Jim Goulart

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The Mariners really need to get Tom Wilhelmsen up to AA before season's end -- Wilhelmsen near-perfect for Clinton -- Older, wiser right-hander retires first 20 in order vs. Burlington

Just a reminder there's still time to play, but not much! Our leader remains "martinezfan" with 18 games. Helena has 25 games remaining in their schedule, which extends further than most.

Appleton Post-Crescent Blog: Rattlers vs. the other guys

Link while active, text follows: Bandits' rally comes up shy Steve Batterson, Quad City Times Arms, ankles and an occasional thigh were about the only things tattooed Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park. As a little more than 50 Quad-Cities fans added River Bandits tattoos to their collection of body art during the club's third annual Tattoo Night, Wisconsin clean-up hitter Khris Davis left a mark of his own. Davis' seventh-inning home run proved to be the difference in the Timber Rattlers' 7-6 Midwest League win over Quad-Cities. His 19th homer of the season extended Wisconsin's lead to four runs, just enough to cover when the River Bandits' Rainel Rosario belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. "That was a big hit by Davis. I thought we had a chance at 6-3, but we fought," Quad-Cities manager Johnny Rodriguez. "We made it interesting. We always do." Davis' hit came after Wisconsin built an early lead with an assortment of early-game hits that could have easily been groundball outs. The first came in top of the third when Kentrail Davis drove a potential double-play ball off the side of the mound and into center, scoring Cutter Dykstra with the first of two runs in the inning. Wisconsin extended its lead to 5-0 an inning later. The first run scored when Cameron Garfield hit a ball that deflected off of the glove of starting pitcher Joe Kelly. It quickly bounded beyond the reach of second baseman Devin Goodwin, who stumbled as he attempted to adjust to the direction of the ball. "It was one of those nights when the ball didn't bounce our way," said Quad-Cities catcher Robert Stock, who along with Rosario drove in all six River Bandits' runs. "That's why you play 140 games. The breaks aren't always going to come your way. We've had our share of luck over the season. In this game, it went their direction and there isn't anything you can do about that." LOGJAM: The Timber Rattlers' Khris Davis joined the logjam of players at the top of the Midwest League home run charts with a solo homer in the top of the seventh inning. The homer was the 19th of the year for the seventh-round pick of the Brewers in 2009, who now shares the Midwest League lead in homers with the River Bandits' Matt Adams and Clinton's Nick Franklin. River Bandits second baseman Devin Goodwin gets the force out on Wisconsin's Kentrail Davis and completes the double play Thursday. (John Schultz / Quad-City Times) http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/qctimes.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/7/82/470/782470d8-a697-11df-ac56-001cc4c03286-revisions/4c64d10d4d44b.image.jpg

GM Buck Rogers on the Huntsville rainout: It wasn't the amount of rain that came thru just before game time, but the damage it caused that forced us to cancel tonight's (Thursday's) game. Water cascaded into the dugouts flooding them in minutes. The rain seeped into every crack and crevice of the building; we actually had water pouring out of the electrical outlets in the concession stands and home clubhouse. Needless to say it shut the stadium down.

Final: Arizona Brewers 12, @Arizona Indians 3 Arizona Box Score The A-Crew coaching staff seems to be settling into a pitching usage rotation where three hurlers will share a game, and the youngsters have been pretty effective as of late -- RHP's R.J. Johnson, Greg Holle, and Jose Sanchez walked one apiece in allowing the three runs (only two earned), the high schooler Johnson's quick improvements are already encouraging; another high schooler, Kevin Berard, DH'ing here, gets kudos not only for his 1-for-3, but for two sacrifice flies; as long as we're highlighting the high-school kids, SS Yadiel Rivera drove in four in his 3-for-5 effort, including a double; Max Walla reached three times, scored three times... Arizona Game Log Brewers scored the game's final 11 runs, scoring in each of the final five innings; old pro Jody Gerut showed the boys how to get the job done with two RBI groundouts, he also had an RBI double...

Through the magic of Brewerfan, here is the Link Report from Cole Gillespie's historic night in 2006. He actually walked as well in his 6-for-6 outing. The direct link to that box score is here. Newset Brewer Mike McClendon pitched in the game. Boy, are there some obscure names in that box score....

The impressive Maryvale men won big again, the DSL kids fall. Details on that and other notes by mid-morning, thanks; your intrepid Link Reporter hitting his annual year-end "wall" after a long, although quick, season. Have to work through it, as they say http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

Final: Helena 17, @Missoula (Diamondbacks) 6 Link while active, text follows: Helena Brewers rout Missoula Osprey By MICHAEL HEINBACH of the Missoulian Helena Brewers second baseman Greg Hopkins had a career night and things just seemed to get worse and worse as Thursday evening went along for the Missoula Osprey. Hopkins tied a Pioneer League record by going 6 for 6 and the Brew Crew cranked out 20 hits as the Osprey dropped their second straight ballgame, falling 17-6 to the Brewers at Ogren-Allegiance Park. Hopkins, just the fourth player to collect six hits in a game in the history of the PBL and the first Brewer to do so since Cole Gillespie in 2006, had a home run, three doubles, two singles and four RBIs. "That's my first six-hit game in my career," said Hopkins, a 24th-round pick in this year's draft out of St. John's. "I've had a couple five-hit games before - one in college and one earlier this year - but never six hits until tonight. I've been kind of struggling a little bit, so maybe this can kick start me for the second half." Helena, 6-5 in the season's second half and 25-24 overall, scored four runs in the first off Osprey starting pitcher J.R. Bradley. The Brewers then added two runs apiece in the second and third, four in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Helena sent no fewer than seven men to the plate in each of the first five frames. "We just have to take tonight and forget about all of it," said Osprey center fielder Adam Eaton after his club dropped to 5-7, 19-31. "We need to literally put it in the rearview mirror and wash our hands of it. We get to start anew in a new venue tomorrow night and we'll go from there." Bradley lasted just two innings in taking the loss and falling to 0-5 in his first season of professional ball. He was tagged for six runs on six hits. Derek Eitel followed Bradley and did little to cool off the Helena bats. In his two frames of work, Eitel was touched for nine runs - four earned - on 10 hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Missoula's final reliever of the evening, Randy Hamrick, tossed the final two innings without allowing a run, surrendering just one hit and fanning a pair. Brent Dean was 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs for the Brewers, while Robbie Garvey, Franklin Romero, Jr. and Mike Walker had two hits apiece. Helena starting pitcher Austin Ross moved to 1-1 in a decent five-inning effort. He allowed three runs on six hits, walked one and struck out six. Three Brewers hurlers combined to strikeout 11 Missoula Batters. Eaton went 2 for 3, Osprey second baseman Eric Groff tripled and reserve catcher Fidel Pena added a two-run single in Missoula's three-run eighth inning. But it was Helena that looked like a team that had turned the corner, using a breakout evening with the bats. "We started the beginning of the season really hot and went cold for a bit there," Hopkins said. "Hopefully this will get the ball rolling for us to have a strong second half. It's like they say, it's not how you start, it's how you finish." Notes from the nest: The Brewers weren't retired in order until Osprey reliever Victor Acosta sent them down 1-2-3 in the sixth. ... Hamrick retired all three Brewers he faced in the eighth. ... The Osprey are just 2-8 against Helena this season. ... Helena begins a season-high nine-game homestand Friday night. After two games against Missoula, the team has an off day on Sunday, then hosts Casper for four games and Idaho Falls for three. Helena Box Score Greg Hopkins had hit only .220 in 91 July AB's after a quick start in June, so this effort brings his OPS back to .812; Hopkins drove in four, five others in the lineup drove in a pair; RHP Seth Lintz followed RHP Austin Ross, and wasn't impressive -- six hits and two walks in 2.1 innings, and his line was assisted by RHP Alex Jones, who stranded two of his baserunners; RF Robbie Garvey, LF Brandon Sizemore and C Brent Dean each reached four times; others contributed, so click and enjoy... Helena Game Log 4-2-2-4-3-0-2: That's the number of runs scored in the H-Crew's first seven trips to the plate...

The two posts were four minutes apart. homer would not have even seen my post, no piling on involved.

Helena play-by-play man Steve Wendt reminds us -- Greg Hopkins just tied a league record with six hits. two singles, a homer and three doubles. Last done for Helena 7/12/06 by Cole Gillespie.

Other than a recent message about Thatcher in the Alumni thread, I hadn't noticed any bitterness spouted about this trade that would warrant bumping a 19-month-old thread basically to say "I told you so".

Rattler Radio Blog: August 12, 2010: Game Notes August 12, 2010: Tonight's Starting Pitcher August 12, 2010: Lineup Dykstra leading off, Richardson 8th, Morris LF, Dennis 1B, Kh. Davis DH

PDF document: Huntsville Media Notes

Spending the minimum amount of time sidelined, LHP Chuck Lofgren is activated from the 7-day DL and takes Mike McClendon's spot on the Nashville 24-man roster.

PCL American North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Iowa 67 51 .568 - - 35-29 32-22 6-4 L3 Omaha 65 54 .546 2.5 24 32-27 33-27 9-1 W5 Memphis 64 55 .538 3.5 23 34-23 30-32 4-6 L1 Nashville 62 56 .525 5.0 22 31-26 31-30 5-5 W1 SOU North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak * Tennessee 30 16 .652 - - 19-7 11-9 8-2 W8 Huntsville 24 22 .522 6.0 19 14-9 10-13 4-6 L5 West Tenn 22 24 .478 8.0 17 11-9 11-15 7-3 W1 Carolina 21 25 .457 9.0 16 10-13 11-12 3-7 L3 Chattanooga 20 25 .444 9.5 16 10-12 10-13 4-6 W3 FSL North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Tampa 28 15 .651 - - 13-7 15-8 7-3 L1 Daytona 29 16 .644 - - 16-7 13-9 4-6 W1 Brevard County 27 18 .600 2.0 24 13-8 14-10 5-5 L1 Lakeland 20 23 .465 8.0 19 12-9 8-14 6-4 W1 Clearwater 19 26 .422 10.0 16 12-9 7-17 5-5 L1 * Dunedin 19 26 .422 10.0 16 11-13 8-13 4-6 W1 MID Western Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Quad Cities 27 16 .628 - - 10-11 17-5 5-5 W3 Kane County 27 17 .614 0.5 - 16-6 11-11 7-3 W4 * Cedar Rapids 25 19 .568 2.5 25 12-10 13-9 5-5 L1 Clinton 24 20 .545 3.5 24 13-10 11-10 8-2 W1 Beloit 22 21 .512 5.0 21 13-9 9-12 7-3 W1 Peoria 20 23 .465 7.0 21 11-11 9-12 3-7 L3 Wisconsin 20 25 .444 8.0 19 12-10 8-15 4-6 L1 Burlington 15 27 .357 11.5 15 11-9 4-18 1-9 L8 PIO North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak * Great Falls 7 4 .636 - - 5-2 2-2 6-4 W1 Helena 5 5 .500 1.5 27 2-1 3-4 5-5 W1 Missoula 5 6 .455 2.0 26 2-3 3-3 5-5 L1 Billings 4 6 .400 2.5 26 3-3 1-3 4-6 L3 AZL Central Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak AZL Brewers 26 15 .634 - - 9-8 8-7 5-5 W1 AZL Dodgers 22 19 .537 4.0 12 9-7 8-6 7-3 W4 AZL Reds 22 20 .524 4.5 11 8-6 9-7 8-2 W3 AZL Indians 19 23 .452 7.5 8 7-8 9-7 3-7 L5 DSL S.D. North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak DSL Mariners 36 25 .590 - - 20-10 16-15 5-5 L3 DSL Cardinals 34 27 .557 2.0 10 22-7 12-20 5-5 W2 DSL Athletics 26 34 .433 9.5 3 16-17 10-17 4-6 L1 DSL Brewers 26 36 .419 10.5 1 15-15 11-21 5-5 W1

Follow Thursday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Tab or New Window". Choose "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin Helena Arizona Rookie (Maryvale) DSL Brewers

Thursday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: Idle Huntsville: RHP Michael Bowman at home vs. West Tenn (Mariners), 6:45 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Live Audio Link Brevard County: RHP R.J. Seidel at Lakeland (Tigers), 6:00 gametime Sorry, no audio for this series... Wisconsin: LHP Del Howell at Quad Cities (Cardinals), 6:40 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Live Audio Link Helena: RHP Austin Ross celebrates his 22nd birthday at Missoula (Diamondbacks), 7:50 PM pre-game; 8:05 gametime Live Audio Link Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at the Indians' complex in Goodyear; 9:00 PM; never audio for games in this league DSL Brewers: at the DSL Athletics, 9:30 AM

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Just when we thought there couldn't be any new details on RHP Tom Wilhelmsen's baseball (and life) comeback, there's a new MiLB.com article with multiple new nuggets including this specific passage -- *** After Wilhelmsen stubbed out his last cigarette, he decided to try out for an independent team in Tucson. "There were a couple hundred players there," Wilhelmsen said. "It was a little intimidating, thinking that all these guys were probably playing baseball nonstop for as long as I had been away. But once I got on the mound, the fastball just flew out of my hand, and they signed me up." Wilhelmsen struck out 13 batters in 11 2/3 innings when the Brewers found out their prodigal pitcher was in independent ball. "When I quit the Brewers, they never released me," he explained. "They still owned my rights. Once they found out I was pitching, they said I needed to pitch for them. I said, 'OK, but I need to pitch this next game [for Tucson].' During warmups, I blew out a nerve between my neck and shoulder. I drove up to the Brewers' complex and told them about the injury." After a few weeks and no progress with the injury, the Brewers released him. "That was a setback," Wilhelmsen said, "but shortly after, the Mariners contacted me and their doctors wanted to take a look at my arm. This was in December, and it was already starting to heal, so they signed me in February. Jack Zduriencik, the GM with the Mariners, was with the Brewers when I was with the Brewers. He decided to give me another shot, and I'm forever grateful for it." *** As noted, the full article is worth a read, even if you think you've had your fill on the topic...

Team Canada's Pierce hoping for success south of the border TSN Toronto, Canada (Sports Network) - Joel Pierce can breath easy now that he's landed a summer job. The 17-year-old found a minute somewhere between competing against the best 18-and-under baseball players at the Worlds and signing a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers to reflect on the opportunity to play professional baseball for a living. "It feels really weird when I get asked 'What's your job?'" said Pierce, from his home in Windsor. "For people my age, usually a summer job is McDonald's or something. But I get to say I'm a professional baseball player and it's something I'm really proud of." The Brewers inked their seventh-round pick from June's MLB Draft to a contract reportedly worth $175,000 over the weekend, just before the August 16 deadline. For Pierce, deciding to go pro or accepting a full scholarship to Coastal Carolina University to play ball was no easy task. "It was a tough decision. After the World Juniors I was thinking about going to school and I was really weighing it as an option. I talked it over with my parents [but] deep down, I really wanted to play pro ball. "So I decided to sign." He did so after a disappointing fourth-place finish for Canada's Junior National Team earlier this month at the 2010 IBAF World Junior Baseball Championship in Thunder Bay, Ont. Despite finishing ahead of the United States and reigning champion South Korea, Team Canada had a golden opportunity to reach the podium but fell just short. "You finish higher than them and you usually win the gold," said the right-hander. The Windsor, Ont. native from Vincent Massey Secondary School appeared in three games at the Worlds, allowing no runs and striking out three in four innings of work. Pierce threw two scoreless innings to pick up the win in Canada's 9-2 victory over Panama during round robin play. "The experience was amazing," said Pierce. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in a World Junior Championship. I really enjoyed it. We didn't medal which was disappointing, but fourth in the world is nothing to be mad about." Pierce will head down to the Brewers' minor league complex next week for a physical and from there he'll begin a throwing program to help prepare him for instructional ball in Arizona this fall. He credited Greg Hamilton, the head coach and director of Baseball Canada's national teams, for a rigorous schedule that had the junior team traveling across the Americas and competing against high-level talent in preparation for the Worlds. "Going down to Orlando and the Dominican, it's not exactly the same, but it's pretty similar," he said. "You get up early every morning, you practice, you work, breath everything baseball during the day. It just really helped with me feeling prepared and ready to go pro. If I wasn't with the national team and I didn't do any of that, I'd have no clue what I'm getting into. I would just be totally nervous and it would be all brand new." Scouts have described the 6-4, 200-pound Pierce as a high-ceiling pitcher with the ability to succeed at the next level. The right-hander's arsenal of pitches include a live fastball topping out in the low-to-mid 90s, a good changeup and a slider that's a work in progress. Pierce said working on his breaking pitches and developing a consistent delivery are at the top of his to-do list south of the border. "I have to be at the top of my game to be able to perform [against the stiffer competition]." After nearly two years on the road of traveling with the junior team, Pierce isn't ready to settle down and unpack his suitcase just yet. If the young hurler experiences the type of success expected of him, he'll be away from home much longer. "I can't really complain too much," he said about life on the road. His friends, they'd probably agree.

Congratulations, reliever Mike McClendon, welcome to the Big Show! Discussed here on the Major League Forum...

From Sunday's Minor League Forum Link Report -- Looks like we were on target, just not quite as ambitious! Another reason to visit us over in Minor League land if you don't already... Congratulations, Mike!

Final: Arizona Brewers 14, Arizona Cubs 4 Arizona Box Score Crooked number innings in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th, paced the A-Crew; 25th round 2B Nick Shaw (22 years old later this month) continues to post ridiculous numbers -- he doubled twice, tripled, and has a real case at league MVP with his .368 / .490 / .521 line in 117 AB's -- also 9-for-10 in steals this season; 19-year-old catcher Tyler Roberts, not to be outdone by Shaw, doubled twice and homered (his 5th), and also sports an OPS north of 1.000; Jody Gerut hit a three-run HR and singled, as the Brewers honestly simply don't know what to do with his roster spot, it seems; LF Kenny Allison reached three times, as did T.J. Mittelstaedt, who DH'd; Max Walla hit a two-run HR, his 2nd of the season; SS Yadiel Rivera doubled and singled... RHP Kevin Shackelford earned his first pro win in the start, five solid innings -- again, much better starting than relieving, as we pointed out last time out; RHP Brooks Hall allowed three runs in three innings -- his work can best be described as uneven this season, actually it's been beneath that... Arizona Game Log Check out the offense in the three innings noted above...