Jim Goulart

Tuesday's Daily Menu: Early-eveing appetizers to the West Coast Brewer nightcap, plus a box score snack to review at mid-day... All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP Dana Eveland at Tuscon (Diamondbacks), 8:10 PM pre-game, 8:30 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: RHP Corey Thurman at home vs. Montgomery (Devil Rays), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Audio link: www.espn1450.com/ Brevard County: LHP Steve Hammond at Tampa (Yankees), 10:30 AM; sorry, no audio for this series West Virginia: LHP Derek Miller at Hickory (Pirates), 6:20 PM pre-game, 6:30 gametime Audio link: www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

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Link while active, text follows: www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1 Stars' bats don't rack up in loss Huntsville lives up to its stats, gets five hits in 3-1 loss to Montgomery By MARK McCARTER Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com Maybe the only answer is "if we knew, we'd do something about it." Nonetheless, the question was lobbed at Stars manager Don Money late Monday night, after a 3-1 loss to Montgomery. "What can you do to hit better?'' Money rocked back in his chair. He plopped his glasses on his keyboard laptop. "Pheww!'' he exclaimed. And, for emphasis, "Pheww!" There is, indeed, little answer for the Stars' offense, which sits solidly in last place in the Southern League in hitting, despite a 17-15 record. They did nothing to help their average in this latest game, amassing only five hits. "We work at it and we can throw batting practice to them, but some time, they have to take it out there in the game and start executing," Money said. "We've got some decent hitters, but they're struggling." It has become as much mental as fundamental. Some of it has to do with how they approach their trips to the plate. "It's 30-something games now, and they're still doing what they did 25 games ago," Money said. Struggling at the plate "works with their minds," he added. And that becomes a dangerous proposition. "You have to play this game on an even keel," Money said. "If you let it get to you mentally, it will beat you up. It will swallow you up and spit you out.'' The visitors managed only five hits as well, and the worst pitch Huntsville starter Tim Dillard made all night wasn't even to the plate. After Aneudi Cuevas doubled to lead off the third - taking second only after a moment's hesitation in the Stars' outfield - Joshua Johnson plopped down a bunt. Dillard fielded the ball and threw to third, the ball sailing past Adam Heether. Cuevas scored and Johnson landed on second. Another Biscuits bunt put Johnson on third, but Dillard wriggled out of the mess with a strikeout and grounder. Sacrifice flies by Jason Pridie, in the fifth, and Cuevas, in the sixth, made it 3-zip. "He was not too bad," Money said. "He threw the ball a lot better than the last couple of times.'' And though he was in trouble of his own doing, Money was pleased with how Dillard worked out of a jam. The Stars were handcuffed by Montgomery starter Tony Peguero, who came in with an ERA too small to be seen by the naked eye. He allowed only four hits and in one stretch retired 15 of 16 batters. In a previous meeting, Peguero allowed first-inning homers to Callix Crabbe and Greg Sain, then sat down 21 of 22, including 17 in a row. "We knew we wouldn't hit a lot off this guy," Money said. Huntsville did nick him in the sixth on a Crabbe single and slicing triple by Ozzie Chavez. But the Biscuits bullpen retired the Stars with two hits in three innings, with three strikeouts. It was the Biscuits' first win at Joe W. Davis Stadium since Aug. 12, 2004, and only the third in 17 games; despite the geographical proximity, Montgomery is in a different division and seldom visits Huntsville. The series continues tonight with Corey Thurman (1-3, despite a brilliant 2.20 ERA) pitching for the Stars against Jim Magrane (4-2.) Wednesday's game is a 12:05 Businesspersons' Special and Thursday's finale begins at 10:05 a.m.

Link while active, text follows: tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS Sounds falter early against Zephyrs Morning game draws largest crowd since 2003 By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer Nashville Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas hopes his team didn't miss its wake-up call Monday. Playing a 10:30 a.m. game with a season's-best crowd of 12,894 on hand, the Sounds allowed three unearned runs early and had only three baserunners in scoring position before losing their first Greer Stadium shutout of the season, a 5-0 decision to New Orleans. "We had a bad mental effort today," Kremblas said. "Some of the mistakes we made were mistakes we can't make. They were mental errors that can't happen. "There's no excuse. (New Orleans) had to come out early, too. If they can't play early, they're not going to be able to play in the big leagues. There are a lot of early games in the big leagues. I don't think that was it. It was just a bad day." The attendance ? more than 2,700 above the Greer Stadium capacity of 10,139 and the biggest figure at Greer since 13,423 showed up on July 4, 2003 ? was due in large part to the attendance of students from a number of area schools that participate in the Sounds' Reading Club program. Nashville starter Zach Jackson worked seven innings, allowing just four hits and striking out six batters. However, he was victimized in the third inning by a two-out error by shortstop Chris Barnwell, followed by a walk and a bases-loaded double by Larry Broadway that gave the Zephyrs a 3-0 lead. Offensively, the Sounds never recovered. "Their guy (New Orleans starter Billy Traber) was making some decent pitches," Nashville third baseman Vinny Rottino said. "I think we hit the ball pretty hard ? just right at people. That happens. But we'll bounce back." Monday's loss, following Sunday's 10-7 decision, gives Nashville back-to-back defeats for the first time this season since suffering three straight losses at Omaha to open the season. "We keep it loose; we keep it light," Rottino said. "That's why we're so consistent at playing good baseball. We'll get back at it and get back in the win column on this road trip." ***Link for Ozzie photo while active, text follows: tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS Playing early doesn't suit Barnwell By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer If the Nashville Sounds players ever get to vote on the early start times, the decision for Chris Barnwell will probably be a no-brainer. Barnwell, the second-best fielding shortstop in the Pacific Coast League coming into Monday's 10:30 a.m. contest with visiting New Orleans, committed errors on a pair of fairly routine groundballs in the first three innings. His second error led to three unearned runs for the Zephyrs. Through his first 28 games, Barnwell had been charged with just three errors. He's been equally solid with the bat, coming into Monday with a .369 average that ranked him fourth in the PCL and with his second 10-game hitting streak of the season. His 38 hits through his first 28 games were the fifth-best total in the league. Going 1-for-4 Monday, Barnwell's average fell to .365 but his hitting streak now stands at 11 games. He has reached base, via either a hit or a walk, in 24 straight games. Setting the pace: Sounds infielder Jermaine Clark leads the PCL with 12 stolen bases, while Dana Eveland ? set to start tonight at Tucson ? has the league's best earned run average at 0.87. Nelson Cruz has a PCL-high 11 doubles, and Mike Rivera leads with a .680 slugging percentage. Rivera's .447 on-base percentage is also fifth in the league. Going deep: Zach Jackson's 109 pitches through seven full innings were the most thrown by a Sounds starter this season. Jackson, who has yet to win a game in six starts, issued five walks; only Dennis Sarfate (six, vs. Omaha on April 20) has walked more batters in a game for Nashville. Despite taking the loss, Jackson's earned run average dropped from 3.81 to 3.00. Rare series: Monday's loss, following a 10-7 defeat on Sunday and the epic 5-4, 24-inning loss that began on Friday and ended on Saturday, resulted in the Sounds' first series loss since the season-opening four-game set at Omaha. Nashville had won five straight series since splitting four games at Iowa. Additionally, the Sounds fell to 11-5 at Greer Stadium with the defeat. What they said: "I thought we hit some balls fairly well that they made plays on. When that's all you're getting, you're going to have a tough time scoring." ? Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas, after his team's eight-hit effort that saw just three runners reach scoring position. ***Link while active, text follows: www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=49694 Sounds sleepwalk through sold-out shutout By Terry McCormick, tmccormick@nashvillecitypaper.com The wake-up call never came for the Nashville Sounds Monday. After a weekend that included a 24-inning game that stretched over two days, the Sounds and New Orleans Zephyrs were out early Monday for a 10:30 a.m. start, thanks to a special reading program day that many schools used to bring students to a sold-out Greer Stadium. Unfortunately for them, Nashville?s bats were still sound asleep in a 5-0 loss to the Zephyrs before 12,894 fans, mostly youngsters. Nashville managed to string eight hits together, but never really mounted a threat against New Orleans starter Billy Traber, who allowed just five hits in seven shutout innings. Saul Rivera then finished up for the Zephyrs, recording a two-inning save for New Orleans. Sounds manager Frank Kremblas offered a tip of the cap to Traber (1-1), who managed to keep Nashville hitters off-balance and also did not walk a batter. ?He moved it around. He mixed up his pitches and threw some off-speed stuff for strikes early in the count,? Kremblas said. However, Kremblas was more disappointed by his own team?s approach in the early start than what the Zephyrs? starter managed to accomplish. ?We didn?t play well overall and not very smart in my opinion. Mentally, it wasn?t a good effort,? Kremblas said. New Orleans broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third inning, scoring three unearned runs off Sounds starter Zach Jackson (0-2). It appeared Jackson would wriggle out of the inning unscathed, until a Brendan Harris grounder was misplayed by shortstop Chris Barnwell, putting two on with two outs in the inning. Mike Vento walked to load the bases before Larry Broadway delivered a three-run double into right center field for the Zephyrs. ?I gave him a cookie. I left it up over the middle, and I?ve got to make a better pitch than that. I?ve got to bear down,? Jackson said. ?Barney has made so many unbelievable plays for us and helped me out so many times already. That shouldn?t have had any effect on me really, on the way I threw. I had to bear down and get that last out, and I didn?t get the job done.? The Zephyrs tacked on two more runs against reliever Mike Adams in the top of the ninth for the final margin. In the end, Kremblas was just disappointed with the overall performance. ?We had a few guys on early, but never really could do anything. We couldn?t string anything together,? Kremblas said. ?It was just not a good effort.? Asked if the early start presented a problem, he replied, ?It doesn?t matter. That?s no excuse.? The Sounds now begin a road trip with the first stop in Tucson tonight. Around the bases: Barnwell, despite a tough day in the field with two errors, managed to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and now has reached base in 24 consecutive games. ? Monday?s shutout marked the first one at Greer Stadium this season and just the second time the Sounds have been blanked this year. ? Sounds catcher Mike Rivera, who came into the game tied with New Orleans outfielder Mike Vento for the Pacific Coast League batting lead at .387, took the lead by going 2-for-4 and raising his average to .392. Vento went 0-for-4 and dropped to .373.

Final: Hickory (Pirates) 11, West Virginia 2 West Virginia Site Game Summary: Power road trip begins with a loss The Hickory Crawdads scored five times in the first two innings of Monday night?s game against the West Virginia Power, and pulled away with a five-run seventh inning to win the first game of a two-game series by the final of 11-2. Steve Pearce hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to start the scoring for the Crawdads. The Power answered in the top of the second on Ryan Crew?s run-scoring single. Pearce struck again in the bottom of the second inning, knocking in two runs on a bases loaded single. The Power scored their final run of the game in the fifth inning when Ned Yost scored after Darren Ford reached on a fielder?s choice. Eddie Prasch ripped an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 6-2 Hickory lead. The Crawdads scored five times in the seventh to pull away. Prasch knocked in the first run on a sacrifice fly, Cameron Blair followed with a two-run single, and Andrew McCutcheon drove in the final two runs of the inning on a base hit. Joe Bauserman (2-2) earned the victory, and Kevin Roberts (2-4) obtained the loss. The Power are 14-15 after the loss and the Crawdads improved to 12-17 with the win. The Power will finish the two game series against Hickory at L.P. Frans Stadium on Tuesday night. Hickory will start right hander Kyle Pearson (2-0, 2.14) and West Virginia will counter with left hander Derek Miller (2-1, 2.89). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM (5:30 Central). West Virginia Box Score: Angel Salome three passed balls, six on the season; Ned Yost 3-for-4; Ryan Marion's best outing of the year, but Brandon Parillo still scuffling... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1 West Virginia Game Log: A Ryan Crew error (his 7th) cost Kevin Roberts two 2nd inning runs; trailing 6-2 in the 7th, Nate Yoho caught trying to steal second base; a Mat Gamel error (his 11th) cost Brandon Parillo two 7th inning runs; all three passed balls came in the 7th as Angel Salome caught for the lefty Parillo... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1

Final: Brevard County 8, Tampa (Yankees) 6 Brevard County Site Game Summary: Ezi lifts Manatees over Yanks Travis Ezi's two-out, three-run triple higlighted a six-run sixth inning as Brevard County rallied past Tampa, 8-6, on Monday. Ezi's only hit of the night snapped a 3-3 tie and put the Manatees (18-14) ahead for good. He scored on Josh Murray's single to give Brevard County a 7-3 lead. Murray had three hits and two RBIs and Hernan Iribarren also drove in two runs for the Manatees, who have won two straight since a six-game losing streak. Bo Hall (2-1) picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief, and Robert Hinton recorded his first save by retiring the final two batters. P. J. Pilittere went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Tampa (13-19), which has dropped two in a row. Brett Smith (4-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings. -- Jeannine Rippa/MLB.com Brevard County Box Score: Manny Parra stretched to four innings; Ryan Braun two singles, a walk, but two more errors; Hernan Iribarren at a .722 OPS, a bit pedestrian for him... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_tbyafa_1 Brevard County Game Log: Josh Murray twice knocked in runs with two-out base hits... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_tbyafa_1

Scroll to the bottom of David Weiser's "Standings" page here to see that the Stars' 3-4-5 hitters were hitting .195 after 30 games (Steve Moss, Greg Sain, and Adam Heether were in those spots in Game # 32 Monday and went 1-for-12): www.starsboxscore.com/standing.htm

Final: Montgomery (Devil Rays) 3, Huntsville 1 Link, text follows -- www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=817 Peguero and Bullpen Lead Biscuits to Win Tony Peguero worked six strong innings and Montgomery took advantage of two errors to score twice in a 3-1 victory over Huntsville Monday night in the second game of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Biscuits improved to 19-13, squared the series at a game apiece and maintained a one game lead over Jacksonville in the South Division, while the Stars dropped to 17-15 and fell five games behind victorious, front-running Chattanooga in the Southern League North Division. Anuedi Cuevas led off the third inning of a scoreless game with a double and Josh Johnson followed by dropping down a sacrifice bunt attempt. Stars? starting pitcher Tim Dillard fielded the bunt and threw wildly past third, allowing Cuevas to score and Johnson to advance to second. Elliot Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Josh Johnson to third but Dillard fanned Matthew Maniscalco and retired Jason Pridie on a ground ball to keep it 1-0 Montgomery. The Biscuits added a run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Pridie and capitalized on another error in the sixth to push their lead to 3-0. Gabriel Martinez reached first base to open the inning on a throwing error by shortstop Ozzie Chavez on a routine ground ball, moved to second base when Chairon Isenia walked, advanced to third on a Francisco Leandro sacrifice bunt and scored on a fly ball by Cuevas, who knocked in his fourth run of the year. Dillard suffered his third loss of the year after allowing all three runs, one earned, on three hits and three walks over six innings. He struck out a season-high six but remained winless in four starts at home. Peguero gave up a leadoff single to Kennard Bibbs in the first inning and set down the next 13 batters before a Drew Anderson single in the fifth ended a streak of 33 out of 35 batters retired over two starts by the Montgomery right-hander. Huntsville pushed across its lone run in the sixth when Callix Crabbe led off with a single and scored one out later on an Ozzie Chavez triple, his second of the year. Peguero struck out Steve Moss and set down Greg Sain on a fly ball to end the inning and his night. He earned his fourth win of the year and has gone at least six innings in all seven starts. Jeff Ridgway retired the side in order in the seventh inning on three ground ball outs and Juan Salas tossed two scoreless frames to earn his ninth save of the season. The Stars were held to five hits by the Biscuits? threesome and have totaled only 43 in their last seven games. The series continues Tuesday night with right-hander Corey Thurman taking the mound against Montgomery right-hander Jim Magrane. 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: Just six Stars baserunners all night -- yawn; truly horrific numbers from the middle of this order; 22 K's, zero walks for reliever Steve Bray in 25 IP... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 Huntsville Game Log: Ugly strikeout as mentioned above for Steve Moss in the 6th... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

Link while active, text follows: www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1 A winning inning Stars ride four-run fourth to 4-1 victory over Biscuits By BRAD SHEPARD For the Huntsville Times Montgomery Biscuits right fielder Jeremy Owens normally gets his nightly workout on the base paths, where he leads his team with eight stolen bases. On Sunday night, he got most of his exercise sprinting into the right-field corner. The Huntsville Stars peppered the foul line with a pair of fourth-inning triples off Biscuits starter Andy Sonnanstine and added two singles in a four-run frame that gave them a 4-1 win to open a five-game homestand. "It was odd for me to see a ball go where somebody wasn't," said Drew Anderson, whose two-run triple came several batters after Kennard Bibbs led off the fourth with one of his own. "It seems like every time I've hit a ball hard lately, it's been right at someone. It happened those were two real well-placed balls, which are really conducive to triples." They were, in turn, conducive to a big inning off Sonnanstine. Prior to the fourth inning, Montgomery's starter was as sharp as his statistics over the past couple of seasons would indicate. He shut down Huntsville (17-14) in order in each of its first three at-bats. But Bibbs smacked the fourth pitch he saw in the fourth inning toward the corner to ignite the offense, much to the delight of the 1,061 fans at Joe Davis Stadium. Ozzie Chavez followed with an RBI infield single, and later in the inning, Anderson duplicated Bibbs' feat before Adam Heether knocked him in. The outburst was plenty for Carlos Villanueva, who reverted to early season form with a solid 6 2/3-inning performance. The 22-year-old located his fastball well all night and had one of his most effective breaking balls of the year. He ran into some seventh-inning trouble, however, before giving way to Gerrit Simpson. Simpson inherited a bases-loaded, two-out jam but got Matthew Maniscalco to ground out to end the threat. "The last time out, I had a good game, too, and it just carried over," Villanueva said. "The difference was just my mechanics. "Our bullpen is short-handed right now, but they just keep doing a good job. Whenever we need an important out, they're right there." Following Simpson's clutch 1/3 of an inning, Andy Pratt put a runner on who made it to third in the eighth, but Alec Zumwalt eluded trouble and went on for his fifth save. With Joe Winkelsas recently called up to Triple-A Nashville, Huntsville's bullpen already is stretched thin without an off-day until May 22. But the relievers came through again Sunday. Along with Villanueva's outing and the big fourth inning, they helped overcome Sonnanstine, who had been pitching like a star prospect recently. Over the past two seasons, Sonnanstine boasted a 15-6 record with 2.49 earned run average. Most eye-popping was his 211-23 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. None of that mattered to the Stars, who roughed him up for one inning to start the homestand in style. "We only got seven hits," Huntsville manager Don Money said, "but we bunched four together in that fourth inning. "Right now (the bullpen) is doing OK working around things." The Stars are scheduled to run out Tim Dillard (2-2, 5.74) to the mound tonight at 7:05 to face Tony Peguero (3-2, 1.88) and the Biscuits.

Link and photo from Huntsville site: www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=816 Ballouli Receives Weekly Honor Stars' pitcher Khalid Ballouli has been named the Southern League BC Powder Pitcher of the Week for the the week of May 1-7. Ballouli is the first Huntsville player to be so honored during the 2006 season. Ballouli tossed eight shutout frames at home in the first game of a doubleheader against Tennessee on May 1 but was not involved in the decision, as the Smokies won the game 2-0 in 11 innings. He struck out a season-high nine batters, did not issue a walk and set down the last 15 hitters he faced. The right-hander earned his second win of the season on Saturday at West Tenn after allowing four runs, only two earned, on six hits over five-plus innings. Ballouli retired the first six hitters he faced to extend his consecutive batters retired streak to 21 before issuing a leadoff walk to Tony Richie in the third inning. The former Texas A & M standout also came through with the biggest hit of the game, delivering a two-out, two-run bases loaded single to break up a scoreless game and key a four-run fourth inning in the Stars' 5-4 victory. Ballouli is 2-1 with a 3.86 earned run average in his first six starts of the season. He was selected by the Brewers in the sixth round of the 2002 draft. http://www.huntsvillestars.com/images/news/Ballouli,%20Khalid%2029t.JPG

By the way, and sorry if this was discussed on the Major League Forum, how many of you heard Jim Powell ask Ben Hendrickson during Sunday's pre-game show about working with catcher Mike Rivera? Read between-the-lines http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif , but no, we don't know about any such forthcoming move...

Final: New Orleans (Nationals) 5, Nashville 0 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link for Chris Barnwell photo, text follows -- www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1940 Sounds Blanked By Z's In Homestand Finale NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Two New Orleans pitchers combined to shut out the Nashville Sounds in a 5-0 victory on Monday morning at Greer Stadium in front of a standing room only crowd of 12,894 fans, most of whom were area schoolchildren attending the game as a reward for reaching their goals in the Nashville Sounds Reading Club program. With its second shutout loss of the year, Nashville (20-11) has suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since opening the year with three straight losses and lost the series to New Orleans, 3-1. It was the Sounds' first non-winning series in the club's last six series. New Orleans left-hander Billy Traber (1-1) allowed five hits over the first seven frames to pick up his first win of the season. Saul Rivera came on to work the final two innings in scoreless fashion for the Z's to complete the shutout and record his first save. Five Sounds hitters combined to record the team?s eight hits in the loss with Vinny Rottino (2-for-4) one of only two Sounds to have a multi-hit day. Rottino has 11 hits in his last 24 at-bats (.458). In the top of the third, the Zephyrs would supply the game with its first offensive push. With two outs and the bases loaded, New Orleans first baseman Larry Broadway hit a bases-clearing double to the right-center wall. All three runs were unearned after shortstop Chris Barnwell was charged with an error when a ground ball went off the heel of his glove, allowing the inning to continue. After the visitors' brief burst of offense, the pitchers took control of the game. Starting with the last out of the fourth inning, Sounds starter Zach Jackson (0-2) retired 10 Zephyrs batters in a row and struck out two batters during that stretch. Jackson took the loss but was not tagged with an earned run in his seven innings to lower his seasonal ERA to 3.00. He walked a season-high five batters and struck out six in his 109-pitch outing, the most pitches thrown by a Nashville hurler this season. Traber matched Jackson pitch for pitch as he retired nine batters in a row, starting with the last out in the fourth. Sounds reliever Mitch Stetter pitched the eighth inning in relief of Jackson and continued to send Zephyrs batters back to the bench, striking out two batters while going three up, three down. The Sounds threatened in the bottom of the eighth with pinch-hitter Jermaine Clark on second and Barnwell on first with only one out after both players singled. Neither runner was able to score when Corey Hart grounded into a double play to end the inning. Barnwell's eighth-inning single extended the infielder's season-best hitting streak to 11 games and pushed his consecutive games on-base streak to 24 in a row. Mike Adams came in to pitch the top of the ninth for Nashville and allowed two runs on two hits. Zephyrs shortstop Josh Labandeira contributed an RBI single before the second run came plateward on an Adams wild pitch. With the loss Monday, the Sounds closed out their second homestand of the year at an even 4-4. The week-long stanza included a 24-inning game and the largest crowd to see a Sounds game this year. Nashville's record at Greer Stadium now stands at 11-4. The Sounds travel west tomorrow to open an eight-game road trip that includes four-game stops in Tucson and Las Vegas. Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. CDT contest marks the opener of a four-game set against the Tucson Sidewinders (AAA-Diamondbacks), the teams? lone meeting during the 2006 regular season. The clubs split the 2005 season series, 2-2. Sounds left-hander Dana Eveland (3-0, 0.87) will take the hill in Tuesday's series opener and face Tucson right-hander Enrique Gonzalez (2-3, 3.25). Nashville Box Score: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1 Nashville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Former Sound Rickie Weeks: Yes, that's right... www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-8.wma

Standings through Sunday's action: Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 20 10 .667 - 11-4 9-6 L1[/b] Omaha 14 15 .483 5.5 8-6 6-9 L4 Iowa 12 16 .429 7.0 6-7 6-9 W3 Memphis 9 19 .321 10.0 7-8 2-11 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 21 10 .677 - 12-4 9-6 W2 West Tenn 18 13 .581 3.0 8-7 10-6 W1 [b]Huntsville 17 14 .548 4.0 9-7 8-7 W2[/b] Carolina 14 17 .452 7.0 8-7 6-10 W3 Tennessee 14 17 .452 7.0 7-4 7-13 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 19 10 .655 - 8-7 11-3 W1 Palm Beach 17 12 .586 2.0 7-7 10-5 L1 [b]Brevard County 16 14 .533 3.5 5-7 11-7 W1[/b] Daytona 13 17 .433 6.5 8-9 5-8 W1 Jupiter 12 18 .400 7.5 5-11 7-7 W1 Vero Beach 11 19 .367 8.5 7-8 4-11 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 17 13 .567 - 8-8 9-5 W1 Greensboro 16 13 .552 0.5 11-6 5-7 W3 Lexington 16 13 .552 0.5 10-5 6-8 W1 Delmarva 15 13 .536 1.0 6-7 9-6 L1 [b]West Virginia 14 14 .500 2.0 7-8 7-6 L1[/b] Lakewood 14 15 .483 2.5 10-5 4-10 W4 Hagerstown 12 17 .414 4.5 7-6 5-11 L2 Hickory 11 17 .393 5.0 4-7 7-10 L3

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_nasaaa_1 Huntsville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 Brevard County: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_tbyafa_1 West Virginia: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1

Monday's Daily Menu: All times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: LHP Zach Jackson at home vs. New Orleans (Nationals), 10:10 AM pre-game, 10:30 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Huntsville: RHP Tim Dillard at home vs. Montgomery (Devil Rays), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime Audio link: www.espn1450.com/ Brevard County: TBD at Tampa (Yankees), 6:00 PM; sorry, no audio for this series West Virginia: RHP Kevin Roberts at Hickory (Pirates) 6:20 PM pre-game, 6:30 gametime Audio link: www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

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David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com/ STARS DO IT AGAIN IN THE 4thThe sun did a short how-dee-doo before the game, but chose not to welcome the Stars back home after salvaging a five-game series vs. the Diamond Jaxx with a 5-4 victory on a drizzly Saturday in Jackson, Tennessee. Khalid Ballouli and Kennard Bibbs came through in the 4th with back-to-back two-run RBI hits....... The Stars did it again tonight in the 4th before the usual apathetic crowd of distant faces, spaced out over the ol' ballpark....... It's been the Stars' favorite inning this year. They've scored 27 runs in the 4th. Second-most has been the 3rd inning with 18 runs. A little arithmetic and I see that 34% of the Stars offensive output has been in those two innings. 17% have come in the first two and 17% in the last two. Bibbs, once again, was a big part of that 4th inning, leading off with a triple on a 2-1 pitch, lined sharply inside the line in right and bouncing into the corner. Kennard now has five hits in his last nine at-bats, raising his average to .271. He is 8-for-40 this month after finishing April with a .204 average........ Bibbs' hit was followed on an 0-1 pitch by Ozzie Chavez on an excuse-me swing away from the plate that bounced on a couple of hops to the right of 2nd base. It was punched on the ground slow enough that an out-of-position Elliot Johnson could have no chance in pivoting around and throwing anybody out, but he made a valiant effort. First baseman Michael Coleman had to leap to bring it down, but it would have been a hit no matter how you slice it. After Steve Moss struck out swinging in a long at-bat, Greg Sain was nicked inside with a 2-2 pitch, but the umpire's call was so late, and the impact so slight that Chavez broke on the pitch which had everyone thinking he had a stolen base........ Drew Anderson, 6-for his last-38 at-bats (.158) then connected on the second triple of the inning. Don't know the last time that's happened and I'm afraid I don't have time to find out. Anderson lined it hard to right, near the warning track, easily enabling Chavez and Sain to score to give the Stars a 3-0 edge........ Adam Heether, 3-for his last-21, then blooped a 2-1 pitch to shallow centerfield to drive in Anderson for the Stars' final run off the Biscuits' Andy Sonnanstine. Sonnanstine, who retired the first nine Stars in order, gave up more than three earned runs in a game for only the 2nd time in seven starts. His two losses have both been to the Stars, the first I was witness to at Riverwalk Stadium on the 16th of April. He has a really good slider and can move it a lot around the plate, but it hung up for him a couple of times in the 4th, and the Stars cashed in on it. The big question before the game, of course, was which Carlos Villanueva was going to show up........ On the road, Villanueva is 2-0 with a 0.51 ERA, but he had not won at home, and in fact, given up 21 hits in 14 innings and carried a 9.64 ERA in three games at the Joe....... But tonight, Carlos got it all together, getting 14 of his 20 outs on strikeouts or ground outs. He allowed Frank Maniscalco to reach 2nd on a stolen base in the 1st inning, but retired eight of the next nine batters to face him, erasing Ryan Christianson on a double play in the 2nd. Christanson reached third however in the 5th after a walk and a lined-single to left-center by Francisco Leandro, who was promoted from Class A-Visalia (Cal.), April 28, to replace Ryan Knox, who was promoted to Durham........ Villanueva's night was finally over one out shy of finishing the 7th, after Chiaron Isenia scored on Leandro's double to right, and after walking Elliot Johnson to load the bases....... Gerrit Simpson (0-1, 3.26) came in, came back from going 2-and-0 on Maniscalco to even the count, and got him to force Johnson at 2nd on a convenient hard-hit ball to Callix Crabbe....... Villanueva threw 26 pitches in the 1st, 12 in the 2nd, 7 in the 3rd, and 9 in the 4th, finishing with 103 pitches, 64 (62%) for strikes. The Stars are now 17-14, four games in back of the Diamond Jaxx, who beat Mississippi tonight, and five games in back of Chattanooga, who the Stars see for the first and only time during the next road trip....... Monday, Tim Dillard (2-2, 5.74) will try and regain that form we saw in the 2nd game of the season when he held the Braves to one run in 6 1/3 innings. Since then he is 1-2 with a 7.08 ERA. Opposing Dillard will be Tony Peguero (3-2, 1.88), who leads the SL in ERA and innings. The Stars are a player short on the roster after Joe Winkelsas (1-1, 2.13) was promoted to Nashville following Friday's game........ The Stars are expecting to get Wink back....... Nashville had used nine pitchers in a PCL record-tying 24-inning marathon against New Orleans that was spread over two nights, Friday night's game going 18 innings until it was suspended at 1 am....... It was the longest in both teams' histories and matched the existing PCL mark originally set on June 8, 1909 in a game between San Francisco and Oakland, then matched on September 10, 1911 in a game between Sacramento and Portland. Chris Barnwell, in his 2nd pitching appearance of the season for Nashville, pitched 2/3 of the 24th inning. .......... Needing a fresh arm, Winkelsas pitched five innings in relief, Saturday night in a seven-inning game, giving up just one run on three hits and striking out six. Like I said, the design is for Wink to return to the Stars soon. Brandon Gemoll, who was released before the season got underway, has signed to play for the Coastal Bend Aviators of the independent American Association, which gets underway, Thursday........ Former Stars Ryan Gripp and Matt Hammons are also playing in that circuit this season........ Click on "STUFF" and you'll now get a look at how most of our former Stars, are doing in the minors and the independent circuit. www.starsboxscore.com/stuff.htm

Final: Huntsville 4, Montgomery (Devil Rays) 1 Huntsville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- Timely Hitting, Villanueva and Bullpen Carry Stars Past Biscuits Drew Anderson?s two-run triple highlighted a four-run fourth inning rally and the bullpen continued its? fine work in preserving Huntsville?s 4-1 win over Montgomery Sunday night in the first of a five-game series at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars won their second in a row to improve to 17-14 but could not gain any ground on victorious first-place Chattanooga in the North Division, while the Biscuits fell to 18-13 but remained a game in front of second place Jacksonville in the South Division. Biscuits? starter Andrew Sonnenstine retired the first nine hitters he faced before Kennard Bibbs tripled to open the home fourth and scored on a base hit by Ozzie Chavez, who has hit safely in eight of the last nine games, to break up a scoreless game. Greg Sain was hit by a pitch one out later and Anderson followed with his second three-base hit of the year into the right field corner to score both runners to push the home team?s lead to 3-0. Adam Heether then capped the rally with a base hit to plate Anderson and drive in just his second run in the last 13 games. Sonnenstine was charged with all four runs in seven innings and suffered his second loss of the season, both to the Stars, in his longest start of the year. Carlos Villanueva kept the visitors off the scoreboard until the seventh inning when Chairon Isenia singled with one out, moved to second base on a Ryan Christianson single and scored on a double by Fransisco Leandro. With two hurlers warming behind him in the bullpen, Villanueva struck out Jeremy Owens on three pitches for the second out. He then walked Elliot Johnson to load the bases and was taken out of the game. Gerrit Simpson came on and got Matthew Maniscalco to ground into a force out at second base to end the threat and the inning. Villanueva went 6 2/3 innings in his longest outing of the year and earned his first win at home by allowing one run on six hits. He struck out five and walked a season-high three and beat the Biscuits for the second time in as many starts. The right-hander had given up 15 earned runs on 21 hits in 14 innings in his first three home starts. Andy Pratt recorded two outs in the eighth and Alec Zumwalt got the last four to earn his fifth save of the season. The series continues Monday night with right-hander Tim Dillard taking the mound against Montgomery right-hander Tony Peguero. 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: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 Huntsville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

Link for another Vinny Rottino photo, text follows: tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS Zephyrs roll past Sounds Nashville veteran Thompson tagged for eight hits in loss By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer Justin Thompson followed his best pitching performance of the season with one that was a little less than that. Thompson (2-1), who worked six innings and allowed one run on three hits in a May 2 win over Iowa, lasted just two innings Sunday. New Orleans roughed up the veteran left-hander for six runs on eight hits ? five for extra bases ? and went on to beat the Nashville Sounds 10-7. "That was just one of those steps back," said Thompson, a 1997 AL All-Star who's had four shoulder surgeries since 1999 and has just two major league appearances in that time. "You've just got to get tough, go out the next time and battle." Thompson's two-inning stint was one-third of an inning longer than his shortest appearance of the season ? 1 2/3 innings on April 10 at Iowa. "I just didn't have it," he said. "The ball wasn't coming out of my hand very well. I was trying to make pitches in and out, and I was leaving them in the middle. In the second inning, I made pitches, but they were pretty comfortable in the box by then." Nashville trailed 10-3, but managed four unearned runs in the seventh. "Sometimes you don't get hits," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "They made pitches when they had to, and they hit the ball early in the game. We tried to come back into it. But when that happens, they're going to have to help you. You're usually not going to hit your way back from a seven-run deficit." ***Link while active, text follows: tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS Barnwell has another streak going By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer Nashville Sounds infielder Chris Barnwell has accomplished on two occasions this season what players on the other 15 PCL teams have managed to do just 10 times. Barnwell's second-inning RBI single gave him his second 10-game hitting streak of the season. With Mike Rivera (16 games), Tony Gwynn (12 games) and Corey Hart (11 games), the Sounds have posted five of the PCL's 15 double-digit streaks this year. Barnwell's base hit extended his string of games in which he has reached base via a hit or walk to 23 games, which includes both his 10-game hitting streaks. Hart went 0-for-3 to stop his streak. Coming-out party: With the Sounds bullpen so overworked during the current series, veteran infielder Jermaine Clark made his first professional appearance as a pitcher when he took the mound to open the eighth inning Sunday. Clark retired the Zephyrs in order in both the eighth and ninth. It marked the second consecutive day that a defensive player has taken the mound for Nashville. Barnwell recorded the final two outs of the 24-inning game that concluded Saturday. Double-digit decisions: Nashville, which has scored 10 or more runs on four occasions, allowed a season high in runs Sunday. Previously, the Sounds had allowed seven runs on four different occasions ? and had won two of those games. Rare series: A loss in today's final game of the series would give the Sounds their first series loss since dropping three of four at Omaha to open the season. Since then, Nashville has won five consecutive series after splitting a four-game set at Iowa. Ahead of the pace: With 20 wins through their first 30 games, the Sounds are playing at a better clip than last year's Pacific Coast League championship squad. Nashville's 20th win last season didn't come until Game No. 36, a May 13 victory over Tucson. What they said: "20-10 every 30 games wouldn't be bad." ? Nashville Manager Frank Kremblas, whose first-place team has a 20-10 record to begin the season.

Link while active, text follows: www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=49672 Sounds end record-breaking weekend with loss By Nate Rau, Nashville City Paper Sports Correspondent The Nashville Sounds aren?t baseball players, they?re decathletes. After Sunday?s 10-7 loss to New Orleans at Greer Stadium, the team played a jaw-dropping 40 innings in 47 hours over the weekend, highlighted by a record-breaking 24-inning game which began Friday and ended Saturday. The Sounds (20-10) fell to the Zephyrs on Sunday after starting pitcher Justin Thompson gave up six runs in two innings before exiting the game. New Orleans never relinquished its lead after that. The ten runs allowed are the most by the Sounds? pitchers this season. ?That?s a credit to our pitching and our defense [that we?ve been in every game],? Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. ?The season is still early.? The Sounds said fatigue didn?t play a role in their most recent loss, even though the epic Friday-Saturday game broke countless records for duration. In total, the game lasted eight hours. ?We?re not so tired because we?re a young team,? Sounds second baseman Jermaine Clark, who threw two innings on Sunday to alleviate Nashville?s worn-out bullpen, said. New Orleans (13-17) hit three homers, which is also the most allowed by Nashville pitchers this season. Thompson was responsible for two of those. ?I don?t want to blame fatigue,? Clark said. ?When you get down early, it?s easy to say you looked fatigued.? The Sounds were bested by a New Orleans pitcher, Justin Echols, making his first-ever Triple A start. But Sounds batters maintained it was not the side-effects of the record-breaking game which was responsible for their quiet day offensively. Although the team scored seven runs, three of those came on a bases-loaded play in the seventh, in which New Orleans batters committed two errors. ?I don?t think [we?re worn out],? Sounds outfielder Tony Gwynn said. ?Maybe the pitchers, I haven?t talked to them yet.? After the game, players said even though it ended up falling short in Saturday?s 24-inning affair, it was still going to be a memory they would hold on to. ?We?re a part of history,? said Sounds first baseman Brad Nelson, who set one record no one wants ? most strikeouts in a game with seven. ?It?s something you?ll never forget.? There were some bright spots for the Sounds offense. Shortstop Chris Barnwell extended his on-base streak to 23 games. The streak includes two ten-game hit streaks. Tempers flared in the eighth inning when Clark, who hasn?t pitched since college, was on the mound. Tyrell Godwin tried a bunt, which Clark said breaks one of baseball?s unwritten rules. ?If I were up in a three-run game with a position player on the mound, I wouldn?t try a bunt,? Clark said. ?But that?s just me. I see their side, it was only a three-run game, but they need to respect our side. It was one of those things where we shouted like men for five or six seconds then cooler heads prevailed.? Vinny Rottino hit his third homer of the season for the Sounds. Barnwell and Nelson both notched RBI base hits for Nashville as well.

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with New Sounds Reliever Joe Winkelsas: Good stuff, listen in... www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-7.wma Nashville Announcer Chuck Valenches' latest blog update includes "Where are they now?" news on Steve Scarborough and Julio Mosquera: nashvillesounds.blogspot....byers.html

Final: New Orleans (Nationals) 10, Nashville 7 Nashville Site Game Summary: Link, text follows -- Sounds Drop Afternoon Matinee To Zephyrs, 10-7 NASHVILLE, Tenn.? The New Orleans Zephyrs pounded out 16 hits, including seven for extra bases, and scored in six of the nine innings to hang a 10-7 defeat on the Nashville Sounds on Sunday afternoon at Greer Stadium in the third contest of a four-game series. With the loss, Nashville (20-10) fell to 4-3 on its current homestand. Three Sounds batters accounted for the club?s five hits on the day, including two-hit efforts by Vinny Rottino and Chris Barnwell. The Zephyrs? offense got off to a quick start, recording a run or more in the first five innings. New Orleans started the game off with three straight hits, one of which was a three-run home run by second baseman Brendan Harris. Third baseman Brandon Larson also homered in the opening frame, a solo shot that was his fourth of the year. Sounds starter Justin Thompson (2-1) lasted only two innings and surrendered six runs on eight hits (six for extra bases) before right-hander Brett Evert was brought in from the bullpen. Thompson?s two innings pitched marks only the second time this season he has gone three or less innings as the southpaw drew his first loss of the year. Zephyrs starter Justin Echols (1-0) recorded the win in his first career Triple-A appearance after holding the Sounds to three runs on four hits over five frames. Micah Bowie worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to earn his first save of the year for New Orleans. Trailing 6-0, the Sounds got on the board in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Barnwell, which extended the infielder?s hitting streak to a team active best 10 games and pushed his on-base streak to 23 contests (2nd-longest in PCL this season). Jermaine Clark scored on the next play, a Brad Nelson groundout, to cut the lead to 6-2. In the top of the third, New Orleans leftfielder Tyrell Godwin greeted Evert by sending a pitch over the center field wall to increase the visitors? lead to 7-2. His second homer in as many days and third on the year also gave the Z?s three home runs for the day, the most allowed by Nashville pitchers all season. The Sounds struck right back in the bottom of the frame with Rottino?s third longball of the season, a solo shot to left off Echols that made the score 6-3. AUDIO: Vinny Rottino Solo HR -- www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-7.wma New Orleans added single runs in the fourth, fifth, and seventh frames to extend its advantage to 10-3 before the Sounds took advantage of a pair of Zephyrs errors in the bottom of the inning to plate four unearned runs and make a game of it at 10-7. With two outs and the bases loaded in the frame, the Sounds cleared the bases on a fielder?s choice and two errors. Rottino hit a ground ball to shortstop Josh Labandeira, who had the easy throw to second but sailed the ball into the outfield allowing two runs to score. As the play continued, there was a mix up on the base paths as both Rottino and Corey Hart were caught at third base. As catcher Wiki Gonzalez ran towards third, Rottino ran back to second and Hart strayed slightly off third base waiting for the catcher to make a decision. Gonzalez threw the ball into left field while attempting to catch Hart in a rundown. Hart scored on the error and Rottino advanced to third. Rottino scored shortly after on a passed ball by Gonzalez. Hart went 0-for-3 for Nashville on the afternoon to snap his season-best hitting streak at 11 games. As a result of a long weekend of baseball, Sounds manager Frank Kremblas elected to send second baseman Jermaine Clark to the hill for the final two innings of the game to rest his tired bullpen. In his professional pitching debut, Clark threw two innings and went six up, six down. At the end of the game, both teams had played 40 innings of baseball in a little under 48 hours. The two teams will play the finale of the four-game series in a special 10:30 a.m. contest on Monday morning. The game, a Reading Club date, will feature a packed house of area schoolchildren as they attend the game as a reward for reaching their goals in the Nashville Sounds Reading Club program. Left-hander Zach Jackson (0-1, 3.81) will take the hill for the Sounds and face off against Zephyrs southpaw Billy Traber (0-1, 5.06). Nashville Box Score: Only 58 AB's for Enrique Cruz thus far... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1 Nashville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1 Vinny Rottino in the camo uniform: http://www.nashvillesounds.com/images/news/rottino_camo.jpg

For those who enjoy two-inning box scores that don't count -- see who loses out on a nice early start today in West Virginia: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_wvaafx_1