Jim Goulart

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 Game One: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_30_omaaaa_nasaaa_1 Nashville Game Two: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_30_omaaaa_nasaaa_2 Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_30_hunaax_tenaax_1 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_30_ftmafa_breafa_1 Wisconsin: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2009_05_30_wisafx_wmiafx_1&did=t572&sid=t572

Saturday'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 Matt Ginter and TBD at home in a double-dip vs. Omaha (Royals), 5:35 PM pre-game; 6:00 gametime; each contest slated for seven innings Huntsville: LHP David Welch at Tennessee (Cubs), 5:00 PM pre-game; 5:15 gametime Brevard County: TBD (likely RHP Mark Rogers) at home vs. Fort Myers (Twins), 6:05 PM gametime Wisconsin: RHP Cody Adams at West Michigan (Tigers), 5:45 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

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Link while active, text follows: Holliman's return is Stars-studded Smokies drop doubleheader BY ADAM GREENE, sports@knoxnews.com SEVIERVILLE- Former Tennessee Smokies pitcher Mark Holliman had to be experiencing some deja vu Friday night, except this time he was witnessing it from a starkly different angle. Holliman and Tennessee starter Jay Jackson battled for nearly six innings until the Stars (26-21) put together a late rally to take down the Smokies 4-2 in the opening game of their doubleheader at Smokies Park. Back-to-back home runs from Drew Anderson and Freddy Parejo gave the Stars the sweep with a 3-0 win in game two. "It was fun to compete against him (Jackson) out there," Holliman said. "You always feel like you compete against the other pitcher. It's fun to watch the battle and we outlasted him just long enough." Picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, Holliman was making his first trip back to Smokies Park as a member of the Stars, Milwaukee's Class AA affiliate. It's a special place for the 25-year-old right-hander. He pitched the first no-hitter of his career here two years ago, a 3-0 win over the Stars. Holliman was shocked to make the move to Milwaukee's organization in the offseason, but saw it as an exciting opportunity to continue building his career. "It's almost like you're starting over," Holliman said. "You have a fresh look at everything. The biggest thing for me was the new challenge to take another step in my career." Meanwhile, Jay Jackson tried to etch his name in the Tennessee record books. Jackson had a no-hitter through 5 2/3 and helped the Smokies (22-27) take a 2-0 lead on an RBI single in the fourth. The first out of the sixth was almost costly. Jackson took a line drive off the bat of Huntsville's Adam Stern on the left leg. While the ball rolled to first baseman Russ Canzler for the easy out, Jackson needed time to recover. Jackson stayed in the game, picking another out before a hit from Kevin Melillo stayed in play by inches down the right field line for a double. An RBI from Anderson ended Jackson's day with Tennessee leading 2-1. Holliman (2-2) pitched six innings, allowing 10 hits and one walk. Brian Schlitter (0-3) offered little relief. In the seventh he allowed Shane Justis to drive in two runs for the lead and another RBI by Melillo. Game two marked the return of Smokies pitcher Jeremy Papelbon from the disabled list. Papelbon lasted three innings, giving up four hits and striking out three. The game was scoreless after seven, but Anderson hit a two-run homer over the right field fence in the eighth. The next batter, Parejo, hit his first home run of the season into the Smokies scoreboard for the 3-0 lead. Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess, Knoxville News Sentinel Smokies pitcher Brian Schlitter tries to help catcher Blake Lalli as Freddy Parejo scores in the seventh of Friday's game. http://media.knoxnews.com/kns/content/img/photos/2009/05/30/053009smokies_t600.jpg

Manager Joe DePastino, who coaches third base, had a good view and a different opinion. "It was foul. It was easily foul," DePastino said. "We were a little flat today the first five innings as a team. Their starter (Evan Frederickson, a 2008 first-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers) threw really well tonight keeping us off balanced and we just didn't come up with that timely hit." Link

Final: Omaha (Royals) 7, Nashville 3 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Joe Koshansky photo, text follows -- NASHVILLE- The Nashville Sounds lost the opening game of a four-game series, 7-3, to the Omaha Royals on Friday night at historic Greer Stadium. Omaha starter Lenny DiNardo (4-1) helped the Royals to a victory, pitching six innings and giving up one earned run on five hits, striking out six. Jose Duarte and Irving Falu started the damage with bases-loaded RBI-knocks that put the Royals on top 3-0 in the top of the second inning off Chase Wright. Joe Koshansky hit his team-leading 10th home run to center field off DiNardo, trimming the Royals lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Royals loaded the bases again in the top of the sixth and extended the Omaha lead to 4-1 on a Travis Metcalf walk, scoring Falu. After Wright walked Murphy and got Duarte out on a sacrifice bunt, right-hander Wes Littleton appeared in the top of the sixth and allowed Murphy to score on a wild pitch for a 5-1 Royals lead. Nashville struck back in the next frame, as Alcides Escobar reached base and advanced to third on a fielding error on the Omaha centerfielder. Escobar then scored on a Brendan Katin groundout, cutting the Omaha lead to 5-2. Erick Almonte and Michael Garciaparra started off the bottom of the seventh with hits to start the Sounds' rally. Carlos Corporan followed with an RBI single that scored Almonte, making the score 5-3 Omaha. Omaha added insurance in the next frame on a Falu triple, scoring Murphy for his third run on the night. Wright (3-5) took the loss, throwing 5 and 1/3 innings for the Sounds, surrendering three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks. The Sounds and Royals play a scheduled double header Saturday night at 6:00 PM. Nashville right hander Matt Ginter (1-1, 2.79) takes on righty Matt Wright (0-1, 8.36) in the first game. Nashville Box Score Angel Salome still sidelined (hand), not quite the iron horse in 2009; Chris Duffy led off and played center field, with Jason Bourgeois shifting to left; Alcides Escobar hit third and again played second base; another middling start for Chase Wright, failing to build on decent outings in 3-of-4 starts prior... Nashville Game Log Escobar and Brendan Katin needed to come through in the 7th with the tying and lead runs on base...

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Roving Infield Instructor Garth Iorg Obviously a lot to discuss with Alcides Escobar's crash-course at second base, plus kind words for a dynamic Hernan Iribarren, then more gushing for Alcides -- if you normally gloss over and pass up our interview links, begin to change your ways with this one...

Final, Game One: Huntsville 4, Tennessee (Cubs) 2 Final, Game Two: Huntsville 3, Tennessee 0, eight innings (scheduled for seven) Huntsville Site Doubleheader Summary Stars Sweep Smokies for Second Straight Day Late Inning Heroics Lead to Wins in Both Games By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars Drew Anderson and Freddy Parejo hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning to power Huntsville to a 3-0 win in game two and a second straight doubleheader sweep of Tennessee Friday night at Smokies Park. The Stars have fashioned a season-high six-game win streak to improve to 27-20 and move three and a half games in front of Carolina in the North Division. Huntsville has also won six straight on the road for the first time this season to raise their record to 17-9 away from home. Vinny Rottino came up with one out and a runner at first in the eighth inning in the nightcap and hit a ground ball to third base that could have resulted in an inning-ending double play but Jonathan Mota double clutched on his throw to second base which made Tony Thomas's throw to first base just a tick late, allowing Rottino to get there safely to keep the inning alive. Anderson followed with a line drive home run to right field and Parejo then slammed the next pitch from Jake Muyco to left field for his first long ball of the year and the first time the Stars have gone back-to-back this season. The Smokies loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning with one out on a walk, a single and a throwing error before Juan Sandoval struck out Marquez Smith and got Mota to pop out to end the inning and game. Sandoval grabbed his second win of the season with two scoreless innings behind Derrick Ellison, who took over in the sixth and worked out of a bases loaded, one-out jam by getting Wellington Castillo and Brandon Guyer to pop out. Jeremy Papelbon threw three scoreless innings in his first start of the season for the Smokies in game two and was followed by Alex Maestri, who threw a scoreless fourth inning, and Marco Carrillo, who threw 2 1/3 shutout innings in his first outing with the Smokies this season. Josh Wahpepah tossed five scoreless innings in his first start of the season for the Stars and his first start since August 21, 2007. He allowed three hits, walked one and fanned five. Huntsville Game Two Box Score Josh Wahpepah stretched himself out to 73 pitches in a clutch spot start; Smokies 1-for-9 with RISP as the Stars are seemingly charmed at the moment; Kevin Melillo started for Taylor Green at third base -- Melillo showing a lot of infield versatility as of late; Drew Anderson, soon-to-be 28 years old, was an astute pickup after his release by the Reds; even Ryne Sandberg, Tennessee's manager, was quoted this week talking about all the "older guys" on the Stars (in a respectful way) -- regardless of age, these Stars are primed to give Huntsville fans some post-season baseball, and a few of these veterans may see Milwaukee yet... Huntsville Game Two Game Log One-out bases-loaded Houdini acts -- how many? Derrick Ellison in the 6th, and Juan Sandoval to close it out, as Brett described above... Blake Lalli led off the home second in the opener with a double and stayed put after the next two hitters grounded out before Smith singled to left field to move Lalli to third, from where he scored on an errant pickoff attempt at first base by Stars' starter Mark Holliman. Smokies' starter Jay Jackson singled in a run with two outs in the bottom of the fourth to give the home team a 2-0 lead but the developing story was what Jackson was doing on the hill. The right-hander kept the Stars hitless until Kevin Melillo doubled with two outs in the sixth and scored to cut the home side's lead to 2-1 when Anderson followed with a single that knocked Jackson out of the game. Jackson was not involved in the decision after yielding a lone run on two hits, walking three and fanning one. Brian Schlitter took over and gave up a single to Rottino before striking out Taylor Green to end the inning. Johnny Raburn singled with one out in the seventh and moved to second base when pinch-hitter Jonathan Lucroy walked on four pitches. The runners advanced when Adam Stern grounded out for the second out before Shane Justis singled into left field to chase home Raburn with the tying run. Parejo, pinch-running, was thrown out at the plate for what looked to be the final out but jarred the ball loose from Lalli, the catcher, and alertly took a couple of steps back to touch the plate just before Schlitter picked up the loose ball and tried to tag him out. Justis moved to second base on the throw home and scored an insurance run when Melillo singled to right field. Robert Hinton tossed a scoreless bottom half of the inning to nail down his fourth save and preserve the 4-2 win for Holliman, who improved to 2-2 after allowing one earned run on 10 hits, while walking one and not recording a strikeout in his return to Smokies Park, where he pitched with the Smokies over the last two seasons. The series concludes Saturday evening with southpaw David Welch taking the hill for Huntsville against Smokies' left-hander Casey Lambert. Coverage of the game begins at 5:00 PM central time and can be heard through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Game One Box ScoreTen hits allowed, a walk, and an HBP in six innings for Mark Holliman, with just two runs (one earned) given up -- again, charmed, but the Stars are making their own luck, good for them; how about Robert Hinton, Juan Sandoval, and Omar Aguilar acting as triple-threat closers in this series? David Welch will need to fly back in from Helena's roster (wink, wink), so a roster move will be made Saturday as the eight-game series concludes... Huntsville Game One Game Log

Final: Wisconsin 5, West Michigan (Tigers) 3 Wisconsin Site Game Summary Wisconsin tops Caps By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers built an early 5-0 lead and beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 5-3 Friday Night at Fifth Third Ballpark. Brett Lawrie drove in a pair of runs and Evan Frederickson tossed five scoreless innings for the Rattlers. But, in the end, a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth was overturned and Jim Henderson earned his twelfth save of the season. Sean McCraw and Lawrie got the Timber Rattlers (22-26) the lead. First, John Delaney reached on a double to start the third inning. He would score on a single by McCraw. After a hit batsman and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position with two outs, Lawrie laced a single to right to drive in both runners for the 3-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Juan Sanchez in the top of the fifth inning pushed the Rattler lead to 4-0. Frederickson worked through a scoreless fifth inning and turned the game over to Wily Peralta. Frederickson scattered five hits, two walks, and a hit batsman over his five innings. He also managed to sprinkle in four strikeouts. Chris Dennis provided the Rattlers with another run in the top of the eighth inning. His two-out, RBI double to right-center made the score 5-0. Peralta, the reigning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week, left with a runner at second and two outs in the bottom of the eighth after striking out the final batter he faced. However, West Michigan (31-16) does not have the best record in the Midwest League for nothing. Brandon Ritchie relieved Peralta and gave up an RBI double to Avisail Garcia, and RBI double to Joe Bowen, and an RBI single to Gustavo Nunez to make the score 5-3. Henderson took over for Ritchie and gave up a single to Brent Wyatt. That single put runners at first and third and brought the lead run to the plate in the form of Brandon Douglas. Henderson got Douglas to fly out to center to end the inning. In the ninth things got very interesting. Henderson retired the first two batters he faced. But, he walked Billy Nowlin to keep the inning alive. Henderson got ahead of Ben Guez 1-2, but left a pitch just a bit too far out over the plate. Guez hit a high, deep drive down the left field line that was hooking to the corner. The home plate umpire initially called the ball fair for a game-tying home run. The Rattlers disagreed...vehemently. The umpires conferred and after explaining the call to Whitecaps manager Joe DePastino, ruled the ball foul. Guez returned to the batter's box and flew out to left to end the game. Game two of the series -- and 11 of Wisconsin's road trip -- is scheduled for Saturday night. Cody Adams (1-4, 4.58) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Luke Putkonen (3-1, 2.72) is set to go for the Whitecaps. Game time is 6:00 PM CDT. Wisconsin Box Score We've detailed and noted Evan Frederickson's tough nights, so it's only fair to acknowledge a job well done here; Whitecaps stranded 13, Rattlers only three; Juan Sanchez reached base three times, scored twice, and drove in a run, all without a base hit; Brett Lawrie caught stealing for the 7th time in 18 attempts -- that part of his game needs refinement for sure; Chris Dennis sure to become a fan favorite quickly -- he was already to several diehards here -- two more doubles tonight, an extra-base machine... Wisconsin Game Log Frederickson stranded a man who was on third base with only one out in the 1st -- in fact, each of the first four innings Frederickson pitched ended with at minimum, a West Michigan player standing at third base; catcher Sean McCraw threw out a key runner for Wily Peralta in the 7th; nice RBI double in the 8th, Chris Dennis, but don't run into the final out of the inning at third base; what a sweat-it-out moment at the end -- we'd never know it from just the game log without Chris' game summary...

The Brevard County game was cancelled by rain. It will not be made up. I'll refrain from issuing a paragraph on player development lost to the ridiculous conditions of the FSL, etc. Would we rather have the high-A kids in High Desert or Lancaster dealing with obscene wind conditions nightly? Short answer -- no. 2009 is worse than even the FSL is used to seeing, that's all...

To make room for outfielder Chris Duffy on the Nashville roster, RHP Nick Green has been placed on the 7-day DL with an undisclosed injury, retroactive to Wednesday, May 27th. The Sounds already have LH starter Sam Narron on the DL, but without specific injury news, you'd think both Green and Narron will be back soon. Nashville hosts a doubleheader on Saturday, with RHP Matt Ginter set to start Game One and "TBD" in Game Two.

A 21-year-old Cub prospect, Randy "Jay" Jackson (insert American Idol Dawg comment here) has quite the special event going in Game One vs. Huntsville through five innings (scheduled for seven).

Rattler Radio Blog: May 29, 2009: Starting Lineup (catcher Corey Kemp starts at first base) ROAD WOES: Wisconsin has the worst road record (6-17) in the Midwest League. HOME SWEET HOME: The Whitecaps have the best home record (14-6) in the league. May 29, 2009 Timber Rattler Pitchers (Evan Frederickson / Wily Peralta) May 29, 2009: Game Notes (Pleny of nuggets from Chris Mehring) Chris' Rattlers Week in Review over at Sports Bubbler (Always a good read, with a movie poster bonus this week)

RHP's Mark Holliman and Mike Jones swap places on the Huntsville / Helena rosters so that Holliman can pitch tonight. I haven't bothered to review if this is the new rage among organizations, or if it's mainly just the Brewers taking advantage of a roster loophole situation to effectively have rosters over the league limits at a level or two. Holliman is brought back just three days after going to Helena in this blatant paper move. The Pioneer League definitely has roster rules about player ages and experience, so it will be interesting to see if this game continues to play out after mid-late June. So 18-year-old RHP Nick Bucci lives another day on the Huntsville roster -- hopefully the Stars can take a big lead in one of the two seven-inning contests tonight and let Nick see some action.

Series highlighted below begins Saturday, and yes, Fort Myers does have audio coverage... Playoff Preview? By Tyler Stover / Brevard County Manatees (Viera, FL) This weekend's four-game series at Space Coast Stadium between the Brevard County Manatees and Fort Myers Miracle will showcase the two best teams in the Florida State League at this point in the season. Each team leads its respective division by a wide margin. Brevard County (28-12) holds a 7.5 game lead over Clearwater in the FSL North, and Fort Myers (29-15) leads the FSL South by 5.5 games over Charlotte. With less than a month remaining in the first half, both teams appear to be on track to clinch a spot in the FSL playoffs. Could this be a preview of the FSL Championship Series in September? Logic would seem to be working against the two teams. Since the FSL playoffs feature each division's champions of the first and second half facing each other in the first round, the second half winners would seem to be at an advantage, since they are riding a wave of momentum into the playoffs. History shows that this has not always been the case in the FSL, however. Since the league went to its current two-division format in 1993, first half champions are a very respectable 15-17 in the first round. Of those 15 teams that won their first round matchup, six went on to win the FSL championship. Both the Manatees and Miracle have recent experience in this department. In 2007, the Manatees won the first half in the FSL East, then defeated second half champion St. Lucie in the playoffs. Fort Myers duplicated the feat in 2008, winning the FSL West first half title, then cooling off the red-hot Dunedin Blue Jays in the first round. Neither team was able to parlay their first round victory into a title, however. Both the Manatees and the Miracle have been strong on both sides of the ball in 2009. Brevard County currently has the second highest batting average and most stolen bases in the FSL. They also lead the league in team ERA, shutouts, and are second in strikeouts. Fort Myers leads the league in batting average and runs scored. Their pitching ranks fourth in the league in ERA. The outfield trio of Caleb Gindl, Logan Schafer, and Lee Haydel powers the Brevard County offense. All three are currently hitting over .290, and Gindl leads the team with four home runs and 29 RBI. Haydel is second on the team with 16 stolen bases. Third baseman Zelous Wheeler has added power to the Manatee lineup, with three home runs and 26 RBI. First baseman Steffan Wilson has also been a strong contributor, with a .301 average, four home runs, and 16 RBI. The first base tandem of Rene Leveret and Chris Parmelee leads the Fort Myers offense. The two split time at first base, but both are usually in the lineup, with Leveret spending time at DH, while Parmelee often trades in his first baseman's glove for right field. Leveret is hitting .392 with two home runs and 15 RBI, while Parmelee leads the team with five homers and 26 RBI. Center fielder Ben Revere has helped ignite the Miracle offense from the leadoff position, with a .337 average and 19 stolen bases. The series will feature five of the top starting pitchers in the Florida State League. For Brevard County, Josh Butler has rebounded from a tough 2008 campaign to win his first six decisions in 2009. His 6-0 record is the best in the FSL, and his ERA is down to 2.47 after not allowing a run in his last two starts. Evan Anundsen pitched the only no-hitter in the FSL so far this year in a dominant performance at Daytona on April 28. He is 5-3, and his 2.15 ERA ranks seventh in the FSL. Fort Myers' Michael McCardell is tied with Butler for the FSL lead with six wins. He rebounded from two early losses, and is now 6-2 with a 3.63 ERA. Carlos Gutierrez (2-1) leads the FSL with a 0.98 ERA. He has not allowed an earned run in his last three starts, and has held opponents to a microscopic .159 batting average for the season. David Bromberg sports a perfect 4-0 record, and ranks third in the FSL with a 2.00 ERA. The series begins Saturday night at 7:05 PM (6:05 Central). The series continues Sunday afternoon, followed by evening games on Monday and Tuesday.

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 26 22 .542 - 12-11 14-11 L1 Memphis 24 21 .533 0.5 13-8 11-13 W2 Iowa 23 23 .500 2.0 12-12 11-11 L1 Omaha 21 26 .447 4.5 10-14 11-12 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 25 20 .556 - 10-11 15-9 W4 Carolina 23 24 .489 3.0 11-12 12-12 W1 Tennessee 21 26 .447 5.0 10-15 11-11 L4 West Tenn 19 26 .422 6.0 10-11 9-15 W2 Chattanooga 18 28 .391 7.5 10-15 8-13 L8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 22 20 .524 7.5 10-12 12-8 W1 Lakeland 18 20 .474 9.5 11-11 7-9 L1 Daytona 19 22 .463 10.0 8-9 11-13 L3 Tampa 20 24 .455 10.5 11-13 9-11 W1 Dunedin 17 26 .395 13.0 5-16 12-10 L1

Midwest League Standings

Follow Friday'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_29_omaaaa_nasaaa_1 Huntsville Game One: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_29_hunaax_tenaax_1 Huntsville Game Two: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t559&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_29_hunaax_tenaax_2 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t503&t=g_box&gid=2009_05_29_breafa_sluafa_1 Wisconsin: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&gid=2009_05_29_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):

Friday's Daily Menu -- TGIF! 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 St. Lucie (Mets) feed. Nashville: LHP Chase Wright at home vs. Omaha (Royals), 6:35 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Huntsville: RHP's Mark Holliman and Josh Wahpepah in a doubleheader at Tennessee (Cubs), 4:15 PM pre-game; 4:30 gametime; each contest slated for seven innings Brevard County: RHP Mark Rogers at St. Lucie (Mets), 6:00 PM gametime Wisconsin: LHP Evan Frederickson at West Michigan (Tigers), 5:15 PM pre-game, 5:35 gametime

Frequent forum contributor battlekow with some well-laid out analysis at BCB

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David Weiser's starsboxscore.com 'penmanship Bullpen tosses 4 1/3 scoreless as Stars take two The Stars won more than a double-header tonight....... For the first time, they are five games over .500 for the season. They have won nine of their last 11, and they hit their milestone 200th all-time victory against the Smokies, née Knoxville, in the first game of this set...... As I mentioned previously, it would be interesting to see how Michael McClendon would do in his starting assignment. He was part of Brevard County's April rotation last year, but he was placed in the bullpen after going 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA in five starts. He was a success there, and has been one this year, with a 3-1 record and 1.72 ERA in 14 relief appearances prior to getting this emergency start. McClendon threw 60 pitches, 44 for strikes, an excellent 73% percentage -- but some of those strikes were well-hit..... Leadoff singles by Russ Canzler and Tony Thomas in the 2nd, followed by a wild pitch. That set up a two-out line drive single by Jonathan Mota that gave the Smokies a 2-0 lead....... In the 3rd, the assault on McClendon continued with back-to-back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. McClendon got out of the inning thanks to an unassisted double play by Kevin Melillo, playing his natural 2nd base position, but not before the Smokies made it 5-2. The Stars rallied for five runs in the 5th on four singles, a walk, a sac fly, and an error....... The Stars altogether had 11 hits in Game 2, 10 of them singles. The one extra-base blow was Melillo's 4th home run -- all hit in the span of his last eight games...... Oddly enough, no Huntsville hitter has had a triple the entire month. That hasn't happened since June 2004. The Stars will have another double-header Friday night, the last of the three twin-bills the Stars must play to make up for the rainouts at the beginning of the month. Mark Holliman (1-2, 6.57) and Josh Wahpepah (1-0, 3.38) will face righty Jay Jackson and lefty Jeremy Papelbon. Game starts at 4:15 CDT. Chris Errercart homered in the 8th inning to give the Brevard County Manatees a 4-3 road victory over St. Lucie Thursday night. Errecart is 4-for-10 in the series against the Mets, raising his average to .258. He's hitting .297 with the bases empty, .207 with runners on, and .197 with runners in scoring position. When the Birmingham Barons come to town for the first time this year this weekend, it will be without Gordon Beckham, their top prospect and #1 pick in last year's amateur draft. Beckham has been jumped up to Charlotte (IL) and is, at this moment, debuting against Columbus. Beckham left Birmingham with a .299 average and four HRs.

RHP Mark Holliman will need to be transferred back to the Huntsville roster before Friday's doubleheader. Will that mean the end of 18-year-old Nick Bucci's stay in AA (without an appearance)? We'll see...

Final: Tacoma (Mariners) 5, Nashville 3 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Mike Burns photo, text follows -- Sounds Conclude Road Trip With 5-3 Loss TACOMA, Wash. - The Nashville Sounds wrapped up their road trip on the short end of a 5-3 defeat to the Tacoma Rainiers on Thursday evening at Cheney Stadium in the finale of a four-game series. With the loss, Nashville (26-22) finished its Pacific Northwest swing with a 3-5 record. Tacoma catcher Adam Moore opened the evening's scoring in the second with a two-run homer to left-center off Sounds starter Mike Burns, the backstop's first roundtripper of the year. The Rainiers doubled their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth frame on a Mike Morse sac fly and a Moore RBI single. Tacoma extended its advantage to 5-0 in the fifth when Chris Shelton singled home Michael Saunders. Rainiers starter Ryan Rowland-Smith (1-0) earned the win after he worked five scoreless frames, allowing three hits. He turned things over to Josh Hall in the sixth and the Sounds took immediate advantage of the change, plating a pair of runs to pull within 5-2. Jason Bourgeois, Alcides Escobar, and Erick Almonte opened with consecutive singles, the third of which plating Nashville's first run of the night. Brendan Katin followed with a sacrifice fly. First baseman Joe Koshansky made it a 5-3 game in the top of the eighth with a two-out RBI single off Tacoma reliever Jesus Delgado. Burns (6-2) took a loss for the second straight outing for the Sounds after giving up five runs on eight hits over his seven innings of action. Katin finished 0-for-3 on the evening to snap Nashville's 2nd-longest hitting streak of the year at 12 games. The Sounds return to Music City on Friday to begin an eight-game homestand that includes series against the division-rival Omaha Royals and Iowa Cubs. Left-hander Chase Wright (3-4, 4.34) will take the hill for Nashville in Friday's 7:00 PM series opener to face Omaha left-hander Lenny DiNardo (3-1, 3.52). Nashville Box Score Alcides Escobar singled and walked, played shortstop error-free; Erick Almonte is hitting .312, but only five extra-base hits (all doubles) among his 29 knocks; Hernan Iribarren was the DH (2-for-4, .331); Angel Salome still sidelined by the foul tip to his throwing hand; 116 pitches in seven innings for Mike Burns; boys ready to head home... Nashville Game Log Jason Bourgeois with a GIDP with the tying runs on base to end the game...