Jim Goulart

Pierce off to good start for Manatees by Steve Clark, The Reporter Media By his own admission, Chad Pierce doesn’t bring anything overly special to the pitcher’s mound. The Fond du Lac native now pitching for the Brevard County Manatees, the advanced Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, doesn’t feature a 95 mph-plus fastball or a slider that sends hitters running back to the dugout. His curveball and change-up may be above average pitches but not the caliber that have scouts drooling in the stands. What Pierce does have is the ability to get opposing hitters out. And has he tries to make a name for himself to keep rising through the organization, he believes that will help him stand out. “I’m not overpowering at all, but the majority of the time I’m able to throw three pitches for strikes and that’s key at this level or any level,” Pierce said in a phone interview before a game against Clearwater this past weekend. “I think being able to keep guys off my fastball, whether it’s with a change up or a curveball, if I keep doing that hopefully it can set me apart from other guys and hopefully, this season or next season get up a level.” After a rough start to the 2013 season, Pierce has found his groove on the mound. Over his last eight appearances, the right-hander, who pitches mainly out of the bullpen, has allowed just one run in 20 1/3 innings and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 14 2/3 innings. For the season, he is 2-1 with a 2.36 earned run average and has allowed just 18 hits, while striking out 39 in 34 1/3 innings. “The last couple games, I’ve taken off a little bit after a couple rough ones early on in the season,” Pierce said. “Overall a good start to the season and something I’m looking forward to all year long.” The biggest key for him — and something every pitcher deals with — is staying away from walks. That played a role in his slow start when he allowed eight earned runs in his first 14 innings of work this season. “They don’t like to see guys walk a lot of people. I did early in the season and that really bugged me,” Pierce said. “It’s a long season so you need to be able to weather some storms, the ups and downs. … If you have a bad outing, the next one, you just get back on the bump and get after it.” With Pierce’s help, the Manatees are currently in second place in the Florida State League’s North Division, one-game behind Dunedin, a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate. It shouldn’t be any surprise that this group is near the top of the standings since the bulk of the roster were members of the Midwest League Champion Wisconsin Timber Rattlers last year. It’s not something that the team relives with regularity, however, the experience of being a part of a championship winning team has definitely carried over to this season. “We’ll talk sometimes about last year, but last year is in the past and this year we’re trying to win a championship here,” Pierce said. “We’ve got a great clubhouse. That helped us last year and we’re able to relive it this year just by the way we are with each other. “We won in the past and we believe in ourselves and I think that will carry over into this season and it has so far.” The only thing that hasn’t carried over for Pierce is the fans in the stands backing him personally. He said family and friends regularly made the jaunt up Highway 41 to Fox Cities Stadium last season to watch him play for the Timber Rattlers, which obviously doesn’t happen this season. As much as he misses the support, he believes playing in Florida may be tougher on his family than on him. “They were able to live a dream last year. Not often do you get a chance to watch your sun play pro ball or even college ball so close to home and my parents were fortunate enough to see me play a lot,” said Pierce, who played collegiately at UW-Milwaukee. “For me, it’s the same thing no matter where I am. You have to go out and there compete.”

Stars Drop Thriller, Series to Smokies By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars In a game that featured six lead changes, the Stars lost the series-deciding game of a five-game set with the Tennessee Smokies at Smokies Park by a score of 8-6 on Monday night. The early (and often) scoring started in the first inning as Stars second baseman and leadoff man Nick Shaw hit his first homer of the season on the fifth pitch of the game to make the score 1-0 (audio). In the bottom half of the frame, Tennessee started the lead change trend as an RBI single from Airesmendy Alcantara tied up the game at one apiece. Scoring remained silent until the fourth inning, where Stars outfielder Brock Kjeldgaard hit a solo homer off of Smokies starter Matt Loosen, giving him his third longball of the series while giving Huntsville a 2-1 lead. However, they would once again lose the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Stars starting pitcher Arcenio Leon walked four batters in the frame, including two runs home with the bases loaded and also gave up a sacrifice fly to first baseman Jonathan Mota to put Tennessee up by two. Leon was chased from the ballgame in the fourth (3.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1K), ending the Stars streak of eight consecutive quality starts. Huntsville reliever Mark Williams got Leon out of the inning as he induced an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. One inning later, the Stars provided an equalizer of their own. After a two-out walk from outfielder Kentrail Davis, first baseman Jason Rogers crushed his league-leading 10th homer of the year well over the left-field wall to tie the game back up at four. After the Smokies took the lead back in the sixth, back-to-back RBI doubles from shortstop Hector Gomez and Davis put the Stars back up 6-5 in the top of the seventh inning. Unfortunately for the Stars, the Smokies offense had one last comeback up their sleeves. Following a game-tying RBI double from outfielder Rubi Silva in the seventh inning, Tennessee took the lead for good their next time up. With Casey Medlen (L, 1-3) into the ballgame, catcher Chad Noble led off the inning with a single. Three batters later, Torreyes hit a two-out, two-run homer that barely hooked inside the left-field foul pole to put Tennessee up for good. For the Smokies, reliever Tony Zych improved to 1-2 on year, shutting out the Stars in the final two innings of the game. On offense, the Stars were led by Shaw, who had three hits. Third baseman Mike Walker and Kjeldgaard each had two knocks apiece. The Stars will drive through the night to The Ballpark at Jackson to start a five-game series with the Jackson Generals on Wednesday. Huntsville will send RHP Jimmy Nelson (5-3, 2.98 ERA) to the bump to square off against Jackson RHP Erasmo James (1-1, 7.99 ERA). First pitch is at 7:05 CT.

Helena Brewers new card set -- MLB'ers

Pretty cool Craig Breslow story (wow, we've been here awhile, huh, 2004 release)

Nashville Media Notes -- HENSLEY JOINS SOUNDS BULLPEN: Veteran right-hander Clay Hensley has joined the Sounds after signing with the Brewers as a minor league free agent today. The 33-year-old opened the year with Louisville (AAA-Reds), where he went 0-1 with a 4.00 ERA (8 ER / 18.0 IP) in 15 relief outings before being released on May 20. Hensley, who spent all of last season with the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, has logged 271 MLB appearances during his 13-year career. He fills Donovan Hand’s roster spot. Career Stats (Majors / Minors)

Just an FYI, we could update indy league transactions on Brewer alumni near daily, but we do only on those within the system since this past spring training -- Despite two near-perfect outings (stats), RHP Stosh Wawrzasek was released by his Can-Am League team in Quebec.

MillerParkProspects.com -- Future of the Franchise: First Base

Via Alex and the Stars -- Quality Starts… Overall, the Stars have gotten eight straight quality starts from their starters. Combined, RHP Ariel Pena (12.1 IP, 1 ER), RHP Taylor Jungmann (13.0 IP, 5 ER), RHP Andy Moye (14.0 IP, 3 ER), RHP Arcenio Leon (6.0 IP, 2 ER) and RHP Jimmy Nelson (7 IP, 2 ER) have a 2.25 ERA over that time. *** Impressive, need that at the big league level.

Weather.com: Nashville Kodak, TN Peoria, IL

Look for Nashville and Wisconsin media notes at the links just prior to their game times.

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.

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

Follow Monday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Wisconsin 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).

Monday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Tyler Thornburg at home vs. Albuquerque (Dodgers), 1:45 PM pre-game, 2:05 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 Arcenio Leon at Tennessee (Cubs), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Huntsville feed from the MiLB main audio page 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: Idle ********** Wisconsin: RHP Austin Blaski at Peoria (Cardinals), 12:40 PM pre-game, 1:00 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. 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: 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).

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

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

Magnifico start keys Rattlers’ 6-3 victory over Chiefs Wisconsin starter throws six scoreless, birthday boy homers to spoil Chiefs manager’s B-day By HAYDEN SHAVER of the Peoria Journal Star PEORIA — Wisconsin’s Alfredo Rodriguez had a better birthday on Sunday than Peoria Chiefs manager Dann Bilardello. The Timber Rattlers second baseman celebrated his 23rd birthday by going 2-for-4 with a home run, his first of the year, and two RBIs in a 6-3 victory at Dozer Park. Timber Rattlers starter Damien Magnifico silenced the Chiefs through six innings, allowing four hits to run his record to 5-0 on the year. “Their starter Magnifico was magnificent. He pitched really well so I have to tip my cap to him,” said Bilardello. Peoria trailed 6-0 when it trimmed its deficit in half with three runs in the seventh. “We had opportunity,” said Bilardello, who was born 31 years before Rodriguez. “We scored three after they scored three. That was a really big inning. You just never know in this game.” In the Chiefs’ three-run seventh, catcher Adam Ehrlich got Peoria on the board with an RBI single, before Ildemaro Vargas singled to right with the bases loaded to bring home a pair of runs. Vargas finished 2-for-4. Chiefs’ righty Joe Cuda struck out 11 Timber Rattlers. He gave up three runs on six hits, including the two-run shot by Rodriguez. “I felt pretty comfortable out there. One pitch, not a terrible pitch, but the guy was on it and hit it out,” said Cuda.” It’s going to happen, but I felt pretty good.” Bilardello was happy with Cuda’s performance, echoing the thoughts of his young starter. “He pitched great, said Bilardello. “He didn’t really struggle. He had one pitch that was up, a breaking ball that was up in the zone and the hitter did what he was supposed to do. Other than that he pitched fantastic.” Cuda’s 11 strikeouts were a new career-high. “It was one of those things, kind of working throughout the game, wasn’t conscious of it, but when it’s all said and done it feels good,” said Cuda “Made some good pitches in good situations and kind of helped myself out a little bit and, of course the defense. “Those guys worked hard back there. It’s nice when you have a team that can make the plays.” The teams meet again at 1 p.m. Monday in the rubber match at Dozer Park.

Not a divisional foe, but still, 16 years old, Midwest League debut, wow!

Brevard County audio: Sunday's game highlights / lowlights *** OF Mitch Haniger joins Andy Towne on the Manatees' pregame show

Video from Saturday: Kentrail Davis laces a triple in Huntsvlile's 7-2 win over Tennesee

Smokies Even Up Series With Stars Alex Cohen, Huntsville Stars In a quick turnaround after a 7-2 win on Saturday night, the Huntsville Stars fell to the Tennessee Smokies by a score of 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Smokies Park to even their series at two games apiece. Starting in the second inning, the Smokies took grasp of the lead, one that they would not relinquish. After Stars starting pitcher Andy Moye retired the first five batters he faced on the game, a pop-up by Smokies third baseman Christian Villanueva fell in between five Huntsville infielders blinded by the sun, giving the 21-year-old an infield double. The next at-bat, first baseman Tim Torres hit a two-run homer to make the score 2-0. Villanueva then came through again with an RBI groundout in the fourth inning to put the Smokies up by three. For the Stars, they were only able put together a string of runs and mount their version of a comeback in the sixth inning. Following five scoreless innings from Tennessee starter Eric Jokisch (W, 4-3), back-to-back hits from first baseman Jason Rogers and Brock Kjeldgaard put runners at the corners with nobody out. After a sacrifice fly from Rene Tosoni (audio) put the Stars on the board, catcher Shawn Zarraga delivered an RBI double to score Kjeldgaard and cut the Smokies lead to 3-2 (audio, Alex's call / video, Smokies call). Unfortunately for the Stars, that's the closest they would get to clinching the series victory on Sunday. The Smokies scored two runs in the seventh off of Stars reliever Greg Holle and three Tennessee relievers combined to shut out the Stars through the final 3.1 innings of the game to cruise to the victory. With the loss, Moye fell to 2-6 on the season after giving up three runs in six innings while striking out six in the process. The quality start for Moye was the 8th straight for the Stars starting rotation. On offense, the Stars were paced by Rogers, who went 2-for-3 with his team leading 14th double of the year. Moye also helped out his own cause with two hits, as the former college third baseman now has all three hits for the Stars pitching staff this season. The Stars and Smokies will play the rubber match of their five-game series at Smokies Park on Monday. Huntsville will send RHP Arcenio Leon (2-5, 4.76 ERA) to the bump to square off against Tennessee RHP Matt Loosen (1-1, 7.99 ERA). First pitch is at 7:15 PM (6:15 Central).

Via Jeff Hem's blog -- Audio from Nashville — Bob Miscik (Part 2) Here is Part 2 of a two-part interview with Bob Miscik, the Brewers’ minor league roving infield instructor. In this segment, Miscik discusses Sounds first baseman Hunter Morris, who won a Gold Glove in ’12 as the minor leagues’ top defensive first baseman, how players can learn about defense by watching their teammates and other players in their league, the four major league Gold Glove winners Miscik has worked with in his career and the defensive ability of Brewers shortstop and budding star Jean Segura.

Video from Saturday: Nashville's Hunter Morris hits a two-run homer as the Sounds fall to Albuquerque, 3-2

You heard Jeff's call earlier, now you can match it up with the video: Khris Davis homers during a three-hit day in Nashville's 3-2 win over Albuquerque