Jim Goulart

Helena Site with an interview of Pitching Coach Elvin Nina

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 8 5 .615 - 1-4 7-1 L3 Iowa 6 7 .462 2.0 3-5 3-2 L1 Memphis 6 7 .462 2.0 2-3 4-4 W2 Omaha 5 8 .385 3.0 2-6 3-2 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee 10 2 .833 - 4-1 6-1 W4 Huntsville 8 4 .667 2.0 3-2 5-2 W4 Carolina 6 6 .500 4.0 2-5 4-1 L2 Chattanooga 4 8 .333 6.0 3-4 1-4 L1 West Tenn 4 8 .333 6.0 1-6 3-2 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater 8 5 .615 - 6-1 2-4 L1 Lakeland 7 5 .583 0.5 4-1 3-4 W2 Dunedin 7 6 .538 1.0 3-2 4-4 W2 Tampa 7 6 .538 1.0 5-3 2-3 W1 Daytona 5 8 .385 3.0 1-4 4-4 L2 Brevard County 4 8 .333 3.5 3-5 1-3 L3

MID Western (click column headers to sort) Club W L PCT GB Home Away L 10 Streak Quad Cities 10 3 .769 - 5-1 5-2 8-2 W1 Peoria 8 5 .615 2.0 4-0 4-5 7-3 W5 Beloit 7 6 .538 3.0 4-3 3-3 6-4 L1 Cedar Rapids 7 6 .538 3.0 4-2 3-4 5-5 W2 Clinton 6 7 .462 4.0 4-3 2-4 4-6 W1 Kane County 6 7 .462 4.0 5-4 1-3 5-5 L2 Wisconsin 5 8 .385 5.0 3-4 2-4 3-7 L1 Burlington 3 10 .231 7.0 3-3 0-7 2-8 L5

Follow Wednesday'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. Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin

Wednesday's Daily Menu: Three-course meal and no early big league game to take the focus off the kids -- a rare weekday indeed... Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP Chris Waters at home vs. Oklahoma City (Rangers), 10:50 AM pre-game; 11:05 gametime Live Audio Link Huntsville: RHP Mark Rogers at West Tenn (Mariners), 10:50 AM pre-game; 11:05 gametime Live Audio Link Brevard County: LHP Dan Merklinger at Dunedin (Blue Jays), 6:00 PM gametime Sorry, no audio for this game, however, the Dunedin feed will be available Friday night for this series... Wisconsin: RHP Jake Odorizzi at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 11:50 AM pre-game; 12:05 PM gametime; LHP Efrain Nieves will tandem Live Audio Link

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Look for Wednesday's Link Report by mid-morning in order to set you up for all three audio choices at lunchtime today. An unproductive office day today...

Brett in Appleton has several tidbits and updates, including quotes regarding disappointment in LHP Efrain Nieves.

Game Summary from the West Tenn site -- interesting tidbit italicized as well JACKSON, TN. (April 20, 2010) - Huntsville (8-4) scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning and come from behind to beat the Diamond Jaxx (4-8) at Pringles Park, 4-3. The Jaxx drop their fourth consecutive game and their second one-run game of the season. The loss trumps a great performance by starter Luis Munoz, who made his first start of the season. Munoz worked five innings on the hill allowed just two runs on five hits in the no decision. Carlos Peguero and Carlos Triunfel led the Diamond Jaxx on the offensive side with 2-for-4 nights at the plate. Lorenzo Cain and Chris Errecart each provided 2-for-4 nights to lead the Stars. Robert Rohrbaugh (1-1) suffers the loss on Tuesday night after surrendering his first two runs of the season in relief. Donovan Hand (1-0) picked up the win dealing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief for Huntsville. Brandon Kintzler (S, 4) notched the save tossing 1.1 innings scoreless to finish it. The Huntsville Stars again on Tuesday night got on the scoreboard first, but did it with two outs om the first. After a leadoff single by Cain and a stolen base he was brought home on a single by Zelous Wheeler. Taylor Green smacked his league leading eighth double to put runners on second and third then Steffan Wilson drove in Wheeler from third. The Stars took a 2-0 lead before the Jaxx came to the plate. In a bizarre bottom half of the second inning the Jaxx got on the scoreboard with a run. Alex Liddi and Joe Dunigan batted out of order, but it was not caught by Stars Manager Mike Guerrero until after a pitch was thrown to Liddi. The Jaxx scored their run in the inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kuo Hui Lo. The Jaxx trailed 2-1 after two innings. West Tenn rallied for a couple of runs in the fifth inning and took their first lead of the game. Carlos Peguero plated Kuo Hui Lo after Lo doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Mike Wilson plated Peguero on a fielders choice to give the Jaxx a 3-2 lead. Huntsville came from behind though on this Tuesday night and plated a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning. Brett Lawrie singled in Cain after Cain tripled to deep right-center field. With the game tied and the bases loaded Green brought home Lawrie on a groundout giving Huntsville back the lead for good, 4-3. The Jaxx and Stars play a special 11:05 AM game on Wednesday morning at Pringles Park. LHP Mauricio Robles (1-0, 2.89) takes the hill for West Tenn while RHP Mark Rogers (0-1, 3.12) deals for the Stars. *** Cool -- Mark Rogers audio on Wednesday AM, and not up against a Brewer game. EDIT: Audio overload, dueling ball games with Jake Odorizzi as well. Rogers gets a one-hour head start, we'll have to assign dual "audio correspondents". Hopefully many of you reading, and I imagine many in the Brewer front office, will be listening to one or the other. Of course, no slight to LHP Chris Waters with the Nashville matinee. OK, maybe a small slight...

David Weiser's starsboxscore.com Lawrie Joins the Party Amaury holds D'Jaxx to two hits in six IP, but... Brett Lawrie snapped a 2-for-23 slump with a 4-for-6 performance and Caleb Gindl drove in four runs as Amaury Rivas and two relievers handled the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, 9-2 on a cool Monday night before a sparse crowd at Pringles Park......... The Stars (7-4) remain two games in back of the Smokies. What always grabbed me about Pringles Park, and I've been there a handful of times, is that it's right off I-40. You can see the trucks and cars go by beyond the outfield wall. But the route to the ballpark from I-40 is rather circuitous and -- well, you better have your map handy. It's easier - and shorter - for me just to take U.S. 72 west to Corinth, then north on Highway 45 to Jackson, then right at Taco Bell where the Holiday Inn is across the street. That's as many turns altogether as the exit off I-40. Back to the game. Rivas looked good on paper, giving up just two hits in six innings, but he walked three and had a little trouble with his control (53.5% of his pitches were for strikes). He hit a couple of batters in the 3rd and tossed up a wild pitch in the 4th that allowed a run. But Rivas was saved by the Stars' Jekyll-and-Hyde defense......... Jonathan Lucroy picked off a couple of hitters and another runner was forced out in a lengthy 3rd inning. Also, the Diamond Jaxx convenienced Rivas by leaving four on base and going hitless with runners in scoring position. In their first ten games, the Stars made 18 errors, the most in seven seasons. It was the other side's turn to make all the mistakes. The Diamond Jaxx made four errors, and while none of the runs five Diamond Jaxx pitchers allowed were unearned, it did cost them in a couple of innings, starting with the 3rd......... Lorenzo Cain led off with a single on a fly that dropped into the gap in left-center. That stretched his hitting streak to 11 games, three short of Justin Bowles 1998 record for the start of a season....... On a pickoff attempt, with the count 1-and-0 on Lawrie, Cain advanced to second on a bad throw. A walk to Gindl and a wild pitch later, runners were on 2nd and 3rd. Southern League batting leader Lucroy, who stretched his own hitting streak to ten games in the 1st inning, lined a one-out single sharply to left, scoring Cain. Taylor Green then smashed a double on a 1-1 pitch to the right-center field gap, bringing in Gindl for a 2-0 lead. The winning runs for the Stars came in the next inning........ With one out, Lee Haydel beat out a bunt down the 3rd base line and advanced to 2nd on a throwing error by 3rd baseman Alex Liddi. After starting pitcher Dan Cortes walked Cain, old nemesis Mamba Rivera came in from the bullpen and retired Lawrie on a grounder to 2nd, advancing Cain 90 feet......... In 19 appearances over the last three years, Rivera was 3-2 with one save and a 1.82 ERA against the Stars....... With no respect for Rivera's numbers, Gindl then drove in the game-winner with a two-out single to left to score both runners and give the Stars a 4-0 lead.......... Gindl singled in another run in the 6th, giving him his 11th RBI of the year, his 3rd of four on the night, and the league RBI lead. Tuesday night, Alexandre Periard will look for his 1st victory after a couple of losses. Luis Munoz (0-0), who was sent down from Class AAA-Tacoma (PCL) on Sunday, will start for the D'Jaxx. If Brett Lawrie has truly snapped his slump, there's no telling how far the Stars will go if Cain, Gindl, Lucroy, and Green stay hot. Together, those four players are hitting .380 with 29 RBIs, accounting for 59% of the team total......... Steffan Wilson remains mired in a horrendous slump. You gotta feel for the guy and wonder what you do if you're Mike Guerrero. Wilson was 0-for-5 with nine men left on base, six of them in scoring position. In 33 at-bats, he's fanned 12 times (36.3%) and is 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position....... Not to neglect the pitching staff in this early going, the Stars are a distant 2nd in ERA (2.78), 6th in strikeouts, and WHIP. Rivas is 7th in ERA and 5th in lowest opposition batting average (.154)......... The starters are 6-3 with a 3.02 ERA and the bullpen , 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA. The Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League have signed former Stars pitcher Joe Valentine. Valentine saved 13 games for the 2006 Stars and finished with a 2.97 ERA and was unscored upon in three innings in the Southern League championship vs. Montgomery..........

Two more recent Brewer farmhand releasees have found work in the independent ranks. Catcher Derrick Alfonso signed with the Florence (Kentucky) Freedom of the Frontier League. RHP Wes Etheridge signed with Maui of the Golden Baseball League, joining LHP Donald Brandt, which we had brought to your attention earlier.

Two more recent Brewer farmhand releasees have found work in the independent ranks. Catcher Derrick Alfonso signed with the Florence (Kentucky) Freedom of the Frontier League. RHP Wes Etheridge signed with Maui of the Golden Baseball League, joining LHP Donald Brandt, which we had brought to your attention earlier.

Because we like to keep our transaction thread fairly lean for reference purposes, we've split off discussion of the Jonathan Lucroy to AAA move to another thread. As we learn more about Angel Salome's status and how the balancing act of having the two top prospects co-exist plays out, discussion can take place there, thanks.

Missed several games for the birth of his second child in New York City, but perhaps there's something nagging that has precipitated this move with Lucroy. One would have expected Salome to play in Monday's game, for instance, and he did not.

Over 2,200 on what must have been a school outing day in Lakeland, which traditionally has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, attendance in all of minor league baseball (Sunday's attendance was 294). *** Stu in Nashville with his latest blog entry, on finally losing a series, and more. (No, nothing on the breaking update in the catching situation.)

Nashville Press Release: Hot-Hitting Lucroy Promoted To SoundsNASHVILLE, Tenn. - Catcher Jonathan Lucroy, the #5 prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers organization as rated by Baseball America, has been promoted to the Nashville Sounds and will be in uniform for tonight's 7:05 p.m. game against Oklahoma City. The 23-year-old backstop opened the year at Double-A Huntsville and is currently 7th among all minor league players with a .452 batting average (19-for-42) through 10 games of action. Lucroy has hit safely in each of his 10 games this season for the Stars, including six multiple-hit efforts. His 19 hits rank 5th in the minors, and he has posted three doubles and five RBIs. His .452 average currently tops the Southern League, as do his 19 hits and .500 on-base percentage. In 2009, Lucroy batted .267 with 32 doubles, nine home runs, and 66 RBIs in 125 for Huntsville, where he was a Southern League mid-season All-Star selection. He participated in the Arizona Fall League after the season. Lucroy, Milwaukee's 3rd round selection in the June 2007 draft, has been an All-Star selection in each of his three professional seasons. In addition, he was a non-roster invitee to Brewers Major League spring training each of the past two years.

PDF document: Nashville Media Notes (Put together prior to any update on the Jonathan Lucroy promotion or any news on Angel Salome's status) The Sounds welcome Hernan Iribarren back to Greer Stadium tonight. Another name from the past -- ESTRADA LAYING DOWN THE LAW: Right-hander Marco Estrada makes his third start in tonight’s series opener and brings a perfect 0.00 ERA to the hill. In two outings, the 26-year-old has held opponents to four hits in 13.0 scoreless frames, striking out nine batters and allowing a miniscule .098 opponent average (4-for-41) along the way. Claimed off waivers by the Brewers from the Washington Nationals on February 3rd, Estrada was curiously robbed of the league’s initial Pitcher of the Week award despite leading all PCL starting pitchers in ERA and WHIP (0.46) and placing 2nd in opponent batting average (Will Inman, .094) over the first 10 days of action. The 23-year-old Inman's stats thus far -- seven walks in his ten innings, though

Just got a nice note from Chad Anderson, the Huntsville broadcaster -- Tell everyone I'm sorry for the delay in our start the last game or two. Last night, the station was having technical issues, not us and that's why we were delayed a few moments. Hopefully everything is worked out but we will be on time for tonight. Thanks again and let me know if you need anything. Very cool, but also this -- We will be updating audio all season long. I am working today to catch up on that because it was a hectic last few days. Each game will have highlights posted and we are working to get complete game archives set up somehow. Here's Chad's site's audio page should you wish to bookmark it (although we will be linking quite often). So you can go there and catch up on various game highlights from past games. It remains to be seen how the timing will work, but even if it's a day behind, it's a welcome development. Thanks, Chad! *** We've been told that Nashville is getting closer to their audio archive schedule of past years as well -- hopefully soon...

MID Western (click column headers to sort) Club W L PCT GB Home Away L 10 Streak Quad Cities 9 3 .750 - 5-1 4-2 8-2 L1 Beloit 7 5 .583 2.0 4-2 3-3 6-4 W4 Peoria 7 5 .583 2.0 3-0 4-5 6-4 W4 Cedar Rapids 6 6 .500 3.0 4-2 2-4 5-5 W1 Kane County 6 6 .500 3.0 5-4 1-2 6-4 L1 Clinton 5 7 .417 4.0 3-3 2-4 4-6 L3 Wisconsin 5 7 .417 4.0 3-3 2-4 3-7 W1 Burlington 3 9 .250 6.0 3-3 0-6 2-8 L4

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 8 4 .667 - 1-3 7-1 L2 Iowa 6 6 .500 2.0 3-5 3-1 W2 Memphis 5 7 .417 3.0 1-3 4-4 W1 Omaha 5 7 .417 3.0 2-6 3-1 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee 9 2 .818 - 4-1 5-1 W3 Huntsville 7 4 .636 2.0 3-2 4-2 W3 Carolina 6 5 .545 3.0 2-4 4-1 L1 Chattanooga 4 7 .364 5.0 3-3 1-4 W1 West Tenn 4 7 .364 5.0 1-5 3-2 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater 8 4 .667 - 6-1 2-3 W1 Lakeland 6 5 .545 1.5 3-1 3-4 W1 Dunedin 6 6 .500 2.0 2-2 4-4 W1 Tampa 6 6 .500 2.0 4-3 2-3 L1 Daytona 5 7 .417 3.0 1-4 4-3 L1 Brevard County 4 7 .364 3.5 3-5 1-2 L2

Follow Tuesday'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. Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin

Even though RHP Damon Krestalude is now a non-tandem starter in a newly configured Rattler rotation, don't expect too many pitches out of him today. He's only had three days' rest since combining with Jake Odorizzi on the one-hitter last Friday in which Krestalude tossed four innings.

Tuesday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Marco Estrada at home vs. Oklahoma City (Rangers), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime Live Audio Link Huntsville: RHP Alex Periard at West Tenn (Mariners), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime Live Audio Link Brevard County: RHP Wily Peralta at Lakeland (Tigers), 9:30 AM gametime Sorry, no audio for this series... Wisconsin: RHP Damon Krestalude at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 6:20 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime Live Audio Link

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Link while active, text follows: Errors hurt Jaxx against Huntsville By MATT VINES, jacksonsun.com The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx started a new series Monday, but the same errors plagued the Jaxx in a 9-2 loss to Huntsville. The Jaxx's defense committed four errors, increasing their total to nine in the last two games. But the Stars didn't need the Jaxx's help as they pounded out 16 hits to make all of their nine runs earned. Jaxx starter Dan Cortes lasted 3.1 innings, giving up four runs on six hits. Cortes (0-2) has allowed eight runs in eight innings in two starts this season. Huntsville's Jonathan Lucroy and Taylor Green produced consecutive RBI hits in the third inning for two runs, while Caleb Gindl added two more fourth-inning runs to double the Stars' lead to 4-0. Carlos Peguero scored the Jaxx's first run on an Amaury Rivas wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth to cut Huntsville's lead to 4-1. But Rivas (2-0) didn't make many mistakes as he allowed only two hits in six innings for the win. Rivas has a 1.13 ERA in two starts. West trailed just 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh, but Dustin Ackley struck out with two runners aboard to finish the Jaxx's last meaningful threat. The Stars scored one in the eighth and three in the ninth to secure the win. Alex Liddi was the only West Tenn player with more than one hit as he went 2-for-3, but Liddi had two errors. Liddi has committed five errors in the last two games. Huntsville's Lorenzo Cain went 2-for-4 with four runs while Gindl had four RBIs. After taking three of five from the Southern League defending champion Jacksonville, the Jaxx (4-7) have lost five of their last six games. West Tenn will attempt to climb out of the Southern League North cellar as the Jaxx are tied with Chattanooga (4-7) The Jaxx will play Huntsville (7-4) today in the second game of the five-game series at 7:05 p.m. in Pringles Park.