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Matt Williams: leadership Follow Andrew Simon @AndrewSimonMLB Full exchange between a reporter and Williams regarding Papelbon pitching the 9th. 5:37 PM - 27 Sep 2015

Backstory on Pappelbon-Harper from Thomas Boswell article in the Washington Post: On Wednesday, Papelbon threw at Baltimore’s Manny Machado twice, both times near his head, the second hitting him in the shoulder. Papelbon was ejected and subsequently suspended for three days pending an appeal. Harper’s comment then: “It’s tired. Now they’ll probably hit me tomorrow.” The Nationals’ consensus was that Papelbon was out of line. But the fuse had been lit to a tinderbox player. So it looks like Pap's revenge on Harper for calling him out. You can throw Machado in there as another jerk in the DC area though.

The great thing about this series is that Matheny will always be thinking, "when is the next bomb coming", every time he brings in Rosenthal in the playoffs.

Harper has been criticized in Washington for being reckless in the past when he has run into walls, etc. Now he is getting it the other way. Don't know why someone like Papplebon, who is a late season addition to the Nats, would even get involved. That's a job for Williams but the "Williams has lost the team" stories are now coming hot and heavy.

Against Wolfsburg right? Probably another one of those Volkswagen deals. They only seem like they are playing eleven men.

I agree with Jericho**. Past top 25s are a something you can look back on to see where the organization was as has been done with old Power 50s.

You're welcome. Good luck to the Shuckers tonight. A win would be a great start for the Stearns Era. Glad to hear him say he thinks the Brewers can win a World Series. Not so much the answer as the fire in his eyes when he said it.

JS Online is having video of the news conference live. Check the front page for the link.

Hader was great but he was left out there to die. 110 pitches for one of your top prospects? Even within the game context, he had already started to lose it. Barnes couldn't find the plate and then was left in until you fall behind. Why take him out then? Odds are you have lost now, you may as well save Barreda for the final if you don't come back in this game. Here is where they could have used Ortega. Oh well.

Shutout by Wagner/Barrios. Anyone else taken by the role reversal where the Twins' affiliate has all the sluggers and the Brewers' affiliate is more well rounded? I hope Hader comes through tomorrow because I really don't like the matchup with an overrested Jorge Ortega against this Lookouts team.

Both Manchesters beaten yesterday. Today London's turn. Arsenal and Chelsea to go down. Juventus look like the early favorites. City were lucky to score 1 on them.

I know it's only 3 games but fun to look at the numbers: Brewers Player Dev ‏@BrewersPD 6h6 hours ago Arcia went 8x13, with 6 XBH (3 doubles, a triple, 2 homers). Slugged 1.462. OPS of 2.077 in the three games. 5 retweets 9 favorites Brewers Player Dev ‏@BrewersPD 6h6 hours ago As a team, the Shuckers hit .320 in the 1st round - Arcia (.615), Phillips (.333), Reed (.333), Rivera (.333), Shaw (.500), Taylor (.417) 3 retweets 6 favorites Brewers Player Dev ‏@BrewersPD 6h6 hours ago Biloxi's starting pitchers in the Divisional Round - 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 21.2 IP, 8 H, 7 BB, 23 SO

Ray Montgomery a candidate for Red Sox job: John Heymann Reports Also Frank Wren. Certainly hope Monty doesn't leave but you can't blame him if he does.

Ruben Amaro out Brewers should move quickly. Phillies job would be considered "better" by most of these guys, I would think. Richly deserved by the way.

Nice job, And That. One of the last Manatee games, Dave Walkovic and Jerry Durney were speculating about some of this, mainly of course how it might affect the Manatees. One of their points was that McFarland and Angel Ortega have always been kept together as a combination and they thought the Brewers would continue that. It was an open question whether or not they would be promoted. Also, they thought there was a decent chance Clint Coulter would be back, comparing his situation to that of Victor Roache a year before. Personally, I think Sardinas will make the Brewers as the platoon guy with Gennett and occasional shortstop. Rivera then to AAA. Kind of on the fence on Neuhaus also. He may start at Wisconsin and be moved up if he shows improved hitting.

Joaquin Andujar RIP I guess you can put the mustard on now.

Combined 2 hitter by the H-Crew. Rincon with 7 K's in 4 innings.

Manatees Drop Season Finale to Nearly Perfect Varner, Tortugas Daytona Lefty Retires First 20 Daytona Beach, FL- As they so often have this season, the Daytona Tortugas (40-25, 77-58 overall) rode an excellent performance from their pitching staff to earn a 1-0 win over the Brevard County Manatees (26-40, 55-80 overall) Sunday at Radiology Associates Field. The game’s lone run would come in the bottom of the fifth inning against Brandon Woodruff, who had just come in from the bullpen. Taylor Sparks drew a leadoff walk and would be held up at third on a Jeff Gelalich double to left center. However, as Michael Ratterree’s throw went to second base with no one immediately covering the bag, Sparks sprinted home to put the Tortugas. That one run would be more than enough as Daytona starting pitch Seth Varner was exceptional. He retired the first 20 Manatee hitters he faced with the first baserunner coming on a two-out single in the top of the seventh from Clint Coulter, hit just beyond the reach of a diving Blake Trahan at shortstop. Varner finished with 10 strikeouts and no walks in seven innings, giving up only the one hit. Nolan Becker retired all three Manatees he faced in the eighth and Evan Mitchell escaped trouble in the ninth by inducing Chris McFarland into a 3-6-1 double play to end the ninth and record his eighth save of the season. While coming up on the short end of the result, the Manatees also received excellent efforts from the pitching staff. Javi Salas threw four shutout innings to start, giving up two hits while striking out four and walking one. Woodruff followed with four strong innings of his own, giving up one run on one hit, striking out five and walking two. Brevard County Box Score Javi Salas looked like the Javi Salas that started the season in this one: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 5/0 GO/FO Brandon Woodruff had a hot second half and his velocity has gone way up since he sat out with an oblique injury. I speculate that that problem was bothering him in the first half. He has been throwing in the 95-97 range ever since that time. His splits for 1st/2nd half: ERA: 4.06/2.33, IP 71/38.2, H 79/33, K 36/35, BAA .286/.237, WHIP 1.42/1.14 (excludes tonight's game) You wonder what could have been had the Manatees ever got the rotation of: Jorge Ortega, Javi Salas, Brandon Woodruff, Cy Sneed and Wei-Chung Wang all going effectively at once. It never happened though. Brevard County Game Log

--and now with Taylor Brennan and Dustin Houle sitting out, the Manatees have been perfect gamed through 6. What else can go wrong? Coulter singled with 2 out in the 7th. May have been their last chance because the top of the order may not have come up again.

Never mind. Burlington just hit a 2 run homer to tie it with two out in the 9th.

Denson!

Early Runs Propel Tortugas to 4-1 Victory Routt Throws Gem for Daytona in Win Over Brevard By Dave Walkovic / Brevard County Manatees 09/05/2015 10:04 PM ET http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/8/0/126927180/cuts/McFarland_off_balance_947gwpxe_2bf2co37.JPG 2B Chris McFarland, seen from a game earlier this year, had a hit in Saturday's loss. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography) Viera, FL - The Daytona Tortugas (39-25, 76-58) scored four early runs and held off a late charge in a 4-1 victory over the Brevard County Manatees (26-39, 55-79 overall) in front of 3,452 fans on Saturday night at Space Coast Stadium. Daytona scored a pair of runs to take the lead in the top of the second inning. With one out, Chad Wallach doubled to left field against Brevard County starter Zach Hirsch. Ronald Bueno then singled to center and plated Wallach. Blake Trahan laid down a bunt up the first base line. Hirsch fielded the ball with his glove, but his flip to first was wide of the bag. Trahan reached on the single and Bueno moved to third on the Hirsch error. After Wendell Soto was called out on strikes, Hirsch uncorked a wild pitch and allowed Bueno to score. After two innings, Daytona led, 2-0. The Tortugas added another two runs in the third frame. With no outs, Ty Washington reached on a throwing error by Chris McFarland. Brian O'Grady then singled to right field and Washington moved up to second. After Daniel Pigott and Jeff Gelalich were retired by Hirsch, Chad Wallach drilled a two-run double to left-center field. Wallach's second double of the game made it 4-0, Tortugas. Hirsch (1-4, 4.89 ERA) was lifted after three innings. He surrendered four runs - one earned - on six hits. He did not walk a batter and fanned four. Tristan Archer was the first man out of the bullpen for Brevard County. He threw five shutout innings and did not allow a hit. He walked one and struck out eight batters. The Manatees got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning. Clint Coulter led off the frame with a single to left field. Two batters later, Dustin Houle drilled a double down the right field line that plated Coulter. Daytona starter Nick Routt fanned the next two batters to escape further damage. Routt (6-3, 3.47 ERA) surrendered just one run on four hits over seven frames to earn the win. He did not walk a batter and struck out nine. Brevard County threatened again in the eighth. Scott Brattvet came on in relief before the inning. With two outs, Omar Garcia singled to right field. Garcia recorded three hits on the night. After a McFarland single, Daytona went to the bullpen again and called on El'Hajj Muhammad. Muhammad retired Coulter to end the threat. Muhammad allowed just a one-out double to Houle in the ninth and recorded his 17th save of the season. The Manatees and Tortugas will conclude the regular season tomorrow night in Daytona Beach. RHP Javi Salas (8-8, 4.26 ERA) will toe the rubber for Brevard County. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. Brevard County Box Score Zach Hirsch has mostly struggled in his time with the Manatees. Tristan Archer with a great 5 inning performance though. His line tonight was: 5 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 8 K. Has to be one of his most dominant outings of the year. Omar Garcia had 3 hits. In addition to going 2 for 4 and driving in the only Manatee run with a double, Dustin Houle has now raised his batting average to .300 in his brief time with the Manatees. Going into tonight's game, Dustin was hitting .302/.356/.434 at all levels on the year. He is one of the guys the Brewers will have to make a decision on this year and they don't have a lot of catching prospects. His arm strength seems to be back after Tommy John surgery and this was one of his strengths as a prospect. He picked a runner off 2nd yesterday. Brevard County Game Log

Tortugas Electric Eighth Silences Sneed's Sterling Start By Jerry Durney / Brevard County Manatees 09/05/2015 12:28 AM ET http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/8/2/137927482/cuts/Sneed_2_hrilb634_0y6b75bk.JPG Cy Sneed, seen here from a game earlier this season, struck out a career-high 10 batters in Friday's game. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography) Daytona Beach, FL - In a game with little margin for error, the Daytona Tortugas (38-25, 75-58) rose to the occasion late to earn a 3-0 win over the Brevard County Manatees (26-38, 55-78 overall) Friday night at Radiology Associates Field. While both teams had multiple chances to break through, the game would ultimately be decided in the bottom of the eighth inning against new Manatees reliever Preston Gainey. Sebastian Elizalde led off with an opposite-field double down the left-field line and then came in to score when Daniel Pigott lined a double into left center. After Taylor Sparks struck out, Jeff Gelalich launched a triple to the wall in left center and then scored as Jose Pena misplayed the ball. The star of the night for the Manatees was Cy Sneed, who kept them in the game with his best of the start season. Sneed struck out a career-best 10 over seven shutout innings, giving up just four hits and walking three. Dustin Houle's two-for-four game anchored the Manatees six-hit output while Taylor Brennan logged his 26th double of the season. Gelalich's RBI triple capped a three-for-four night at the plate and included his 16th stolen base of the season. The Tortugas staff turned in a stellar performance of their own to secure the victory. Jackson Stephens gave up just four hits, walked none and struck out three in five shutout innings. Carlos Gonzalez and Alejandro Chacin combined to give up just two hits and strike out five over the final four innings to close it out. The two teams return to Viera Saturday night for the Manatees home finale at Space Coast Stadium. LHP Zach Hirsch (1-3, 5.06 ERA) will get the start against LHP Nick Routt (5-3, 3.66 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Brevard County Box Score Brevard County Game Log

Sparks' Ninth Inning Homer Lifts Daytona Tortugas Take the Opener Against the Manatees, 6-4 By Dave Walkovic / Brevard County Manatees 09/03/2015 10:02 PM ET http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/8/6/141668686/cuts/Hellweg_cbolu2o7_qofm563u.JPG Johnny Hellweg, seen here, tossed seven strong innings in Thursday's loss. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography) Viera, FL - Taylor Sparks launched a game-winning solo home run in the top of the ninth inning as the Daytona Tortugas (37-25, 74-58 overall) defeated the Brevard County Manatees (26-37, 55-77 overall) 6-4 on Thursday night in front of 1,059 fans at Space Coast Stadium. With the game tied at one in the ninth, Sparks smacked a 423-foot home run over the left field fence off of Trevor Seidenberger (4-2, 3.06 ERA). For Sparks, it was his 13th home run of the year and his third against Brevard County. Later in the inning, Ronald Bueno singled home an insurance run to make it 3-1, Daytona. After Tyler Spurlin came on in relief, Junior Arias blooped a broken-bat RBI single to left field and gave the Tortugas a three-run advantage. Sebastian Elizalde stepped up and drove home a pair with a single to left field to cap the scoring in the frame. Daytona scored five runs on five hits in the ninth inning. Brevard County made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. With Scott Brattvet on the mound, Omar Garcia reached on an infield single. After a walk to Chris McFarland, Clint Coulter lined an RBI single to center field. Taylor Brennan then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field. An RBI single by Dustin Houle plated Coulter and brought the tying run to the plate. Brattvet was removed in favor of El'Hajj Muhammad. Muhammad retired the last two batters, including a strike out of Jose Pena to end the ballgame. For Muhammad, he recorded his 16th save of the season. Evan Mitchell (3-2, 3.90 ERA) threw a scoreless inning of relief to earn the victory. Brevard County opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, McFarland blooped a single into right-center field. After a slight bobble by center fielder Junio Arias, McFarland didn't hesitate and moved up to second on the fielding error. With Coulter at the plate, Daytona starting pitch Nick Travieso uncorked a wild pitch. Coulter then smacked an RBI single to right field. Daytona tied the game in the top of the sixth. Brian O'Grady led things off with a double to right-center field. After a grounder to second moved O'Grady to third, Daniel Pigott lifted a sacrifice fly to left field. Johnny Hellweg turned in a great performance in a no-decision. He tossed seven innings and allowed one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out four. Nick Travieso surrendered one unearned run on two hits in six innings. The series continues tomorrow night in Daytona Beach. Brevard County will send RHP Cy Sneed (3-4, 2.78 ERA) to the hill. RHP Jackson Stephens (12-7, 3.08 ERA) will toe the rubber for Daytona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Brevard County Box Score Still a little life left in Johnny Hellweg. Trevor Seidenberger hadn't pitched since the 22nd and it showed. Clint Coulter the only hitter with 2 hits for the Manatees, drove in 2 runs. Brevard County Game Log

Jorge Ortega, Chris McFarland make FSL All-Star team Smith, Garrett, Faria take FSL awards Mets first baseman named Player of the Year after breakout season By Sam Dykstra / MiLB.com 09/03/2015 2:32 PM ET Dominic Smith was a first-round pick (11th overall) by the Mets in the 2013 Draft. (Gordon Donovan/MiLB.com) As late as May 17, Dominic Smith was hitting just .194 in the Florida State League. Three-and-a-half months and a major turnaround later, he's turned his struggles into hardware. The St. Lucie first baseman was named the FSL Player of the Year on Thursday with Charlotte right-hander Jacob Faria and Daytona left-hander Amir Garrett sharing Pitcher of the Year honors. Smith, the Mets' No. 6 prospect, has been on a tear since struggling out of the gate. He produced a .352/.397/.472 line over 26 games in June and has hit .313/.369/.413 with four homers, 12 doubles and 40 RBIs in 63 games after the All-Star break. For the season as a whole, he leads the FSL with 33 doubles and 79 RBIs, as of Thursday, and ranks among the league leaders in average (.305, fifth), slugging percentage (.417, third) and OPS (.771, fourth). He's recently climbed into the No. 99 spot in MLB.com's overall ranking of prospects and is rated third among first basemen. Faria's time in the Florida State League was considerably shorter than Smith's, but he certainly left his mark during his time with the Stone Crabs. The 22-year-old right-hander went 10-1 with a 1.33 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 63 strikeouts in 12 appearances (74 1/3 innings) for Charlotte before being promoted to Double-A Montgomery on June 24. His 10 wins are still tied for third-most in the Class A Advanced circuit. Garrett thrived in his second full season in the Reds' system since announcing he was going to drop college basketball and play baseball full-time last year. The 23-year-old left-hander is 9-7 with a 2.44 ERA and 1.23 WHIP for the Tortugas and ranks second in the FSL with 133 strikeouts in 140 1/3 innings. Garrett is slotted as the Reds' No. 3 prospect and No. 76 overall and got to represent Cincinnati in its own city at this year's All-Star Futures Game at Great American Ball Park. Here are the rest of the 2015 Florida State League end-of-season All-Stars as selected by field managers, official scorers and club sports writers: 2015 Florida State League Postseason All-Star Team NAME POS TEAM MLB ORG Willians Astudillo C Clearwater PHI Alex Swim C Fort Myers MIN Dominic Smith 1B St. Lucie NYM Erich Weiss 2B Bradenton PIT Tyler Wade SS Tampa NYY Jeff McNeil 3B St. Lucie NYM Chris McFarland UTIL INF Brevard County MIL Andrew Pullin LF Clearwater PHI Austin Meadows CF Bradenton PIT Dylan Cozens RF Clearwater PHI Yefri Perez UTIL OF Jupiter MIA Matt Oberste DH St. Lucie NYM Jackson Stephens P Daytona CIN Amir Garrett P Daytona CIN Jorge Ortega P Brevard County MIL Jacob Faria P Charlotte TB Wil Browning RP Dunedin TOR Brad Schreiber RP Charlotte TB Greg Legg Manager Clearwater PHI Oliver Marmol Coach Palm Beach STL Jeff Smith Coach Fort Myers MIN Sam Dykstra is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @SamDykstraMiLB. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.