Jim Goulart

Ask and we shall receive, thanks guys! Outfielder D'Vontrey Richardson chats with Dave Walkovic on the Manatees' Pre-Game Show No specific discussion on the year off, however.

Cabrera, Smokies Shut Down Stars By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars In game two of a five-game series against the Tennessee Smokies, the Huntsville Stars dropped their second game in a row at Smokies Park by a score of 3-1 on Friday night. Unfortunately for the Stars, they found themselves facing a deficit that they could not come back from early in the ballgame. To start the bottom half of the first inning, Smokies outfielder Matt Szczur was hit by an Ariel Pena pitch, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. After an RBI double by Ariesmendy Alcantara scored Szczur to put Tennessee on the board, Alcantara stole his team-leading 21st base on the year by swiping third. During the next at-bat, a sacrifice fly by outfielder John Androli plated Alcantara to make the score 2-0. The only run Huntsville managed to plate came in the top of the third inning when Shawn Zarraga launched a solo homer over the right-field wall against Smokies starter Alberto Cabrera. It was the second game in a row that the Stars only run of the game came on a solo homer. Zarraga paced the Stars offense with two of their six hits. Earning the win for the Smokies was Cabrera, who improved to 8-3 on the season after giving up that one run on four hits while striking out seven and walking two. Righty Frank Batista notched his 11th save of the save when he stranded two runners on base during a scoreless ninth inning. Tennessee tacked on their only other run in the bottom of the third inning on a solo honer by Alcantara. For the Southern League All-Star, it was his third longball hit against the Stars in 11 games played this season. Despite giving up just three runs on seven hits in seven innings pitched, Pena fell to 5-7 on the year with the loss. The 24-year-old righty also struck out seven batters without walking anyone. In his last four outings overall, Pena has three quality starts, earning losses in each of them. Aside from Pena, the Stars got an inning of scoreless relief from righty Greg Holle. On offense, the Stars got a single apiece from shortstop Nick Shaw, outfielder Kentrail Davis, second baseman Shea Vucinich and third baseman Mike Walker. The Stars will play game two of a five-game series at Smokies Park against the Tennessee Smokies on Saturday. Huntsville will send RHP Taylor Jungmann (8-6, 3.60 ERA) to the bump to try to stop the two-game skid against the Smokies. Tennessee will counter with LHP Austin Kirk (7-3, 3.49 ERA). First pitch is 6:15 PM (5:15 Central).

After his first appearance, each of Tommy John-rehabbing RHP Austin Ross' subsequent four Maryvale starts have been on three days' rest. The Brewers may want to rethink that routine, only one appearance has been scoreless. AZL Dodgers Bottom of the 1st Josh Henderson singles on a line drive to left fielder Brandon Diaz. Melvin Santana flies out to center fielder Edgardo Rivera. Adam Law singles on a ground ball to left fielder Brandon Diaz. Josh Henderson to 2nd. Chris O'Brien walks. Josh Henderson to 3rd. Adam Law to 2nd. Cody Bellinger triples (1) on a fly ball to center fielder Edgardo Rivera. Josh Henderson scores. Adam Law scores. Chris O'Brien scores. With Michael Ahmed batting, wild pitch by Austin Ross, Cody Bellinger scores. Michael Ahmed grounds out, shortstop Luis Aviles to first baseman David Denson. David Reid-Foley grounds out, shortstop Luis Aviles to first baseman David Denson. *** Obviously, getting Ross well is the priority, but his rehab is doing a number on the A-Crew's competitiveness, at least this past week.

Catching up on two days of Helena pre-game audio, posted to their site today: Outfielder Charlie Markson talks about his recent success with Helena and the start of his professional career LHP David Otterman talks about his most recent start, rehabbing for an injury last year, and preparation for a start

Via Jeff Hem's blog -- Audio from Memphis — Sounds Southpaw Chris Narveson Tonight’s interview is with Sounds left-hander Chris Narveson, who discusses his eight-inning shutout effort and win from Thursday, his outings with the Sounds coming back from his left middle finger injury, his return to Memphis (where he pitched several years ago) and how Autozone Park plays for a pitcher and his role, when with Milwaukee, as the team’s players union representative.

Manatee twitter feed: Damien Magnifico leaves the game in the 4th inning. It looked like trainer Tommy Craig was looking at his right hand. Daytona Top of the 4th Taylor Davis singles on a ground ball to center fielder Mitch Haniger. Pin-Chieh Chen walks. Taylor Davis to 2nd. Pitching Change: Tyler Cravy replaces Damien Magnifico. Zeke DeVoss strikes out on a foul bunt. Wes Darvill pops out to shortstop Yadiel Rivera on the infield fly rule. Javier Baez walks. Taylor Davis to 3rd. Pin-Chieh Chen to 2nd. Dustin Geiger singles on a line drive to left fielder Ben McMahan. Taylor Davis scores. Pin-Chieh Chen scores. Javier Baez to 2nd. Ben Carhart strikes out swinging. *** With the inherited runners scoring, tough line -- 3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, did have 5-0 GB/FB ratio

MillerParkProspects.com -- The Farm Report: July 5, 2013

Just the tiniest glimmer of hope for at least a notion of a new ballpark in Huntsville -- Vision for new downtown ballpark in Huntsville grows more clear -- and hopefully closer

Well, the Manatees are about to sell a few tickets: The Tampa Yankees have announced that New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will be joining the team as part of his Major League rehab assignment and that he is scheduled to play with the Yankees when they visit the Brevard County Manatees for a three-game series beginning on Saturday, July 6 at Space Coast Stadium in Viera.

Earlier today in our Draft Forum, provided an update on unsigned 16th round RHP Corey Miller out of Pepperdine

MillerParkProspects.com -- Future of the Franchise: Shortstop

There's now video available of Joey Paciorek's Huntsville HR from Thursday night.

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, and Wisconsin, you'll notice options at the respective links for that. Otherwise it's second-half standings as the default view for those three leagues.

Weather.com: Memphis, TN Kodak, TN Viera, FL (Melbourne) Cedar Rapids, IA Great Falls, MT Glendale, AZ San Pedro de Macoris, DR

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

Programming Note: Tennessee has MiLB.TV coverage, so if you're a subscriber, you can watch this Stars' series (live and/or archived).

Friday's Daily Menu: TGIF! All times are Central Nashville: LHP Zach Kroenke at Memphis (Cardinals), 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 Tennessee (Cubs), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 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 Damien Magnifico at home vs. Daytona (Cubs), 5:05 PM pre-game, 5:35 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 Leonard Lorenzo at Cedar Rapids (Twins), 6:20 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 $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: 32 of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel has seventeen games scheduled and WACY-TV My NEW32 plans to show fifteen games. We'll let you know when, but won't be providing day-before DVR reminders, so regularly check for proper channel and time planning (scroll to the bottom of this link). ********** Helena: RHP Zach Quintana at Great Falls (White Sox), 7:45 PM pre-game, 8:00 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 Idaho Falls (July) and Grand Junction (August), those games will be available for viewing online. ********** Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at the Dodgers' complex in Glendale; 9:00 PM gametime; never audio for games in this league ********** DSL Brewers: at the DSL Tigers, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until later in the day

NOTE: I've been trying to clear my Saturday evening schedule for some time now to say hello to Corey Miller as his club visits Wareham, the closest of the Cape League sites to my home (about 30 miles). Unfortunately, a family conflict will probably keep that from happening, we'll see. But this article is timely and informative. Nice job, Jen McCaffrey, doing excellent work from the Cape with nearly 38,000 Twitter followers. *** Rules leave little room to negotiate By JEN McCAFFREY, CapeCodOnline.com Pepperdine junior right-handed starter Corey Miller got the call he'd been waiting for his whole life about one month ago. It was from the Milwaukee Brewers on the third day of the MLB First-Year Player Draft. They had chosen him with pick No. 482, in the 16th round. The Waves starter had never been drafted and entered into negotiations with Milwaukee, but couldn't come to an agreement right away. "So I figured I'd come out here, keep my arm fresh, get the whole Cape experience and have fun while this whole process is going on," said Miller, who's pitching for the Orleans Firebirds. Miller is just one of 1,216 players chosen in the draft last month, but he represents a handful of players on the Cape this summer still in the midst of working out a professional deal. The deadline to sign is next Friday. Last year's draft was the first to undergo significant changes under the Collective Bargaining Agreement approved by MLB and the MLB Players Association in November 2011. While the Cape League hasn't been impacted signifcantly, the draft has undergone several changes like smaller signing bonuses and an earlier signing deadline. "I think the No. 1 thing is it's better for pro baseball and in the long run best for college baseball because there's a little more clarity because kids are signing quicker," said Red Sox assistant director of amateur scouting Gus Quattlebaum at the Cape League workout at Fenway Park on Monday. While there are players on the Cape who were drafted after the 10th round still negotiating deals like Miller and Chatham infielder Erich Weiss, a junior at Texas, restrictions in the current CBA have caused many players drafted in the early rounds to sign sooner because there isn't as much room to negotiate bonuses. Weiss was selected in the 11th round by Pittsburgh and is still working on a deal. Beginning with last year's draft, each team's pick in the first 10 rounds was assigned a certain slot value. Those values added together created a pool of money each team was allotted to spend on the first 10 rounds. Houston, with the No. 1 overall pick, had the largest pool of over $11.65 million for its picks in the first 10 rounds while Washington, with the last pick in each round, had the smallest pool at just over $2.73 million. If a team chose to pay a player in the first round more than the slot, the overage would be taken from the rest of its pool. Players drafted in rounds 11 through 40, like Miller and Weiss, could be given bonuses up to $100,000. If a team decided to sign a player past the 10th round for more than $100,000, that money would also be taken out of the pool for the first 10 rounds. In this way, MLB aimed to curb the exorbitant spending of wealthy clubs, which in past drafts could pay players in the 20th round $750,000 bonuses with no punishment. Smaller-market teams with less money couldn't afford such spending and it created an imbalance. Now if teams still decide to exceed the allotted pool of money for picks in the first 10 rounds, they will be taxed on the total overage with the severest of penalties being the loss of first-round picks in the following two drafts. Teams might be able to pay the taxes, but the loss of a first-round pick would greatly deter them from overspending. "I think the initial thought when the CBA first came out, was, this was really going to help college baseball then as a result really help the Cape Cod League," said Quattlebaum. Some in the industry thought without the extreme spending the top high school prospects would opt to play in college instead of an 'average' pay-day right out of high school. But it didn't turn out that way as high school players have still signed over the last two years. Of the 15 high schoolers drafted in the first round, just one remains unsigned. Meanwhile, four college first-rounders have yet to sign. "I think kids are still signing now that the money has changed and it's not the Wild West where you can throw any kind of bonus, the kids who are going to sign, sign," said Quattlebaum. "So it hasn't been as dramatic an effect as we all thought it would." "They've got a much better idea of what the number's going to be," said New York Yankees vice president of amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer. "I don't think you see this negotiation and somebody caving in the last minute like in the past. So I think it's been a good situation in terms of getting people out playing baseball (in the minors) and not waiting around all summer." Another reason players are signing quicker is because the signing deadline has been moved up by one month from mid-August to mid-July. There's not as much opportunity for college players to 'play into' a larger deal in a summer league because there is a month less time to showcase themselves and because major league teams are less willing to drop extra money on picks without facing penalties. "You really can't do much with your pool money," said Oppenheimer, who was also at Fenway on Monday. "That top 10 pool money is kind of limited and if you can save some of that top 10 for one of these guys taken after the 10th round that's great but it's hard to do that." That's what Miller is hoping for from the Brewers. According to Baseball America's draft database, the Brewers have already signed their top 10 picks and still have $89,300 remaining that they can choose to allocate to players past round 10, like Miller, and not be penalized. Miller is one of four Brewers' picks from the 11th to the 20th round that haven't signed yet. *** FYI -- The other pending signees are 12th round LHP Trevor Seidenberger out of TCU, 19th round RHP Josh Matheson of Minnesota State - Mankato, and 20th round LHP Ryan Yarbrough of Old Dominion. Yarbrough has stated he won't be signing - Jim *** While at Pepperdine this spring, Miller led the Waves rotation with a 2.71 ERA and 89.2 innings. He struck out 67 and walked 27. So far this summer with Orleans, Miller has a 5.53 ERA and 2-0 record in three starts. He earned the win on Tuesday allowing four runs, three earned, and seven hits in five innings against Falmouth. "I really do want to get my degree because I'm working for my business degree at Pepperdine, but if I can get that paid for while starting my professional career and putting money in the bank, that's a win-win right there," said Miller of his negotiations with Milwaukee. Weiss faces a similar case with the Pirates. Like Miller, he's a junior and concerned that not signing now might mean he has even less leverage next summer after his senior year. "If I go back I would also graduate and have another year in Texas, which is not a bad university, we get treated pretty well there so getting back to that is pretty awesome, too," Weiss said. "But definitely that does take away some leverage. It's all up to me to do as good as I can to get the money." Another Pittsburgh pick weighing his options on the Cape is Brewster's Jake Stinnett. The Maryland right-hander was selected in the 29th round. Stinnett has discussed his options with former Terrapins teammate Jimmy Reed, who pitched for Orleans last summer. The Yankees drafted Reed in the 21st round of the 2012 draft, but he didn't sign and followed up with a strong senior season this spring. Reed was selected in the sixth round by the Cardinals last month and signed. "It's such a good league, if you do well here. If I don't sign this year then maybe next year, if I have a good summer here, then there's leverage," Stinnett said. Waiting or signing is a decision Stinnett, Weiss and Miller and other drafted Cape Leaguers need to make a week from today. "We're all just looking for an opportunity to play at the next level," Miller said. Orleans Firebirds pitcher Corey Miller, left, and Chatham Angler third baseman Erich Weiss chat on the field at Fenway Park. Photo by Christine Hochkep/Cape Cod Times http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CC&Date=20130705&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=307050313&Ref=AR&MaxW=570&MaxH=370&border=0&cb=20130705094500

Stars Drop Series Opener With Smokies By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars After one-hitting the Chattanooga Lookouts and clinching their first series win in over a month on Wednesday, the Huntsville Stars fell in their series opener against the Tennessee Smokies by a score of 5-1 at Smokies Park on Thursday night. Attempting to continue their momentum from their third one-hitter of the season, the Stars broke out to the initial lead in the second inning. With one out, third baseman Joey Paciorek launched a solo homer against Smokies starter Erik Jokisch to put Huntsville up 1-0. Unfortunately, that was all the run support the Stars could muster against the Smokies pitching staff. Jokisch improved to 7-7 on the year after giving up that one run and four hits through six innings while striking out a season-high nine-batters. Jokisch, righty P.J Francescon and reliever Tony Zych combined to retire the last 19 Stars batters of the ballgame in a row. The scoreless ninth inning for Zych gave him his first save of the season. After Stars starting pitcher Drew Gagnon no-hit the Smokies through four innings and shutout the Smokies through five innings, the Tennessee bats started to get after it in the top of the sixth. Following a leadoff triple by outfielder Matt Szczur, an RBI single by second baseman Airesmendy Alcantara tied up the game. Two batters later, a two-run homer from first baseman Justin Bour scored Alcantara and put the Smokies up for good. Tennessee picked up their other insurance run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly from outfielder Rubi Silva against Stars reliever Arcenio Leon. With the loss, Gagnon fell to 1-4 on the year after giving up three runs and six hits in 5.1 innings pitched. The 23-year-old righty also struck out four batters while walking two. On offense, outfielder Chadwin Stang, shortstop Nick Shaw and first baseman Jason Rogers each had a single. The Stars will play game two of a five-game series at Smokies Park against the Tennessee Smokies on Friday. Huntsville will send RHP Ariel Pena (5-6, 3.14 ERA) to the bump to try to get back on the right track. Tennessee will counter with RHP Alberto Cabrera (7-3, 3.49 ERA). First pitch is 7:15 PM (6:15 Central).

Brewers tag out Voyagers by Jesse Geleynse, Great Falls Tribune Sports Writer You won’t see a lot of sacrifice bunts in the Pioneer League. But Helena Brewers manager Tony Diggs wants his players to excel in all aspects at the plate. The Brewers pushed across the go-ahead run with a squeeze bunt from Renaldo Jenkins, and Angel Ortega singled in two more through a drawn-in infield as the Helena Brewers topped the Great Falls Voyagers 6-3 Thursday in front of 3,095 fans at Centene Stadium. “That’s an intricate part of baseball that has been lost a little bit, but we pride ourselves in being able to get down bunts,” Diggs said. “We missed two opportunities earlier in the game where we probably could have picked up some insurance runs, but that’s a part of baseball as well.” The Brewers remained in first place at 9-6 while the Voyagers fell to 7-8. Astute fans expected to see a pitchers’ duel with two highly drafted starters on the mound, but neither starter figured in the decision. Brewers’ starter Barrett Astin, Milwaukee’s third-round pick out of Arkansas, lasted three innings. Voyagers’ starter Andrew Mitchell, Chicago’s fourth-round pick out of TCU faired a touch better as he allowed three runs in four innings of work. Instead the respective bullpens provided the mound moxie as they combined to hold one another scoreless until the ninth. “We’ve been getting real good pitching lately,” Diggs said. “It they keep throwing the way they’re throwing right now and our defense keeps playing the way they’re playing, we should be fine.” The Voyagers’ bullpen and defense gave way in the ninth. Taylor Brennan worked a one-out walk and advanced to third when Dionis Hinjosa reached on an error. Jenkins laid down a squeeze bunt to score Brennan with the go-ahead run and reached second when Voyagers reliever Nick Blount threw the ball away at first. Ortega singled up the middle through a drawn-in infield to score two and the Brewers led 6-3. The Voyagers brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the inning, but Zach Voight grounded sharply into a game-ending double play. His final at-bat belied what was an impressive evening at the plate for Voight, who hit the ball hard three times. He gave the Voyagers their only runs with a three-run homer in the first and lined out deep to center field later in the game. Voight’s homer was the first of his two-year professional career. “It was a good pitch and he drove it,” Voyagers hitting coach Charlie Poe said. “He did what he was supposed to do with it and it was good to see him get his first bomb of the year.” The Brewers struck for two runs in the top of the third. Charlie Markson had an RBI single and put runners at first and second. Michael Ratterree hit a ground ball to short and Voyagers shortstop Jairo Kelly went to Justin Jirschele at second for the force. Jirschele then threw behind the runner Ortega at third. Ortega was caught in a rundown and tagged out, but the home plate umpire ruled that third baseman Voight interfered and awarded Ortega home for a 3-2 score. Voyagers manager Pete Rose Jr. came out to argue and was ejected. “We had a lot of chances tonight, but we missed our opportunities,” Poe said. “It seemed like our bubble got busted when Pete got ejected from the game.” Garrett Cooper tied the game at 3-3 with an opposite-field home run to right field in the top of the fourth. Cooper’s four home runs lead the North Division and rank second overall. “I feel like I can hit the ball all over the field and when they leave fastballs over the outside part of the plate, I try and drive the ball the other way,” Cooper said. “I try to get my arms extended. They try and pound in, and they miss, and they have to go to a 3-1 fastball in the middle of the plate and I get my arms extended.” James Hudelson pitched three scoreless innings and worked around leadoff doubles in both the sixth and seventh innings for the Voyagers. Adam Engle had three hits and Jirschele added two for the Voyagers. “We came up a little short, but we brought the tying run to the plate tonight and that’s all we can ask for,” Poe said. The four-game series continues tonight at 7:00 (8:00 Central). Probable starters are Jose Bautista (1-1, 4.22) for Great Falls and Zach Quintana (0-1, 9.00) for Helena. Great Falls Voyagers Adam Engel (26) is tagged out during a rundown by Helena Brewers third baseman Taylor Brennan in the first inning Thursday at Centene Stadium. / TRIBUNE PHOTO BY LARRY BECKNER http://cmsimg.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=G1&Date=20130704&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=307040017&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Pioneer-Baseball-Helena-Brewers-tag-out-Voyagers

Wells tosses seven scoreless innings in Cubs victory Chris Boyle, Daytona News-Journal Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH -- Tim Saunders and Dusitn Geiger each homered and Ben Wells threw seven scoreless innings as the Daytona Cubs treated its largest crowd of the season to a 3-1 Independence Day victory over the visiting Brevard County Manatees. Wells (6-6), who threw just 76 pitches, allowed only three Manatees to reach base. “My fastball was working well – I was able to get a lot of groundballs with it,” said Wells, who retired 11 hitters via groundout. “Our defense played a hell of a game behind me. You can't ask for anything more.” A pair of home runs provided all the offensive support Wells would need. But, everything started at the bottom of the order. Pin-Chieh Chen ignited the offense after the Cubs' first eight hitters went down in order, floating a bunt single over Brevard County starter Brent Suter's head. He followed it up by stealing second and advancing to third on an errant throw. Moments later, Tim Saunders provided the clutch hit – launching a two-run homer to left field. “After we started chasing everything, I was just looking for one up in the zone,” Saunders said. “I think we did a good job of getting (Suter) out of his comfort zone and slowing him down a little.” Dustin Geiger added his ninth home run of the season in the sixth inning to extend the lead. While the bats fizzled at the start of the evening, the Cubs (43-35, 8-4) made a number of sparkling plays in the field, headlined by Javier Baez. Baez slid deep in the hole between shortstop and third, snared the ball backhanded and gunned down Greg Hopkins to start the eighth inning and prevent any kind of Brevard County rally. Carlos Gutierrez nailed down his first save, working two innings of relief. The Cubs, who lost to the Manatees 5-1 Wednesday night in Viera, have now won 10 of their last 14 games overall. Thursday night's attendance was 5,049. In addition to postgame fireworks, the fans were treated to one of the shortest games of the year – an hour and 58 minutes. Cubs manager Dave Keller said both Wells and Suter worked very quickly to get ahead in the count. “If you work fast and you throw strikes, it really puts the pressure on the hitter,” Keller said. “They know the ball's coming into the strike zone, and they've got to be ready.”

Alex's audio call: Third baseman Joey Paciorek gives the Stars a 1-0 lead over the Tennessee Smokies with a solo homer in the second inning

Nashville video from Thursday: Khris Davis hits a solo homer (in the rain) in the Sounds' 7-0 win over the Memphis Redbirds Chris Narveson strikes out Kolten Wong (includes a unique "360" from catcher Robinzon Diaz)