Cole Gillepsie and Anderson De La Rosa singled for the Manatees (29-29). -- Ryan McConnell/MLB.com

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Manatees have been scary-bad away from Space Coast Stadium lately; many of us allowed ourselves to get excited about Mike McClendon's early-season success with West Virginia -- but it's now 95 hits allowed in 76.1 IP in Florida, although a Brevard ERA of 4.60 isn't as hideous as that ratio would lead you to believe, though...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_breafa_sluafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_log&gid=2007_08_22_breafa_sluafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Ogden (Dodgers) 11, Helena 1

Helena Box Score:

Roque Mercedes had a 2.33 ERA in his prior ten starts before tonight's debacle; does anybody else get a kick out of seeing Gindl and Rindal back-to-back in the lineup? You notice stuff like that in 11-1 losses...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_ogdrok_helrok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_08_22_ogdrok_helrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Let's see, it's 1:00 AM on the East Coast, the Cubbies just won, oh joy, and the Arizona Brewers have blown an early five-run lead (hey, proving they learn to do that early in Brewer-ville) and now trail by four late.

 

In other words, Wednesday really sucked.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Arizona Athletics 12, Arizona Brewers 7

 

Arizona Box Score:

Five had multiple hits, and Brett Whiteside reached three times by adding a walk; speaking of walks, Brewer pitchers issued 15 along with five wild pitches...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_08_22_athrok_brrrok_1

 

Arizona Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_08_22_athrok_brrrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Helena Site Game Summary:

Raptor Bats Overpower Brewers

HELENA - After defeating the Ogden Raptors in every meeting this year, the Helena Brewers dropped the last matchup 11-1 Wednesday night at Kindrick Field. The Brewers scored once in the first inning, but did not score again the rest of the game as the Raptor pitchers shut down the Helena offense.

Brewer starter Roque Mercedes, tied for the league lead in wins, had an uncharacteristic night as he lasted 2.1 innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits to get the loss. Five Helena pitchers combined to finish the game. Brock Kjeldgaard, Nick Tyson, and Corey Frerichs each tossed a shutout inning of relief to end the game.

Ogden scored two runs in the first inning and would not need anymore to pull out the victory, but added five runs in the third inning and three in the fifth and one more in the sixth inning. By the end of the night the Raptors racked up 16 hits off Brewer pitchers.

Although the Brewers scored just one run the team collected eight hits. Curt Rindal and David Fonseca each collected two hits to pace Helena. Lee Haydel contributed a triple in the first inning and the next batter Eric Farris brought Haydel in on a RBI ground out. Jonathan Lucroy, Zelous Wheeler, and Zach McAngus also collected base hits.

For Ogden Erik Kanaby went 4-for-6 with one RBI while Elian Herrera went 2-for-5 with four RBIs.

The Brewers will enjoy an off day Thursday before hitting the road to begin the first of a six-game road trip at Great Falls and Billings. Helena will play the first game at Great Falls on Friday at 7:00 PM (8:00 Central).

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/08/23/sports_top/b01082307_01.txt

 

Raptors claw Brewers

By TOM STUBER, Helena Independent Record Sports Writer

It simply wasn't Helena's, and namely Roque Mercedes', night.

The Brewers and their pitching ace were drubbed by Ogden 11-1 in the final game of the season between the two clubs. Helena (12-11) had won every game this year against the Raptors.

"It just wasn't a good night for us," Helena pitching coach Aris Tirado said.

Mercedes had at least his second worst outing of the season as he lasted just two-and-a-third innings and allowed eight hits and seven earned runs.

"Exactly," Tirado said in response to Mercedes just not having his game. "He didn't have his usual stuff. He looked tired. It was just one of those games."

Mercedes allowed Ogden (9-14) to load the bases in the first with no outs, but only gave up a pair of runs. He then wriggled out of a first and third, one out jam in the second.

The third wasn't so kind as seven of the first eight batters reached base to chase Mercedes.

Ogden's Jaime Pedroza led off with a home run to spark a five-run onslaught. Elian Herrera contributed a two-run single.

The Raptors would tack on two more in the fifth to all but put the game away. Matt Wallach, Herrera and Justin Fuller led off the inning with consecutive doubles.

"When you fall behind in the count, there's not much you can do," Tirado said. "You start throwing the ball right down the middle and not commanding well.

"You have to keep the ball down. If it's up it doesn't matter what league you're in, you're gonna get hurt. When we make good pitches we win."

Curt Rindal led Helena with two hits in two at-bats.

The Brewers are off today before they embark on a three-game series at Great Falls.

 

George Lane Helena Independent Record staff photographer - Brewers shortstop David Fonseca backhands a grounder, but was unable to throw the runner out at first base.

 

http://images.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/articles/2007/08/23/sports_top/b01082307_01.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Sports/200708231

 

Clemens' two HRs lead Legends past Power 5-3

By Nick Scala

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

Home plate and the surrounding area was a dangerous place Wednesday night at Appalachian Power Park, but Koby Clemens sure felt comfortable there.

 

Clemens, the son of Hall of Famer-to-be Roger Clemens, launched two home runs to lead the Lexington Legends to a 5-3 win over the West Virginia Power.

 

The home runs overshadowed some painful and strange happenings around the plate. Consider:

 

- In the bottom of the first, home-plate umpire Matt Abbott was struck on the hand by a foul ball off the bat of Matt LaPorta, causing a 20-minute delay while Abbott got the injured hand wrapped in the clubhouse. When he returned, bases umpire Barry Lee - more on him later - took over behind the plate and Abbott patrolled the bases.

 

- In the top of the fourth, Lexington right fielder Jordan Parraz was hit in the face by a high-and-tight fastball from Power starter Shawn Ferguson. A bloodied Parraz - one of four hit batsmen on the night, two on each side - left the contest and was taken for a CAT scan.

 

- In the bottom of the eighth, with his team trailing 3-1 with two outs and the bases loaded, Power designated hitter Steve Chapman looked at a 2-0 pitch he thought was high. When Lee called it a strike, Chapman stepped out of the batter's box to question the call, and Lee called a second strike on Chapman - his prerogative, as per the rulebook.

 

The call prompted Power manager Mike Guerrero to vehemently argue the decision with Lee. After some animated disagreement and a little bit of dirt-kicking around that busy plate, Guerrero was ejected from the game by Lee.

 

"That rule was put in place to speed up the game," Power pitching coach John Curtis said of the call against Chapman. "If the hitter steps out of the box, the umpire is empowered to call a strike without the pitcher throwing the ball. We thought he was a little premature with that, and Mike sure thought he was premature.

 

"That's the first time that's happened to us all year. What can I say?"

 

The call, and Guerrero's ejection, didn't stop the Power from rallying, though. Chapman eventually worked a walk, forcing home a run, and the tying run crossed when the next Power batter, Martin Maldonado, was hit in the leg by a pitch.

 

Lexington answered in the top of the ninth, though, getting two-out RBI singles from Nick Moresi and Ronald Ramirez off Power reliever Omar Aguilar (7-4).

 

Clemens staked Lexington to a 3-0 lead with a solo shot to right-center in the second inning and added a towering two-run drive in the seventh, giving him 13 home runs on the season. The first came off Ferguson, who limited Lexington to four hits and just the one run in six innings.

 

Lexington starter Bud Norris held the Power scoreless in seven innings, allowing just three hits. Kyle DeYoung (4-8) pitched one-third of an inning, issued two bases-loaded walks and hit Maldonado with a pitch to force home the tying run, but was credited with the win.

The three-game series concludes at 7:05 Thursday night (6:05 Central), then the Power heads out on its final road trip of the regular season for a three-game weekend series at Hickory.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.al.com/stars/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/118786100197930.xml&coll=1

 

Stars' hitting woes roll on

Huntsville earns two hits in fifth straight loss

By MARK McCARTER

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com

 

If a tree falls in an empty forest, or if a baseball team falters in an empty stadium, do they make a sound? One of many questions on a night with few answers, when the Huntsville Stars quietly, timidly dropped their fifth straight game, a 3-1 decision to the Carolina Mudcats.

 

Where are the fans? That was the question on the minds of the Stars, who filed out for pregame warmups 20 minutes before the first pitch Wednesday and spied less than three dozen people in the stands.

 

Where are the bats? That's the continuing question for the Stars, for manager Don Money and for the Incredible Shrinking Fan Base, with its announced crowd of 846.

 

This has been an inopportune time for an apparent termite attack. The Stars, in collecting only two hits Wednesday, have managed only four hits in the last two games, only nine in the three games of the series with Carolina, which continues Thursday night at 7:05.

 

As a result, the four-game lead they held in the Southern League North on Aug. 16 has shrunk like a cheap T-shirt in a hot dryer. Once coasting toward a third consecutive division title, they are now essentially in a fender-to-fender duel with Tennessee with 12 games remaining.

 

"We're making them all look like Cy Young winners," said manager Don Money of opposing pitchers, most recently Carolina's Gaby Hernandez, who whiffed eight in eight innings.

 

So what can be done?

 

"They've got to pull themselves out of it," Money said of his hitters. "They've got to go up there with some kind of plan. They're not driving the ball the other way, they're trying to hit breaking balls for home runs. At some point, they've got to make adjustments. Guys who do move on. Guys who don't linger around (Double-A) a little longer."

 

The offense is not the only culprit. When Dante Brinkley jacked his two-run homer in the third for Carolina, it was the 13th opposing home run in eight games. It was all the runs the Mudcats would need, to a Hernan Iribarren RBI groundout that drove home Mel Stocker in the first.

 

The Cats did add one more run in the sixth when Eric Riggs - a Stars killer even back to his seven-RBI day against them in 2002 - tripled and scored on a Lindsay Gulin wild pitch. Riggs is 6-for-13 in three games, with five RBIs.

 

Gulin allowed only four hits in six innings but was stuck with the loss, his fifth against a team-leading 11 wins.

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Sounds fall, but still confident

BY NATE RAU, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

It would take a collapse of historic, epic and monumental proportions for the Nashville Sounds to not qualify for the Pacific Coast League playoffs at this point.

 

The Sounds are on pace to have the best Triple A record in their franchise history and have nine of their final 13 games at home. But the Sounds hit a flat note at Greer Stadium on Wednesday, falling to Oklahoma 10-2.

 

Nashville's (80-51) magic number is four because Iowa lost on Wednesday night. The Sounds have reached the PCL playoffs each of the past two seasons and won the league title 2005.

 

The eight-run defeat matched the Sounds' largest of the season. The Sounds were outhit 18-2 by the Hawks.

 

"We've been playing well so it's not like we can chalk it up as not feeling good," Sounds third baseman Brad Nelson said. "They had everything going their way. We're feeling pretty confident about the playoffs."

 

The RedHawks got to starter R.A. Dickey with five runs in the fifth inning. The knuckleballer was making the start on three days' rest because the Sounds shuffled their rotation in reaction to the promotion of Seth McClung.

 

The 11 hits allowed by Dickey tied the most given up by a Sounds pitcher this season. Reliever Marino Salas gave up five runs for the Sounds in 2.1 innings of work.

 

Andy Abad, a first baseman by trade and a designated hitter on Wednesday, came into the game with one out in the ninth.

 

"Sadly, it's never a good sign by any means," Nelson said of having the designated hitter Abad come into finish the ninth. "When the score is what it is, when he can come in and loosen everything up maybe it wipes everything off and you can start anew tomorrow."

 

Laynce Nix was a bright spot for Nashville yet again. He hit a home run - his seventh in eight games - to raise his season total to 22 long balls. Nix also extended his hitting streak to a personal best 11 games.

 

MUSIC CITY RETURN: Carlos Villanueva, who had been an integral part of Milwaukee's pitching staff all season, was demoted by the Brewers Tuesday. Villanueva had struggled as of late in Milwaukee and will make two starts for the Sounds before returning to the Brewers for the Sept. 1 call-ups. McClung was promoted to replace Villanueva in the Brewers' bullpen.

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Oklahoma offense overwhelms Sounds

By MIKE ORGAN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

When the digital thermometer dipped to 100 degrees on the scoreboard Wednesday night, Sounds pitchers started cooling off.

 

And Oklahoma started heating up. The RedHawks racked up 10 runs over the last five innings on the way to a 10-2 victory before a Greer Stadium crowd of 2,098.

 

The loss matched Nashville's worst of the year. The Sounds also lost to New Orleans 10-2 on April 16.

 

It also was the most runs allowed by the Sounds since falling to Sacramento 13-6 on July 28. Oklahoma's four home runs matched the most allowed by the Sounds this season.

 

The Redhawks' 18 hits were two shy of the most allowed by Nashville this year.

 

"We obviously came out flat and I felt like I was giving us a chance to win and then had that one crooked inning,'' said Sounds starter R.A. Dickey, who struck out three over the first four innings but started to struggle in the fifth against his old team.

 

"I just left some pitches up, an infield single and I didn't do a very good job of damage control in that inning. Take that inning away and it's different ballgame all together."

 

In the fifth, Dickey gave up three hits: a two-run homer by Guillermo Quiroz, a two-run triple by Desi Relaford, and an RBI single by Kevin West. That gave the Redhawks a 5-1 lead.

 

After giving up two more hits in the sixth, Dickey was replaced in the seventh by Marino Salas, who wasn't able to cool Oklahoma's bats, either.

 

Nate Gold, the second batter Salas faced in the seventh, crushed a homer over the left-field wall. David Matranga, the leadoff batter in the eighth, added a home run. Kevin West hit a homer in the ninth giving Oklahoma a 10-2 lead.

 

Salas was replaced by infielder Andy Abad, who made only his seventh pitching appearance in 16 seasons.

 

Matranga, the first batter Abad faced, doubled to the left-field wall. But Abad got out of the jam without allowing a run.

 

The Sounds' only highlight came in the seventh when leadoff batter Laynce Nix hit his 22nd home run of the year. Nashville's two hits matched the fewest this year.

 

Sounds reliever Marino Salas gave up three homers against the RedHawks. GEORGE WALKER IV / THE TENNESSEAN

 

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Pitcher joins Sounds staff

By MIKE ORGAN

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Pitcher Carlos Villanueva joined the Sounds on Wednesday, the day after being optioned from Milwaukee.

 

The 23-year-old right-hander has spent the entire season with the Brewers and posted a 6-3 record and 4.68 ERA in 53 appearances. He had one start.

 

Villanueva will join Nashville's rotation and make his first start Friday in the third of a four-game series against Oklahoma. He filled a roster spot that became open on Tuesday when Milwaukee called up pitcher Seth McClung.

 

Nix gets another: Laynce Nix's home run in the fifth inning was his 23rd this season. Nix now has 22 homers this season for Nashville; he had one with Double-A Huntsville.

 

Nix also extended his hitting streak to 11 games, which is his longest of the season. The Sounds' longest hit streak this year belongs to Brad Nelson, who hit safely in 15 games.

 

Tough outing: The 11 hits given up by starter R.A. Dickey tied the most for a Sounds pitcher this year. It happened four other times for Sounds pitchers, including once before by Dickey.

 

Hot in August: The Sounds' 31 home runs in August are the second-most in the PCL behind Albuquerque's 36.

 

Make no mistake: The Sounds, who had a six-game errorless streak snapped Tuesday night, have committed a PCL-low 81 errors and lead with a .983 fielding percentage. Nashville is on pace to set PCL records for best fielding mark and fewest errors in a season.

 

The Sounds established a PCL record with a franchise-best .982 fielding mark last season, which included a PCL-low 100 errors.