Jim Goulart

Kyle Wren makes a catch crashing into the wall to save a 4-3 Biloxi win. Whew, just heard Chris' call! Wild night on the farm! Making up for big league ineptness...

Just watched this along with the postgame on-field interview. Thank you, MiLB.TV! 9-8 Sky Sox win, they were down to their final out after having a runner cut down at the plate... Col. Springs Bottom of the 9th Pitching Change: Joe Ortiz replaces Yoanner Negrin, batting 7th. Matt Long doubles (3) on a fly ball to left fielder Junior Lake. Pete Orr out on a sacrifice bunt to first baseman Mike Baxter. Matt Long to 3rd. Luis Sardinas reaches on a fielder's choice out, third baseman Christian Villanueva unassisted. Matt Long out at home. Matt Clark homers (3) on a fly ball to right center field. Luis Sardinas scores.

For Brevard, Taylor Brennan reached base five times, Victor Roache on four occasions.

Not sure why MiLB didn't update the box for the last half-hour, but the Manatees lost a wild one, 9-8, in 12. Brevard had a man or 3rd with none out in the top of the 12th and did not score -- sigh... Manatees fall to 7-9. Brevard County Top of the 12th Defensive Substitution: Mike Reeves replaces Roemon Fields, batting 9th, playing catcher. Rafael Neda walks. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Jose Pena replaces Rafael Neda. With Steven Halcomb batting, throwing error by Scott Silverstein on the pickoff attempt, Jose Pena to 3rd. Steven Halcomb grounds out, shortstop Dawel Lugo to first baseman Matt Dean. Pitching Change: Wil Browning replaces Scott Silverstein. Angel Ortega flies into a double play, right fielder Derrick Loveless to catcher Mike Reeves. Jose Pena out at home. Dunedin Bottom of the 12th Defensive Substitution: Cameron Garfield replaces Jose Pena, batting 6th, playing catcher. Matt Dean flies out to right fielder Clint Coulter. David Harris flies out to left fielder Victor Roache. Emilio Guerrero walks. With Derrick Loveless batting, wild pitch by Casey Medlen, Emilio Guerrero to 2nd. Derrick Loveless singles on a ground ball to first baseman Garrett Cooper. Emilio Guerrero scores.

Peoria Top of the 9th Danny Diekroeger grounds out, pitcher Victor Diaz to first baseman David Denson. Justin Ringo pops out to third baseman Sthervin Matos. Collin Radack walks. Alex De Leon pops out to third baseman Sthervin Matos. Also, Matos caught each of these sky-high balls basket-style. Chris could hardly contain his enjoyment of the entertainment value. Victor Diaz was like "really, dude?" Great stuff...

AUDIO: Look for Jim Henderson's pregame interview within the Biloxi media notes blog post *** TWEET: Wall's back up!

Insane pre-game rainstorm in Pensacola has literally brought down the left-field wall, wow: Video / tweets: Chris Harris #1 Chris Harris #2 Chris Harris #3 RHP Jacob Barnes C Tyler LaTorre

Patrick Magee of the Biloxi Sun-Herald details what many of us know: "How have the Shuckers managed to overcome the odds while living in hotel rooms and dealing with constant life on the road? The answer is easy. They're good." *** It'll be nice when the Sun-Herald expands its coverage in a big way for true home games.

VIDEO from Friday: Biloxi's Orlando Arcia hits an RBI single as the Shuckers edge Jacksonville, 1-0.

Red Sox blogger suggests Brock Holt for Matt Garza. Holt is a blast, I'll say that...

Today's farmhand birthday, 23 years old: Which had me imploring the Brewers on Twitter this AM with: these three tweets

Look for these just prior to the respective game times -- Colorado Springs Media Notes - It's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Multimedia" banner on the Sky Sox' site. Biloxi Media Notes - Linked on the Shuck Dynasty blog Brevard County Media Notes - It's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Multimedia" banner on the Manatees' site. Wisconsin Media Notes - Linked on the Rattler Radio blog *** STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division AA - Southern League South Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division *** Sortable individual stat pages: Colorado Springs Biloxi Brevard County Wisconsin *** Weather.com: Colorado Springs, CO Pensacola, FL Dunedin, FL Grand Chute, WI

Follow Saturday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Colorado Springs Biloxi Brevard County Wisconsin MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

DVR ALERT! It wasn't on the original TV schedule, but today's Timber Rattler game will be televised on MyNew32 TV, 1:00 PM air time.

Saturday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Colorado Springs: RHP Taylor Jungmann at home vs. Iowa (Cubs), 6:35 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link We welcome Dan Karcher, who is the longtime play-by-play voice of the Sky Sox; follow him on Twitter @SkySoxKarch MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Colorado Springs games, home and away, will be available to watch via MiLB.TV's $49.99 season-long package ($12.99 to pay for a single month). The audio feed is from the home team. The video of each game is archived online, which is a nice feature. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. NOTE: Notice that on MiLB.TV's page, you can click on "Filter", then "Milwaukee Brewers", and you'll see just the Crew's organizational TV lineup. ********** Biloxi: LHP Brent Suter at Pensacola (Reds), 6:05 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link We also welcome Chris Harris as the very first play-by-play voice of the Shuckers! Follow Chris on Twitter @CHarris731. We'll be looking off to his very promising "Shuck Dynasty" blog. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be radio broadcast. MiLB.TV - Seven of the ten Southern League teams telecast their home games, and Biloxi staff indicates it is hopeful it will be eight when the new stadium opens. NOTE: This series from Pensacola is airing on MiLB.TV, nice. ********** Brevard County: LHP Clint Terry at Dunedin (Blue Jays), 5:00 PM pre-game, 5:30 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Dunedin Feed Dave Walkovic returns as the play-by-play voice of the 'Tees; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio, as all home games and most road games are scheduled to be broadcast in 2015 No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Cy Sneed at home vs. Peoria (Cardinals), 12:45 PM pre-game, 1:05 gametime; look for RHP Victor Diaz to pitch in a tandem role Free Live Audio Link - WNAM Chris Mehring is back to do his customary fantastic work as the Voice of the Rattlers. Follow him on Twitter @CMehring; we'll link to Chris' infamous blog often -- Rattler Radio. NOTE: Forty-two (!) of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (9) and WACY-TV My NEW32 (34) will split duties. We'll let you know when and who, and remember to refer to the Rattlers' full TV schedule so you can coordinate your DVR activity. *** So, for the $49.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sky Sox games, most Shuckers games, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games.

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

Kudos to Carlos Leal, but isn't a more serious question for amateur signing scout Scott Nichols -- you saw Leal's offensive games, his defensive games behind the plate, yet suggested he be drafted as a pitcher? Now look, I'm all for uncovering 34th round gems -- kudos to the Brewers in that regard because every other team did not have Leal on their radar through 33 rounds. Leal is doing this in 2015 (and let's take a breath, it is only April 25th, after all), while getting virtually no practice reps outside of pitching reps last year. And from audio interviews we've heard from him, he went to the Brewers, not the other way around, about returning to catching. So a ton of credit goes to Carlos, and it looks like the Brewers may end up a lucky beneficiary.

Rattlers matinee today (TV, too, as noted above) -- look for Saturday's Link Report later this AM...

Timber Rattlers' having a heck of a time locking in their TuneIn audio link, but our Daily Menu points to the WNAM Listen Live link, which has been stable, just stick with that.

TWEET: from Matt Clark's alarm clock *** TWEET: Voice of the Shuckers' Chris Harris makes an awesome point here, get it? *** TWEET: Chris Harris points out how awesomely solid the Shuckers' starting pitching was in this series.

VIDEO: Earlier you watched the Wisconsin highlights with Chris Mehring's calls, here's another version from the MyNew32 TV broadcast RHP Angel Ventura closed things out -- no way he's at his listed 6'2", 185, he's a big dude... *** VIDEO: Heck, one more quick Timber Rattlers' look, including RHP Orlando Torrez firing a pitch...

VIDEO: Matt Long homers in the ninth to break up a no-hit bid by Round Rock's Jerad Eickhoff

Final: Round Rock 7, Colorado Springs 2 Sky Sox Score Late To Avoid No-Hitter Rangers Prospect Eickhoff Strikes Out 11 in 7-2 Win Over Sox By Ed Pearsall / Colorado Springs Sky Sox http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/8/0/120410380/cuts/04_10_055_pk_fdl97qgz_b3dhyzan.jpg Matt Long's Two-Run Home Run in the top of the ninth inning broke up Eickhoff's no-hitter. (File Photo from previous game by Paat Kelly) There were just four total pitchers in Friday night's contest between the Sky Sox and Round Rock Express before a crowd of 11,769 at Dell Diamond. The Sky Sox would be held hitless for 8.1 innings by Express starter, and Texas' #21 organizational prospect, Jerad Eickhoff (1-0, 2.16). The right-hander would strike out eleven batters while allowing just two runs on one hit and two walks while striking out 11 in a dominant performance. Round Rock's lineup would fare a bit better against Sox starter Tyler Cravy (1-2, 5.06) in his six innings of work. Cravy allowed five runs on six hits and one walk, striking out a whopping nine Express batters. The Express would score two in the first and fourth, adding another in the sixth to make the score 5-0. Left-hander Jed Bradley would come on in relief of Cravy, allowing two runs on four hits over two innings of work. With a 7-0 lead heading into the ninth inning, Eickhoff would look to secure a no-hitter with just three outs to go. The Sky Sox offense would not oblige, scoring two runs in off of Eickhoff on a walk to Donnie Murphy and two-run home run to Matt Long. The home run was Long's first of the season and ultimately chased Round Rock's starter from the game. Express left-hander Sam Freeman would come on in relief of Eickhoff, closing out the Sox for the 7-2 win. The Sky Sox are back home at Security Service Field on Saturday night. Taylor Jungmann (0-1, 8.53) looks to lead the Sky Sox to a series-opening victory against Carlos Pimentel (0-2, 14.09) and the Iowa Cubs at 6:05 PM MDT (5:05 Central). *** Of course, a pitching effort like that nets a feature article from MiLB.com's home page -- Eickhoff takes no-no into ninth in PCL debut Rangers prospect fans 11 to match career high in first Triple-A start By Tyler Maun / MiLB.com Over the last three seasons, Jerad Eickhoff made 35 appearances for Double-A Frisco. Judging by the way he pitched in his Triple-A debut on Friday night, he may never see the Texas League again. The Rangers' No. 21 prospect carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his first game in the Pacific Coast League, matching a career high with 11 strikeouts, as Round Rock downed visiting Colorado Springs, 7-2. "I'm kind of at a loss, really," Eickhoff said after giving up two runs on one hit over 8 1/3 innings. "I'm kind of shocked still. I was just trying to go out there and execute pitches, keep my defense on their toes, throw strikes. I was able to keep them off-balance enough to get good results on the scoreboard." The 24-year-old right-hander was dominant from the outset, facing the minimum through five innings while issuing his first of two walks in the third. He erased the leadoff free pass when Bryan Petersen was caught stealing second to end the inning. Eickhoff (1-0) littered the box score with strikeouts, recording at least one in seven of his eight full innings, thanks in part to a lively breaking pitch. "My curveball as of late, the past month, month and a half out of Spring Training, has felt really good," he said. "Getting that over early in the count to the hitters opened up the floodgates, I guess you could say. It allowed me to get them off my fastball, finish them with the curveball and finish guys with the high fastball, too. That curveball was really key for me." In the sixth, Colorado Springs' Donnie Murphy reached on a two-out by first baseman Kyle Blanks. That put Eickhoff over the minimum for the first time, but it hardly fazed the Evansville, Indiana native. He rebounded to retire the next eight batters through the first out in the ninth. "You don't even acknowledge the fact that you're mowing them down," he said. "I was just trying to execute pitches, focus on each pitch. It was just a really individual process for each pitch and it was able to culminate into throwing eight strong." Eickhoff headed to the mound for the ninth, nearing 100 pitches and in pursuit of what would've been the PCL's first no-hitter since Chris Rusin threw one for Iowa last year. "I remember stepping on the mound before the inning had started, before I threw my first pitch, and I could feel my heart racing more than it should've been," he said. "Usually in a game, I'm pretty calm, especially late. I could feel that, but I made a conscious effort of honing back in. My job is to execute this pitch." In his final frame, Eickhoff's command momentarily lapsed. After inducing a leadoff flyout from Ben Guez, the righty missed wildly on ball four to walk Murphy. His final two pitches to Murphy may have set the stage for the no-hitter to be broken up. "I think the on-deck hitter [Matt Long] saw that I didn't throw those last two curveballs very well, so I think that was eliminated from his mind," Eickhoff said. "I threw a fastball, and he got on it." On Eickhoff's first pitch, Long connected on his first home run of the season to right field, ending the no-hit bid and the shutout. "I threw the pitch, I heard the crack and I said, 'That's hit pretty well,'" Eickhoff recalled. "I turned around and my right fielder [Jared Hoying] was just kind of drifting back. I think he knew it was gone, too. "It was kind of surreal. I was frustrated with myself. I didn't execute the pitch, but overall, I was happy. I'd rather do that than walk the bases loaded and give up a cheap little broken bat hit or something. I'd rather have that home run clear the fence by a good ways than not at all." Colorado Springs Box Score Tyler Cravy and Jed Bradley combined to only walk one with ten K's, but were hit pretty hard... Colorado Springs Game Log

Final: Biloxi 1, Jacksonville 0 Shuckers deal two-hit shutout to Suns, win third straight Biloxi takes four of five from Jacksonville in dominant fashion Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/9/4/120360994/cuts/DSC07110_muny7kf8_0rx6i9di.JPG Orlando Arcia had two hits including an RBI single in the third inning on Friday night (Photo by John Shadrick) JACKSONVILLE, FLA. - The Shuckers scored just one run on Friday night, but it was plenty enough as the pitching staff delivered a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Jacksonville at Bragan Field and The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Orlando Arcia (2x4, RBI) continued his onslaught of Southern pitching, delivering the games only RBI and extending his league-best on-base streak to 14 games. The Shuckers took four of the five games against the Suns, winning the last three to close out the series. Biloxi's starting pitching posted a 1.33 ERA (four runs) over 27 innings pitched over the five-game set. With the win and a loss by the Mississippi Braves on Friday, the Shuckers are in a first place tie atop the Southern League South Division standings at 9-5. Jorge Lopez (W, 1-2) took over where his fellow starters left off, giving up just two hits and two walks through his five innings of work, with three strikeouts. Biloxi (9-5) grabbed the lead and lone run in the third with a two-out rally. Nathan Orf (2x3, R, 2B, BB) doubled down the left field line against Suns' starter Matt Tomshaw (0-2) and came around to score when Arcia's sharp grounder through the left side snuck by a diving third baseman David Adams. Arcia extended his hitting streak to seven games and has now reached base safely in all 14 contests to pull ahead of Tennessee Smokies' first baseman Dan Vogelbach (13) after a rainout in Jackson, Tenn. Jim Henderson made his first rehab appearance with the Shuckers and worked a perfect sixth inning on 19 pitches, which included 12 strikes. The Milwaukee Brewers reliever veteran is recovering from right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. Austin Ross struck out three and did not allow a hit in two innings of relief behind Henderson and Wirfin Obispo earned his second save in three attempts in a 1-2-3 ninth. Arcia was 2-for-4 and notched his seventh multi-hit game of the year. Orf reached base three times and was 2-for-3, while Brewers top prospect Tyrone Taylor finished the night 2-for-4. Lopez secured his first victory of 2015, in his third attempt and lowered his ERA from 9.00 to 5.25 in the process. Jacksonville's (6-8) starter Tomshaw (L, 0-2) allowed just the one run on seven hits, a walk and four strikeouts, suffering the loss. Friday was Biloxi's first win against a left-handed starter this season in three attempts and the Shuckers remain perfect in nine-inning games with a record of 7-0. The shutout was the third issued this season and second of the series. The Shuckers will head to Pensacola to start a five-game set with the BlueWahoos on Saturday night. LHP Brent Suter (1-0, 0.00) will make his first start of the year for Biloxi while Cincinnati Reds' top prospect RHP Robert Stephenson (0-1, 6.55) will make his second start of the year against the Shuckers (April 9: 5.2 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 SO). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM, with coverage beginning at 6:15 on 1240-AM WGCM, 1580-AM WPMO and the Biloxi Shuckers Radio Network. Fans can also listen to the game using the TuneIn Radio app or by going to www.biloxishuckers.com. *** Punchless Suns fall to Shuckers as losing skid continues By Jeff Elliott, Jacksonville.com If a team can’t get the lead and hold it, the chances of winning are minuscule. That pretty much accounts for why the Suns just completed their series with the Biloxi Shuckers with four losses in the five games. The latest setback, a 1-0 shutout on Friday night in front of 4,824 at the Baseball Grounds, was Jacksonville’s seventh loss in its last eight games. The win by Biloxi increased its record to 9-5, with all 14 games on the road. The Suns fell to 6-8, with all 14 at home. Jacksonville only held the lead for seven innings in the last eight games (68 total innings). Biloxi dominated the five-game series with the Suns, owning the lead in 31 of 41 innings. Jacksonville starting pitcher Matt Tomshaw deserved a better fate. The former JU left-hander went five innings and allowed just the one run and seven hits. Biloxi was able to get a runner to second base in four of the five innings, but Tomshaw found a way to escape damage other than the third inning. That’s when the Shuckers put together three consecutive hits to push across the only run of the game. “If we come out and score some runs early, it might change the mojo,” Suns manager Dave Berg said. “I’m frustrated myself that I can’t do something to change things up. I think the guys are still having decent at-bats, but they’re still scuffling.” The Suns managed just two hits and had five fly balls that made it to the outfield. The hits came from David Adams, playing his first game for the Suns after coming off the DL, and Ryan Rieger, who led off the second inning with a double. But that’s as far as he got as the next three batters were retired without hitting the ball out of the infield. Jacksonville managed to get a runner as far as second base in three straight innings, from the second to the fourth, but each time left him stranded there. After they put together a single and a walk in the fourth inning, the only Suns batter to reach base the rest of the game was Sharif Othman, who made it to first on an error in the seventh. Jacksonville had solid pitching all night. After Tomshaw’s five innings, Craig Stem allowed a pair of hits in two innings, and Sean Donatello worked a perfect eighth. But the Suns had no answers for Biloxi pitching again. In the four losses, Jacksonville had a combined 10 hits. “We’re way better than what we’ve been showing,” Berg said. “I’ve had a lot of these guys in the past, and we’re way better than this. I’m going to have to shake up the lineup. I usually like to go with pretty much the same lineup, but it may be time to shake things up.” Biloxi Box Score Included the newspaper account from Jacksonville to accentuate the Shuckers' pitching staff efforts; hard to lift your average when you enter the game hitting .450, but Orlando Arcia did so; Tyrone Taylor is up to .282; with a walk in his only plate appearance, did Yadiel Rivera, who didn't start the game, lose his 11-game hitting streak? If this was MLB's "Beat the Streak" contest, he'd be alive, but technically in reality, someone will need to fill me in... Biloxi Game Log

ANOTHER DVR ALERT! It wasn't on the original TV schedule, but Saturday's Timber Rattler game will be televised on MyNew32 TV, 1:00 PM air time.