Jim Goulart

At Brevard, 24-year-old LHP Rafael Lluberes has landed on the disabled list with an undisclosed injury. This is Lluberes' 8th year in the system, having signed as a 17-year-old in 2002. This is the first disabled list stint in his career. Lluberes had thrived in a short relief role this season (numbers), and last pitched on Monday. Taking his spot on the roster is native Floridian (Port St. Lucie) RHP Damon Krestalude, up from extended spring training in Maryvale. Krestalude turns 20 years old today, so that's a heck of a birthday gift for him. Drafted in the 17th round last season out of high school, Krestalude posted these numbers in 14 games (five starts) in the Maryvale heat last summer. It remains to be seen if there's a time frame on his stay, but like Nick Bucci to Huntsville before him, it has to be a big thrill to bypass both Helena and Wisconsin for now.

News from Huntsville: The Milwaukee Brewers and the Huntsville Stars announced today that Stars OF Drew Anderson has been placed on the Temporarily Inactive list. Taking his place on Huntsville's roster is OF Logan Schafer who has been promoted from Brevard County. The moves are effective immediately and Schafer will be in uniform for the Stars game tonight against the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx. 22-year-old Logan Schafer has posted fantastic numbers for a CF in the Florida State League. We hope everthing is OK off-the-field for Drew Anderson, but this is a fantastic progession and opportunity for Schafer. 21-year-old catcher Mike Roberts joins the Manatees from extended spring training to take Schafer's spot at Brevard. His numbers were very reasonable at Helena last season. Roberts will be re-joining his Virginia Military Institue batterymate, Michael Bowman, with the Manatees. We'll have more updates from Brevard later this afternoon.

Injured his knee diving for a ball, fortunately avoided season-ending surgery, we should see Cain by July, you'd think.

Link while active, text follows: Pitcher handy in dual role for Stars Hatton native back in rotation after stellar bullpen stint By Paul Gattis HuntsvilleTimes Sports Staff, paul.gattis@htimes.com If Donovan Hand pitches in the big leagues some day, he'll remember fondly the 2009 season in Huntsville. A lot has been asked of Hand, the Stars' unofficial hometown player. And Hand has delivered a lot. A native of Hatton, about an hour west of Huntsville, Hatton was primarily a starter his first two minor-league seasons. But this year, he's been primarily a reliever. Now with ace Chris Cody promoted to Triple-A Nashville, Hand is a starter again. Have arm, will pitch - that's Hand. Anytime, anywhere. "It's been kind of a swing role for me," Hand said. "Out of spring training, that's what (the Milwaukee Brewers) wanted me to do. They thought it would help me get to the big leagues faster." And no words are sweeter to a minor leaguer. "It's been a different role for me," Hand said. "I didn't know what to expect coming out of spring training. "But it's worked out for me. I've learned a lot. You just come in, do your thing and get out of there as fast as possible." In 16 appearances for the Stars - 15 out of the bullpen - Hand is 3-1 with a microscopic 1.66 ERA. Only lefty reliever Casey Baron has a better ERA at 1.52. Hand is expected to make his return to the rotation this weekend at West Tenn. "He has value in both the bullpen and the rotation," Stars pitching coach John Curtis said. "He's a good guy and a hard worker. I think he's going to be a good pitcher." As the pitching coach at Single-A West Virginia, Curtis worked with Hand in 2007. "I kind of anticipated what I would be seeing (this season) and I have not been disappointed," Curtis said. Hand is the only Stars player from Alabama. He played at Jacksonville State before getting drafted by the Brewers in the 14th round in 2007. He prepped at Hatton High, the centerpiece of the tiny town in rural Lawrence County that he said definitely qualifies as being "out in the sticks." And Hand is proud of it. "There are guys here from all over the country and the world," Hand said. "But they don't believe me when I say (how small Hatton is). But a couple of them are going home on an off day with me, and they're going to find out how small it is." On Hand's traveling roster to Hatton are fellow pitchers Omar Aguilar (who lives near Los Angeles), Robert Hinton (Sarasota, Fla.) and Mike Jones (Seattle). So who is going to have the biggest culture shock in Hatton? "Omar," Hand said with a laugh. "California guy, he'll have the biggest one."

Post-Crescent Blog: Lawrie to have surgery on broken nose Monday, will miss a few games

Final: Brevard County 7, Sarasota (Reds) 6, 14 innings Brevard County Box Score Lee Haydel's RBI ground-rule double in the 14th and Roque Mercedes' subsequent save make a winner of catcher Brett Whiteside, who tossed three scoreless innings, facing the minimum nine batters; this team with the best record in all of minor league baseball still manages to win on a night when their amazingly effective bullpen finally falters; early on, Brandon Rapoza stranded a runner in the 2nd inning for Mark Rogers -- Rogers only faced eight batters, that pitch count adherence doesn't waiver at all, does it? Whiteside went from pitcher to catcher for the 14th inning, taking over for emergency third catcher Sergio Miranda; the Manatees stranded 16; Haydel had four hits, Steffan Wilson three, everyone saw their share of at-bats, naturally... Brevard County Game Log Four hours and 53 minutes in an 85 degree sweatbath -- now that's fun! Reliever Mark Willinsky came up big when he came on in the 6th; man on 3rd, none out in the Manatee 8th, and the next three batters strike out -- yuck; Logan Schafer's toss to Zelous Wheeler for the relay throw to the plate was huge to end the 8th -- what a game; Caleb Gindl couldn't drive in the go-ahead run in the 9th with one out and the bases loaded; a testy Rob Wooten took out his 8th inning frustrations by K'ing the side swinging in order in the bottom of the 9th; Wooten then balked in the tying run in the 10th after Eric Farris' two-out single put the 'Tees up in the top of the inning; not sure why catcher Anderson de la Rosa would have to be lifted in the 12th, paving the way for Miranda's two emergency innings behind the dish -- the Manatees had four players catch in this game; a passed ball by Whiteside on a strikeout that would have ended the game extended the drama even more... Whew! Most work I'll do all season on game notes for a contest...

Final: DSL Mets 8, DSL Brewers / Orioles 1 DSL Brewers / Orioles Box Score The Mets' kids ran wild on 21-year-old catcher Jhonatan Javier, stealing seven bases in as many attempts -- Javier, the only Brewer catcher among five catchers on the roster, has caught all five games thus far and committed two errors here, where are the Oriole backstops? That $710,000 given to RHP Rolando Pascual way back in September of 2005 is long gone -- Pascual, now 20 years old, committed an error, hit three batters and walked two in his four innings, allowing three runs; the two Brewer corner outfielders, Luis Chirinos (16) and Juan Barrini (17), each had an outfield assist; Chirinos with a sacrifice fly; second baseman Joan Abreu (18) walked in four trips... DSL Brewers / Orioles Game Log

Final: Cedar Rapids (Angels) 8, Wisconsin 0 Wisconsin Site Game Summary: KERNELS BEAT RATTLERS FOR THIRTEENTH STRAIGHT WIN by Chris Mehring, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Cedar Rapids Kernels just keep winning. Ryan Chaffee pitched six shutout innings and was supported by a 12-hit attack. The Kernels beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 8-0 Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field their thirteenth consecutive victory. Before the scoring, there was an injury to a Kernel staff member. Cedar Rapids clubhouse manager Ron 'Roady' Plein travels with the team. One of his trademarks at Perfect Game Field in Cedar Rapids is to chase after loose balls and retrieve them for the umpire. He also does this on the road. In the third inning on Thursday night, he chased after a ball behind home plate at the same time as the batboy for the Timber Rattlers. The two collided and Plein wound up with a broken ankle. There was a 21 minute delay as Plein was tended to and taken off the field in an ambulance. The Kernels (33-20) broke up the scoreless tie with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Rattler starting pitcher Wily Peralta hit the first batter, walked the second batter, and just missed a diving catch on a popped up bunt attempt and Adam Younger got a single on the play. Matt Crawford lined a double to right that scored a pair of runs. A sacrifice fly by Angel Castillo made it 3-0. Gabe Jacobo extended the Kernels lead to 4-0 with a double in the fifth. Younger followed with a two-run homer to push the Kernels advantage to 6-0. A sacrifice fly in the sixth inning by Tyson Auer made it 7-0. Chaffee allowed a fourth inning single to Brett Lawrie and three walks. That was it. He struck out six and won his fifth consecutive start. Cedar Rapids scored one more run in the top of the eighth inning on a wild pitch by Rattler reliever Liam Ohlmann. Wisconsin (24-29) managed two hits in the game and have scored one run in the first three games of their series with the Kernels. The final game of the four game series is set for Friday evening. Dan Merklinger (0-1, 7.40) is scheduled to make the start for the Timber Rattlers. Cedar Rapids will counter with Will Smith (2-1, 3.60). Game time is 7:05 PM. Friday night is a North Shore Bank Family Night. Children 12 and under eat free. Everyone will get to enjoy the first post-game fireworks display of the season. Children 14 and under may run the bases after the fireworks. Tickets are available at 800-WI-TIMBER, 733-4152, or at the Time Warner Cable Field box office. Wisconsin Box Score Rattlers getting pummeled every which way in this home series; OF Derrick McPhearson grounds into a double play in his one at-bat (first professional AB)... Wisconsin Game Log

The most disappointing thing about this minor league evening is that we have no audio of this amazing mound performance by the third-string catcher, and there will not be any media reports of any kind Friday AM. Living vicariously through game logs stinks...

Final: Nashville 5, Iowa (Cubs) 2 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Brendan Katin photo, text follows -- NASHVILLE - Brendan Katin enjoyed a two-homer evening for the third time in his last six games to power the Nashville Sounds to a 5-2 victory over the division-rival Iowa Cubs on Thursday evening at historic Greer Stadium. Katin, who leads Nashville with 12 longballs on the season, has homered in seven of his last 14 games and is batting .342 (27-for-79) over his last 20 contests. The first-place Sounds (31-24) have won three straight against the I-Cubs and four straight overall. Iowa grabbed an early 1-0 lead against Nashville starter Josh Butler, as the Cubs snapped their 19-inning scoreless drought. Sam Fuld led off with an infield single, moved to second on a groundout, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored the contest's first run on Doug Deeds' RBI single to left. Cubs third baseman Kyle Reynolds doubled the visitors' advantage to 2-0 in the fourth with a one-out solo homer off the top of the right-field wall, his first roundtripper of the year. Nashville pinch-hitter extraordinaire Erick Almonte put the Sounds on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a pinch RBI single to center off Iowa starter Jeff Samardzija that plated Adam Heether, who had opened the frame with a single of his own. Almonte is 5-for-14 (.357) in pinch-hit situations this seasons while the remainder of the Sounds club is just 3-for-18. Center fielder Jason Bourgeois evened the contest at 2-2 when he followed Almonte's knock with an RBI single to center, bringing in Cole Gillespie with the tying run. Katin put Nashville in front in the fifth when he mashed his team-leading 11th home run of the year, a two-run shot to left off Samardzija. Joe Koshansky, who drew an inning-opening walk, also scored on the blast, which gave the Sounds a 4-2 lead. AUDIO: Brendan Katin's First HR Katin upped the lead to 5-2 in the seventh with his second roundtripper of the night, a solo shot to center off Iowa reliever James Russell. Chris Narveson (2-3) worked four frames of scoreless, one-hit relief to notch the win for the Sounds. The left-hander retired his final 12 batters faced after being greeted by a Fuld single. David Johnson tossed a scoreless ninth for Nashville to pick up his second save of the year. Samardzija (2-2) took the loss for Iowa after allowing four runs on nine hits over his five frames of action. Butler took a no-decision in his second start for the Sounds. He allowed two runs on seven hits in four innings. Nashville catcher Angel Salome had his season-best hitting streak snapped at six games with a pinch-hit strikeout in the contest. The teams wrap up the four-game series with a 7:00 PM finale on Friday evening. Left-hander Chris Cody will make his career Triple-A debut for the Sounds and face Iowa right-hander Kevin Hart (0-3, 4.45). It will be another Purity Faith Night at the ballpark, featuring a pre-game concert by Christian recording artist Tal & Acacia in the back parking lot. A spectacular fireworks show will follow the game. Nashville Box Score Josh Butler allowed seven hits, but by striking out six and walking none in his four innings (81 pitches), only gave up two runs; Hernan Iribarren, Alcides Escobar, and Jason Bourgeois stole bases -- they have 42 between them; Adam Heether 7-for-10 in June; we're not worthy, Brendan Katin... Nashville Game Log In both the 1st and 3rd innings, Sounds batters failed to drive in a man from third base with only one out...

Welcome to this evening's Link Report updates, all located in your Jody Gerut reference-free sanctuary, starting now!

We've learned that Brent Brewer's recent missed games (or replacements for a pinch-runner) down at Brevard are related to a hamstring strain.

Rattler Radio Blog: June 4, 2009: Game Notes June 4, 2009: Tonight's Pitchers (Peralta / Frederickson) June 4, 2000: Starting Lineup

First, in the somewhat tedious Helena paper transaction update portion of the post, we'll tell you that Huntsville RHP and new dad Josh Wahpepah "goes" to Helena, while Mike Jones returns from his hunting, fishing, and hiking getaway in Big Sky country to the Stars. In a meatier transaction, it seemed innocent at the time when Wisconsin outfielder Erik Miller was hit by a pitch in the 5th inning of the May 31st game, because he remained in the game and actually singled in his next at-bat, but he has not played since and was placed on the disabled list with a hand injury. It's too bad, he's been productive, especially in 76 at-bats out of the leadoff spot (.794 OPS). We're hearing through the grapevine that he'll likely be out for 2-3 weeks, hopefully nothing more. To take Miller's spot, the Brewers have moved newcomer OF Derrick McPhearson up from extended spring training. From Chris Mehring's blog: MEET THE NEW GUY: McPhearson was signed as a non-drafted free agent on January 29, 2009. He played football at the University of Illinois and at Hampton University. McPhearson did not play professional baseball last season. He was an All-Metro and an All-Conference selection as a high school baseball player for DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. There is a back story with McPhearson we referred to last winter in among other posts, this one from me and this one from colbyjack. For me, I'm done referring to that part of his life, it won't be included as a note after each mention in the Link Report. It wouldn't surprise me if Brett Christopherson and the folks in Appleton do a human interest piece on McPhearson at some point, and I'm sure the kid has prepared himself for answering a few questions on his background, both football-wise and off-the-field wise. Here's wishing him great success.

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. When there is a post of particular interest you may miss, we'll be sure to note it, but make Kraig's blog a pitstop on your Brewer browsing schedule, along with those media notes, which are always chock full. If we could only get a Brevard County season ticket holder to do something similar...

Thanks so much for this, very nice. Amazing how quickly those Midwest League pitchers work http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Thanks again, I'm still going through them all.

From Wednesday: Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Brewers Assistant GM Gord Ash (Part 1) We'll post Part II when available late Thursday evening -- sounds like Josh Butler's stay in AAA is going to be extended, of course other topics discussed here as well...

Midwest League Standings Dominican Summer League Standings

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 30 24 .556 - 16-13 14-11 W3 Memphis 28 25 .528 1.5 16-11 12-14 L1 Iowa 26 28 .481 4.0 12-12 14-16 L5 Omaha 23 30 .434 6.5 10-16 13-14 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 30 22 .577 - 12-13 18-9 W1 Carolina 29 24 .547 1.5 17-12 12-12 W7 Chattanooga 22 31 .415 8.5 12-17 10-14 L1 West Tenn 22 31 .415 8.5 11-13 11-18 L1 Tennessee 21 33 .389 10.0 10-18 11-15 L11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 32 14 .696 - 14-8 18-6 W3 Clearwater 25 23 .521 8.0 11-12 14-11 W2 Lakeland 21 23 .477 10.0 11-13 10-10 L1 Daytona 22 25 .468 10.5 11-10 11-15 L2 Tampa 21 29 .420 13.0 12-16 9-13 L3 Dunedin 20 29 .408 13.5 8-18 12-11 W3

Follow Thursday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Tab or New Window". Choose "Recap". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. 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_04_iowaaa_nasaaa_1 Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_04_biraax_hunaax_1 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_04_breafa_sarafa_1 Wisconsin: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2009_06_04_cedafx_wisafx_1&did=t572&sid=t572 Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&gid=2009_06_04_dmerok_dobrok_1&cid=3130&t=g_box

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):

Thursday's Daily Menu -- All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Link here for the live audio choices - audio will no longer archive. Sorry, no audio for this Brevard County series. Nashville: RHP Josh Butler at home vs. Iowa (Cubs), 6:35 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Huntsville: LHP David Welch at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 6:45 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Brevard County: RHP Mark Rogers at Sarasota (Reds), 6:00 PM gametime Wisconsin: RHP Wily Peralta at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: at home vs. the DSL Mets squad (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...

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

From Manatee GM Kyle Smith: I'd like to present to you the 2009 Florida State League All-Stars from Brevard hot off the fax machine: Pitchers: Evan Anundsen, John Axford, Josh Butler (since promoted) and Rob Wooten Infielders: Eric Farris and Zelous Wheeler Outfielder: Caleb Gindl The year's ASG will be held in Ft. Myers on June 20th. Both 1st place teams hold the most All-Stars (Ft. Myers and Brevard with 7). Keep in mind, with promotions and injuries, the roster changes at times, so hopefully we can send more guys as the game approaches. On a side note, after the Manatees shutout the Sarasota Reds last night 5-0, the 'Tees pitching staff has now extended their consecutive scoreless innings streak to 31 (dating back to the 6th inning on Sunday). Zeros on the board makes pitching coach Fred Dabney a happy man. And we all want a happy Mr. Dabney.

Chris Cody Video -- His First Warm-Up Tosses in Nashville Caption should say "his", not "her", though...