Link report for Sun. 9/9 -- Stars, Manatees, and Helena in Action

[Mass Haas]

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

 

 

[Mass Haas]

Sunday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: Season complete

 

Huntsville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Tennessee (Cubs), 5:50 PM pre-game; 6:05 gametime; Game Four of a Best-of-Five, Smokies lead 2-1; must-win for the Stars

 

Audio link:

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/

 

Brevard County: TBD at home vs. Clearwater (Phillies), 5:45 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime; Game Two of a Best-of-Five for the Florida State League Championship, Threshers lead, 1-0

 

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

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

 

West Virginia: Idle; the South Atlantic League Championship Series begins Monday in Charleston

 

Helena: RHP R.J. Seidel at home vs. Great Falls (White Sox), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime; Game Two of a Best-of-Three Series, Brewers can wrap it up Sunday

 

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

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

Arizona: Season complete

[Mass Haas]

Follow Sunday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Choose "Log". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often.

 

Huntsville:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_09_tenaax_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_09_clrafa_breafa_1

 

Helena:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_09_grfrok_helrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

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

[Mass Haas]

Heck of a game in Florida tonight -- 4-4 late, it's 8:35 Central, jump in the broadcast now...

 

Looking good for Huntsville, not so for Helena, which means each club will have a deciding game on Monday, the night that the Power begin their championship series...

[Boy Jeenius]

Escobar and Hurricane have been on fire for 3 weeks now. Heether solid as usual.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Huntsville 6, Tennessee 0

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

http://www.huntsvillestars.com/news/news.asp?newsId=1359

 

Gulin's Gem Helps Keep Huntsville's Hopes Alive!

Lindsay Gulin tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout and Adam Heether drove in three runs to carry Huntsville to a season-saving 6-0 win over Tennessee Sunday night at Joe Davis Stadium in game four of the North Division Playoffs. The Stars squared the series at two games apiece and forced a decisive fifth game on Monday at home. Both of the Stars wins in the series have been by shutout.

 

Gulin retired Nate Spears on a fly ball to end the second inning with runners at first and second base and got Tyler Colvin to fly out to end the third in the same situation. From there, the veteran left-hander was never threatened again. He retired the last 14 batters he faced after a Jemel Spearman pinch-hit single in the fifth and capped off his performance by fanning Colvin and pinch-hitter Issmael Salas to end the game. Gulin walked three, struck out seven and handcuffed the Smokies for a third time this season. During the regular season, he picked up two wins in two starts over the visitors by limiting them to just a single run on nine hits over 14 innings.

 

Tennessee starter Donnie Veal, who led the Southern League in walks during the regular season, walked Steve Moss and Alcides Escobar to open the home first before a Steve Sollmann sacrifice bunt advanced the runners. Heether singled into right field to deliver Moss and move Escobar to third, from where he scored on a Brendan Katin sacrifice fly. Veal gave up another hit and issued another walk to load the bases before getting Carlos Corporan to bounce into a force at second to end the inning. He worked around two walks in the third to get out of trouble but gave up a run in the fourth when Escobar singled with two outs and scored on a Sollmann double. Veal lasted four frames, giving up three runs on five hits and five walks and lost to the Stars for a fifth time in five starts, becoming the first pitcher to ever lose to Huntsville five times in the same season.

 

The Stars broke the game open in the sixth with three runs against Paul Schappert when Heether doubled in a pair and scored on an Iribarren base hit. Heether had two hits for a second straight game and has knocked in four runs over the last two contests, while Escobar and Iribarren each chipped in with three hits.

 

The deciding game of the series will be played Monday with southpaw Steve Hammond taking the hill for Huntsville against Smokies' right-hander Mitch Atkins. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 pm central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Several impressive four-game postseason batting averages in the box score; Hernan Iribarren again in left field; good luck Monday, guys!

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_09_tenaax_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_09_tenaax_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Clearwater (Phillies) 6, Brevard County 4, 11 innings

Manatees will have to win three games in a row on the road to earn the FSL championship; full details in the AM...

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Manatees outhit, 13-4, but led 4-1 heading to the 7th, when Kevin Roberts surrendered the lead; Roberts had stranded a runner for an effective David Welch an inning earlier; reliever Patrick Ryan shined as always, but Travis Wendte with a tough 11th inning; bottom of the 'Tees order sparked a three-run 3rd inning...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_09_clrafa_breafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Manatee baserunners were scarce indeed...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_09_clrafa_breafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Great Falls (White Sox) 5, Helena 1

 

Helena Site Game Summary:

 

White Sox Tie Series

 

The Helena Brewers lost the second game of a three game series 5-1 Sunday night, as they were overtaken by the tight play of the Great Falls White Sox. Great Falls definitely wasn't waiting for the runs to come as C.J. Retherford belted a solo shot to lead off the game. Three batters later Jim Gallagher decided that it was his turn, so he knocked out a two-run homer of his own. Helena's only response was in the third inning when Kurt Crowell crossed the plate for a run off of a Jonathon Lucroy double. The Sox were helped out by the stellar pitching performance from Juan Moreno and Leroy Hunt. Moreno started the game and lasted for six innings, giving up five hits for only one run, while Hunt came on for the save, going for three innings giving up zero runs and zero hits with two strikeouts.

 

R.J. Seidel didn't fare so well on the Brewer side of things. He started the game but lasted only one inning, giving up three runs off of three hits and four walks. The Brewers would only give up two more runs for the rest of the game, but the damage was done, and the White Sox picked up the only runs that they would need in the first inning.

 

Tomorrow the two teams will play again for the final game of this first round series. The game will be held at 7:05 PM (8:05 Central) at Helena's Kindrick Field.

 

Helena Box Score:

Evan Anundsen with a superb job in relief of R.J. Seidel, including coming in with the bases loaded and none out in the 2nd and escaping unscathed; Lee Haydel, Caleb Gindl, and Zelous Wheeler hitless in the first two games of the series...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_09_09_grfrok_helrok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_log&gid=2007_09_09_grfrok_helrok_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1189415759192420.xml&coll=1

 

Safe at home

Stars extend series to decisive fifth game behind gutsy Gulin

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

From his seat in Section F at Joe Davis Stadium, Harry Gulin raised both arms to the sky in celebration.

 

His grandson, Lindsay, thrust one hand upward from his spot on the pitcher's mound, pointing to heaven as tears filled his grandfather's and his own eyes.

 

With a three-hit, 6-0 shutout over the Tennessee Smokies finally complete, the Huntsville Stars' lefty let his emotions take over. Sure, this game was important because it deadlocked the Southern League North Division playoff series with Tennessee at two games apiece, with the final game coming tonight at 7:05.

 

But this was more. This one was for "Pinkey," Gulin's grandmother Ethel, who passed away last Saturday from natural causes. This one was for the 88-year-old "best friend" who flew all the way from Washington state for the first time in four years to watch his grandson toss his best game of his best professional season.

 

"I got tears in my eyes," Harry Gulin said. "I can't help it. I told Lindsay before I left home, 'You've got to win this for Grandma because she's up there watching.' "

 

Added Lindsay Gulin, who tossed nine immaculate innings, striking out seven: "It's beyond words."

 

There was no no-hitter on Sunday. The Stars had to settle for a no-doubter instead.

 

Facing elimination, Huntsville pelted the Smokies' pitching staff and rode its crafty lefty.

 

"How tough is he?" Tennessee manager Pat Listach asked rhetorically of Gulin. "We haven't scored off him this year, I don't think. That'll tell you how tough he is."

 

Actually, Gulin entered Sunday 2-0 with an 0.64 earned run average against the Smokies. That's tough enough.

 

A slim crowd of 837 watched him strike out the final two Tennessee hitters to put an exclamation mark on the game.

 

"He was on the mound when we clinched the first half, and he was on the mound when we clinched the second half," Stars manager Don Money said. "He kept them off-balance."

 

Despite rarely creeping into the 80s on the radar gun, the 30-year-old baffled the Smokies by peppering the corners and changing speeds.

 

Now, tonight is a winner-take-all bout for a spot opposite Montgomery in the Southern League Championship Series beginning Wednesday in Montgomery.

 

"We needed it tonight," Money said. "Our backs were against the wall."

 

After blowing a comfortable lead at Tennessee on Saturday, the Stars' offense provided another cushion in Game 4. They sent eight batters to the plate in the first off Donnie Veal, getting one hit, three walks and a sacrifice fly to produce two runs.

 

It stayed 2-0 until the fourth when Alcides Escobar hit a two-out single and Steve Sollmann drove him in with a double. Huntsville added three in the sixth. The big blow was Adam Heether's two-run double.

 

Money completely shook up his lineup Sunday, and it shook up the Smokies' pitching staff in the process. Though Gulin was the story, Huntsville's retooled lineup produced 11 hits, and it helped the Stars earn a spot in tonight's elimination game.

 

"It's going to be a blast," Sollmann said. "It's exactly what you play for."

 

So are moments like what happened minutes after the Stars walked off the field. As Gulin wiped away tears, his grandfather wrapped him in a long embrace.

 

"It's amazing," Lindsay Gulin said. "He and I are best friends, so I'm so glad he could make it. It means the world to have him here."

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com:

Linked audio cals are from the Smokies' broadcast...

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070910&content_id=301599&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

 

Gulin, Stars force a fifth game

By Michael Blinn / Special to MLB.com

 

With his team facing elimination, Lindsay Gulin had some extra motivation in the stands on Sunday.

 

Gulin tossed a three-hitter as the Huntsville Stars blanked the Tennessee Smokies, 6-0, in Game 4 of the Southern League North Division Finals.

 

"I'm feeling great," the 30-year-old left-hander said. "I just wanted to get ahead of the guys and throw strikes."

 

With his grandfather in attendance, Gulin struck out seven and walked two en route to his first complete game for an affiliated team since 2003. In two regular-season starts against the Smokies, he was 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA.

 

Audio: Gulin finishes with a flourish

 

"We did a good job of keeping them off-balance," he said. "Lou Palmisano did a great job behind the plate. It was a special game."

 

Gulin also benefited from solid defense. In the fifth, third baseman Adam Heether threw out speedy Eric Patterson on a sacrifice bunt.

 

"The guy absolutely flies," said Gulin (1-0). "That's big when you're in a close game."

 

Heether also drove in three runs, two with a double in the sixth. Alcides Escobar went 3-for-4 and scored three runs and Hernan Iribarren hit three singles and drove in a run for the Stars.

 

Audio: Gulin finishes with a flourish

 

Tennessee starter Donnie Veal (0-1) gave up three runs on four hits, walked five and struck out three over four innings.

 

Patterson, Chris Robinson and Jemel Spearman had the hits for the Smokies.

 

The decisive fifth game is Monday night in Huntsville.

 

Lindsay Gulin has won all three starts against Tennessee, yielding one run in 23 innings. (Tom Priddy/MLB.com)

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2007/09/10/68gsHKYI.jpg

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

http://www.starsboxscore.com/

 

GULIN's 3-HITTER FORCES GAME 5

STARS BEAT DONNIE VEAL FOR RECORD 5th TIME

 

Retiring 14 straight batters to end the game, Lindsay Gulin gave the Stars just what they needed Sunday night at Joe Davis Stadium -- life.-

On paper, it was a mismatch....... It was Donnie Veal's 2nd loss to Gulin and his 5th loss to the Stars this year....... No pitcher has ever lost to the Stars that many times in a season....... Veal, in four previous losses to the Stars, had allowed 16 runs (15 earned) on 19 hits in 13 innings for a 10.38 ERA. His last loss came against Gulin on July 19th, 3-0....... I'm scratching my head why Veal is the Cubs' top-ranked pitching prospect in the organization by Baseball America. He led the Southern Legaue in walks, and even taking out Huntsville, he's 8-6 with a 4.29 ERA against the rest of the league....... Gulin, on the other hand, is now 3-0 against the Smokies this year, allowing just one run over 23 innings and giving up just 12 hits.

 

So even though nothing is certain in this game, in this instance, statistics didn't lie. Now it's up to Steve Hammond to bring it all home Monday...... Hammond served up 19 home runs this year to lead the league with Paul Schappert (who was rocked in relief tonight). That's the most by a Star since Mark Brownson in 2001, who gave up 18. But Hammond has had Tennessee's number as well, this year....... Against the Smokies this year, he's 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings. Three of the five runs Hammond has allowed, however, were unearned...... His last appearance against Tennessee was on July 20, when he held them scoreless on five hits over seven innings for a 4-1 victory. He also beat them in relief on July 6.

 

The Smokies will throw 21-year-old Mitch Atkins at us. The Smokies brought him up from Daytona (Fla. St.) on August 2, so the Stars will be getting their first look at the stocky right-hander....... He's ranked 29th among the Cubs' top 30 prospects by Baseball America. Last year, he was 2nd to Donnie Veal in the farm system in ERA, so you can draw any conclusion you want from that after Sunday night........ He has a 91-92 MPH fastball and throws from three-quarters, which makes it hard for him to stay consistent with his breaking ball. His change-up is equally inconsistent, according to reports...... His best start for Tennessee was a seven-inning scoreless performance against Mobile, August 20, when he gave up six hits, but outside of that, he's 0-1 with a 7.58 ERA.

 

Gulin never got into any serious trouble, but he threw a lot of pitches in the early going, and in the 3rd, went full on a couple of hitters and 2-and-2 on Veal before striking him out on an 81 mph fastball. Eric Patterson followed with a wind-driven bloop double that landed inside the left field line, but he fanned Gary Cates on a checked swing that many had issue with, including our own radio announcer, Brett Pollock....... Gulin then walked Casey McGehee, who had three hits including a two-run HR on Saturday, but got Tyler Colvin to fly out to center, ending a 22-pitch inning. After that, Gulin retired 18 of the next 19 hitters to come to the plate, throwing an average of 11 pitches an inning. In the end, Gulin, who tossed the first complete game for Huntsville since Sam Narron's four-hitter vs. Chattanooga August 1st, threw 117 pitches, 74 for strikes........ Luis Pena was up in the 9th, but everyone in the pen got a needed rest.

 

The Stars put two runs across in the 1st, thanks in part to Veal's wildness....... Veal threw eight of his first nine pitches for fastballs low and outside the strike zone in walking Steve Moss and Alcides Escobar. Steve Sollmann then moved both runners into scoring position with a bunt to the left side. Veal got ahead on Adam Heether 1-and-2, but Heether hit a hard ground ball to the right side to score Moss and send Escobar to 3rd........ Brendan Katin, who came into the game hitting .455, but without a run driven in during the series, drove one deep that I thought would go over the wall, but it was nearly straight to center and Jorge Cortes caught it on the warning track, enabling Escobar to score the Stars' 2nd run and give Katin his first RBI...... That was all the Stars needed.

 

In the 4th, Escobar hit a one-out single through the right side of the infield and Sollmann followed with a liner to the gap in center. Eric Patterson could not catch up to it and Escobar raced home to give the Stars a 3-0 lead........The Stars batted around in the 6th off Paul Schappert to send their last message....... Moss drove a 1-2 pitch on the hop to left-center for a single, then took 2nd when Cortes dropped the ball...... Escobar dropped a bunt down in front of the plate on the first pitch he saw from Schappert and beat it out for a hit. With one out, Heether worked a full count, fouled off a pitch, then drove one deep to center past Patterson, running with his back to the plate. Patterson got a glove on it, but the ball tipped off and both runners scored, giving the Stars a 5-0 lead. After a walk to Katin, Hernan Iribarren continued where he left off during the regular season, and lined a one-hoper to left-center to score Heether with the Stars' final run...... Heether drove in three of the Stars six runs in the game and has four RBI for the series.

 

The 6-0 win gives the Stars a remarkable 17-2 record on Sundays this year and a 10-1 record at home against the Smokies (including the post-season)....... If the Stars win it Monday, they will have a rematch against the Montgomery Biscuits, who beat the Mississippi Braves, 12-5 for a four-game victory and the Southern Division title........ The Stars are hitting .295 in this series, with the 1-2-3 hitters going at a .292 clip....... Hernan Iribarren, with a .438 average, is the only Star who has hit safely in every game..... Steve Moss, who hit .202 from May to the end of the season, is hitting .375 and has scored five of the Stars' 20 runs. After striking out 121 times during the season, he's struck out just twice in 16 at-bats........Steve Sollmann is hitting just .250, but has driven in a run in each game of the series........ Heether, Ecobar, and Katin are all hitting .357

 

From top to bottom, the Brewers are seeing unbelievable success in the system with every team from Nashville to Helena making the playoffs. However, Nashville is out after losing to New Orleans in four games, and Brevard County is down 2-0 in the quest for the Florida State League Championship........ West Virginia made the South Atlantic League Championship Series and will play Game One against Columbus, Monday at home....... Helena and Great Falls are locked one apiece in the playoffs in the Pioneer League........ Even the Brewers are on top. The Brewers hit six HRs tonight (Ryan Braun hit two, giving him 30 on the season), on the way to a 10-5 win over the Reds. They now lead the Cubs in the Central Division by a game.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070910/SPORTS/709100334/1002/SPORTS

 

Manatees fall in 11; Threshers lead 2-0

BY MARK DeCOTIS

FLORIDA TODAY

This one hurt.

The Brevard County Manatees blew leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before falling 6-4 in 11 innings to the Clearwater Threshers on Sunday night and now find themselves behind 2-0 in the best-of-five Class A Florida State League baseball championship series.

The crowd for the Manatees' final home game was announced at 1,023 and while many stuck around to the bitter end, they couldn't coax another rally out of the home team.

Clearwater can wrap up the championship with a victory at 7:00 PM tonight (6:00 Central) at Bright House Network Field. Games four and five, if necessary, also are set for Clearwater the next two days.

"We've got to go one inning at a time, one pitch at a time," said an obviously disappointed Manatees manager John Tamargo. "Leave it all on the field. That's all we can do."

The Manatees will have to beat Clearwater's ace, right-hander Andrew Carpenter, to avoid the sweep.

"We're going to have to face him sooner or later," Tamargo said. "We're just going to go after it and see what comes up."

Carpenter was 17-6 this season with a 3.20 ERA in 163 innings over 27 games.

The Threshers broke through in the top of the 11th. Matt Thayer greeted Manatees reliever Travis Wendte with a single to left. He was sacrificed to second by P.J. Antoniato.

Brian Burgamy walked. Brad Harman then hit a grounder that bounced over a stretching Manatee third baseman Mat Gamel and rolled into left field, scoring Thayer to make it 5-4 and moving Burgamy to third.

Jason Donald then did the same, with the ball this time bouncing off Gamel's glove and rolling into left, scoring Burgamy and making it 6-4. No further damage was done but, in essence, all the damage that needed to be done was done.

The Manatees had their chances, especially in the eighth inning. Lorenzo Cain walked to open things off Clearwater reliever Will Savage, bringing Gamel to the plate, but Cain was caught off first base and tagged out in a rundown. Gamel then flied out to the warning track in right center and Cole Gillespie grounded out.

The Manatees didn't help their cause, striking out 13 times.

"What happened was we were swinging at a lot of balls out of the strike zone and taking pitches, fastballs, that were in the strike zone, the same thing that happened to us in St. Lucie the first day," Tamargo said.

"We just got to get it where we are swinging at fastballs and laying off pitches out of the strike zone. I'm going to give credit to the other club, too. They've got a real good ball club. They've got great pitching and they don't make errors. Good pitching and good defense, and that's what wins ball games."

 

Defense holds

 

Manatees starter David Welch ran into trouble in the top of the third but his defense came to his rescue. Clay Harris singled for the game's first hit and Matt Thayer walked but Harris was cut down at third on a bunt by P.J. Antoniato and Thayer was thrown out at second by Manatees catcher Nestor Corredor on the tail end of a double steal. Welch ended the inning by snaring a sharp grounder back through the box by Brian Burgamy and retiring him at first.

 

Manatees break through

 

The Manatees struck back immediately as designated hitter Ned Yost, son of Milwaukee Brewer manager Ned Yost, doubled to open the bottom of the third. Freddy Parejo whiffed but Corredor singled to center, putting runners at first and third with one out. Cain then walked and the sacks were full for Gamel who struck out on three pitches.

But Gillespie lifted Gamel and the entire team with a searing double just inside the third base line that cleared the bags and put the Manatees in business, 3-0, for their first lead of the series.

The Threshers put two runners on with two outs in the fifth thanks to consecutive singles by Harris and Thayer -- Clearwater's second and third hits of the game -- but Antoniato flied out to right to end the threat.

The Threshers got on the board in the sixth with two outs when Brad Harman, who had singled, advanced on a wild pitch and subsequent throwing error by Corredor and was plated by Jeremy Slayden's single.

That was all for Welch who left leading 3-1. He had given up five hits and whiffed four.

The Manatees got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Mike Bell homered to left.

 

Tied up

 

However, Clearwater struck back in the seventh off reliever Kevin Roberts when Harris doubled in Jake Blalock who had walked. Thayer then walked setting up the wildest sequence of the night. Antoniato hit a squibber to second baseman Bell who threw wildly to first allowing Harris to score. Thayer tried to score from second but was cut down at the plate.

The Threshers tied it 4-4 when Harman hit a blooper to short center and Antoniato beat the high throw home.

Roberts then hit Jason Donald and was sent packing in favor of Patrick Ryan. Ryan struck out Slayden to end the threat.

Clearwater starter Andrew Cruse pitched seven tough innings, allowing four runs on four hits, walking three and striking out nine, whiffing the side in both the second and seventh innings.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/09/10/sports_top/b01091007_01.txt

 

Brewers drop Game 2 of playoffs to White Sox

By JASON SCOTT, Helena Independent Record Sports Writer

The Helena Brewers just couldn't get things started Sunday, so the Great Falls White Sox - and their cheering section - did it for them in the second game of the Pioneer League Northern Division playoffs.

The White Sox put up three runs in the first inning and never looked back, eventually beating Helena 5-1 at Kindrick Legion Field in front of a large contingent of raucous Great Falls fans.

C.J. Retherford and Jim Gallagher both hit home runs off the Brewers' starting pitcher, R.J. Seidel, in the first.

"We elevated the ball in the first and that hurt us," said Helena manager Jeff Isom.

Seidel had control issues from the start. His third pitch of the game was a high breaking ball that Retherford stroked into the left field scoreboard.

After Joe Persichina's groundout and Salvador Sanchez's walk, Gallagher drilled an 0-1 pitch straight down the right field line. First base umpire Brandon Misun signaled fair as the ball sailed over the fence to make the score 3-0.

Seidel was able to get out of the first, but he ran into trouble again in the second. He bookended a Greg Paiml single with walks to John Curtis and Retherford to load the bases. That was enough for Isom. Evan Anundsen came on in place of Seidel and got Persichina to pop out. Next, Sanchez smacked a liner at Anundsen. The pitcher knocked it down and threw to catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who stepped on home and threw to first for a 1-2-3 double play.

While Helena's starting pitcher was sketchy, Great Falls starter Juan Moreno was brilliant. The Northern Division pitcher of the year retired the first five batters he faced, allowing a two-out single to Curt Rindal in the second. In all, Moreno allowed one run and five hits while striking out six and walking one.

"How could you not be happy?" said Great Falls coach Chris Cron. "(Moreno) came up huge for us."

Great Falls scored again in the third on a wild pitch by Anundsen.

The only run Helena could come up with was in the third when Kurt Crowell led off the inning with a single. Lee Haydel lined out to a diving Persichina, who threw to first, but was unable to double up Crowell. Eric Farris hit a bloop single to move Crowell to third, then Lucroy singled to drive Crowell in, making the score 4-1.

"We put too much pressure on ourselves," said Isom. "We are usually the team who scores first. We're definitely a better hitting team than that."

Helena's saving grace was its relief pitching. Anundsen, Corey Frerichs and Curtis Pasma worked together to keep the Brewers close, getting out of jams in almost every inning. Great Falls stranded 10 men in scoring position thanks to some clutch relief pitching.

"The bright side was the bullpen," said Isom.

The Sox outhit Helena 10-5 behind a three-hit performance by Gallagher. Great Falls improved their 2007 playoff batting average to .227, compared with Helena's paltry .131. The White Sox have allowed just one earned run in 18 postseason innings this year.

"We got off on the right foot," said Cron. "In the end, it was pitching and defense that did it for us."

Great Falls scored again in the eighth when Curtis doubled to lead off the inning, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Paiml scored him with a sacrifice fly to right. Caleb Gindl's throw home was up the first base line, and the Sox had a 5-1 lead.

"You've got to tip your hat to them," said Isom. "They took us out of our element. They're a scary team."

The game tied the playoff series at 1-1. The Brewers host Great Falls again today at 7:05 PM (8:05 Central) at Kindrick Legion Field. The winner advances to the Pioneer League championships.