Jim Goulart

Huntsville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- www.huntsvillestars.com/n...ewsId=1132 Barons Get Another Strong Start To Subdue Stars Jack Egbert worked six scoreless innings and a three-run second inning rally stood up in Birmingham?s 4-2 victory over Huntsville Saturday night in the middle game of a five-game set at Regions Park. The Barons have taken each of the first three games to improve to 14-9, while the Stars have lost three in a row for a second time this year to fall to 9-12. However, the Stars remain just one game behind North Division-leading Tennessee, which gave up a run in the ninth inning at home and fell to Carolina 5-4. Egbert blanked the Stars over six innings, allowing two infield singles, walking one and fanning six in lasting at least six frames in each of his five starts. He has been scored on in only three of his five starts, has not yielded more than two runs in any turn and has allowed only one run in 18 innings at home. The Barons? starting threesome of Adam Russell, Gio Gonzalez and Egbert have permitted only two runs on 10 hits over a combined 19 innings of work in the series. The Barons three runs in the second inning against Stars? starter Adam Pettyjohn marked the second time in as many starts that he has allowed a three-run frame. He has pitched scoreless baseball in the other nine innings in those two outings. Ricardo Nanita singled home Thomas Collaro, who had doubled, with one out and then scored along with Chris Kelly, who had singled, on a two-out, two-strike double to left field by Robert Valido. Pettyjohn suffered his first loss of the season after allowing three runs on five hits over six frames. The veteran left-hander walked three, fanned five and fell for the first time in three road starts. Fernando Hernandez took over in the seventh inning for the Barons and started the inning by plunking Steve Sollmann before Lou Palmisano belted a 1-2 curveball over the wall in left field for his first home run of the year to trim the home team?s lead to 3-2. Robert Hinton gave up a leadoff double to Nanita in the home seventh and then uncorked consecutive wild pitches to allow the Barons to score an insurance run. The run was the first allowed this season by the Stars? right-hander, who also issued his lone walk in 10 1/3 innings this season. Hernandez retired the Stars in order in the eighth inning and Carlos Vasquez worked around a one-out single by Sollmann in the ninth to record his second save of the season and the third for the Barons by as many different pitchers in the series. The series in Birmingham continues Sunday afternoon with southpaw Steve Hammond taking the hill against Barons? left-hander Wes Whisler. Coverage of the game begins at 1:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

From Omaha.com: Top Milwaukee third base prospect Ryan Braun was injured diving for a ball Friday night and was out of the lineup Saturday. Then again, we don't know "what" is injured...

FYI -- Check out our draft-and-follow thread in the Draft Forum, where we mention the Brewers first DFE signing of the 2006 class in the latest update: p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...=940.topic

The Brewers have signed their first draft-and-follow from the 2006 draft class: Link for Nick Tyson photo while active, text follows -- Not that it should be noteworthy, but considering recent threads on the subject, Tyson is African-American... www.courierpostonline.com...002/sports Timber Creek's Tyson signs with Brewers By KEVIN MINNICK South Jersey Courier-Post Staff Nick Tyson's dream of playing professional baseball became reality Friday. The first player ever drafted out of Timber Creek High School, Tyson signed with the Milwaukee Brewers and he will report to the team's spring training facility in Maryvale, Ariz., in the next week or so. "I'm very excited. It's been a dream for I don't know how long," Tyson said Saturday from Gainesville, Fla. "All I ever think about is baseball. I'm ready and willing to learn more. "This is something I've been waiting for. I'm excited but it really hasn't hit me yet. I know when I get home, everyone will be excited and that's when my excitement will probably come out. It's just a great experience." A right-hander, Tyson was taken in the 32nd round of last June's draft. Milwaukee selected him as a draft-and-follow and were pleased enough with his progress at Lake City (Fla.) Community College to offer him a contract. "He got real good, real quick," said Charles Alino, the Milwaukee scout who signed Tyson. "With the warm weather and the coaching down here, he worked hard and got a lot better very quickly. "From our reports, he wasn't that great up in the north. He came down here, got some good coaching, worked hard and improved dramatically." Alino said Tyson's fastball was clocked at 92 mph this spring. "I increased my velocity about 2-3 miles per hour and my accuracy got a lot better," Tyson said. "I also got better on my slider. It's breaking better now. "The coaching staff at Lake City has to get a lot of the credit. They pushed me as hard as I needed to be pushed. Our pitching coach knew what he was talking about and I saw the changes that I needed to see." This spring, Tyson led Lake City in innings pitched (99 2/3) and strikeouts (89). ***Here's some reports that our own colbyjack had provided: Tyson was a teammate of Robert Bryson on the New Jersey Super 17 travel club. He is a 6'3", 180 pound right-handed pitcher. Like Bryson, Tyson will be a key starter in a very tough Florida junior college conference, and his Head Coach Tom Clark expects Tyson to open the season serving as the staff ace for Lake City Community College, a college the Brewers have mined several tmes before for talent. A tough competitor, he has good command of his fastball, which sits right around 90 mph with plenty of room for added velocity given his athletic, projectable frame, and he has a plus curveball when it is working for him that gives him two legitimate strikeout pitches. Added velocity and a more consistent feel for his curve this spring would make Tyson a likely candidate to sign with the Brewers. Patrick, you were right on with those comments. But just to show that the scouts are looking at much more than the raw numbers, Tyson's stats this spring hadn't merited many positive notations in this thread. Welcome aboard, Nick!

From the Nashville Game Log: Nashville Sounds Joe Dillon left the game due to an injured leg. This was after his second inning double. Finally, an update for us from Omaha.com: Top Milwaukee third base prospect Ryan Braun was injured diving for a ball Friday night and was out of the lineup Saturday.

Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for J.D. Closser photo, text follows -- www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=2283 Sounds Drop Third Straight To Royals, 8-6 OMAHA ? The Nashville Sounds dropped their third straight game on Saturday evening at Rosenblatt Stadium, falling 8-6 to the division-rival Omaha Royals. Nashville (13-9) was out-hit 16-9 in the contest; the 16 Omaha hits were the most surrendered by the Sounds in a game this season. All nine Royals recorded a hit and seven different batters posted two hits on the evening. The three consecutive Sounds losses immediately follow a string of seven straight wins for the club, which remains in first place in the PCL American Conference Northern Division. Catcher J.D. Closser gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead with a two-out solo home run to right in the top of the first inning. The blast, which came against Omaha starter Matt Wright, was the backstop?s second of the year. Omaha tied the contest in the bottom of the first when Billy Butler plated Joey Gathright with a two-out RBI single off Nashville starter Tim Dillard. Nashville pulled ahead 2-1 in the second when Joe Dillon led off with a double and was replaced by pinch-runner Jose Macias. After Macias moved to third on a groundout, he gave the Sounds a one-run cushion by scoring on a Mike Rivera sacrifice fly. Sounds first baseman Andy Abad (2-for-4), who logged the club?s only multiple-hit effort of the evening, increased the visitors? lead to 3-1 in the fifth when he led off with a solo homer to right off Wright, the veteran?s second longball of the season. Omaha first baseman Justin Huber put the home team back in front with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the sixth, belting a three-run homer to right with two outs. The blast, which was Huber?s first of the season, chased Dillard and also scored Butler and Mike Aviles. The Royals tacked on three scores in the seventh against the Nashville bullpen. After Omaha loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk against Mitch Stetter, Alec Zumwalt came on for the Sounds and walked Butler to force home Gathright for a 5-3 lead. Aviles followed with a sacrifice fly and Mitch Maier grounded into a run-scoring forceout to extend the Royals? advantage to 7-3. Vinny Rottino got into the longball act for the Sounds in the eighth, leading off the frame with a solo homer to left off Royals reliever Thad Markray. The blast was the utilityman?s fifth of the year. Nashville pulled within a pair of runs later in the frame when Ozzie Chavez scored on a Closser sacrifice fly to make it a 7-5 contest. Royals third baseman Fernando Cortez greeted Sounds reliever Lindsay Gulin with a solo homer to right to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning. It was the infielder?s second home run in as many nights and the insurance run pushed the score to 8-5. Nashville brought the potential tying run to the plate with no outs in the top of the ninth after Macias and Abad opened the frame with a single and double, respectively, against Ken Ray. Rivera struck out before Rottino drove in the game?s final run with a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 8-6. Ray ended the game by retiring Chavez on a groundout. Markray (1-0) was awarded his first victory of the year despite allowing two runs in his three innings of relief work for the Royals. Dillard (0-2) remains winless through five starts in his Class AAA career for the Sounds, taking the loss after allowing four runs on 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings of work. Nashville outfielders threw out a pair of Omaha runners at the plate in the contest: Rottino tossed out Butler from his post in right field in the first and center fielder Drew Anderson nailed Angel Berroa in the third, both with help of a Chris Barnwell relay to the plate. AUDIO: Sounds Throw Out Runner At Home -- www.nashvillesounds.com/a...204-28.mp3 The Sounds will look to avoid a four-game sweep when the teams wrap up the four-game series with a 1:35 p.m. finale on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Chris Oxspring (2-1, 1.61) will man the bump for the Sounds and face former Nashville hurler Ben Hendrickson (2-1, 4.98). Omaha has altered its rotation from earlier this week, so the Sounds will face Ben after all - Mass

Tim Dillard allows a bunch of base runners---Mitch Stetter not so good, but Alec Zumwalt great. Thanks as always, my Link Report tag-team partner. Inherited runners-scored: Zumwalt 3-3 I find myself almost always reviewing the "inherited runners" line within a box score before any other, trying to give myself an accurate read on the pitching lines. Zumwalt came in after Mitch Stetter's bases loaded, no out mess, and went walk, sacrifice fly, RBI groundout -- so technically hit-wise he did OK, but we can't go with a "great" when all three runners score.

Final, Game One: Brevard County 5, St. Lucie (Mets) 1 Brevard County Game One Box Score: LHP Rafael Lluberes ten ground ball outs in six strong innings; switch-hitting catcher Carlos Corporan continues to mash -- HR today, ten extra base hits so far; Lorenzo Cain drives in two... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 Brevard County Game One Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com/ O SOLO GIOI saw this coming when I overheard a conversation from one of Huntsville pitchers before the season began, saying that Grant Balfour has it in his agreement with the Brewers that he would be in Triple-A after a month. It's happened...... Balfour has gone up to Nashville. He seems to have fully bounced back from 2005 Tommy John surgery to his right elbow and rotator cuff surgery...... To fill his spot on the roster, pitcher Bo Hall was taken off the disabled list........ Balfour was simply overmatching hitters in his relief role. In 11 1/3 innings over eight appearances, he struck out 21, walked four, and had an ERA of 2.38....... Hall was 5-5 with a 5.77 ERA last year for Class A-Brevard County (Fla. St.), his success, or lack thereof, almost identical in his splits at home and the road (3-2, 5.75 at home, 2-3, 5.79 on the road). Hall was recovering from a right calf injury...... Balfour seems well recovered from Tommy John surgery and rotator cuff surgery years ago. Gio Gonzalez may be the best pitcher in the league -- a certain 14-game winner, the current Southern League strikeout leader, a potential major league All-Star. To get a pair of runs against him, would almost seem a victory in itself........ The White Sox made him a #1 pick in 2004, packaged him to the Phillies in a deal to get Jim Thome, then, realizing what they missed, got him back 13 months later. Now he's the #1 pitching prospect in their organization and has a bright future. Part of that proof came Friday night as he struck out 13 en route to a 6-3 victory. He struck out the side in three different innings and struck out Jeff Eure, Mel Stocker, and Yohannis Perez three times...... In his last start, he struck out 12 Mississippi Braves. Take a look at ny standings page to see that's no small feat........ www.starsboxscore.com/standing.htm It took all of 20 pitches to retire the first six hitters who faced him before Brendan Katin connected with a home run to right-center, but by then, the Barons had already done what so often had been done to the Stars this month -- they scored in the 1st. It wasn't all Gio tonight. The top three hitters in the Barons lineup went 5-for-9, hit four doubles, and drove in four runs........ Jason Bourgeois, an organizational soldier who was once ranked 23rd among the Rangers' top 30 prospects (Baseball America), doubled down the line to left. Chris Getz, who hit .308 against the Stars last year as a full-season member of the Barons, singled to the right side to put runners on the corners...... Jeremy West was hit by a pitch to load the bases....... Thomas Collaro then made it a 2-0 game with a double to center and Chris Kelly's sacrifice fly, scoring West, made it 3-0...... The Stars have allowed 30 first-inning runs this month, compared to just 14 in April 2006, and 40 hits, compared to 29 for April last year. The Stars made it 3-2 in the 4th when Steve Moss singled in Steve Sollmann, who had walked with one out, and moved into scoring position on Lou Palmisano's single, but that's as close as they could get to Gio, and considering his ability, that was pretty good. Hopefully, the Stars and Adam Pettyjohn (2-0, 3.54) will have better luck against Jack Egbert.(2-1, 1.80), but he's tough as well. 6th among current Southern League ERA leaders, he's cited by Baseball America as having the best changeup in the White Sox system....... Egbert gave up just four hits in seven IP in his last outing (vs. Mississippi). Palmisano, one of two players with two hits against the Barons, Friday night, is 9-for-22 (.409) in his last six games and is hitting .359 as he continues his hot start at the plate. He's had five two-hit games so far. He had 16 during the regular season last year...... Brendan Katin, the other Star with two hits, is hitting .325 in his last 11 games.

Because Lexington now video streams all their home games, the Power's game is available to MiLB.TV subscribers or on a one-time basis for a small fee tonight: web.minorleaguebaseball.c.../video.jsp

Standings through Friday's action: Pacific Coast League (AAA) - PCL American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nashville 13 8 .619 - 7-4 6-4 L2 Memphis 11 11 .500 2.5 10-4 1-7 W1 Iowa 10 11 .476 3.0 6-2 4-9 L1 Omaha 9 13 .409 4.5 7-3 2-10 W2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - SOU North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee 10 10 .500 - 4-6 6-4 W1 Chattanooga 10 12 .455 1.0 6-6 4-6 W2 Huntsville 9 11 .450 1.0 4-6 5-5 L2 Carolina 8 14 .364 3.0 5-5 3-9 L1 West Tenn 8 14 .364 3.0 4-6 4-8 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - FSL East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brevard County 12 8 .600 - 5-4 7-4 W5 Palm Beach 11 9 .550 1.0 5-5 6-4 L1 Daytona 11 10 .524 1.5 7-4 4-6 W1 St. Lucie 10 10 .500 2.0 4-7 6-3 L2 Jupiter 9 12 .429 3.5 4-6 5-6 L1 Vero Beach 8 12 .400 4.0 6-4 2-8 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - SAL Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Virginia 16 3 .842 - 11-3 5-0 W14 Greensboro 13 8 .619 4.0 11-4 2-4 L1 Lake County 10 10 .500 6.5 5-2 5-8 W4 Lakewood 9 9 .500 6.5 4-5 5-4 L1 Hickory 8 11 .421 8.0 2-3 6-8 W1 Lexington 9 13 .409 8.5 6-8 3-5 L3 Delmarva 8 12 .400 8.5 3-5 5-7 L3 Hagerstown 7 14 .333 10.0 3-5 4-9 W1

Follow Saturday's action as it happens: Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Open the Nashville Gameday. For the others, 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. Nashville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_omaaaa_1 Huntsville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_biraax_1 Brevard County Game One: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 Brevard County Game Two: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_2 West Virginia: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lexafx_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: Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format): www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf Huntsville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format): www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

Brevard County Post-Game Interview with outfielder Cole Gillespie: Go the 2 hour, 44 minute mark of the archive from the 27th -- web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

Saturday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Tim Dillard at Omaha (Royals), 5:50 PM pre-game; 6:05 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: LHP Adam Pettyjohn at Birmingham (White Sox), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime Audio link: www.huntsvillestars.com/ Brevard County: LHP Rafael Lluberes and LHP David Welch in a double-dip at home vs. St. Lucie (Mets), 3:50 PM pre-game, 4:00 gametime Audio link (games will also archive at this link): www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp West Virginia: LHP Brae Wright at Lexington (Astros), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime; Wright will need to eat some innings after Friday's 17-inning affair... Audio link (game will also archive at this link): www.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp

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Huntsville Site: Stars GM to Take a Leave of Absence The Stars announced Friday that General Manager Tom Van Schaack has taken a leave of absence, effective immediately. Van Schaack, 43, is scheduled to have double by-pass surgery within the next 7-10 days to repair significant blockage to his heart?s main artery. Van Schaack, a native of central New York, will have the medical procedure done in Syracuse, NY. Statement by Tom Van Schaack: ?This has obviously come as quite a surprise to me and my family. I am confident that the operation will be successful and that I will be able to return to my duties with the Stars in the very near future.? Brewerfan.net staff, and I'm sure all Brewer fans, wish Tom a speedy recovery.

Final: Birmingham (White Sox) 6, Huntsville 3 Huntsville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- href="feed.insnews.org/v-cgi/fe...id=2882049 Gonzalez Impressive in Pitching Barons Past Stars Gio Gonzalez struck out 13 hitters over seven innings and Thomas Collaro delivered a two-run double in Birmingham?s three-run first inning en route to a 6-3 triumph over Huntsville Friday night in the second game of a five-game set at Regions Park. The Barons have taken the first two games to improve to 13-9 on the season, while the Stars fell to 9-11 and one game behind victorious Tennessee in the Southern League North Division. Jason Bourgeois opened the home first with a double, advanced to third on a Chris Getz infield single and stayed put when Jeremy West was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Collaro then doubled into center field to drive in two and push West to third, from where he scored on a Chris Kelly sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Stars? starter Manny Parra has been scored on in the first inning in three of his four starts and the Stars have allowed the opposition to score in the first inning in 13 of their 20 games. Gonzalez retired the first six hitters he faced with 20 pitches before Brendan Katin led off the third with an opposite field home run to right-center field, his third of the year. Steve Sollmann drew a one-out walk in the fourth, moved to second base on a Lou Palmisano single and scored to trim the Barons? lead to 3-2 when Steve Moss followed with a double. However, Gonzalez battled back to strike out Mike Carlin and get Katin to ground out to end the threat and keep Birmingham in the lead. Kelly led off the home fourth and reached on a throwing error by Jeff Eure and advanced to second base on a Ricardo Nanita single. Donny Lucy dropped down a sacrifice bunt attempt that was fielded by Parra, who looked to third, couldn?t get the out there and then threw wildly past first base, allowing Kelly to score, Nanita to make it to third and Lucy to move to second base. Nanita would then score on a Bourgeois sacrifice fly. Parra was charged with five runs, four earned, on six hits over six innings and suffered his first loss of the season. Gonzalez struck out the side in three different innings, struck out three different batters three times and registered a punch out in six of his seven innings of work. He allowed five hits and walked one in picking up his fourth win of the season and his third in as many starts at home. Edwardo Sierra got Eure to ground into a game-ending double play to record his first save of the season. The series in Birmingham continues Saturday night with southpaw Adam Pettyjohn taking the hill against Barons? right-hander Jack Egbert. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score: Sollman - Palmisano - Moss a pretty formidable middle of the order right now, not much happening elsewhere; Huntsville's first-inning ERA must be well over 9.00... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_biraax_1 Huntsville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_biraax_1

The press reports out of Omaha make no mention of the reason on Ryan Braun's early exit. We'll try to learn more this AM...

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Brewers Asst. GM Gord Ash (Part 2 of 2): www.nashvillesounds.com/a...204-27.mp3 Final: Omaha (Royals) 6, Nashville 0 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Ryan Braun photo, text follows -- Sounds Held To Four Hits In 6-0 Shutout Loss OMAHA ? Three Omaha pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout as the Nashville Sounds were blanked 6-0 by the division-rival Royals on Friday evening at Rosenblatt Stadium. It was the second shutout loss of the year suffered by Nashville (13-8), which dropped its second straight contest after winning seven in a row. Omaha starter Zach Day (1-0), who earned his first win of the season, allowed one hit over five innings before turning things over to the Royals? bullpen. Jason Shiell followed with three scoreless frames before former Brewer farmhand Roberto Giron kept the Sounds off the scoreboard in the ninth, despite allowing a pair of hits. Omaha broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning, plating a pair of runs against Sounds starter R.A. Dickey. Billy Butler drove in the initial score with a sacrifice fly before Mike Aviles doubled the advantage to 2-0 with a two-out RBI single. The Royals increased the lead to 4-0 in the fifth on a two-run homer to right by third baseman Fernando Cortez. The blast, which came against Dickey, was the infielder?s second of the year. Omaha added a pair of runs against the Nashville bullpen in the following two frames. Steve Bray surrendered a sacrifice fly in the sixth (run charged to Dickey) and Jose Capellan permitted his first run of the year in the seventh as Joey Gathright opened the frame with a triple and scored one batter later on the Royals? third sac fly of the night. The Nashville right-hander had opened the 2007 campaign with 9 1/3 scoreless innings. Sounds third baseman Ryan Braun doubled in his lone plate appearance before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning. It was the prospect?s Pacific Coast League-leading 16th extra-base hit of the season and his ninth double. Sixteen of Braun?s 24 hits on the year have gone for extra bases. Drew Anderson, Callix Crabbe, and Joe Dillon all singled to account for Nashville?s remaining hits on the evening. Dickey (1-3) took his third loss in his first four starts of the season after allowing five runs on six hits over five-plus innings. He walked four batters and struck out two. The teams meet again in the third game of the four-game set at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday evening. Right-hander Tim Dillard (0-1, 3.04) takes the hill for the Sounds in search of his first victory of the season. Omaha will counter with right-hander Matt Wright (2-2, 3.71), who will make his first start of the year. Nashville Expanded Box Score: www.nashvillesounds.com/s...a_omaaaa_1 Nashville Game Log: www.nashvillesounds.com/s...a_omaaaa_1

Here's a tidbit for Jim Powell for tonight's Brewer - Astro affair. Link below to a detailed story on Astros super-prospect Hunter Pence, who will be making his big league debut tonight for the Astros. Pence was a 40th round junior college pick of the Brewers in 2002, but Milwaukee couldn't convince him to sign that summer, and he went to the University of Texas-Arlington, a four-year program, that fall. Pence was then drafted after his junior year in the 2nd round by the Astros, so wise move by him. www.minorleaguebaseball.c...;fext=.jsp By the way, who else was drafted but not signed in that very same 40th round of the 2002 draft? Jon Papelbon by the A's (then drafted by the Red Sox in the 4th round in 2003).

Earlier in the thread, we mentioned the Giants' Augusta club, which is now 18-4 (the Power is 16-3). Rotoworld points out that Augusta is now 18-4, but that's with a total of two players on the roster born in 1986 or later. The Greenville team Augusta beat Thursday has 10 players born after the start of 1986. The first-place team in the SAL Northern division, West Virginia, has 11. Go to the 4 hour, 16 minute mark of the audio archive to listen to Chuckie Caufield's blast and the three-run 17th - be sure you're on the date of the 27th: web.minorleaguebaseball.c.../audio.jsp Chuckie Caufield is 9-for-27 with eight runs scored and six RBIs in his last five games. (Archive Photo courtesy of the Helena Brewers) http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2007/04/28/kUeAz7eH.jpg

Link while active, text follows: www.kentucky.com/271/story/55359.html Prolonged, but yet another loss POWER PREVAIL IN LEGENDS' LONGEST GAME By Mark Maloney MMALONEY@HERALD-LEADER.COM Progress doesn't always equate to proficiency. The Lexington Legends played much better than they had a night earlier. Yet, they still lost the longest game in franchise history, 8-5 in 17 innings to the West Virginia Power. West Virginia extended its club-record winning streak to 14 games and remained unbeaten on the road (5-0). The Power scored an unearned run in the ninth to force extra innings. Chuck Caufield, the first batter to face Cesar Mayora (1-1), led off the 17th with a homer to the right-field deck. Steve Chapman, who hit a grand-slam homer in the fifth inning, tripled in a run in the 17th, then scored on Taylor Green's double. "Just a fastball on the outside part of the plate and I was able to get good wood on it," Caufield said of his first homer of the season. "I was looking for a fastball, something out over the plate." A season-best crowd of 7,078 had dwindled to a few hundred when the game ended after 4 hours, 18 minutes. The Legends, losers of three straight, will try to avoid a series sweep tonight. Lexington has lost six of its past seven and trails West Virginia by 8 1/2 games. "We played better. But we didn't do some things right in the ninth inning," Legends Manager Gregg Langbehn said. "And our inability to get down sacrifice bunts (0-for-3); for that matter, both teams' fundamental baseball wasn't very good. "But they found a way to win and we didn't. Both teams played extremely hard." Legends starter Casey Hudspeth went six innings, his only slip coming in the fifth when two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Chapman. He drove the first pitch onto the right-field deck. "I wasn't looking in by any means, but they did it yesterday, too. They hung a change-up right down the middle, inside a little bit," Chapman said. "If they do that, you've got to try to make them pay for it." Victor Garate threw two scoreless innings in relief, then turned it over to closer Santo Luis in the ninth. With one out, Luis beaned Andrew Lefave. Pinch runner Anderson Delarosa stole second, continuing home when catcher Ralphie Henriquez threw past second, and center fielder Cesar Quintero fired wildly past third. The Legends took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on Chris Johnson's sacrifice fly. Jordan Parraz, who doubled, scored from second on Jimmy Van Ostrand's single to center, just past the infield skin. The Legends regained the lead in the sixth. Johnson reached out to punch a two-run single to right. He scored on Jhon Florentino's two-out single to left. Five Lexington pitchers combined to strike out 17 while walking only one. Those on hand included former Reds General Manager Dan O'Brien, now assistant G.M./director of baseball operations for the Power's parent club, Milwaukee. The Legends had twice played 16-inning games, most recently last July 17. They beat West Virginia in that one, 5-1, on Mitch Einertson's walk-off grand slam.

Injury or call up seem to be the only viable explainations. Could be the flu, stomach virus, if it weren't such a tight Brewer game tonight we'd swing on over to find out...

Final: Brevard County 7, St. Lucie (Mets) 5 Manatees break a 9th inning tie with two runs -- here's how: - Michael Bell singles on a fly ball to left fielder Sean Henry. - Chris Errecart singles on a ground ball to left fielder Sean Henry. Michael Bell to 2nd. - Mat Gamel out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Joseph Serfass to second baseman Ryan Coultas. Michael Bell to 3rd. Chris Errecart to 2nd. - Joseph Serfass intentionally walks Cole Gillespie. - Carlos Corporan singles on a fly ball to left fielder Sean Henry. Michael Bell scores. Chris Errecart to 3rd. Cole Gillespie to 2nd. - Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Charlie Fermaint replaces Carlos Corporan. - Lorenzo Cain grounds into a force out, second baseman Ryan Coultas to shortstop Jose Castro. Chris Errecart scores. Cole Gillespie to 3rd. Charlie Fermaint out at 2nd. Lorenzo Cain to 1st. - Freddy Parejo grounds into a force out, third baseman Dan Murphy to second baseman Ryan Coultas. Lorenzo Cain out at 2nd. Brevard County Box Score: LHP Derek Miller pitches into the 8th; Mike Bell with a HR and scores three times; this 2007 version of Carlos Corporan is insane, 3-for-4 tonight... web.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503 Brevard County Game Log: web.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_sluafa_1