Jim Goulart

Are you suggesting that the Brewers purposely put together a sub-.500 team at AAA so that there would be no pressure to leave potential call-ups on the Sounds roster in the heat of a pennant race September 1st? Please, heck they pillaged last year's Sounds squad as soon as they could with no regrets whatsoever. And by the way, in the big picture, the Sounds aren't even that far out of first place and a playoff spot in a thus-far weak division. Thread to nowhere...

Final: Salt Lake (Angels) 5, Nashville 1 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for new Ozzie Chavez photo, text follows -- Sounds Drop Homestand Finale To Bees, 5-1 NASHVILLE - First baseman Kendry Morales belted a pair of home runs to lead the visiting Salt Lake Bees to a 5-1 victory over the Nashville Sounds on Monday morning in front of a season-high 10,786 fans at Greer Stadium. The majority of the standing room only crowd on hand were area schoolchildren in attendance on field trips as a reward for reaching their reading goals in the Nashville Sounds Reading Club program. The Sounds (10-20) wrapped up their eight-game homestand with a 5-3 record. Salt Lake took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on Morales' leadoff home run against Sounds starter Lindsay Gulin. The blast, which came on a 2-0 offering, was his fourth of the season. The Bees increased the advantage to 3-0 in the fourth on Terry Evans' two-run double, which plated Matthew Brown and Morales. Morales struck again in the sixth when he tattooed reliever Zach Jackson's first pitch over the batter's eye in straightaway center field for his second home run of the day, making it a 4-0 contest. Nashville jumped on the board in the home half of the seventh when Eric Munson singled and was replaced by pinch-runner Adam Heether. After Heether advanced to second on a groundout, he made it a 4-1 contest by coming plateward on Ozzie Chavez's two-out RBI single to right. AUDIO: Ozzie Chavez RBI Single The Sounds' attempt to add another run an inning later was stifled by Evans, the Salt Lake right fielder, who threw out Brad Nelson at the plate for the final out of the frame as he attempted to score from second on a Russell Branyan single. Bees catcher Bobby Wilson tacked on the game's final score with a one-out solo homer off Sounds reliever Luis Pena in the top of the ninth inning, the backstop's first tater of the season. Salt Lake starter Giancarlo Alvarado (3-0) picked up the win and remained undefeated on the year after working six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits. He struck out six batters and walked two in lowering his ERA to 2.14 on the year. Gulin (0-3) took the loss for Nashville after allowing three runs on five hits over five innings of action. The Sounds travel west on Tuesday to begin an eight-game road trip with an 8:30 p.m. CT opener of a four-game series against the Tucson Sidewinders (AAA-Diamondbacks). Right-hander Jeff Weaver (0-1, 7.20) will make his second start for Nashville and face Tucson right-hander Yusmeiro Petit (0-1, 4.91). Baseball returns to Greer Stadium on Thursday, May 15, when the Sounds open an eight-game homestand. Nashville Box Score 30-year-old Salt Lake starter Carlo Alvarado was a Brewer farmhand with High Desert back in 2002; all nine spots in the Sounds order reached once, and exactly once, with just the one run scoring; Eric Munson is struggling with a leg injury, was replaced with a pinch-runner; Luis Pena was lucky to escape with one run allowed a she was hit hard (having listened to the broadcast)... Nashville Game Log

Photos from Sunday's Huntsville game all taken by Mickey Welsh of the Montgomery Advertiser Biscuits secondbaseman Pat Cottrell is taken out by Stars baserunner Carlos Corporan in the fifth inning at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala. on Sunday May 4, 2008. Corporan is out on the play, the runner at first was safe. http://cmsimg.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DS&Dato=20080504&Kategori=SPORTS01&Lopenr=805040802&Ref=PH&Item=1&Maxw=600&Maxh=500 Biscuits firstbaseman Gaby Martinez tags out Stars baserunner Ryan Crew on the pickoff throw from the pitcher in the fifth inning http://cmsimg.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DS&Dato=20080504&Kategori=SPORTS01&Lopenr=805040802&Ref=PH&Item=2&Maxw=600&Maxh=500 Biscuits' Johnny Raburn beats out the throw to first on a bunt in the fifth inning. Stars first baseman Michael Brantley makes the catch. http://cmsimg.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DS&Dato=20080504&Kategori=SPORTS01&Lopenr=805040802&Ref=PH&Item=3&Maxw=600&Maxh=500 Biscuits' Ronnie Merrill slides safely into third base on a triple in the first inning. Stars third baseman Mat Gamel tries to get a handle on the ball. http://cmsimg.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DS&Dato=20080504&Kategori=SPORTS01&Lopenr=805040802&Ref=PH&Item=5&Maxw=600&Maxh=500 Stars' pitcher Sam Narron throws against the Biscuits in the first inning. http://cmsimg.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DS&Dato=20080504&Kategori=SPORTS01&Lopenr=805040802&Ref=PH&Item=8&Maxw=600&Maxh=500 Biscuits' shortstop Ronnie Merrill catches Star's baserunner Matt LaPorta off the bag in the third inning. http://cmsimg.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DS&Dato=20080504&Kategori=SPORTS01&Lopenr=805040802&Ref=PH&Item=9&Maxw=600&Maxh=500

Montgomery Biscuits Manager Billy Gardner said: "(Huntsville's) Sam Narron's a good pitcher. If he sees a hitter do something, he adjusts and that's why he's effective. "He's 5-1 with very mediocre stuff. That's a credit to him understanding his strengths and pitching to them."

pogokat's Farm Hops, with staff roundtable included, now graces the Home Page...

Resolved by Brian earlier today, thanks -- new Farm Hops headlines things now, by the way...

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com Is this the greatest Stars team ever? In posing this question, you'd naturally have to compare this team to other teams in the past that have been a powerhouse at the plate, and have carried a season-long energy all the way through the season into the post-season....... The most accepted comparisons would be to the 1985 team that won 78 games, had Jose Canseco for a half-season, and won the SL Championship in its inaugural season and the 1997 team that was gifted with bats up and down the lineup, won 77 games, hit .286 with a league-high 164 HRs and dominated the regular season...... After 30 games, here's a comparison...... For fun, I threw in the 1989 Stars, who were swept in the post-season, but won 82 games, more than any Huntsville team in club history. [align=center] Avg. Hits ERA HR W-L 1985 .274 258 3.54 41 20-10 1989 .245 231 3.36 17 17-13 1997 .253 267 4.76 31 18-12 2008 .289 287 3.53 28 20-10 [/align] The 1985 team wound up hitting .268, the 1997 team, .286. Just what the 2008 will hit at the end of the regular season, no one knows, but no team since the 1985 team has started with a 20-10 record and no team, except the 1986 team, had as many hits after 30 games (292-286) or a higher average (.291-.289)...... So it would actually seem that there is a closer comparison to the 1986 team that lost the SL Championship to Columbus, so let's add the 1986 team to the mix: [align=center] 1985 .274 258 3.54 41 20-10 1986 .291 292 4.39 20 17-13 1989 .245 231 3.36 17 17-13 1997 .253 267 4.76 31 18-12 2008 .289 287 3.53 28 20-10 [/align] None of the greatest teams had the pitching to compare to the 2008 team, except the 1985 team, which helped by Canseco, had more HRs after the first 30 games. Canseco, alone, had 11, which is still a club record, but Matt LaPorta finished with 7 and now has 9, which is fairly close...... The greatest team ever? It's a close call. Let's wait till the season is over. One of the greatest? It's on the right track. Sam Narron became the first five-game winner in the league Sunday. Quite a different start from last season, when after six starts, he was 0-3 with a 4.91 ERA, but he has quite a bit more offensive support behind him...... Last year after six starts, Narron had 10 runs of support on 26 hits in 33 innings. This year, he has 35 runs of support on 53 hits in 37 innings..... Sam got it right away. Michael Brantley snapped an 0-for-10 slump with a leadoff hit in the 1st inning. Guilder Rodriguez sent a bunt back to starter Michael Wlodarczyk. He threw it wildly to first, allowing the runners to move into scoring position for Mat Gamel, who sometimes makes everyone forget about the buzz around #1 prospect LaPorta....... Gamel leads the SL in hits, is 3rd in batting (.367), 2nd in RBIs, and leads the league with five triples. He's had more hits than any other Huntsville Star in April in history...... Gamel's single up the middle scored Brantley and G. Rod to give Narron a 2-0 lead...... LaPorta, 24-for-57 (.421) in his last 15 games, and the SL's HR and RBI leader, just missed a home run on a 3-1 pitch, then after fouling off another pitch, delivered a line drive on a hop to center moving Gamel to third....... Cole Gillespie, 8-for-20 with 8 RBIs vs. Montgomery in this series, scored Gamel without a throw on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0....... Freddy Parejo swung at the first pitch he saw and delivered a single to left, which moved LaPorta to 2nd. Mike Bell moved him to third on a ground out and Carlos Corporan snapped an 0-for-19 streak with a single inside the line toward the Montgomery bullpen, scoring LaPorta...... Corporan was thrown out trying to stretch the hit, but he did the job. Even though Montgomery came back, the Stars had enough to win....... In the bottom of the 1st, LaPorta turned a grand-slam HR by the infamous Sergio Pedroza into a sacrifice fly that brought the Biscuits within one, 4-3, with a sensational catch in right, crashing into the wall. Some measure of payback there for last year. The Stars added a run in the 3rd inning on Bell's two-out double that made it 5-3 and then tacked on three more in the 4th when Gamel delivered a bases loaded, bases clearing double that knocked Wlodarczyk out of the game. The Stars, who have now reached double figures in runs scored seven times...... The 1997 team scored 10 runs or more in a game 33 times that year, more than any other Stars team, but they didn't do it for the 7th time until May 16....... Already, the Stars have had as many games where they've scored 10 or more times as the 2001 team, the last team to wave a championship banner. Patrick Ryan pitched another scoreless inning, giving him 15 since the start of the season, eight short of the 23 that is the record held by Luis Martinez in 2003. The Stars return home Monday to open a five-game series against Mobile with southpaw Steve Hammond (3-1, 3.51), who is three behind the SL strikeout leader Daryl Thompson of Chattanooga, taking the mound against BayBears' right-hander Brooks Brown.

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Omaha 15 13 .536 - 9-5 6-8 L1 Memphis 14 17 .452 2.5 6-9 8-8 W3 Iowa 13 16 .448 2.5 6-8 7-8 L1 Nashville 10 19 .345 5.5 7-7 3-12 W3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Huntsville 20 10 .667 - 13-2 7-8 W1 West Tenn 20 10 .667 - 8-2 12-8 W4 Carolina 17 13 .567 3.0 9-6 8-7 L4 Chattanooga 17 13 .567 3.0 10-5 7-8 W1 Tennessee 11 19 .367 9.0 6-9 5-10 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 19 11 .633 - 12-4 7-7 L1 Brevard County 17 13 .567 2.0 9-5 8-8 W1 Jupiter 16 14 .533 3.0 11-3 5-11 L2 Daytona 15 15 .500 4.0 6-8 9-7 W1 Vero Beach 15 15 .500 4.0 11-5 4-10 W4 St. Lucie 7 23 .233 12.0 4-12 3-11 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 17 11 .607 - 7-6 10-5 W1 Delmarva 17 13 .567 1.0 11-7 6-6 W3 Greensboro 15 14 .517 2.5 5-9 10-5 W1 Hagerstown 15 15 .500 3.0 6-8 9-7 L1 Hickory 15 16 .484 3.5 6-7 9-9 L3 Lakewood 14 16 .467 4.0 8-10 6-6 W1 West Virginia 11 19 .367 7.0 5-9 6-10 L3 Lexington 10 20 .333 8.0 3-11 7-9 L1

Follow Monday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New 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: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_05_slcaaa_nasaaa_1 Huntsville: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_05_mobaax_hunaax_1 Brevard County: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_05_breafa_clrafa_1 West Virginia: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_05_05_wvaafx_delafx_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): www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

Monday's Daily Menu: We all need a mental health break from the big league boys today... All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP Lindsay Gulin at home vs. Salt Lake (Angels), 10:15 AM pre-game; 10:30 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: LHP Steve Hammond at home vs. Mobile (Diamondbacks), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime Audio link via WUMP (game will also archive at this link): http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/audio.jsp?sid=t559 Brevard County: TBD at Clearwater (Phillies), 6:00 PM gametime Sorry, no audio for this series... West Virginia: RHP Amaury Rivas at Delmarva (Orioles), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (games will also archive at this link): www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

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

Sounds show Salt Lake who's great Surging Nashville takes its first series against PCL's finest By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer It took the Nashville Sounds - losers of 19 of their first 26 games - to do what the rest of the Pacific Coast League hadn't done through the opening month of the season. Slow down Salt Lake. Nashville clinched its first series win of the season Sunday, defeating Salt Lake 5-1 for its first three-game winning streak of the season. For the Bees, the three losses are one more than they had through their first 26 games; their 24-2 start coming into the weekend was the best in the history of minor league baseball. "I think it's obvious we have a good team," said third baseman Adam Heether, whose two-out, bases-loaded double in the fourth inning gave the Sounds a 4-0 lead following Russell Branyan's second-inning solo home run. "I don't think anybody was pressing too much; we were waiting for things to go our way, and it was a matter of time before that happened." The Sounds improved to 10-19 with their fifth win in six games; it took Nashville 21 games to get its first five wins of the season. "We were scuffling a little bit, but we've regrouped," Sounds pitcher Mark DiFelice said. "The team we have now is pretty solid. It took time for everybody to jell." DiFelice pitched five innings of four-hit ball, struck out nine and allowed only a leadoff homer to Dee Brown in the fifth inning. What they said: "We're getting much more consistent pitching, offense and defense." - Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas after his team won for the fifth time in its last six games. *** DiFelice keeps his walks total low By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer Mark DiFelice is at it again. The Nashville Sounds starter pitched five innings without issuing a walk in Sunday's 5-1 win over Salt Lake. It was his third start of the season in which he has not given up a base on balls, a stretch of 17 innings. It's nothing new for the 31-year-old right-hander, though. Last season, he compiled a string of 56+ innings without a walk between Double-A Huntsville and the Sounds. "It is a pride thing," DiFelice said. "When you walk the first hitter, 80 percent of the time they score. The hitter didn't beat you; you beat yourself. So, if you can eliminate walks, ..." DiFelice left Sunday's game after five innings with a right oblique strain. "I threw a pitch to (Terry) Evans and it grabbed me a little, but I was able to get through the inning," he said. Walk of shame: Evans, a Salt Lake outfielder, was the first player to be ejected since the new clubhouses were completed beyond the center-field fence. Evans slammed his bat following a called third strike to end the sixth inning and was immediately tossed by home plate umpire Travis Reininger. Instead of making the long walk across the outfield grass, though, Evans took a less obvious walk along the warning track adjacent to the right-field foul line and exited the field at the corner. Heether hot: With two doubles Sunday, Nashville's Adam Heether has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games. Vinny Rottino has hits in 13 of his last 15 games, and Laynce Nix has hits in 12 of his last 14. Two-out magic: Nashville entered Sunday's game hitting .305 (32-for-105) with runners in scoring position and two outs. Heether's fourth-inning bases-loaded double was the team's only hit in five such situations, dropping the Sounds to a still-respectable .300. Albuquerque leads the Pacific Coast League with a .352 average in that situation. See the light: Sunday's win was the Sounds' sixth in 10 day games. Nashville is 4-16 in games beginning at or after 6 p.m. local time. Teachers appreciated: As part of Teacher Appreciation Day at Greer Stadium, all teachers, school staff and administrators were offered up to four complimentary tickets for Sunday's game. More than 1,100 participated, contributing to a crowd of 7,946. For the series, the Sounds have drawn 24,629, and could have a second near-sellout for this morning's game. Tennessean Photo by Larry McCormack Nashville's Ozzie Chavez, left, is late with the tag as Dee Brown slides into second during the Sounds' 5-1 win Sunday. The Sounds clinched their first series of the season after losing 19 of their first 26 games. http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20080505&Category=SPORTS0401&ArtNo=805050331&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

Final: Nashville 5, Salt Lake (Angels) 1 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Mark DiFelice photo, text follows -- Sounds Take Third Straight From Salt Lake, 5-1 NASHVILLE - Sounds starter Mark DiFelice shut down the league-leading Salt Lake offense to give Nashville its third consecutive win, a 5-1 victory over the visiting Bees on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Greer Stadium in front of 7,946 fans on Teacher Appreciation Day. DiFelice (3-0) - who earned his third win in as many starts this season - lowered his ERA to 2.65 on the year after allowing one run on four hits and fanning nine over five innings. He has struck out 25 batters in only 17 innings and has yet to give up a walk. The Nashville bats stayed hot and posted a crooked number on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning, plating three runs on a bases loaded-double from third baseman Adam Heether. He is in his hottest hitting stretch of the year, batting .375 (12-for-30) while hitting safely in nine of his last 10 games. Laynce Nix and Brad Nelson singled and Vinny Rottino walked before all three came around to score on the bases-clearing double off Salt Lake starter Kasey Olenberger. AUDIO: Heether Bases-Loaded Double The Sounds' three-run inning came after Russell Branyan crushed a fastball from Olenberger (1-2) well beyond the right field wall in the bottom of the second inning to start the scoring. The homer was Branyan's second in the last two games and sixth on the year, tying him for the team lead with Nelson. DiFelice was lights out until Bees outfielder Dee Brown continued his 11-game hit streak with a home run to right-center in the top of the fifth inning. With his three hits on the day, Brown has now reached base in 16 consecutive road games. Prior to that roundtripper, DiFelice had struck out seven of the first 11 batters he faced and only gave up one hit, a single to Brown in the second inning. The Bees threatened to add to the tally with a single from Bobby Wilson and a double to left-center from Gary Patchett, but Nix cut Patchett's line drive off in the gap and made a strong relay throw to hold Wilson at third. DiFelice then pitched himself out of the jam by striking out Brad Coon, who went 0-for-4. Coon snapped his 26-game on-base streak, the longest on-base streak in the Pacific Coast League to start the season. Heether scored the Sounds' final run when he knocked another double to start off the bottom of the seventh inning and moved to third when Ozzie Chavez followed with a single. Hernan Iribarren then scored him on a groundout to second in the next at-bat. Nashville relievers Steve Bray, Erasmo Ramirez, and Tim Dillard combined to pitch four innings of scoreless relief, lowering the Sounds bullpen ERA to 0.38 over the last seven games. The teams will finish out their four-game series bright and early tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at Greer Stadium. Southpaw Lindsay Gulin (0-2, 3.77) will man the bump for the Sounds and go against right-hander and former Brewer farmhand Giancarlo Alvarado (2-0, 2.60) for the Bees. A capacity crowd is expected at Greer Stadium tomorrow with the Sounds hosting a Reading Club Day where area students who participate in the reading club get to attend the game as a reward for reaching their reading goals. Nashville Box Score Russell Branyan's OPS after 91 AB's - 1.096; Adam Heether with the prettiest line; yeah, you're going to get tired of reading about Mark DiFelice -- should the Brewers try and grab lightning in a bottle? What's the harm? And no, that shouldn't be considered a Joe Winkelsas or Chris Demaria-type move... Nashville Game Log

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Coaches Chat with Manager Frank Kremblas Discussion includes why Mark DiFelice has been able to be so effective...

Final: Delmarva (Orioles) 4, West Virginia 2 West Virginia Site Game Summary: POWER LOSE THIRD IN A ROW The Delmarva Shorebirds held the Power to a pair of runs on just four hits during Sunday's game at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium as the Shorebirds earned their third straight victory 4-2 and handed West Virginia their third straight loss. Joe Nowicki scored the first run of the game with two outs in the bottom of the second. Pedro Silveren hit a ground ball down the first base line and a diving stop was made by Curt Rindal. Rindal flipped the ball to R.J. Seidel but Seidel couldn't handle the flip, allowing Nowicki to score. In the bottom of the third Tyler Henson smacked a one-out triple and scored on Joe Mahoney's sacrifice fly. The Shorebirds took a 3-0 lead in the fourth when Silveren singled in Nowicki. West Virginia got on the board in the top of the fifth inning on Steffan Wilson's solo home run. It was his second hit of the game and his fourth homer of the season. The Power cut the deficit to one in the top of the seventh. With runners at the corners and one out, Brent Brewer hit a ground ball to Delmarva shortstop Ryan Adams who tagged second for the force out but then threw the ball into the Power dugout which allowed Uly Snijders to score. Delmarva scored their final run in the eighth on Adams's RBI triple. Luis Noel (2-0) surrendered just a run on three hits over five innings and struck out six to get the victory. Seidel (1-3) took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits over four innings. Brian Parker worked a scoreless ninth inning to get his first save of the season. The Power fell to 11-19 with the loss and the Shorebirds improved to 17-13 with the win. Snijders and Wilson both had multi-hit games for the Power and they were the only Power players that hit safely. Snijders went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and Wilson went 2-for-4 as well with a base hit and a homer. The Power will continue the four game series with Delmarva Monday night. Right-hander Amaury Rivas (2-1, 3.33) will get the start for the Power and the Shorebirds will counter with left hander Tony Butler (1-1, 3.41). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central). West Virginia Box Score Second consecutive 0-for-10 combo effort for Lee Haydel and Brent Brewer at the top of the order; an overlooked aspect of young pitchers -- R.J. Seidel has committed four errors during his 24.1 IP thus far; Mike Ramlow was fine during the middle innings (one earned run); Seidel didn't strike anyone out, but 11 of his 12 outs came on the ground, and he got a big first-inning DP with a man on third base.. West Virginia Game Log Utility infielder David Fonseca left the game after flying out in the 5th -- odd time for a departure, unless he tweaked something on the play...

Final: Brevard County 4, Clearwater (Phillies) 1 Brevard County Box Score Alex Periard back to what he does best -- pitching to contact, inducing ground balls (11 in 5 1/3 IP), and showing good control (one walk); Donovan Hand, coming in for one batter on his "throw day", strands two of Periard's runners in the 6th; Omar Aguilar, statistically one of the most dominant closers in all of minor league baseball thus far, with a walk, double play grounder, and a comebacker for his 10th save; Stephen Chapman with an outfield assist today, as he gets to roam left field while Kenny Holmberg dons a first baseman's mitt for a day; Darren Ford (0-for-5) all the way down to a .611 OPS; Lorenzo Cain with his first home run (115 AB's), an opposite field shot; Taylor Green (.420 OBP) on base three more times... Brevard County Game Log Proper respect has to go to the Player of the Game, catcher Martin Maldonado, with two clutch RBI base hits, one a double, both coming with two men out...

Final: Huntsville 11, Montgomery (Rays) 3 Huntsville Site game Summary: High-Powered Offense Back on Track in Sunday Win By Brett Pollock / Huntsville Stars Mat Gamel knocked in five runs and Sam Narron overcame a bumpy start to pitch Huntsville past Montgomery 11-3 Sunday afternoon in a series-clinching victory at Riverwalk Stadium. The Stars took three out of five from their post-season nemesis to improve to 20-10 on the season and move into a first place tie with West Tenn in the North Division, while the Biscuits dropped to 11-19 overall and 4-11 at home. The Stars have won five of their first six series of the season and each of the last two on the road. The Stars, the highest scoring team in the league, who had been blanked last night until there were two outs in the ninth, wasted no time jumping on starter Mike Wlodarczyk for four runs in the top half of the first. Michael Brantley led off with a single and advanced to third base on a Guilder Rodriguez sacrifice bunt and Wlodarczyk throwing error that also allowed Rodriguez to reach. Gamel then singled to center field to drive in both runners before moving to second on the throw home, to third on a Matt LaPorta single and scoring on a Cole Gillespie sacrifice fly. LaPorta then scored on a two-out single by Carlos Coporan, who broke a 17 at-bat hitless drought and drove in his first run since April 11, to finish the rally. However, the Biscuits responded with three of their own in the home half of the inning against Narron. Former Brewer farmhand Johnny Raburn singled and scored on a triple by Ronnie Merrill, who then came home on a John Jaso base hit. Chris Nowak reached on a fielding error by Ryan Crew and Gabriel Martinez walked to load the bases before Narron struck out Erold Andrus for the first out. Sergio Pedroza hit a fly ball to right field that was caught up against the wall by LaPorta to score Jaso to make it 4-3. Narron then retired Pat Cottrell to end the inning and set down the next 10 batters before Raburn and Merrill singled with one out in the fifth. The left-hander worked out of further trouble by striking out Jaso and getting Nowak to pop up. The Stars added a run in the third inning on Mike Bell's two-out, run-scoring double that made it 5-3 and then tacked on three more in the fourth when Gamel delivered a bases loaded, bases clearing double that knocked Wlodarczyk out of the game. The Biscuits southpaw suffered the loss to fall to 0-4 after yielding eight runs, five earned, on 10 hits and a pair of walks. Cole Gillespie doubled in two runs in the sixth for the Stars, who have now reached double figures in runs scored seven times. Narron went six innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits to become the first five game winner in the league. He matched a season-high with five strikeouts, walked one in his fourth straight win. Narron did not earn his fifth victory last season until July 15. Patrick Ryan and Joe Bateman combined to toss three scoreless innings in relief. The Stars return home Monday to open a five-game series against Mobile with southpaw Steve Hammond taking the mound against BayBears' right-hander Brooks Brown. 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. Huntsville Box Score Day off for Alcides Escobar and Chris Errecart; Mat gamel with a 1.066 OPS in 120 AB's, as the sample sizes begin to grow; Matt LaPorta on base four times (three singles and a walk); RHP Patrick Ryan has now allowed four hits in 15 scoreless innings this season -- interestingly, LH batters are 0-for-22 against Ryan with five walks... Huntsville Game Log Lots to enjoy...

Huntsville Pre-Game Audio Interview with LHP Derek Miller Make sure you're pointing to the WUMP audio archive of May 4th, then go to the 04:30 minute mark...

Brewerfan.net Scouting Report: Bramhall is a shorter left-handed pitcher that has promise as a left-handed specialist with a high-80s fastball and a very good curveball that often buckles the knees of opposing batters. His overall athleticism has also allowed him to see some time as a outfielder during his career at Rice. He may be a relatively easy sign, as he reportedly has made it be known that he would like to start his professional career. He could move quickly as a reliever with a fair amount of success under his belt at the college level playing for perennial D1 powerhouse, Rice. Bramhall's being used just fine -- he's not a closer, he's not being limited as a specialist, and he's been pushed along at a good pace.

Mark DiFelice walked zero and struck out nine in five innings today, allowing one run on a home run. 64 of his 82 pitches were for strikes. His Brewer organization career -- 148 K's, 15 walks in 141.2 IP. Not a misprint.

St. Louis has played 20 of 31 at home, the Cubs 17 of 30. The Brewers have only played 13 of 30 at home, with another three-game set in Florida to follow. It is important that the Brewers take advantage of the big pitching mismatch today, as the hole Yovani leaves already looks cavernous. It'd be nice to have the day off Monday coming off a win, with a 3-3 road trip thus far. Make it happen, Benny! I posted this two days ago in the Minor League forum -- 31-year-old RHP Mark DiFelice's next start is Sunday with Nashville. Gord Ash just made a point of mentioning him in an interview on WSSP. Simply pay attention to his starts in the coming weeks -- I promise you, you will look like a genius with your casual Brewer friends when he's on the Brewer roster sooner rather than later -- yes, before Jeff Weaver. Book it (that's me, not Gord, talking). His K / BB ratio since the start of '07 is 139-to-15. 104 hits in 136.2 IP. Don't be surprised to see the Brewers try to catch lightning in a bottle if he keeps pitching well.

Upon signing with Boston in December of '02, Chad Fox was quoted in the Boston papers early in the '03 season, and came across very poorly as totally unappreciative of the patience the Brewers' organization had shown him and something along the lines that he was glad to be with a "real" big league organization. I pasted his comments into a Brewerfan thread at the time and it ended up getting quite a response, especially from Jim Powell and Bob Uecker. Uecker, in particular, expressed unusually unrestrained on-air disdain upon hearing the comments, and the duo actually somewhat 'celebrated' Fox's role in the misguided Boston bullpen-by-committee approach in '03, and his subsequent release that very summer by Boston.

From Adam McCalvy of MLB.com: General Manager Doug Melvin had been with the Brewers on their road trip, but left Saturday morning for Clearwater, Fla., to check in with the Brevard County Manatees, Milwaukee's Class A affiliate in the Florida State League. He will rejoin the Brewers later in the week in Miami. This is when any media coverage of the Brevard squad would come in handy. The Manatees are in Clearwater, another dry outpost for newspaper and audio coverage, right through Tuesday night, so don't expect any tidbits from Doug this week.

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Omaha 15 12 .556 - 9-5 6-7 W1 Iowa 13 15 .464 2.5 6-8 7-7 W2 Memphis 12 17 .414 4.0 4-9 8-8 W1 Nashville 9 19 .321 6.5 6-7 3-12 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Tenn 20 10 .667 - 8-2 12-8 W4 Huntsville 19 10 .655 0.5 13-2 6-8 L2 Carolina 17 13 .567 3.0 9-6 8-7 L4 Chattanooga 16 13 .552 3.5 10-5 6-8 L3 Tennessee 11 18 .379 8.5 6-9 5-9 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 19 10 .655 - 12-3 7-7 W1 Brevard County 16 13 .552 3.0 9-5 7-8 L3 Jupiter 16 13 .552 3.0 11-3 5-10 L1 Daytona 14 15 .483 5.0 6-8 8-7 L6 Vero Beach 14 15 .483 5.0 10-5 4-10 W3 St. Lucie 7 22 .241 12.0 4-11 3-11 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 16 10 .615 - 6-5 10-5 L2 Delmarva 16 13 .552 1.5 10-7 6-6 W2 Hagerstown 15 14 .517 2.5 6-7 9-7 W2 Hickory 15 15 .500 3.0 6-6 9-9 L2 Greensboro 14 14 .500 3.0 5-9 9-5 L1 Lakewood 13 16 .448 4.5 7-10 6-6 L3 West Virginia 11 18 .379 6.5 5-9 6-9 L2 Lexington 10 19 .345 7.5 3-11 7-8 W1