Jim Goulart

Huntsville Audio Highlights

Pena, Bullpen Lead Stars to Victory Alex Cohen, Huntsville Stars Fresh off of two consecutive losses, the Huntsville Stars evened up their series at two games apiece against the Mobile BayBears with a 4-2 victory on Friday night at Joe Davis Stadium. While the pitching was much of the story for Huntsville, the Stars bats started things off early in the top of the first inning against BayBears starting pitcher David Holmberg. After second baseman Nick Shaw drew a walk and first baseman Jason Rogers hit a single with one out, catcher Shawn Zarraga brought them both home on a two-run double to make the score 2-0. For Zarraga, the double was in his first at-bats since spending 10 days on the disabled list. While he gave up two runs in the fourth inning that tied up the ballgame, Stars starting pitcher Ariel Pena built off his last outing where he tossed five scoreless innings to earn his first victory in two months. Pena gave up just two runs on three hits in six innings to improve to 7-8 on the year. Huntsville was able to break that tie and put Pena in position for the sixth inning with one swing of the bat. With BayBears righty Bryan Woodall in the game, Stars outfielder Brock Kjeldgaard took his first pitch on the night over the centerfield wall to put the Stars back up by a score of 3-2. For Kjeldgaard, the homer ties him with Rogers for the team lead and Southern League lead with 20 roundtrippers this year. Huntsville tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning with an RBI single by third baseman Shea Vucinich. While the offense ultimately put the Stars back on top for good, the win for Pena was ensured by a dominant bullpen effort for the Stars. In the seventh and eighth inning respectively, righties Greg Holle and Kevin Shackelford sent down the Baybears in order, recording one strikeout apiece. To finish up the game, righty David Goforth notched his third save of the sending when he sent down the heart of the Mobile order in the ninth inning. On Saturday, the Stars will play the rubbermatch of a five-game series against the Mobile BayBears at Joe Davis Stadium. Huntsville will send RHP Brooks Hall (1-4, 5.06 ERA) while Mobile will counter with RHP Bo Schultz (5-2, 2.76 ERA). This will be the final meeting between the Stars and BayBears in the regular season this year. Huntsville is 4-5 against the first half Southern League South champs this year. First pitch on Saturday is 6:43 CT.

AUDIO: Brevard County Game Highlights (mostly lowlights) *** AUDIO: Manatees pitcher Eric Arnett talks about his rehab from preseason knee surgery and pitching in the 2013 season.

Opportunities squandered in 5-1 loss at Daytona By Andy Towne / Brevard County Manatees An early 1-0 lead with three consecutive hits in the first inning had the Manatees looking good, but the Daytona Cubs scored five unanswered runs for a 5-1, series-opening victory on Friday night in Daytona. Yadiel Rivera's one-out double was immediately followed by back-to-back singles from Nick Ramirez and Mitch Haniger, scoring Brevard County's lone run in the opening frame. Both Ramirez and Haniger were stranded on their bags, the first two of ten men left on the base paths in the game. The Manatees (23-29 second half, 60-59 overall) also tied a season high by striking out 15 times. Daytona (29-18, 64-49) took advantage of a strong start by Corey Black. Despite scattering eight hits, Black (4-8) earned the win by holding Brevard to just the one run, striking out eight men and walking only one. Behind him, the offense picked up the tying run in the second, then added three more in the third. After Elliot Soto led off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout, Dustin Geiger launched a two-run homer to give the home team a 4-1 lead. In the sixth, top Cubs prospects Dan Vogelbach and Kris Bryant had back-to-back singles with a wild pitch in the middle. That put runners on the corners, allowing Vogelbach to score on a ground ball. Brevard's Chad Pierce (5-6) was hit with the loss, taking blame for all five runs. He surrendered seven hits, though he walked just one batter and struck out four. Both bullpens pitched well, with Zach Cates being the first man out for Daytona. He tossed three scoreless, one-hit frames with six strikeouts before Jeff Lorick finished it off with a perfect ninth. Alex Moore threw two near-perfect innings for the Manatees. Vogelbach's second knock of the night was the only blemish on Moore's line, which also featured three Ks. The series shifts to Space Coast Stadium on Saturday night, where the Manatees will enjoy a one-game homestand. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM (5:35 Central). Starting for the 'Tees will be Tyler Cravy (3-2, 2.24 ERA), with Ivan Pineyro (2-0, 1.86 ERA) pitching against Brevard for the first time this year. *** Black, Geiger, Giansanti lift Daytona Cubs, 5-1 By Sean Kernan, Daytona News-Journal DAYTONA BEACH – Corey Black didn't have his fastball Friday night. But the Daytona Cubs' right-hander didn't need it the way he was able to throw curveballs, sliders and changeups for strikes, whiffing eight Brevard County Manatees in five innings of a 5-1 victory at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Black, who had walked 50 in 91.2 innings leading up to Friday, walked just one. That allowed him to scatter eight hits and yield just one run. “The walks this year have been piling up, so to only have the one walk was great,” said Black (5-8). “I didn't have my fastball, so I went to the breaking balls, and that was another good sign, being able to throw everything for a strike. The fastball was getting hit around a bit, so after the second inning I told the catcher I was going to have to rely on curveball, slider, changeup.” The Cubs (29-18) got production from designated hitter Dustin Geiger, who belted his 14th homer of the season, and left fielder Anthony Giansanti, who knocked in two runs. Geiger had the most dramatic moment at the plate, launching a 3-0 pitch the opposite way for a two-run homer in the third inning off losing pitcher Chad Pierce (5-6). “I gave him the green light, and boy, did he put a great swing on it,” Daytona manager Dave Keller said. “How many times do you see a righty hit one out over there? That was impressive.” Keller was equally impressed by Black's outing. The pitcher who was acquired last month in the Alfonso Soriano trade to the Yankees continues to lead the Florida State League in strikeouts (10.06) per nine innings. “He threw all his breaking pitches ahead, he threw all his (breaking) pitches behind in the count and he threw them all in all different counts, so it was tough for them to sit on a pitch,” Keller said. “They are a very aggressive, especially early in the count, fastball-hitting team.” Zach Cates added six strikeouts and Jeff Lorick one more to give Daytona's hurlers 15, matching a season high set July 20 against the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Daytona also completed its season-high sixth straight game without an error. The first-place Cubs now lead Lakeland by five games.

Brad takes a moment from his daily DSL recap duties here to prepare his site's Top 25.

Great to see fireballing Wisconsin reliever Martin Viramontes make the rehab start in Maryvale tonight, and in style, first outing since July 10th. AZL Mariners Bottom of the 1st Luis Caballero strikes out swinging. Brett Thomas strikes out swinging. Alexy Palma strikes out swinging. *** RHP Devin Williams following up Viramotes tonight.

Regardless of today's perspective, this is just a very cool three minutes for you to spend -- A Gem from 1996: Ortiz vs. A-Rod, Griffey in Appleton Home Run Derby Great job, Gary Horcher.

Not a night to remember tonight -- golden sombrero. http://blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners/files/2011/04/sombrero.jpg

Via Jeff Hem on Twitter: Michael Olmsted transferred to Double-A. Makes room for Alfredo Figaro, who is sched. to start Sunday. *** Now it's the Stars who will need to make a corresponding move on Saturday. That's got to be a bit of soul-searching 90-mile drive for Olmsted, it's been a rough season that began with such promise.

First 17 games w/Manatees: Nicky Delmonico sporting the odd .207/.370/.276 small sample. Where will the OBP go when the balls start finding holes?

Well, as it turns out, not quite on the 15-man staff.

Via the Sounds -- HALTON TO BREWERS; DE LA ROSA RETURNS TO SOUNDS: Outfielder Sean Halton was recalled by the Brewers today to begin his second major league stint of the season after batting .314 (28-for-91) in his last 20 contests and leading the PCL with 11 extra-base knocks since he rejoined Nashville on July 26. Catcher Anderson De La Rosa rejoins the team to fill the spot left by Halton. De La Rosa hit .290 (9-for-31) in eight games for Huntsville and recorded a season-best three hits on August 7 at Chattanooga. ALFREDO FIGARO TO NASHVILLE: The Brewers optioned right-handed pitcher Alfredo Figaro to the Sounds today. The 29-year-old carried a 4.25 ERA (31 ER / 65.2 IP) in 26 games (five starts) for the Brewers this season. He will join the team in the coming days. Upon his addition a corresponding move will be made. *** Via the Stars -- On Friday, the Stars activated C Shawn Zarraga from the disabled list. Zarraga, who was placed on the disabled list on August 5th, is hitting .325 this year with a homer and 12 runs batted in for Huntsville in 59 games played. To make room for Zarraga on the roster, C Anderson de la Rosa was transferred to Triple-A Nashville. The longtime Brewers farmhand spent eight games with Huntsville after being transferred to the Stars from the Sounds, hitting .290 with two runs batted in and three doubles.

With Sean Halton's callup to Milwaukee and Alfredo Figaro's option to Nashville (his final major league option, by the way), the Sounds will be going with the rarely-seen 10 position player, 15-man pitching staff tonight in a designated-hitter game vs. Round Rock.

PCL undergoing realignment in 2014 But travel will still suck for the easternmost league franchise in Nashville -- heck, does this actually make it worse a bit? The Sounds lose Iowa (Cubs) and Omaha (Royals), and gain Round Rock (Rangers) and New Orleans (Marlins) as divisional foes. Of course, they'll still play Iowa and Omaha, just won't share a division with them.

Voting continues through August 29th: Moniker Madness is back, and they've abandoned the bracket format for a different voting look. Rankings as of 3:00 Central on Friday for the four Brewers are Brevard RHP Damien Magnifico (8th of 75), Huntsville RHP David Goforth (35th place), Huntsville OF Chadwin Stang (43rd), and Dionis Hinojosa (74th). *** Sicnarf (Francis backwards, oh those clever parents) Loopstok is 1st, and Kyle Von Tungeln is keeping our guy Dionis out of the cellar.

Weather.com: Nashville, TN Huntsville, AL Daytona Beach, FL Grand Chute, WI (Appleton) Helena, MT Peoria, AZ San Pedro De Macoris, DR

STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division Rookie - Arizona Summer League DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris Division *** NOTE: To view first half or overall standings for Huntsville, Brevard County, Wisconsin, and Maryvale, you'll notice options at the respective links for that. Otherwise it's second-half standings as the default view for those three leagues.

Look for Nashville and Wisconsin media notes at the links just prior to their game times. New this season: Brevard County has media notes; as of now, it's a unique link each day, but look for it just prior to game time each day within the "Stats and Scores" banner here. Also new this season: Helena has media notes; it's a unique link each day, but look for it just prior to game time each day within the "Stats and Scores" banner here.

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 Friday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin Helena Maryvale DSL Brewers New MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF! All times are Central Nashville: RHP Jimmy Nelson at home vs. Round Rock (Rangers), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link Jeff Hem is the play-by-play voice of the Sounds; follow him on Twitter @jeffhempbp; we'll link to his blog updates at On the Air…and Off MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Nashville games, home and away, will be available to watch via MiLB.TV's $39.99 season-long package ($9.99 to pay for a single month). The audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. ********** Huntsville: RHP Ariel Pena at home vs. Mobile (Diamondbacks), 6:28 PM pre-game, 6:43 gametime Free Live Audio Link Alex Cohen is the play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. It appears four Southern League teams air their home games on MiLB.TV, and we'll let you know when those dates pop up on the schedule. ********** Brevard County: RHP Chad Pierce at Daytona (Cubs), 5:35 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the link based on listed schedule Manatees audio, hooray! Dave Walkovic is the first play-by-play voice of the 'Tees since 2007, he's joined by Andy Towne; 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, we'll let you know that. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Tyler Wagner at home vs. Peoria (Cardinals), 6:45 PM pre-game, 7:05 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. MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; Wisconsin is one of four Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV. So for the $39.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from four Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games. NOTE: Many of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and WACY-TV My NEW32 will split duties. We'll let you know when and who, and will try to provide day-before DVR reminders, so regularly check with us. ********** Helena: RHP Brandon Moore at home vs. Orem (Angels), 7:45 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link Voice of the Helena Brewers Steve Wendt is back on board, and this year he's added Twitter to the mix @steve_wendt. We've been treated to Steve's work for many years now (ten!); he is among the very best at the art of the pre-game interview, especially considering how at ease he makes all these first-time professional ballplayers. MiLB.TV -- When the H-Crew makes their way to Grand Junction (August), those games will be available for viewing online. ********** Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at the Mariners' complex in Peoria, 9:00 PM gametime; never audio for games in this league ********** DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Rojos (Reds' #2 squad), 9:30 AM gametime, although game data won't be available until later in the day

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VIDEO from Wednesday: Nashville's Stephen Parker doubles in the fourth inning of an 8-1 win over Reno

Final, AZL Mariners 3, @AZL Brewers 2 AZL Brewers Box Score A-Crew scored two in the 1st on three hits, and tallied no runs and only three hits the rest of the way. Reliever Milton Gomez' 2nd inning of work did not go well, as the mini-Mariners scored three in the 8th to take the lead, with the go-ahead run scoring on a wild pitch. Two of the runs were unearned -- one-out error by 1B David Denson. Previously suspended Huntsville LH reliever Alan Williams tossed a scoreless inning in his first game back. The work of 20-year-old Venezuelan RHP Jorge Ortega (five scoreless) should not go un-noted. AZL Brewers Game Log The Mariners' starter was rehabbing a May injury, first outing since. 4th-year pro is a South Africa native.

Stars Drop Second Straight to BayBears By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars After being no-hit by a combined five pitchers one night earlier, the Huntsville Stars lost to the Mobile BayBears by a score of 10-4 on Thursday evening at Joe Davis Stadium. To begin the game, each team traded a run in both the first and second inning. Mobile got a sacrifice fly from shortstop Nick Ahmed and scored a run on a throwing error on a pickoff play by Stars starting pitcher Taylor Jungmann while Huntsville evened things up with a run-scoring groundout by outfielder Brock Kjeldgaard and a solo homer from shortstop Hector Gomez. Unfortunately for the Stars, Mobile began to take control of the game in the top of the fourth inning, beginning a surge of eight unanswered runs. After an RBI sacrifice bunt from outfielder Ender Inciarte, a three-run fifth inning sparked by an RBI single from catcher Raywilly Gomez and an RBI groundout from second baseman Mike Freeman made the score 6-2. In the sixth inning, the first five batters reached base against Stars reliever Frankie De La Cruz and Mobile went on to score four more runs. The inning was highlighted by a two-run single from first baseman Sawyer Carroll and RBI singles from both Freeman and outfielder Keon Broxton. The run support was plenty for BayBears starting pitcher Andrew Chafin, who improved to 10-6 on the season after giving up just two runs on six hits in five innings while striking out five batters. In regards to offense, the only other two runs the Stars scored came with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI double by third baseman Joey Paciorek and a pinch-hit RBI single from Rene Tosoni. Paciorek paced the Huntsville offense along with first baseman Jason Rogers and catcher Anderson de la Rosa with two hits. With the loss, Jungmann fell to 9-8 on the year by giving up six runs (five earned) in 4.1 innings pitched. The Brewers 2nd ranked prospect also walked five batters. In game four of a five-game series on Friday, Huntsville will send RHP Ariel Pena (6-8, 4.15 ERA) to the hill while the BayBears will counter with LHP David Holmberg (5-7, 2.76 ERA). First pitch is at 6:43 PM.