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"Voice of the Rattlers" Chris Mehring's informative and entertaining Rattlers Radio Blog includes game notes an hour or two before gametime.

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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. MiLB.com now has Gameday available for AA as well as AAA this season. Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_07_15_hunaax_msbaax_1 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2009_07_15_breafa_clrafa_1 Wisconsin: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2009_07_15_wisafx_swmafx_1&did=t572&sid=t572 Helena: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2009_07_15_helrok_idarok_1&did=t433&sid=t433 Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_07_15_athrok_brrrok_1 Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_07_15_dobrok_drsrok_1

Wednesday's Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: Idle -- All-Star Game is Wednesday evening at 9:00 PM on ESPN2, more details can be found here Huntsville: RHP David Bush makes a rehab start at Mississippi (Dodgers), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime Live Audio Link Brevard County: RHP Amaury Rivas or RHP Alex Periard at Clearwater (Phillies), 6:00 PM gametime Sorry, no audio for this series Wisconsin: RHP Trey Watten at Great Lakes (Dodgers), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime Live Audio Link Helena: RHP Nick Bucci at Idaho Falls (Royals), 8:00 PM pre-game; 8:15 gametime Live Audio Link Arizona Summer League: vs. the Athletics' rookies at home in Maryvale; no more day games -- all games begin at 7:00 local time in the desert; no audio, naturally... Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: at the DSL Red Sox (see this thread for some roster background) -- all games are 10:30 local time in the Dominican, and no need to ask about web audio; we usually won't see updated box scores until the overnight...

MiLB.com All-Star Preview Triple-A All-Star lineup PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE Eric Young Jr. (Colorado Springs), 2B Alcides Escobar (Nashville), SS Matt Murton (Colorado Springs), DH Randy Ruiz (Las Vegas), 1B Terry Evans (Salt Lake), CF Matt Miller (Colorado Springs), LF Chris Robinson (Iowa), C Brendan Katin (Nashville), RF Esteban German (Oklahoma City), 3B Bud Norris, Round Rock, P INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE Austin Jackson (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre), CF Drew Stubbs (Louisville), RF Andy Tracy (Lehigh Valley), DH Shelley Duncan (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre), LF Barbaro Canizares (Gwinnett), 1B Mike Cervenak (Lehigh Valley), 3B Seth Bynum (Syracuse), 2B Erik Kratz (Indianapolis), C Reid Brignac (Durham), SS Justin Lehr (Louisville), P

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Link while active, text follows: Brewers manager Gonzales lived the life of a big leaguer By JASON SCOTT - Helena Independent Record Editor's note: Helena Brewers manager Rene Gonzales took advantage of the All-Star break to relax and let his short-A club team take the day off. He also recently took the opportunity to sit down with Independent Record reporter Jason Scott, the beat reporter covering the Brewers this season. This is Part 1 of an excerpt of the interview. JS: You were a major league baseball player. You're the only one I've ever met. RG: Really? JS: Yeah. Easily. I don't think I ever even got an autograph directly from a major league baseball player. My parents always went off to spring training and left me at home. RG: Wow. JS: Yeah. Tough life. RG: Yeah. Speaking of parents, my parents didn't get to see me play a whole lot growing up because they were always working. They both were working. JS: What did your parents do? RG: My dad was a heliarc welder and my mom, she was a clerk, a government secretarial official. They worked all the time growing up. I just remember getting on my bike and going everywhere on my own. It was just "Make sure you're home by dark." Well, you're saying you've never met a big leaguer. I'm just telling you my story. I had a brother that was almost ten years older than me so I was way ahead of the curve and it still pays off today. With my peers, I was just way ahead. He told me the do's and don'ts and the rights and wrongs and how to play head games with the guys my age. My dad was a great baseball player, I always knew that growing up. He screwed up and married my mom and joined the real world. JS: So was he a pro ballplayer? RG: Yeah. My brother was really good, he played at UCLA, but he didn't pursue it. I remember taking ground balls for hours and hours. Just play all day; all sports, too. I had out of high school scholarship offers for basketball as well as baseball. I just liked baseball so much. JS: Your brother decided not to go pro. What made you do it? RG: People thought I was crazy. When I was little, I remember, when I was five years old, I walked around and told everyone I was going to play in the major leagues. And I was, I knew it. By the time I was in junior high and high school, I had put the blinders on. I just trained every day. It wasn't training to me, it was just going out and having fun. But I did something baseball-specific every day. There was one time when I was in high school, there was one time my brother said, "Hey, did you work out today?," and I said no. He said, "Well, someone out there is, some other kid out there is." I never forgot that. My parents and my brother never had to tell me I had to go out and train. I was just whacked. There was some homes in a field behind our house that eventually got knocked down. A bank took it over and it had a huge parking lot. In the parking lot there was a street lamp that stayed on all night. In the back of the building there was a huge brick wall. I used to sneak out of my bedroom window in the middle of the night and jump the fence. I'd put tape on the wall and throw at it and field the ball. I'd come back in the house at three in the morning or four in the morning, get a few hours sleep and get up to go to school. I did that almost nightly. JS: That's dedication, even if it doesn't feel like dedication. RG: I went to college of course and eventually got drafted. When I was drafted by the Montreal Expos, I thought, "Montreal, who are they?" The scouts eventually came to my house to sign me and I thought we were going to play hardball with them and tell them, "I want this much." They said, "You're a pretty good player, we want to send you right to AAA. So I was like "Yeah, I'll sign." And I did, I went right to AAA. JS: Is that pretty rare? RG: Yeah. You have a few guys, there are just a handful of guys that went straight to the big leagues. There was someone hurt in AAA, the shortstop, and when I got there he wasn't hurt as badly as they thought, so they sent me down to AA Memphis for a while. It was really cool. Playing every day and doing it for a living. JS: What's the pay scale like? RG: It was terrible. JS: Is it still that way? RG: Oh yeah. JS: So you have to make the show before you're get paid well? RG: Oh yeah. There's no doubt. There are some guys who are around for a while in triple-A, making a living. But in the minor leagues, ooh, we were three, four guys sharing an apartment, sharing a car. Very little money. Even this group here, they stay with host families and no cars. They can get one meal here, scrounge for another meal there. There's no money to be made in the minor leagues. That's some incentive as well. When you're growing up, you always say, "I'd play it for free. As long as I could make a living." And I did. I was in the big leagues going, "As long as I can make a decent living and playing baseball." Then all of a sudden, you're sitting in the locker room next to someone making five, ten million and you're saying, "I'm better than you are, what the heck's growing on?" When it comes to negotiating a contract, that's the only way, is being compared to someone else. Putting numbers up against another guy. That's how negotiations go. You hear about the ugly stuff that goes on during arbitratition, stuff like that and that's exactly how it goes. JS: That's when you bring in an outside guy? RG: Yeah. Basically it's an attorney for you and the team's attorney, and he's telling you how horsecrap you are and your attorney is telling them how valuable you are. I've heard a lot of ugly things. It's funny. They build you up throughout your career and if you go through arbitratition, there they say, "You're batting .200 with runners in scoring position. That's not very good. Yeah, we'd like to have him, but…" So a couple years, year and a half in the minor leagues. Chris Spiers gets hurt in Montreal and I get called up. JS: Do you get a new contract when you get sent up? RG: Yeah. JS: Because it's two different leagues, right? RG: Right. You have a major league contract, you have a minor league contract. Guys who are in the big leagues, are always going to be in the big leagues. They can send them to the minor leagues, but they have to pay them under the major league contract. JS: So they want them to play in the majors. RG: A minor leaguer has signed his contract for the year, all of a sudden, he gets called up, because they have to put them on the 40-man roster. Because it's a different league and a different union, they're automatically getting paid the minimum. JS: Is it $250,000? RG: I think it's more than that, $300,000 or something. When I first got called up it was $82,000. But it's great. It's the big league life. It's funny, in the minor leagues, you're struggling for cash, trying to get by, you only have one pair of cleats. When you're in the big leagues, people are just handing you stuff. When you're in the big leagues and you're making money all the free stuff comes in when it should've come in the minors. JS: I've always thought that. RG: The very first time I got called up, my triple-A coach called who me into the office, it was Buck Rogers, who eventually became my big league coach in Montreal and again in Anaheim. He's a great guy, a great coach. There's a lot of stuff I use managing that I learned from him. He called me up and he goes, "You're outta here, you're getting traded." I said, "Traded? I'm the top prospect in the country. How am I getting traded?" He said, "You're going to the big club." So I showed up in Philadelphia. The team was playing the Phillies. I remember getting to Veterans Stadium and the game was already playing. I had to ask security how to get to the locker room. I walked into an empty locker room … I walk down this tunnel and the game was already in the eighth inning. The minute I walked into the dugout, all my teammates were like, "Hey, how's it going," and all that. Bill Verdon was the manager, and as I was just getting settled in and talking to the guys, he goes, "Hey, are you ready?" And I go, "Yeah, of course," thinking, am I ready to play in the next couple days. He says, "Okay, you're in there playing short." And I just ran out on the field. No warming up, no stretching, nothing. The first baseman throws the ball across the field and my first throw, I just aired it out. You know, with the adrenaline, I didn't have to warm up. I was ready. Sure enough, first hitter is Greg Luzinski. I'm thinking okay, okay, big pull hitter. First ball is at you, that's the way it always is. Got it, threw him out. And there it went. First I remembered calling my mom, that evening, telling her, "Mom, I'm in the big leagues". She went nuts, of course. There it started. First big league game start, I went 4-for-5 off Charlie Hudson. I remember it just seemed so much easier. The backdrop was so clear, you play on these minor league fields where the lights are terrible and the fields are bad. I remember getting in there and the ball looked so big and everything just seemed to slow down. Again, I went 4-for-5, I was on base all five times, and I was thinking, "Man, there must be a league higher than this." So I thought that I had started my big league career, I'm never going to see the minors again. But they were just throwing me fastballs, challenging me to see what I could do. The next week, here comes the sliders, splits and I'm thinking, "Wow." Chris Spier gets well and I'm back in the minors in two weeks. It was pretty humbling. When I was first drafted, I was put in a high league and right away the next year when I came back, I was in big league camp. So one year after getting drafted there I was in big league camp with Andre Dawson and Tim Raines and Gary Carter and Al Oliver. JS: This was still with Montreal? RG: Yeah. I already gauged myself off of them. Immediately I knew I could play with these guys. There was no period doubt. Rookie Ball to the major leagues is just just miles and miles away. Straight out of college I was playing with those guys so I felt I could easily do it. My first day in the big leagues, in Philladelphia. The next morning, there was a knock on my door and it was Tim Raines and Andre Dawson, saying, "Let's go, young buck." They took me out and bought me three or four suits, shoes, everything. They go, "Hey, you've got to look like a big leaguer and act like it." Now you hear about all the pranks they pull on the rookies, putting them in dresses and all that stuff, I never went through that. All those guys, they just made me feel welcome. They would just sit next to me on the bench, coaching me, teaching me. They just put their arm around you. It's not like that now. Later on, when I would be a veteran on the team, guys would tell me to go tell the rookies to double up on the bus or go sit in the front of the plane, I couldn't do it because it didn't happen to me. JS: So you played how many years? RG: Thirteen seasons, seven teams. JS: Any favorite at bats? Anything that sticks out? RG: Not really. You remember the first major league at bat. JS: Did you get a hit? RG: Yeah. Jerry Koosman. I'm thinking here's this guy, sinkerballer, a lefty, he's going to throw it outside half of the plate, I'm thinking I'm going to try to hit a line drive to right field. Bill Mazeroski and Duke Snyder were my coaches. I told my dad that and he was impressed. A favorite at bat, well hmm. I do. I think I remember all my hits. Your first hits you remember. Game-winning home runs, you remember those. I had a couple of those. I hit one the second day of the season in Baltimore. We were playing Seattle. It was just near opening day. We had the meet and greet with the boosters and the sponsors of the Orioles. It was a banquet they annually had in the evening after the game on a Sunday. Mike Jackson was the pitcher and I think in the tenth inning, I hit a game-winning home run. So we went to the banquet and they got me up in front of everybody and they said, "Well, you hit the game-winning home run tonight." And I said "Yeah, but more importantly, I'm on pace to hit 82 home runs this year." I was joking. Yeah, I was not a home run hitter. I was a fan of facing Clemens and Ryan and all those guys. Most guys would duck them. I welcomed it because I wanted to say I faced the best and beat them. I used to get up for those at bats. I thought it was just a blast to face them. I think I had better success against the better pitchers because of that. I remember 3-4-5 starters used to get me out all the time. I was eventually traded to Baltimore from Montreal. Played there for five years. JS: Would you say it was your favorite team to play for, did you have a favorite? RG: I would say I never felt more like a big leaguer than I did with Baltimore. The way the city treated me, the way the players on that team treated me. Baltimore is just an unbelievable, huge baseball town. And also, having lockers next to Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken. Having Brooks Robinson come through the clubhouse. Jim Palmer, Boog Powell. When we would go to visit another city, even in spring training, when we would walk into the park with all those guys. That was fun. It wasn't fun playing behind Cal Ripken. I had never played any other position but shortstop. They got me, thinking I was going to play shortstop; they traded me for three guys: Dennis Martinez, a catcher and another minor leaguer. I was hoping they were going to move Cal to third but Cal didn't want any part of that. So they asked me if I could play other positions. Never having played other positions, I said, "Yeah, sure, of course." And then I was a utility man. I was labeled. I wish I had never done that, I wish I had demanded a trade. It changed my whole career. And you know, saying you played in the big leagues, people say that's awesome, but I still have second guessed my career. I could've been better. I should've had a much better career. With the talent I had, I should've had a better career. It's weird and people can't grasp that. It's like playing golf, you shoot a 63, but when you get done, you say, "Yeah, but if I had made that one putt." But that's how it is. I was much better than I ended up being. I went to Toronto in 1991, another great city. We lost to Minnessota in the playoffs. That sucked. I thought we had the class of the big leagues that year. We had beat up on the Twins all season long so we were looking beyond them. They kicked out butts. Next year, free agent again and I went to Anaheim, I went home. Everybody said, "Man, it's too bad you weren't in Toronto." And I said, "No, playing every single day, living at home, on the beach, parents in the stands every night, it was almost like little league. It was so relaxing. As a visiting guy, coming into L.A and Anaheim, coming in as a visiting guy, everybody's calling you and wanting tickets. Now that you're home, nobody bothers you. That was a blast, I loved playing in California. It was 78 degrees every night, short sleeves, you know you're going to play. No rain delays, it was awesome.

Link while active, text follows: Sounds played way into All-Star game By Larry Taft THE TENNESSEAN At the start of the 2009 season, at least two members of the Sounds would have been easy picks for tonight's Triple-A All-Star game: shortstop Alcides Escobar and third baseman Mat Gamel. Based on prospects rankings and 2008 season statistics, there wasn't much reason to expect the Sounds would have anyone else on the Pacific Coast League squad that faces the International League all-stars at PGE Park in Portland, Ore. Yet, three Sounds will be on the PCL team tonight. Gamel, rated by MLB.com as the No. 23 prospect in baseball this spring, won't be one of them. He received a call-up to the Milwaukee Brewers on May 14 and has stuck with the Sounds' parent club. Escobar, rated No. 8, was pretty much a given for tonight's game. So what about outfielder Brendan Katin and left-handed reliever R.J. Swindle, the Nashville All-Stars who were surprise picks for the game? Well, they earned their way to Portland. Katin has smacked 19 home runs, third among PCL hitters. And Swindle, signed as a free agent over the winter after spending 2008 in the Phillies organization, has a 0.93 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 38.2 innings as a short relief specialist. "R.J. is not overpowering," Sounds Manager Don Money said of Swindle, who has two Brewers call-ups this season. "He's just a finesse lefty who's been pretty solid all year long. "Katin is a typical home-run hitter - he'll look great then he'll go out there and look like he's never played the game before. He'll hit 'em a long way, and then he won't hit any for a while. And he has way too many punchouts." Katin knows consistency issues have kept the Brewers from advancing him beyond Triple-A. Although he has 19 home runs and 72 RBIs, he has struck out 103 times in 310 at-bats. "I've just got to improve my approach, cut down on strikeouts and walk more. I get way too aggressive sometimes. Pitchers know that. I've got to learn to wait for something," said Katin, who was eliminated in the first round of the Triple-A Home Run Derby on Monday night. "If I do that, the average probably goes up, the RBIs improve, on-base percentage - everything goes up. It's been tough for me, but I know I can improve on it because I've had streaks when I haven't struck out. It's a matter of maintaining a consistent approach and a certain focus each at-bat." For Swindle, consistency is a key to getting a big-league call-up that will be permanent. He had two stints with Phillies last year and has had two with the Brewers in '09. On neither occasion was he able to successfully perform in what his eventual role would be in the big leagues - provide solid short relief, usually as a one-out pitcher against left-handed hitters. "It's been a little difficult for me because I've been able to put a couple of guys on and been able to work through it whereas now I'm coming in in big situations and just being asked to get that one batter out," Swindle said. "It's a lot of pressure, especially at the big-league level. And even here, especially when you're trying to get that one out with a one-run lead. I've tried to adjust, but I'm still making adjustments." The Sounds return to action on Thursday, playing four games at Iowa, four at Memphis and four at Oklahoma City before returning to Greer Stadium on July 28 against New Orleans. Additional Facts TODAY'S TRIPLE-A GAME When. 9 p.m. TV. ESPN2 SOUNDS ALL-STARS ALCIDES ESCOBAR Position. Shortstop Age. 22 Hgt/wgt. 6-foot-1/182 pounds Bats/throws. Right/right 2009 statistics. 87 games, 61 runs, 102 hits, 23 doubles, 5 triples, 3 home runs, 28 RBIs, .296 batting average BRENDAN KATIN Position. Right fielder Age. 26 Hgt/wgt. 6-foot-1/235 pounds Bats/throws. Right/right Hometown. Fort Myers, Fla. 2009 statistics. 80 games, 46 runs, 84 hits, 26 doubles, 4 triples, 19 home runs, 72 RBIs, 271 batting average R.J. SWINDLE Position. Relief pitcher Age. 26 Hgt/wgt. 6-foot-3/190 pounds Bats/throws. Left/left Hometown. Johnston, S.C. 2009 statistics. 28 games, 2 wins, 1 loss, 1 save, 0.93 ERA, 38.2 innings pitched, 13 walks, 39 Photo by SHELLEY MAYS / THE TENNESSEAN Sounds player Brendan Katin earned his way into the Triple-A All Star game, where he will play for the PCL against the International League. http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20090715&Category=SPORTS04&ArtNo=907150405&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

Missed this Rattler blog recap from Monday's game

Final: DSL Brewers / Orioles 11, DSL Dodgers 3 DSL Brewers / Orioles Box Score The good guys scored in five different innings, with multiple runs in four of them; 6'7" LHP Eliezer Montano allowed one run over three relief innings -- he's walked 13 but struck out 18 over 15.2 innings; 19-year-old Dominican native RHP Jamie King made his pro debut with a 1-2-3 inning to end it, striking out two; catcher Jhonatan Javier is an offensive stud -- he doubled and drove in three in a 3-for-4 performance which included being hit by a a pitch for the 11th time this season, Javier is hitting .362 with a .999 OPS in 130 AB's; SS Andres Martinez doubled in four trips, and RF Juan Barrini was 1-for-2... DSL Brewers / Orioles Game Log

Final: Arizona Giants 5, Arizona Brewers 4, ten innings Walkoff loss in 109 degree heat, not fun... Arizona Box Score RHP R.J. Seidel makes his 5th rehab (knee) start with the Maryvale Crew, and dominates for a second consecutive turn, hasn't allowed an earned run in his last two starts covering 12 innings; RHP Luis Guerrero has struggled this summer, and a double and two singles by the Giants helped produce two runs to tie the game in the 7th; Guerrero would recover some, but after LHP Matt Costello stranded an inherited runner in the 9th, a double and single with none out in the 10th lost the game; the Brewers scored two in the 5th and two in the 6th, in each inning it was multiple clutch two-out hits that got the job done as the boys were 4-for-7 with RISP; SS Carlos George committed his 9th and 10th errors in the first inning, as two unearned runs came across with Seidel on the mound; George and RF Max Walla combined to go 0-for-10 at the top of the lineup; 1B Sean Halton the lone Brewer with multiple hits, including a one-out triple that was wasted in the 8th when 3B Wayne Dedrick, who had tripled himself earlier in the game, grounded into a double play later in the inning; DH Brandon Sizemore (double) and LF Jose Garcia each reached base twice; catcher Austin Stockfisch drove in his first pro run with a double -- as often is the case in the stifling heat, the catchers split duty... Arizona Game Log

The Brewers have released 21-year-old Helena RHP Rico Salmon (2008-2209 stats at link), 2008's 48th round pick. You wouldn't think you'd see a young pitcher who was effective last season, and sported a 0.00 ERA thus far in five brief appearances in '09, released. We have no idea if off-field issues led to this, and it's unfair to speculate, although I guess I just did.

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Huntsville Stars announced today that Brewers RHP Dave Bush will join the Stars for a Major League Rehab Assignment and that LHP Sam Narron has been assigned to Huntsville from Nashville. Both moves are effective immediately and both Bush and Narron will be in uniform for the Stars tomorrow night in Mississippi. Bush gets the start Wednesday night.

RHP Pedro Lambertus has been reassigned to Wisconsin after re-acclimating himself to the mound in four Arizona Brewer stints, this after his 50-game PED suspension.

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 51 39 .567 - 30-20 21-19 W2 Iowa 46 44 .511 5.0 25-17 21-27 L2 Memphis 44 45 .494 6.5 29-18 15-27 W1 Omaha 36 53 .404 14.5 15-23 21-30 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Tenn 14 6 .700 - 7-3 7-3 W1 Chattanooga 9 10 .474 4.5 6-4 3-6 W1 Huntsville 9 11 .450 5.0 4-6 5-5 L1 Tennessee 9 11 .450 5.0 4-6 5-5 W1 Carolina 7 13 .350 7.0 3-7 4-6 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 10 6 .625 - 6-5 4-1 W1 Tampa 9 6 .600 0.5 4-4 5-2 L1 Dunedin 10 7 .588 0.5 7-6 3-1 W1 Clearwater 9 7 .563 1.0 1-2 8-5 L1 Daytona 8 9 .471 2.5 3-6 5-3 W1 Lakeland 8 9 .471 2.5 1-3 7-6 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Missoula 12 8 .600 - 9-4 3-4 W1 Great Falls 11 9 .550 1.0 5-2 6-7 L2 Helena 10 10 .500 2.0 5-7 5-3 L1 Billings 6 14 .300 6.0 2-6 4-8 W1

Midwest League Standings Arizona League Standings Dominican Summer League Standings

Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_07_14_brrrok_giarok_1 Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_07_14_dobrok_ddorok_1

Tuesday's Menu: Lightest fare of the season, hope you're not hungry... Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: Idle for the All-Star Break; game is Wednesday Huntsville: Idle Brevard County: Idle Wisconsin: Idle Helena: Idle Arizona Summer League: at the Giants' complex in Scottsdale; no more day games -- all games begin at 7:00 local time in the desert; no audio, naturally... Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: at the DSL Dodgers (see this thread for some roster background) -- all games are 10:30 local time in the Dominican, and no need to ask about web audio; we usually won't see updated box scores until the overnight...

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Birmingham blog entry on Adam Stern

David Weiser's starsboxscore.com Adam Stern's leadoff triple in the 3rd inning broke open a 1-0 lead and combined with a paralyzing pitching effort from a 10-man corps, the North All-Stars whitewashed the South, 4-0 before a crowd of over 7,000 at Regions Park in Birmingham for this year's Southern League All-Star game. Three Stars teamed up to give the North a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning...... Shane Justis hit into a force play, removing Thomas Hubbard of the Diamond Jaxx who walked on five pitches. Drew Anderson, who was taken off the All-Star roster when he was promoted, and reinstated, walked on Diamond's 9th pitch. Jonathan Lucroy, on a 2-1 pitch, then made Mississippi's Scott Diamond the early loser with a two-out RBI line drive single to short right that scored Justis....... Stern got the 3rd inning going with a triple to the gap in right-center on a 1-0 pitch just above the belt. Tennessee's Blake Lalli fouled off three pitches, then hit a deep fly just left of center to score Stern to make it 2-0...... Then a pair of Lookouts -- hot-hitting Andrew Lambo and Josh Bell hammered the nails in...... Lambo, hitting .314 for this month, started a 3-for-4 night with a double to right. Bell, ranked 8th among the Dodgers' top minor league prospects, then got a full count pitch down the middle and whacked it over the fence in right for a 2-run HR, making it 4-0. The Southern Division, with three teams over .500 in the first half and three right now over .500, were humbled again after collecting only five hits in last year's 6-1 loss...... All four of the South's hits tonight were singles and three of them came off three different Stars pitchers...... Jacksonville's Brad Davis hit the only one that went deep with his hit near the left field line off Robert Hinton in the 8th...... Mobile's Ricardo Sosa picked up the first, a single to right in the 2nd. Donovan Hand gave up the second hit, just beyond the infield to Mobile's Pedro Ciriaco in the 3rd, and Casey Baron gave up the other to Matt Young in the 8th....... The closest the South came to scoring was in the 6th with Baron on the mound, after Ciriaco led off with a sharp grounder to Bell. Bell made a diving stop and quickly threw to first for the out. Young followed with his hit, which would have put Ciriaco in scoring position. C.J. Retherford (Birmingham) then blooped a ball down the right field line, but right fielder James Adduci chose to try for Young and a sharp throw to Shane Justis got him. Baron then struck out Sean Coughlin to end the inning. All seven of Huntsville's representatives in the All-Star game saw action...... Bell was named as the game's All-Star. The Stars begin a five-game series against the Mississippi Braves (7-13) Wednesday, before coming home next Tuesday to play Carolina..... The Stars are not having a good July, getting off to a 4-7 start, and they are hitting just .191 with runners in scoring position in their last five games....... Last year, they were 11-16 in July, a losing month in three of the last four years...... Drew Anderson picked up his 200th hit as a Huntsville Star in Saturday's 7-3 loss to Chattanooga. It was a double. Anderson is 7-for-14 with six RBIs in his last four games...... Lorenzo Cain, rehabbing in the Midwest League for the TimberRattlers, is hitting .192 in his last ten games, and is 2-for-17 in his last seven games...... Chuckie Caufield is 1-for-12 since his 13-game hit streak, the longest for the Stars this year, was stopped........ Michael Garciaparra is 1-for-14 in his last five games...... Taylor Green is hitting .391 since coming off the disabled list, with three RBIs in seven games. He's struck out just twice in 23 at-bats and hasn't walked...... Five days after getting his first three-hit day as a Huntsville Star, J.R. Hopf went a perfect 4-for-4 in Friday's 4-3 win over Chattanooga....... Shane Justis is working on a six-game hit streak, carrying a .364 mark on the journey....... Kevin Melillo has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, hitting .281 with three doubles...... Johnny Raburn is 2-for-6 in three games since joining the Nashville Sounds. Freddy Parejo, who was promoted with him on the same day, July 6, is 5-for-13, all singles (.385) in six games...... Chris Cody, who was the Stars' ace with a 5-1 record and 2.30 ERA when he left, is 3-4, 3.24 in six starts and one game in relief for the Sounds. In his last game, he gave up just a run in six innings, but took a tough 3-0 loss to Round Rock. It was a big night for two former Stars at the Major League home run derby in St. Louis....... Nelson Cruz and Prince Fielder were the early leaders with 11 home runs before favorites Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols got their chance, but Prince held on and won the derby over Cruz in the final round, 6-5...... Cruz hit .306 with 16 HRs for the 2005 Stars.

Link while active, text follows: Cain latest top Brewers' prospect to rehab with Timber Rattlers Brett Christopherson, Appleton Post-Crescent GRAND CHUTE - The M*A*S*H unit that has become Fox Cities Stadium recently welcomed yet another of the Milwaukee Brewers' top minor league prospects. So that prompted this inquiry of Wisconsin Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom, MD: Do you feel you're now just as equipped to read a medical report as you are a scouting report? "Nah," Isom said before pausing, grinning and then delivering the punch line. "But I did stay at a Holiday Inn one time." OK…seriously. "That's what they said they wanted to do," Isom added. "Keep guys close to Milwaukee and keep an eye on them." "They" would be the Crew's brain trust - fellas like general manager Doug Melvin, assistant GM Gord Ash and director of player development Reid Nichols. And the latest to join a growing list of "them" is 23-year-old Lorenzo Cain, who with a bit of better karma could one day find himself patrolling Miller Park's center field grass. Cain, the top outfielder prospect in the Milwaukee system and rated by Baseball America as the Brewers' sixth-best prospect overall, had set a goal to end the 2009 season at the Triple-A level. Today, he's just relieved to be hanging out with the Single-A Rattlers after suffering a knee injury that at first blush had season-ender stamped all over it. It was only three months ago when Cain, playing at Double-A Huntsville, sprained his left knee while trying to make a diving grab during a Southern League game. Cain said he felt a sharp pain but was able to jog off the field and even tried stepping up to the plate. But… "I hit a line drive to center and took off out of the box, and the knee just kind of gave out on me," he said. "I just stopped, and at that point, I knew something was wrong." An MRI later revealed the injury to be a partial tear of his posterior cruciate ligament, which meant a big WHEW! since rest and rehab - and not a collection of surgical tools - would be the prescribed avenue of treatment. "Right now, I'm just happy to be on the field," said Cain, selected by the Brewers in the 17th round of the 2004 June draft. "I'm not 100 percent right now, but it's coming back slowly. Just get my at-bats in and continue to play. I'll get it going, sooner or later." Cain was assigned to Wisconsin on July 3 and has since appeared in nine games. He was hitless in three at-bats in Monday's 5-2 Midwest League win over visiting South Bend to dip his average to .192 (five-of-26). Not exactly eye-popping when compared to the rest of his resume, like the .279 with 11 bombs and 60 RBI he combined to produce last year in 126 games at High-A Brevard County, Huntsville and Triple-A Nashville. Or the .307 with six homers, 60 RBI and a league-leading 162 hits he put together three seasons ago at West Virginia, the Brewers' previous Single-A affiliate. Those numbers earned him midseason and postseason South Atlantic League all-star mention. His overall minor league totals coming into '09 showed a .295 batting average with 24 homers, 106 doubles, 278 runs scored, 95 steals and 202 RBI in 440 games. But hey, this setback could have been tons worse. "Knock a little of the rust off, that's what 'Lo' Cain is doing right now," Isom said. "He's not where he has been in the past offensively, there's no question about that. You can see, offensively, why he's so good. But it's just not coming out yet. He's still a few games away." Cain deemed his knee - he protects it with a sleeve while he plays - at 80 percent and admitted trying to clear the mental hurdle has proven to be a tricky challenge. So, too, has been keeping the faith. His season got off to a slow start because of a right hamstring strain, so he was only in his fourth game at Huntsville at the time of his knee injury. "It's been a tough year, but things happen, and I've just got to keep my head up and try to bounce back," said the 6-foot-2, 192-pound Cain, who made a three-game stint with the rookie level Arizona Brewers before heading to Wisconsin. "I feel things are slowly coming back. It's still a little tough to kind of go full speed right now. It's still a little sore. And after the game, it's very sore. I have to ice it and get the rehab in. "It's probably going to be sore for a while. It probably won't heal completely until I get a long period of rest. I'm just trying to stay injury free right now." And get going to Huntsville, the next stop on Cain's itinerary once Brewers officials feel he's ready, again, to play at that level. "I haven't heard (of a timetable)," said Isom, whose clubhouse has seen five of the Brewers' top 13 prospects stroll through at some point this season, not to mention Milwaukee right-hander Dave Bush. That includes a pair of rehab stops in third baseman Taylor Green (No. 8 prospect) and pitcher Alex Periard (No. 13). Bush, meanwhile, made a rehab start on Friday. "I'd imagine they're keeping a close eye on (Cain) with his average and getting some quality at-bats. But he's still battling a little bit of the injury bug with his knee." True, but he's also still clutching The Dream. "I want to play center field for the Milwaukee Brewers," Cain said in a quiet but determined tone. "Who knows when that would happen? But I want to make it happen as soon as possible." Lorenzo Cain of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers breaks his bat while batting against the South Bend Silver Hawks at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute on Monday. Post-Crescent photo by Patrick Ferron http://cmsimg.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20090714&Category=APC021102&ArtNo=907140539&Ref=AR&Profile=1019&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

Post-Crescent Timber Rattler Photo Gallery from Monday's game -- some nice shots

Link Report Bonus: The Huntsville Times' Mark McCarter, once a staple of Stars' coverage, chimes in on this-and-that

As you'll note from the box score link above, the Huntsville guys were part of a winning 7-0 North squad. Donovan Hand, Casey Baron, and Robert Hinton each pitched (what else) a shutout inning; Adam Stern tripled and scored; Shane Justis singled, scored, and drove in a run while playing the full game; Drew Anderson drew a walk in two trips; and Jonathan Lucroy singled and drove in a run -- nice job, boys! Game account from the Birmingham News includes photos of Hand and Anderson...