Jim Goulart

Regarding the DSL, the Yankees, Cubs and Rangers have two teams apiece. The Orioles actually have 1.5 teams, with one shared with the Brewers. As you can see from this DSL standings page, the teams are broken into different regions of the Dominican.

Tuesday's Daily Menu -- All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Link here for the live audio choices - audio will no longer archive. For the Brevard County series, you can click on the audio link for the Fort Myers (Twins) feed. Nashville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Iowa (Cubs), 6:35 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Huntsville: LHP Bobby Bramhall at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 6:45 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Brevard County: RHP Jeremy Jeffress at home vs. Fort Myers (Twins), 6:05 PM gametime Wisconsin: RHP Cody Scarpetta at home vs. Cedar Rapids (Angels), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: at home vs. the DSL Yankees #1 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...

We will continue to link to this thread, as we did in this Link Report, as part of each day's Daily Menu. There is no online distinction for you other than that. However, since there are only 11 Brewers prospects (for now), we'll try to note which ones participated as part of each recap. By the way, on outfielder Luis Chirinos, off to the fast start, I mis-calculated his age above. He won't even be 17 until late August.

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Adam McCalvy of MLB.com: Doug Melvin said that pitching prospect Josh Butler, promoted from Class A Brevard County all the way to Nashville last week, would make one more Triple-A start before an assignment to Double-A Huntsville. Butler, 24, is 6-1 with a 2.53 ERA this season including a tough-luck loss for Nashville on Saturday in which he allowed two earned runs in six innings. The Brewers acquired Butler from the Rays last season for outfielder Gabe Gross

From Adam McCalvy of MLB.com: Brewers general manager Doug Melvin has been impressed by Triple-A Nashville outfielder Brendan Katin, who hit two home runs in each of the Sounds' weekend wins. Katin is hitting .293 this season with 10 home runs and 40 RBIs. He also had 51 strikeouts versus eight walks. "This guy just keeps on hitting," said Melvin, who compared Katin to former Brewers slugger Rob Deer. "[Katin] has power, a good arm in the outfield. He does get overlooked a bit."

Final: DSL Marlins 3, DSL Brewers / Orioles 2, ten innings DSL Brewer Box Score 17-year-old OF Luis Chirinos reaches four times, sporting a 1.414 OPS after two games; 18-year-old RHP Francisco Rivero tosses three scoreless innings; Oriole players make up the bulk of the roster, but this partnership should suit the Brewers needs well -- these same two organizations did something similar in Venezuela a few years back, although even fewer Brewers were involved, if I remember correctly, perhaps just a handful... DSL Brewer Game Log

Photo Gallery from Kraig in Nashville -- Don Money looking trim...

Link while active, text follows: Green settles in with Stars By Paul Gattis Huntsville Times Sports Staff, paul.gattis@htimes.com He broke his nose in seven places, and that was after he broke his wrist. And that was after he was believed to be part of the CC Sabathia trade last year. Yet Taylor Green is still a top prospect for the Milwaukee Brewers and now he's the Huntsville Stars' third baseman. "I couldn't really believe what was happening there," Green said Monday. "It was a little bit of bad luck (with the injuries) for a while. But bad luck becomes good luck." Who could have imagined, after being named the Brewers' Minor League Player of the Year in 2007, that 2008 would be more eventful? It started July 7 when the Brewers acquired Sabathia from Cleveland in the blockbuster trade of the season. The Indians sought prospects in return and speculation centered on Green joining Matt LaPorta. Eventually, the Indians selected Michael Brantley as the player to be named later. But Green didn't know for sure until the transaction was completed Oct. 3. "At first, it was a little bit tough," said Green, who was playing at Single-A Brevard County at the time of the trade. "The first week, it was real tough. I knew I had to get it together and get focused. "I like knowing what's going on and I really had no clue what was going on. You wanted an answer so you could settle in. I didn't know." Green went on to hit .289 at Brevard with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs, but injuries kicked in. On Aug. 15, Green was hit by a pitch on the left wrist. Neither he nor team officials realized it was broken, so Green played in the Arizona Fall League for top prospects. There, a pitch struck him in the nose - breaking it in four places. But with only three weeks left in the season, Green postponed surgery. After sitting out four days, Green was whacked in the nose again by a bad-hop grounder during batting practice his first day back- breaking it in three more spots. "It was bad," Green said. "(The nose) looked like a hockey stick." That's a nice analogy for a British Columbia native who professes a love for hockey - especially the Vancouver Canucks. Green still likes to go home and lace up the skates. "Growing up in Canada, a lot of those guys have crooked noses from playing hockey," said Green, who played hockey until the ninth grade. "I would have fit in up there." He's fitting in pretty well with the Stars, too. Entering Monday's game against Birmingham, Green was hitting .256 with eight RBIs after a May 21 promotion from Single-A Appleton. "I love him," Stars manager Bob Miscik said. "He's hard-nosed, loves to play. He's got a short, quick bat and uses the whole field." And he's still a Brewer - rated the organization's eighth-best prospect by Baseball America. "The Brewers have been good to me so I was happy to stay,"Green said.

Final: Birmingham (White Sox) 14, Huntsville 5 Huntsville Site Game Summary Barons Bounce Back to Beat Stars Series Between Division Leaders Even At a Game Apiece By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars David Cook belted two home runs and knocked in six runs to power Birmingham past Huntsville 14-5 Monday night in the second game of a five-game set between division leaders at Joe Davis Stadium. The Barons improved to 34-17 and pushed their lead to three and a half games over Mobile in the South, while the Stars eight-game win streak came to an end and their lead over Carolina in the North was cut to two and a half games. Huntsville fell to 29-21 on the season and 11-12 at home. Cook's grand slam and a solo shot by Jordan Danks in the second inning staked the Barons to a 5-1 lead against starter Mike Jones, who then blanked the visitors over the next three frames. Freddy Parejo's leadoff long ball in the fifth cut the Barons lead to 5-3 and Huntsville pushed across two more runs, on a run-scoring hit by Shane Justis and a run-scoring groundout by Jonathan Lucroy, in the inning to get the game tied. Jones was charged with five runs on seven hits, while fanning five in his third start with the Stars. Juan Sandoval took over for Jones and opened the sixth by walking Dayan Viciedo, who stole second base and scored the tie-breaking run on a Cook single. The Barons added three more in the seventh on run-scoring hits by Tyler Flowers and Stefan Gartrell and an error on first baseman Kevin Melillo on a failed double play attempt. Sandoval took the loss to fall to 2-2 after allowing four runs on four hits over a 1 2/3 innings in relief. Birmingham added two runs in the eighth against Josh Wahpepah and three more in the ninth against Derrick Ellison, including Cook's second long ball, and the league's leading hitting team pounded out 19 hits, the most allowed by the Stars in a game this season. Danks finished with four hits and a triple away from hitting for the cycle, while Flowers, Viciedo, Brandon Allen and C.J. Retherford each collected a pair of hits. John Ely battled through six innings to grab the win to improve to 6-1. He allowed five runs, four earned, on nine hits, walked one and struck out five. Clevelan Santeliz tossed two scoreless innings and Matt Zaleski closed out the game with a scoreless ninth. Santeliz survived being hit in the head in the eighth inning on a throw from Viciedo, as he came in to field a slowly hit ground ball by Kevin Melillo and attempt to throw him out at first base. Yohannis Perez, Justis and Adam Stern each had three hits for the Stars. The series continues Tuesday night with left-hander Bobby Bramhall taking the hill for the Stars against Birmingham right-hander Brian Omorgrosso. Coverage of the game begins at 6:45 PM central time and can be heard through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score A roster move will need to be made tonight to pop Bobby Bramhall back from the Helena roster... Huntsville Game Log

Final: Brevard County 5, Fort Myers (Twins) 0 Game Summary from the Miracle's Site: Manatees return favor, shut out Miracle on Monday Just one game after the Fort Myers Miracle handed the Brevard County Manatees a 2-0 shutout, the Manatees followed suit with Monday's 5-0 final behind Evan Anundsen's career high 11 strikeouts. The Colorado-born right-hander didn't throw a no-hitter like he did April 28th against Daytona but he was just as dominant as the Miracle didn't get a single runner to second until the seventh -- and Anundsen's final -- inning. Chris Parmelee ended up stranded at third to end the threat. Anundsen (6-3) set a new career high with 11 strikeouts for the Manatees (30-14) as he picked up the win with seven innings, three hits, no runs, and one walk. Mike McCardell (6-3) had his personal six-game winning streak snapped, taking a loss for the first time since his second start of the year, on April 18. McCardell was removed in the fifth inning after he took a line drive off his right arm. He left with four and one-third innings, seven hits, four runs (all earned), no walks, and two strikeouts. "He got hit (in the arm) pretty hard, but he's going to be fine," said manager Jeff Smith after the game. Lee Haydel was the only Manatee with a multi-hit day at 2-for-4 with a run, double, and RBI. Zelous Wheeler hit his fourth homer of the year in the second inning. Ben Revere, Steve Singleton, and Chris Parmelee had the only hits for the Miracle (32-17). Brevard County Box Score Evan Anundsen now with a 54-to-14 K-to-BB ratio in 53 innings, 1.04 WHIP, 1.87 ERA; Brent Brewer hasn't played since the 27th, hasn't had an at-bat since the 22nd; Lee Haydel in the leadoff spot here, Logan Schafer batting 3rd... Brevard County Game Log Steffan Wilson a productive out in the 4th... Brevard County starter Evan Anundsen tossed seven shutout innings, striking out 11 against Fort Myers. (Photo by Dennis Greenblatt, FLORIDA TODAY) http://cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A9&Date=20090602&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=906020329&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

Chris looks at the Rattler playoff scenario here.

The Nick Bucci era has ended in Huntsville (at least until minimum 2012) as the 18-year-old RHP has been returned to Maryvale, with RHP Mike Jones being transferred back onto the AA roster from Helena's roster, in time for Monday's night scheduled start. At least we assume Nick is on his way back to Maryvale and isn't hanging around Huntsville waiting to be re-activated-- although, this year, nothing would surprise us in terms of the "Helena roster".

Midwest League Standings

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 28 24 .538 - 14-13 14-11 W1 Memphis 26 24 .520 1.0 15-11 11-13 W2 Iowa 26 25 .510 1.5 12-12 14-13 L2 Omaha 23 28 .451 4.5 10-14 13-14 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 29 20 .592 - 11-11 18-9 W8 Carolina 26 24 .520 3.5 14-12 12-12 W4 West Tenn 21 28 .429 8.0 11-13 10-15 W2 Tennessee 21 30 .412 9.0 10-18 11-12 L8 Chattanooga 20 30 .400 9.5 10-16 10-14 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 29 14 .674 - 12-8 17-6 L2 Clearwater 23 22 .511 7.0 11-12 12-10 L2 Daytona 21 23 .477 8.5 10-9 11-14 W2 Lakeland 20 22 .476 8.5 11-13 9-9 W2 Tampa 21 26 .447 10.0 12-14 9-12 W1 Dunedin 17 29 .370 13.5 5-18 12-11 L4

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 this season. Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_01_biraax_hunaax_1 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_01_ftmafa_breafa_1 Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&gid=2009_06_01_dobrok_dmlrok_1&cid=3130&t=g_box

Monday's Daily Menu -- All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Link here for the live audio choices - audio will no longer archive. For the Brevard County series, you can click on the audio link for the Fort Myers (Twins) feed. Nashville: Idle Huntsville: RHP Mike Jones at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 6:45 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Brevard County: RHP Evan Anundsen at home vs. Fort Myers (Twins), 6:05 PM gametime Wisconsin: Idle Dominican Summer League Brewers / Orioles: at 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 probably won't see updated box scores until the overnight...

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Merklinger injured his leg on a play in this game. No word as to the exact nature or extent of the injury, but it's been six weeks, so it was pretty severe. Was is season-ending? Hope not, but we'll try and find out.

Thanks for the heads up. We'll do what we can to incorporate the DSL into the Link Reports going forward. Yay, more work http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif...

A very fun blog post from Chris Mehring, who along with the Wisconsin kids and staff, must be thrilled to be heading home after the 7-5 roadtrip...

Final: Wisconsin 8, West Michigan (Tigers) 3 Wisconsin Site Game Summary Rattlers make history in road trip finale By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the West Michigan Whitecaps 8-3 on Sunday afternoon. The win completed a three-game sweep at Fifth Third Ballpark. The sweep marked the first ever by an Appleton baseball club in West Michigan since the Whitecaps entered the Midwest League in 1994. West Michigan (31-18) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. An errant pickoff throw to first by Rattler starting pitcher Michael Bowman allowed Gustavo Nunez to score from third. Later in the inning, Jordan Lennerton drove in a run with a two-out single. Ronnie Bourquin's RBI single in the bottom of the third inning extended the Whitecap lead to 3-0. Wisconsin (24-26) erased that lead in the top of the fourth. Whitecap starter Mauricio Robles walked the leadoff batter and gave up back-to-back singles to load the bases. Sean McCraw knocked in the first Timber Rattlers run with a single. Michael Marseco drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run and knock Robles out of the game. Robles entered the game as the Midwest League leader in strikeouts with 67, but he walked five, hit a batter, and left with the bases loaded and nobody out. Whitecap reliever Erik Crichton entered the game and threw a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score. Erik Miller gave the Rattlers a 4-3 lead with an RBI grounder. Juan Sanchez capped the inning with an RBI single. McCraw made it 6-3 with an RBI double in the fifth inning. In the sixth, Wisconsin made it 8-3 with a run-scoring double by Chris Dennis and an RBI single by John Delaney. Meanwhile, Bowman settled down after a rocky beginning. He would work 6-1/3 innings, scatter nine hits, and strikeout six. Rigoberto Almonte pitched the final 2-2/3 innings without allowing a run to nail down the sweep. Wisconsin ended a 12-game road trip with the win in West Michigan and went 7-5 on the odyssey through four different Midwest League cities. The victory also gave Wisconsin a 16-15 record in May. This marks the first time the Rattlers have had a winning record in a month with more than 10 games since August 2007. The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday before returning to action on Tuesday. The Rattlers begin a 12-game homestand with a game against the Cedar Rapids Kernels Tuesday evening. Cody Scarpetta (1-3, 4.68) is the scheduled pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Cedar Rapids counters with Tyler Chatwood (2-2, 2.25). Game time is 7:05 PM. Tuesday is a Bang for Your Buck Night with sodas, beer, and hotdogs for $1. Tickets are available for Tuesday and for the other 11 games on the homestand through the Timber Rattler ticket office at 800-WI-TIMBER or www.timberrattlers.com. Wisconsin Box Score Brett Lawrie a partial rest (designated hitter, walked twice); Michael Bowman sporting a nifty 41-to-14 K-to-BB ratio in 44 innings -- there's another kid who should be making a Power 50 debut next month; the Chris Dennis (double, single, HBP) OPS-watch continues -- 1.232 after 16 games for the 20-year-old... Wisconsin Game Log

Final: Fort Myers (Twins) 2, Brevard County 0 Game Summary from the Miracle's Site: Robertson wins his third as Miracle shut out Manatees VIERA -- Just one game after David Bromberg's best outing of the season, Tyler Robertson followed suit with a masterful six-inning, zero-walk, six-strikeout performance against the Brevard County Manatees at Space Coast Stadium. The Miracle won their third straight, 2-0, and have won the first two games of a four-game set. Robertson (3-2) retired eleven straight at one point on his way to his first outing without a single walk on the season, besting his previous low of one in five innings on April 23 against Palm Beach. Santos Arias, Spencer Steedley, and Blair Erickson combined on the shutout as Erickson, who entered with a two-run lead and one out in the ninth, saved his sixth. Amaury Rivas (4-3) pitched well enough to win but suffered the loss with a line of four and two-thirds, three hits, two runs (both unearned), one walk, and two strikeouts. Zach Braddock and John Axford took turns touching 95+ on the stadium radar gun in a scoreless four and one-third innings. The Miracle (32-16) won despite being outhit 7-5, with no one on Fort Myers logging more than one hit. Ben Revere and Jair Fernandez delivered RBI hits in the fifth and third, respectively. Revere just missed his second homer of the season. His double hit off the top of the short leftfield wall. Logan Schafer, Steffan Wilson, and Chris Errecart each went 2-for-4 for Brevard County (29-14). Brevard County Box Score Thanks to the Fort Myers staff, we know both Zach Braddock and John Axford were throwing serious heat; both of Logan Schafer's hits were doubles, slugging .471 -- sweet; Ben Revere was ridiculed as the Twins' first-round pick in '07, but what a player... Brevard County Game Log Caleb Gindl's strikeout in the 1st with a man on third and one out hurt, as did a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out in the 7th (not involving Caleb)...

David Weiser's starsboxscore.com Melillo Makes May Merrier Insurance blast helps Stars beat the Barons A gorgeous 85° day in the Rocket City. Thursday's rain dried out the air, so there was no humidity to deal with and as a nice throw-in, a light breeze going from left to right. Most of the 1,200 -- which is the best Sunday crowd I've seen this year -- chose to sit up in the Uecker seats where the shade was. Some preferred the annoyance of umbrellas. The Stars head into June and the final three weeks of the season on a runaway train. With this afternoon's victory, they've won 13 of their last 15 and eight straight -- their longest win streak since the record-tying 12-game win streak of July 2007....... The Stars are now 29-20, 3½ games up on Carolina, their only serious competition, considering the way the rest of this weak division has performed this first half, but they have a challenging road ahead. After Chris Cody, what do you do? There are four games left against the Barons. After the Stars go west to play the Diamond Jaxx at Pringles Park, they come back home for Jacksonville, before finishing the first half playing Birmingham at Regions Park..... The Barons have lost five of their last nine, but they are not to be taken lightly. Three of the losses were by a run and another was by two. They're atop the league with Mobile in batting (.266) and 2nd in ERA, also to Mobile (3.32), and they've outpowered the rest of the league with 53 home runs. The banjo-hitting Stars, by comparison, have hit 23 and are 8th in the league in slugging pct. (.367), outslugged by Birmingham by 2/3 of a whole percentage point. I don't expect to see a sweep here the way they humbled Tennessee, virtually knocking the Smokies out of the race. Cody finished another fine month, scattering four hits over eight innings, throwing 95 pitches, 70% for strikes. The only run he allowed was a towering first-pitch HR hit by catcher Tyler Flowers, clearing the far back wall in left, roughly a 395-foot shot far to the left of the scoreboard. Flowers was a junior college teammate of Mat Gamel and is the White Sox #4 prospect, according to Baseball America. Prior to the home run, Cody had retired 11 of 13 batters, allowing for a force out. The defense behind Chris was excellent, with Shane Justis making a nice backhand stop of a grounder past the edge of the infield then wheeling around to make an accurate throw to retire Jordan Danks in the 3rd. Two batters later, Yohannis Perez made a diving stop of a hard grounder hit by Flowers almost directly in back of the bag at second, then picked himself up to gun Flowers down for the third out. Taylor Green had a hard shot hit at him in the 1st that was originally called an error, but later changed to a hit. That would have taken the suspense out of a budding no-hit bid, for that hit didn't come until C.J. Retherford broke the ice for the Barons with a clean line single to left with one out in the 5th. The Stars put two runners on in the 1st on an infield single by Jonathan Lucroy, followed by a one-hop single to right by Drew Anderson, but Vinny Rottino bounced back to the mound to end the inning....... The Stars broke the goose eggs in the 4th, starting with a one-out seven-pitch walk to Kevin Melillo. Green singled on a 1-0 pitch through the right side of the infield, then on a 1-1, J.R. Hopf, who finished with a May batting mark of .161, drove in one of the three runs he's driven in this month with a line drive one-hop single to right. Green, who took third on the throw home, scored on a grounder far to the right side by Perez. Retherford made a fine pick-up on the ball that made its way to the outfield grass, flipping the ball quickly to first for the sure out....... After Lucas Harrell retired the side in the 5th, Melillo, with one out, lined Harrell's first pitch the next inning off the second wall in right field for his 5th home run of the year, all of them coming in his last 11 games, for a 3-1 lead. That, as it turned out, became valuable insurance, for the Barons scored their 2nd run in the 9th off Robert Hinton. After Brandon Allen and Dayan Viciedo flied out, Stefan Gartrell lined an 0-1 pitch to left for a hit and John Shelby, whose father played in the majors for the Dodgers, skied a ball to right, falling in for a double after Freddy Parejo lost the ball in the sun. Gartrell, who of course was going on the pitch, scored without a throw. Retherford ended the game with a slow ground ball to Perez, who had to come in near the edge of the infield, to make the pickup and the throw for the final out. Monday, Mike Jones will make his 3rd start, going against John Ely (5-1, 3.28)...... Jonesy has thrown 86 and 85 pitches in his two starts, 58% for strikes, and has a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him put together another nice start, for he looks like a different pitcher from the one who struggled coming off shoulder surgery last year (1-6, 6.09)...... Ely's best pitch is a change-up which he sets up with his fastball or a 12-6 curve. He throws strikes and gets, with a good game, about six Ks. He had only one bad start in his last 10, that one coming courtesy of Carolina, who knocked him out after 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings, the only game he's lost. He's currently 10th among SL ERA leaders. Guilder Rodriguez (1, 12, .280) hit his first professional home run Saturday, for Class AA-Frisco (Texas). It was a big 6th inning three-run HR in a 7-5 victory over NW Arkansas. Guilder, honored by the Booster Club as a Rocky winner in 2007, has had over 1,600 at-bats since breaking in in 2001....... Steve Hammond, who was traded to the Giants last July for Ray Durham, is 2-3, 4.05 for Triple-A Fresno...... The Nashville Sounds called up from Brevard County pitcher Josh Butler, who had some spring action with the Stars, for a Saturday start at Greer Stadium against Omaha. Butler had a quality start (6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H), but lost on a two-run HR by Scott Thorman, who ironically was released by the Brewers after spring training...... Who'd have figured 18-year old Nick Bucci would be the first player out of last year's draft to make it to the Stars? Bucci was an 18th round pick, brought up to Huntsville during that eight-game series at Smokies Park. Who would have figured he'd actually appear in a game, but he did, throwing 10 of his 14 pitches for strikes and getting the win in his inning and 2/3 of relief in the final game of that series Saturday...... When it looked like the Stars would go the entire month of May without hitting a triple, Drew Anderson and Freddy Parejo both came through in Saturday's game. The last time the Stars went an entire month without hitting a triple was in June of 2004. The Stars were 19-9 in May, their best May ever since becoming a Brewer affiliate....... The 1998 Stars, in their last year as an Oakland affiliate, had an 18-9 May. You'd have to go back to 1994 to find a Stars team that won 19 games in May....... The offense was so much a reason for the incredible month, especially in their 13-2 run........ After hitting just five home runs in April, they hit 11 of their 17 home runs in May during that 15-game stretch, while stroking the ball at a .273 clip. They hit just .232 in April....... On the hill, the starters have actually done better than the bullpen over the last 15 games, logging a 2.94 ERA, with the pen at a flat 3.00, but that's a bit skewed. If you take away the flat performances of Robert Hinton and Juan Sandoval that cost the Stars their two losses during this streak, no member of the relief corps has actually given up an earned run! Shane Justis, who hit .243 in April, led May hitters with a .360 average and hit the first grand-slam HR of the season on May 27...... The Stars had four other .300 hitters in May: Anderson (4, 21, .337), Chuckie Caufield (2, 6, .303), Adam Heether (2, 12, .325), and Adam Stern (0, 8, .327). The Pirates have put pitcher Donnie Veal on the disabled list. Veal, who in 2007 became the 7th pitcher to lose four times to the Stars in a season, has pitched 6 1/3 innings of relief over five games for the Bucs this year...... The Dodgers recalled Chattanooga pitcher Travis Schlichting...... The Stars could see Nic Ungs when Jacksonville comes to town. The Suns sent him up from Class A-Jupiter (Fla. St.)...... Former Stars outfielder Ron Davenport was reactivated by the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League. Davenport hit .197 for the 2007 Stars before his May 17 release...... The White Sox traded former Birmingham pitcher Lance Broadway to the New York Mets for catcher Ramon Castro.

Link while active, text follows: Victories still piling up for red-hot Stars Winning streak now at eight after bouncing Barons By Paul Gattis Huntsville Times Sports Staff, paul.gattis@htimes.com Is scalding hot enough to describe the Huntsville Stars? They've won eight straight after Sunday's 3-2 victory over Birmingham. They've won 12 of their last 14. They lead the Southern League North Division by 3 1/2 games over Carolina. If water boils at 212 degrees, consider the Stars to be at 213. At least. "We're sky high," infielder Kevin Melillo said. "The chemistry in the clubhouse is through the roof. It's probably the best team I've been on in terms of that. "We're on cloud nine right now. We're excited with the way we're playing and we're very confident. We know we have a very talented, veteran team." After winning the last seven in an eight-game series squeezed into five days at Tennessee - necessitated by the three rainouts in Huntsville last month - the Stars returned home and gave the ball to ace left-hander Chris Cody. And the Barons were sorry they did. Cody (5-1) held the Southern League's top offense to one run on four hits over eight innings. Mixing in his well-placed (if not overwhelming) fastball with a delicate change-up, Cody was "dominating," Melillo said. "When you look up the term 'pitcher' in the dictionary, his picture should be by it," Stars manager Bob Miscik said. "That's what he is - a pitcher, not a thrower. He's a very good pitcher. Very smart." Still, Miscik said that Cody "did not have his best change-up today" even as he matched his season-best eight innings and struck out six. "No?" Cody said when informed of Miscik's assessment. "I thought it was all right. If it can be the way it was today, I'll take it with everything working. Everything was what it needed to be." Indeed, it's been that way for the Stars during this stretch - which began with a 7-2 win over West Tenn on May 21 pitched by, of course, Cody. The Stars got a run-scoring single from J.R. Hopf and a groundout by Yohannis Perez that scored another run for a 2-0 lead in the fourth against losing pitcher Lucas Harrell (6-2). Then Melillo blasted his fifth home run of the season - all since May 23 - for a 3-1 lead in the sixth. Robert Hinton got his fifth save, allowing a run when Freddy Parejo lost a fly ball in the sun with two outs in the ninth. But the Stars still kept on sizzling. "It was a ridiculous stretch of games," Melillo said of the Tennessee series. "It's kind of unheard of. But we've been having so much fun, it just kind of flew by."