Jim Goulart

More media notes: Huntsville Wisconsin Learn about Carlos George's outfield "experience"...

Seidel has a night of firsts By TODD SOMMERFELDT | lacrossetribune.com R.J. Seidel didn’t worry about the big picture when he entered the Huntsville Stars’ Southern League baseball game against Chattanooga (Tenn.) on Thursday night. The Stars had a two-run lead, but the Central High School graduate’s focus was squarely on the specific situation. Seidel, a right-handed pitcher, was being summoned to retire a pretty good right-handed hitter who was stepping to the plate with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. A curveball down in the zone led C.J. Retheford — Chattanooga’s No. 5 batter — to hit a soft fly ball to the shortstop and end the scoring threat. Seidel then pitched a hitless sixth inning before yielding to another reliever, who yielded to another in the ninth. When the final out was recorded, Seidel could celebrate not only a 3-1 victory for the Milwaukee Brewers’ Class AA team, but also his first win of the summer and a new milestone in his pitching career, which now includes participation in a no-hitter. “I’d never been part of (pitching) a no-hitter, either myself or with a group of pitchers,” the 6-foot-5 Seidel said. “It’s a cool experience because of that and because it’s been three or four years since there’s been one in Huntsville.” Seidel, 24, is in his second season with Huntsville and has contributed mainly as a reliever this summer. The Stars needed help from four relievers to record Thursday’s no-hitter, which was started by Jimmy Nelson, who struck out four and walked four. Seidel (1-2), the Tribune’s player of the year in 2006, walked two and threw a wild pitch, but lowered his ERA to 4.59 in 49 innings. He has 34 strikeouts and one save with 25 of his 29 appearances coming in relief and a 4.17 ERA as a reliever. He said the transition to pitching as a middle reliever and receiving spot starts has been a smooth one. “It’s definitely a different mentality,” said Seidel, who calls Arizona home in the offseason. “You have to come in focused right away on what you have to do, and you don’t have that four of five days to build it up. “I seem to be more relaxed when I pitch, and I don’t have to deal with the hype that comes with starting a game. I like coming out of the (bull)pen.” And with pitchers like Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena — both acquired in the Zack Greinke trade — also playing for the Stars, finding a way to stand out becomes more important. “They are really talented guys, and (shortstop Jean Segura) is one of the best shortstops I’ve ever seen,” Seidel said. “It gives you a fire and makes you work harder when you get out there. “It gives you incentive to keep working hard at what you’re doing.”

As for today's Link Report title...

Brad and 185 photos from Burlington - Wisconsin Thursday

Nashville Media Notes

Jim Henderson enjoying life in the ‘bigs’: Former Okotoks Dawgs pitcher has been turning heads with the Milwaukee Brewers Gotta admit, I could type "Okotoks Dawgs" all day...

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 Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division Rookie - Arizona Summer League DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris Division *** NOTE: AAA Nashville does not play a split schedule. The other leagues, including the rookie leagues, do. When you click on a standings link for Huntsville, Brevard County or Wisconsin, you'll then be able to choose 1st half and/or overall standings in addition to the current 2nd half standings.

Follow Saturday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin Helena Maryvale

Saturday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Claudio Vargas at Fresno (Giants), 8:50 PM pre-game, 9:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link Jeff Hem is the new 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). We imagine the audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. ********** Huntsville: RHP Ariel Pena at home vs. Pensacola (Reds), 6:28 PM pre-game, 6:43 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Huntsville feed from the MiLB main audio page Alex Cohen is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen. It's fantastic that Huntsville is returning to what will be a traditional broadcast format this year. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. MiLB.TV subsciption note: Huntsville road games in four locales (Mississippi, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Pensacola) will be broadcast. ********** Brevard County: RHP Drew Gagnon at Tampa (Yankees), 4:00 PM gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Tampa feed from the MiLB main audio page Once again this season, Brevard does not have its own audio coverage. It appears two teams in the Manatees North Division (within which the majority of games are played) have audio, and all six teams in the South Division have audio (at least for their home games), so there will be opportunities to listen to approx. 70% or Brevard's games this season, just all from the opponent's perspective. There are no Florida State League games on MiLB.TV this year. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Matt Miller at Beloit (Twins), 6:40 PM pre-game, 7:00 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. MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; Wisconsin is one of only two (Great Lakes) Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV; Chris' call provides the audio. So for the $39.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, all Timber Rattlers home games, and Stars' road games from four Southern League locales, plus one July Helena series (11th-13th). ********** Helena: RHP Leonard Lorenzo at Missoula (Reds), 7:50 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Helena feed from the MiLB main audio page We're lucky to have Steve Wendt back on board for another H-Crew season. ********** Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at home vs. the Reds' farmhands; 9:00 PM gametime; never audio for games in this league ********** DSL Brewers: Idle

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

Cream City Cables: Nick Ramirez Q&A Interview

Photog supreme Bill Mitchell with 80 photos of Arizona League Brewers -- nice!

"Rare" Arizona Brewer game photo

Catching up on Nashville video highlights from Fresno: Khris Davis HR from Wednesday Eric Farris steals third base in Thursday's loss Jordan Brown's two-run single, also from Thursday's extra-inning loss

DSL Braves 14, DSL Brewers 6 Box Score Wish there was better news about 2011 2nd round RHP Jorge Lopez, his 2012 season has been stunning in its ineffectiveness level and journey to the DSL rather than Helena. Well, still just 19 years old... Game Log Cool, a Leudi Otano sighting! (Idle sine June 4th, only other game this year)

Lentz’s bat powers Mustangs past Brewers By Amber Kuehn, Helena Independent Record Several photos available at the lead link in this post The diamond is suiting Matt Lentz just fine. The Billings Mustangs left fielder, who traded in his football cleats for a baseball glove following a string of concussions on the gridiron, finished a triple shy of the cycle Friday night in the Mustangs’ 6-4 win over Helena. Lentz even smashed his first professional home run at Kindrick Legion Field, a moment made all the more memorable considering it was his first time clearing the fences since his junior year of high school in 2005. “I had a good day, I was hitting the ball well,” said the modest Lentz, whose path to professional baseball was an unconventional one. Lentz was a safety at the University of Kentucky for three years before being sidelined by concussions. He helped coach the team the next two seasons and earned his college degree in business administration, a professional career in sports the farthest thing from his mind. “A buddy found me a tryout with the Cincinnati Reds and talked me into doing it one day,” explained Lentz, a mature 23-year-old and the only married player on the team. “I trained for a couple weeks, went to it, and the next thing I know, they signed me. It’s been pretty cool.” Lentz signed a free agent contract last year after impressing at the open tryout in Cleveland and appeared in 11 games in the Arizona League. While adapting to the professional game is difficult for any player, it was especially challenging for Lentz, who had just picked up the bat for the first time since 2006. He was an all-star center fielder in high school. “I struggled a little bit after five years of not playing,” said Lentz, who is hitting .261 this season. “Baseball is so frustrating. You fail more than you succeed … but it’s nice coming back.” Lentz’s bomb was the second of the game for the Mustangs, who took a 4-2 lead in the fourth. The Brewers blew an early lead for the second straight day and ran into too many outs on the base paths. Alfredo Rodriguez and Adam Giacalone were both caught stealing in the contest, and Yonki Hernandez was out on a double play in the eighth after jumping early on a fly ball to center field. “We can’t do that, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Helena manager Jeff Isom, also disappointed in the base hits given up after pitchers got ahead in 0-2 counts. “If we’re going to be a good team we’ve got to eliminate mistakes on the pitching side and on the base running side. We’re hot and cold. They’re learning. We continue to talk about being aggressive, but being smart. Pick and choose your time, understand what the situation is.” It was a night of firsts for the Mustangs. Drew Cisco started on the mound and picked up his first win of the season, despite giving up three runs on six hits. Seth Mejias-Brean became the first player in the Pioneer League this season to bat safely in 20 straight games. The victory kept Billings in a tie for first place with Missoula in the second-half standings. And for Lentz, it was a first he’ll never forget. He took the fastball from Gibbard on the hitter’s count and sent it sailing over the left-field wall, then rounded the bases to the cheers of his teammates who were there to greet him at home plate. “I get to play baseball for a living,” the South Carolina native said, “and I’m having a blast doing it. No complaints.” Helena heads to Missoula today to take on the Osprey, winners of four straight. Today’s probable starters are Leonard Lorenzo for Helena and Jared Ray for Missoula.

By the way, watch this video to learn why Steve and Elvin Nina joked about Missoula's "Peanut Inning".

Mustangs take rubber match 6-4 Helena Brewers Despite three errors in the series finale Billings was able to escape Helena with a a 6-4 victory. The win improves Billings' second half record to 5-1, while the Brewers drop to 2-4. The Brewers offense once again performed well at the plate with seven of the nine hitters recording hits in the contest. Lately It seems that every night first baseman Adam Giacalone is leading the charge for the Brewers; it was no different on Friday. Giacalone continued his torrid pace going 2-for-4 with an RBI. The performance raised Giacalone's season average to .345. Also of note, was second baseman Chris McFarland's continued comfort in the leadoff spot. Friday was the third consecutive game in which McFarland batted first for the Helena Brewers. The Lufkin, Texas product entered the evening with a .367/.406/.467 line when leading off an inning and Friday's 2-for-4 performance did nothing to hurt those numbers. For the season, McFarland's batting average has inched back toward .300 and currently sits at .298. For the Mustangs, the evening was highlighted by multi-hit nights from Beau Amaral, Zach Vincej, Matt Lentz and Seth Mejias Brean, who recorded his first hit in the top of the fifth. This event was particularly noteworthy, because it extended the Pioneer League season high hit streak to twenty games. The Brewers will travel west on US 12 and I-90 tomorrow to head on the Missoula Osprey for the first game of a three game series. Joel Pierce threw one inning of relief on Friday night. (Sleeping Giant Photography) http://www.milb.com/images/2012/08/03/NBFcuwyJ.jpg

AUDIO: Helena Brewers broadcaster Steve Wendt sits down to chat with Brewers' pitching coach Elvin Nina Gibbard, Wall, Mangum discussed...

Brevard falls to Tampa in series opener Yanks score five in third as 'Tees lose 6-2 By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees TAMPA, Fla. - A five-run third inning was the demise of the Brevard County Manatees on Friday night as they were defeated 6-2 by the Tampa Yankees in the series opener between the two teams at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Down 1-0 after two innings, Manatees starting pitcher Jed Bradley (5-10, 5.53) allowed six hits and two walks in the third inning, including a pair of two-run homers to Kyle Higashioka and Kyle Roller as the 'Tees (22-20 second half, 51-59 overall) fell behind 6-0. For Bradley, he went just four innings and allowed six runs on ten hits, while walking two and striking out two. The southpaw has given up at least six runs and ten hits in three of his last four starts and fell to 1-6 with a 10.32 ERA in nine starts away from Space Coast Stadium. The duo of Seth Harvey and Greg Holle out of Brevard's bullpen threw two scoreless innings each to give the 'Tees a chance to get back in the game. The Manatees were unable to do that however as they didn't get on the board until the top of the seventh when Cody Hawn launched a two-out homer, his tenth of the season. Jason Rogers and Franklin Romero Jr. added two hits each for the 'Tees who dropped to four games back of the first place Yankees (26-16, 56-53). The 'Tees will give the ball to Drew Gagnon (0-1, 3.50) on Saturday evening at 5:00 PM (4:00 Central) in the second game of their three-game set with the Yanks. Gagnon has already had two starts against Tampa this season and has a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings pitched in those two appearances. Jose A. Ramirez (5-5, 3.79) will get the start for Tampa. He is 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA in the second half of the season.

Rattler Radio Blog: Video Highlights

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers shut out by Burlington Bees by Jim Oskola, Post-Crescent staff writer GRAND CHUTE — It’s tough to win a baseball game when 40 percent of the team’s hits come off the bat of one player. That’s the way it went Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium, where Carlos George went two-for-four for the Timber Rattlers and the rest of the team went three-for-27 in a 1-0 loss to the Burlington Bees in a Midwest League game. “To be honest, it was the rhythm,” said George about what made the parade of Bees pitchers tough to hit. “They were in a good rhythm. They were locating the ball pretty good.” The parade of pitchers started with Julio Ramos, who pitched 3 2/3 innings as he works his way back after missing the 2010 and 2011 seasons due to injury. Ramos was followed by Jose Macias, Raul Alcantara, Chas Mye and Jonathan Joseph. The five struck out 11 and allowed only six base runners with only George, who doubled in the leading off the fourth inning, and Yadiel Rivera, who tripled leading off the eighth, reaching scoring position. George, who has struggled at Fox Cities Stadium with a .182 batting average while hitting .301 on the road this season, didn’t just go up the plate looking for a particular pitch in a particular zone. Instead, he did what would be the equivalent of cramming for a test. “I study the hitters in front me,” George said. “If they were throwing first-pitch fastballs, I was looking for a fastball. If they were throwing a slider, I would look for a slider. That was helping me a little bit to grind it out.” While the Wisconsin batters were struggling to put the ball in play, Jacob Barnes was doing his best to keep the game close. Barnes, who was making only his fourth start of the season for the Timber Rattlers, gave four hits and walked four while striking out nine. Pitching the final game of the four-game series gave Barnes a good idea of what to expect from the Burlington batters. “It does help a lot because you can see the hitters,” Barnes said. “The bad part is they kind of know our tendencies as an organization. It is good to know what each of their hitters can hit and what they can’t hit and how to attack them. It does help a lot that it was the last game of the series rather than the first.” The only run Barnes gave up was a home run to left by Sean Jamieson in the fifth inning on an 0-1 pitch. “I think I attacked the zone for the most part,” Barnes said. “I had a couple that were borderline and didn’t get calls. I kept them off-balance for the most part. I had one bad pitch that I left up but other than that I think I kept them off-balance pretty well.” With his seven innings against Burlington, Barnes lowered his ERA to 3.05 and over his last four appearances, he has allowed seven runs in 24 1/3 for a 2.59 ERA.

WTMJ Brewers' Joe Block Pre-Game Audio Interview with Huntsville RHP Jimmy Nelson

Audio from Fresno — “Words with Brown” Jeff Hem's note -- Tonight’s interview is with Sounds first baseman and outfielder Jordan Brown, who has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games (.425) and is hitting .350 in his last 31 games. Brown discusses the Sounds’ two extra-inning games so far in Fresno, his season to this point, the mental grind of the season, September call-ups and his approach at the plate. We also discussed several off-the-field topics, such as Brown’s domination in the game “Words with Friends,” why he’s not on Twitter and his unique order at coffee shops.