Link Report for Thur. 5/31 - Inman Shines, Oxspring's Night

[wvpowerblkwel]

Just by my quick review of Power boxes for the last 10 games, going into the 9th inning tonite, I count 102 base hits! That is an absolute ton! = just took it a little further....from May 16 thru May 31, 16 games the Power have 185 hits (11.56 per game) and 123 runs (7.6875) per game! These guys can hit!

[Never Outhustled]

Ford is just rediculous at A ball, I'm all for flipping him and the struggling Fermaint.

[TheCrew07]

Huntsville scoring runs in bunches suddenly, 5 more runs while I was at the grocery store. Could be another clean sweep for the organization! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Starting Pitcher Yovani Gallardo:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-31.mp3

[Mass Haas]

Final: Nashville 6, Las Vegas (Dodgers) 3

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Chris Oxspring photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2356

 

Oxspring Shuts Down 51s, Sounds Win 6-3

 

NASHVILLE ? Sounds right-hander Chris Oxspring struck out a season-high nine batters over seven scoreless innings to lead Nashville to a 6-3 victory over the Las Vegas 51s in front of 6,434 fans on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium.

 

The win was Nashville?s 16th in the club?s last 21 home games and gave the Sounds a winning month of May (16-14) for the first time in eight years.

 

Oxspring (4-3), who allowed only two hits while matching his season high with his seven innings of work, opened the game with 5 1/3 hitless frames before allowing a Wilson Valdez single in the top of the sixth. The Aussie lowered his ERA to 2.88 with the outstanding outing, his third quality start of the year.

 

The red-hot Joe Dillon paced the Nashville offense with a 2-for-3 evening that included his team-leading 12th double. The veteran has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 contests, batting at a .409 clip (27-for-66) over that span.

 

Vinny Rottino also had a solid night at the plate for the Sounds, homering and producing a season-high three RBIs.

 

Las Vegas starter William Juarez opened the contest with 3 1/3 hitless frames before surrendering a one-out Laynce Nix single. Dating back to his previous start on May 26 against Portland, the right-hander posted 9 1/3 consecutive hitless frames over the two outings, an impressive feat.

 

After finally recording their first hit, the Sounds put together a big inning against Juarez to grab a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Four of the five Nashville hits in the frame went for extra bases. Dillon followed Nix?s single with a double, which extended the veteran?s hitting streak to a season-high six games.

 

Andy Abad plated Nix with the game?s first run on a comebacker to Juarez. Brad Nelson followed with an RBI ground-rule double to left to plate Dillon before scoring when Rottino rocketed a two-run homer off the guitar-shaped scoreboard in left-center to increase the lead to 4-0. It was Rottino?s sixth home run of the season.

 

AUDIO: Rottino Homers Off The Guitar --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-31.mp3

 

Juarez (1-2), who opened the game with five consecutive strikeouts, took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits while walking four batters and fanning five in his 5 1/3 frames.

 

The Sounds extended the lead to 6-0 in the seventh against the Las Vegas bullpen. Nelson drew a one-out bases-loaded from Greg Miller to force home Nix before Rottino lifted a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Dillon.

 

For the second straight evening, the 51s made things interesting in the ninth, this time against Sounds reliever Dennis Sarfate. The visitors cut the 6-0 lead in half with a pair of home runs off the right-hander. Matt Kemp (2-for-4) opened the inning with a single then scored on Mitch Jones? Pacific Coast League co-leading 15th home run of the year, a two-run shot to left-center that ended Nashville?s shutout bid.

 

Two batters later, Sergio Garcia touched Sarfate for the 51s? second roundtripper of the frame, a solo shot to left, to complete the night?s scoring.

 

Abad extended Nashville?s longest hitting streak of the season to 11 games with a seventh-inning single.

 

The teams wrap up the series with another 7 p.m. contest on Friday evening at Greer. Nashville right-hander Yovani Gallardo (7-1, 2.39), who leads the minor leagues with 84 strikeouts, will take the hill to face Las Vegas right-hander Miguel Pinango (2-0, 3.43).

 

Friday is a special Purity Faith Night at Greer Stadium. Decorated Christian band Jars of Clay will be playing a pre-game concert. A portion of each Faith Night ticket sold on Friday will be dedicated to the group's Blood:Water Mission, which helps fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa.

 

The Sounds? Faith Night contributions will be specifically committed to community development in Lwala, a rural village in western Kenya to support the efforts of Milton and Fredrick Ochieng, Lwala natives and brothers who are current Vanderbilt medical students constructing a health clinic in their home village.

 

A fireworks show, sponsored by Your Select Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealers, will follow the game.

 

Nashville Box Score:

Chris Oxspring outshines even Will Inman on this night; Charles Thomas only 10-for-65 since joining the organization; Callix Crabbe only 9-for-15 in SB attempts; Dennis Sarfate, not sure what to say these days...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

Oxspring a big bases-loaded inning-ending K in the 6th...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 11, Montgomery (Devil Rays) 4

Details soon, win caps perfect organizational night...

[Josh23fan]

I was at the BC game tonight. Inman was dealing again. Granted, he may only have a couple more starts at the high A level remaining, but please don't worry about him losing interest. The guy is a competitor. I have seen three of his last four starts. He is into every pitch of every game. He's not bored at this level (too competitive for that). Simply a fun guy to watch play ball. Before his inevitable promotion, he will have one or two more "Inman type" outings.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 5, Daytona (Cubs) 1

 

MiLB.com Game Notes:

 

Inman shuts down Cubs

 

Will Inman hurled eight stellar innings as Brevard County rolled to a 5-1 victory over visiting Daytona on Thursday.

 

Inman (4-2) allowed a run on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. The 20-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 1.33.

 

Cole Gillespie went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Manatees (32-21). He delivered run-scoring singles in the first and third innings before lifting a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

 

Angel Salome chipped in three hits and two runs scored for Brevard County.

 

Cubs starter Scott Koerber (2-3) surrendered five runs -- four earned -- on 11 hits and two walks while striking out two in 4 1/3 innings.

 

Brian Dopirak and Matt Matulia had two hits apiece for Daytona (25-27). -- Steve Conley/MLB.com

 

***

Additional details from the Cubs' site:

 

By: Dan Watson

 

[VIERA, FL] - For the third straight game, starting pitching was the key between the Daytona Cubs and the Brevard County Manatees. This time, it was Manatee starter Will Inman who keyed a win. Brevard County snapped Daytona's three-game win streak with a 5-1 victory Thursday at Space Coast Stadium.

 

Inman (4-2) held the Cubs silent for most of the night in picking up the win. He threw eight innings, allowed a run on three base hits, walked three and struck out seven. He retired the last eight batters he faced to finish a sterling start.

 

The Brevard County defense, which made five errors in each of the first two games of the series, buckled down behind Inman to play an errorless game. Meanwhile, the Manatees pounded out 15 hits as Angel Salome and Cole Gillespie combined to go 5-for-7 with two runs scored and three RBI.

 

The Manatees opened the scoring with an unearned run off Cubs' starter Scott Koerber in the first inning. With two out, Chris Errecart reached on an error to keep the inning alive, and the Manatees capitalized on the Daytona miscue. Salome and Gillespie followed with back-to-back singles. Gillespie's base hit plated Errecart to give Brevard County a 1-0 lead.

 

In the third, Brevard County added onto its lead with more two-out hitting. Alcides Escobar drew a walk to start the inning, but Koerber retired the next two batters and looked to be on his way out of the frame. The Manatees had other ideas; Salome followed with a single to extend the frame. With runners at first and second, Gillespie knocked a hit into left field to score Escobar. Then, Ryan Crew belted a double into the gap in right-center field, scoring Salome and extending the Manatee advantage to 3-0.

 

Daytona got on the scoreboard in the fifth. Brian Dopirak stroked a one-out single into left field, then Jeff Culpepper ripped a base hit to right. A walk by Kyle Reynolds loaded the bases. Then, Nate Spears hit into an RBI fielder's choice to score Dopirak and cut Brevard County's lead to 3-1. The Cubs still threatened, but Inman halted the rally and finished the inning with no further damage.

 

Brevard County came right back in the bottom of the frame. Errecart dumped a leadoff single into left field and went to third when Salome singled to center. Gillespie's sacrifice fly scored Errecart, and the Manatees led 4-1. After another single and a walk, Koerber came out of the game and was relieved by Mike Phelps. He absorbed an RBI groundout by Ryan Barba and then induced an inning-ending ground ball to keep the Manatee edge at 5-1.

 

The Cubs bullpen held things quiet from there, as Phelps and Darin Downs combined for 3 and 2/3 scoreless innings. But the Daytona offense couldn't get anything going as Inman, Jeremy Lewis and Dave Johnson combined in the win.

 

Koerber (2-3) took the loss for Daytona as the Cubs dropped to 25-27. Dopirak and Matt Matulia each went 2-for-3 at the plate. Brevard County remains in first place with a 32-21 record.

 

The Cubs and Manatees return to Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Friday to finish the four-game series on 4Ever Fitness Ladies' Night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 (6:05 Central), with Jeff Samardzija starting on the mound for Daytona (note: initially Samardzija was to pitch Thursday, according to the Cubs' own report.)

 

Brevard County Box Score:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

 

Brevard County Game Log:

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

[bork]

Wow, quite the first half so far. 40 games over .500 for the minor league teams now. Nashville needs to quit slacking and get in first place like everyone else. Hopefully, a Parra promotion will put them over the top soon.

[Mass Haas]

Can't get enough of Will Inman?

 

Lauren Farrell with the post-game audio chat on-field with Will after the game -- go to the archive from May 31st and zoom to the 2 hour, 47 minute mark.

 

web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

 

Lauren is spending the summer with the Manatees as one of the staff interns. She's from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attends Penn State. Working in the Media Relations office, I'm not sure she envisioned playing such a large part of the broadcast team with the earlier shakeup of Brevard staff. Nice job by the young lady. Kirk Agius is settling just fine into the play-by-play role.

 

Just want to remind folks that having the Power and Manatee archived audio is a nice bonus for us, and can't say enough about the always informative Huntsville and Nashville media notes -- the Stars do a fine job, and Nashville's, well, you can't say enough about the job Doug Scopel does on those. Tidbits galore!

 

So take advantage of the links we provide!

[Mass Haas]

Nashville needs to quit slacking and get in first place like everyone else. Hopefully, a Parra promotion will put them over the top soon.

 

Fortunately, the only team that doesn't play a "split season", so there's plenty of time (two months http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif ) for the Sounds to rally and close the small gap.

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 11, Kannapolis 8

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

FORD, BRANTLEY AND LEFAVE SHINE IN POWER VICTORY

 

Michael Brantley went 5-for-5 with a walk, reaching all six times up, Darren Ford went 4-for-6 and Andrew Lefave went 3-for-4 with two walks and four RBI as the West Virginia Power out slugged the Kannapolis Intimidators 11-8 on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to six games.

 

Ford scored on a wild pitch in the first inning and Lefave knocked in the second run in the first frame with his first double of the game. The Power took a 4-0 lead in the second on Ford?s two-run homer, his fifth of the year. In the fourth inning Chuckie Caufield?s sacrifice fly scored Kenny Holmberg, Lefave doubled in Brantley and Andy Bouchie plated Lefave on a base hit.

 

Down 7-0 through three and a half innings, Kannapolis came back and tied the game with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth. Lee Cruz and Brandon Allen both hit three-run bombs and Rob Hudson reached on Taylor Green?s error to plate the other run in the monster frame for Kannapolis. It was the most runs put on the board by the Intimidators in a single inning all season long.

 

The lead didn?t last long as Andrew Lefave struck again on a two-run bomb in the sixth inning, his fourth of the season. Kannapolis scored their final run in the bottom of the sixth on Hudson?s sacrifice fly. The Power added two insurance runs in the eighth inning to pull away. Andy Bouchie doubled in the first run and scored later in the inning on Taylor Green?s base hit.

 

Travis Wendte (2-0) allowed a run on three hits over three innings to get the win, E.J. Shanks (8) got the save and Noe Rodriguez (0-2) was tagged with the loss.

 

The Power improved to 36-15 with the win and the Intimidators fell to 24-30 with the loss and have now lost eight of their last nine games. Five Power players had multi-hit games, and three players drove in multiple runs.

 

The Power will finish the four game series against Kannapolis Friday night. The Power will start left hander Mike Ramlow (2-2, 7.88) and the Intimidators will counter with right hander Faustino De Los Santos (4-1, 2.08). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Kudos again to the player development satff, in particular in this case Power Hitting Coach Corey Hart -- no one could have envisioned this kind of season-long production up and down the lineup...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_kanafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

LHP Brae Wright with five walks in his four innings -- yes, he should have escaped the awful fourth surrendering three, and not seven, runs, but still, another discouraging outing overall...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_kanafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...ewsId=1190

 

Huntsville Hammers Montgomery, Again

 

Steve Sollmann collected a pair of hits and drove in three runs, as Huntsville continued its? assault on Montgomery pitching in an 11-4 win Thursday night at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars have scored 42 runs on 55 hits in winning three of the first four in the series to improve to 28-24 and maintain their share of first place in the North Division, while Biscuits dropped to 28-25 and lost for an sixth time in their last nine games.

 

Stars?starter Steve Hammond retired the Biscuits in order in the first inning but allowed run-scoring hits to Gabriel Martinez and Josh Asanovich in a three-run second inning rally that gave the visitors the early lead. Asanovich singled home another run in the fifth to make it 4-0 Biscuits and drove in his third run of the series to push his season total to seven. Hammond allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits over five frames and was replaced by Corey Thurman.

 

Huntsville had been held to one single through four innings by Jon Barratt but a leadoff single by Yohannis Perez and consecutive walks to Steve Moss, Hernan Iribarren and Sollmann produced the home side's first run and spelled the end of the night for the southpaw. Richard De Los Santos took over and induced Ruben Mateo to ground into a pitcher-to-home-to first double play, the second such twin killing turned in the series by Montgomery. Lou Palmisano followed with a double to plate Iribarren and Sollmann to trim the visitors lead to one.

 

Thurman blanked the Biscuits in the sixth and the Stars tallied five times to take the lead for good and give the veteran right-hander his second win of the season. Adam Heether tripled to lead off the inning and scored when Brendan Katin followed with a single before Sollmann?s two-run double gave Huntsville a 6-4 lead and chased De Los Santos from the hill. Evan Meek took over and committed a throwing error on a tapper back to the hill by Drew Anderson that allowed two more runs to score. Moss delivered a two-run single and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to complete the scoring.

 

Jeff Housman retired the side in order in the seventh inning and Luis Pena tossed shutout relief in the eighth and ninth to preserve the Stars ninth win in their last 11 contests at home. Huntsville has plated at least 11 runs in each of the last four victories at home.

 

The series wraps up Friday night with southpaw Lindsay Gulin taking the mound against Biscuits? left-hander Mike Prochaska. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 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:

Nice to see over 3,000 on hand on a Thursday evening at the Joe; ho-hum, Steve Sollmann on base four more times -- his OBP coming in was already a ridiculous .438; Brendan Katin on fire, 8-for-13 with a walk in his last four games...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Steve Sollmann photo from the Stars' home page:

 

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/images/news/07%20Steve%20Sollmann.jpg

[DHonks]

wow, really encouraging to see Katin and the shortstop Yo with their averages creeping up. Katin is someone I was high on, but for some reason (his slow start?) I stopped noticing him

[pogokat]

check out his OPS in May Doug---he's performing very well

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1

 

Biscuits crumble; Stars rally

Huntsville hitters heat up after trailing 4-0

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

Heading into the top of the sixth inning, Montgomery's bullpen doused Huntsville mascot "Homer" with water for the second time this week as the four-wheeler sped by.

 

The Stars offense treated the Biscuits relievers just as rudely afterward.

 

After Montgomery blew a four-run lead, Stars first baseman Steve Sollmann ripped a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth and the floodgates opened to lead Huntsville to an 11-4 win in front of 3,034 fans at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

"You've got a lot of guys out there right now that don't want to make any outs," Sollmann said. "It's not that their bullpen is that bad. It's just that we're doing that well right now."

 

While Montgomery starter Jon Barratt didn't help himself any with a forgetful fifth that allowed Huntsville (28-24) to close to 4-3, the relievers let the Biscuits burn.

 

The final numbers for the Biscuits' bullpen? Four innings, 11 hits, eight runs (seven earned) and a loss. All the Stars' runs were scored from the fifth inning on.

 

Now that'll dampen more than a mascot.

 

To be fair, though, nobody much is stopping the Stars right now. They have scored at least 11 runs in four of five home games. In this series, Huntsville has scored 41 runs in four games, and that's with being shut out on Tuesday.

 

"We're just putting things together," said Stars catcher Lou Palmisano, who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. "When we're not going well, we're hitting sporadic, but right now everybody can hit a double or home run or something dangerous."

 

Barratt entered the fifth inning with only one hit allowed, but he crumbled in a hurry against the "dangerous" lineup. The first four hitters reached, and he walked the last three before receiving the hook.

 

Then after reliever Richard De Los Santos got Ruben Mateo to ground into a double play, Palmisano knocked a two-run double into the left-center field gap to close the gap to 4-3.

 

Though De Los Santos got out of the fifth, he didn't get out of the sixth.

 

Adam Heether led off with a triple, Brendan Katin knocked him in with a single and after the bases were loaded, Sollmann ripped his double.

 

After Palmisano struck out, Drew Anderson squibbed a swinging bunt that reliever Evan Meek threw errantly to first. Anderson got an RBI on the infield hit, and Meek's bad throw chased home another run to make it 8-4.

 

They didn't let up, and Corey Thurman got the win in relief of Steve Hammond, who pitched better than his 7.01 earned run average coming in. Hammond got into some second-inning trouble, allowing three runs. He went five innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs.

 

Though not great, it's plenty good enough the way this offense is going.

 

"It doesn't get any better than the way we're playing right now," said Sollmann, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs. "As long as we're hitting like this, we know we'll be all right."

 

Huntsville concludes a five-game homestand tonight at 7:05 against Montgomery.

[Mass Haas]

Brevard County Photo Gallery from Thursday Night:

Barba, Gillespie, Inman and Bell, plus Manny the Manatee!

 

www.floridatoday.com/apps...amp;Ref=PH

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=56466

 

Sounds beat Las Vegas on Vegas-theme night

By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent

 

It was Vegas night at Greer Stadium on Thursday. But as irony would have it, Thursday was not Las Vegas?s night. Nashville downed the 51s 6-3 on a night where one lucky fan won a three-day trip to Sin City.

 

Sounds starter Chris Oxspring took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and the offense busted out with a four-spot in the fourth inning.

 

Las Vegas didn?t score until Sounds reliever Dennis Sarfate gave up a pair of homers in the ninth when the game was out of reach.

 

?You?ll always take those days where you can go out there and do that,? Oxspring said. ?I had bits and pieces of everything working.?

 

The Sounds? offense stumbled out of the gate against hot 51s starter William Juarez. Nashville (29-25) didn?t collect its first hit until Laynce Nix singled with one out in the fourth. Nix?s hit ended 9.1 consecutive hitless innings by Juarez.

 

Once Nix broke the seal with that first hit, it opened the floodgates. Nashville scored four runs in the inning thanks to doubles by Joe Dillon, Brad Nelson and Ozzie Chavez and a two-run homer by Vinny Rottino.

 

The home run by Rottino earned him a guitar by Copley because it hit the scoreboard in left-center. Rottino is the third Sound to hit a home run off the guitar ? Ryan Braun and Mike Rivera were the others.

 

Oxspring (4-3) had a no-hitter of his own going for 5.1 innings. The 51s loaded the bases in the sixth but Oxpring struck out Delwyn Young to end the threat.

 

The 51s would have scored in the first inning had Nix not made a home run-robbing catch over the wall in center on a ball hit by Matt Kemp.

 

?You would have had a home run in the first inning and it was such a great play,? Oxspring said. ?You always appreciate plays like that.?

 

In the ninth, Sarfate surrendered three hits and two home runs as the 51s put three runs on the board.

 

Capellan promoted: Sounds pitcher Jose Capellan was promoted by the Milwaukee Brewers following Thursday?s game. Capellan demanded a trade after not making the Brewers? opening day roster. He also left the team without notice for two days during a road trip last month.

 

Vegas baby!: The beneficiary of the Vegas-trip promotion was Staci McGlothin. Her name was drawn randomly along with others and then she won the prize when the Sounds notched nine hits, instead of 10 through seven innings.

?I?ve never cheered against the Sounds before, but I made an exception,? McGlothin said.

 

Hawk Nelson named surprise Faith Night band: The Sounds were tight-lipped about their big-name secret act for Sunday?s Faith Night.

 

On Wednesday evening, the suspense ended when the team announced Hawk Nelson, one of contemporary Christian music?s most popular acts. The concert, which will take place prior to Sunday?s game against Tucson.

 

The concert will begin at 4 p.m. and will take place in the parking lot at Greer Stadium. A ticket to the Sounds game is required to get into the concert area.

 

Hawk Nelson will kick-off a 32-stadium minor league baseball stadium tour with the show.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Big inning, pitcher send Sounds to win

By TYLER BLANK

For The Tennessean

 

The Sounds capitalized on a big offensive inning and solid pitching for the second consecutive game to beat Las Vegas 6-3 Thursday night at Greer Stadium.

 

A crowd of 6,434 saw the Sounds score four runs in the fourth, highlighted by catcher Vinny Rottino's two-run home run off the scoreboard. The Sounds never looked back, relying on a solid outing by starting pitcher Chris Oxspring.

 

"The ideal thing is to go out there and pitch the best every game," Oxspring said. "Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't."

 

It did Thursday.

 

Oxspring, who didn't allow a hit through five innings, struck out a season-high nine. He gave up two hits and no runs, and he allowed two walks through seven innings ? his longest outing of the season. Oxspring also improved his record to 4-3 and dropped his ERA to 2.88.

 

"I felt like I had good command (to) throw everything I needed for strikes," Oxspring said.

 

Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas agreed.

 

"He commanded more than one pitch." Kremblas said.

 

51s pitcher William Juarez got off to an excellent start, striking out the first five batters and allowing no hits through three innings. But in the fourth, the Sounds struck with ground-rule doubles by third baseman Joe Dillon and left fielder Brad Nelson, followed by Rottino's home run.

 

"That's the way it goes sometimes," Kremblas said of the Sounds' hitting.

 

Nashville also scored runs in the seventh inning when first baseman Andy Abad loaded the bases with a single.

 

It was Abad's 11th consecutive game with a hit, the longest streak this season for the Sounds.

 

51s relief pitcher Greg Miller then walked in a run, and later gave up a sacrifice fly to Rottino to make the score 6-0.

 

What they said: "I didn't see it until it hit the scoreboard." ? Kremblas on Rottino's two-run home run.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

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

 

Brewers will call up Capellan today

By TYLER BLANK

For The Tennessean

 

Sounds pitcher Jose Capellan was told after Nashville's 6-3 victory Thursday night that he will be called up by the Brewers today.

 

Capellan, mainly used as a relief pitcher was 3-2 with 3.86 ERA. He pitched 28 innings, allowing 12 earned runs while striking out 28.

 

The Brewers will place second baseman and former Sound Rickie Weeks on the 15-day disabled list.

 

Hope he plays: Catcher Vinny Rottino hit his sixth home run of the year in the fourth inning, a shot off the guitar-shaped scoreboard in left-center.

 

By hitting the scoreboard, Rottino gets a free guitar from Copley Instruments. He is the third Sound to smash one off the scoreboard this year. Ryan Braun and Mike Rivera have done it twice already.

 

Ground rules: Third baseman Joe Dillon's fourth inning ground rule double extended his hitting streak to six games, tied for his longest of the season. He has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games. Dillon later scored in the inning on a ground-rule double by leftfielder Brad Nelson. Dillon also hit a single in the fifth inning.

 

Faith night: Tonight is Purity Faith Night at Greer Stadium. Christian rock band Jars of Clay will perform at 6 p.m. outside the entrance of the stadium. A portion of each Purity Night ticket sales packages will go to Jars of Clay's Blood: Water Mission. The effort promotes clean blood and clean water efforts, reducing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.

 

Also, a fireworks show will start immediately following the game. Tonight is the second of nine Purity Faith Nights at Greer Stadium this season.

 

The next Purity Faith Night is Sunday.

 

Too close: Nashville has played 33 games decided by two runs or fewer, including their last six of seven outings. That is the most in the Pacific Coast League. The Sounds' 14 one-run losses are also the most in the league.

 

Almost a shutout: Las Vegas got on the board in the ninth inning on Mitch Jones's two-run home run off relief pitcher Dennis Sarfate. Jones' shot was his PCL-leading 15th home run.

 

51s second baseman Sergio Garcia also hit a home run in the inning, bringing the score to 6-3. Sarfate got out of the inning by striking out 51s right fielder Choo Freeman.

 

Winning May: The Sounds have won 16 of their last 21 home games and ended May with a 16-14 record. It is their first winning May since 1999.

[bork]

The thing I've noticed about Katin over the past month is that his strikeouts seem to be down. Earlier in the year, he seemed to be striking out twice every game.

[brewmann04]

The Kids in the Minors seem to be really stepping up.

Can't wait to see who get promoted up the ladder.

[filthyfrog]

To those calling for Inman's promotion, remember that Gallardo made 13 starts and pitched 77.2 innings in Brevard County before being promoted last year. While they're different pitchers, I think it's obvious they're on the same timeline right now. Inman will earn his promotion after two or three more starts. In the meantime, enjoy the dominance.

[homer]

Inman is at 67ish innings. Yo was promoted at 77. I agree that they'll probably promote him around the same time - i.e. two more starts. The Brewers always make a lot of mid season promotions/demotions right after the draft which is next week.

[hsvstarsfan]

BISCUIT BULLPEN BOMBARDMENT

A good crowd for a pleasant 83° Thursday night who saw another bombardment after Montgomery starter Jon Barratt appeared to have Huntsville on a leash through four innings, as Homer paraded up and down on top of the Stars dugout, holding a spatula, a small basket of fries, and an intentionally misspelled banner saying something like "The Biskits are done."..... Barratt, who came in with a mismatched 0-3, 2.84 record, gave up a leadoff single to center by Steve Moss, then would not allow another hit until Yohannis Perez opened the 5th with a one-hop single to right-center....... The Stars did put runners on base through those four innings, and twice got runners in scoring position, but going into the bottom of the 5th, the Biscuits were in control, 4-0.

For just the 3rd time in 10 starts this year, Steve Hammond, with a 9.90 ERA in the 1st inning, retired the side in order, but in the 2nd, the Biscuits took a 3-0 lead........ Evan Longoria opened with a single grounded hard through the infield into left. A broken-bat single (there were a lot of those tonight) to the right side of the infield, and a walk to Chris Nowak on four pitches loaded the bases for Gabriel Martinez, who lined a 2-hop single to left, scoring Longoria........ With the bases still full, Hammond caught a break. On a 3-1 pitch, Patrick Breen, who's hit the ball very hard in this series, hit into a perfect 4-6-3 double play. The Stars ceded the run and Nowak moved to third as Montgomery led now, 2-0....... Josh Asanovich (.357 in this series) singled in Nowak...... After Hammond retired 6 of the next 7 batters, the Biscuits tacked on another run in the 5th after Breen led off with a line drive single to right, then went to third when Brendan Katin failed to field the ball on the short hop, then chased the ball to the wall. Asanovich, once more, drove in the run on a single to left.

When Montgomery manager Billy Gardner, Jr. went to the bullpen in the 5th, the game changed dramatically....... After Perez singled, Barratt proceeded to throw 12 straight balls to Steve Moss, Hernan Iribarren, and Steve Sollmann, forcing in the Stars' first run........ In came Richard de los Santos, who had been scored upon only once in his last 14 games out of the pen for a 0.42 ERA, including 5 scoreless innings against the Stars....... So would the Montgomery bullpen, 2nd to last in the league in ERA, behind an incredibly effective reliever, be able to hold a team that has hit .353 over six previous games?........ Out of de los Santos' 14 appearances, he had come in with inherited runners only once, and in that case, allowed both those runners to score.

On his first pitch to Ruben Mateo, de los Santos got a comebacker right at him, and started a 1-2-3 double play. Just when it looked good for the Biscuits, though, Lou Palmisano, who had struck out twice, and riding a 2-for-17 slump, lined a double all the way to the track in left field, scoring Moss and Iribarren to get the Stars back in the ballgame.

The Biscuits stuck with de los Santos in the 6th, and again, the Stars enjoyed using their bullpen as target practice....... Including their first series at Riverwalk, the Stars, into this night, had pounded their pen for 30 earned runs in 29 innings....... Adam Heether got the Stars going by lacing a triple which bounced once, barely in fair territory, inside the first base line, and all the way into the corner. Brendan Katin, on an 0-1 breaking ball, hit the ball hard on the ground for a single to left-center to score Heether, tying the game, 4-4....... After Perez sacrificed Katin to 2nd, Steve Moss was hit in the back on an 0-2 pitch. Both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball and the bases were loaded by de los Santos on a walk to Hernan Iribarren on a 3-1 pitch....... Steve Sollmann then lined his first pitch deep down the left field line for a 2-run double to put the Stars in front, 6-4.

Out goes de los Santos. In comes Evan Meek for the first time in this series, who probably has the best heat on their staff. Meek was anything but meek when it came to his fastball, which consistently came in on hitters at 96-97 mph, inducing a lot of foul balls from late swings, but major league vet Ruben Mateo had seen plenty of those with four different teams. He patiently took a walk........ Meek struck out Lou Palmisano on a 96 mph fastball....... With two out, Drew Anderson, 0-for-3 and sitting on a 9-game hitting streak, swung at a 1-0 sinker, dribbling it off the bottom of the barrel to the first base side of the infield. Meek rushed over and threw high and wide to 1st baseman Nowak, who's the tallest player on the team at 6'5". Two runs score to make it 8-4, but what looked like what obviously should have been an error on Meek, was scored a hit, extending Anderson's streak...... By the end of the inning, the scoring was changed to a hit and an error, which allowed Iribarren and Sollmann the extra base, and the two runs (one earned), and Mateo to go to 3rd......... Meek struck out Heether, the 10th man to come to the plate, to end the inning........ Moss helped add to the damage with a 2-run single in the 7th in another 3-run inning.

The Stars' bullpen, quite unlike Montgomery's, did their job...... After Corey Thurman came on in the 6th, they held the Biscuits to a pair of 2-out singles in the 8th........ Both came off Luis Pena, easily the hardest thrower on the team, matching Meek with fastballs of 96-97 mph, and like Meek, inducing his share of broken bats....... Huntsville's bullpen finished May with a 2.61 ERA in 100 innings, even better than April's first impression...... The Stars pen saved 7 games in May and won 7 others, losing 3....... Montgomery's bullpen ERA, 8th in the league when the series started, is now dead last in the Southern League at 4.63.

The Stars remain tied for 1st place with the remnants of last year's West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, who have moved to east Tennessee, wearing uniforms identifying themselves as the Tennessee Smokies. The Smokies, Thursday night, behind Casey McGehee's 4 RBIs, beat the Diamond Jaxx, the Mariners' AA affiliate, 5-1. Sean Gallagher (6-2, 3.67) is pitching tonight against WT, looking to join Montgomery's Chris Mason as the only other 7-game winner in the league..... Lindsay Gulin (2-2, 5.59) will get Friday night's game. In four starts, it's been good outing followed by bad outing. He's due for a good one....... The Stars will don pink jerseys which will be auctioned off with a starting bid of $25 in honor of breast cancer awareness. Fans with winning bids can choose to have the shirt of the player's back or have it washed, and for an additional $10, have it autographed......... All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Facing Gulin will be Mike Prochaska (1-4, 4.63), 0-1, 3.70 in his last four starts since holding Mississippi to 6 scoreless innings on May 5....... The Stars have four players hitting over .300 at home -- Drew Anderson (.375), Lou Palmisano (.350), Steve Sollmann (.337), and Guilder Rodriguez (.321), of all people...... Brevard County's Will Inman (ranked 3rd among the Brewers' top minor league prospects) beat Daytona, 5-1, Thursday, allowing just 3 hits in 8 innings and striking out 7....... He's this year's Yovani Gallardo and you fans will be seeing him in Huntsville some time before the season's over...... Speaking of Gallardo, he's 7-1 with a 2.39 ERA at Nashville so far, 3rd best in the PCL

The Stars committed 23 errors in May, a record best. In May 2004, they committed 24 errors, to establish the old record..... They also finish May with a 17-12 mark after going 9-20 in 2005 and 7-23 last year. It's their best May since 1998 when they went 18-9........ In between a 3-0 loss, the Stars have scored in double-figures in their last three victories, which hasn't happened since 2002, when they beat Tennessee 11-9, Chattanooga 14-1, and Mobile 11-1. But between those victories, the Stars also lost 7 games, then lost 4 more after beating Mobile........ Here, the Stars had only one defeat sandwiched between those victories.