Jim Goulart

Huntsville Game Story from the Lookouts' Site: Baseball being baseball, Taylor Green's triple is less impressive in the game story, but a triple nonetheless... Stars Take Rubber Match, 7-4 Monday night's match-up between the Huntsville Stars and Chattanooga began as a pitchers' duel; however, it would evolve into an offensive cat-and-mouse contest, resulting in a 7-4 Huntsville win at AT&T Field. Lookouts starting pitcher Jesus Castillo and his counterpart, Chris Cody, dominated earlier on for their respective teams. In the fourth frame, however, Castillo encountered some issues due to some defensive difficulties from his teammates. After one out, second baseman Jaime Pedroza booted a routine grounder to put Caleb Gindl at first. After a Jonathan Lucroy fly out, Taylor Green hit a seemingly routine sky fly to right-center field. With dusk upon the evening sky, the elusive ball descended to a grassy fall between the two befuddled outfielders, resulting in an RBI triple for Green. Huntsville extended their lead in the fifth to 2-0, but the Lookouts entered the scoreboard in the bottom portion of the inning. Corey Smith led off with a double and advanced to third on a bunt single by the speedy Dee Gordon. Elian Herrera followed with a sacrifice fly to center to put the score at 2-1. The Stars continued their swinging ways by plating another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Green hit a two-RBI double to highlight the seventh-inning rally for Huntsville. Despite a 5-2 deficit entering the bottom portion of the eighth, the Lookouts did not go down without a fight. Andrew Lambo began the rally with a double. Two quick outs dampened hopes, but Scott Van Slyke singled to bring home Lambo. Corey Smith followed with a walk, and Gordon collected his fourth hit and third double of the evening in a timely spot to register the score at 5-4. With two men in scoring position, Huntsville turned to their closer, Brandon Kintzler, to face Herrera. Kintzler did not disappoint, as he induced a bunt pop up from Herrera to effectively end the rally. The Lookouts' efforts, however, proved to be nothing more than a Sisyphean effort, as Huntsville scored two more runs in the ninth on a Lee Haydel two-RBI single. Kintzler would pitch a perfect ninth to pick up his second save of the season.

The Brewers have released 23-year-old LHP Josh Romanski, their 4th round pick in 2008 out of the University of San Diego. Amazingly, Romanski never tossed a professional pitch for the Brewers. He had a stress fracture in his left elbow in 2008, which did not allow him to pitch, but he did appear in four games as a designated hitter and batted .333 (5-for-15) with three doubles. (Thank you, Brewer media guide, for the reminder.) Romanski missed all of 2009 after surgery on that same left elbow. Hopefully the at-bats didn't aggravate things further, we'll probably never know. Certainly one of the more discouraging Brewer "careers" of all time -- nary a single pitch.

Nashville Media Notes: SALOME AWAY FROM CLUB FOR BIRTH OF CHILD: Catcher Angel Salome will be away from the Sounds for the next few days. He returned to New York to join his wife, Johanica, for the upcoming birth of their second child. *** Congrats, Angel

That is a ridiculously scary sentence, regardless of his runs allowed today.

No Gamel treatment, because Katin is 27 years old, is not going to be a long-term starter, etc. Apples and oranges when compared to Gamel. Plus, Braunie would simply be happy to be with his U. of Miami buddy, who he knows has ridiculous strength. Katin would be our Nick Stavinoha, minus the emergency catcher gear.

Lookouts starter John Koronka faced Bowman in the third inning but hit Lorenzo Cain in the ensuing at-bat, which resulted in home-plate umpire Anthony "Booter" West stepping out to warn both benches. Best umpire nickname -- ever.

Rattler Radio: April 12, 2010: Rattlers lineup April 12, 2010: Today's Starting Pitcher April 12, 2010: Game Notes

In my scenario, Edmonds / Gerut cover their natural CF position, Corey plays nearly every day, and Katin is your bench bat, occasional RF starter against lefties. The only issue would be that you couldn't go with an all-RF outfield against very tough lefties.

From our Nashville thread -- Outfielder Adam Stern, who played so well during exhibition season for the Brewers, suffered an oblique strain in his second game with Class AAA Nashville and went on the disabled list. He was replaced on that roster by catcher Patrick Arlis. Stern's injury leaves Nashville with only three healthy outfielders - Trent Oeltjen, Brendan Katin and Norris Hopper. *** Look, doesn't it make too much sense to just give Carlos Gomez the AAA development time he obviously needs, add Brendan Katin to the 40-man roster, have him be the badly needed right-handed bench bat, and allow Edmonds / Gerut / Hart to be your CF-RF combo?

Tom H. with injury updates he posted Sunday AM -- Medical report: Left-hander Chris Capuano continued his comeback from a second Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery by pitching two simulated innings Friday in extended spring training in Arizona. The plan is for Capuano to pitch in a couple of games there before reporting to Class A Brevard County later in the month. "He reported no discomfort in the elbow," said assistant general manager Gord Ash. "He appears to be doing well." Third base prospect Mat Gamel, who suffered an impingement in his right shoulder during spring training, took batting practice Friday and ground balls in extended camp. He will see a doctor on Tuesday to seek clearance to begin playing in games there. Outfielder Adam Stern, who played so well during exhibition season for the Brewers, suffered an oblique strain in his second game with Class AAA Nashville and went on the disabled list. He was replaced on that roster by catcher Patrick Arlis. Stern's injury leaves Nashville with only three healthy outfielders - Trent Oeltjen, Brendan Katin and Norris Hopper.

Link while active, text follows: Floridians warm up to Timber Rattlers Richardson, Krestalude making quick adjustments By Jim Oskola, Post-Crescent staff writer GRAND CHUTE — Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitcher Damon Krestalude and outfielder D'Vontrey Richardson are both used to having fun in the Florida sun. Krestalude, who is from Port St. Lucie on Florida's east coast, and Richardson, who played quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles, are getting used to playing where the sun isn't quite as warm, but during Sunday's 8-2 win over Clinton at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium, the duo certainly had fun. Richardson, who started the season one-for-12, found his hitting stroke, going two-for-five with a double, a run scored and a pair of RBI. "We got the win and that's all that matters," Richardson said. "I haven't been swinging like I want to, but we're 3-1. I've just got to keep playing tough defense." Richardson attributed his slow start at the plate to just being too tense. "I was telling my coach that I need to relax a little bit," he said. "These first couple of games, everybody was tensed up a little bit. Hopefully, now I can relax a little bit and swing the bat better." Rattlers manager Jeff Isom has put Richardson in the leadoff spot, where he has no problem. "I just see myself as a hitter," Richardson said. "A leadoff guy has got to get on base. That's what I'm trying to do. Wherever Isom wants to put me, I'll try to play that role." Krestalude, in his first start of the season, went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with two strikeouts. He said that he pretty much did what he wanted to do. "I got ahead early in the count, tried to keep the ball down, have them pound it in the ground, pitch to contact and let my fielders do the work," Krestalude said. "It went pretty well except for that home run but that's going to happen." One other thing that Krestalude did was work quickly, getting the sign from catcher Cameron Garfield and making the pitch. "We're trying to work fast and keep the hitters off balance," Krestalude said. "Just give me the ball so I can get my team back in the dugout so we can go out there and hit." While much has already been said about the overall talent of the Timber Rattlers pitching staff with its three first-round draft choices, Krestalude said that the hype doesn't put any additional pressure on him or the rest of the staff. "We just go out there and stick to our game plan, do what we can do, do what we are supposed to do and take it pitch-by-pitch, hitter-by-hitter and inning-by-inning," he said. "We try not to look too much into that. We know we have a pretty good staff here and have a chance to do a pretty good thing." Both Richardson and Krestalude said that being a professional baseball player is something special. "I was ready to get started," said Richardson about putting FSU behind. "Every day is just a learning process in this game." Added Krestalude, "It's been a dream of mine since I was young. That's what I dream for. You dream to be a professional baseball player but now we're here. That was our first goal — to get to be a professional baseball player. Now, we're working to get to the big leagues, stay there and be an established big leaguer."

The Rattlers' Chris Mehring -- What my gut tells me (4/11/10)

Link while active, text follows: Stars outshine Lookouts David Paschall, Chattanooga Times Free Press The Chattanooga Lookouts and Huntsville Stars evoked some not-so-pleasant memories from the not-too-distant past Sunday afternoon at AT&T Field. Long before the Stars pounded out 14 hits in claiming a 5-2 victory, the two starting pitchers combined to hit three batters in the first three innings. In the second inning, Huntsville's Michael Bowman hit Jessie Mier in the cheek and moments later pegged Dee Gordon in the head on a pick-off attempt at second base. "None of it was intentional, I can tell you that," Huntsville right fielder Caleb Gindl said. "You saw two guys get hit right off the bat, and then we try and pick a guy off and he gets hit. It's early and pitchers are nervous, too." Lookouts starter John Koronka faced Bowman in the third inning but hit Lorenzo Cain in the ensuing at-bat, which resulted in home-plate umpire Anthony "Booter" West stepping out to warn both benches. "Their guy hit a couple of our guys, and we ended up hitting one," Koronka said. "You don't want to get in that situation early in the season, but what happens, happens. You just go on to the next day." In July 2008, the Lookouts and Stars had a bench-clearing brawl at AT&T that resulted in eight players being ejected, four from each team. Southern League president Don Mincher suspended each of the eight players for three days without pay, the largest number of suspensions Mincher could remember in his decade overseeing the league. There were no more incidents Sunday after West issued the warning. Chattanooga's problems began after Cain took first, as Koronka threw a wild pitch and then gave up an RBI single up the middle to Brett Lawrie for the game's first run. Lawrie advanced to second on a passed ball and scored when Gindl singled up the middle. Gindl finished with four hits for the Stars (2-2), who have racked up 30 hits the past two games and allowed only six to the Lookouts (2-2). "We're facing a good-hitting club who has pounded the ball well," Lookouts manager Carlos Subero said. "We haven't gotten many hits, and we've given up a lot. It's part of the game and part of the way it goes." Huntsville made it 3-0 in the fourth inning when Taylor Green reached on an infield hit, advanced to second on a Gordon fielding error and scored on Lee Haydel's bloop single to left. The Lookouts pulled within 3-2 in the fifth on RBIs by Tommy Giles and Elian Herrera, but a Lawrie sacrifice to left in the sixth made it 4-2 and Gindl homered to right to open the ninth. Gordon, the top prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, had been hitless (0-for-6) until Sunday, when he went 2-for-3 and scored a run. Jesus Castillo is scheduled to start tonight's 7:15 (6:15 Central) series finale for the Lookouts, with Chris Cody scheduled for the Stars.

You'll need to know to click the proper league (Pacific Coast, Southern, Florida State or Midwest), then select your Brewer affiliate, then your player. In June Pioneer and Arizona will be available.

Huntsville already updated, others available shortly before game time PDF documents: Nashville Media Notes Huntsville Media Notes

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 4 0 1.000 - 0-0 4-0 W4 Memphis 3 1 .750 1.0 0-0 3-1 W3 Omaha 1 3 .250 3.0 1-3 0-0 L3 Iowa 0 4 .000 4.0 0-4 0-0 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 4 0 1.000 - 0-0 4-0 W4 Tennessee 4 0 1.000 - 0-0 4-0 W4 West Tenn 3 1 .750 1.0 0-0 3-1 W1 Chattanooga 2 2 .500 2.0 2-2 0-0 L2 Huntsville 2 2 .500 2.0 0-0 2-2 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clearwater 3 1 .750 - 2-0 1-1 W1 Tampa 3 1 .750 - 2-0 1-1 W2 Brevard County 2 2 .500 1.0 1-1 1-1 L2 Daytona 2 2 .500 1.0 1-1 1-1 W2 Dunedin 1 3 .250 2.0 1-1 0-2 L1 Lakeland 1 3 .250 2.0 1-1 0-2 L2

MID Western (click column headers to sort) Club W L PCT GB Home Away L 10 Streak Quad Cities 3 1 .750 - 1-0 2-1 3-1 W2 Wisconsin 3 1 .750 - 3-1 0-0 3-1 W1 Cedar Rapids 2 2 .500 1.0 2-1 0-1 2-2 L1 Clinton 2 2 .500 1.0 2-1 0-1 2-2 L1 Kane County 2 2 .500 1.0 1-0 1-2 2-2 W2 Peoria 2 2 .500 1.0 0-0 2-2 2-2 W1 Beloit 1 3 .250 2.0 0-1 1-2 1-3 L3 Burlington 1 3 .250 2.0 1-2 0-1 1-3 L2

Follow Monday'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. MiLB.com now has Gameday available for AA as well as AAA. Nashville: Huntsville: Brevard County: Wisconsin:

Monday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP Chase Wright at Omaha (Royals), 6:20 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime Live Audio Link Huntsville: LHP Chris Cody at Chattanooga (Dodgers), 6:00 PM pre-game; 6:15 gametime Live Audio Link just click the "UStream" box on the right Brevard County: TBD (likely RHP Trey Watten) at home vs. Lakeland (Tigers), 6:05 PM gametime Sorry, no audio for this series... Wisconsin: RHP Eric Arnett at home vs. Clinton (Mariners), 11:50 AM pre-game; 12:05 PM gametime Live Audio Link

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

Stu checks out of Nashville and into Omaha A clean sweep--and a night of rest and relaxation!

David Weiser of starsboxscore.com: Made the road trip to Chattanooga and I'm glad I did......... A Stars win alone would have satisfied me, but watching Mark Rogers, in his debut for Huntsville, combine with Jim Henderson and Mark Willinsky to pitch a one-hitter, seeing Brett Lawrie hit the first HR of the season for Huntsville, and then watch him try to become the first Huntsville player to hit for the cycle in the 9th, was frosting on the cake. More than 5,500 packed AT&T Field to see probably the Zooperstars first and baseball second. The Zooperstars added a few more names to the roster. Even though it's old, you gotta love it, and you gotta love names like Nolan Rhino, Derek Cheetah, and Rusty Walrus. But let's get back to baseball. To win the first game of the season with a one-hitter was not without precedent........ Will Schock, Steve Maye, and Joe Klink combined to open the 1989 season (Athletics organization) with a one-hit victory over Greenville, 3-1. In fact, the no-hitter carried into the 9th until Tommy Dunbar singled with one out........ The anticipation for me was built around seeing how good Rogers was, or was going to be. The line score says four walks, but he was in control of this game, at least, through the first four innings, even though he issued two-out walks in the 2nd and 3rd. He was also throwing the ball at 91-93 mph, peaking at 94. Rogers had an impressive 1st inning when he struck out Elian Herrera and Trayvon Robinson, and then was saved by Lorenzo Cain's terrific diving catch of a low liner that ended the inning. But he had trouble keeping the ball down as the game progressed....... In the 5th, he walked Anthony Hatch, who went to second on Corey Smith's grounder, and then scored when Jaime Pedroza doubled on a high 1-0 pitch off the left field wall, fair by just a few feet. When Herrera walked on a full count, and there were a lot of those from Rogers, that was all......... And it's a shame........ Rogers, who missed so many decisions last year because he was on such a strict pitch count, could not get the win because he could not get that last out. Jim Henderson, who got his only win for the Stars last year in one of his only two appearances at the Joe, entered the game and held the Lookouts hitless for 2 1/3, and got the win. Mark Willinsky, making his debut for the Stars, walked Herrera to lead off the 8th, then retired six in a row to finish the game. The Stars feasted off Mario Alvarez (27-38, 5.10 in six minor league seasons), a converted position player who was 21st among the Dodgers' top minor league prospects two seasons ago. Alvarez gave up six of the Stars runs on nine hits in just 3 2/3 innings........ Caleb Gindl doubled in Brett Lawrie, who walked with one out in the 1st. The Stars failed to add more that inning, despite putting runners on second and third with one out....... Rogers hit a one-out double deep to center, went to third on Cain's single through short, and scored on a failed double-play attempt......... And the three-run 4th started oddly with Rogers swinging at strike three in the dirt, then reaching first when the ball caromed off the glove of catcher Lucas May and towards the third base line. Four singles and a force out at second followed. After Jonathan Lucroy singled up the middle for the third hit, it was all over for Alvarez .......... Taylor Green finished it officially with an RBI single to right off reliever James Adkins and after he struck out Steffan Wilson on a 76 mph breaking ball, the Stars had a 7-0 lead. Brett Lawrie made it 8-1 with a home run that barely made it over the high ACE Hardware sign in left and to make the game interesting, at least as far as I was concerned, added an RBI triple in the 7th. That meant he was just a double short for hitting for the cycle -- and he stood a good chance of getting one last at-bat in the 9th....... No one in Stars history had ever hit for the cycle, and only a handful had come really close. Only two (Drew Anderson and Yohannis Perez) came within reach last year...... Ozzie Chavez (on August 29, 2008) was the last to come up a double short....... Lawrie came up with one out in the 9th, took strike one inside from reliever Eric Krebs, then four straight balls........ Oh, well. Sometimes the suspense is better than the movie. *** You have to appreciate David's passion for Stars' history -- amazing...

Turns out Adam Stern strained his right oblique muscle early in Friday's Nashville game. You know obliques, they'll be careful, so expect a cautious two-three week absence.

Many of you are familiar with MLB.com's online game "Beat the Streak", but does everyone realize there is also a minor league version? Here's what we're proposing -- we'll have a Brewerfan contest to see which fan here compiles the longest streak of the season! MiLB.com's longest streak ever is 33 -- someone here can beat that! (The all-time real-life streak is 61!) We will purchase the winner a top-o'-the-line Brewer affiliate cap of their choice, and we'll see if we can get a player or two to sign the cap for you (we'll send it out to the Brewers for September instructionals or something like that, we haven't asked, but we're sure the Crew's front office could work that out for us -- at least we're hopeful http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.) The main prize, however, would be bragging rights for a full year and a chance to defend your crown in 2011. Of course, the caveat is, every single day, your selection must be a Brewer farmhand, obviously! If there is an extremely rare day (maybe around the All-Star break) when no Brewer affiliate plays, you can pick a former Brewer farmhand -- just kidding, you can (and must) pick any other minor league baseball player. Keep in mind the rules as pointed out at the link above. If you forget to pick even a single day, your streak will end. You can pick in advance, and you can change your advance pick in case of injury or such, but be careful. Weekday games on the East Coast can start as early as 8:30 AM Central time, so picks can get locked in very early. Will you pick Brett Lawrie on the rare day he's rested? That's OK, you're safe. Will you pick Kentrail Davis on a day he walks twice, is HBP, and slugs a sac fly? That's OK, you're safe. Will you be checking weather reports now? See, you didn't think of that, did you? This is serious stuff! Don't worry, you're safe. Please check out all the rules here -- hopefully suspended games won't cloud your streak -- head hurts regarding those. IMPORTANT: Lots of minor league doubleheaders, right? Avoid them! In order to get credit for the day, your player must take part in both games, and get hits in each, and you only get credit for one day on your streak! Avoid doubleheaders! Who will be rooting for extra innings when a long streak is on the verge of ending? Plan ahead for those vacations, honeymoons, etc. You need to set up an MLB.com free account to play (it's no big deal, the process walks you through it). Go ahead and post in this thread if you think this is a fun idea, and if you think you'll be taking part. We know there are many lurkers here, and you don't need to post to tell us you're participating. *** I've thought about how we can have discussion on this. Keep in mind what we're describing below may change. We're not a huge fan of pinned threads, but we're leaning on keeping this thread pinned all season as your reminder to make your daily pick. That would make five pinned threads here in the Minor League Forum, and we promise we'll cap it at that. Except for your initial post here indicating that you plan on participating (keep in mind that many will participate without letting us know right away), please don't deluge us with posts about who your pick is when your streak is only a few games old. We're going to set an arbitrary cap for now of 15 games -- in other words, don't come here and gloat about your streak until it's reached 15 games. Then let us know and we'll root you on with possible selections (or try to fake you out with false info) -- nah, we're all rooting for each other. What you can do, however, is share your painful "how my streak ended" story -- if it's a decent story, only, please! It could be how a guy was robbed by a home run to end your streak, or how your dog distracted you and you forgot to make your pick when your streak was at 32 games, etc. So this thread will get a tad lengthy by season's end, but will hopefully also be entertaining. We hope that secretly Brewer players, media, front office staff, families, etc., will take part. Heck, didn't Adam McCalvy win the Final Four pool at Right Field Bleachers? If you're simply not a fan of this concept, just try to avoid it altogether. Hopefully it won't lead you to the Minor League Forum when there are no other updates within this forum too often. We think after this first week or so, the volume of posts in the thread should lower quickly. Again, if you're going to have something exciting to share about your streak extending or ending, please make it worthwhile -- what do they say? There's nothing more boring than hearing about someone's fantasy team, or Beat the Streak moment when their streak is at six, for instance. MiLB.com tracks all your picks and allows you to view your history from the whole season. So we'll be able to verify who had the longest streak at season's end, you'll just need to provide us with your MLB ID and password (and you can always change it before giving it to us, and then change it back). And as they say, anything we just typed above is subject to change. Good luck, everyone, let's see how this experiment works out. --Jim (Mass Haas)

April 11, 2010: Timber Rattlers lineup (Chris Dennis needs a position) April 11, 2010: Tonight's pitchers (NOTE: Maverick Lasker now scheduled to piggy-back Damon Krestalude tonight, not Jake Odorizzi) April 11, 2010: Game Notes