Jim Goulart

Charleston Gazette: Caufield singles in All-Star victory Northern Division prevails 3-1 in Sally League showcase ROME, Ga. ? West Virginia Power manager Mike Guerrero and hitting coach Corey Hart guided the Northern Division to a 3-1 victory over the Southern Division in the 48th annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game at Rome, Ga., on Tuesday night. Power outfielder Chuckie Caufield, who played the entire game in left and right fields, singled in the sixth for one of the Northern Division?s four hits. The Power had three other players on the Northern Division All-Star roster in Taylor Green, who started at third base and went 0-for-3, catcher Andy Bouchie, who came into the game in the the fifth and went hitless in his only at-bat, and pitcher Travis Wendte, who worked the fourth and gave up three hits but worked out of a jam. Former Power players Darren Ford, Mike McClendon and E.J. Shanks were originally selected for the All-Star Game, but were promoted and couldn?t attend. Power pitcher Zach Braddock was picked as one of the replacements, but couldn?t attend because of an injury. The Southern Division All-Stars pounded out 11 hits, but stranded 11 base runners. Desmond Jennings led off with a single in the first and scored on a double by Mitchell Hilligoss for the Southern Division?s only run. Caulfield?s fielding error in the first advanced Hilligoss to third with no outs, but he was stranded as the next three batters were retired. The North scored all of its runs in the fourth. The season?s second half gets under way Thursday with the Power taking on the Kannapolis (N.C.) Intimidators at 7:05 PM Thursday (6:05 Central) at in the first game of a four-game series at Appalachian Power Park. MiLB.com's coverage, including box score: No specific Power players mentioned, although there is a photo gallery with a team picture... web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=milb Travis Wendte's 5th inning: - Pitcher Change: Travis Wendte replaces Bradley Bergesen. - Nevin Ashley singles on a soft ground ball to pitcher Travis Wendte. - Eduardo Nunez grounds into double play, shortstop Carlos Rivero to second baseman Chris Coghlan to first baseman Matthew Whitney. Nevin Ashley out at 2nd. - Desmond Jennings singles on a sharp ground ball to left fielder James Van Ostrand. - Mitchell Hilligoss singles on a ground ball to left fielder James Van Ostrand. Desmond Jennings to 2nd. - With Daniel Mayora batting, Desmond Jennings steals (1) 3rd base. Mitchell Hilligoss steals (1) 2nd base. - Daniel Mayora grounds out softly, pitcher Travis Wendte to first baseman Matthew Whitney.

Link while active, text follows: www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=56770 Parra makes Triple A debut tonight By Nate Rau, Sports Correspondent Manny Parra should have been here by now. He should have come through Music City and the Pacific Coast League two years ago when Prince Fielder, Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks were parading through with Nashville Sounds jerseys on their backs. But, as Parra humbly puts it, ?stuff happens.? And because it happened to Parra, tonight will be his Triple A debut when he gets the start for the Sounds against Iowa at Greer Stadium. ?It?s a big deal in the fact that I?m making progress,? Parra said of his Triple A debut. ?It means I?m moving up the ladder and positive things are happening.? For the three seasons prior to this one, positive things were not happening to Parra. Because of electric stuff that featured four pitches, Parra had been fast-tracked up the minor league ladder. But during the 2004 season when he was in Double A with Huntsville, Parra began to experience discomfort in his left throwing shoulder. The discomfort, which has been attributed to a somewhat obscure shoulder ailment called posterior impingement, didn?t go away. It cost Parra the rest of the 2004 season and the ensuing Arizona Fall League. Parra worked hard to rehab and be ready for the 2005 season, but despite taking anti-inflammatories, eventually he was shelved after two months. It turns out the injury would require surgery and cost him the season. In a strange way, the injury was actually more frustrating to Parra because it wasn?t something serious that required ligament replacement or anything like that. It was just a nagging discomfort that wouldn?t go away. ?What can you say? You really can?t control injury problems sometimes,? Parra said. ?The shoulder problems were maybe some mechanical things and other things you just can?t explain. I don?t feel there was anybody to blame necessarily. It happens.? After the surgery, the clouds parted for Parra. He worked his way back last season, going 4-3 with an ERA below 3.00 between Class A Brevard County and Huntsville. With the Stars this season, Parra began fulfilling the promise he showed early in his career. He went 7-3 with a 2.68 ERA with 81 strikeouts in 80.2 innings. It?s taken time for Parra to regain the electric stuff he had before the injury concerns, but slowly his four pitches are coming back one-by-one. And if there?s a positive to be taken away from the ordeal, Sounds manager Frank Kremblas said Parra is more mature as a result of dealing with the injury. ?They were talking about [him being on a fast track] because of his stuff,? Kremblas said. ?He always had good stuff. Of course, he?s always had health issues. I think the biggest thing is his maturity level is way higher than it used to be.? When asked if he?s the same pitcher he was before the injury, Parra comes clean. ?At this point, I?m never going to feel like you feel when you first signed,? Parra said. ?I know I?m OK. I?m able to get the job done. For me now, when someone says they?re 90 percent, that?s like when I?m 100 percent.? Parra also gained a rededication to his pursuit of reaching the big leagues. Only 24-years old, he came away from the injury more committed than before. ?I don?t think I would ever quit until either I lost desire to play in the big leagues or they take the jersey away from me,? Parra said. ?I don?t think I would ever quit.?

Huntsville Site: Rain Slows Down Stars and Smokies The Huntsville Stars and Tennessee Smokies have been rained out Tuesday night at Smokies Park. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon and evening, beginning at 4:30 pm central time. The Stars will send right-hander Will Inman to the mound in Wednesday?s scheduled game against Smokies? right-hander Kevin Hart. Coverage of the game will begin at 10:45 am and can be heard through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

Final: Brevard County 9, Vero Beach (Devil Rays) 8 MiLB.com: Manatees walk away with win Ned Yost drew a bases-loaded walk to cap an improbable ninth-inning rally as Brevard County edged visiting Vero Beach, 9-8, on Tuesday. Lorenzo Cain led off the ninth with a single and stole second. After retiring the next two batters, reliever Eddie De La Cruz (4-4) walked Cole Gillespie, hit Michael Bell and plunked Chris Errecart to force in the tying run. The 25-year-old right-hander walked Yost to give the Manatees their third straight win. Angel Salome ripped a three-run homer, his fifth, in the first and Errecart had two doubles and two RBIs for Brevard County (41-28). Manatees reliever Patrick Ryan (2-0) struck out two in two perfect innings for the win. Starter Derek Miller gave up five runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four frames. Vero Beach starter Matthew Walker surrendered five runs -- four earned -- on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings. Sergio Pedroza and Patrick Cottrell hit two-run homers and Aaron Sisk went 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Devil Rays (34-35). -- Ryan McConnell/MLB.com Brevard County Box Score: Yohannis Perez 0-for-4 in his Manatee debut; RHP Josh Baker struggled in his return from the D.L.; Angel Salome's 5th HR and 5th passed ball... web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503 Brevard County Game Log: web.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 The Brevard County game's bottom of the 9th inning audio begins at the 4 hour, 41 minute mark (no, the game wasn't that long, there was a rain delay to begin), be sure you're on the archive date of June 19th -- post-game comment from Chris Errecart follows: web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

The Helena game's 9th inning KCAP audio begins at the 2 hour, 57 minute mark, be sure you're on the archive date of June 19th -- both the top and bottom of the inning had drama: www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

Helena Pre-Game Audio Chat with Manager Jeff Isom: Make sure you're on the date for June 19th, then go to the 11:30 mark... www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp Final: Helena 4, Missoula (Diamondbacks) 3 Link while active, text follows: www.missoulian.com/articl...orts01.txt First-day jitters: Brewers use late rally to clip Osprey By NICK LOCKRIDGE of the Missoulian The biggest night in Osprey baseball history ended in one of its biggest disappointments. The Helena Brewers scored twice in the top of the ninth to rally for a 4-3 victory over the defending Pioneer League champions Tuesday evening at Ogren-Allegiance Park. Missoula's minor league baseball team packed a team-record 3,340 fans into its recently finished ballpark for opening night. The curious sell-out crowd was on hand to celebrate the completion of a decade-long dream and pay tribute to last year's championship. It was all for naught. The Osprey let a 3-2 lead slip away when Helena's Eric Newton led off the ninth with a solo home run off Missoula closer Luke Prihoda. Four batters later Caleb Gindl scored the winning run when a high fastball by Prihoda got by O's catcher Gerardo Bustamante. ?It's always disappointing, no matter how you lose,? said Damon Mashore, who was making his managerial debut with Missoula. ?A ball gets away from a guy. That's what rookie ball is about. But it's always disappointing to lose.? The Osprey dropped their seventh consecutive season opener and are just 2-7 in openers since moving to Missoula in 1999. The Birds almost put together their own rally in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with no outs, before back-to-back strikeouts and a slow roller to first base ended things. ?It would have been nice to have put that through,? Mashore said. ?We battled and we came back. That's all I can ask for. You're not always going to get the hits.? The Osprey, who had 12 hits in the game, appeared as though they might be the ones coming up big. Big like their crowd which seemed to swell as daylight dimmed. The O's drew 2,336 fans for their home opener last season and later topped it with a crowd of 2,387 on July 31. First-year players like Reynaldo Navarro and Evan Scribner gave them something to cheer about. Navarro, a 17-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic, went 4-for-4 in his professional debut. Scribner was in line for the victory after he held Helena at bay for four full innings. Scribner, a 28th round draft choice out of Central Connecticut State, sat down nine Brewers in order, including three flawless put-outs by Navarro. Scribner gave up a leadoff single in the eighth, but got out of the inning with a double play and one of his two strikeouts. ?He was outstanding,? Mashore said. ?And (Tom) Layne, for his first pro outing, he was amazing.? Layne, the O's opening day starter, pitched just three innings before taking a seat on the bench. Layne didn't allow a single hit, while striking out seven Brewers. Helena's Craig Langille got the win, pitching two scoreless innings in relief of Roque Mercedes. Missoula fans might remember Mercedes from last year, when he went 5-5 in a full season of Pioneer League play. Prihoda got the loss, as well as a blown save. The Brewers scored twice in the fourth to narrow Missoula's lead to 3-2. Both runs - one on a walk and one on a wild pitch - scored when O's reliever Giornale Sena loaded the bases with two outs. The O's jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. A two-run single by Pete Clifford was the big hit. Bustamante added an RBI single in the frame. Notes: Start time was 7:05 p.m., but the first pitch wasn't until 7:28. O's outfielder Ariel Urena turned a nice double play in the eighth when he caught a fly ball by Eric Farris and then threw out Helena's baserunner at first base. Helena Box Score: With the exception of Caleb Gindl, a definite college veteran tint to this lineup, although among the starting lineup, only Roque Mercedes did not make his pro debut in this game... web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_misrok_1 Helena Game Log: web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_misrok_1 Photo by MICHAEL GALLACHER/Missoulian Missoula Osprey's Eli Rumler attempts to break up a double play as he upends Helena shortstop David Fonseca on Tuesday night at Ogren-Allegiance Park. Fonseca managed to complete the double play. http://images.townnews.com/missoulian.com/content/articles/2007/06/20/sports/sports01.jpg

The end of line for Vladimir's cousin? The Nationals release Cristian Guerrero. Memories - Cristian Guerrero's Power 50 History

The Mariners released him within the past ten days or so.

The story's been told here before, but in case you missed it, MLB.com has the Adam Pettyjohn story: milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com...p;c_id=mil

Link while active, text follows: www.helenair.com/articles...619_01.txt Brewers start season By TOM COTTON - Helena Independent Record Sports Editor Helena Brewers manager Jeff Isom knows his team can hit. What he is interested in seeing is if they can pitch and play defense. The first-year manager of the Pioneer League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers said how his team does this season will come down to how well the pitching staff holds up and how sure-handed the players behind them are. ?History has shown that the Helena Brewers have guys that can hit, we just have to hold teams down with our pitching,? said Isom, who joined the team after a highly successful stint managing in the Frontier and Northern independent leagues. As of Monday, the Brewers pitching staff had 14 pitchers on its roster. Isom said he will keep his pitchers on a pitch count and use tandems, with each hurler going three or four innings. ?We have some college guys who pitched 70, 80, 90 innings and we don?t want to overuse them,? he said. One pitcher to keep an eye on is Donovan Hand, who was taken in the 14th round. He had seven wins and 82 strikeouts last season for Jacksonville State. Brock Kjeldgaard returns after pitching 49 innings for Helena last season, as does Roque Mercedes. He won five games for Helena last year before pitching for Class A West Virginia to start this season. In the bullpen, Matt Kretzschmar, Craig Langille and Max St. Pierre will be used to close out games. Kretzschmar pitched for Helena in 2005, before pitching for West Virginia last year. St. Pierre can throw hard and was a catcher in the Detroit Tigers organization before being traded to Milwaukee and coverted to pitcher. Langille posted a 3.18 ERA in the Arizona League. As usual, the Brewers have a solid collection of bats, led by three of Milwaukee?s top four draft picks in this year?s first-year player draft. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy, infielder Eric Farris and outfielder Caleb Gindl were selected in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, respectively. Farris and Gindl both bring plenty of speed to the Brewers? lineup. Farris had 60 career stolen bases while at Loyola Marymount (Calif.). He can also hit for average, putting together a 25-game hitting streak this season. Left-handed Gindl, is a high school prospect from Pace, Fla. and was named by Baseball America as its 56th-best high school prospect earlier this season. Lucroy hit .360 with 18 home runs for Louisiana-Lafayette last season. Another player to watch is Steffan Wilson, who played at Harvard. He hit .331 as a junior with a .416 percentage. Isom said the Brewers don?t have the big power hitter, but they should be able to score plenty of runs. ?We are molding the team to play hard, be aggressive and force defenses to make a play,? he said. The Brewers start the season tonight in Missoula with a three-game set against the Missoula Osprey before coming home Friday for the home opener against the Great Falls White Sox. George Lane, Helena Independent Record Staff Photographer - Helena Brewers manager Jeff Isom addresses his team during practice on Saturday. This is Isom?s first year with the Brewers. http://www.helenair.com/content/articles/2007/06/19/sports_top/b010619_01.jpg

NOTE: The Arizona Rookie Brewers begin play Saturday.

Standings through Monday's action: South Atlantic League is final, but won't reset until Thursday... Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 42 29 .592 - 25-10 17-19 W6 Iowa 40 30 .571 1.5 22-14 18-16 W1 Omaha 33 38 .465 9.0 24-12 9-26 L4 Memphis 32 40 .444 10.5 18-18 14-22 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 1 0 1.000 - 1-0 0-0 W1 Huntsville 1 0 1.000 - 0-0 1-0 W1 Carolina 0 1 .000 1.0 0-0 0-1 L1 Tennessee 0 1 .000 1.0 0-1 0-0 L1 West Tenn 0 1 .000 1.0 0-1 0-0 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 40 28 .588 - 23-11 17-17 W2 Palm Beach 34 34 .500 6.0 16-18 18-16 L2 Vero Beach 34 34 .500 6.0 24-12 10-22 L1 Daytona 32 35 .478 7.5 20-12 12-23 W1 St. Lucie 31 37 .456 9.0 17-17 14-20 W1 Jupiter 29 39 .426 11.0 14-20 15-19 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Virginia 48 20 .706 - 23-12 25-8 W1 Greensboro 38 32 .543 11.0 25-10 13-22 L2 Lakewood 33 32 .508 13.5 17-18 16-14 W3 Delmarva 34 33 .507 13.5 19-13 15-20 L3 Lake County 31 39 .443 18.0 17-18 14-21 L1 Lexington 31 39 .443 18.0 16-19 15-20 W1 Hagerstown 29 38 .433 18.5 17-16 12-22 L1 Hickory 27 40 .403 20.5 14-16 13-24 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - PIO North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billings 0 0 - - 0-0 0-0 - Great Falls 0 0 - - 0-0 0-0 - Helena 0 0 - - 0-0 0-0 - Missoula 0 0 - - 0-0 0-0 -

Follow Tuesday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Choose "Log". 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. Huntsville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_tenaax_1 Brevard County: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 Helena: web.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_misrok_1

These links will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds and/or Huntsville Stars are scheduled to play. Normally they are updated an hour or two prior to gametime, with Nashville's usually earlier: Huntsville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format): www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

Tuesday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: Idle Huntsville: RHP Corey Thurman at Tennessee (Cubs), 6:00 PM pre-game; 6:15 gametime Audio link: www.huntsvillestars.com/ Brevard County: LHP Derek Miller at home vs. Vero Beach (Devil Rays), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime -- this series counts toward the first-half standings Audio link (game will also archive at this link): www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp West Virginia: Video and audio available for the South Atlantic League All-Star Game at 6:05 PM -- game coverage will be featured not in the Link Report, but in the "Your 2007 W.V. Power Thread" Video, audio and box score links, along with discussion, at the tail end of this thread: p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...mp;stop=40 Helena: TBD at Missoula (Diamondbacks), 7:55 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime Audio link (game will also archive at this link): www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

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

Baseball America reports that 2006 11th round OF Zach Clem, out of the University of Washington, has been released. Clem hit .231 in 108 AB's with Helena last year. He'll be 24 in September, and a crowded outfield situation at the A-ball and above level didn't clear a spot for him.

The time difference always seems to allow us to listen to the entire game. They're Mountain Time, so their games are normally starting just an hour later than local Milwaukee games. Normally you can catch the final few innings after a Brewer game. You may be thinking of High Desert from three years ago (Pacific Time). But the Helena games, like Brevard County and West Virginia's, do archive on MiLB.com. We normally will let you know where to go to get the pre-game interview for Helena.

6:30 Eastern, purchase the game for viewing here: web.minorleaguebaseball.c.../video.jsp Free audio here: web.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp Follow box score and game log here: web.minorleaguebaseball.c...d=20070619

All-Star Game preview from Rome includes quotes from Mike Guerrero: 209.41.184.21/partners/68...15220.html SWINGING FOR THE FENCES: Tuesday night?s Home Run Derby will feature three participants from each division. Representing the Southern Division will be Ryan Royster of Columbus, Chris Carter of Kannapolis, and Victor Ferrante of Asheville. From the Northern Division, it will be Lake County?s Matt Whitney, West Virginia?s Taylor Green and Greensboro?s Logan Morrison. Those six players combined for 71 home runs in the first half of the season. Whitney led the Northern Division with 16, and Carter led the South with 15. Morrison had 13, Royster 10, Green 9, and Ferrante 8. The Derby will operate with a three-round format. Each player gets 10 outs (all swings that did not result in a homer are ruled as ?outs?) in the first round. The top two finishers from each division will advance to the second round, where one winner from each division will advance to the finals.

Link for Chris Barnwell photo, text follows: tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS Sounds wait out the rain to complete sweep of Royals Home record best in entire league By MIKE ORGAN Tennessean Staff Writer A couple of rain showers Monday washed away any hope Omaha had of rallying against Nashville. The Sounds had built a four-run cushion in the top of the seventh when the first downpour drenched the crowd of 5,086 at Greer Stadium. When the game finally ended after three hours, 39 minutes, 6-2 in Nashville's favor, the Sounds were able to complete a four-game sweep of the Royals. It marked Nashville's second sweep this season and the first since beating Iowa four straight games in April. "It's important to win series," said Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas. "I think (Monday) was just a bonus game for us to get the win." The game was delayed for a total of one hour, eight minutes. Thunder and lightning accompanied the second delay. "Delays like that make it hard to get any real momentum going," said Sounds first baseman Joe Dillon. "Obviously, it breaks up the game. And this game didn't have much of a flow to it anyway. It was kind of dead today with not many fans." Only a handful of fans stuck around following the second delay, which lasted 23 minutes. Dillon helped Nashville capture its sixth consecutive win and hold on to first place in the Pacific Coast League North Division, hitting a double to the leftfield wall that scored Charles Thomas and gave the Sounds a 3-0 lead. Dillon then scored on a sacrifice fly by Vinny Rottino. Nashville pitcher Zach Jackson (8-3) allowed just two runs on seven hits in six innings. The Sounds have won 24 of their last 30 games at Greer Stadium and have the PCL's best home record (25-10). ***Link while active, text follows: tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS Brewers send Gwynn Jr. back to Sounds By MIKE ORGAN Tennessean Staff Writer Tony Gwynn Jr., who spent most of last season with the Sounds, is headed back to Nashville. The Brewers announced Monday that the center fielder would be sent down to free up a roster spot for second baseman Rickie Weeks, who had been on the disabled list with an injured wrist. Gwynn had a .301 batting average (25-of-83) with eight RBIs in 49 games in Milwaukee this season. He played in 112 games for the Sounds last year and 32 on two stints for the Brewers. Gwynn might be in town for the Sounds' next game Wednesday against Iowa. Parra on the mound: Starting left-hander Manny Parra will make his debut for the Sounds on Wednesday. Parra arrived in Nashville on Friday from Double-A Huntsville to fill the roster spot left by Yovani Gallardo, who last week was called up to Milwaukee and started Monday's game against the San Francisco Giants. Parra posted a 7-3 record with a 2.68 ERA in 13 appearances at Huntsville. Another RBI: Joe Dillon's double to left-center field in the fourth inning Monday scored Charles Thomas from second and was Dillon's 42nd RBI of the season. That leads the Sounds. Doubling up: Omaha designated hitter Billy Butler hit two doubles in the first four innings. Butler's second double hit high off the center-field wall, chipping some of the green paint away. After his second double, Butler scored from third on an RBI single by Jorge Padilla. Uncharacteristic: The Sounds committed a rare error in the first inning when left fielder Vinny Rottino mishandled Butler's first double. Jose Macias also committed an error on a bouncer to third in the second inning. Heading into the game, Nashville's defense had committed a Pacific Coast League-low 39 errors. Omaha first baseman Craig Brazell committed an error in the fourth, allowing Callix Crabbe to make it to third. Ozzie Chavez scored an unearned run on the play, giving Nashville a 5-1 lead. Hot in June: Nashville's 12 victories in June is tied with New Orleans for the most wins among Triple-A clubs. Striking first: The Sounds have scored the game's first run a PCL-leading 45 times this season. Nashville has outscored opponents 51-28 in the first inning. Visiting mascots: Titans mascot T-Rac and the Predators' Gnash made appearances at Monday's game to the delight of many of the day-camp children, who were special guests. Southpaw success: With lefty starter Tyler Lumsden taking the loss Monday for Omaha, the Sounds are now 13-4 this season when facing left-handed pitchers. Fisher and Friends: The Jeff Fisher & Friends Softball Game is 7 p.m. Saturday at Greer Stadium. Tickets are $15 for sections H-S and $10 for all remaining seats, which will be first-come, first-served. Kids tickets are $6. Tickets can be purchased online at nashvillesounds.com or by calling (615) 242-4371 ext. 2.

Link while active, text follows: www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=56740 Streaking Sounds gain Gwynn By Nate Rau, Sports Correspondent Just as the Nashville Sounds continued to hit their stride by winning their sixth consecutive game, the team received word that Tony Gwynn would soon be re-joining the team. The Sounds washed away the Omaha Royals 6-2 on a thunderstorm-filled Monday afternoon game at Greer Stadium featuring two rain delays. The win is the sixth in a row for Nashville and culminates a four-game sweep of the Royals. The first-place Sounds (42-29) own the best record in the Pacific Coast League. And adding Gwynn to the roster surely won?t hurt. Gwynn was optioned by Milwaukee to Nashville on Monday to make room for second baseman Rickie Weeks, who is returning from the disabled list. Gwynn got the demotion instead of teammate Gabe Gross, despite having better numbers this season. Gwynn is hitting .301 with six stolen bases, while Gross has a batting average of just .191. Being forced to send a talented outfielder like Gwynn, who might be the Brewers? best stolen base threat, to the minors speaks to how talented the Brewers? roster has become. ?I guess he?s just a victim of the situation,? Sounds shortstop Chris Barnwell, a teammate of Gwynn?s last season, said. ?He?s doing great up there. Any time someone?s doing good, you never want to see them come down. Just like there are a lot of guys here who could go up there and do good. ?There?s more to it than just who?s the best player. I wish Tony never got back down because he?s a big league quality player. But the good thing is, he?ll come down and get better. He knows he?s got a long career ahead of him and it?s just a learning opportunity.? As for the game itself, the Sounds were never seriously threatened. There were two separate rain delays totaling 68 minutes, neither of which took away from the Sounds? momentum. It was a full team effort. The offense pounded out six runs on 10 hits, with virtually everybody chipping in. The Sounds got on the scoreboard in two-run intervals ? putting up two in the first, third and fourth. Charles Thomas, Joe Dillon and Vinny Rottino each had two-hit games for Nashville. Zach Jackson (8-3) did his part on the mound, scattering seven hits for two earned runs. Dennis Sarfate and Greg Aquino threw three scoreless innings in relief of Jackson. ?We?ve got some good stuff going right now,? Barnwell said. ?Same thing as always, good hitting, good fielding, good pitching, good baserunning and we capitalized on their mistakes.? The Sounds are off today, before welcoming second-place Iowa to Greer for a four-game set. The Brewers will have to clear a spot on the Sounds roster in order to make room for Gwynn, but no transaction was made Monday.

MiLB.com Notes: Manatees sting Devil Rays David Welch and two relievers combined on a three-hitter as host Brevard County defeated Vero Beach, 7-1, on Monday. Welch (3-2) allowed one run on two hits while fanning one over five frames for the win. Vince Perkins yielded one hit over three shutout innings and Rafael Lluberes gave up a walk and struck out two in a hitless ninth inning. Ned Yost went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Manatees (40-28). The 24-year-old first baseman ripped an RBI single in a two-run second, lined a base hit in the sixth and cracked a run-scoring single in a four-run seventh to raise his average to .315. Mat Gamel went 1-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games for Brevard County.

Charleston Gazette: Sally League All-Star game tonight in Ga. The smallest city in the South Atlantic League will stage one of the league?s premier events today. Rome, Ga., will play host to the 48th SAL All-Star Game at 7:30 PM (6:30 Central) at State Mutual Stadium. Four players are on the North roster of the West Virginia Power ? Andy Bouchie, Chuckie Caufield, Taylor Green and Travis Wendte. Power players Darren Ford, Mike McClendon and E.J. Shanks were also picked but were promoted and will not attend the All-Star Game. West Virginia manager Mike Guerrero and hitting coach Corey Hart will also participate. Guerrero is the skipper of the Northern Division all-stars.

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com/ FOUR OF A KINDALCIDES ESCOBAR MAKES HIS STARS DEBUT With a first half title out of the way, the Huntsville Stars now go about the business of preparation -- that is, staying sharp and keeping a momentum going for the Northern Division title series in September, and it all started tonight on the right foot. Sam Narron (3-5) worked eight strong innings on just three days rest, owing to the fact that manager Don Money yanked him after just 1 2/3 innings last Friday in the 1st game of a double-header in that crucial final series against Birmingham........ As he did at Joe Davis Stadium, Narron couldn't avoid again getting into 1st inning trouble. Out of 14 starts this season, Narron has given up at least a run in eight of them, 22 in all on 33 hits and just four walks......... But once he gets past the 1st, and settles down, he's tougher to deal with -- a 2.81 ERA from the 2nd-4th inning before he hits a bump in the 5th (5.40 ERA in the 5th inning)...... Tonight, Narron made it to the 8th inning for just the 3rd time this season, and the first time since May 28 against Montgomery and he didn't have to wait around long to pick up the run that would give him his 1st victory since the 28th. Alcides Escobar, making his Stars debut, led off the 3rd inning with a single to center, then stole 2nd after Narron failed to bunt him over........ Daringly, he advanced to 3rd on a grounder by Hernan Iribarren. Then Michael Brantley delivered what would be the deciding blow -- a double into the left field corner to score both runners, giving the Stars a 3-2 lead after the Smokies took a 2-1 advantage in the bottom of the 1st....... Jake Fox, hitting just .217 this month, smacked a two-out, two-run HR to give the Smokies the lead. Oddly, the Stars' last four wins have been by a 3-2 margin as they improve to 13-7 in one-run games this year, their 6th this month, the most for June since 2001........ The oddity of consecutive victories by the same score has happened many times before, to be sure. It happened last year against Chattanooga by a 9-8 count, which kicked off a phenomenal August. But three days let alone four? I looked back in the records and it's never happened. Narron managed to set down 11 straight after Matt Craig singled to right with one out in the 4th...... It wasn't until the 8th that Joe Simokaitis had the next hit, and then Narron worked out of the inning, before yielding to David Johnson, who picked up the save. Tomorrow, Corey Thurman, who picked up where Narron left off in his last start, giving up just two hits in 5 1/3 innings, gets the start against Kevin Hart (4-5, 5.50) who will be seeing Stars for the first time........ Hart is 2-0, 3.15 in three starts this month. Lefties have hit the right-hander for a .319 average this season. Fans have yet to see their new shortstop, Alcides Escobar, of course, but while he doesn't compare to Yohannis Perez, who was sent to Brevard County, on paper, he made two great plays at short tonight, the second coming in the 7th inning when Matt Craig hit a hard grounder up the middle. Escobar ranged over behind the bag at 2nd, spun around, and fired a strike to Sollmann for the out........ Perez, who hit .195 in 56 games, was 4-for-44 in June, and did not play in the Manatees' 7-1 win over Vero Beach tonight. The Stars finished the 1st half with a 37-31 record -- their best 1st half since 2003, when they went to the Championship Series against Carolina...... The Stars also finished the 1st half with a 9-1 record on Sundays and 17-4 in daylight. ***Link while active, text follows: www.knoxnews.com/kns/smok...86,00.html Stars' Escobar is Smokies' demise Huntsville takes first game of second half By BOB HODGE, hodge@knews.com SEVIERVILLE - The Tennessee Smokies started the second half of the Southern League season the way they ended the first half: Just a little bit behind the Huntsville Stars. A night after a one-run loss to West Tennessee cost the Smokies a first-half tie with Huntsville, the Stars came to Sevierville and won 3-2 Monday in the first game of a six-game series. The teams play again tonight at 7:15 (6:15 Central) at Smokies Park. Tennessee manager Pat Listach didn't blame the loss on any lingering hangover from the close-but-no-cigar first-half finish. He pointed a finger at Stars' shortstop Alcides Escobar. "The difference in the game was their shortstop," Listach said. "He made some big-league plays out there in the middle." Escobar had a hand in eight putouts, the biggest running down a hard grounder by Gary Cates then throwing Cates out at first for the Smokies' first out of the ninth inning. "That's a big play in the ninth if he wasn't there," Listach said. Huntsville also got eight innings of starting pitching from Sam Narron, who earned the win. Narron (3-5) scattered four hits, two the final seven innings. But highlight-reel shortstop play and good pitching were helped by a questionable call in the third inning. With Escobar on second, Huntsville leadoff hitter Hernan Iribarren hit a hard grounder to Tennessee shortstop Joe Simokaitis. First base was open, but Escobar broke for third and Simokaitis flipped the ball to third baseman Issmael Salas. Salas appeared to tag Escobar before he got to the bag, but third base umpire Darrell Arnold didn't see it that way. That brought Listach out of the dugout. "I thought the guy was out by quite a lot," said Listach, who thought Escobar should have been called out on principle. "He should have been out for dumb base running." After the play and argument, Huntsville's Michael Brantley hit a two-run double into the left-field corner for what turned out to be the winning runs. Justin Berg (3-5) took the loss for Tennessee despite allowing only four hits through six innings. Berg allowed the first two Huntsville batters to reach base in the first, but got out of the inning allowing one run when Steve Sollmann hit into a double play and Lou Palmisano struck out. Jake Fox gave Tennessee a 2-1 lead in the first inning with a towering two-run home run that bounced off the bottom of the scoreboard. Fox came within a few feet of forcing extra innings, but another towering shot with two out in the bottom of the ninth was caught on the warning track. "Before the game, I told them they had no reason to hold their heads down," Listach said. "We did some good things in the first half and I told them to build on it."