Jim Goulart

Final: Jacksonville (Dodgers) 4, Huntsville 3 Huntsville Site Game Summary: Stars Fall, Division Race Still Undecided Issue To Be Decided Tuesday Night at Home By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars Jamie Hoffman's three-run home run and solid work from the bullpen were enough to lead Jacksonville to a 4-3 win over Huntsville Sunday evening in a game that was delayed three hours and 27 minutes at the start because of rain. The Stars dropped to 41-29 in the first half and will face West Tenn in a one-game playoff Tuesday night at Joe Davis Stadium in the opener of a six-game series that also begins the second half of the season. The Stars lost three of five in the series and have been defeated in 12 of their last 15 games in Jacksonville over the last three seasons. Adam Godwin led off the home first with a single, stole second base and remained there when Ivan DeJesus, Jr. drew a walk. Hoffman then belted Donovan Hand's first pitch over the wall in left field for his fourth home run of the season, all of which have come in the last 15 days. Hoffman knocked in five runs in the series, all in the first inning. Gabriel Gutierrez's looping two-out single in the fourth scored Shane Justis to push the home team's lead to 4-0. Alcides Escobar singled with one out in the sixth to end a stretch of 12 batters in a row retired by starter Jesus Castillo. The Huntsville shortstop stole second base and scored on a base hit off the right field wall by Angel Salome, who has knocked in a run in 13 of his last 21 games, with two outs. Matt LaPorta followed with a single to move Salome to third and Cole Gillespie drew a walk to load the bases. Freddy Parejo then bounced a bad-hop single past DeJesus at shortstop into left field for a two-run single that trimmed the lead to 4-3. A throwing error on the play by Matt Berezay in left field allowed Gillespie and Parejo to advance but they were stranded when Guilder Rodriguez flied out to end the inning. Hand was lifed after six innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits, while walking two and striking out three. He retired the last seven batters he faced and was followed to the hill by Mike Jones, who walked Gutierrez with one out in the seventh before James Tomlin doubled to right to move the Suns' catcher to third base. Godwin bounced out to Jones on the first pitch for the second out before DeJesus walked to load the bases. Hoffman then grounded out to end the threat. Castillo was removed after six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, while issuing one walk and fanning four. He grabbed the win to improve to 5-3 and was followed to the mound by Travis Schlichting, who set down the side in order in the seventh. Salome singled with one out in the eighth and LaPorta was hit by a pitch but Schlichting worked out of trouble by striking out Gillespie and Parejo to end the frame and finish off his third two scoreless inning stint of the series. Zach Hammes set down the Stars in turn in the ninth to earn his second save. Steve Hammond will take the mound for Huntsville on Tuesday and will be opposed by fellow southpaw Ryan Ketchner of West Tenn. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 PM central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com and www.730ump.com. *** Link while active, text follows: Half not settled for Stars Tuesday's series opener will break tie with West Tenn By BRAD SHEPARD For The Huntsville Times The Huntsville Stars had an opportunity to end an up-and-down first half of the season in style and with a title Sunday. Instead, they'll have to wait at least two more days. The Stars lost 4-3 at Jacksonville after a lengthy rain delay, digging a four-run hole and never getting completely out of it. With West Tenn's 5-4 loss to Chattanooga, Huntsville blew a chance to clinch the Southern League North Division's first half. Instead, Huntsville and West Tenn - which sport identical 41-29 records - will play a winner-take-all game Tuesday night at 7:05 at Joe Davis Stadium. The winner nabs the division, and the loser must set its sights on the second half. West Tenn has beaten the Stars six out of 10 times this season. But Huntsville is 3-2 against West Tenn at home. "One game is one game. You never know what happens," Stars manager Don Money said. "If they win, it'll be a big deal, and if they lose it, they'll remember it for a long time." At least Huntsville will be back home, and it will have ace Steve Hammond (7-3, 3.25 ERA) on the mound against West Tenn's Ryan Ketchner (5-2, 3.57). Hammond has had mixed results against the Diamond Jaxx, getting roughed up back on April 9 in a 9-6 loss before evening the score in a 3-1 win June 5. He has pitched brilliantly in his past two outings and is relishing the big stage. "I'll be ready to go, I know that much," Hammond said. "I'm looking forward to a great game. "Obviously, they've got a good team, a solid hitting team. They're patient, and they wait for good pitches. I'm sure it won't be a blowout." On Sunday, Huntsville starter Donovan Hand was too shaky in the early going, and the bats couldn't come up with any clutch hits late. Hand put the first two runners on in the first before Jacksonville's Jamie Hoffmann hit a three-run homer to put Huntsville in an early hole. The Suns added another run in the fourth to make it 4-0. The Stars rallied in the sixth when Angel Salome's RBI single plated Alcides Escobar and Freddy Parejo added a two-run single later to cut the lead to one. But Jacksonville's bullpen turned in three scoreless innings to end it. Huntsville had two on and one out in the eighth but struck out twice to end the threat. Huntsville left seven runners on base. "I'm not excited about bring a tie home," Money said. "We had plenty of chances and couldn't come up with them at all." Now, it's back home for a big one. "Right after the game, everybody was obviously pretty disappointed because we couldn't get it done down here," Hammond said. "But now that we've settled down, we realize we get to bring it back home, and everybody's excited." *** David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com It's Down to One Game It looked like rain would wash out Sunday's game. As it happened, it started almost three hours late in Jacksonville. The outfield was already dotted with puddles and the Jacksonville dugout was attracting boaters, but both teams wanted to play, but especially the league because the first-half title was on the line and the Stars........ If the game couldn't be played, the Stars would have to forego their off-day and play the Suns on Monday, then travel 10 hours after the game back to Huntsville for Tuesday's game against, of all teams, the Diamond Jaxx....... The Stars did not want to be in the position of arriving tired for a game that would decide who would win the first half title........ Chattanooga and West Tennessee started ahead at Pringles Park in Jackson with the Lookouts taking an early 2-0 lead after two innings. From Day One, hitting carried the Stars to this shot at another 1st half title. It should have been a done deal already. The Stars were 29-11 at one point and five games in front in the North Division........ The 1986 Stars, the team I think I could best compare the current one to, hit .303 at the end of the 1st half. They won the division over Birmingham by 3½ games...... The Stars are bringing a .298 mark to the final game of the first half, even after a recent slump (the Stars had a .203 average in their last six games.) Still, they've hit .291 since May 15....... But the Stars were also 12-17 since May 15, oddly enough, the day after Don Money became the winningest manager in Stars history....... The ball and chain has been the bullpen. [align=center] STARS BULLPEN SINCE MAY 15 W-L ERA IP H R ER Omar Aguilar 0-1 4.50 8 6 6 4 Joe Bateman 2 saves 1.88 14 1/3 17 4 3 Donovan Hand 0-0 3.60 5 4 2 2 Robert Hinton 1-2 7.41 17 16 15 14 David Johnson 0-1 3.86 9 1/3 8 5 4 Mike Jones 0-1 9..52 5 2/3 10 6 6 Patrick Ryan 1-3 6.08 13 1/3 21 13 9 Juan Sandoval 1-2 5.68 12 2/3 16 8 8 E.J. Shanks 0-0 9.81 3 2/3 6 4 4 Jason Shiell 0-1 3.38 5 1/3 3 3 2 Josh Wahpepah 0-0 21.60 1 2/3 5 4 4 TOTALS 3-11 5.57 97 112 70 60 [/align] In addition, to seven saves, there have been eight blown saves..... Since May 15, the Stars have been ahead in more innings than they've actually been behind -- except the 9th. They were ahead in the 7th 16 times and behind 12 times in the 7th, ahead 14 times and behind 12 times in the 8th, but by the end of the 9th --- they were ahead only 11 times and behind 14 times. Of the three occasions they were tied in the 9th, all three games were lost. Where are the Stars falling behind and losing games? Inning-by-inning, these are the number of times the Stars have been ahead, behind, or even since May 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 AHEAD 6 7 11 15 14 15 16 14 11 BEHIND 7 8 7 9 9 11 12 12 14 TIED 1 4 6 3 5 4 2 2 3 NO SCORE 12 9 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 The Stars lost all three of the games that were tied in the 9th The pressure was on Town Creek's Donovan Hand with all of four Double-A games on his resumé. As a fifth starter, he had a 3.96 ERA and was still looking for his first decision ...... Jesus Castillo (3-2, 3.55 in May) faced the Stars last April 27, giving up four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. With a wet field, and rain continuing to fall and a 60% chance for more rain and a lot at stake, the game got underway more than three hours late...... Hand had the Stars in a hole almost immediately. After three batters, the Stars were behind 3-0 after Adam Godwin started with a single to center and a stolen base with a high throw by Salome, a walk to Ivan DeJesus, and a home run to left on the first pitch to Jamie Hoffmann, a .375 hitter against the Stars....... Gabriel Gutierrez singled in a run in the 4th to make it 4-0 Jacksonville. Saturday, Brae Wright kept the Stars alive with a clutch seven-inning, three-hit performance....... Joe Bateman registered his 4th save, his first since April 16. A June 9 save after Bateman came in with a 7-3 lead to protect, was removed by a scorer's decision....... Suns' starter Mario Alvarez, just off the disabled list, was removed after one inning. Alcides Escobar singled, moved to third on a Mat Gamel single, and scored on a fielders choice...... Former Star Mark Bellhorn evened the score in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single with two out....... Wright, now 4-1 with a 2.10 ERA in his last five starts, allowed only a one-out single to Lucas May after that and was helped by inning-ending double plays in the 4th and 7th innings. Just like a horse race where one horse gets out of the gate quick to take what looks to be an insurmountable lead, it's destined for that horse to lose a little gas coming around the final pole toward the stretch....... That seems to be what the Stars have done....... They haven't had so much as a three-game winning streak since May 24 when Carolina stopped a six-game winning streak. Before that, the Stars had four streaks of three games or more, including an eight-game streak turning into May....... From a .295 average in April, and .305 in May, the Stars were hitting a comparatively modest .279 in June going into the final game....... While the Stars continued to hit, though, a five-game lead on May 14 had been whittled down as the bullpen collapsed. Jesus Castillo stubbornly retired 12 in a row at one point before the Stars rallied....... Escobar hit a one-out single in the 6th. Gamel, 8-for-18 in his last five games, struck out on a 2-2 pitch, but Angel Salome ripped a long single off the wall to score Escobar from first and put the Stars on the board...... Just when the Stars could use a Matt LaPorta long ball, he rips a 3-2 pitch for a line drive single sending Salome to second........ Meanwhile, at Pringles Park, Chattanooga is leading West Tennessee, 5-2 in the 7th........Cole Gillespie, 4th in the league in RBIs and 2nd on the team in strikeouts, picked the right time to be selective. He walked on a 3-2 pitch, loading the bases for Freddie Parejo...... Parejo, 2-for-6 in thses situations, came through with a bad hop single to score LaPorta. A bad throw to the plate scored Salome to make it a 4-3 game before Guilder Rodriguez ended the inning on a fly ball to left. In the 7th, the rain had finally stopped....... Mike Jones was now in the game in relief of Donovan Hand in a desperate situation for the Stars. Maybe not the best choice to come out of the pen at the moment. Jones, the former #1 draft choice of the Brewers, had a 9.23 ERA, 16 hits given up in 9 2/3 innings, eight walks and seven strikeouts........ The former Shining Star of 2003, who was 7-2 with a 2.40 ERA in 17 starts, has struggled after coming off multiple arm injuries........ The Diamond Jaxx had scored twice and were now in the 9th at Pringles, down by a run...... With two out, Jones walked DeJesus to load the bases. Jamie Hoffmann, .385 in the series, 3-for-9 with the bases loaded and eight RBIs, was at the plate, but Jones got out of it, as Hoffmann hit sharply to Gamel, who threw to first for the final out of the 7th, the Suns still in front, 4-3. Steve Hammond will get the nod Tuesday........ If there is one guy you want for this situation, it's him for the first half tie-breaker. He was called on last year for Game 5 of the Southern League Championship Series and performed admirably well, giving up four hits in seven innings and striking out nine. He left with a 3-1 lead that I think Sam Narron should have finished. Those nine Ks were the most he had all season....... The strikeout pace carried over into 2008, establishing a new club record for strikeouts in April with 39, but Hammond, who has now lost the strikeout lead in the Southern League to Rich Dorman of the Diamond Jaxx hasn't had more than five in a game since striking out 10 vs. the Smokies on May 10....... Tuesday's game, no doubt, is the biggest game of the year. Saturday, Brae Wright, who has had the worst run support among Huntsville's starters since the start of the season, got a 2-1 lead to work when Escobar, who had reached first on a fielder's choice and third on a single by Mat Gamel, scored from third on a wild pitch. Three Jacksonville pitchers had four wild pitches in that game, the most since Montgomery pitchers uncorked four on May 28 of last year....... Needing insurance, the Stars got it from their leading home run hitter Matt LaPorta, who rammed a two-out, two-run homer into the first row of the right-centerfield bleacher seats, extending the Stars' lead to a safe 4-1 in the 9th....... Brendan Katin didn't get his 19th last year until August 3. Mike Coolbaugh, who led the 1997 Stars with 30 HRs, didn't get his 20th until July 6. Rob Nelson, who still holds the club record of 32 for the 1985 Stars, didn't get his 20th until June 24 and Jose Canseco, who hit a record 11 HRs in April that year, got his 20th on June 21. Back to Sunday, as Carlos Fisher was now pitching to the Diamond Jaxx in the bottom of the 9th as the Stars came to bat in the top of the 8th....... Mat Gamel was retired for the first out as the Diamond Jaxx were down to their final out -- Brett Johnson....... Salome ripped a base hit up the middle. One on for the Stars...... The game was now over in Jackson with Johnson flying out to 2nd baseman Michael DeJesus...... As that happened, LaPorta was hit in the back by a pitch from Travis Schlichting, putting the tying run - Salome -- in scoring position...... But Schlichting struck out Cole Gillespie on a slider, and Freddy Parejo, whose line drive foul on an 0-and-2 pitch just missed extra bases that would have tied the game. Juan Sandoval retired the side in the 9th. Zachary Hammes did the same for the Suns in the bottom half to end the game........ Back in 1999, the Stars faced this same kind of situation against the Diamond Jaxx, both with identical 38-32 records, but the Stars had to wait until July 15 to decide the first half winner, calling upon their ace, Allan Levrault, who was 8-2 with a 3.24 ERA........ The Stars, who had eight hits, three for extra-bases, lost 7-6, when they broke a 5-5 tie in the 8th with an RBI triple by Julio Zuleta and an insurance run on a double by Angelo Encarnacion. Levrault lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and a pair of walks. Huntsville Box Score Don Money rests Chris Errecart and Michael Bell, but they'll be ready for Tuesday in a series that will make use of the designated hitter... Huntsville Game Log

This seems silly, but I'm going to post this anyway. Keep in mind we didn't update our draft forum with an official "bolding" on Seth Lintz, as we were all waiting, including you reading, for the follow-up on Lintz' supposed Friday signing, right? Tom's reply to me, and my counter-reply. Since Tom isn't a reader, as he makes clear here, he won't be bothered by the posting: Perhaps you shouldn't have written this e-mail before reading my updated Sunday column this morning in our printed product, in which I did include the Brewers' denial for the readers of the JS. That's why I don't just throw something onto my website from the Podunk News without checking with the club first. And I'd rather be 100 hours behind the "news" if that news is wrong. The one time I even acknowledged a blog this year -- Badger Blog's supposed scoop that Yost would be fired -- I learned the dangers of doing so. All you did is "repeat" what was written in the kid's hometown newspaper? Unless you also wrote that you couldn't confirm it, your readers take things like that for gospel. As soon as I got confirmation Saturday that the Lintz signing was false, I updated my column for the Sunday paper. It's not my fault that the folks at JS online take my early column -- which is submitted Friday morning -- and put it on the web site without ever using the final updated version that appears in the paper Sunday morning. Unlike you, I have a printed product, also. I made sure I got it right there after getting new information. Did you disavow your "scoop" online as being false? I wouldn't know. Perhaps you shouldn't have included the blurb in your Friday submission to your bosses if you weren't going to confirm it until Saturday, then. Hopefully you'll be following up with your editor allowing you the freedom to edit the online submission as well in the future. You're a paid professional. I'm just a guy who tries to balance being a good husband, dad, and having a (non-journalistic) career with a passion for the Brewers' organization that distracts me from life's other pressures and provides me with some joy, despite their generation's worth of failures. We're not a "news site", we don't make any monetary gains from the site nor is that our goal -- heck, I'm just a guy who provides links to Brewer news from across the web to our readers. We rarely, if ever, use the word "scoop" when presenting as such, and didn't in this case. We call our daily minor league recaps "Link Reports" for a reason. And for the record, earlier this week, before I heard back from you, I emailed Anthony S. Puca of the Marshall County Tribune. I did so because in his original article he stated "read the entire story in Wednesday's edition of the Tribune." Now it looks like that newspaper may not place all the articles from its sports section online each day, so I emailed Mr. Puca asking if a follow-up ran, and if it did, could he please email me the contents, because I had been checking back to that newspaper's site all week. I have been awaiting his reply. As for not knowing whether we disavowed ourselves, that's your choice in not visiting our site. I can't blame you for not thinking our site worthy of review. You're obviously up on the minor leaguers -- if you're getting your daily info on the farmhands from elsewhere, kudos. I'm just not sure who makes it more convenient to get the info, including all the audio interviews, media reports including quotes from staff and players, than we do. Check us out some time. Jim *** And by he way, it just dawned on me, but doesn't Tom have a blog where he could have posted a correction to his weekly column? I'm off for the remainder of Father's Day, guys, enjoy your day -- go Brewers, go Huntsville, go Tiger Woods, and if I may say so, go Celtics!

The Nashville media notes: TURNBOW RETURNS TO HILL, MAKES FOURTH START: Right-hander Derrick Turnbow -- who has not pitched since June 5th, a span of 10 days -- makes his fourth start of the year for the Sounds in today's nightcap. He is 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA (2 ER / 5.2 IP) in his initial three starts and has worked 5 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to his initial start on May 28 at Albuquerque. The Sounds now list the upcoming rotation after today as follows: Date Opponent Time (CT) Probable Pitching Matchup Monday, June 16 at Iowa 11:05 AM LHP Lindsay Gulin (2-4, 3.12) vs LHP Rich Hill (2-3, 3.91) at Iowa Game 2 LHP Zach Jackson (1-5, 7.63) vs TBA Tuesday, June 17 Oklahoma 7:00 PM RHP Ben Howard (2-2, 3.92) vs TBA Wednesday, June 18 Oklahoma 12:00 PM RHP Richie Gardner (5-2, 4.10) vs TBA

Thanks for the heads-up on Bronson, he made his first start on the Cape last night and was apparently burned by some "small ball" (tail end of the linked article). I'd like to see if I can get out to see him this summer, always a nice night out, but I can't make a promise on that right now.

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iowa 38 29 .567 - 20-11 18-18 W1 Memphis 35 35 .500 4.5 15-17 20-18 W1 Omaha 33 34 .493 5.0 15-19 18-15 L1 Nashville 27 40 .403 11.0 15-16 12-24 L6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 41 28 .594 - 22-13 19-15 W1 West Tenn 41 28 .594 - 24-10 17-18 W2 Carolina 38 31 .551 3.0 20-14 18-17 W3 Chattanooga 36 33 .522 5.0 20-15 16-18 L2 Tennessee 26 43 .377 15.0 13-22 13-21 L8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 41 26 .612 - 26-11 15-15 L2 Brevard County 34 32 .515 6.5 21-14 13-18 L1 Daytona 33 34 .493 8.0 15-17 18-17 W2 Vero Beach 32 34 .485 8.5 20-12 12-22 L3 Jupiter 32 35 .478 9.0 18-12 14-23 L2 St. Lucie 18 49 .269 23.0 9-26 9-23 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 41 28 .594 - 19-18 22-10 W1 Delmarva 38 30 .559 2.5 22-12 16-18 W1 Greensboro 38 31 .551 3.0 17-18 21-13 L2 Lakewood 37 32 .536 4.0 19-15 18-17 L1 Hagerstown 33 35 .485 7.5 16-20 17-15 L1 West Virginia 31 37 .456 9.5 12-20 19-17 W2 Hickory 30 39 .435 11.0 14-20 16-19 W2 Lexington 21 47 .309 19.5 10-24 11-23 L2

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 Window". Open the Nashville Gameday. For the others, choose "Log" or "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. Nashville Game One: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_15_nasaaa_iowaaa_1 Nashville Game Two: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_15_nasaaa_iowaaa_2 Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_15_hunaax_jaxaax_1 West Virginia: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_15_gboafx_wvaafx_1

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated several hours prior to gametime. Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

Nashville's doubleheader at Iowa is also available for subscription viewing at MiLB.TV.

Sunday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP's Sam Narron and Lindsay Gulin in a doubleheader at Iowa (Cubs), 12:50 PM pre-game; 1:05 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: RHP Donovan Hand at Jacksonville (Dodgers), 1:50 PM pre-game; 2:05 gametime -- huge game, if you've been reading us, you know the implications Audio link via WUMP (game will also archive at this link): http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/audio.jsp?sid=t559 Brevard County: Idle West Virginia: LHP Dan Merklinger at home vs. Greensboro (Marlins), 4:50 PM pre-game, 5:05 gametime; thus ends the first half for the Power Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link): www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

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Link while active, text follows: Only Sounds of silence play at empty park Attendance is zero after flood in Iowa By RANDY PETERSON The Des Moines Register DES MOINES, Iowa - Matt Murton likened it to a sandlot game. Brad Nelson called it amazing. Both descriptions fit what the Iowa Cubs and the Sounds did Saturday afternoon at Principal Park. They played baseball with no fans in the stands. The baseball game - won by Iowa 5-4 - had an official attendance of zero. The attendance was on purpose. City officials issued a mandatory evacuation of the downtown area because of flooding this week. "I'm just amazed that we played. From looking at the pictures of the stadium on Friday, I didn't think there was any way," said Nelson, the Sounds first baseman and a native of Algona, Iowa. "Unprecedented," said Murton, the Cubs left fielder. "Even when I was 5 years old, my dad used to watch me and my brother play catch in the backyard." Unprecedented? Just barely. In 2002, the Class A Charleston (S.C.) Riverdogs hosted Nobody Night, during which fans were intentionally kept out of the ballpark until the fifth inning, when the game and the zero attendance became official. "They (Charleston) did it for the publicity. As far as it being done out of necessity, like in Des Moines, I can't recall that ever being done," Pacific Coast League Commissioner Branch Rickey III said. City officials granted permission for the game to be played Saturday. Flooding inside the ballpark and at the adjacent parking lot forced the postponement of Friday's game. "We got permission from the city to play, only if we wouldn't let anyone in," Cubs GM Sam Bernabe said. "They didn't want any more people downtown than needed to be." Admit one, or two The field was dry Saturday, and one of the few sounds heard during the game was the whir of a machine cleaning mud from the once-flooded parking lot. Two scouts watched from behind home plate. Cubs front office employees retrieved foul balls. There was no public address announcer or introduction music for each batter. The large video scoreboard in the outfield was turned off, and a handheld scoreboard was used instead. The crack of the bat provided most of the noise, although players and umpires could be heard clearly, too. "The only other time I played in front of a crowd of zero was when I was in rookie ball," said Iowa's Josh Kroeger, whose seventh-inning homer broke a 4-4 tie. The game started at 4 p.m. - three hours early - so the stadium lights wouldn't attract fans to the downtown area. "We were very conscious of public safety," Bernabe said. "We didn't even put the game on radio." An announcement that Saturday's game was postponed was posted on the Cubs' Web site on Saturday. Callers to the team's office got a recorded message that the game was postponed. So why play at all? "The reason for playing is to maintain my obligation to the league to play the 144-game schedule," Bernabe said. "With sand running out of the hourglass relative to where we're at in the schedule, I don't have a whole lot of flexibility. "I'm trying to respect the wishes of the City, I'm trying to respect the wishes of the league, and I'm trying to keep the players from having too many doubleheaders." The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader today at 1 p.m. Friday's postponed game was added to the Monday schedule for another doubleheader. The Sounds are scheduled to play at Iowa July 18-20. "The city will inspect the area (this morning), but I'm not anticipating any problem," Bernabe said. "The evacuation was lifted and the bridges were opened, so I'm assuming fans can come to the game. "I'm not doing this for grins and giggles. We were expecting around 12,000 fans. It's costing us a lot of money, but we have to play." Nashville Sounds strength coach Tom Reynolds takes in Saturday's game from the outfield bleachers during the Iowa Cubs' 5-4 victory. Fans were not allowed into Principal Park in Des Moines because the area is flooded. The main video scoreboard above Reynolds was not used during the game; instead the teams relied only on the hand-operated scoreboard. (Photo by DANIEL SATO / DES MOINES REGISTER) http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20080615&Category=SPORTS0401&ArtNo=806150383&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=180&Border=0

If 23 players arrived, there's room for plenty more -- Roster Limit: 35 active Player Eligibility Rule: No more than 17 players 21 and older, provided that no more than two are 23 or older. No player on active list may have more than three years of prior service. We'll contact the Brewers, both Milwaukee and Helena, about getting an official roster.

Link while active, text follows: New manager ready for stint in Helena By JEFF WINDMUELLER - Helena Independent Record Rene Gonzales has a wealth of experience in Major League Baseball, and he plans to use it well this season. Gonzales, a 13-year veteran in the majors, arrived in Helena Saturday as the new manager for the Brewers minor league baseball team. He'll be taking over for Jeff Isom who was promoted as the Field Manager for West Virginia Power. Gonzales spent last year managing the Arizona Rookie League team. It was his first year guiding a ballclub and was able to improve the team's record from .250 to .429 in the second half of the season. While he might be pretty new to the roster spot, he said he's felt like a manager much of his life. "It's my second year managing, but my whole career I've been second-guessing managers, so I feel like it's been longer than that," he said. Few are likely to second-guess a man who not only lasted more than a decade in the big leagues, but did it at eight different positions. That's where he said he thinks he can help out the most. He's learned the intricacies of the game from a number of perspectives and thinks he can help many of the players, especially those in the infield. "The middle of the infield, those are the guys who just seem to have to take in the whole game, every aspect of it," he said. "So, that's where I will probably best help these guys." Of course, he'll have tremendous help. Norberto Martin returns for his third season as the Brewers' hitting coach. He spent the summers in 2004 and 2007 with the squad. Aris Tirado joined Helena in the middle of the 2007 season, his first with Milwaukee's farm system but 11th as a pitching coach. He spent a decade with the Texas Rangers' minor-league system and now will spend his second in Helena. Meanwhile, another young man joins the Helena ballclub after playing here in 2005. Ned Yost IV, son of current Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost III, will be making the switch to a coaching position for his first season. "It's going to be good for him," Gonzales said. The biggest work the coaches will have is turning a group of players just hoping to move up a league into pieces of a well-oiled machine. Sometimes that means an 0-for-4 performance at the plate can be a strong showing, if it means they're hitting away from the play and allowing the others to score. "That's what I want to teach these guys about the team game," Gonzales said. "When I got called my numbers weren't off the charts. But, they knew I could play, I knew all the aspects of the game, and I was a good team and role player. "That's what I'm going to stress with these guys."

Link while active, text follows: Brewers land in Queen City By JEFF WINDMUELLER - Helena Independent Record Jason Ranger came running across the airport hall shouting, "they're here, they're here, they're here!" The vocal alarm signaled the dozen or so fans, house families and media personnel awaiting the arrival of the Helena Brewers Saturday afternoon. As the Pioneer League ballclub - an affiliate of the major league team in Milwaukee that shares their namesake - made their way into the open, one player was mobbed by a few familiar faces. Jason, 4, and his older brother Josh, 6, immediately swarmed to Efrain Nieves, an 18-year-old pitcher from Caguas, Puerto Rico. Nieves flashed them a quick smile and hugged the two boys. The boys of summer had officially returned. "It's a great feeling to be out here again," said Nieves, who will spend his second season with the Brewers. "I didn't even expect it. I thought we were going from here straight to the ballpark. But now, I see the family, it's good to have them here." Nieves is returning to Helena after a short stint on the mound last summer, playing as the Brewers season began to wind down. He'll join the Rangers once again and their mother, Kim, loves the addition. "I had him for about a month last year," Kim said. "He's very laid back. He has younger siblings so he's used to family." The Rangers visited the players at spring training and asked Nieves if he would be returning. When he told them he would, he also asked if he could stay with them again. "We said, 'Well, we'll think about it.' We like to joke around with him," Kim said. "The boys knew in March that he would be coming back here." From their response, it seems they couldn't wait. A number of the 23 players that arrived in the afternoon will be making their first stop in Helena, eight of them jumping up from the Arizona Rookie League team. Guiding them to their new home is manager Rene Gonzales. A 13-year veteran in the majors, it will be his second year as skipper with the Milwaukee organization, having coached in Arizona last year. He'll be spending his first year in Helena after filling the vacancy left by Jeff Isom, who was promoted as the Field Manager for West Virginia Power (Milwaukee's Single A Affiliate in the South Atlantic League). "I'm very excited to be here. That spring training and extended spring training in Arizona can get pretty long, and of course you know about the heat," Gonzales said. "I've been looking forward to it. And the flight in here, just looking at the area, aesthetically, it's just beautiful." The team hopped onto a bus and left for their new home for the summer, Kindrick Legion Field. Upon arrival, the players looked over the freshly cut grass, the well-kept diamond and then to the stands. For many, it was a relief to see so many seats after playing in Arizona where only a few risers, and even fewer fans, graced the fences. There was little shade to duck beneath. "We just came from Arizona from minicamp, and to tell you the truth the weather feels perfect right now. It feels a lot better here than it did there," said pitcher Evan Frederickson, a Brewers first-round draft pick out of the University of San Francisco. With the sun shining and cool breeze tempting thermometers to dip below 70, few could deny the perfect weather. If only they had been here earlier in the week when it snowed. The sight of white mountain peaks mesmerized the six or seven Latin American players that hung just outside the doors of the ballclub. "The sun, the weather," said Puerto Rican pitcher Jorge Crespo, speaking of Arizona, "120, no bueno." Then looking around, "So, so exciting." Nieves said it was important for many of the Latino players to get together and get their bearings. "It's important for the first time and first couple of days," he said. "We'll teach the other players some Spanish and get together." They'll have some help getting around with Nieves and former pitcher Brock Kjeldgaard, who's returning for his third season, this time as a first baseman. "For me, it's a little bit different, but it's always good to come back here," Kjeldgaard said. "The first two years I've come here as a pitcher. I'm coming here as a first baseman now, so I'm pretty excited." The Brewers will have just a few days to get used to their new surroundings. After a long flight that began in Arizona and made stops in Seattle and Great Falls before finally reaching their destination, Gonzales decided to call off practice Saturday. They have just two days now until their opening day. They'll host Great Falls on Tuesday with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM (8:05 Central). Photo by Lisa Kunkel, IR staff photographer - Helena Brewers' Efrain Nieves, a pitcher, points out other players to 4-year-old Jason Collins of Helena after the team arrived at the Helena Regional Airport Saturday afternoon. Collins' family was Nieves' host family for one month last year and will be his host family again for this season. The Helena Brewers face the Great Falls Voyagers in their home opener Tuesday. http://www.helenair.com/content/articles/2008/06/15/sports/top/50spl_080615_brewers.jpg

Link while active, text follows: Stars shine in Viera The stars came out Saturday night at Space Coast Stadium. Whether they'll one day be superstars . . . well, that remains to be seen. But you got to see them, providing you took advantage of last night's opportunity to perch yourself between a postcard sky and baseball. Not just any baseball either. This was the best of the best. The Florida State League All-Star Game. Sure, it's Class A ball, which is still a bit of a jump to the major leagues. But a career has to be launched somewhere. And if you were there when it was launched, all the better. That's where the word when comes in, as in, you got to see so-and-so when he was a minor leaguer. Many of major league baseball's greats passed through the Florida State League. Some of them at Space Coast Stadium, too. Before he started leaving giant footprints on stages like the World Series, many of us remember seeing pitcher Josh Beckett take his baby steps right here in our backyard. Yeah, the Florida State League has a rich history, the latest page of it written in Saturday night's game, a 9-3 victory for the West over the East. It was a big night all the way around for the 3.402 fans and especially for the players, who certainly don't diminish the importance of an all-star game, no matter what level it might be at. "Oh, yeah, I was definitely excited when I heard I'd made the all-star team," said Brevard County Manatees speedy outfielder Darren Ford, who scored the first run for the East. Like many other ballplayers who showed their skills last night, Ford has been working his way up the minor-league food chain for years. This is his fourth year, to be exact. "Some of my teammates told me I'd made the all-star team," he said. "But I didn't believe them until I actually saw it in writing." And what was the first thing Ford did when he knew that the honor was certain? "I called my mother in New Jersey. She went into a little screaming action." He smiled. "This is a real blessing to play in this game." And a showcase, too. Not that the pro scouts -- and a good handful were in attendance last night -- don't already know who you are. If you're any good, and even if you're not, the scouts are routinely filing reports on you. But it's one thing to display your wares in regular league action. Quite another to do so against the crème de la crème that is an all-star game. Besides, you don't have to be in the big leagues to make big-league plays. In the second inning, West shortstop Cale Iorg leaped, extended himself fully, going airborne, to snag a certain line-drive single and turning it into the third out. "These are the best players in our league," said East outfielder J.T. Hall, who plays for the Vero Beach Devil Rays. Earlier in the evening, Hall hit 11 home runs, six in the final round, to win the Home Run Derby. "This was one of my goals, to make the All-Star team this year," said Hall, who is in his fourth year in the minor leagues and played in the FSL last year. "Toward the end of last season, I started to figure out pitching patterns, the mental part of the game. It was kind of a breakthrough for me. I felt like I was turning the corner. It's all about getting better, trying to get to the next level. Making it to the All-Star game was a part of that." Hall is especially excited to be in the Tampa Bay Rays' organization. "It's a young, up-and-coming organization," he said. Hall stays in touch with a few major league players, most notably current Tampa Bay Ray Carl Crawford and former Ray, and current Washington National, Elijah Dukes. "I'm always talking to them, picking their brain," he said. "They're there. They're where I want to be." Not that he minds being in Class A. For now. Sure, it's one of baseball's lower rungs, but last night J.T. Hall and the rest of the FSL all-stars stood tall. Sarasota Herald Tribune: The Vero Beach Devil Rays' 24-year-old J.T. Hall won the Home Run Derby competition, smacking six over the right-field wall to defeat Taylor Green of the host Manatees by one. Tony Cruz of the Palm Beach Cardinals was third with four.

Charleston Gazette: Lucroy in Sally HR derby West Virginia Power catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who leads the team with a .310 batting average, is scheduled to serve two roles at Tuesday's South Atlantic League All-Star Game in Greensboro. In addition to starting the game as the Northern Division catcher, Lucroy will be one of seven players competing in the pregame home run derby. Lucroy, who celebrated his 22nd birthday Friday, has 10 home runs and 33 RBIs in 65 games. The 49th annual SAL All-Star Game is set for 7:00 PM Tuesday (6:00 Central) at 7,499-seat NewBridge Bank Park, which opened in 2005 in downtown Greensboro. It will match players from the Northern and Southern divisions. The Power's Lee Haydel will start the game in center field, Zelous Wheeler will be a utility player and Amaury Rivas will be part of the pitching staff. Haydel is hitting .282 with 23 stolen bases. Wheeler is hitting .289 with six homers and 42 RBIs. Rivas is 6-2 and a 2.89 earned run average.

Following the links just above, you'll see Darren Ford was 1-for-3 (infield hit) with a run scored and Taylor Green 0-for-2 with an RBI groundout. Their team (the East) lost, 9-3.

Final: West Virginia 6, Greensboro (Marlins) 5 West Virginia Press Release: POWER EDGE 'HOPPERS AGAIN Charleston, WV - The West Virginia Power improved their record in one-run games to 10-9 with their 2-1 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Appalachian Power Park on Saturday night. The victory officially eliminated Greensboro's bid for a first half championship. West Virginia snapped a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. Steffan Wilson singled with one out and got to third base on Eric Fryer's double before Curt Rindal drove him in on a groundout. The Power doubled their lead in the fifth. Matt Cline, Eric Farris and Zelous Wheeler ripped back-to-back-to-back one out singles. Cline scored on Wheeler's base hit. The Grasshoppers scored their lone run in the seventh inning on Jameson Smith's RBI double. The 'Hoppers left the tying run stranded in scoring position twice in the final three frames. Ryan Curry got to third base with one out in the seventh but never scored. The game ended with Smith on second base when Curry grounded out. West Virginia is now 6-1 against the Grasshoppers. All seven games have been decided by two-runs or less. West Virginia has won five of those games by a run. Amaury Rivas (6-2) delivered another great performance, holding Greensboro to just a run on five hits with five strikeouts over five and two-thirds to get the win. Roque Mercedes turned in one of his greatest outings in his tenure with the Power. He tossed three and a third scoreless innings, holding Greensboro hitless and fanned four to get his first save. The Marlins' Josh Johnson, (0-1) who was making a rehab start, was tagged with the loss after surrendering a pair of runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts. The Power improved to 31-37 with the win and the Grasshoppers fell to 38-31 with the loss. Fryer and Wheeler paced the Power with two-hits apiece. Wheeler has now reached in his last 16 games. Caleb Gindl went 0-for-4, officially bringing his 15 game on base streak to an end. The Power will finish the four game series and the first half with Greensboro Sunday night. Left hander Dan Merklinger (0-5, 7.20) will get the start for the Power and the Grasshoppers will counter with right hander Kyle Kaminska (4-2, 5.20). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM (5:05 Central). West Virginia Box Score Fortunately, none of shortstop Matt Cline's three fielding errors cost the Power -- Cline has been an offensive sparkplug with West Virginia, but defensive issues have followed him from Brevard... West Virginia Game Log

This has been one of our more interesting threads with some of these great articles, so at this point, we'd prefer to see it get back to the recent and soon-to-be draft pick signs. I appeciate your comments thus far on my most recent posts, but please hold back for now. Heck, this thread, at some point, will include a new Seth Lintz update (hopefully soon). Thanks.

Link while active, text follows: Gamel's fans keep cheering By Jeff Elliott, The Florida Times-Union When opposing players get hits, it's normally not a time when fans cheer at a Jacksonville Suns home game. But this hasn't been a normal series this week at the Baseball Grounds. Each of the four times that Huntsville Stars third baseman Mat Gamel reached base Saturday night - with three hits and a walk - a big turnout of family, friends and supporters on hand made their feelings known. Gamel, a Bishop Kenny graduate who still calls Neptune Beach home, twisted some teammates' arms and has come up with about 50 tickets for each game of the five-game series, including Saturday's contest in which he collected half of the Stars' six hits, leading the visitors to a 4-1 victory. It's been a good homecoming for Gamel, who's had the chance to spend time with his girlfriend and sleep in the comforts of his parents' house instead of a hotel. "It's been fun because my family and friends haven't had a chance to see me play for a while, so it was nice to come back home and play in front of them," he said. With seven hits in the first four games of the series, Gamel should be on a baseball high. He currently leads the Southern League in hitting (.383) and is the only player in all of minor league baseball this season with more than 100 hits (106). But the left-handed hitting Gamel, who's in his first year at the Double-A level, is quick to point out that he's less than pleased with his fielding effort. He was charged with another error in Saturday's game, his third miscue the last two nights. "It could have been better," he said. "Happy with the hitting, but the errors aren't real good. It's real frustrating because I've been working my tail off on that. I have a tendency to be flat-footed at times. I've been doing better, but you have a series like this sometimes when you make errors." Huntsville manager Don Money spent time with Gamel at third base during the team's infield practice, taking ground balls from hitting instructor Sandy Guerrero, showing Gamel the form that made Money a top fielding third baseman during his playing days in Milwaukee. "He's made some great plays, diving to his right, that he just does automatically," Money said. "He doesn't have time to even think about it; he just makes those plays. It's the routine play where he thinks about it that's caused him some problems. But in my eyes, he's made enough progress to show that he can play in the big leagues some day." Around the bases: Former Florida standout Matt LaPorta hit his league-leading 19th home run to give the Stars a cushion in the ninth inning. ... Suns RHP Jesus Castillo (4-3, 3.33) opposes Stars RHP Donovan Hand (0-0, 3.86) in Sunday's final game of the first half of the regular season.

Unusual feature article from an opponent's media -- Link while active, text follows: Gamel, teammates likely staying put for now By Jeff Elliott, The Florida Times-Union It isn't often when a Double-A team can field a roster full of top prospects at the same time. The Jacksonville Suns had such a rarity in 2005, when they won the Southern League pennant and were picked as the minor league team of the year by Baseball America. Fifteen players who played for the Suns that season have since gone on to play in the major leagues. Nine have played with the parent Los Angeles Dodgers this season. The Huntsville Stars probably won't send that many players to the Milwaukee Brewers in the next couple of years, but five Huntsville players currently rank among the Brewers' top 10 prospects, according to Baseball America. The list includes former University of Florida outfielder Matt LaPorta (No. 1); shortstop Alcides Escobar (third); third baseman Mat Gamel, a Bishop Kenny graduate (fifth); outfielder Cole Gillispie (sixth); and catcher Angel Salome (eighth). Add in outfielder Michael Brantley (24th) and it's easy to see why the Stars are tied for the North Division lead with West Tenn with one game remaining in the first half. Huntsville manager Don Money says the best thing about his top prospects is that they are not only talented, but young. "All of our position players are very young, between 21 and 23 years old, and most of them are first-time Double-A players," said Money, a former major-league infielder. The Stars have an imposing lineup with their first four batters - Brantley, Escobar, Gamel and Salome - ranking third, fourth, first and second, respectively, among the Southern League batting leaders entering Saturday's game. The fifth man in the lineup, LaPorta, leads the league in home runs (18) and is second to Gamel in RBI with 56. Despite their lofty numbers, Money doesn't see a fast exit out of Double-A for any of them, at least not in the foreseeable future. Escobar and Brantley played the second half of 2007 in Huntsville, and the other four position players are in their first season in Double-A. "For a lot of guys, this is their first [time] facing some quality pitching," Money said. "A couple of them have gone into mild slumps and we want to see if they can get out of it. "But I can see four or five of these guys playing in the big leagues in a couple of years. I just don't think it will happen as fast as some of those Suns players from that 2005 team. If you look at our major-league roster right now, you see a lot of guys between 23 and 26 years of age. So the thinking may be to give our guys here another half-year here with this club and then see what happens." Around the bases: Gamel's latest honor was Southern League Player of the Month for May. ... Gamel's total of 103 hits is the best in all of minor-league baseball.

Final: Iowa (Cubs) 5, Nashville 4 Nashville Site Game Summary: Sounds Drop Series Opener In Iowa, 5-4 Link for Brendan Katin photo, text follows -- DES MOINES - In front of Iowa Cubs employees, baseball scouts, and some members of the media, the Iowa Cubs defeated the Nashville Sounds, 5-4, on Saturday evening at Principal Park in the opener of a five-game series. No fans were admitted to the game because of city evacuation orders following the recent flooding in the area. With limited dates and an already packed schedule, the Cubs had little choice but to play Saturday's game in an empty stadium. Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Iowa Cubs General Manager Sam Bernabe Chuck Valenches was the only announcer, as even the home Iowa crew did not go ahead with their broadcast... Josh Kroeger went 2-for-2 with three RBIs to pace the Iowa offense in a game where one could hear the players calling for the ball and hear the smack of leather from their gloves. Nashville (27-40) saw its losing streak extend to a season high-tying six games and fell 11.0 games behind the front-running I-Cubs in the PCL American Conference Northern Division. Kroeger gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. Sounds catcher Vinny Rottino extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a single to open the second and tied the contest later in the frame when he scored on Adam Heether's RBI double. Nashville grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a Chris Woodward sacrifice fly before the Cubs knotted the score in the fifth. Brendan Katin put the Sounds in front for the final time in the sixth when he slugged his 11th home run of the year, a solo shot to left off Iowa reliever Jose Ascanio. AUDIO: Brendan Katin Home Run Check out Chuck -- "and the crowd goes wild"... The Cubs responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to reclaim the lead in the back-and-forth affair before Woodward hit his first home run as a Sound in the seventh, a leadoff solo blast to left that greeted Iowa reliever Hector Carrasco and tied the score at 4-4. The Cubs plated the winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Kroeger touched Steve Bray for a two-out solo homer to right, his eighth roundtripper of the year. Carrasco (3-1) picked up his third win for Iowa after allowing one run in his two innings of work. Bray (1-5) took the loss after surrendering the game-deciding run in his two innings of action. The Cubs and Sounds will continue the series with a regularly-scheduled doubleheader on Sunday afternoon starting at 1:05 PM. Left-handers Sam Narron (3-1, 4.05) and Lindsay Gulin (2-4, 3.12) will start the twinbill for Nashville and face Iowa left-hander J.R. Mathes (3-3, 2.76) and right-hander Mike Burns (4-4, 2.61). Friday's game that was postponed due to flood waters at and around the ballpark will be made up on Monday with a doubleheader starting at 11:05 AM. Nashville Box Score Top four in the Sounds order 0-for-15 with two walks -- Ozzie Chavez in the leadoff spot, hoping to get him going, having a trying year (.546 OPS); Richie Gardner with another pedestrian effort, rarely dazzles; I can't believe I haven't been parlaying Vinny Rottino's efforts in MiLB.com's "Beat the Streak" game... Nashville Game Log

Final: Huntsville 4, Jacksonville (Dodgers) 1 Huntsville Site Game Summary: Wright Outstanding in Pitching Stars to Win Huntsville Hangs on to Lead in Division By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars Brae Wright tossed seven strong innings and Matt LaPorta added two insurance runs with a late home run in Huntsville's crucial 4-1 win Saturday night over Jacksonville in the fourth of a five-game set at the Baseball Grounds. The Stars improved to 41-28 and held on to a share of the lead with West Tenn in the North Division with one game to go in the first half, as the Diamond Jaxx were victorious at home vs. Chattanooga 8-2. The Stars won for just a third time in their last 14 games in Jacksonville. Alcides Escobar singled with one out in the first, moved to third base on a Mat Gamel single and scored on an Angel Salome groundout to give the visitors the lead against Mario Alvarez, who went one inning in his return from the disabled list in his 10th start of the season. Jacksonville tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Jamie Hoffman singled with two outs, stole second and scored on a Mark Bellhorn base hit. The Stars regained the lead in the fifth when Escobar reached on a fielder's choice, moved to third on a broken bat single by Gamel and scored on a wild pitch by Marlon Arias, who took over in the fourth after two scoreless frames by Scott Elbert. The Stars received a leadoff triple from Cole Gillespie in the sixth but could not score after Mike Bell grounded out to shortstop and Freddy Parejo's bouncer was fielded at first by Bellhorn, who threw out Gillespie at the plate. Arias lasted four frames, allowing a run on three hits, walking three and recording one strikeout. Brian Akin took over and worked a scoreless eighth before giving up a two-out long ball to LaPorta in the ninth. It was his league-leading 19th home run of the season and first in the series. Wright allowed only a one-out single to Lucas May after the first inning and was aided by inning-ending ground ball double plays in the fourth and seventh innings. He walked four, struck out two and earned his fourth win in his last five starts to improve to 5-6. Joe Bateman worked a scoreless eighth inning before surrendering a leadoff hit to May to open the ninth. The Huntsville hurler hit Juan Gonzalez with one out to bring the potential tying run to the plate but worked out of trouble by striking out Adam Godwin and getting pinch-hitter Matthew Berezay to ground out to first to end the game. He nailed down his fourth save of the season and first since April 16. The series wraps up Sunday afternoon with right-hander Donovan Hand taking the hill against Suns' right-hander Jesus Castillo. Coverage of the game begins at 1:50 pm central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com and www.730ump.com. Huntsville Box Score Mat Gamel and Cole Gillespie on base four times apiece, Gamel with three hits, including a double, and Gillespie walked three times in addition to his triple; despite four walks, that's a big time performance from Brae Wright; how many HBP's is that for Matt LaPorta? Huntsville Game Log

The thing that amazes me is that Tom apparently fact-checked with the Brewers tonight on the Lintz signing, but only after he included the blurb in his column. So I learn of the denial via his email but none of his readers do. And he's taking us to task? Classic. He must have had a very unique Journalism 101 class to employ that tactic.

Haudricourt's blurb about Seth Lintz truly cracks me up. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif He writes below -- The Brewers' other second-round pick, prep right-hander Seth Lintz of Lewisburg, Tenn., told his hometown newspaper that he received $900,000 to turn down his scholarship to Kentucky. Below is the copy and paste article and photo I took from an obscure google search as soon as it went online last Tuesday: Lintz will sign with Milwaukee Brewers Anthony S. Puca, Marshall (TN) Tribune Staff Writer Marshall County High School's Seth Lintz will become the latest in a long line of Tiger baseball players to sign a major league baseball contract after being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the MLB draft. Lintz, selected fifty third overall, won 23 games in his last two years and sported an 11-1 record with an earned run average of 1.33 in his senior season. He will sign on the dotted line Friday for $900,000 and a provision for a fully paid college education at the institution of his choice. More, including colbyjack's Brewerfan.net Scouting Report, can be found here Seth Lintz is off to Phoenix to begin his quest to reach the major leagues after signing with the Milwaukee Brewers this week. Tribune photo by Louis J. Scheuchenzuber http://www.marshalltribune.com/photos/11/54/35/1154353-H.jpg Late Tuesday evening, Adam McCalvy wrote the following -- Adam has acknowledged that he enjoys getting these off-the-beaten-path links from sites such as ours: According to the Marshall County (Tenn.) Tribune, second-round pick Seth Lintz, a prep right-hander, will sign later this week for $900,000 and a college education on the Brewers' tab. Now also on Tuesday morning, I sent Haudricourt a note. I rarely email him, in fact, I can't remember the last time I reached out to him on anything, but with the new JS blog in place, and I've also enjoyed his archived twice-every-weekday radio stints, I figured he'd appreciate the heads up on Lintz. So I sent him this note: Just posted on our minor league forum (about Lintz). I'm sure the Brewers are thrilled that the kid let the numbers slip out to his hometown paper, considering there are so many other high picks to sign. Jim G. www.brewerfan.net So earlier this (Saturday) afternoon, Haudricourt emails me this -- now keep in mind this is four days after we posted the article, and four days after MLB.com's McCalvy acknowledged the article. The only problem with putting something on your website like that without fact checking it is that it might not be true. The Brewers deny that they've reached a deal with Lintz. And now, just a few hours later, Haudricourt, copied for emphasis from earlier in this post, writes: The Brewers' other second-round pick, prep right-hander Seth Lintz of Lewisburg, Tenn., told his hometown newspaper that he received $900,000 to turn down his scholarship to Kentucky. Gee, Tom, how is that any different from what we did, except that it's 108 hours after we posted it? I'm not paid to do this. I enjoy following the Brewers, both at the big league level and at their minor league system. If I see something that I find useful, I figure it's an extra two minutes to post it online for others to learn as well. I don't need to fact-check a direct quote from another reputable news organization -- it wasn't as if I linked to or copied from a political blog, now was it, Tom? And for the record, earlier this morning, before I heard from Tom today, I emailed Anthony S. Puca of the Marshall County Tribune. I did so because in his original article he stated "read the entire story in Wednesday's edition of the Tribune." Now it looks like that newspaper may not place all the articles from its sports section online each day, so I emailed Mr. Puca this morning asking if a follow-up ran, and if it did, could he please email me the contents, because I had been checking back to that newspaper's site all week. I did not hear back from him today. So I'm confused. What "facts" did Haudricourt check before writing that tonight? He tells me the Brewers deny reaching a deal with Lintz, but that's apparently only for me to know and not all his readers, because he conveniently didn't get that into his column on time. Just for old times sake -- from Baseball America, December 3, 2003, in the middle of a perfectly good chat when he could have oh-so-very-easily just ignored this question yet chose to include it, and well, yes, the rest is history: Q: Jim from Columbia, MO asks: How can you have any credibility on these choices when you are a beat writer for the team? http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/assets/space_clear.gif A: Tom Haudricourt: What kind of question is that? You're questioning my credibility? I've covered the Brewers for all but two years since 1985. Who knows their system better than me? I talk with the BA guys all the time to make sure we're on the same page. Jim Callis and I talked extensively about how to rank the top prospects this year, who should be No. 1, etc. I have written for BA for many, many years and consider myself a pretty good authority on their farm system. I think the editors at BA agree or they wouldn't ask me to do the prospect lists. If you don't think I can be a harsh critic or discerning writer, just ask the Brewers. Sorry you have such a low opinion of beat writers. And besides, I'm just as much a national writer as a beat writer, sharing duties with Drew Olson. If you know somebody in the baseball writing profession who knows the Brewers and their system better than Drew and myself, I'd like to know who it is. By the way, I'm not the Jim from Colombia, MO, but I wish I was.