Jim Goulart

Monday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Mike Meyers at home vs. Portland (Padres), 5:40 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: Idle Brevard County: RHP Mark Rogers at home vs. Sarasota (Reds), 6:00 PM; sorry, no audio for this series West Virginia: RHP Matt Kretzschmar at home vs. Greenville (Red Sox), 9:25 AM pre-game, 9:35 gametime Audio link: www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

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Made 30 or so updates in the Alumni post tonight, added two independent leagues that have begun play, added Enrique Cruz to the Texas section, and Junior Spivey still struggling...

Final: Brevard County 9, Sarasota (Reds) 4 Brevard County Site Game Summary: Hammond clips Sarasota Steven Hammond hurled eight strong innings to lead the Manatees over the visiting Reds, 9-4, on Sunday. Hammond (4-2) gave up three unearned runs on two hits, striking out seven and without issuing a walk. Josh Alliston pitched the ninth, giving up a double and a run. Brevard County (22-20) scored in the final four frames. Brendan Katin slugged four hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs. C.J. Medlin, Freddy Parejo, Hernan Iribarren, Charlie Fermaint, and Steven Sollmann each had two hits. Sollmann had two RBIs. Brandon Roberts went 2-for-4 with a double and scored twice for Sarasota (18-25). Paul Janish added two runs. Starter James Avery (2-2) lasted 5 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits, while striking out five and walking one. -- Jeannine Rippa/MLB.com Brevard County Box Score: Brendan Katin now with 19 doubles, on his way to an All-Star season... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 Brevard County Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

Final: Chattanooga (Reds) 4, Huntsville 1 Huntsville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- Varner Vexes Stars, Again Travis Chick worked six strong innings and received offensive and defensive support from Noochie Varner in pitching Chattanooga past Huntsville 4-1 Sunday afternoon at BellSouth Park. The Lookouts won the last four games of the series to improve to 29-16 overall and lengthened their lead to three games over West Tenn, who fell to Mobile, while the Stars suffered a fourth consecutive defeat for a second time this month and slipped to 20-24. The Stars finished their 10-game road trip with three wins and seven losses and lost their third straight series away from home after winning their first two. Stars? starter Jeff Housman yielded second inning singles to Rick Asadoorian with one out and to Chick with two outs and walked Luis Bolivar to load the bases before hitting Javier Colina on a 3-2 pitch to force in the game?s first run. He struck out Joey Votto to end the inning. The Stars tied the game in the fourth when Drew Anderson doubled to lead off, moved to third on an Adam Heether ground out and came plateward on a two-out single by Ron Acuna. Housman was lifted after four innings in his first start since April 24 and departed having yielded a single run on four hits and a pair of walks. He struck out five and was followed on the hill by Matt Smith, making his second relief outing of the series. Joey Votto doubled with one out in the fifth, advanced to third on an opposite field double to right by Aaron Herr and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Varner, who went hitless in two official at-bats and lost an eight-game hit streak. Chick matched his longest outing of the year and won for the first time since April 22 after allowing a run on five hits. He struck out three and walked two in his seventh start against the Stars in the last two seasons. Chattanooga tacked on two runs against Smith in the seventh on a run-scoring double by Votto, who drove in five in the series, and another sacrifice fly by Varner, who knocked in nine in the five-game set. Carlos Guevera walked Callix Crabbe to lead off the eighth inning and Drew Anderson with two outs before a Heether grounder could not be fielded by Herr at third base, allowing the visitors to load the bases. Lou Palmisano then sent a charge into a 2-1 pitch and Varner went back and to his right to track down the fly ball with a running catch for the final out of the inning. David Shafer retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his league-best 13th save in 13 opportunities. The Stars will be off Monday and open a five-game set at home Tuesday night against the Jacksonville Suns. The Stars send right-hander Carlos Villanueva to the mound against Suns? right-hander Justin Orenduff. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard on ESPN Radio 1450 AM locally and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score: Same old story -- getting pretty old, and it's only May... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1 Huntsville Game Log: Unusual force out of Steve Moss in the top of the 1st; www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

Final: Nashville 10, Tacoma (Rainiers) 1 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1962 Sounds Take Third Straight From Tacoma, 10-1 NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The Sounds pounded out 12 hits, including six for extra bases, to win the finale of their four-game series against the Tacoma Rainiers by a 10-1 count on Sunday afternoon in front of 6,475 fans at Greer Stadium. Nelson Cruz led the way with a 3-for-4 afternoon that included his 10th home run of the season and a season-best five RBIs, which matched an April 30th Corey Hart effort for most runs driven by a Sounds in a single game this year and moved him into the PCL lead with 35 RBIs on the season. Cruz finished a triple short of the cycle. Everything was going right for the Sounds and nothing was going right for the Rainiers, it seemed. The Sounds had three players ? Cruz, Tony Gwynn, and Vinny Rottino ? with multiple hits on the day and the Sounds pitching staff was able to hold the Rainiers to one run on five hits. The Rainiers committed four errors, which resulted in three unearned runs for the Sounds. The Sounds took a first-inning lead courtesy of another home run off the bat of Cruz. The first three batters of the inning reached base safely against Tacoma starter Cesar Jimenez, setting up the bases-clearing Cruz home run. Cruz was credited with only a three-run homer because Brent Abernathy was called out at home after he passed Dave Krynzel on the basepaths. Cruz?s home run was his second in two days and moved him into a three-way tie for second-most roundtrippers in the PCL. Nashville struck again in the second, putting two more runs on the board. Kennard Bibbs started the inning off with an infield single and scored later in the frame when Cruz hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track. Gwynn scored during the next at-bat on a throwing error by Rainiers first baseman Todd Sears, who had three errors on the day. The Rainiers had their only offensive showing of the day in the top half of the third. Adam Jones scored on a Gregg Dobbs RBI single against Nashville starter Dennis Sarfate. The Rainiers were held to five hits on the day courtesy of four players. The Sounds offense never let up as they recorded runs in every inning except the 3rd and 5th inning. Gwynn (3-for-3 with two walks) added a run in sixth with a solo home run, which marked his second of the year, and an RBI single in the seventh. AUDIO: Tony Gwynn's 2nd HR Of Year -- www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-21.wma Abernathy, who joined Gwynn in reaching base in each of his five plate appearances, closed out the Nashville scoring in the eighth with a leadoff solo homer off Mike Nannini, his second longball of the year. Sarfate (2-1) threw five innings and allowed one run on four hits en route to picking up his second win of the season. The Sounds used four different pitchers to close out the game. Mike Adams, Alec Zumwalt, Mitch Stetter, and Brett Evert, each of whom threw a scoreless frame. Adams was the only one of the four to allow a hit. Jimenez (0-4) took the loss and remained winless on the season after going 2 1/3 innings and allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits. Rottino finished 2-for-5 to extend his season-best hitting streak to six games, which is the longest active streak among Sounds players. The Sounds continue their homestand on Monday evening when they start a four-game series against the Portland Beavers. The Sounds will give the ball to right-hander Mike Meyers (1-2, 4.15) in the 6 p.m. series opener and the Beavers will counter with right-hander Seth Etherton (1-2, 4.53). The four-game series is the only time during the regular season the two teams will face each other. Nashville Box Score: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1 Nashville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Pitcher Jared Fernandez: www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-21.wma

West Virginia Site Game Summary: Power winning streak snapped at three After tying their season long winning streak with a 13-4 win on Saturday night, the Power fell hard to the Greenville Drive by the final of 12-1 at Appalachian Power Park on Sunday afternoon. In the top of the first Dustin Kelly ripped a one-out double, got to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly from Yahmed Yema. The Power tied the game in the bottom of the second on Mike Bell?s solo home run. Greenville scored three times in the third inning on a two-run single from Jeff Natale and an RBI base hit from Mark Wagner. The Drive pulled away in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs on four hits. Christian Lara knocked in the first run on an RBI single, Bubba Bell plated the second run on an RBI groundout, Natale knocked in two more on a single and Wagner cleared the bases with a three-run homer to finish the scoring in the seven run frame. Greenville added another run in the seventh inning on an RBI double by Kelly. Mike Rozier (3-1) earned the victory, and Will Inman (3-1) obtained the loss. The Power are 22-19 after the loss and the Drive improved to 22-21 with the win. Attendance for the game was 3,166. The Power will finish the four game series against Greenville on Monday morning. Greenville will start right hander Mike Bowden (2-1, 4.50) and West Virginia will counter with right hander Matt Kretzschmar (0-1, 7.94). The first pitch is scheduled for 10:35 AM (9:35 AM Central).

Congratulations to Chris Coste, finally a big leaguer, called up to Philadelphia today. I'm sure we'll see stories on this later on...

Final: Greenville (Red Sox) 12, West Virginia 1 Well, it's been a while, this was overdue -- it happens... West Virginia Box Score: Five more errors; Patrick Ryan did Robbie Wooley's ERA no favors in terms of inherited runners; Mike Bell's HR accounts for the lone run... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1 West Virginia Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

Link while active, text follows: www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1 Covering the bases (through Friday's action) Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times Last in homers, last in hitting - and still somehow hanging around the .500 mark. The punchless Huntsville Stars have a team average of .226 (through Friday night) and have only 17 homers. Their 151 runs scored is fewer than anyone in the Southern League except Mississippi. Credit better defense than a year ago and relatively solid pitching. If Milwaukee doesn't poach too much more from the pitching staff, don't be stunned if the young hitters make sufficient adjustment at the plate to produce a second-half pennant run, especially because the league talent level seems to be down somewhat from last year. ... Ah, another one that got away. While Huntsville's outfield is batting a combined .249, former Stars outfielder Noochie Varner is making things miserable on his old team. Going into Saturday's game, Varner had driven in five runs in three games against Huntsville, including two RBIs in Friday's win. He is batting .300 on the season. ... Shortstop Ozzie Chavez was batting a team-high .272 after Friday. Eighteen players in the league have higher averages. ... Ex-Star Corey Hart was promoted back to Milwaukee on Wednesday. His place in Nashville was filled by Kennard Bibbs, and Travis Ezi was promoted from Brevard County to Huntsville. Hart hit .320 and had 11 stolen bases in 25 games at Nashville. He's taking the place of J.J. Hardy, out as long as six weeks with a severe ankle sprain. ... Bill Hall, still another former Huntsville player, moves to short full-time. Chris Barnwell is the Triple-A shortstop and the Brewers have considered him little more than a utility player; a week ago, they traded Enrique Cruz to Texas. ... An update on Bucky Jacobsen, one of the most popular Stars ever. After a meteoric month in the majors with Seattle late in 2004, he is playing for the Long Island Ducks in the indepedent Atlantic League, batting .259 with two homers and nine RBIs in 16 games. Andy High, Lance Burkhart, Jose Ortiz and Ryan Costello are among other former Huntsville players in that league. Around the league The Jacksonville Suns, who drew 9,122 on Thursday and 10,640 Friday, were expected to shatter their four-game attendance record this week. The previous mark was 35,881. In comparison, the Stars have drawn 40,481 this season in 17 dates. ... With West Tenn averaging only 1,632, there has to be continuing concern about the future of pro baseball in Jackson, Tenn. ... Fernando Valenzuela Jr. was released last week by San Diego. He was batting only .169 with seven RBIs and only two extra bases hits in 28 games for Mobile. ... West Tenn's Luis Montanez (.533, five doubles, 10 RBIs for the week) and Birmingham's Lance Broadway (1-0, no earned runs in two starts) are the most recent BC Powder Southern League pitcher and player of the week. Brewings Triple-A Nashville Sounds (23-18 before Saturday's play, first place in Pacific Coast League American Division): SS Chris Barnwell .338, with a streak of reaching base in 29 consecutive games having ended Monday. Single-A Brevard County Manatees (20-20, third in Florida State East Division): 3B Ryan Braun 5 HR, 24 RBIs, .299. Single-A West Virginia Power (21-18 third in South Atlantic League Northern Division): P Dane Renkert 4-1, 1.61 ERA, 2 saves in 13 relief appearances. On deck The Stars end their series at Chattanooga today at 1:15, then are off Monday. Jacksonville and West Tenn, the 2005 Southern League championship finalists, visit Huntsville over the next 10 days in a pair of five-game series. Wednesday is another 12:05 p.m. Business Persons Special. Watch for Jacksonville third baseman Andy LaRoche, the Dodgers' No. 2-ranked prospect and the younger brother of Braves' first baseman Adam LaRoche.

Standings through Saturday's action: Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 24 18 .571 - 13-6 11-12 W2[/b] Omaha 18 23 .439 5.5 11-11 7-12 W1 Iowa 17 23 .425 6.0 9-12 8-11 L1 Memphis 13 27 .325 10.0 9-10 4-17 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 28 16 .636 - 18-6 10-10 W3 West Tenn 26 18 .591 2.0 10-9 16-9 W1 Carolina 21 23 .477 7.0 14-10 7-13 L1 Tennessee 21 23 .477 7.0 12-8 9-15 W1 [b]Huntsville 20 23 .465 7.5 9-10 11-13 L3[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 25 16 .610 - 11-10 14-6 L1 Daytona 22 20 .524 3.5 14-9 8-11 W8 [b]Brevard County 21 20 .512 4.0 8-10 13-10 W3[/b] Palm Beach 21 20 .512 4.0 9-11 12-9 L2 Jupiter 18 24 .429 7.5 8-14 10-10 L3 Vero Beach 15 27 .357 10.5 9-14 6-13 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lexington 25 16 .610 - 16-7 9-9 W3 Delmarva 23 17 .575 1.5 12-9 11-8 W2 [b]West Virginia 22 18 .550 2.5 12-9 10-9 W3[/b] Greensboro 22 19 .537 3.0 16-7 6-12 W3 Lakewood 21 20 .512 4.0 13-8 8-12 W1 Lake County 21 21 .500 4.5 11-10 10-11 L2 Hagerstown 17 24 .415 8.0 9-9 8-15 L1 Hickory 16 23 .410 8.0 7-10 9-13 L1

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

Sunday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Dennis Sarfate at home vs. Tacoma (Mariners), 1:40 PM pre-game, 2:00 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: LHP Jeff Housman at Chattanooga (Reds), 1:00 PM pre-game, 1:15 gametime Audio link: www.espn1450.com/ Brevard County: LHP Steve Hammond at home vs. Sarasota (Reds), 3:00 PM; sorry, no audio for this series West Virginia: RHP Will Inman at home vs. Greenville (Red Sox), 12:55 PM pre-game, 1:05 gametime Audio link: www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

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". 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_nasaaa_1 Huntsville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1 Brevard County: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 West Virginia: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

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Link for Brad Nelson photo, text follows: tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....002/SPORTS Early Cruz, Rivera homers help Sounds cruise past Rainiers Livingston tagged by Nashville batters By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer It didn't take Bobby Livingston long to get reacclimated to Greer Stadium ? or, perhaps more accurately, for the Nashville Sounds to get reacclimated to Bobby Livingston. In his only previous appearance here, the Tacoma Rainiers left-hander was ripped for five home runs in five innings as Nashville won the opening game of the Pacific Coast League Championship Series. Saturday night must have felt like Groundhog Day for Livingston, as he allowed back-to-back jacks to Nelson Cruz and Mike Rivera in the first inning en route to a 7-4 Sounds victory in front of a crowd of 10,024. "I've faced him many times, over the last four years," Cruz said after hitting his team-leading ninth home run of the season. "I know what he's got. I was just trying to get my swing right. I've been struggling the last few games. I feel much better now." Cruz and Rivera homered off Livingston in the fourth inning of Nashville's 8-6 win on Sept. 13, teaming with Tony Zuniga to hit three longballs in consecutive at-bats. Cruz homered earlier in the contest, and Zuniga added another in the fifth. "We just came out aggressively," said Rivera, who now has six homers on the year. "We did it last year, and (Saturday) it was the same way. We just stayed aggressive with him. He throws a lot of strikes, and he's not a power pitcher. That's perfect for a lineup like ours. We have a plan, and it works pretty good. I watched how he threw 'Cruzer', and I took the same approach." Livingston, who had allowed just nine home runs during the 2005 regular season, had given up just one in his first 20 innings this year before running into the Sounds' buzzsaw. Apparently, though, he was good for what ailed the home team. Nashville had gone five games without a longball and had hit just five in its last 138 innings ? covering 14 games. "The two-out walk to (Brent) Abernathy hurt him," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "Then he got a fastball up to Cruz. Rivera hit a fastball, that wasn't too bad a pitch height-wise, but it was down the middle of the plate." Nashville added another run in the third and three in the eighth ? which turned out to be key, since Tacoma cut the 7-3 deficit with a ninth-inning run. With the win, Nashville also won back-to-back contests for the first time since taking three straight from visiting Iowa on May 2-4. In the interim, the Sounds were 3-10 before the two most recent victories. Cruz was the last Sounds player to homer, doing so in the ninth inning of an 8-2 win at Las Vegas on May 13.

Link while active, text follows: www.wvgazette.com/section...2006052034 Power stays hot with 13-4 win over Greenville By Jim Workman For Sunday Charleston Gazette-Mail The West Virginia Power has been enjoying the friendly confines of Appalachian Power Park lately. So much so ? according to ballpark hawker Wheeler Bob ? they are as hot on the field as his sales have been. With a 13-4 victory over the Greenville Drive Saturday, the Power improved to 5-1 on the current homestand. The South Atlantic League contest drew 4,728 fans to The APP on a mild, clear night. ?Your objective at this level is to develop players,? said Power manager Mike Guerrero. ?But you also want to develop winners. Winning isn?t everything at this level, but it is an important part.? Every slot in the Power batting order produced at least one hit. ?Everybody is chipping in at the plate,? Guerrero said. ?We?re getting on bases and getting those RBIs. We had a good approach, especially with two outs. That was a key.? The Power wasted no time getting started offensively. In the bottom of the first, Lorenzo Cain doubled and stole third, Angel Salome walked and Mat Gamel followed by clobbering a three-run homer that zipped over the right-field wall in a hurry, giving the Power an early 3-0 advantage. It was Gamel?s seventh home run of the season. The scoring continued in the second for the Power as Ned Yost doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Michael Brantley sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 4-0. In the fourth, Darren Ford scorched a liner to right field, scoring two more runs to lift the Power lead to 6-0. Greenville finally broke through in the fifth inning. Luis Segovia singled in a run and Dustin Kelley looped a single to right to slice the Power advantage to 6-2. The Power plated six more runs in the sixth to stretch the lead to 12-2. Ford struck again in the sixth, drilling a two-run double into the left-field corner, Gamel pummeled a two-run double, Mike Bell followed with a sacrifice fly and Ryan Crew smacked an RBI single to round out the offensive fireworks. Salome contributed an RBI double in the seventh, widening the Power margin to 13-2. It marked his 30th RBI, a team high. Greenville plated two runs in the top of the ninth as Kelly hit an RBI double and Yahmed Yema swatted a sacrifice fly to cut the Power lead to 13-4. Ford, Cain, Gamel and Tony Festa each enjoyed multi-hit games for the Power. Greenville leadoff batter Jay Johnson had a rocky night, striking out three times before managing a couple of late singles. Going into the contest, the Power stood 2 1/2 games out of first place in the Sally League Northern Division. ?Yes, you look at the standings,? Guerrero admitted. ?But the other teams will be looking back at us. They should be worried about us. We are going to take it a game at a time ? day by day. Sooner or later you?ll catch up if you take care of your business.? The Power will play host to Greenville Sunday afternoon in the third game of the four-game series before closing out the homestand Monday with a morning school-day special.

Brevard County Site Game Summary: Manatees outlast Reds Brendan Katin's RBI single ended a 12-inning marathon as Brevard County edged Sarasota, 6-5, on Saturday at Space Coast Stadium. The Manatees (21-20) loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 12th when Katin came up to the plate. After going hitless in his first five trips, he delivered the walk-off base hit when he punched a single through the right side, easily scoring Charlie Fermaint. Ryan Braun led the Manatees with two hits, an RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases. Ben Stanczyk (4-2) pitched three scoreless innings, fanning three while allowing two hits for the win. Sarasota (18-24) trailed, 5-3, heading to the ninth when Paul Janish doubled home Javon Moran, then scored on Jay Garthwaite's single to right. Garthwaite also stroked a leadoff homer in the second as part of a 3-for-5 night. Carlos Bohorquez (1-3) took the loss after giving up one run on three hits and a walk. He retired just one batter. -- Michael Echan/MLB.com

Final: Chattanooga (Reds) 7, Huntsville 1, five and 1/2 innings, rain Suddently it's your last-place Huntsville Stars... Huntsville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=842 Rain, Early Deficit Drown Stars Noochie Varner continued his assault on Huntsville pitching, knocking in two runs to push Chattanooga past Huntsville 7-1 Saturday night in a game shortened to 5 ½ innings following a third rain delay. The Lookouts won their third straight game to improve to 28-16 overall and 18-6 at home, while the Stars dropped their third straight to fall to 20-23 and seven and a half games behind the North Division leaders. Steve Moss opened the game with a double, moved to third base on an Ozzie Chavez ground out and scored when third baseman Aaron Herr could not cleanly field a ground ball off the bat of Drew Anderson. The team that has scored first has lost three of the four games in the series. The Lookouts answered with two in the home first on a two-run, bases loaded double by Varner, who has knocked in seven runs in the series, including a pair of runs in three of the four contests. Joey Votto was thrown out at the plate trying to score for the second out and Stars? starter Travis Phelps fanned Rick Asadoorian to end the inning. Rain and then hail caused the game to be halted for a first time for 23 minutes after the inning ended. The home side added a pair of runs in the second inning when Phelps issued consecutive bases loaded walks to Luis Bolivar and Joey Votto. Phelps retired the side in order in the third inning and the frame ended with the pitcher covering first on a ground out by Anderson Machado, who dived head first into the bag and onto and over Phelps right ankle. The veteran right-hander was taken out after three innings during which he allowed four runs on four hits and five walks. Phelps struck out four in his second start with the Stars and suffered his second loss. Steve Bray took over in the fourth inning and gave up a bases loaded, run-scoring single to Votto and a two-run double to Aaron Herr, who had failed in two prior at-bats with the bases loaded to add to his league leading runs batted in total. Bray had yielded just two runs over his last 11 appearances covering 23 2/3 innings before this outing. The game was stopped for 64 minutes with Varner at the plate and runners at second and third base in the home fourth. A driving rain forced the cancellation of the game with Chattanooga runners at first and second and one out in the sixth inning with Andy Pratt on the hill for the Stars, their fourth pitcher of the night. The series concludes Sunday afternoon when the Stars send southpaw Jeff Housman to the mound against Chattanooga right-hander Travis Chick. Coverage of the game begins at 1:00 p.m. central time and can be heard on ESPN Radio 1450 AM locally and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com. Huntsville Box Score: Usually reliable reliever Steve Bray with a Ben Hendrickson-type line; this team's going to have to dig pretty darn deep to turn things around -- you root for all these kids, but there aren't a lot of future big league at-bats in that lineup right now... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1 Huntsville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cngaax_1

Final: Brevard County 6, Sarasota (Reds) 5, twelve innings Brevard County Box Score: Brendan Katin's one-out bases-loaded ground ball single wins it; 'Tees win despite allowing 16 hits; LHP Jeremy Lewis bailed out Sam Narron of a huge jam in the 8th but couldn't close it in the 9th; UW-Milwaukee's Ben Stanczyk with a very deserving victory; Ryan Braun on base three more times and is now 11-for-13 in SB attempts... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 Brevard County Game Log: Catcher C.J. Medlin's 2006 debut is at designated hitter (2-for-4); RHP Bo Hall has certainly paid his high-A ball dues going back to High Desert -- he's earned a peek at AA... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...p;sid=t503

West Virginia Site Game Summary: Ford and Gamel explode in Power win Darren Ford and Mat Gamel combined for five of West Virginia?s 14 hits and knocked in nine of West Virginia?s 13 runs in their 13-4 victory over the Greenville Drive on Saturday night at Appalachian Power Park. Gamel knocked in three of his five runs on his seventh home run of the season in the first inning to give the Power an early 3-0 advantage. Ned Yost smacked a one-out double in the second inning, got to third on a wild pitch and scored on Michael Brantley?s sacrifice fly. The Power went up 6-0 in the fourth inning on a two run single from Ford. Greenville plated half of their runs in the top of the fifth inning on RBI singles from Luis Segovia and Dustin Kelley. The Power sent ten batters to the plate and scored six runs on four hits in the sixth inning to pull away. Ford drove in the first two runs on a double and Gamel drove in two more on a double of his own three batters later. Mike Bell knocked in the next run on a sacrifice fly and Ryan Crew drove in the final run of the inning on a base hit. The Power scored their last run of the game in the seventh inning on Angel Salome?s RBI double. The Drive plated two runs in the ninth inning on an RBI double from Kelly and a sacrifice fly from Yahmed Yema. Derek Miller (4-1) earned the victory, and Clay Buchholz (2-1) obtained the loss. The Power are 22-18 after the win and the Drive fell to 21-21 with the loss. Attendance for the game was 4,728. The Power will continue the four game series against the Drive on Sunday afternoon. Greenville will start left hander Mike Rozier (2-1, 4.55) and West Virginia will counter with right hander Will Inman (3-0, 0.87). The first pitch is scheduled for 2:05 PM (1:05 Central).

Final: West Virginia 13, Greenville (Red Sox) 4 West Virginia Box Score: LHP Derek Miller needs to be pushed past low-A ball at this point; Mat Gamel drives in five, Darren Ford knocks home four; top four in the order for the Power reach base 12 times; Kenny Holmberg's brief game appearances coming off the DL are planned; the defensive woes of the usual culprits (Michael Bell, Angel Salome, Gamel) continue -- third baseman Gamel is on pace for 48 errors in the 120-game season; it doesn't mean it's a good infield in terms of fair bounces, but Appalachian Power Park always looks meticulous in the many photos we see... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1 West Virginia Game Log: Personally a bit sorry to see young Greenville reliever Kyle Fernandes hit hard tonight; he's one of the few minor leaguers from my neck of the woods in southeastern Massachusetts currently in minor league ball... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1

Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Nelson Cruz photo, text follows -- www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1961 Sounds Power Past Rainiers, 7-4 NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? The Nashville Sounds pounded out 13 hits in their 7-4 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers on Saturday night in front of 10,024 fans at Greer Stadium. Three players combined for nine of the team?s 13 hits: Tony Gwynn (3-for-4), Brent Abernathy (3-for-3), and Mike Rivera (3-for-4). The Sounds? offense wasn?t the only thing that shined Saturday night. Starter Corey Thurman (1-1) made his Greer Stadium debut and recorded his first Nashville win while tying his season high with six strikeouts. It was his first Triple-A victory since August 2003. Nashville (24-18) picked up its second consecutive win and improved to 13-6 in home games with the victory. The balls were flying early as the Rainiers jumped out to an early lead for the third night in a row. In the top of the first inning, Chris Snelling scored from second on a T.J. Bohn RBI single to right off Thurman, giving Tacoma a 1-0 lead. The Sounds came out swinging in the bottom of the frame, hitting the team?s first back-to-back home runs of the season. Nelson Cruz ended the home team?s 45-inning longball drought when he belted a two-run home run over the left-center field fence to score Abernathy, who walked the previous at-bat, and give Nashville a 2-1 lead. The blast was Cruz?s team-leading ninth of the year, pulling him into a tie for third among Pacific Coast League batters. The home club?s lead increased to two when Rivera belted Tacoma starter Bobby Livingston?s next offering off the neck of the guitar-shaped scoreboard in left-center for his sixth home run of the season. AUDIO: Mike Rivera Completes Back-to-Back HRs: www.nashvillesounds.com/a...205-20.wma In an ironic twist, the back-to-back homers by Cruz and Rivera off Livingston at Greer Stadium duplicated the most recent time the feat had occurred in Sounds history. The duo touched up the left-hander in Game 1 of last September?s Pacific Coast League Championship Series as the second and third shots in a series of back-to-back-to-back taters (along with Tony Zuniga). The Sounds offense continued to shine in the bottom half of the third with three straight singles off Livingston to open the frame, courtesy of Abernathy, Cruz, and Rivera. With the bases loaded and one out, Brad Nelson hit a long fly ball to center that scored Abernathy and increased the lead to 4-1. The Rainiers would not go quietly into the night, as they etched two runs in the top half of the fourth. First baseman Todd Sears sent a Thurman pitch over the right field fence, bringing the Rainiers within one at 4-3. Greg Dobbs, who singled to start the inning, scored on the homer. After both teams combined to score seven runs in the first four innings, the pitchers took control of the game and neither team scored again until the bottom of the eighth. Starting in the top of the fifth, Sounds pitchers faced only three batters an inning until Greg Dobbs singled in the top of the ninth. The Rainiers? pitchers struck right back, facing only three Sounds an inning from the fifth until the eighth. The Sounds gave themselves some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth with three runs off Tacoma reliever Kevin Appier. Abernathy led the inning off with a double down the right field line and would score two batters latter on a Rivera RBI double. The Sounds recorded two more runs on a Vinny Rottino single before the inning was over, which extended their lead to a comfortable four runs. With the knock, Rottino extended the Sounds? longest active hitting streak to five games, which matches his season high. Thurman pitched five innings before the Sounds brought in knuckleballer Jared Fernandez, who threw four innings on the way to his third save of the year. Fernandez allowed one run on four hits and struck out two. Livingston (1-2) went five innings and gave up four runs on eight hits in taking the loss. The Sounds face off against Tacoma on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. for the finale of the four-game series. Right-hander Dennis Sarfate (1-1, 3.26) will get the nod for the Sounds and southpaw Cesar Jimenez (0-3, 5.40) will take the mound for the Rainiers.

Final: Nashville 7, Tacoma (Mariners) 4 Nashville Box Score: Mike Rivera a triple short of the cycle -- he's Superman; big nights for Tony Gwynn (not on the basepaths, though), Brent Abernathy, and Nelson Cruz; Brad Nelson two sacrifice flies; Jared Fernandez picks up Corey Thurman nicely; Thurman threw 94 pitches in five get-by innings; Fernandez still scheduled to start this Tuesday... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1 Nashville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1