Jim Goulart

Final: Huntsville 3, Birmingham (White Sox) 2 Huntsville Site Game Summary A Crisp Cody Carries Huntsville to Victory Stars Take Series Opener Over Barons By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars Chris Cody spun eight solid innings and Huntsville used some timely hitting to beat Birmingham 3-2 Sunday afternoon in the opening game of a five-game set between division leaders at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars won their eighth straight game to improve to 29-20 and maintain their three and a half game lead over Carolina in the North Division, while the Barons dropped to 33-17 and saw their lead in the South trimmed to two and a half games over Mobile. Tyler Flowers' solo home run in the sixth inning that cut the Stars lead to 2-1 was the only blemish on Cody's line. The left-hander allowed four hits, walked one and fanned six to grab his fifth win of the season. He retired the side in order four times and got through the only real threat he faced in the first inning by getting Brandon Allen and Dayan Viciedo to fly out with two runners on. Robert Hinton took over in the ninth and retired the first two batters before Stefan Gartrell singled and scored on a double by John Shelby that right fielder Freddy Parejo lost in the sun. Hinton then got C.J. Retherford to ground out to end the game and nail down his fifth save of the season. The Stars scored in the fourth inning to break up a scoreless game on a run-scoring hit by J.R. Hopf and a run-producing ground ball out by Yohannis Perez. The Stars got the run back in the sixth on Kevin Melillo's fifth home run of the season and just the third given up by Barons' starter Lucas Harrell in 53 1/3 innings. Harrell matched his longest outing of the season with seven innings of work but suffered the loss to fall to 6-2 after allowing eight hits, walking two and fanning four. The series continues Monday night with right-hander Mike Jones taking the hill for the Stars against Birmingham right-hander John Ely. 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 Chris Cody picks up the bullpen after the successful but arduous Tennessee series with eight wonderful innings; home run, single, two walks for Kevin Melillo; Jonathan Lucroy with a single and another walk -- now with 28 walks vs. only 18 K's, still waiting for more extra-base hits... Huntsville Game Log

Final: Nashville 8, Omaha (Royals) 4 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for new Brendan Katin photo, text follows -- Katin Belts Two More in Sounds 8-4 Win NASHVILLE- The Nashville Sounds took the final game of a four-game series from the Omaha Royals, 8-4, on Sunday afternoon at historic Greer Stadium. The Sounds split the four-game series, and now are 5-7 against the Royals on the season. Both teams hit a combined six home runs, with Nashville's Brendan Katin and Omaha's Scott Thorman each going deep twice. For the second consecutive game, Katin hit two home runs in the same game to fuel the Sounds to victory, going 3-for-5 with five RBIs on the afternoon. With Adam Heether on first, Katin gave the Sounds an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, hitting a two-run shot to left field, his ninth home run of the season and seventh long ball in his last 10 games. Thorman brought Omaha back within one on a solo shot to right field in the fourth inning, his second straight game with a home run. Mario Lisson gave the Royals a 3-2 lead in the next inning on a two-run shot to left field. Lisson's first career Triple-A home run came on his 25th birthday. Nashville took the lead right back at 4-3 when Cole Gillespie hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, but Thorman tied the game at 4 in the sixth inning with his second homer of the game, a solo shot to center. AUDIO: Gillespie Home Run Again with Heether on first base in the bottom of the sixth, Katin belted a two-run opposite-field home run, giving Nashville a 6-4 lead. Katin and Joe Koshansky each added insurance runs with RBI-singles that extended the Sounds lead to 8-4. Nashville starter Tim Dillard (7-4) earned the win, pitching seven innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Dillard's win ties him with Iowa's J.R. Mathes for the PCL-lead . R.J. Swindle and Chris Smith each pitched scoreless innings on the afternoon. Royals starter Heath Phillips (2-5) earned the loss, giving up six runs on five hits. After an off-day Monday, the Sounds welcome the division-rival Iowa Cubs for the first game of a four-game series on Tuesday evening at 7:00 PM CT. Nashville Box Score Only 74 pitches in Tim Dillard's seven innings, 12 groundball outs; we mentioned Brendan Katin would be a possible trading chip a few weeks ago, but his recent run is truly amazing... Nashville Game Log

Latest "Getting to Know..." -- LHP Chris Narveson So Chris, who is the best dresser on the team?

I anticipate that this fine late spring day (at least where I am) will have the "official" updates not posting until well into the overnight, so please continue to chime in with observations that our readers will find of interest. Always appreciated by yours truly, and folks can obviously make use of the box score links above to see how the comments relate to the action. Thanks to all, both our posters and our more invisible readers...

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 27 24 .529 - 13-13 14-11 L1 Memphis 25 23 .521 0.5 14-10 11-13 W1 Iowa 25 24 .510 1.0 12-12 13-12 L1 Omaha 23 27 .460 3.5 10-14 13-13 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 28 20 .583 - 10-11 18-9 W7 Carolina 25 24 .510 3.5 13-12 12-12 W3 Tennessee 21 29 .420 8.0 10-18 11-11 L7 West Tenn 20 28 .417 8.0 11-13 9-15 W1 Chattanooga 20 29 .408 8.5 10-15 10-14 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 29 13 .690 - 12-7 17-6 L1 Clearwater 23 21 .523 7.0 11-12 12-9 L1 Daytona 20 23 .465 9.5 9-9 11-14 W1 Lakeland 19 22 .463 9.5 11-13 8-9 W1 Tampa 20 26 .435 11.0 11-14 9-12 L2 Dunedin 17 28 .378 13.5 5-17 12-11 L3

Click here for Chris Mehring's Rattler Radio Blog shortly before Wisconsin's gametime start for all of his usual pre-game updates.

Midwest League Standings

Follow Sunday'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_05_31_omaaaa_nasaaa_1 Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_31_biraax_hunaax_1 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_31_ftmafa_breafa_1 Wisconsin: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2009_05_31_wisafx_wmiafx_1&did=t572&sid=t572

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):

Sunday'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: RHP Tim Dillard vs. Omaha (Royals), 1:45 PM pre-game; 2:00 gametime Huntsville: LHP Chris Cody at home vs. Birmingham (White Sox), 12:45 PM pre-game; 1:00 gametime Brevard County: RHP Amaury Rivas at home vs. Fort Myers (Twins), 12:05 PM gametime Wisconsin: RHP Michael Bowman at West Michigan (Tigers), 12:45 PM pre-game, 1:00 gametime

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

Final: Wisconsin 4, West Michigan (Tigers) 3 Wisconsin Site Game Summary O, Canada! Lawrie's homer leads to Rattler win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers COMSTOCK PARK, MI - Brett Lawrie hit a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to erase a 3-1 deficit. Then, Liam Ohlmann tossed three scoreless innings of relief and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 4-3 on Saturday night at Fifth Third Ballpark. Daniel Meadows picked up the win to run his record to 8-0. Wisconsin (23-26) scored in the top of the first inning. Juan Sanchez singled and wound up at third base after a two-base error. Corey Kemp's two-out infield single sent Sanchez home for a 1-0 lead. That was the only run Wisconsin would get off Whitecap starting pitcher Luke Putkonen. The right-hander pitched six innings and struck out six. Wisconsin's lead was gone two batters into the bottom of the first inning. Gustavo Nunez tripled to star the West Michigan half of the first inning. An RBI grounder by Brent Wyatt sent Nunez home to tie the game 1-1. The Whitecaps (31-17) grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Ben Guez doubled with one out and scored on a single by Jordan Lennerton. West Michigan tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth on an error charged to Lawrie. But, Lawrie would make up for the fielding miscue with his bat in the top of the seventh. Whitecap reliever Victor Larez took over for Putkonen for the seventh inning and allowed a walk and a single that had runners at first and second for Lawrie with two outs. The Canadian slugger hit a high, towering fly ball to left that carried out of the park for a three-run homer and a 4-3 Wisconsin lead. Ohlmann took over for Meadows in the bottom of the seventh and walked the leadoff batter. A sacrifice bunt and a bunt single put runners at first and third with one out. But, Ohlmann escaped with a fly ball to shallow left and a grounder to short. Ohlmann then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out the Whitecaps for his first professional save. The Timber Rattlers end their 12-game road trip on Sunday afternoon with the series finale against the Whitecaps. Michael Bowman (2-1, 2.63) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. West Michigan will counter with Mauricio Robles (4-2, 3.24). Game time is 1:00 PM CDT. Wisconsin Box Score Lefty Daniel Meadows keeps chugging along, and two of Liam Ohlmann's last three appearances have been scoreless three-inning outings; Chris Dennis struck out twice, but walked twice -- get used to that, but that's OK... Wisconsin Game Log Sean McCraw with a key throw-out on a Whitecap SB attempt in the 4th...

Final: Fort Myers (Twins) 7, Brevard County 1 Game Summary from the Miracle's Site: Bromberg fans season-high 12 as Miracle tranquilize Manatees VIERA -- David Bromberg struck out a season-high 12 batters in six innings as he moved to 5-0, and the Miracle defeated Florida State League North leader Brevard County 7-1 at Space Coast Stadium on Saturday evening. Half of the strikeouts recorded by the Southern California native were looking as he mixed a devastating curve with low-90s fastballs all night long. At one point, Bromberg struck out six straight, and he fanned the side in the second and fifth innings. All three punchouts in the fifth were called, prompting Manatees centerfielder Logan Schafer's ejection for arguing balls and strikes, followed immediately thereafter by manager Mike Guerrero. Kyle Waldrop worked three scoreless innings for the save, scattering four hits and striking out two. Bromberg's final line was six innings, six hits, one run (earned), one walk, and twelve strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA from 2.00 to 1.94. Former Brewers first-round pick Mark Rogers worked the first and second, right in line with his season average of two innings per start. He struck out three and gave up one hit. The loss went to lefty Lucas Luetge (2-3) who gave up eight hits, five earned runs, and four walks in four innings while striking out four. Deibinson Romero, who had recorded just one hit in his last ten games, broke out with a 2-for-5 game for Fort Myers (31-16), including two doubles. One was a two-RBI knock in a three-run fourth inning. Chris Cates, hitting second in the order for the second straight game, went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Other multi-hit days for the Miracle came from Rene Leveret (2-for-5, run, two RBI) and Mark Dolenc (3-for-4, run, double). Schafer was 2-for-3 for the Manatees (29-13) before his ejection. Steffan Wilson and Chris Errecart were each 2-for-4. Brevard County Box Score Brevard County Game Log At one point between the 1st and 3rd innings, nine straight batters (both teams) struck out... Do you think Caleb Gindl has an arm in right field? The throw to third base must have been impressive... Fort Myers Top 1st Ben Revere singles on a line drive to right fielder Caleb Gindl.Chris Cates flies into double play, right fielder Caleb Gindl to first baseman Chris Errecart. Ben Revere doubled off 1st. Fort Myers Top 5th Mark Dolenc singles on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. With Ben Revere batting, Mark Dolenc steals (9) 2nd base. Ben Revere flies into double play, right fielder Caleb Gindl to third baseman Steffan Wilson. Mark Dolenc out at 3rd on the throw.

Final: Huntsville 10, Tennessee (Cubs) 7 Huntsville Site Game Summary Huntsville Heads Home to Face Barons Stars Make It Seven Straight Over Smokies By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars Drew Anderson drove in three more runs and the bullpen worked five-plus innings of scoreless relief to lead Huntsville to a wild 10-7 win over Tennessee Saturday night in the last of an eight-game set at Smokies Park. The Stars won the last seven games to improve to 28-20 and remain three and a half games in front of Carolina in the North Division, while the Smokies slumped to 21-29. Huntsville has won seven straight on the road for the first time this season to raise their record to 18-9 away from home. The Stars started the scoring with four runs in the first inning, all with two outs, on a two-run triple by Anderson and run-scoring hits by Freddy Parejo and Taylor Green. The Smokies cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a two-out, two-run double by Marquez Smith and took the lead with three runs in the second on run-producing hits by Brandon Guyer and Ty Wright and a sacrifice fly off the bat of pitcher Casey Lambert. Wellington Castillo's solo home run in the third inning gave the Smokies a 6-4 lead before Stars' starter David Welch was lifted with two runners on and one out in the fourth and replaced by Nick Bucci, making his double-A debut. The 18-year-old right-hander, who had pitched in rookie ball last season, got two fly ball outs to end the fourth and tossed a scoreless fifth inning. Welch was charged with six runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out two. Lambert was chased from the game after giving up three straight hits to open the fifth and replaced by Todd Blackford, who uncorked a wild pitch on his first offering that scored Jonathan Lucroy to cut the lead to 6-5. Parejo's run-scoring groundout got the game tied at six and gave him his first game with multiple runs batted in on the season. Blackford then walked three hitters in a row, on 13 pitches, with one out in the sixth and was taken out of the game and followed by Jayson Ruhlman, who could have gotten out of the inning on a Vinny Rottino ground ball to shortstop that was instead misplayed by Darwin Barney, who could not get an out. Adam Stern scored on the play to make it 7-6 Stars before Anderson chased home Shane Justis with another ground ball out to push the lead to 8-6 Huntsville. Anderson drove in nine runs in the series and leads the team with 28. Donovan Hand, who threw a scoreless sixth inning, gave up a two-out, run-scoring hit to Castillo in the home seventh that cut the lead to one but the Stars answered with two runs in the eighth against Alex Maestri on a run-scoring double by Lucroy and Green's second run-scoring hit of the game. Hand then blanked the Smokies in the eighth inning and turned the ball over to Omar Aguilar, who threw a scoreless ninth inning and ended the series by getting Jonathan Mota to ground into a game-ending double play. Bucci earned his first professional win, while Hand finished eight innings in the series without allowing an earned run and Aguilar nailed down his sixth save of the season and third of the series. The Stars open a five-game series against Birmingham Sunday afternoon with southpaw Chris Cody taking the hill for Huntsville against Barons' right-hander Lucas Harrell. Coverage of the game begins at 12:45 PM central time and can be heard through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score Brett sure has a way with his game summaries -- fantastic recap of a wild affair; how about Nick Bucci -- as we learned this week, one of eight young pitchers in Maryvale to have his name placed in a hat for the opportunity to be an emergency pitcher for the eight-game series, he strands two inherited one-out runners, and retires five of six batters (one HBP); a double steal in the 4th didn't phase Bucci; it appeared as though David Welch had righted the ship, but an ugly start here; it'll be interesting to see if Donovan Hand returns to full-time middle relief work, where's he's shined; Omar Aguilar has to be feeling good about his recent work; 7-of-16 with RISP for the Stars; the Stars have stuck with Jonathan Lucroy in either the 3- or 4-hole all season -- faith rewarded here... Huntsville Game Log Stars score four in the first after the first two men were retired; back-to-back triples for Drew Anderson and Freddy Parejo in the 1st -- when do you remember seeing that? 7-of-8 from the Cubs' AA affiliate on the road? Yee-hah!

The Helana shuffle continues as LHP's swap out -- David Welch back on the AA roster, Bobby Bramhall temporarily off.

Franklin, Tennessee resident Kraig McNutt maintains a blog on the Sounds, and has a photo of Josh Butler (caption is a bit off, but nice picture) that Josh's family will want to see.

Final, Game One: Nashville 6, Omaha (Royals) 2 Final, Game Two: Omaha 2, Nashville 1 Nashville Site Doubleheader Summary: Link for Brendan Katin photo, text follows -- Sounds Split Doubleheader With Royals NASHVILLE- The Nashville Sounds split a doubleheader with the division-rival Omaha Royals on Saturday evening at historic Greer Stadium, taking the first game 6-2 before dropping the nightcap at 2-1. After trailing 2-0 early to Omaha, the Sounds scored six unanswered to win the first contest, fueled by Brendan Katin's two home run performance. Mario Lisson' two-run triple put the Royals on the board in the second inning 2-0 of the first game, but Katin's seventh home run over the scoreboard trimmed Omaha's lead to 2-1 in the next frame. Adam Heether tied the game at 2 with a solo shot to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning, his fourth homer of the year and third in the last three games. Alcides Escobar gave the Sounds their first lead at 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI-double down the left field line, scoring Chris Duffy. Katin added another run to the Sounds lead with his second bomb of the game off the neck of the scoreboard, the first Copley Guitar Shot of the season. Jason Bourgeois then doubled in two more runs in the inning for a 6-3 Sounds lead. Sounds starter Matt Ginter (2-1) earned the win, throwing five innings and allowing two runs on three hits, striking out two. Omaha starter Matt Wright (0-2) took the loss, pitching four and 2/3 innings, surrendering three runs on four hits. Chris Narveson pitched his fifth save of the season, throwing two scoreless innings after relieving Ginter. Nashville Game One Box Score RHP Matt Ginter threw 87 pitches in a nice spot start; Jason Bourgeois on base all three plate appearances; nice to see Angel Salome back behind the plate; raw power is tough to find anywhere these days, and Brendan Katin is flush with it -- in his last ten games alone, nine of his 12 hits are for extra bases, including six home runs... Nashville Game One Game Log Nashville got out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning of the second contest on a Dusty Hughes wild pitch, allowing Hernan Iribarren to score from third base. After that, the Royals shut down Nashville, allowing one hit over the final three innings. Omaha took the go-ahead 2-1 lead in the next frame on a two-run home run to right field by Scott Thorman. Yasuhiko Yabuta (2-1) picked up the win, throwing two scoreless innings for Omaha. Greg Atencio got the save, his second of the season. Making his first career Triple-A start, Nashville's Joshua Butler (0-1) earned a tough loss, surrendering two runs on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks. R.J. Swindle added a scoreless inning to relieve Butler, lowering his team-leading ERA to 0.46. Erick Almonte extended his season-high hitting streak to seven games on the night, going a 2-for-4 with two walks in both games. The Sounds and Royals will play the final game of a four-game series tomorrow afternoon at 2:00. Right-hander Tim Dillard (6-2, 3.48) takes the mound to face Omaha's southpaw Heath Phillips (2-4, 6.70). Nashville Game Two Box Score That's a pretty debut line for AAA, Josh Butler -- Gabe Gross says hello; eight pitches for R.J. Swindle to retire the side, including two K's; it's possible Carlos Corporan had never caught Josh Butler -- nice job guiding the 24-year-old by Carlos, only a year older; as noted above, a full evening back at shortstop for Alcides Escobar... Nashville Game Two Game Log Hernan Iribarren struck out with one out and a man on third base in the 4th -- that would have been a huge run; Butler retired all six men he faced after the HBP / HR in the 5th, fantastic job...

To make room for RHP Josh Butler in Nashville (how about that?), LHP Chase Wright was placed on the Helena roster in a paper move.

Thanks for all the notes and discussion above, guys -- can't wait to post all the recaps and media reports -- here we go!

Buck Rogers' response to a Huntsville fan in his mailbag -- Why all the roster moves? Why are our players being moved to Helena when Helena isn't even playing until the middle of June? John P (Huntsville) Call it creative planning. With the amount of doubleheaders we had to play this past week (three DHs and a single game in about an 80-hour stretch) both teams would've run out of pitchers. Because injury is always at the forefront when this many games are scheduled, both teams were advised to make roster moves to ensure that outfielders and infielders didn't have to pitch. All the doubleheaders were being made up from the three back-to-back-to-back rainouts we had in Huntsville May 1st - 3rd. It got funny this week when David Welch told us, "My wife called and said a season ticket holder called her to say that I was sent down to Helena. My wife called me all upset and asked what was going on, how come I didn't call before flying out, etc. I told her that I was indeed in Helena trout fishing, enjoying life." Don't panic, Stars fans, the league makes every effort to get the games played.

MiLB.com is listing Josh Butler for the 'Tees tonight, but that may just be an oversight after last night's rainout (Mark Rogers). We'll see...

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 26 23 .531 - 12-12 14-11 L2 Memphis 24 22 .522 0.5 13-9 11-13 L1 Iowa 24 23 .511 1.0 12-12 12-11 W1 Omaha 22 26 .458 3.5 10-14 12-12 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 27 20 .574 - 10-11 17-9 W6 Carolina 24 24 .500 3.5 12-12 12-12 W2 Tennessee 21 28 .429 7.0 10-17 11-11 L6 Chattanooga 20 28 .417 7.5 10-15 10-13 W2 West Tenn 19 28 .404 8.0 10-13 9-15 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 29 12 .707 - 12-6 17-6 W1 Clearwater 23 20 .535 7.0 11-12 12-8 W2 Daytona 19 23 .452 10.5 8-9 11-14 L4 Lakeland 18 22 .450 10.5 11-13 7-9 L3 Tampa 20 25 .444 11.0 11-13 9-12 L1 Dunedin 17 27 .386 13.5 5-16 12-11 L2

Midwest League Standings

Click here for Chris Mehring's Rattler Radio Blog shortly before Wisconsin's gametime start for all of his usual pre-game updates.

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):