Jim Goulart

Turns out just-turned 20-year-old RHP Damon Krestalude of nearby Port St. Lucie will make his first FSL start tonight at Palm Beach. No doubt he'll have a big family contingent on hand, nice.

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 36 26 .581 - 19-14 17-12 W5 Iowa 31 30 .508 4.5 16-13 15-17 W3 Memphis 30 31 .492 5.5 18-13 12-18 L4 Omaha 24 36 .400 11.0 11-21 13-15 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 36 24 .600 - 13-14 23-10 W1 Carolina 34 27 .557 2.5 19-13 15-14 W1 Tennessee 27 35 .435 10.0 15-18 12-17 W1 Chattanooga 24 37 .393 12.5 13-17 11-20 L1 West Tenn 24 38 .387 13.0 12-18 12-20 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 37 18 .673 - 15-11 22-7 W3 Daytona 28 28 .500 9.5 13-10 15-18 W3 Clearwater 28 29 .491 10.0 14-15 14-14 L1 Tampa 27 31 .466 11.5 15-17 12-14 W1 Lakeland 25 29 .463 11.5 14-16 11-13 W3 Dunedin 26 32 .448 12.5 10-19 16-13 W1

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated a few hours prior to gametime. Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format): *** We're going to include the link to Kraig McNutt's Nashville blog in the same post as the Nashville media notes link going forward. *** AAA All-Star voting is here with your MiLB.com online account.

Midwest League Standings Dominican Summer League Standings

Follow Saturday'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. Nashville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_13_mrbaaa_nasaaa_1 Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_13_jaxaax_hunaax_1 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_13_breafa_pbcafa_1 Wisconsin: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2009_06_13_kccafx_wisafx_1&did=t572&sid=t572 Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&gid=2009_06_13_dmlrok_dobrok_1&cid=3130&t=g_box

Saturday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Link here for the live audio choices - audio will no longer archive. For this Brevard County series, you can pick up the Cardinals' audio via this link. Nashville: RHP Tim Dillard at home vs. Memphis (Cardinals), 5:35 PM pre-game; 6:00 gametime Huntsville: RHP Mike Jones at home vs. Jacksonville (Marlins), 5:45 PM pre-game; 6:00 gametime Brevard County: TBD at Palm Beach (Cardinals), 5:05 PM gametime -- two doubleheaders this past week make this starting assignment a tossup Wisconsin: RHP Trey Watten at home vs. Kane County (Athletics), 6:20 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: at home vs. the DSL Marlins (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...

Prior to Friday Night: Brevard County currently leads the FSL North by nine games with eleven games remaining in the first half. Their magic number to clinch the first half championship is two, meaning any combination of two Manatees wins and/or Threshers losses will give Brevard County the title, along with a berth in the FSL playoffs. The Manatees have also made playoff appearances in 1994, 2001, and 2007. Each time, they went on to win the FSL East championship. Brevard wins, Clearwater loses. Daytona leap-frogged over the Threshers, so is there still work to do, but the Manatees have been so good a first-half title seems almost nonchalant. Congrats to the boys, the most dominant team in the minors in '09 thus far. Tyler Stover of the 'Tees put together this writeup Friday afternoon.

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

Link Report Bonus: Phil Niekro in Appleton -- pretty cool

We're a day behind grabbing David Weiser's text so instead here's just the link to his starsboxscore.com site so you can catch up on various tidbits after his notes on Thursday's game.

Link while active, text follows: Pressure not a problem In first year with Stars, Shane Justis delivers big in clutch situations By Brad Shepard For the Huntsville Times, sports@htimes.com While he was in the Dodgers organization, Shane Justis was a play-anywhere, do-everything role player who earned the nickname "The Grinder." The Huntsville Stars simply refer to their second baseman as "The Gamer." "He has played as well as he can play," Stars manager Bob Miscik said. "By that I mean it's hard to imagine him playing any better. He's been very consistent, very steady, gets big hits and makes big plays. "He's just got very good instincts and a winning style." On a team full of gritty veterans who may not be household names but have their team in first place in the Southern League's North Division, Justis is arguably having the best season of anybody. After Friday's win against Jacksonville, Justis was second on the Stars in batting average at .320. But Huntsville's No. 2 hitter was second with a .377 batting average with runners on base and a .372 average with them in scoring position. He also leads the Stars in total bases, doubles and triples and is second in runs and hits. Those numbers are nice, but Justis prides himself on hits such as the ones he collected against Tennessee on the most recent road trip. He belted a grand slam to lead the Stars to a 4-2 win over the Smokies and, in the same series, smacked a two-run, ninth-inning single to give Huntsville another comeback win. Though it was early in Friday's game, he put all of his generously-listed 5-foot-10, 182-pound frame into a Willie Glen pitch for a three-run homer to tie the game in the third as fiancee Julie watched. "You want to be able to come through in the clutch because that's what baseball is about," he said. "I've always tried to do that. I think if you went back and talked to some Dodgers coaches, they'd say I've done well in those situations." Until this year, all of Justis' opportunities came in the Dodgers organization. Though his bat kept him in the lineup most days, Los Angeles' wealth of prospects meant Justis didn't have a home in the field. He played second base, third base, shortstop and even pitched once, but he's happy to be entrenched at second after coming over to the Brewers organization in the Rule 5 draft prior to this season. "I like having one place, but I've always been a guy who didn't care to play anywhere," Justis said. "I'm 5-10 on a good day, so I know that is an aspect that'll make me valuable. Watching ESPN and stuff, you see the utility guys are really valuable, especially in the National League." Justis isn't a utility guy for the Stars. Instead, he is an arguable all-star and everyday second baseman. He plays the game with an intensity that is contagious, and there is no questioning his value to his teammates. "He's a grinder," said Vinny Rottino, a veteran utility man himself. "He comes to play every day and play hard, and we've got a team full of guys who do that." Said Justis: "It been great playing with a group of guys who check their egos at the door. People are seeing we may be older and not be prospects anymore, but we play the game the right way."

Happy 23rd birthday (Saturday), Jonathan...

Final: DSL Brewers / Orioles 5, DSL Cubs #2 Squad 4 DSL Brewers / Orioles Box Score No Brewers pitched; LF Ronny Puello with a single and HBP; catcher Jhonatan Javier with another designated hitter stint, two singles (one walk in 38 AB's); 17-year-old SS Andres Martinez now 2-for-18, a sacrifice tonight; another 17-year-old, CF Juan Barrini, got his first professional hit, and is now 1-for-20... DSL Brewers / Orioles Game Log

Post-Crescent blog entry on this game includes the following -- Stat pack 10: Wins this season by Wisconsin pitcher Daniel Meadows, which is tied for the most in professional baseball. Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was unable to notch victory No. 11 on Friday after he exited his start against Florida in the fourth inning because of a strained groin. 17 1/3: Consecutive scoreless innings pitched by Rattlers relievers over the past four games. Efrain Nieves and Rigoberto Almonte combined to toss four scoreless innings on Friday. .314: Season average of Rattlers first baseman/catcher Corey Kemp. He came into Friday's game 10th in the league in batting.

Final: Kane County (Athletics) 2, Wisconsin 1 Wisconsin Site Game Summary Cougars edge Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had at least one base runner on in every inning on Friday night against the Kane County Cougars. But, the Rattlers scored only one unearned run and saw their three-game winning streak come to an end after a 2-1 loss to the Cougars. Pedro Figueroa worked through six innings with a lot of defensive help for his sixth win of the season. Wisconsin (29-32) scored first for the first time in the series. A throwing error by third baseman Carlos Arrieche allowed Chris Dennis to score from second in the bottom of the second inning. But, that was the last run the Rattlers would score. The Cougars (37-24) tied the game in the top of the third inning. Franklin Hernandez doubled to start the inning. He would score on an fielder's choice by Jason Christian. Kane County took the lead in the top of the fourth. Steve Kleen singled. He went to second on Cody Scarpetta's first wild pitch of the inning. Kleen advanced to third on Scarpetta's second wild pitch of the inning. Kleen scored with two outs on Scarpetta's third wild pitch of the inning. Wisconsin had chances against Figueroa, but could not cash in against the lefty. The Cougar defense turned three double plays behind Figueroa in the game. Figueroa walked four, struck out four, and gave up six hits, but only allowed the unearned run. Cougar relievers Brent Hunter and Justin Murray both allowed base runners in the seventh and eighth innings respectively, but neither allowed a run. In the bottom of the ninth, Mickey Storey gave up a two-out hit, but got the last out for his seventh save. The final game of Wisconsin's 12-game homestand is Saturday night. Trey Watten (2-6, 4.28) is the scheduled starter for the Timber Rattlers. Kane County is sending Kenny Smalley (6-1, 2.03) to the mound. Game time is 6:35 PM. Wisconsin Box Score Efrain Nieves, who we've discussed on the forum as of late, owes Rigo Almonte thanks, for three stranded runners in the 7th; Michael Marseco, Corey Kemp, and Sean McCraw each walked twice, but none scored... Wisconsin Game Log Consecutive inning Rattler GIDP's to end the 3rd and 4th -- 6th inning, too; it's painful to review the lack of clutch hitting here -- both teams, actually...

Thank you, Dawn Davenport, for brightening up our Link Report with your report on the Sounds from the WKRN anchor desk tonight. Video link You're welcome.

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with reliever Ryan Houston Discussed his recent four-inning, 26-pitch (!) outing; Nashville's bullpen is the best in the PCL statistically... Final: Nashville 5, Memphis (Cardinals) 3 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Chris Cody photo, text follows -- Nashville Beats Memphis 5-1 On Friday NASHVILLE-The Nashville Sounds beat the state-rival Memphis Redbirds 5-1 on Friday night in front of 6,908 fans at Historic Greer Stadium. The Sounds (36-26) have won five straight games and improved to 3-19 when trailing after the sixth inning. Chris Cody (1-1) earned his first Triple-A win and threw his second quality start of the season, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts over seven innings. Memphis took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Jarrett Hoffpauir home run to left field. Nashville loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame after a couple of singles and a walk, but was unable to produce a run off Memphis starter Mitchell Boggs. Adam Heether led off the seventh inning with a base hit and advanced to third on a Carlos Corporan ground-rule double. Pinch hitter Erick Almonte tied the game at 1 with an RBI-base knock to centerfield that scored Heether. Jason Bourgeois then brought home Corporan and Almonte with a line drive base hit to left field that gave Nashville a 3-1 lead, his second consecutive game with a go-ahead RBI. AUDIO: Jason Bourgeois Go-Ahead Single Nashville loaded the bases again in the eighth inning and extended the lead to 4-1 after Memphis reliever Royce Ring walked home Hernan Iribarren. Corporan made it 5-1 with a sacrifice fly, scoring Joe Koshansky. Boggs (2-2) took the loss, surrendering three runs on seven hits over 6 and 1/3 innings. R.J. Swindle and David Johnson each threw a scoreless inning in relief for the Sounds. The Sounds and Redbirds continue their series tomorrow night at 6:00 PM CT at Historic Greer Stadium. Right-hander Tim Dillard (7-3, 4.23) takes the mound for Nashville against Memphis' right-hander Clayton Mortensen (6-3, 3.28). Nashville Box Score You just wait-and-wait for 25-year-old Chris Cody to stumble, and he never does -- and we do mean never, Cody is amazing, 13 ground ball outs; lefties hitting .128 against R.J. Swindle; Erick Almonte has proven to be the perfect veteran utilty guy / bench bat for a competitive AAA squad... Nashville Game Log

Final: Huntsville 9, Jacksonville (Marlins) 6 Huntsville Site Game Summary Three Big Innings Carry Huntsville to Victory Stars Overcome Slow Start and Rain to Sink Suns By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars Shane Justis collected three hits, scored three times and knocked in three runs to help Huntsville get past Jacksonville 9-6 Friday night in the second of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars lifted their record to 36-24 and maintained their two and a half game lead in the North Division over victorious Carolina, while the Suns fell to 29-33. The Suns broke up a scoreless game with three runs in the third inning off of Donovan Hand on a two-out, run-scoring hit by Scott Cousins that was followed by a two-run double by Lee Mitchell. The Stars got the game tied in the bottom half of the frame when Justis smashed a two-out three-run home run, his fourth, off of Suns' starter Willie Glen. Huntsville grabbed the lead for good with four runs in the fifth amid rain, heavy wind and lightning. The Stars loaded the bases with one out for Drew Anderson, who sent a ground ball that was gloved by a diving Mitchell at third base. He threw from his knees wildly past the plate allowing two runs to score, while also allowing Jonathan Lucroy to reach third base and Anderson to advance to second. Vinny Rottino's fly ball to center field plated Lucroy before Cousins' errant throw to third base allowed Anderson to score to make it 7-3. Kevin Melillo followed with a wind-blown, pop up infield double that chased Glen from the game and started a 35-minute rain delay. Glen took the loss to fall to 1-6 after allowing seven runs, six earned, on six hits, while walking four and fanning two. He has lost each of his last four turns. Hand grabbed the win to improve to 5-1 after yielding three runs on five hits over five frames. He punched out a season-high six and was followed by Mike McClendon, who worked a perfect sixth inning before encountering trouble in the seventh. Lorenzo Scott tripled in a run and scored on an infield single by Chris De La Cruz that trimmed the lead to 7-5. McClendon was lifted with runners at first and second and two outs and replaced by Casey Baron, who gave up a run-scoring hit to Cousins that cut the lead to one. Mitchell then walked to load the bases before Kevin Randel fanned to end the inning. Rottino and Taylor Green singled in runs in the seventh inning to push the Stars lead back to three. Baron tossed a scoreless eighth and was relieved by Robert Hinton, who struck out the first two hitters he faced in the ninth before Mike Stanton singled and Cousins walked. Hinton then struck out Mitchell to end the game and earn his eighth save. The series continues Saturday night with right-hander Mike Jones taking the hill for the Stars against Jacksonville southpaw Graham Taylor. Coverage of the game begins at 5:45 PM central time and can be heard through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score Incredible that the weather was again an issue at Joe Davis; reliever Robert Hinton back on the prospect radar -- he'll be 25 in August; Shane Justis posting a .320 / .381 / .477 line while striking out only 20 times in 197 AB's -- nice work; hope everybody's noticing Jonathan Lucroy's numbers as of late -- still love the Terry Steinbach comparisons, so solid; Taylor Green game-hit streak at eight... Huntsville Game Log Justis' three-run, two-out HR in the 3rd to tie it was just immense, what a pickup that had to be -- as the Stars haven't played well at home...

Final: Brevard County 8, Palm Beach (Cardinals) 3 Brevard County Box Score Caleb Gindl and Steffan Wilson hit back-to-back home runs in the 4th to extend the lead provided by Lee Haydel's inside-the-park granny; the super Michael Bowman works seven innings here and has a 13-to-1 K-to-BB ratio in his first two Florida State League starts, and a 54-to-15 total for the season -- I'm sure my fellow Power 50 editors are taking note, even if several players are due to lose their P50 spots with the new crop of draft signees coming on board; Bowman did hit two batters, and he's definitely not a ground ball pitcher, so he does have to be "on", and he has been all season; Zelous Wheeler walked (OBP .360), but the average is down to .225... Brevard County Game Log

Listening to the Huntsville pre-game interview live with Kevin Melillo, who is a riot, definitely would not mind hanging with this guy. Losing the archived pre-game interviews this year was a big loss -- but you all knew that.

Man, I wish I could say I heard this live: Brevard County Top 2nd Sergio Miranda singles on a ground ball to left fielder Shane Peterson. Martin Maldonado singles on a ground ball to right fielder Adron Chambers. Sergio Miranda to 2nd. Brent Brewer singles on a ground ball to third baseman Jose Garcia. Sergio Miranda to 3rd. Martin Maldonado to 2nd. Lee Haydel hits an inside-the-park grand slam (2) on a fly ball to right-center field. Sergio Miranda scores. Martin Maldonado scores. Brent Brewer scores. There is no play in baseball that can be more exciting, only if it came with two outs, or late in the game with a team down three runs. Haydel also led off the game with a single and scored -- 5-0 'Tees early on.

CF Logan Schafer posted a respectable line of 5-for-23 (four walks, three K's) during his brief stay in Huntsville. He's been returned to Brevard County, filling the roster spot vacated by John Axford's promotion. OF Drew Anderson was reinstated from the Temporarily Inactive list at Huntsville. In order to make his scheduled start Friday night, RHP Donovan Hand was transferred back to Huntsville from the Helena paper roster. Hand's spot freed up when RHP Nick Bucci was placed on the suspended list as of Monday, June 8th. Bucci will turn only 19 years old on July 16th. We don't know if this was a league- or team-imposed suspension. Bucci was ejected from his most recent Sunday appearance after hitting a batter at West Tenn. Hopefully this is related to that, and not an off-the-field discretion for the youngster. We'll attempt to find out.

Rattler Radio Blog: June 12, 2009: Game notes THE VIEW FROM UP HERE: Daniel Meadows is the only minor league pitcher - at any level - with 10 wins. Only one other professional pitcher has ten victories this season - Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays. Halladay goes for win #11 tonight against the Florida Marlins at Rogers Centre. June 12, 2009: Tonight's Pitchers (Scarpetta / Nieves) June 12, 2009: Lineup Chris Dennis batting 7th against a lefty starter

At Nashville, RHP Josh Butler is paper-moved to the Helena roster, and Sam Narron is activated from the disabled list. It doesn't look like a rotation spot is available for Narron, the next five games are scheduled to be started by Cody - Dillard - Burns - Gulin - Wright.

WSSP Audio Brewers Director of Amateur Scouting Bruce Seid reviews the team's draft