Jim Goulart

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette game story: Starting pitcher Damien Magnifico lit up the stadium’s radar gun to the tune of 99 miles per hour on one pitch during his five-inning stint. It’s widely recognized that the gun is generally two miles per hour slow because of its location in the press box.

Some Huntsville video highlights; nice call by the umpire - Kentrail Davis out at home...

Brevard audio from the 6-3 loss *** More randomly-added MiLB AAA video (Thornburg, Gindl) Wait, that wasn't a strikeout, Tyler...

A chock-full Rattler Radio postgame post -- Thanks, Chris!

Brevard's bats silenced by Lakeland's bullpen 'Tees jump out to 3-0 lead but allow six unanswered in 6-3 loss By Andy Towne / Brevard County Manatees VIERA, Fla. - A 3-0 lead after the first inning wasn't enough for the Brevard County Manatees as they allowed six unanswered runs and were unable to muster any offense against the bullpen of the Lakeland Flying Tigers, in a 6-3 loss on Monday night at Space Coast Stadium in Viera. Chadwin Stang led off the bottom of the first with a single and Greg Hopkins followed with one of his own to give Brevard County (6-5) two early baserunners. After a Nick Ramirez strikeout, both of them would score on a Cameron Garfield single and a Cody Hawn grounder that turned into a fielder's choice, respectively. Hawn also scored after Yadiel Rivera doubled and then back-to-back walks loaded the bases and eventually forced in a run. Lakeland (4-7) starting pitcher Tommy Collier recorded the first out in the second inning, but quickly left the game with an apparent lower body injury. He avoided taking the loss though as the Flying Tigers send out a trio of relievers to hold the Manatees scoreless through 7.2 innings of work. Brevard County was held hitless from Hopkins' second-inning single off of Alex Burgos, who replaced Collier, until a swinging bunt by Stang in the ninth. The 'Tees only saw three base runners reach base - all via walks - from the third inning to the eighth inning. Manatees starting pitcher Drew Gagnon (0-1, 10.32) did not factor in the decision after yielding three runs in four innings. He scattered seven hits and issued two walks, while striking out five. Kevin Shackelford took the loss as he gave up the eventual game-winning run in the fifth inning before two more scoreless frames. In the eighth inning, Jason King added insurance to the Flying Tigers lead with a two-run home run to right off of Seth Harvey. Both teams will again take the field again at 6:35 PM (5:35 Central) on Tuesday as Brevard County closes out a six-game homestand. Another pitching duel is expected between Brevard's Brooks Hall (1-1, 1.64 ERA) and Drew VerHagen (0-2, 2.61 ERA) as they face-off in a rematch from last Thursday's 2-0 Manatees win. Manatees starting pitcher Drew Gagnon struck out five in four innings but did not factor in the decision as Brevard County lost the Lakeland Flying Tigers 6-3 on Monday night. Gagnon allowed three runs and seven hits on the night. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography) http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/6/2/44894862/cuts/Gagnon_4.15_2_1v8186fl_l1o62knu.JPG

STARS SNAP SKID WITH IMPROBABLE WIN Alex Cohen, Huntsville Stars To snap a four-game losing streak, the Huntsville Stars came back from a four-run deficit starting in the eighth inning to beat the Tennessee Smokies in dramatic walkoff fashion by a score of 8-7 on Monday night at Joe Davis Stadium. In regards to scoring, the game starting off slowly as Stars starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson (5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 8 K, 1 BB) and Smokies starting pitcher Dallas Beeler (6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 3 BB) were dealing early. After an RBI double by Smokies LF Jae-Hoon Ha made the score 1-0, the Stars provided the equalizer in the bottom of the second inning. Right fielder Brock Kjeldgaard led off the frame with his second triple of the year off the center field wall. One batter later, third basemen Mike Walker drove Kjeldgaard home with a sacrifice fly to tie up the ballgame at 1-1. The score stayed that way until the top of the fifth inning, where the Smokies seemingly took control of the ballgame. Center fielder Rubi Silva doubled to off of Nelson to start the inning, and went on to score after two consecutive errors by the Stars defense gave the Smokies back the lead. Then, in the top of the sixth inning, Silva struck again. Following singles from Ha and first basemen Justin Bour, the 23-year-old golfed a three-run homer just over the right field wall off of Stars reliever Brian Garman to give Tennessee a commanding 5-1 lead. To limit the damage, the Stars cut their deficit in half with two runs in the bottom half of that frame. After a leadoff double by second baseman Nick Shaw, a walk from shortstop Hector Gomez, an RBI single from right fielder Kentrail Davis and run-scoring groundout from first baseman Jason Rogers made the score 5-3. Unfortunately for Huntsville, the Smokies regained their four-run lead in the top half of the seventh inning, scoring two runs off of Stars reliever Thomas Keeling to bring the score to 7-3. Down to their final six outs and trailing by four, the Stars began their comeback in the bottom of the eighth inning. Just like the sixth inning, a leadoff double by Shaw sparked some life into the Stars dugout. Shaw advanced to second on a groundout by Gomez and then to third on a single by Davis to bring runners at the corners with just one out. Following an RBI single by Rogers (advanced to second on the throw) that scored Shaw, a two-run single from Walker off of Smokies reliever Trey McNutt (L, 0-1) brought home Davis and Rogers to make it a one-run game. Later in the inning, center fielder Rene Tosoni drove in Walker with a double to tie up the game. With the score tied 7-7 in the bottom of the ninth, the top of the order made sure that the Stars comeback would be completed. To begin the inning, Shaw drew a walk against McNutt to begin the inning. Shaw then advanced without an out being recorded as a sacrifice bunt from Gomez went to perfection when Smokies catcher Rafael Lopez unsuccessfully tried to force out Shaw at second. After Shaw moved to third on a deep flyout by Davis, it set the stage for Rogers to be the hero. The former Brewers organizational all-star in 2012 did not disappoint. With a full count, his fly ball to deep center field ultimately plated Shaw ahead of a strong throw by Tennessee center fielder Matt Szczur to complete the comeback in walkoff fashion. For the Stars, the win was their first since their home opener on April 10th. On offense, the Stars were paced with two hits apiece from Shaw, Davis and Rogers. Walker and Rogers each also drove in three runs. In regards to pitching, reliever Casey Medlen (W, 1-0) earned the victory for Huntsville with a scoreless ninth inning. The Stars and Smokies will play game two of a five-game series at Joe Davis Stadium on Tuesday night. Huntsville will send RHP Ariel Pena (0-1, 7.11 ERA) to square off against Tennessee RHP Alberto Cabrera. First pitch is at 6:43 PM.

There's a reason that young man (Shaw, 24) saw as much action in big league camp as he did this spring. Consistently getting on base over 36% of the time tends to do that for you.

Sortable team stats, click on the walks column In particular, the two youngest and highest upside kids, Garfield and Rivera, have yet to draw a single walk in a combined 84 AB's. Thanks, hitting coach, Ned Yost IV. At some point that's just laughable. In Garfield's breakout 2012 at Wisconsin, he approached the acceptable 10% of AB's with a walk threshold.

Or, as speculated here, the AAA New Orleans club is the one to move, which frees up New Orleans as a potential site for a AA Southern League club. *** Huntsville to New Orleans? You get the sense, one way or another, one of the two clubs (Nashville / Huntsville, but particularly Huntsville given the ownership), would be receptive to that type of move.

Adam McCalvy focused on the farm system on this big league off day

RIP, Lumpy.

Absolutely was in place for at least the past two seasons, if not longer. Think back to every single farmhand photo we've seen during that time (Bill Mitchell, Brad Krause). They may have eased the restriction only at the higher levels this season, not quite sure if it's throughout. There were some excited tweets among players upon reporting to camp early this spring. Well, Kevin Youkilis had to shave his infamous goatee for the Yankees this year, they've had their facial hair policy in place forever.

I had the same issue, use this link instead. Sean Halton goes deep as I type this!

Nashville Pre-Game Audio - Mondays with Manager Mike Guerrero Also a chance to catch up if you missed our weekend audio links...

NEW FEATURE! Weather.com: Omaha Huntsville Melbourne (Brevard County) Cedar Rapids

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. Once we're aware of the new online location for Huntsville's Media Notes this season, we'll let you know. (Coming soon, we're told!)

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 Brevard County Wisconsin New MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

Monday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Hiram Burgos at Omaha (Royals), 10:50 AM pre-game, 11:05 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 Jimmy Nelson at home vs. Tennessee (Cubs), 6:18 PM pre-game, 6:43 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: RHP Drew Gagnon at home vs. Lakeland (Tigers), 5:05 PM pre-game, 5:35 PM gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Brevard County feed from the MiLB main audio page 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. NOTE: Dave indicates that he hopes to include a pre-game interview prior to each game; it's a 30-minute pre-game! We'll fill you in if Brevard masters archiving a la Nashville and/or Helena. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Damien Magnifico or RHP Leonard Lorenzo at Cedar Rapids (Twins), 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. 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).

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From Omaha.com, where the focus was on catcher Brett Hayes' huge seven-RBI day -- Hayes had half of the four hits allowed by Tyler Thornburg, who walked one and struck out three in five innings. “He's got some power stuff — mid-90s fastball, good cutter, sharp curveball,” Hayes said. “He's obviously got great stuff and showed it. He threw me a couple of pitches that were up that I took advantage of, but otherwise he did an excellent job.” Omaha's last two-homer game by an individual was last July 30, by Wil Myers. The Chasers hadn't had a seven-RBI game since Lorenzo Cain did so May 14, 2011, while hitting for the cycle against Colorado Springs. Hayes, a former All-Western Athletic Conference catcher at Nevada, had a two-homer, seven-RBI game while rehabbing with high Class A Jupiter in 2010. Omaha veteran Brian Sanches (1-0) pitched 5 2/3 solid innings for the win, allowing two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out four. “He's the type of pitcher who moves the ball both ways away from the plate,” Jirschele said. “These guys (Nashville) like the fastball, and he's the kind of guy they can struggle with because he's throwing his off-speed for strikes and mixing in just enough fastballs to keep them honest.”

Huntsville video highlights via WHNT *** MILB video highlights a day behind -- 4/13/13: Nashville's Cole Garner brings in three runs with a third-inning homer in the Sounds' 8-5 win over Omaha

STARS SHUTOUT BY SUNS By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars In the finale of a five-game series at Joe Davis Stadium, the Huntsville Stars were shutout by the Jacksonville Suns 1-0 on Sunday evening. The only run of the game came in the second inning, where the Suns took the lead for good without even recording a hit. To begin the frame, Stars starting pitcher Arcenio Leon hit right fielder Kyle Jensen and walked third baseman Zack Cox. After Leon struck out left fielder Jake Smolinski, the 26-year-old righty threw two wild pitches in consecutive at-bats to first baseman Mark Canha and shortstop Chris Gutierrez, the second of which allowed Jensen to score the game's only run. While giving up the only run and taking the hard-pressed loss to fall to 0-1 on the year, Leon pitched very well on Sunday. In just his second start since 2009, the former Astros farmhand gave up just two hits over 5.1 innings pitched while striking out six batters. Leon also left the game in the sixth inning with a blister on his throwing hand after walking his fourth batter of the game. Unfortunately for Leon, the Stars offense was unable to muster up any sort of run support, despite out-hitting the Suns by a 6-4 margin. The Huntsville offense left a season-high 11 runners on base, including seven of them that were in scoring position at the time the inning ended. Leading the way for Huntsville on offense was third basemen Jeff Bianchi, who went 2-for-2 with two singles during his second rehab appearance with the Stars in as many days. Bianchi, who has been on the Brewers disabled list since March 27th with a hip injury, is now 3-for-4 with three singles and an RBI in the last two games with Huntsville. In addition to Bianchi, first baseman Jason Rogers, right fielder Brock Kjeldgaard, shortstop Hector Gomez and pinch-hitter Rene Tosoni each added a hit apiece. Besides Leon, Stars relievers R.J Seidel and Eric Marzec combined to shut down the Suns through the last 3.2 innings of the game, giving up no runs and just two hits over that span. The loss for the Stars was their fourth in a row, putting them at an even .500 record (5-5) through the first ten games of the season. On Monday, the Stars will welcome the Tennessee Smokies into town for five more games at Joe Davis Stadium. Huntsville will try to snap their four-game skid by sending RHP Jimmy Nelson (2-0, 1.64 ERA) to the bump to square off against Smokies RHP Dallas Beeler (0-2, 7.46 ERA). First pitch is at 6:43 PM.

Nashville Pre-Game Audio with recently acquired 3rd baseman Stephen Parker (Oakland / RHP Darren Byrd trade)