Link Report Mon. 9/3 -- Sounds, Stars, Power End Regular Seasons

[Mass Haas]

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

 

 

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Zach Jackson at Memphis (Cardinals), 12:55 PM pre-game; 1:10 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: LHP Steve Hammond at Birmingham (White Sox), 12:50 PM pre-game; 1:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Brevard County: Idle, playoffs begin Tuesday

 

West Virginia: RHP Patrick Lawler at home vs. Greensboro (Marlins), 11:55 AM pre-game, 12:05 PM gametime

 

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

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

 

Helena: RHP Evan Anundsen at Missoula (Diamondbacks), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime

 

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

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

Arizona: Season complete

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday'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_09_03_nasaaa_mrbaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_03_hunaax_biraax_1

 

West Virginia:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_03_gboafx_wvaafx_1

 

Helena:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_03_helrok_misrok_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]

Nashville's series in Memphis is available via MiLB.TV for a small fee:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/multimedia/video.jsp

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Sunday's games:

Arizona's standings reflect the final year both halves combined...

 

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 88 55 .615 - 48-24 40-31 W2 Iowa 79 64 .552 9.0 43-28 36-36 L2 Omaha 72 71 .503 16.0 45-27 27-44 W2 Memphis 56 87 .392 32.0 30-41 26-46 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 38 30 .559 - 18-16 20-14 W3 Chattanooga 37 32 .536 1.5 16-19 21-13 W5 Tennessee 37 32 .536 1.5 22-13 15-19 L1 Carolina 31 38 .449 7.5 16-18 15-20 W1 West Tenn 29 39 .426 9.0 12-22 17-17 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 37 32 .536 - 19-16 18-16 L2 Palm Beach 35 35 .500 2.5 18-18 17-17 W1 Brevard County 33 34 .493 3.0 19-14 14-20 W1 Jupiter 32 37 .464 5.0 20-15 12-22 L1 Daytona 25 43 .368 11.5 13-22 12-21 L3 Vero Beach 25 44 .362 12.0 13-19 12-25 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hickory 42 26 .618 - 24-13 18-13 W6 Lakewood 36 32 .529 6.0 19-14 17-18 L2 Lake County 33 34 .493 8.5 17-16 16-18 L1 West Virginia 33 34 .493 8.5 20-14 13-20 W2 Delmarva 33 35 .485 9.0 16-18 17-17 W1 Greensboro 33 36 .478 9.5 22-13 11-23 L6 Lexington 28 41 .406 14.5 16-18 12-23 L2 Hagerstown 25 43 .368 17.0 12-22 13-21 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Great Falls 23 9 .719 - 12-4 11-5 W4 Helena 17 16 .515 6.5 8-9 9-7 W3 Billings 16 17 .485 7.5 9-7 7-10 L3 Missoula 13 20 .394 10.5 7-10 6-10 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Mariners 37 19 .661 - 24-4 13-15 W1 AZL Angels 33 23 .589 4.0 20-8 13-15 L1 AZL Giants 33 23 .589 4.0 17-11 16-12 W9 AZL Padres 28 28 .500 9.0 17-11 11-17 W1 AZL Royals 28 28 .500 9.0 15-13 13-15 L1 AZL Cubs 27 29 .482 10.0 14-14 13-15 W3 AZL Athletics 25 31 .446 12.0 14-14 11-17 L1 AZL Rangers 22 34 .393 15.0 11-17 11-17 L3 AZL Brewers 19 37 .339 18.0 10-18 9-19 W1 

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.dailymail.com/story/Sports/+/2007090349/Power+fueling+up+for+the+postseason/

 

Power fueling up for the postseason

Tom Aluise

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

After a brutally long season that has stretched beyond 130 games, it would be understandable if the West Virginia Power might have trouble recharging its battery for the postseason.

 

The players think otherwise.

 

"If we don't show up, we're going home," the Power's 19-year-old shortstop, Brent Brewer, said. "No one here wants to go home yet.

 

"Once you get in the playoffs you want to win. I want to win that ring. I'm not ready to go home yet."

 

Neither is Brewer's teammate, Kenny Holmberg.

 

"When you show up, you play to win," the Power infielder said. "I'm not going to lose. Ever since T-ball, I compete to win."

 

Brewer, Holmberg and the rest of the Power open the Class A South Atlantic League playoffs Wednesday at Hickory, N.C., against the Crawdads, winners of the Northern Division's second half title.

 

Game two of the best-of-three divisional series will be played at Appalachian Power Park on Friday. A third game, if necessary, is scheduled for Saturday in Charleston.

 

The Power is scheduled to wrap up its regular season today against the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Power Park.

 

Sunday's 3-1 victory over visiting Greensboro -- the Power's second straight win -- improved West Virginia's second-half record to 33-34 and its overall mark to 81-54.

 

Finishing the regular season on a three-game winning streak would be a nice way to move into the playoffs.

 

But not a necessary one, Holmberg said.

 

"We've won our fair share of games to get to this point," said Holmberg, who contributed to the Power's 10-hit attack on Sunday with a seventh-inning double. "We just need to win two or three more.

 

"We really haven't played to our capability in the second half," he added. "When the ball gets rolled out there to the mound it's going to be a gut check. We're going to have to play as well as we played all year long. We're looking forward to it.

 

"It's going to be a different atmosphere because the games mean so much more. You've just got to stay loose and play your game."

[Mass Haas]

Matt LaPorta with his daily recommended allowance of "Jack-Jackety-Jack",

 

Man among boys...

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com's St. Lucie Brevard County Series Preview -- Lots of Details Here, Including the Manatee Rotation

[Mass Haas]

Final: Helena 5, Missoula (Diamondbacks) 0

Helena Independent Record:

 

MISSOULA - The Helena Brewers seriously out-hit the Missoula Osprey on Monday, going 13-for-37 while the Osprey had only two hits in 30 at-bats.

 

Ten of the Brewers' knocks in their 5-0 win were hit off Missoula starting pitcher Jason Durst, who was pulled in the fourth inning and relieved by Houston Summers.

 

The Brewers' runs all came in the second and third innings. In the second, Eric Fryer reached on a line drive double, then was driven in by Scott Houin.

 

The Brewers stacked up the score in the third with two home runs. Almost right away in the inning, Jonathan Lucroy (3-for-5, 2 RBI) hit a homer to drive Farris in. Four batters later, Fryer (2-4, 2 RBI) smacked another home run to left field, driving in Zelous Wheeler.

 

The Brewers didn't score again, but they kept Missoula blank the entire game.

 

The Osprey and the Brewers play in Missoula again tonight, then return to Helena to face off in their last series of the season.

 

***

 

Birds blanked: Osprey manage just two hits against three Helena hurlers

By MICHAEL HEINBACH of the Missoulian

 

The announced crowd of 1,560 in attendance rooting for the Missoula Osprey had very little to cheer about Monday evening at Ogren-Allegiance Park.

 

Three Helena pitchers combined to allow just two singles as the Brewers used the unofficial last day of summer to deal the O's a 5-0 shutout.

 

Helena starter Evan Anundsen was sharp in his five innings of work to claim the victory and move to 7-5. He surrendered only Pete Clifford's two-out single in the first, didn't walk a hitter and struck out three.

"He kept us off balance a little bit," said Missoula first baseman Anthony Smith. "As far as our side goes, we just didn't put together very many good at-bats."

 

Jason Durst, who started for the O's, didn't fare nearly as well. In three frames of work, Durst (1-9) allowed all five runs on 10 hits. He fanned one and didn't issue a walk as the O's sank to 13-21 in the season's second half.

 

Durst squeezed out of trouble in the first after allowing three singles to open the game, loading the bases. But Durst struck out Pioneer League average-leader Caleb Gindl before getting Helena third baseman Zelous Wheeler to ground into an inning-ending double play.

 

Scott Houin had an RBI single in the second before the Brewers opened the flood gates in the third. Helena designated hitter Jonathan Lucroy belted a two-run homer to left-center to put the Brewers up 3-0. Four batters later, Brewers catcher Eric Fryer sent a towering blast over the right field fence for another two-run round-tripper, giving the Brewers the 5-0 advantage.

 

"It seemed like we were getting after good pitches to hit all night," said Fryer, an Ohio State product who went 2-for-4 with a double in addition to his long ball. "Games in the past we might have been swinging at pitches that weren't really ours. But tonight (Durst) was leaving it in the zone and we just hit him well."

 

Osprey pitching coach Steve Merriman attributed Durst's performance to winding down a long season.

 

"He's tired and he said he's a little arm weary," Merriman said. "Obviously his velocity wasn't what it normally is. The sharpness of his stuff wasn't there, but he competed well despite not having his good stuff."

 

Meanwhile, the Osprey offense could do very little, getting a baserunner in the third when Eli Rumler was hit by a pitch and in the fifth when Ariel Urena reached on an error. Urena reached again in the eighth when Fryer was called for catcher's interference and Rumler had an infield single in the frame before Reynaldo Navarro struck out to end the threat.

 

Brewers reliever Curtis Pasma allowed a hit in three innings, striking out four before giving way to Brock Kjeldgaard, who tossed a hitless ninth to complete the shutout.

 

Helena second baseman Eric Farris went 3-for-5 and Lucroy was 2-for-4.

 

Houston Summers threw thee innings of one-hit ball in relief of Durst. Bryan Augenstein tossed the final three innings for Missoula, giving up two hits and no walks to go with a pair of strikeouts.

 

The teams meet Tuesday at 7:00 PM (8:00 Central) in Missoula's final appearance this season at Ogren-Allegiance Park.

 

Notes from the nest: Smith, who began the day as Missoula's lone batter with an average over .300, finished 0-for-4 to dip his average to .296. In comparison, Helena had five starters who finished the evening hitting better than .300... The Brewers could have scored another run in the second. With Zach McAngus on third, Osprey right fielder Jimmy Principe made a diving catch of a sinking liner off the bat of Matt Cline and McAngus scored easily after tagging up. But he was later called out on an appeal that the runner had left third early.

 

Helena Box Score:

Evan Anundsen still with a super ground ball ratio (3.25) after a 10-to-2 effort in this game; H-Crew hit into four double plays...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_03_helrok_misrok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_03_helrok_misrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 10, Greensboro (Marlins) 4

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

POWER SWEEP 'HOPPERS

 

The West Virginia Power concluded the 2007 regular season on Monday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park with a 10-4 victory over Greensboro to complete the three game sweep of the 'Hoppers.

 

Matt LaPorta put West Virginia ahead in the first inning with a solo home run, his tenth of the year in just 23 games with the Power. The home run extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Adam Howard's sacrifice fly brought in Greensboro's first run in the second inning to tie the game. The Power answered with a two-run homer from Steve Chapman in the bottom of the inning. It was the 24th of the season for Chapman, establishing a new franchise record. West Virginia plated three runs in the third. John Alonso singled into center field with Taylor Green on first base. The ball got past Scott Cousins in center field and allowed Green to score. Chapman singled in Alonso and Andy Bouchie doubled in the final run of the inning.

 

Howard struck for the 'Hoppers again with a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Chapman drove in his fourth run of the game on a groundout in the fifth inning. Justin Webb singled in Greensboro's final run in the seventh. The Power pulled away with a three-run eighth inning. Jimmy Mojica singled in the first run, Chuckie Caufield reached on a fielder's choice that brought in Bouchie and Mojica scored on Kenny Holmberg's sacrifice fly.

 

J.T. King (8-2) pitched one scoreless inning of relief to get the victory. He was one of seven pitchers used by the Power during the regular season finale. Christhian Martinez (9-5) was tagged with the loss after surrendering six runs on nine hits over three innings.

 

The Power improved to 82-54 overall and 34-34 in the second half, while the Grasshoppers fell to 71-69 overall and 33-37 in the second half. The Power finished the regular season with a .281 batting average, four points higher than their 2006 average which was a franchise record. Though he didn't play in the regular season finale, Andrew Lefave finished the season with a .345 batting average, which is also a franchise record. Jason LaRue had the record, hitting .315 in 1997.

 

The Power will begin the first round of the playoffs at L.P. Frans Stadium against the Hickory Crawdads on Wednesday night. Right hander Alex Periard (7-7, 3.55) will start for the Power and the Crawdads will counter with right hander Mike Crotta (10-5, 4.39). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM (5:30 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_03_gboafx_wvaafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_03_gboafx_wvaafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Birmingham (White Sox) 6, Huntsville 2

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/news/news.asp?newsId=1351

 

Stars Fall in Regular Season Finale

 

Chris Getz's three-run home capped off a five-run eighth inning rally that lifted Birmingham to a 6-2 win over Huntsville Monday afternoon to close out the 2007 regular season at Regions Park. The Stars finished the second half at 38-31 and 75-62 overall, while the Barons ended the year at 30-40 in the second half and 62-78 overall to complete their worst two-year run since 1973-74. The Stars took 11 of the 20 games played between the two teams to win the season series for a second straight year after not claiming the season series against the Barons since 1994.

 

Vince Perkins took over on the hill for the Stars in the eighth and gave up back-to-back one-out singles to Chris Kelly and Victor Mercedes before walking Ricardo Nanita to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Cole Armstrong fouled out for the second out of the inning before Sean Smith drew a walk on a ball four wild pitch that allowed two runs to score to put the Barons on top 3-2. Getz then walloped an 0-1 offering from Perkins over the wall in right field for his third home run of the season and first since leading off each game of an April 11 doubleheader at Mobile.

 

Carlos Corporan led off the eighth inning with a walk, moved to second on a Mike Goetz ground out, advanced to third on a wild pitch by Tim Bittner and scored on a base hit by Michael Brantley against a drawn-in infield to give the Stars a 2-1 lead.

 

Hernan Iribarren singled with one out in the fourth, stole second base and scored on a two-out single by Brendan Katin to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Katin drove in his 94th run and is the first player to lead the league in home runs and RBI in the same season since David Kelton of West Tenn did it in 2002. Stars' starter Steve Hammond gave up two singles with one out in the second inning before retiring Mercedes and Nanita on fly ball outs to end the threat and stranded two more runners in the fourth by getting Mercedes to pop out. Hammond closed his performance by fanning David Cook with two runners on to end the fifth inning and wound up striking out six, walking one and yielding five hits. He threw 14 shutout innings in his two turns in Birmingham and wound up finishing the season at 7-9.

 

David Johnson took over for the Stars in the sixth and gave up the tying run after walking Cory Aldridge, hitting Kelly and yielding a run-scoring hit to Nanita. The Stars' right-hander stranded two runners in scoring position by striking out former Brewer farmhand Jeremy Frost to end the inning. Johnson gave up a run on two hits over his two innings of work and wound up getting scored on in 12 of his last 20 appearances.

 

The Stars begin the best-of-five North Division playoffs on Thursday night at home against Tennessee with left-hander Sam Narron taking the hill. Coverage begins at 6:50 pm central time locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Mike Goetz 0-for-4 in his AA debut; Hernan Iribarren your left fielder...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_03_hunaax_biraax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_03_hunaax_biraax_1

[wvpowerblkwel]

Here's a shot of the follow through from LaPorta's jack jackety jack. He hit the previous pitch out of the stadium, but foul....he is truly as someone said earlier, a man among boys at this level!

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/a1a15e947be9c6e4f36b0a3b3044972fd025908.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/mmccarter.ssf?/base/sports/118889740148570.xml&coll=1

 

Stars: Lucky and good is winning combination

Contact Mark McCarter at markcolumn@aol.com

Huntsville Times

 

The wise, old baseball man Branch Rickey famously said that "luck is the residue of design."

 

Maybe so.

 

But, really, who would have designed this for the Huntsville Stars?

 

A sub-.200 hitter driving in the winning run in the 16th inning.

 

Or, winning a pennant-clinching game on a wild pitch.

 

Or, being no-hit for 7 2/3 innings before a hit by a part-time player who has spent more time cracking his teammates up with his goofiness and coaching first base than he has in the field, Guilder Rodriguez. Then, once the no-hitter is ended, to have the winning run score on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

 

(The wild pitch and HBP, coincidentally, both came courtesy of the Birmingham Barons, who are pretty much a Neiman Marcus catalog for the Stars.)

 

Or, getting help from a team that had lost eight consecutive games, the Carolina Mudcats, who rallied from a four-run deficit to trip up Tennessee, which was tailgating Huntsville in the race.

 

Luck?

 

Design?

 

If it's better to be lucky than good, it's even better to be lucky and good.

 

The Huntsville Stars are good. Hardly great. This was ostensibly to be a down year. The pipeline of terrific prospects had slowed to a trickle.

The gurus of Baseball America would turn their nose up at this team like a wine snob with a screw-top bottle of Zinfandel. The season opened with a first-time first baseman, a shortstop who hadn't played in two years and a half-dozen pitchers left on the curb by other teams.

 

Even as things unfolded, there wasn't much glitz. You drive faster on I-565 than the best pitcher throws. The leading run-producer also set a team record for strikeouts.

 

But the Stars have swept both halves of the Southern League North play. They have now won three consecutive half-season titles. They have advanced to the playoffs four times in seven years. It's astounding and unprecedented and, considering woeful attendance figures, unappreciated by the Huntsville sporting public.

 

The Stars won with the old formula of employing a different hero every night. Adam Heether. Carlos Corporan, who won the aforementioned 16-inning game and was the bull's-eye on the hit-by-pitch. G-Rod. Steve Sollmann. Steve Moss. Hernan Iribarren, a hitting machine. Brendan Katin, the league leader in homers and RBIs.

 

Despite losing two original starters to promotion and a third to career-threatening injuries, Huntsville's pitching staff was third in RBIs and first in WHIP, the walks-and-hits per innings pitch stat that may be the best indication of effectiveness. The closer-by-committee amassed 39 saves, second-best in the league.

 

If there is any design to it all, it would be on the part of the Milwaukee Brewers. Their top five (out of six) minor league teams are going to the playoffs. And if the Chicago Cubs start acting like the Cubs, perhaps the Brewers themselves will make the National League playoffs. Playoff-bound are Nashville, Brevard County, West Virginia and Helena. And, ho-hum, the Stars. Again.

 

Lucky. And good. Not a bad double-play combination.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Starting Pitcher R.A. Dickey:

 

http://www.nashvillesounds.com/audio/2007/Interview%209-3.mp3

 

Final: Nashville 3, Memphis (Cardinals) 1

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Zach Jackson photo, text follows --

 

Sounds Close Regular Season With 3-1 Win

 

MEMPHIS - The Nashville Sounds wrapped up the 2007 regular season with a 3-1 win over the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds on Monday afternoon at AutoZone Park.

 

With the victory, Nashville (89-55) pulled into a tie with Single-A Augusta for the most wins in minor league baseball in 2007 at 89.

 

The playoff-bound Sounds also improved to a season-best 34 games over .500 and upped their lead in the PCL American Conference Northern Division to a season-best 10 games to close out the year.

 

Zach Jackson (11-10) worked eight strong innings to earn his second win in his last three starts after a stretch of eight winless outings. The southpaw held Memphis to one run on seven hits while walking three batters and striking out five.

 

The Sounds took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning by cashing in on a two-out error by the Redbirds. Drew Anderson doubled with two outs then scored when Mike Rivera's popup in front of the mound fell between three Memphis players, with an error charged to pitcher Mike Parisi.

 

Anderson (3-for-4) finished with a pair of doubles to tie Joe Dillon for the team lead in two-baggers. Including his seven doubles with Double-A Huntsville, the outfielder finished the year with a career-high 35 two-baggers.

 

Catcher J.R. Hopf doubled the Nashville lead to 2-0 in the fourth with a one-out solo home run to right off Parisi, his second of the year as a Sound.

 

AUDIO: J.R. Hopf Home Run

 

Jackson helped his own cause in the eighth when his bases-loaded sacrifice fly made it a 3-0 contest, his eighth RBI of the year. Laynce Nix, who was hit by a Mark Worrell pitch to open the frame, scored on the play.

 

Memphis broke up Jackson's shutout bid in the bottom of the eighth inning by loading the bases with one out then executing a triple steal on a botched pickoff play, with Mike McCoy swiping home on the play for the Redbirds' first run. After Jackson walked Tagg Bozied to reload the bags, he induced an inning-ending lineout double play to third from Joe Mather.

 

Franklin Nunez worked a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save in just his second appearance for the Sounds after joining the club at the start of the road trip.

 

Parisi (8-13) suffered the loss after he allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over his six frames of action. He walked one batter and struck out five.

 

Following the game, Nashville will travel to New Orleans, where the club will enjoy an off day on Tuesday.

 

The Sounds open the 2007 postseason on Wednesday evening at New Orleans when they begin the best-of-five American Conference Finals with a 7:00 p.m. contest against the Zephyrs. Nashville won the regular season series between the clubs by a 9-7 margin.

 

PCL Pitcher-of-the-Year R.A. Dickey (13-6, 3.72) will take the mound for Nashville in Wednesday's playoff opener to face a former Sound, New Orleans left-hander Dave Williams (3-4, 3.96).

 

Nashville Box Score:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_03_nasaaa_mrbaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_03_nasaaa_mrbaaa_1

[homer]

Great pic, WV!

 

I have a new man crush and his name is Greg Aquino,er, I mean Matt LaPorta.

[captkirk16]

With the Helena Brewers struggling a little bit in the second half, I was a little concerned how they might fair in the playoffs. I must say, it will be interesting to see how they finish out. Time to step up and FINISH STRONG! Gindl is hanging in there and I don't care if he is only 19 now, GO WIN THE BATTING TITLE! It's real easy to be average, just show up! To be GREAT, one must do what others don't or won't. Go Brewers!

[SoCalBrewfan]

LaPorta ends the WVa portion of his regular season with as many HR as singles (10 of each, along with 8 doubles).

[davego]

Would it be a fair guess to say that LaPorta is 2 seaons away from the big club (Spring 2010)?