Jim Goulart

VIDEO Report: Rattlers' Johnny Davis Takes Unconventional Path to Pro Baseball Enjoy the video, which covers ground from an earlier Post-Crescent article. Side note rant: How silly is it that the graphic of the young lady who introduces the clip actually says "wife of Packers OL Brian Bulaga"? Seriously? If her career progresses, will that go with her everywhere?

Sounds' home field home runs are few by Nick Cole, The Tennessean The Sounds return home Thursday from a road trip on which they collected home runs in a season-best five consecutive games. It's a trend that fans hope will continue as Nashville begins a nine-game homestand against Oklahoma City and Omaha. During the previous homestand, the Sounds went homerless in seven of eight games. Just seven of the Sounds' 31 home runs this season have come at Greer Stadium. Although the dimensions of Greer Stadium are fairly neutral (327 feet in left and right field, 400 feet to center field), many of the other Pacific Coast League stadiums are known as more hitter-friendly. "It's tough here — to the gaps especially," Sounds outfielder Caleb Gindl said. "We call it getting 'Greered' sometimes because of the wind, but that's just how it is." And the splits are noticeable. Only infielder Taylor Green has hit more home runs at home (two) than on the road (one) among the team's top six home run hitters. The other five, led by Hunter Morris with five home runs, have combined to hit 18 of their 19 long balls away from Greer Stadium. Mills dealing: Opposing hitters have had all kinds of trouble with Sounds starting pitcher Brad Mills in May. The left-hander has yet to allow an earned run in three starts this month. Mills has struck out 17 batters and allowed just five hits over the stretch of 19 innings. With six scoreless innings in Tuesday's 8-0 win over Iowa, Mills moved into second place in the Pacific Coast League with a 1.45 ERA in 37 1/3 innings this season. He also ranks third in the league with a 0.86 WHIP. Cubbie blues: The Sounds stumped Chicago Cubs top prospect Javier Baez during their recent four-game set with Iowa. The shortstop, whom Baseball America ranks as the No. 5 prospect in all of minor-league baseball, went 1-for-17 with nine strikeouts against the Sounds. It has been a rough season for the highly touted middle infielder. He holds a .147 batting average and has struck out in 47 of his 102 at-bats this season. Baez made his only hit in the series count, driving in the game-winning run in the 10th inning of a 2-1 win over Monday. Gindl returns: After receiving an opportunity to play with Milwaukee following an injury to Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, Gindl has been optioned back to Triple-A to resume his fourth season with the Sounds. Gindl saw action in eight games over his 11-day span with the Brewers but collected just three hits in 19 at-bats (.154). Utilityman Elian Herrera received the call-up to replace Gindl. He was 14-of-27 over his last week of action with the Sounds.

If you chose to skip the Rattler Radio Blog postgame entry from Chris linked above (and why would you do that?), here's Omar Garcia's catch --

Final: @Chattanooga 17, Huntsville 6 Stars Drop Season Finale To Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN - The Chattanooga Lookouts, the Double-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, belted four home runs on their way to scoring a season high seventeen runs as they won game five of their series with the Huntsville Stars, 17-6 Wednesday morning at AT&T Field. The Stars had leads of 4-0, 4-3 and 5-3 but couldn't hang on. In the fourth inning, the Lookouts tied the game against Huntsville starter Jacob Barnes (0-1). Daniel Mayora hit his fourth home run of the year, a two-run shot knotting the game up at 5-5. Darnell Sweeney gave the Lookouts the lead for good in that inning on his RBI single. Barnes, who took his first decision of the season, went 3.2 innings giving up seven hits on six earned runs. The Lookouts, who led 6-5, expanded their lead in the fifth inning. The Lookouts posted eight runs, seven of which were scored against reliever Kevin Shackelford. Shackelford was able to retire the first batter O'Koyea Dickson. The next batter however, Scott Schebler, popped one up behind second base, where Greg Hopkins couldn't locate the ball in the sun. Schebler wound up at second base with a double. Things unraveled from there. Chris O'Brien made it 7-5 on his RBI double. Noel Cuevas produced a two-run triple making it 9-5. The next batter, pinch hitter Brian Cavazos-Galvez, singled home a run making it 10-5. The Lookouts weren't finished. Erisbel Arruebarrena and Jeremy Hazelbaker followed with back to back RBI doubles, making it 12-5. Dickson would also hit a two-run homer against Tommy Toledo giving Chattanooga a 14-5 advantage. Hazelbaker hit a two-run homer in the seventh for the Lookouts and then pinch hitter Ryan Adams hit their fourth home run of the day in the ninth making it 17-6. The seventeen runs the Stars gave up today were a season high. The Lookouts hit four home runs, one against Barnes, two against Toledo and one against Eric Marzec. The Stars jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Josh Prince led off with a solo HR to left field. It was Prince's second of the series and his second on the year. Nick Shaw bunted for an RBI single increasing the lead to 2-0. Barnes was able to score on a throwing error by O'Brien who attempted a pick-off throw at first base. Nick Ramirez blooped a single into center-field giving the Stars a 4-0 lead. Ramirez finished 3-5 with two RBI and was a home run away from hitting for the cycle. Chattanooga improves to 16-23, while the Stars are still a Southern League best 26-14. The Stars head back to Huntsville and will begin a five-game series Thursday night with the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars will have RHP Tyler Cravy (6-1, 1.93) on the mound. Birmingham will feature RHP Nick McCully (2-2, 5.29). The game can be heard with Steve Jarnicki starting at 6:15 pm on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM, and wtkiradio.com. VIDEO: Some Highlights via Chattanooga TV News Coverage Huntsville Box Score So many positive pitching success stories up and down the chain in 2014, but it's been a rough go for the most part for 40-man roster RHP Kevin Shackelford, and Wednesday morning's outing is really going to skew his numbers for weeks to come. Nick Ramirez, Jason Rogers, and Adam Weisenburger all reached base three times. Things looked sweet after the four-run top of the 2nd. Huntsville Game Log A clunker was overdue, morning caffeine hadn't kicked in quite yet for the mound men...

Tweet via Dave Walkovic, Voice of the Manatees: Michael Reed is not in the lineup this morning for Brevard County. Preliminary indication is a right oblique strain. Day-to-day.

Another nice Nashville photo gallery from Brad - the bright red uni's are pretty sharp.

Good chance we'll see rehabbing LHP Tom Gorzelanny in the Brevard box score this morning, perhaps in the opening inning.

Weather.com: Chattanooga, TN Viera, FL (Melbourne) Grand Chute, WI (Appleton)

Sortable individual stat pages: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin

STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Southern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division

Look for these just prior to the respective game times -- Brevard County Media Notes - again, 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

To see tweets as to when the Link Report has been technically "completed" with available links, as well as to know when the new day's Report has been posted, please follow @Mass_Haas on Twitter.

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

DVR ALERT: As we've been indicating all week, Wednesday night is a MyNew32 TV Timber Rattlers night, with pregame at 6:00 PM.

Wednesday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: Idle ********** Huntsville: RHP Jacob Barnes at Chattanooga (Dodgers), 10:00 AM pre-game, 10:15 gametime Free Live Audio Link Steve Jarnicki is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars - welcome aboard! Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveJarnicki. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. MiLB.TV - It appears seven of the ten Southern League teams telecast their home games (not the Stars). Unfortunately, Chattanooga also does not provide MiLB.TV coverage. ********** Brevard County: LHP Jed Bradley at home vs. Fort Myers (Twins), 9:05 AM pre-game, 9:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the proper link based on listed schedule Dave Walkovic returns as the play-by-play voice of the 'Tees; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio. All home games and many road games are scheduled to be broadcast. When road games are only available via the opponents' audio feed (or not at all), we'll let you know that. No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Barrett Astin at home vs. Quad Cities (Astros), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link - 1280 AM 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. For the $49.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from seven Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games. NOTE: Thirty-nine (!) of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (9) and WACY-TV My NEW32 (30) 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.

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Look for an early kickoff to Wednesday's Link Report because pre-game audio is available at 9:05 AM (!) from Brevard and 10:00 AM via the Stars from Chattanooga. Wake up!

VIDEO: Nashville's Brad Mills finishes off six one-hit frames by getting Arismendy Alcantara for his 8th K in the Sounds' 8-0 win at Iowa *** Brevard County -- AUDIO: LHP Hobbs Johnson joins Andrew Luftglass on the Manatees Pregame Show (Monday) AUDIO: RHP Martin Viramontes joins Justin Rocke on the Manatees Pregame Show to talk about his early season success AUDIO, Game high/lowlights: Fort Myers defeats Brevard County, 6-0 *** Rattler Radio blog - Postgame entry Chock-full as usual with audio, photos, and video... VIDEO: Additional Rattlers highlights via the MyNew32 TV broadcast -- maybe you'll have better luck in your browser than I am...

Final: @Chattanooga 5, Huntsville 3 Stars Five Game Winning Streak Ends Chattanooga, TN - The Chattanooga Lookouts, the Double-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, were able to end their five game losing streak Tuesday by hitting three home runs to defeat the Huntsville Stars 5-3. The Stars had their five game winning streak snapped. With the Lookouts trailing 3-0 in the fourth inning, Scott Schebler hit a two-run home run against Huntsville starter Brent Suter cutting the deficit to 3-2. Chattanooga then took the lead for good off another two-run homer. This time Brian Cavazos-Galvez took Suter deep over the left-centerfield wall for his first home run of the season. Chattanooga added a key insurance run in the eighth against Stars reliever Tim Dillard. Schebler hit his second homerun of the game and his eighth of the season on a deep shot over the right field wall. It was the first run allowed by Dillard 7.2 innings this year. The Stars loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth, thanks to three consecutive walks by Lookouts reliever Jarrett Martin. Chattanooga went to the bullpen and brought in their leading saves man Pedro Baez to get them out of a jam. Baez came through, as he struck out pinch hitter Adam Weisenburger for the first out. Baez then proceeded to strike out Nick Shaw and D'Vontrey Richardson to end the ballgame. Baez collected his sixth save. Juan Noriega earned the win improving to 2-2 out of the Chattanooga bullpen. The Stars built an early 3-0 advantage. Jason Rogers gave the Stars a 1-0 lead on his first inning RBI single. In the second, Shaw and Richardson provided back to back RBI singles increasing the Huntsville lead. Suter, who took the loss, allowed a season high four runs on a season high eight hits. Suter's record falls to 5-2 as he struck out five. Chattanooga improves to 15-23, while the Stars are still a Southern League best 26-13. The Stars lead the Lookouts 3-1 in the series. Game five will be played Wednesday morning. RHP Jacob Barnes (0-0, 3.86) will start for the Stars. Chattanooga will go with RHP Garett Gould (1-4, 5.51). The game can be heard on the internet only starting at 10:00 AM CT with Steve Jarnicki on wtkiradio.com. Huntsville Box Score As it turned out, didn't matter given the agonizing 9th described above, but Tim Dillard did allow an insurance run in the 8th, his first in eight innings. RHP Arcenio Leon with another scoreless inning. Catcher Shawn Zarraga singled and walked twice (.423/.510/.474 - .985 OPS, 78 AB's), still not quite league-leading eligible. Huntsville Game Log

AUDIO: Taylor Green strokes a double into the gap to give the Sounds the early lead AUDIO: Kevin Mattison drives a pitch deep to center field for a sacrifice fly in Nashville's victory over Iowa AUDIO: Pete Orr lines a single into left, driving home two runs for the Sounds

Mills solid again in Sounds' two-hitter Nashville lefty holds Iowa to one hit, combines with Blazek in win By Danny Wild / MiLB.com When Brewers prospect Johnny Hellweg was sent for Tommy John surgery late last month, it was an unfortunate way to open the door for someone else to step up in Nashville. "I was basically the sixth guy," said Brad Mills. "I'd step in when needed in a doubleheader, but once that happened, they came to me and said, 'You're the guy now and that's your spot." Mills has pitched more like an ace than a sixth man since replacing Hellweg, and Tuesday was yet another example. The 29-year-old left-hander struck out eight, walked one and allowed just one hit in a combined two-hit shutout as the Triple-A Sounds blanked the Cubs, 8-0, at Principal Park. "When [Hellweg] went down, I stepped in and ever since then, I've found my footing, gotten more comfortable in the role and I'm enjoying it," Mills said. "It's been a good fit, I like my pitching coach, we've worked well together, and so it's really been a good year so far." Mills earned the win on April 26 in his first start following Hellweg's elbow injury six days earlier. He pitched six hitless innings against New Orleans on May 1, limited Colorado Springs to four hits over seven scoreless innings May 8 and turned in another gem on Tuesday, throwing 55 of his 84 pitches for strikes before giving way to Michael Blazek, who struck out two and allowed one hit over the final three innings for his first save. Mills said he relied more on his secondary pitches Tuesday after his fastball command felt off. "Obviously the results were good, but this was not my best command effort I've ever had," he said. "I was able to keep it close and put up some zeros." Originally drafted by Toronto in 2007, Mills made his Major League debut in 2009 and has since appeared in 15 games over parts of four seasons for the Blue Jays and Angels. Toronto traded the lefty to Los Angeles for Jeff Mathis in 2011, and he was claimed off waivers by Texas last March before signing with Milwaukee as a free agent in January. "It's always good being with a new team kind of trying to prove yourself again," Mills said. "Some of the guys here, they've been playing together for a while, so it's good to get off to a good start. I was kind of in limbo for a while coming out of the 'pen and making spot starts." Thus, he brings a veteran presence to a role previously occupied by Hellweg, a hard-throwing 24-year-old ranked as Milwaukee's No. 9 prospect after claiming 2013 Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year honors last year. And while Hellweg could hit 98 mph with his fastball, Mills said he's more concerned with turning in quality starts. "My focus is always -- as a starter who doesn't throw hard -- if I can throw strikes, I can keep my team in the game," Mills said. "Giving them a chance, making sure the other team is swinging the bat, and hopefully saving the bullpen. The ones that kill you are when you have early outings -- those hurt your bullpen -- so I want to give our team a chance, throw some strikes and see where it takes me." Mills took that approach Tuesday, picking off Cubs leadoff man Matt Szczur after a walk in the first. He worked a 1-2-3 second before allowing his only hit of the game to Chris Rusin, Iowa's starting pitcher and reigning PCL Pitcher of the Week following his no-hitter on May 7. Rusin reached on a two-out single up the middle, but Mills kept rolling, pitching around a leadoff error in the fourth. He struck out the side swinging in the fifth and whiffed the final two batters he faced in a perfect sixth to end his afternoon. Logan Watkins doubled off Blazek to lead off the ninth and was the only Cubs batter to reach second. "I just felt like fastball command wasn't on point," Mills said. "Some games you go out and you can put the fastball wherever you want. And that's your focus as a pitcher -- commanding the fastball. But luckily I was throwing my secondary pitches -- my changeup and curves. I was able to throw those for strikes whenever I wanted. Ideally, I'd like to have better fastball command." Despite the command struggles, Mills managed to follow Jimmy Nelson's gem for Nashville a night earlier, when the righty held Iowa to a pair of hits and struck out nine over six innings. Nelson also spoke about overcoming early command issues. "It comes and goes," Mills said. "There's games you're going to go out there and feel like you don't need to think about your aim. And sometimes you're fighting yourself, you're out of rhythm and working harder, and that's how it was today." Nashville broke the game open in the fourth when Taylor Green doubled home Sean Halton, Kevin Mattison plated Hector Gomez with a sacrifice fly and Pete Orr added a two-run single. Mills himself laid down a sacrifice bunt in the sixth that helped Matt Pagnozzi score when Rusin threw the ball away. Gomez tacked on a two-run homer in the seventh, his fourth, for more insurance. Blazek turned in his third straight scoreless appearance following a rough outing on May 1, impressing Mills. "He's a great arm -- I'm glad hes coming in behind me," Mills said. "With runners on, he's a guy I want coming in. I'm happy to see him get some extended work and do well." Brad Mills has allowed just five hits over his last three starts for Nashville. (Mike Strasinger/Nashville Sounds) http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/0/0/75326500/cuts/Brad_Mills_418_57_Large_dy9o1ywu_0ozb6czj_da5i81mr.jpg

Congrats to RHP Seth Harvey -- Nice tweet sequence here on his rehab from Tommy John. Harvey has 30 career saves.

Check our transaction thread, Denson placed on the DL today...

With his first at-bat single tonight, Huntsville LHP Brent Suter (1.64 ERA) has five hits in his first ten pro at-bats. #NotDougDavis

Via the Brewers-- LHP Tom Gorzelanny begins a rehab assignment tomorrow at Class-A @BCManatees. He has been on the DL all season (left shoulder surgery). *** I sense a pre-game audio archive this week, which should prove very informative.