ja002h

Make em pay Ben ... no dice.

swinging bunt by Gint. Guess that's better than a liner at someone ... aaaand Grieve with another line shot. Ergh.

Sheets 2nd: 1-out double wasted nice leaping catch at the wall by Jenks! K kount: 3

Well at least we're spankin the ball so far. Bodes well.. (jinx alert) 3 liners for outs

There's a hit Spivey

Out in order after leadoff single. K kount: 2

Huntsville article: Gloom finally lifts for Stars Second half starts well behind Novinsky's relief By MARK McCARTER It's been tough enough finding save situations for John Novinsky. Then, on the way to a save, he went and got himself in a tough situation. Man on third, put there by his own throwing error. One out. One-run game. And with the meat of the order at bat. Gulp. These are the moments that will test a 36-hour deodorant. These are the moments that make everybody go white-knuckle. These are the moments that define the difference between a minor league reliever and a major league closer. "Things happen,'' Novinsky would say later. "When things happen not in your favor, you can't buckle. You have to stay strong and you have to concentrate pitch-to-pitch. And I think that's what I did.'' And what the Stars did, in turn, was open the second half of the Southern League season with a tidy 2-1 victory over the Tennessee Smokies, the SL East first-half champs. It ended a five-game Tennessee winning streak against the Stars. Novinsky earned a save, his fifth, to go along with a 5-0 mark in 21 appearances. The victory went to Chris Saenz (5-4), who scattered six hits in seven innings and struck out seven in outdueling Chris Narveson (only four hits allowed and eight Ks in seven innings). All three runs came off solo homers. Rickie Weeks staked Saenz to a 1-0 lead with a third-inning shot, then Papo Bolivar tied it in the sixth. Chris Barnwell provided the game-winner in the seventh. Speaking of Homers, tonight is Mascot Night, with bobblehead dolls of the Stars' skunk mascot, Homer, for the first 1,000 youngsters. Ryan Costello (3-1) will pitch for Huntsville against Luis Martinez (6-6), himself a former Star before being acquired by the Cardinals' off waivers last spring. It seems only appropriate turnabout, since Wednesday's hero, Novinsky, is a former Tennessee Smokies pitcher. "Off the field, it's a bunch of great guys,'' Novinsky said. "I miss 'em, I love 'em, but on the field, they're the enemy.'' He nailed down the save with loud punctuation, striking out Chris Duncan and Gabe Johnson after an infield hit by Dee Haynes and the throwing error that put Haynes on third. Johnson whiffed on a cruel curveball, Novinsky's specialty. "They knew he was going to throw it,'' said Stars manager Frank Kremblas, "and they couldn't hit it, so it must have been a pretty good pitch.'' Novinsky came to the Milwaukee organization as part of a trade with the Cardinals last August. The 25-year-old New Yorker was a lifelong starter until suffering a nerve injury in 2002. Upon his return, he was dispatched to the bullpen. He's been there ever since. He was a middle guy for Tennessee in 2003, but has been Huntsville's go-to guy this season out of the pen. "It's a little bit crazy,'' Novinsky said of life as a reliever. "You have to know how to buckle down and get mean. I think I have the mentality of being a closer.'' Novinsky's last outing was in a win at Birmingham on June 17, allowing only a harmless homer in 12/3 innings. Since a 10-day hiatus in early May with a sore elbow, Novinsky has pitched 151/3 innings and permitted only six earned runs and 15 hits, with 22 strikeouts. He collected five saves and two wins during that time - even if few games of late were meaningful. "My dad always told me when I went out there, it's zero-zero,'' he said. "Whether you're up or down, you should be concentrating the (same).'' This time, it was the Stars who were zero-zero, happily beginning the second half with a clean slate.

Doesn't look like anything's in the Beloit paper.

Aaah, nothing better than a listening to Brewer baseball at work. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Or the even more obvious brewerbot

You'd think our lefty-stacked lineup would fare rather well today. Would've been nice to have Sheets out there going for the "3 game winning streak," but 8-4 would still be great. Can't scoff at going from 1-over to 5-over on a homestand.

High Desert Daily Press story: Hall stops bleeding for Mavs with solid outing High Desert picks up first second-half win By TIM HARAN/Staff Writer RANCHO CUCAMONGA ? The High Desert Mavericks, which had surrendered 18 runs in its previous two games, looked to Bo Hall for some relief. The powerful right-hander responded, pitching seven superb shutout innings Wednesday to lead the Mavs to a 6-1 victory over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at The Epicenter. "One thing I was most pleased with was he moved the ball in and out," said High Desert pitching coach John Curtis, though he would have liked to have seen Hall keep the ball down more. "He was in a 1-0 struggle for seven innings and he kept them at bay. It was a gritty performance." Hall (4-5) allowed just three hits while striking out four to help the Mavs pick up their first win of the second half. "The defense played a great game, making the plays when we needed them to," Hall said. "They started swinging the bats toward the end. It was just a great baseball game." At the plate, the offense-starved High Desert Mavericks broke out of their slump ? at least for one night ? and scored more runs in a single inning Wednesday than they had managed to produce in the previous two games against Rancho Cucamonga. Mario Mendez, who extended his hit streak to nine games on a single in the first, reached on an error to lead off the seventh. The Mavs capitalized on the miscue, scoring four runs off Quakes reliever James Carroll. Following a Callix Crabbe RBI single, Dan Boyd lifted a ball to shallow right to drive in two more runs and give the Mavericks some breathing room. Enrique Cruz, who was hitting just .143 in his previous 10 games, emerged from his personal slump in a big way. The shortstop smacked a solo home run in the third and drove in another run on a double off the wall in the eighth. He finished the night 3-for-4. Cruz's home run was the difference heading into the seventh inning, but the tight ballgame didn't bother Hall. "It keeps you into the game more," he said. "If you only have one run to deal with, you battle harder because you know you've only got one run." The Mavs, which committed three errors in the series finale, recorded 10 miscues in three games against Rancho Cucamonga. One bright spot in the field, however, was Mendez. The center fielder recorded 10 putouts Wednesday. The Quakes were hitting .175 as a team this season with the bases loaded and managed to score just once in the ninth after loading the bases against Mavs' reliever Homero Rivera. NOTES: High Desert outfielder Chris Morris had hernia surgery on Wednesday and is expected to be out four to six weeks. The team's leading base stealer (24) was placed on the disabled list. ... Right-hand pitcher Reggie Rivard was assigned to High Desert Wednesday from Double-A Huntsville. In 22 games for the Stars he posted a 3-1 record with a 6.55 ERA. ... The Mavs, which dropped 2 of 3 to the Quakes, have yet to win a series on the road this season (0-11-2). ... Third baseman Scott Candelaria left the ballgame in the fifth inning after suffering a cut to the top of his head that High Desert manager Mel Queen said would require stitches.

aaaaarrrgh

Drat.

Let's go Jenks. Win the game right now Ok, pitch to Overbay.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Excellent!

Counsell, you are the man. So do you bunt now?

Sean Casey just won the Cincy/Mets game in 12. 5-6, 2R 4RBI, HR. Not too shabby. Now come back crew!!

nice quick inning by Mr. Adams

drat

As you request...http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Great at bat Keith, cmon Brooks! YOU hit a salami... pleeeeease?

I'll TAKE that walk!!!!

Hit a salami and I'll love you forever Keith

Hit a salami and I'll love you forever Billy