Jim Goulart

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Final: Ogden (Dodgers) 8, Helena 4 Almost an undefeated organizational day (minus a AAA rainout and an idle AA team http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif )... Helena Box Score: RHP Josh Louis' pitching line shines among weaker ones tonight; 4th round third baseman Matt Gamel heating up... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1 Helena Game Log: Brewers loaded the bases in the 9th to bring up the tying run -- sorry, no heroics... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

Final: Arizona Brewers 6, Arizona Padres 4, ten innings Weather: 101 degrees, sunny. Wind: 1 mph, Varies. T: 2:40 Arizona Box Score: Maybe this Jose Jimenez kid will be a player, now with six extra base hits among 20 total hits -- we mentioned last week how only a handful of these players will reach high-A, if recent history holds true... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_pdrrok_1 Arizona Game Log: 17-year-old SS Harold Mejia with ten errors, but he's seeing plenty of action -- the Brewers like him; the boys nearly lost this one in the bottom of the 9th, barely hanging on to the tie... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_pdrrok_1

Final: West Virginia 5, Lakewood (Phillies) 3 West Virginia Site Game Summary: BRAUN HITS FIRST POWER HOMER IN WIN OVER LAKEWOODLakewood, NJ ? Ryan Braun, the first round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2005 draft, hit a pair of home runs in his short tenure with the Helena Brewers of the Pioneer League and on Thursday night he hit his first home run as a member of the West Virginia Power in a 5-3 victory over the Lakewood BlueClaws at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, New Jersey. The Power scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning when Braun reached on a fielder?s choice and brought in Alcides Escobar in the process. The BlueClaws tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning when Jason Jaramillo scored on a wild pitch. The Power took their second lead of the game in the top of the fifth inning when Braun drove in Nestor Corredor on a sacrifice fly. The Power added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning when Carlos Corporan drove in Hasan Rasheed on an RBI single and Corporan scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to give the Power a 4-1 advantage. The Power scored their final run of the game in the top of the seventh inning on Braun?s solo shot. Doug Gredvig brought the BlueClaws within two runs of the Power in the bottom of the eighth inning when he hit a two-run homer to make it a 5-3 game. Gredvig had a chance to be a hero when he stepped into the batter?s box with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Robert Hinton struck him out on three pitches to end the game. Steve Hammond (1-0) earned the victory, Hinton (7) earned the save and Maximo De La Cruz (4-8) obtained the loss. The Power are 9-11 in the second half after the win and the BlueClaws move to 9-11 with the loss. The Power will conclude the four game series with the BlueClaws in Lakewood on Friday night. The Power will throw RHP Josh Wahpepah (4-4, 3.46) and the BlueClaws will counter with RHP Matt Sweeney (1-1, 2.08). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central). West Virginia Box Score: On those occasions when they do have a late lead, the Power have a dynamic closing duo in Hinton and Ben Stanczyk; 6th round lefty Hammond has been studly; Grant Richardson draws two walks on a day when his hot bat is otherwise quiet -- that's a nice sign... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lwdafx_1 West Virginia Game Log: Errors are like turnovers in football -- you win that battle, like the Power did here, 4-0, and you'll do well; both Hammond and Hinton stranded two inherited runners -- that's impressive 9th inning strikeout stuff for the still 20-year-old Hinton... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lwdafx_1

Final: Brevard County 10, Dunedin (Blue Jays) 3 Brevard County Box Score: Five Manatees with multiple base hits -- where was this offense in the first half? Drew Anderson, Adam Heether, and Travis Ezi go deep - certainly among the very few games the 'Tees have homered thrice or more; seven of the ten RBI came with two out; when did second baseman Steve Sollman jump to 15 errors -- yikes; Tim Dillard has walked only 23 in 126.1 innings -- he's been so stable... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_dunafx_1 Brevard County Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_dunafx_1

Nashville Site Update: Tonight?s series opener between the Nashville Sounds and Albuquerque Isotopes, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., has been postponed due to unplayable field conditions at Greer Stadium stemming from tropical storm rains throughout the Middle Tennessee area this week. The game will be made up as part of a 6 p.m. doubleheader on Friday evening. The teams will play two seven-inning games. In Friday's twinbill, Nashville right-hander Rick Helling (7-3, 4.38) will start the opener and face Albuquerque right-hander Frank Castillo (7-5, 4.81). Right-hander Ben Hendrickson (4-6, 4.63) will start the nightcap for the Sounds and face right-hander Travis Smith (2-4, 6.32).

Swap of LHP's: Struggling (as-of-late) Ryan Costello to Brevard County and Josh Habel to Huntsville; each returns to their original assignment to begin the year...

Link while active, text follows: www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1 Huntsville hurlers sizzle vs. South North wins 12-5 in SouthernLeague All-Star Game By TOMMY HICKS Special to the Times MOBILE - All-time home run king Hank Aaron threw out the ceremonial first pitch for Wednesday's Southern League All-Star Game at the stadium that bears his name. The North Division All-Stars took it from there, and they weren't very ceremonial about the task, but were certainly effective and continuous. Armed by a pitching staff that threw six inning of no-hit baseball, including scoreless innings by Huntsville Stars David Bradley and Dana Eveland, and the hitting of Most Valuable Player Jeremy Hermida of the Carolina Mudcats, the North team rolled to a 12-5 victory over the South. Eveland earned the starting spot for the North when scheduled starter Ricky Nolasco of West Tenn was pulled just prior to gametime. It was an unexpected move, but one Eveland was happy to accept. He started off the six no-hit innings of work by North pitchers by throwing a perfect first inning. "It was real exciting,'' Eveland said of the no-hit stretch and his start. "I thought we had a chance to get the first no-hitter ever in an all-star game. It's not something you think will happen and we didn't really talk about it because the game doesn't count, so it wasn't that important. But it was a lot of fun. "We got a lot of run support, too. The guys were really hitting the ball. This whole time was a blast. Everything worked out the way I hoped it would.'' Certainly that was true for the North team in general, which collected 12 runs on 15 hits. "We had a real good night,'' Huntsville's Tony Gwynn Jr., who was 1-for-5 with a run batted in and two runs scored, said. "We got started early. After going through the lineup once everyone started getting comfortable and put some good swings on the ball. ... Definitely, it was a lot of fun for me. It was good to get some at-bats against some good pitching. I've been struggling a bit and this will help my confidence.'' Hermida was the start of stars. The Mudcats outfielder was 3-for-5 on the night with four RBIs and two runs scored. It seemed every time the North needed to get something going, Hermida was at the plate and delivering a key hit. He and Gwynn produced RBI singles in the third inning for the North's first two runs. In the fifth, Hermida slapped a three-run double that gave the North a 5-0 lead. The South finally got a hit in the seventh when Birmingham's Chris Stewart led off with a triple. He scored on a ground ball error by Delwyn Young. Stewart would finish the night with a 2-for-2 performance. Casey Rogowski, also of Birmingham, added a two-run home run to left to close the gap a bit. The North finished with a flurry, including a five-run ninth inning provided by a Jesus Cota two-run double and a three-run homer by West Tenn's Casey McGehee. The South added a run in the bottom of the ninth on a Rico Washington RBI single. Huntsville's Vinny Rottino also played in the game, but was hitless in one official at-bat. Washington had two hits, meaning he and Stewart accounted for two-thirds of the South offense.

Link while active, text follows: www.tennessean.com/apps/p...328/SPORTS Revamped Sounds are still shining In first place at All-Star break after losing some of top players By MAURICE PATTON Tennessean Staff Writer It wasn't an extreme makeover, but the Nashville Sounds that open the second half of the Pacific Coast League season tonight aren't the same Sounds that began the year in April. Gone are top prospect Rickie Weeks, veterans Pat Borders, Trent Durrington and Kevin Orie, outfielder Brad Nelson, and relievers Chad Paronto and Julio Santana. Still, the Sounds have surged to the top of the PCL American Conference Northern Division standings despite the changes ? most of which took place over a three-week span in June. "You've got to give the players credit for pulling together and the staff credit for not throwing in the towel," said Reid Nichols, director of player development for the Milwaukee Brewers, the parent club. "They stayed on it and have done a good job." Despite all the movement, the team has performed consistently. The Sounds haven't won more than four games in a row and have accomplished that only once ? a series sweep of visiting New Orleans in late May ? but avoided long losing slides. Nashville dropped five in a row just before sweeping New Orleans, and was swept by visiting Omaha to open June. "We're doing OK," Manager Frank Kremblas said. "I'm not that surprised ? maybe a little over how much offense we've been able to generate. But the guys we've replaced some of the other guys with can play." Plugging in veteran (and former Sound) Warren Morris for Weeks, calling up veteran Tony Zuniga for Orie and swapping Nelson for Nelson Cruz kept the punch going. Meanwhile, the team defense solidified and the pitching has improved from top to bottom. "In the beginning, we didn't pitch as well as we would have expected," Kremblas said. "But lately we have. The difference has probably been the ability to command the fastball more than anything. "We've improved defensively, and I'm sure that helps the pitchers feel a little more comfortable. I think our outfield play has gotten better." Although Nashville hasn't been overwhelming offensively ? averaging 5.5 runs per game ? the runs have come at the right times. The Sounds have won 18 games in their final at-bat. "Our pitching is better, and we're getting timely hitting," outfielder Corey Hart said. "I think we'll definitely be in the playoffs and go deep in the playoffs. I think we're going to be a tough matchup." Nichols said that while the pitching has improved, that would be the aspect that he'd like to shore up if possible. "Pitching has been the strong suit," he said. "They've got a lot of good arms down there. We're still trying to help them out. They're one under, roster-wise. We're trying to help the pitching if we can." Maurice Patton covers the Sounds for The Tennessean. He can be reached at mopatton@tennessean.com.

Nashville Media Notes for Thursday (PDF format): www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 51 40 .560 - 25-19 26-21 W1[/b] Memphis 47 43 .522 3.5 24-19 23-24 L1 Iowa 41 47 .466 8.5 26-22 15-25 W1 Omaha 41 50 .451 10.0 16-23 25-27 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 10 8 .556 - 8-7 2-1 W1 [b]Huntsville 11 9 .550 - 3-5 8-4 W1[/b] West Tenn 10 9 .526 0.5 4-4 6-5 L1 Tennessee 9 10 .474 1.5 5-6 4-4 W1 Chattanooga 8 12 .400 3.0 3-5 5-7 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Brevard County 13 6 .684 - 3-1 10-5 W1[/b] St. Lucie 11 8 .579 2.0 4-5 8-3 W3 Palm Beach 12 9 .571 2.0 6-5 6-4 W1 Vero Beach 10 9 .526 3.0 5-5 5-4 L1 Jupiter 8 10 .444 4.5 7-3 1-7 W1 Daytona 5 14 .263 8.0 4-8 1-6 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delmarva 13 6 .684 - 9-1 5-5 W1 Hickory 11 7 .611 1.5 6-4 5-3 L1 Lexington 11 8 .579 2.0 8-4 3-5 L1 Lake County 9 10 .474 4.0 6-7 3-3 L3 Lakewood 9 10 .474 4.0 6-4 3-6 W1 [b]West Virginia 8 11 .421 5.0 5-2 3-9 L1[/b] Hagerstown 7 12 .368 6.0 2-4 5-8 W2 Greensboro 6 11 .353 6.0 1-6 5-5 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Helena 16 5 .762 - 7-2 9-3 W2[/b] Billings 12 9 .571 4.0 4-5 8-4 W1 Great Falls 8 13 .381 8.0 6-6 2-7 W1 Missoula 5 16 .238 11.0 2-10 3-6 L2Arizona League Standings: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...mp;lid=121 Stats and League Leaders, USA Today (or go to MILB.com): www.usatoday.com/sports/b.../index.htm

Links to follow Thursday's action as it happens: Nashville: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1 Brevard County: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_dunafx_1 West Virginia: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_lwdafx_1 Helena: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1 Arizona: Not updated live, but usually later during the overnight... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_pdrrok_1

Thursday's Daily Menu: All times Central except for Arizona League; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Rick Helling at home vs. Albuquerque (Dodgers), 6:40 PM pre-game; 7:00 gametime Audio link: www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/ Nashville Site Gamecast Feed: www.nashvillesounds.com/live/xlive.htm Huntsville: Idle for the All-Star Break Brevard County: TBD at Dunedin (Blue Jays), 6:00 PM; no audio for this series West Virginia: RHP Josh Baker at Lakewood (Phillies), 6:05 PM Audio link: www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower. Helena: TBD at home vs. Ogden (Dodgers), 8:05 PM Audio link (opponent's): www.relia.net/raptors/ Arizona: TBD at the Padres complex, 11:30 AM local time in the Arizona sun; never any audio for this league...

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The Brewers have signed 22-year-old undrafted outfielder Nate Yoho and assigned him to Arizona rookie, where he made his pro debut by going 3-for-5 Wednesday night. Yoho just wrapped up his senior season at the University of Iowa. This Iowa player profile details through his junior season of 2004: hawkeyesports.collegespor...ate00.html College stats through 2004: www.sports-wired.com/prof...c37027.asp 2005 numbers can be found here: hawkeyesports.collegespor...l#TEAM.MLB http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/iowa/sports/m-basebl/auto_action/197294.jpeg

Link while active, text follows: www.helenair.com/articles...305_09.txt Salome sinks Ogden By JOSH JORDAN - IR Sports Writer Angel Salome is beginning to emerge as the leader at the plate for the Helena Brewers this season and that trend continued Tuesday as he led his team to a 5-4 win over Ogden in the second of a four-game series at Kindrick Legion Field. Salome helped the Brewers get on board in the fourth inning when he opened things with a single. He later scored from third on a double-steal. He followed that in the bottom of the fifth when he went the opposite way for a three-run home run that put the home team ahead 4-1. "Angel continues to come up with key hits in key situations," Helena manager Ed Sedar said about the catcher who was playing designated hitter on Tuesday. "He's had a good year so far." Salome went 2-for-4 in the game to bring his season hit total to 34, good for second in the league behind Ogden's David Sutherland. Sutherland entered the game with 33 hits, and kept the league lead with three hits on Tuesday. His two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth made it 5-4 and put the tying run at second and the winning run at first. But Helena's Ronny Malave threw one pitch and got the save when Russ Mitchell flew out to end the game. The win kept Helena (15-5) in first place in the North Division of the Pioneer League and enabled them to avoid consecutive home losses for the first time this season. It also showed that the Brewers could bounce back from a tough loss like Monday's game when Ogden took advantage of six Helena errors in a 9-8 win. Ryan Crew led the way on defense with a pair of dazzling plays at shortstop as the Brewers went errorless in the field. "They showed the makings of a good team," Sedar said. "Coming back tonight after last night and turning it around. There were several nice plays in the field out there." Starting pitcher Derek Miller made things easy on his teammates by pitching three scoreless innings before leaving after reaching his allotted pitch count. Miller allowed just one hit and struck out three without a walk to set the tone on the mound. Helena used five pitchers in the game and gave up just one walk while spreading 11 hits. "The pitchers threw the ball well," Sedar said. "Miller led the way, he's had three straight good outings." Will Inman picked up his first professional win with two innings of work for the Brewers. Brent Leach kept pace with Miller and Inman early in the game. The Ogden starter came in without allowing an earned run in 10.1 innings and kept that streak alive until the fourth inning when Salome scored on a double steal with John Alonso. Andrew Locke pulled a home run off the scoreboard in left-center field as Ogden tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth. Salome wasn't finished. The right-hander brought home Kenny Holmberg and Michael Bell with a home run deep over the right field wall to put the Brewers ahead for good. Ogden scored on an RBI single by Mitchell in the top of the eighth and three hits and a walk in the ninth but came away one run short. The Raptors (13-8) remained in first place in the South division. The two teams will play again today at 7:05 p.m. (8:05 Central) at Kindrick Field. Jon Ebelt IR Staff Photographer - Helena's John Alonso, right, scores the first run of the game on a double steal as Ogden's Juan Apodaca is unable to handlhe throw from second base in baseball action Tuesday at Kindrick Legion Field. http://www.helenair.com/content/articles/2005/07/13/sports_top/b01071305_09.jpg

Final: Helena 5, Ogden (Raptors) 4 Game ended on a warning-track catch by Ned Yost -- whew! Helena Box Score: The first two Raptors were retired in the 9th before a near-collapse began -- see the game log; starter LHP Derek Miller again showing he needs a bigger challenge as a 23-year-old; those Helena ERA's look nice in the box score -- heck, the batting averages do, too... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1 Helena Game Log: It'd be interesting to see a runs allowed analysis with more-seasoned Brad Willcutt behind the dish vs. Angel Salome, 2003 5th round pick Bryan Opdyke hasn't been able to crack that alternating catcher rotation, even for a game or two... www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_helrok_1

The Brewers have indeed released LHP Carlos Ramirez, the Dominican prospect not quite 21 years old. This just adds to the list of promising Brewer arms that didn't pan out health-wise, not to mention the list of failed Latin American pitching prospects. Carlos Ramirez Career Statistics: www.sports-wired.com/play...p?ID=22200 Ramirez peaked at # 25 on the Power 50. Always fun to review Toby's past comments: www.brewerfan.net/ViewPow...ayerId=156

Apparently the Helena kids have on those funky light-blue and white jerseys on tonight that we saw in a recent Ned Yost IV photo; the Ogden announcer just described them as "tropical" and "floral" -- say it ain't so!

West Virginia Site Game Summary: Rogers Earns His First Power VictoryLakewood, N.J. ? Mark Rogers tossed five solid innings on Tuesday night in Lakewood, New Jersey and earned his first victory of the season as the Power beat the Lakewood BlueClaws 3-2 at First Energy Park. The Power scored the first two runs of the ballgame in the top of the second inning. With runners on first and third, Will Lewis was caught in a rundown and Lakewood shortstop Brad Harman made an errant throw that hit off of Lewis on his way back to first base, which allowed Hasan Rasheed to score from third to give the Power a 1-0 lead. Lewis scored later in the inning on Carlos Corporan?s sacrifice fly. The BlueClaws tied the game in the bottom of the third inning on Brad Harman?s two-run homer, his fourth home run of the season. In the top of the fifth inning the Power took the lead for good when Ryan Braun smacked a two-out RBI single into right field to bring in Josh Murray and give the Power a 3-2 lead. Derek DeCarlo tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to hold the lead and Ben Stanczyk pitched a perfect bottom half of the ninth inning to earn the save. Rogers (1-6) earned the victory, Stanczyk (5) earned the save and Andy Baldwin (2-7) obtained the loss. The Power are 8-10 in the second half after the win and the BlueClaws move to 8-10 with the loss. The Power will continue the four game series with the BlueClaws in Lakewood on Wednesday afternoon. The Power will throw LHP Greg Kloosterman (3-12, 4.52) and the BlueClaws will counter with RHP Nate Johnson (7-4, 4.92). The first pitch is scheduled for 11:05 AM (10:05 Central).

RHP Josh Baker (West Virginia) has also been box score AWOL for a couple of weeks...

Milwaukee has released soon-to-be-20-year-old RHP Alvaro Martinez Sosa from the West Virginia disabled list (he did not pitch in 2005). The tall Venezuelan signee struggled with control throughout his three-year minor league career, including with Helena in 2004. Alvaro Martinez Sosa career statistics: www.thebaseballcube.com/p...sosa.shtml Still waiting on confirmation of the status of LHP Carlos Ramirez, who was a shining star and Power 50 favorite after his 2003 Helena season but missed all of 2004 and 2005 thus far.

Online web readers of Baseball America might get confused by the latest list of Brewer transactions covering the period of May 26th - July 12th. It combines transactions from last season, and recent Minnesota Twins transactions -- a real mish-mash. Here's how it reads (incorrectly): Milwaukee Brewers: Signed RHP Brandon Hundt. Released LHP Matt Ford, RHPs Dan Grybash, Tim Crabtree and Oscar Montes and OF Dallas Bates. Signed 1B Ed Yost, RHP Brett Evert, 3B Jose Jimenez and C Mike Rivera. Released RHPs Miguel Garcia, Greg Moreira, Brandon Hundt and Joel Needham and OF Dallas Bates. Signed 3B Dan Berg, RHPs Aaron Craig, Mathew Kretzschmar and Josh Louis and LHP Derek Miller. Released 3Bs Rick Bell and Kevin Orie, RHPs Evan Meek and Chad Paronto, IF Charlie Lozada and LHP Sam Narron. Placed OF Joel Rivera and LHP David Welch on restricted list. Here's how it should read: Milwaukee Brewers Released LHP Matt Ford, RHPs Dan Grybash and Oscar Montes and OF Dallas Bates. Signed 1B Ed Yost, RHP Brett Evert, 3B Jose Jimenez and C Mike Rivera. Released RHPs Miguel Garcia, Greg Moreira, Brandon Hundt and Joel Needham and OF Dallas Bates. Signed RHPs Mathew Kretzschmar and Josh Louis and LHP Derek Miller. Released 3B Kevin Orie, RHP Chad Paronto, IF Charlie Lozada and LHP Sam Narron. Re-signed LHP Sam Narron. Placed OF Joel Rivera and LHP David Welch on restricted list. We had mentioned all these transactions earlier, with the exception of David Welch's restricted list stint. But Welch is pitching for Helena this evening (his fifth appearance), so if he was restricted earlier, it was a very brief stay.

In progress: Helena 4, Ogden (Dodgers) 1, H-Crew still batting, bottom of the 5th Angel Salome (DH'ing tonight) with a three-run bomb, his fifth on the season...

In progress: Ogden (Dodgers) 1, Helena 1, bottom of the 5th in Helena The Raptors' announcer is a 20-year-old Weber State student named Eric Knighton; while I'm having trouble with his lack of inflection and his staggering cadence, I give him credit for landing the gig -- it's not the worst call we've heard from these opponent feeds, that's for sure...