Jim Goulart

Audio from Albuquerque — “On the Mark” (Rogers) by Jeff Hem Today’s interview is with Sounds right-hander Mark Rogers, who has put together consecutive solid outings for the Sounds on his way back from surgery on both wrists last season. The Brewers’ ’04 1st-round pick also discusses the rehab process from carpal tunnel syndrome and his high school days in Maine when he was offered a baseball scholarship by Miami, a hockey scholarship by Dartmouth and a soccer scholarship by Duke (he turned down all three to sign with The Crew as the 5th overall pick in the draft).

I'm intrigued as well in a Mike Aviles kind of way. Anyway, I've seen several folks post that he's on the 40-man recently, but the Brewers snuck him through wiavers on March 18th.

Because the Rattlers have a noon game Tuesday, they will play three games within a 24-hour window, prompting this brief Twitter conversation.

Nine different players have appeared in a game in left field for the Sounds (Almonte, Brown, Conrad, Farris, Gindl, Maysonet, Patterson, Schafer, Statia). That and much more in the Nashville Media Notes

Rattlers rained out. Doubleheader Monday, starting at 5:05. Tough break, sure the staff was expecting a big crowd with proper Sunday weather.

The Manatees activate catcher Brent Dean from the 7-day DL. This move filles Juan Sanchez' roster spot after his promotion to Huntsville. It also gives Brevard a third catcher in case Shawn Zarraga can't quite go yet (left Friday's game with a finger injury).

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 Florida State League North Division Midwest League Western Division

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

Sunday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Wily Peralta at Albuquerque (Dodgers), 2:20 PM pre-game, 2:35 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: LHP Dan Merklinger at Jackson (Mariners), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Huntsville feed from the MiLB main audio page I-Phone friendly audio link 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: A total of 24 Stars' games (in Jacksonville and Tennessee) will be broadcast. ********** Brevard County: RHP Taylor Jungmann at Palm Beach (Cardinals), 4:05 PM gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Palm Beach 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 Andy Moye at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 12:45 PM pre-game, 1:05 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 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 24 Stars' road games (one Helena series this summer, too).

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This week's Sunday Post-Crescent Player Profile Feature is on RHP Drew Gagnon. Great conversation with Mike Woods, like always...

Wow, that earlier Brevard County game summary is just painful to read. All five 9th inning runs scored after two were out. The Manatees will look to get back on track as they square off again with the Cardinals on Sunday evening at 5:05 PM (4:05 Central). 2011 first round draft pick Taylor Jungmann (2-3, 2.72) will take the mound for Brevard County, while the Cardinals' Palm Beach squad will send Carlos Martinez (1-1, 2.45) to the hill. Martinez played in the 2011 All-Star Futures Game. That is one juicy matchup of pitching prospects right there. *** As for Nick Shaw's on-base streak, perhaps it wasn't Shaw's, but didn't we read that one such streak was kept alive last week via a "reached by error"? Should that not be included? Was never a big fan of "reached" streaks vs. "hitting" streaks, but regardless, kudos to Nick.

Catching up with Nashville video -- Friday's game, an 8-1 Sounds loss: Logan Schafer ropes a leadoff triple in the eighth Wow, deep! The Nashville Sounds' Eric Farris hits RBI sacrifice fly to center, breaking up the Albuquerque Isotopes' shutout in the 8th inning Check out the Houston-like CF hill in those two clips -- stupid, would love to lose my top CF prospect to injury... Martin Maldonado entertains the Isotopes fans with fancy bat work after a foul ball Sweet! And all with a deadpan face...

The Huntsville Times doesn't give us photos often, so we take what we can get. From earlier in the Chattanooga series...

Isotopes Score Late To Sink Sounds, 4-2 Nashville Sounds ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Albuquerque Isotopes scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to hang a 4-2 defeat on the Nashville Sounds on Saturday evening at Isotopes Park in the second game of a four-game series. The loss was Nashville's third in a row on the heels of the club's season-best four-game winning streak earlier in the week. The defeat dropped the Sounds to 8-20 on the year, the worst start in club history. Nashville out-hit Albuquerque, 9-5, in the game but left nine runners on base on the evening. Left fielder Scott Van Slyke, who recorded both of Albuquerque's go-ahead RBIs on the night, staked the Isotopes to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when he led off the frame with his PCL-leading eighth home run of the year, a solo shot to left off Sounds starter Mark Rogers. Albuquerque doubled its lead to 2-0 in the sixth with a two-out rally against Rogers. After the first two batters of the frame were retired, Elian Herrera and Ivan DeJesus, Jr. recorded back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. With Josh Fields at the plate, Rogers uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Herrera to scamper home from third to give the Isotopes a two-run cushion. After putting runners on base in each of the first six innings but failing to score, Nashville finally got onto the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, plating two runs to knot the contest at 2-2 and came close to taking the lead, if not for a spectacular inning-ending catch by Herrera in center field. Logan Schafer got things started as he drew a one-out walk from 'Topes starter John Ely and moved to third on Eric Farris' single to center. Left-hander Cole St. Clair was summoned from the Albuquerque bullpen and was quickly greeted by Taylor Green's RBI double to right that plated Schafer to put the visitors on the board (audio). Farris, who moved to third on Green's team-leading eighth two-bagger of the year, raced home with the tying run when Sean Halton followed with a groundout to short (audio). Caleb Gindl followed with a well-struck ball to center that was snagged by Herrera with a run-saving sliding catch at the base of the center field wall that ended the frame and kept Nashville from pulling in front. In the bottom of the seventh , Sounds reliever Mike McClendon got some help from the Nashville defense to work out of an inherited two-on, no-out jam. With runners on first and second, ex-Sound Trent Oeltjen dropped a two-strike bunt up the third-base line which catcher Paul Phillips pounced on and fired to third to retire the lead runner by a hair for the first out. After McClendon induced a flyout from another former Sound, Luis Cruz, for the second out, shortstop Hainley Statia made a diving catch of a Josh Bard liner between shortstop and third base to end the inning and keep the Isotopes off the board. McClendon (1-1) didn't fare as well in the following frame, walking in the go-ahead run with one out in the bottom of the eighth as Albuquerque re-claimed the lead. After the Isotopes loaded the bags on a Matt Angle double followed by a pair of walks, Van Slyke drew an RBI free pass from McClendon on a 3-1 count to put the home team back in front. Jeff Baisley upped the lead to two when he followed with a sharp single to left before Sounds first baseman Erick Almonte ended the bases-loaded threat with an unassisted, inning-ending double play after making a tremendous diving snag of an Oeltjen liner near the first-base bag. Both starting pitchers turned in quality starts but took no-decisions in the contest. Rogers worked his longest outing of the season for the Sounds, holding the Isotopes to two runs and only three hits in his six-plus frames in his first quality start of the year. He struck out four batters while walking only one during his 84-pitch effort. Ely allowed two runs on eight hits over his 6 1/3 innings of work for Albuquerque, fanning six. Reliever Wil Ledezma (1-2) was credited with his first victory of the year for Albuquerque after retiring the Sounds in order in the eighth inning. Josh Wall closed out the game with a perfect ninth to notch his seventh save of the year. The teams continue the series with a 2:35 p.m. matinee on Sunday afternoon. Top Brewers prospect Wily Peralta (1-2, 3.72) toes the rubber for the Sounds. The right-hander will square off against Albuquerque southpaw Michael Antonini (1-0, 4.88).

As for Jeff Bianchi / Andy Gonzalez, I'm sure there are lots of direct flights between Huntsville, Alabama and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Even for Juan Sanchez to get to Jackson, Tennessee from Palm Beach, Florida. Another aspect of minor league life we take for granted; Brewers have staff to coordinate such things...

Tonight’s Nashville pregame interview is with Sounds reliever Jim Henderson, a former Expos and Cubs farmhand who discusses myriad topics, including his game-winning hit this year as a relief pitcher, his Canadian roots and why Isotopes Park in Albuquerque is so hitter friendly. Audio from Albuquerque — “Hanging with Henderson”

As Huntsville begins a showdown series with the Mariners' Jackson team for first place, they do lose their middle of the order, however. *** Please do check out this story / video feature with quotes from Hunter Morris, always nice to see these interactions with the local community. The video is in the right-hand sidebar. Michael Sutterfield of Stevenson, Ala., is a fighter

STARS TAKE SERIES AGAINST LOOKOUTS HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - In the deciding game of a five-game series with the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Huntsville Stars found themselves on the right side of a 6-3 final score Saturday night at Joe Davis Stadium. Down by a score of 2-0 at after a two-run single by Lookouts’ starting pitcher Aaron Miller in the second inning, the Stars offense strung together six unanswered runs to lead them to a victory. Beginning in the bottom of the fourth, the first three Stars batters of the inning reached base, the first scoring on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Josh Prince. After starting pitcher Josh Stinson helped out his own cause with a two-run double, right fielder Kentrail Davis drove him in with an RBI double of his own gave the Stars a 4-2 lead. Then, in the fifth inning, following a leadoff single by second basemen Scooter Gennett, a two-run home run by Stars third basemen Andy Gonzalez gave the Stars all the insurance they needed. On the mound, Stinson put together arguably his best outing of the year, giving up just two runs (none earned) and four hits in 5.1 innings to improve his record to 4-1 on the season. However, it was his first win in three starts with the Stars. The 24-year-old righty also struck out a season-high six batters en route to the victory. On offense, Gonzalez led the way with a 4-for-4 night at the plate, including his third home run of the season. Gennett also went 2-for-4 with two singles and a run scored. For the Stars, the series win was their second straight and their third in the last four. Overall, Huntsville is now 17-13 on the season and just two games out of first heading into a five-game series with first place Jackson. The Stars will send LHP Dan Merklinger (1-2, 6.75 ERA) to the mound to square off against a Generals starting pitcher that is still yet to be determined. First pitch from Pringles Park is at 6:05 PM. Catch all the game action at www.huntsvillestars.com with the call by Alex Cohen.

Huntsville Media Notes

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Huntsville Stars and Milwaukee Brewers have announced a handful of roster moves prior to the start of their five-game series at Jackson. Infielders Jeff Bianchi and Andy Gonzalez were promoted to Triple-A Nashville. Bianchi was hitting .351 (27-77) with four doubles and six RBIs. He was second in the Southern League in average behind Jacksonville’s Jake Smolinski. Gonzalez was batting .322 (28-87) with four doubles, three home runs and 14 RBIs. He just ended a 14-game on-base streak Friday but followed that up with a 4-for-4 game Saturday evening. To replace the open roster spots, infielder Juan Sanchez has been promoted from Brevard County for the second time this season. He will join the team tomorrow in Jackson. With these moves, the Stars active roster sits at 24, one below the Sothern League limit. *** What can I say, sometimes these moves are easy to predict.

As was expected, last night's two injured players, Brevard catcher Shawn Zarraga (finger) and Wisconsin OF John Dishon (hand) are not in their respective starting lineups tonight. No word on possible DL stints at this time.

Edwin Maysonet contract purchased (he has one option remaining) and Taylor Green recalled. You can look to your normal sources of big league Brewers coverage for the stories. This should set off a flurry of activity within the chain, probably not for Sunday, but certainly by Monday.

For what it's worth as to how the remainder of the season plays out, Edwin Maysonet does have one option remaining.