Jim Goulart

West Virginia Site Game Summary: Power come from behind and score six unanswered again For the second time in as many games, the West Virginia Power scored six unanswered runs to beat the Lakewood BlueClaws at Appalachian Power Park. The Power rallied from an 8-4 deficit and beat the BlueClaws 10-8 on Monday night. The scoring started in the bottom of the first inning on Mat Gamel?s grand slam. It was his eighth homer of the season and it gave the Power an early 4-0 lead. In the second inning Welinson Baez knocked a run in on a single and then two runs scored on Greg Golson?s single. Lakewood scored five times in the top of the third inning to take the lead. Cooper Osteen began the inning with a double and scored the first run of the inning on Mike Bell?s fielding error. Baez knocked in the second run on an RBI single and Fidel Hernandez walked with the bases loaded to bring in the next run. Golson reached on a fielder?s choice which scored Lou Marson, and a throwing error by Ryan Crew allowed Baez to score on the play to complete the five-run frame. The comeback began in the bottom of the fourth inning. Ned Yost and Brad Willcutt scored on Michael Brantley?s double and Angel Salome knocked in the final run of the inning on a groundout. In the seventh, Tony Festa tied the game with a pinch-hit RBI single. Salome gave the Power the lead on an RBI single in the eighth inning and Gamel provided the Power with insurance on an RBI base hit later in the inning. Though he did not factor into the decision, Patrick Ryan pitched four and two thirds scoreless innings out of the bullpen and at one point retired 11 straight batters. Dane Renkert (5-2) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win, and Andy Barb (2-2) obtained the loss. The Power are 26-23 after the win and the BlueClaws fell to 26-24 with the loss. The Power will finish the four game series against the BlueClaws Tuesday night. Lakewood will start left hander Zach Cline (0-0, 0.00) and the Power will counter with left hander Derek Miller (5-1, 2.70). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

At least Davis is keeping his 2007 arbitration number way down...

No one comments on Chris Mabeus' deer-in-the-headlights 8th inning, with at least a half-dozen Rick Ankiel-style backstop tosses? Hey, at least he got through his debut inning in the 7th...

Beat me by two minutes, molitor fan http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Final: West Virginia 10, Lakewood (Phillies) 8 West Virginia site summary with details later on... It's a shame Will Inman wasn't available for this matchup vs. Lakewood starter Josh Outman -- what a great belly-button promotion of some sort they could have had at Appalachian Power Park tonight... West Virginia Box Score: Like with Nashville tonight, stellar work by the bullpen -- Patrick Ryan needs to sneak into the rotation, and 24-year-old closer Dane Renkert needs to move up; second straight night it's six unanswered runs to win it; Mat Gamel's first-inning grand slam was quickly given back by a struggling Kevin Roberts; Ned Yost on base four times; Tony Festa's pinch hit single was huge to tie things in the 7th, and it was Angel Salome (again) in the 8th with the go-ahead knock... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1 West Virginia Game Log: Not to ruin the fun, but this is a horrific defensive team... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

Adam McCalvy of MLB.com: Prospect suspended: Minor League infielder Hernan Iribarren was ejected from a game Saturday for using a corked bat and was immediately suspended. Iribarren is batting .287 with a home run and 24 RBIs in 44 games at Class A Brevard County. Brewers farm director Reid Nichols was at the game, a 10-9, extra-inning win, in which Iribarren was ejected in the sixth inning. Iribarren has not played since, and Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said the team was waiting for a ruling from the Florida State League office on the length of Iribarren's suspension. "I haven't heard the full story, whether he knew about the bat or not," Melvin said. "We'll talk over the next few days and collect all the facts." Iribarren, 21, originally signed with Milwaukee as a non-drafted free agent in March 2002. He played in last year's All-Star Futures Game at Detroit's Comerica Park.

In progress: Lakewood (Phillies) 8, West Virginia 8, bottom of the 8th in West Virginia Well, the big boys are done tonight (mercifully), so no reason you can't jump on board and join this wild one in progress...

Link while active, text follows: www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...006052916/ Salome gets hero's welcome after game-winning homer Jacob Messer Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter Ready to begin their postgame meeting, his coaches and teammates had been waiting about 15 minutes when Angel Salome finally sprinted into the clubhouse Sunday. The wait would have been longer if they hadn't sent strength coach Tom Reynolds to hurry him off the field. In his defense, they should forgive Salome for his punctuality -- or lack thereof. He had autographs to sign and congratulations to accept after his walk-off double capped a six-run comeback in the West Virginia Power's 7-6 win over the Lakewood BlueClaws. "There he is," Reynolds said as Salome entered the room. "The hero." Indeed, Salome, the designated hitter with Superman strength and Popeye arms, saved the day for the Power. "I'm not a hero," Salome said, "but I did something good for the team today." It was the perfect situation for the perfect player. Salome was hitless in his first four at-bats against the BlueClaws (26-23), including a crucial one in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Power (25-23) trailed by three runs and had two runners in scoring position with no outs in that frame, but reliever Michael Zagurski struck out Salome. The Power scored two runs before his strikeout and added another one after it to pull within two runs, 6-4, but Salome believed he cost his team a chance to win the game and he didn't want to do it again. Needless to say, that at-bat was on his mind when Salome stepped to the plate in the ninth. The Power trailed by two runs and had the bases loaded with one out. This time, however, Salome smacked closer Patrick Overholt's 2-1 delivery -- a fastball down the middle -- over centerfielder Gregory Golson's head. "I was ready for that," Salome said. "I wanted to be in that situation. I wanted to take care of the team. I just tried to do my best but not too much. I knew we only needed two runs to tie the game. I was trying to drive the ball the other way. Thank God, that's what I did. I thought the ball was gone, to be honest with you." It wasn't a homer, but it was good enough. Nate Yoho and Darren Ford easily scored from third and second, respectively. Everyone in Appalachian Power Park, where a crowd of 2,771 fans watched the South Atlantic League game, knew that would happen. The only question was whether Michael Brantley would score from first. "When I hit second, I knew I had to turn it on because the outfielder was right next to the ball," Brantley said. "When I came around third, I had about 15 of my teammates running out of the dugout and yelling, ?Get down!' and ?Slide!' There was a lot of emotion. It was awesome." With most of his teammates waiting outside of the home dugout, Brantley slid under catcher Aaron Cheesman's tag to complete the Power's come-from-behind victory. Manager Mike Guerrero sprinted down the third-base line after he waved Brantley around the bag. The 38-year-old coach almost beat the 19-year-old player to the plate. "Hey," Guerrero said with a smile, "I used to run pretty good." Guerrero, who hopped in the air and pumped his arms after the umpire signaled safe, said the decision to send Brantley was an easy one. "That was the opportunity we needed, and we took advantage of it," Guerrero said. "I was thinking, ?I'm not going to wait for another clutch hit when we have a chance to win it right now.' When I saw that ball, I was thinking, ?For sure we have to score from first base.' I'm glad we had the speed on the bases at that time." The victory over the BlueClaws was an important one for the Power -- or at least as important as a win can be at this point in the season. West Virginia had lost four of its past five games, including three in its four-game series at Kannapolis. "This is a great feeling," Brantley said, "and we need it right now." West Virginia and Lakewood continue their series tonight at 7:05. The Power will start right-hander Kevin Roberts (2-6, 4.66), while the BlueClaws will counter with left-hander Josh Outman (1-4, 3.67).

Huntsville Press Relesase: Link for Andy Pratt photo, text follows -- www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=854 The Milwaukee Brewers have returned right-hand pitcher Carlos Villanueva to Huntsville and released left-hand pitcher Andy Pratt. The Stars will have Villanueva in uniform for Monday?s game against West Tenn and he is expected to make his next start on Wednesday night. Villanueva was promoted to Milwaukee last Monday and made one appearance for the Brewers, tossing a scoreless inning in relief on Tuesday at Cincinnati. He is 4-3 with a 3.52 earned run average in eight starts for Huntsville, including a complete-game, one-hit shutout over Tennessee on May 13. Pratt made 16 appearances in relief with the Stars, going 1-2 with a 5.64 earned run average. He suffered the loss in his last outing on Thursday night, giving up two runs with two outs in the eighth inning of a 5-2 defeat to Jacksonville. Pratt was 0-1 with two saves and a 2.96 ERA in 21 appearances with Huntsville last season. ***Pratt, 26, had been acquired in September 2004 from the Cubs for Ben Grieve. After leading the International League in strikeouts while posting a 3.40 ERA in 28 games with Richmond (Braves organization) in 2003, Pratt struggled for the most part. He did get two cups of coffee in the bigs (one game with Atlanta in 2002, four games with the Cubs in 2004).

Final: West Tenn (Cubs) 3, Huntsville 2 Huntsville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=855 Seventh Inning Rally Stings Stars Nic Jackson doubled home the winning run with two outs to cap a three-run seventh inning rally, as West Tenn came from behind to defeat Huntsville 3-2 Monday afternoon in the second game of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Diamond Jaxx won their second straight game to improve to 30-22 and move to within three games of North Division leading Chattanooga, which fell to Mississippi, while the Stars lost a franchise-record eleventh game in a row to fall to 20-31. Huntsville also established another franchise record with a tenth consecutive loss at home. The Stars have not won at home since defeating Montgomery 4-1 on May 7. Russ Rohlicek opened the seventh inning by walking Adam Greenberg and Carlos Rojas and the two runners executed a double steal with pinch-hitter Richard Lewis at the plate. Lewis walked to load the bases and Chris Walker followed by grounding into a double play to plate Greenberg to cut the Stars lead to 2-1 and move Rojas to third base. Gary Cates hit what looked to be a routine, inning ending ground ball but shortstop Ozzie Chavez had it go off his glove, through his legs into left field to allow Rojas to score to tie the game. With Cates breaking on a 1-1 pitch, Jackson clubbed a fly ball that landed over the head of center fielder Steve Moss to allow Cates to cross the plate with the go-ahead run. It was Jackson?s seventh RBI with the Jaxx and his second of the series. Thomas Atleee tossed shutout relief in the seventh and eighth innings and Clay Rapada retired the side in order in the ninth to preserve the win and earn his 15th save of the season to match David Shafer of Chattanooga for the league lead. Carmen Pignatiello went 2 1/3 scoreless innings behind starter Carlos Marmol, who was lifted with two outs in the bottom of the fourth after a 49 minute rain delay, to pick up his first win. Callix Crabbe and Drew Anderson put together back-to-back doubles with two outs in the third to produce Huntsville?s first run and Lou Palmisano belted a solo home run, his third of the season, to push the lead to 2-0. It was Palmisano?s first run batted in since his game-winning two-out, two-run single in the tenth inning at Tennessee on May 14. Tim Dillard threw five scoreless innings, allowing six hits and striking out two. He remains winless at home and has not won since April 17 at Montgomery. Rohlicek suffered the loss and allowed more than one run in an appearance for the first time. The series continues on Tuesday night with right-hander Travis Phelps taking the hill for Huntsville against Diamond Jaxx southpaw Chris Shaver. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on ESPN Radio 1450 AM and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score: When backup catcher J.C. Boscan is the pinch-hit choice down a run in the 9th, you know your team is in trouble (Travis Ezi and Guilder Rodriguez were other choices on an anemic bench); Stars outhit, 11-5; the rain delay contributed to Tim Dillard's (brief) five-inning stint... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 Huntsville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

Final: Nashville 5, Iowa (Cubs) 4 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Brent Abernathy photo, text follows -- www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1977 Sounds End Road Trip With 5-4 Win In Iowa DES MOINES ? Milko Jaramillo?s RBI single capped a three-run eighth inning as the Nashville Sounds rallied for a 5-4 win over the division-rival Iowa Cubs in the finale of a four-game series on Monday afternoon at Principal Park. The Sounds (28-23) trailed 4-2 before loading the bases with nobody out in the eighth. Brent Abernathy, who started the inning with a single, came home on Mike Rivera?s sacrifice fly before Cubs reliever Andy Shipman balked in the tying run. Jaramillo followed with a single to right, putting Nashville in front for good as it held on to snap a three-game losing streak and avoid a series sweep. AUDIO: Jaramillo Go-Ahead RBI Single -- www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-29.wma Chris Demaria (1-0) worked a scoreless seventh to pick up the win for the Sounds, and Allan Simpson registered the final four outs for his team-leading fourth save of the year. Iowa outfielder Michael Restovich hit a two-run homer, his eighth longball of the season and fourth roundtripper of the four-game series, and Buck Coats drove in two more with a single during the Cubs? four-run fourth inning against Nashville starter Zach Jackson, who lasted only three innings and surrendered more than three runs for the first time in 10 starts this season. The Sounds halved the Iowa lead to 4-2 in the sixth with a pair of runs against Cubs starter Angel Guzman. Brad Nelson drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Tony Gwynn (3-for-5) with the first Nashville run and Rivera followed with his first of two sacrifice flies on the afternoon. Shipman (0-2) blew a save for Iowa and took the loss by surrendering three runs on four hits in 1 1/3 frames. Abernathy continued his strong May with a 3-for-4 effort and is now batting .365 in the month. The Sounds and Cubs both travel to Nashville on Tuesday and will open their final four-game series of the year with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Greer Stadium. Right-hander Ben Hendrickson (2-0, 2.08) mans the bump for the Sounds in the series opener to face Iowa left-hander Rich Hill (1-1, 2.93). Nashville Box Score: What a bullpen effort -- six shutout innings led by RHP Mike Meyers... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_iowaaa_1 Nashville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_iowaaa_1

Final: West Tenn (Cubs) 3, Huntsville 2 Eleven losses in a row -- details later tonight... Final: Nashville 5, Iowa (Cubs) 4 Details later...

Stars have lost another late-inning two-run lead; 3-2 West Tenn, top of the 9th in Huntsville...

Brewerfan has learned that Brevard County second baseman (and 40-man roster player) Hernan Iribarren has been suspended by the Florida State League for using a corked bat in Saturday night's victory over Daytona at Space Coast Stadium in Viera (Brevard). Because this occurred over a weekend, the FSL office has yet to determine the length of his suspension. We are expecting to be able to link to pictures of the incident over the next day or two. While the game log (6th / 7th inning), linked here, officially notes that "Hernan Iribarren grounds out to catcher Jake Fox" with two outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd, apparently the incident cost the Manatees two runs at the time, meaning likley it was a base hit taken away and score "2-unassisted". www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 We will post more as it becomes available.

Daytona Cubs site: Still Searching Gallardo leads the way, Manatees improve to 6-0 verses Cubs by: Daytona Cubs Administration [VIERA, FL] The Daytona Cubs (25-25) still have not found an answer to the Brevard County Manatees (26-23). A night after losing a seven-run lead and falling 10-9 in 12 innings, the Cubs were shutout by the Manatees 4-0 at Space Coast Stadium. Daytona starter Carlos Perez (0-2) managed to escape trouble early in the ballgame, but was not so lucky in the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Braun and C.J. Medlin each had singles to lead off the inning. Carlos Corporan dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third, and Josh Murray hit a sacrifice fly to score Braun with the first run of the game that put Brevard County up 1-0. The Manatees tacked on a pair of runs in the fifth. Charlie Fermaint hit a one-out home run to left, and Steve Sollman, Brendan Katin, and Braun had back-to-back-to-back base hits with two outs to increase the lead to 3-0. Sollman added an RBI single in the seventh to complete the scoring. The run support was more than enough for Manatee starter Yovani Gallardo (5-3) who combined with reliever Robert Hinton on a six-hit shutout. Gallardo went seven and two-thirds innings striking out ten Daytona Cub batters. He has allowed just one run in 13 and two-thirds innings pitched in two starts against Daytona this season. The Cubs fell a game-and-a-half back of the Manatees with the loss and three-and-a-half back of the St. Lucie Mets for the division lead after St. Lucie?s 3-2 extra-inning win over the Vero Beach Dodgers. Daytona will be off for Memorial Day, but will resume its series with Brevard County on Tuesday. Justin Berg (2-4) will take the mound for the Cubs hoping to get them back into the win column. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM (6:00 Central) from Space Coast Stadium.

Standings through Sunday's action: Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 27 23 .540 - 16-8 11-15 L3[/b] Iowa 22 26 .458 4.0 12-12 10-14 W3 Omaha 19 31 .380 8.0 12-14 7-17 L3 Memphis 18 31 .367 8.5 11-13 7-18 W3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 33 18 .647 - 20-6 13-12 W1 West Tenn 29 22 .569 4.0 12-13 17-9 W1 Carolina 25 26 .490 8.0 15-10 10-16 L1 Tennessee 24 27 .471 9.0 15-11 9-16 W3 [b]Huntsville 20 30 .400 12.5 9-16 11-14 L10[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 28 21 .571 - 14-13 14-8 W3 [b]Brevard County 26 23 .531 2.0 12-10 14-13 W2[/b] Daytona 25 25 .500 3.5 15-10 10-15 L2 Palm Beach 24 25 .490 4.0 11-13 13-12 L1 Jupiter 21 28 .429 7.0 10-15 11-13 W1 Vero Beach 19 31 .380 9.5 11-14 8-17 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delmarva 30 18 .625 - 16-9 14-9 L1 Lexington 30 19 .612 0.5 18-9 12-10 W1 Greensboro 27 22 .551 3.5 19-8 8-14 W1 Lakewood 26 23 .531 4.5 14-9 12-14 L1 [b]West Virginia 25 23 .521 5.0 14-11 11-12 W1[/b] Lake County 23 27 .460 8.0 12-13 11-14 L1 Hickory 20 27 .426 9.5 10-11 10-16 W2 Hagerstown 18 31 .367 12.5 9-11 9-20 L6

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds and/or Huntsville Stars are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated an hour or two prior to gametime: Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format): www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf Following Nashville's lead, Huntsville now makes its media notes available as well, nice: www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

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". Activate the Nashville Gameday. For the other links, 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. It's sweet! Nashville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_iowaaa_1 Huntsville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 West Virginia: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

Monday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP Zach Jackson at Iowa (Cubs), 12:45 PM pre-game, 1:05 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: RHP Tim Dillard at home vs. West Tenn (Cubs), 1:50 PM pre-game, 2:05 gametime Audio link: www.espn1450.com/ Brevard County: Idle West Virginia: RHP Kevin Roberts at home vs. Lakewood (Phillies), 5:55 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime Audio link: www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

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Link while active, text follows: www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1 Stars set dubious club mark Huntsville drops 10th straight in 6-2 loss to West Tenn By SKIP VAUGHN For The Huntsville Times, skipv@htimes.com Watching television in his office before Sunday's game against West Tenn, Huntsville Stars manager Don Money saw Barry Bonds hit his 715th career homer. It seemed appropriate that the subject of hitting should come up. The Stars haven't been doing much of that lately. They entered Sunday's game with a team batting average of .223. "(We need to) swing the bats, get some more hits," Money said of the key to snapping a nine-game losing streak. "When we get the opportunities, (we need to) get some runs in. "It's not like we haven't been getting chances, we just can't get the big hits when we really need them." The Stars squandered a 2-0 lead and lost 6-2 to West Tenn before an announced crowd of 1,555 at Joe Davis Stadium for their 10th straight loss, a franchise record. The Diamond Jaxx scored all six of their runs in the eighth. "We played well up until the eighth inning," Money said. Stars starter Corey Thurman pitched six shutout innings and struck out 11. He gave up four hits and two walks before leaving after reaching his pitch limit. "It was just an outstanding job by him," Huntsville pitching coach Rich Sauveur said. But the Stars were outhit 9-6 and their bullpen struggled late. "We can't expect to win a game with six hits," Stars hitting coach Sandy Guerrero said. "And three of those were by one guy (Greg Sain)." Huntsville (20-30) opened the scoring in the fourth when Sain singled up the middle off West Tenn's J.R. Mathes, bringing home Steve Moss from second. Moss had walked with one out and advanced to second when Drew Anderson was hit by a pitch. The Stars went up 2-0 when Sain doubled with two outs in the sixth and scored on Adam Heether's single. West Tenn (29-22) scored six runs in the eighth against the Stars bullpen. Chris Walker got a leadoff triple off Stephen Bray and scored on Eric Patterson's single. Patterson advanced to third on Bray's errant pickoff throw to first and scored on Nic Jackson's hit. After a walk to Brandon Sing, Matt Smith entered. After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk, he allowed a grand slam to Miguel Negron. Diamond Jaxx reliever Paul Schappert (3-0) got the win and Bray (4-2) took the loss. "We've been struggling swinging the bats for the last 10 games," West Tenn manager Pat Listach said. Huntsville second baseman Callix Crabbe, who had one hit, expects his team to persevere. "We've just got to keep battling," Crabbe said. "Tomorrow's another day."

Is there someone out there that can ask Mr Reid Nicholls if help is on the way for Hunstville? Remember that despite an anemic offense, this team was at .500 before the losing streak (20-20), mainly by playing sound defensive ball. The Brewers saw a talent gap at AA this offseason and took steps to fortify it. Greg Sain (trade for PTBNL) provided power early, but his 3-for-4 night tonight lifts his average to .175. Matt Yeatman was acquired (again, a PTBNL). RHP Matt Smith (again, a PTBNL) has been dreadful. Corey Thurman was a surprise AA assignment. Joe Winkelsas was assigned to AA specifically to provide a veteran who could close. They brought in OF Ron Acuna, who, at age 26, was worth taking a look at. Travis Phelps is about as solid an indy ball signing as you're going to see. Getting Carlos Villanueva back won't hurt. So I guess the question is, how did this gap get so wide at this level? The jump from high-A to AA is probably second only to that of AAA to MLB. WestCoastBrewer, I'm guessing you're a big fan, friend, or family member of one of the Manatees, and that's cool. But the Brewers want to develop a winning attitude when possible, and won't break up that group until they go through a stretch of playing for a mid-season division title. And they don't want to kick off promotions that set off chain reaction moves from West Virginia and Helena below that. The Stars players are big boys, they need to tough it out for now and show the organization something.

Final: West Tenn (Cubs) 6, Huntsville 2 Huntsville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=853 Stars Lose in Grand Fashion Miguel Negron?s grand slam capped a six-run eighth inning rally that led West Tenn to a 6-2 come from behind win over Huntsville Sunday evening in the opener of a five-game series at Joe Davis Stadium. The Diamond Jaxx stopped a two-game slide to improve to 29-22 and remain four games behind victorious Chattanooga in the North Division, while the Stars lost a franchise-record tenth game in a row to fall to 20-30. Huntsville also tied a franchise record, set in 1988, with a ninth consecutive loss at home. Chris Walker opened the eighth inning with a triple and scored the visitor's first run on a base hit by Eric Patterson when Travis Ezi could not make a sliding catch on a sinking line drive. Patterson advanced to third base on an errant pickoff throw by pitcher Steve Bray and scored to tie the game at two on a high chopping base hit over a drawn in infield by Nic Jackson. Brandon Sing walked and Bray was replaced by Matt Smith, making his fifth appearance with Huntsville. Scott Moore dropped down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners and Adam Greenberg was walked intentionally to load the bases. Negron, released 10 days ago by Toronto, belted a 1-2 offering by Smith over the wall in right field for his first runs batted in since joining the Diamond Jaxx a week ago. The six-run surge marked the second time the Stars have allowed a half dozen runs in an inning, both at home and both in 6-2 losses. Callix Crabbe and pinch-hitter Jeff Eure singled to open the bottom of the ninth but Clay Rapada retired the next three hitters to end the game. Paul Schappert earned his third win, and second over the Stars, by retiring all four hitters he faced. Corey Thurman tossed six scoreless innings in his first start with the Stars since May 9 and struck out a season-high 11. He allowed three singles, walked two and did not allow a runner past second base. The veteran right-hander ended the first four frames with a punch out and struck out two hitters in every inning but the fourth. Greg Sain singled home Steve Moss to give the Stars a 1-0 lead in the fourth and scored on a two-out single by Adam Heether in the sixth inning to make it 2-0. The Stars have been held to two runs or fewer in seven of the games during the losing streak and have totaled only 18 runs in the 10 games. The series continues on Monday afternoon with right-hander Tim Dillard taking the hill for Huntsville against Diamond Jaxx right-hander Carlos Marmol. Coverage of the game begins at 1:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on ESPN Radio 1450 AM and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score: Golden sombrero (four K's) for Travis Ezi -- he has two sombreros this homestand; the teams combined for 24 K's... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 Huntsville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

Barring a miracle, a six-run Diamond Jaxx 8th inning has doomed the Stars to their 10th straight loss, a franchise record -- 6-2, Stars down, capped by a grand slam a few moments ago. Unbelievable -- actually, believable, but sad...

In progress: Huntsville 1, West Tenn (Cubs) 0, bottom of the 6th in Huntsville I've enjoyed listening to Corey Thurman strike out 11 (!) batters over the first six innings; the Stars have only one hit through five -- a Greg Sain RBI single, so the bats remain nearly silent; this run better hold up...