MassBrew

Brad Nelson update: Broken hamate bone in the right wrist, surgery likely, will miss approx. 5-6 weeks....

Taking Mark Ernster's spot in Beloit will be infielder Keith Bohanan, the 22-year-old who was the Brewers 23rd round choice out of Oklahoma City University, so he's once again reunited with college teammate OF Kennard Bibbs. Bohanan pretty much had a miserable 2002 season at Ogden, hitting .194 in 170 AB's with a .536 OPS (only four extra-base hits). Splitting his time across the Raptor infield over 54 games last summer, Bohanan also made 19 errors. All that being said, this is a new year, wipe the slate clean, good luck Keith.

Game Two: Wisconsin 5, Beloit 1 Despite nine Snapper hits in the seven-inning affair, only one run... Wisconsin Site Game Summary: www.timberrattlers.com/pr...x?recid=51

Huntsville 6, Birmingham (White Sox) 1 Best start thus far for Pedro Liriano; J.J. Hardy goes yard twice... Huntsville Site Game Summary: Huge home crowd sees fireworks in the sky and from Hardy's bat... www.huntsvillestars.com/n...?newsid=39 David Weiser's Huntsville Analysis: J.J. ... H.R. H.R.It was a perfectly beautiful 78° night for fireworks, and I'm not exaggerating, at least some 5,000 area little leaguers and their families. They came out to celebrate their own opening day with pre-game ceremonies at the Joe, totally filling area behind home plate all the way to the outfield lines........ It was a good night not only for the popcorn vendors, peanut vendors, souvenir merchants, and the concessionaires, but for the fans, the Stars and one Mr. J.J. Hardy. Hardy, after a day's rest, exploded offensively for two home runs to left-center field, to give Pedro Liriano his first victory of the season........ Liriano struggled in his first two outings, but he had no difficulty tonight against the Barons, who have been struggling to score runs early in the season....... Liriano gave up back-to-back, one out singles in the 1st inning to Danny Sandoval and Ryan Hankins, but that is as near to trouble as he got through six innings........ Darron Ingram, who has been a lot of trouble in the past for the Stars, hit a low liner to 2B Chris Barnwell, who threw to first to catch Hankins dead in his tracks for the inning-ending double play......... Liriano then got the next seven hitters before walking Hankins in the 4th........ In the 5th, Liriano faced runners on the corners with one out, but then struck out Chad Durham, brother of San Francisco outfielder Ray Durham, swinging on a 2-2 fastball, and finished by getting leadoff hitter Guillermo Reyes to force Juan Piniella at second on a grounder to Barnwell. Birmingham lefthander Clay Eason looked like the right man to press into the rotation to replace Jim Bullard. Eason held the Stars to just one run in 11 innings last year. He struck out Ryan Knox on three pitches and Dave Krynzel on a full count......... But Hardy, on what must have been an invigorating day's rest, drove one deep out to left-center field, clearing the first wall of billboards to give the Stars a 1-0 jump....... Liriano got the additional benefit of a 6th inning rally, sparked by Chris Cosbey, who led off with a double down the right field line........ Cosbey, who went 2-for-3, has done more than you could ask for off the bench and an occasional start, hitting .400 on a current 6-game hitting streak......... The team this year has loads of speed and aggressiveness and Knox, who has contributed so much at the leadoff spot, laid a bunt down on the 3rd base side, beating it out by a step for a hit, while Cosbey, a rabbit himself, reached 3rd........ With one out, it set the stage for J.J.'s 2nd homer of the game, one that left no doubt, over the Gibson's BBQ sign under the scoreboard in left-center........ That ended Eason's night........ Brandon Gemoll sandwiched a double off reliever Tetsu Yofu, off the same Gibson's sign in between a pair of strikeouts and the Stars entered the dugout with a comfortable 4-0 lead. A bad throw by Krynzel in the 8th inning spoiled the Stars' bid for their 5th straight shutout victory....... With one out, Chad Durham ground a 1-2 pitch off Matt Childers up the middle for a single. Guillermo Reyes followed with a single to shallow right to put runners on 1st and 2nd....... Danny Sandoval then hit a grounder to Hardy that looked like a quick double-play, but Barnwell mishandled the misguided relay toss, that was originally given to Hardy as an error. That loaded the sacks for Ryan Hankins........ Hankins hit a liner to shallow centerfield and the throw to Mike Kremblas behind the plate should have been on target, but Kremblas took the low throw on the hop away from the runner coming in and Durham was able to get his foot across. Durham jostled Kremblas in the process and the ball got away far enough to allow Sandoval and Reyes to move up to 2nd and 3rd........... The Stars took advantage of two errors and a wild pitch to score two more runs in the 8th, to make it a final 6-1........ Krinkles (Krynzel) had an unusual hit in that inning. His liner hit the 3rd base bag, popped in the air, and continued to stay inside the left field line in front of an alert Scott Bikowski, who held Krynzel to a single. Krynzel has now hit safely in four straight games, going 6-for-16. The game began and ended on great defensive displays by the Stars.......... The standouts were Barnwell, who on the very first pitch of the game, raced out onto the grass to take away a soft line-drive single away from Guillermo Reyes, Hardy, who in the 9th ranged way over to his right to make a difficult play on a grounder by former Star Gabe Alvarez, then turned and threw to Barnwell for a force on Scott Bikowski, and Knox, who lunged at a fly ball hit over his head toward the left field line, making a backhand stab to end the game........ The Stars are now 6-2 when they score first. Liriano, Childers, and Mike Adams ended the team-high 7-game hit streak of Scott Bikowski......... Liriano threw 78 pitches tonight, 46 for strikes (59%)......... Luis Martinez was named Southern League Pitcher-of-the-Week, recognizing his two starts in which he surrendered just five hits in twelve scoreless innings, winning both games........ The Stars couldn't gain any ground on the hot Diamond Jaxx, who beat Chattanooga, 7-1. Corey Hart is hitting .282 with 11 hits and 5 RBI in his last 9 games....... Gemoll is hitting .289 with 11 hits in his last 10 games. Of his 14 hits this season, half have been for extra bases....... The Barons are hitting just .221 in their last 11 games, winning just 3........... The huge crowd tonight drove the Stars' average attendance to over 2,700. Tomorrow, 1,500 adults will be walking billboards for Taco Bell as they will receive a free Stars T-shirt........ Ben Diggins (0-1, 2.04) will get the ball tomorrow against Corwin Malone (1-0, 3.00)....... Ben Hendrickson is scheduled to start Sunday, but he told me he will make his next start in Mobile.......... Derek Lee will get the start "because I need some work on my mechanics", said Ben....... There's been rumors of elbow trouble, but he says his elbow is fine. I asked a couple of good sources who have asked Ben himself, and they both say he still is dealing with tightness in his forearm. One said he got it playing video games. Take that with a grain of salt....... Lee's start will break a club record with his 122nd appearance with the Huntsville Stars. Brad Nelson, the future at 1st base for the Stars, is on the disabled list with a broken hamate bone and with surgery likely, will miss 5-6 weeks........ High Desert called up Mark Ernster from Beloit, where he was hitting .226 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. Huntsville Times Game Story: Quotes from Manager Frank Kremblas and J.J. with some neat insight into his approach on one specific at-bat: www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...240530.xml Huntsville Box Score: Gee, could we possibly provide you with anything else on this game? GAME DATE: 4/18/03 BIRMINGHAM 1 AT HUNTSVILLE 6 YTD YTD BIRMINGHAM AB R H BI AVG HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI AVG G.Reyes SS 4 0 1 0 .220 R.Knox LF 4 1 1 0 .250 D.Sandoval 2B 4 0 1 0 .212 D.Krynzel CF 3 1 1 1 .234 R.Hankins 3B 2 0 1 1 .259 J.Hardy SS 4 3 2 3 .328 D.Ingram DH 4 0 0 0 .056 C.Hart 3B 3 0 0 1 .228 S.Bikowski RF 3 0 0 0 .367 B.Gemoll 1B 3 0 1 1 .255 G.Alvarez 1B 3 0 0 0 .216 C.Guerrero RF 4 0 1 0 .183 C.Maldonado CAT 4 0 0 0 .306 C.Barnwell 2B 4 0 1 0 .154 J.Piniella LF 4 0 1 0 .222 M.Kremblas CAT 4 0 1 0 .182 C.Durham CF 3 1 1 0 .136 C.Cosbey DH 3 1 2 0 .381 C.Eason PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 P.Liriano PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Yofu PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Childers PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Bajenaru PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Adams PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 31 1 5 1 TOTALS 32 6 10 6 BIRMINGHAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0- 1 HUNTSVILLE 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 X- 6 E--G.Alvarez, J.Piniella, D.Krynzel, C.Barnwell. DP--BIRMINGHAM 1, HUNTSVILLE 1. LOB--BIRMINGHAM 7, HUNTSVILLE 5. 2B--B.Gemoll (6), M.Kremblas (3), C.Cosbey (3). HR--J.Hardy 2 (3). SB--D.Sandoval (2), C.Guerrero (1), C.Cosbey (2). SF--R.Hankins, D.Krynzel, C.Hart, B.Gemoll. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA BIRMINGHAM C.Eason (L,0-2) 5.1 6 4 4 0 6 2 3.86 T.Yofu 0.2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 J.Bajenaru 2.0 3 2 0 0 2 0 1.80 HUNTSVILLE P.Liriano (W,1-2) 6.0 3 0 0 2 5 0 4.20 M.Childers 2.0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0.64 M.Adams 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2.45 WP--J.Bajenaru. SO--D.Sandoval, S.Bikowski, G.Alvarez, C.Maldonado, C.Durham, R.Knox 2, D.Krynzel, J.Hardy, C.Hart, B.Gemoll, C.Guerrero 2, M.Kremblas, C.Cosbey. BB--R.Hankins, S.Bikowski, G.Alvarez. T--2:25. A--9127

Game One: Beloit 9, Wisconsin (Mariners) 2 Five games won, one to go in the expanded series; Snappers back to .500 Wisconsin Site Game Summary: www.timberrattlers.com/pr...x?recid=50 So who is Beloit's winning pitcher, Jason Baker? 22 years old, out of George Washington University, nice WHIP ratio with Ogden last year... Jason Baker Brewerfan Player Profile Page: www.brewerfan.net/ViewPla...ayerId=332

From Mike Lindskog and the Mavericks Front Office: Brad Nelson, the Brewers #1 rated prospect according to Baseball America has been put on the Disabled List today. The Brewers announced that Nelson has been put on the seven-day DL due to a sore right wrist. It is undetermined how long Nelson will actually be sidelined. Taking Nelson's spot on the roster will be Mark Ernster, who will be called up from Beloit and join the team on Saturday. The 25-year old Ernster, played 28 games in AA Huntsville in 2001, and did not play at all in 2002. In 2003, Ernster is hitting .226 with one home run and five RBIs for the Beloit Snappers of the Midwest League. No word yet from Beloit on who will fill Ernster's spot...

Former Huntsville announcer Steve Kornya puts the wraps on the whole Brian Moon / Mike Kremblas discussion with his well-thought out post here: members.boardhost.com/sta.../2149.html

Indianapolis at Charlotte (White Sox), postponed, rain The Friday night game between the Charlotte Knights and the Indianapolis Indians has been rescheduled due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday April 19th, 4:15 PM start Central Time. Weekend Media Notes for the Indy Series: Courtesy of indyindians.com - THIS WEEKEND'S PROBABLES: Saturday, Game One - RHP Jamey Wright (1-2, 7.43) vs. RHP Jon Rauch (1-0, 1.50) Saturday, Game Two - RHP Mark Guerra (0-0, 2.25) vs. LHP Mike Porzio (2-0, 2.70) Sunday - RHP Francisco Campos (0-2, 8.42) vs. RHP Jon Adkins (1-2, 8.03) THIS WEEKEND: The Indians continue their longest road trip of the season, a nine-game affair that began with two games in Durham and continues with four games in Charlotte. The Indians have lost four straight overall and five straight road games. A loss in game one Saturday would match the longest road losing streak from last year when the Tribe dropped six straight from April 23-28. The Indians had a seven-game road losing streak from July 14-30, 2001, and have not had an eight-game road losing streak since June 22-29, 1990. Saturday will be the Tribe's first doubleheader of the season. Last year, the Indians were 6-5 in doubleheader games including a 5-2 mark on the road. The Indians won nine of 12 against the Knights a year ago, including all five played at Knights Stadium. The Tribe swept a four-game set in Charlotte on the first road trip of the season. THURSDAY: Charlotte defeated the Indians 7-1. Willie Harris led the Knights with a 4-for-4 performance and 3 RBI. The Indians mustered just four singles by Mark Budzinski, Bill Hall, Lee Stevens and Wilton Veras. ON THE MOUND: Righthander Jamey Wright makes his fourth start of the season in game one Saturday. Wright took the loss against Charlotte last Sunday giving up six runs (four earned) on nine hits in 4.1 innings. Wright pitched five innings on Opening Day, but has failed to make it through five in each of his last two starts. Wright is one of three pitchers in the IL to have allowed a league-high four home runs. Mark Guerra is slated to start game two Saturday. Guerra has not faced the Knights in his two previous outings - one start. In his lone start, he allowed Durham two earned runs in five innings. Francisco Campos will start the series finale on Sunday. It will be his fourth start of the year and his first against Charlotte. Campos worked just three innings his last time out, giving up seven runs against Durham. He has also allowed four home runs this year. HITTING STREAK SNAPPED: Mark Smith had the Tribe's only RBI Friday, but saw his hitting streak end at six games. Overall on the streak he hit .476. NOW THAT'S RELIEF: The Indians bullpen continues to slam the door on the opposition. In 50.1 innings, the relief corps has recorded a 2.32 ERA. Four members of the 'pen, Jason Childers, Roberto Giron, Dan Kolb and David Manning, have yet to allow an earned run. A ROUGH 'ROAD' TO HOE: The Tribe opens the season with 14 of its first 19 games on the road. The Indians are on their longest road trip of the season, a nine-game trip to Durham (2), Charlotte (4) and Louisville (3). The Indians are 2-6 on the road. The Indians are hitting .162 in the eight games and have scored just 20 runs (2.5 rpg). The Indians have scored just one run in five of the six road losses. TROUBLE IN THE FIELD: The Indians have committed a league-high 17 errors. Fifteen of those have come on the road. DOUBLE TROUBLE: RHP / INF Brooks Kieschnick returns to Charlotte where he began his two-way playing last season. Kieschnick has made four relief appearances this season, and picked up his first career win, ironically, against Charlotte on April 12. He has batted just five times and is still looking for his first hit of the year. UPCOMING PROBABLES: Monday at Louisville - RHP Ruben Quevedo (1-1, 3.14) vs. RHP Seth Etherton (2-1, 3.31) Tuesday at Charlotte - RHP Pascual Coco (1-2, 4.50) vs. RHP Chris Reitsma (1-2, 4.00)

Daily Press High Desert Game Story: Tons of quotes, and looky here -- the "Notes" portion as well, but where have the photos been this year? We like seeing all those cool black and red uniform combos the Mavs use... www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...552,26697,

Some are fasting on this Good Friday, so today's Daily Menu focuses on lighter fare: All times Central, pitchers subject to change, and tune in about 15 minutes early for your pre-game audio seafood appetizers... INDIANAPOLIS: RHP Jamey Wright at Charlotte (White Sox), 6:15 PM HUNTSVILLE: Back home as RHP Pedro Liriano faces in-state rival Birmingham (White Sox), 7:05 PM HIGH DESERT: LHP Brian Mazone and the Mavs host Lancaster (Diamondbacks), 9:05 PM BELOIT: RHP's Jason Baker and Ryan Trytten at home in a double-dip against Wisconsin (Mariners) in the series that never ends, 5:00 PM. Audio available at www.timberrattlers.com.

High Desert 8, Lancaster (Diamondbacks) 3 The Mavericks seem to win when I don't listen in on the late night action... High Desert Site Game Summary: Hall and Clark Lead Mavs to VictoryAdelanto, CA - Dan Hall turned in the best pitching performance by a starter this year, as the High Desert Mavericks snapped a two-game losing streak, topping the Lancaster JetHawks by a final score of 8-3 at Mavericks Stadium on Thursday night. Hall (2-0) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out a season-high seven batters. Hall?s second straight win was backed up by Daryl Clark, who hit his fifth homer of the year and picked up four RBIs. Clark?s two-run homer came in the bottom of the first off Lancaster starter Matt Henrie (1-1). The Mavs made it 3-0 with a run in the fourth, as Johnny Raburn?s two-out single scored Kade Johnson. Johnson doubled to open the inning, which extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games this year. The Mavs made it 4-0 with a run in the fifth, as Daryl Clark picked up a sacrifice fly to score Chris Morris. Hall was relieved by Tony Stavros, who pitched three good innings. Stavros allowed one run, as Jay Garthwaite went deep in the seventh, as the JetHawks pulled to within three at 4-1. The Mavs opened it up with three runs in the seventh, as Jason Belcher picked up an RBI with a sacrifice fly and Brian Foster had a two-run triple. The JetHawks added a pair in the ninth off reliever Bobby Bystrowski, as Kyle Nichols hit his third home run of the year to make the score 8-3. The Mavs throw Brian Mazone in game two of the series, while Lancaster counters with Jason Bulger. Game time on Friday night is 7:05, 9:05 Central. The Mavericks are now 5-8 while the JetHawks fall out of first place at 7-5. High Desert Box Score: The Mavs are hitting .317 as a team, and it's nice to see a more-than-decent 43 BB's vs. only 76 K's; Froilan Villanueva got the start for Brad Nelson at first base; Nelson's now missed five games. GAME DATE: 4/17/03 LANCASTER 3 AT HIGH DESERT 8 YTD YTD LANCASTER AB R H BI AVG HIGH DESERT AB R H BI AVG M.Williams CF 4 0 1 0 .250 C.Morris CF 5 3 3 0 .241 J.Stanek 1B 4 0 1 0 .257 T.West SS 4 1 2 0 .324 J.Kroeger RF 3 0 0 0 .348 D.Clark LF 3 2 2 4 .389 C.Snyder CAT 3 0 0 0 .349 K.Johnson CAT 5 2 2 0 .382 S.Santos SS 4 1 1 0 .289 J.Belcher RF 3 0 1 1 .323 J.Garthwaite LF 4 1 1 1 .267 B.Foster DH 4 0 1 2 .346 K.Nichols DH 4 1 1 2 .226 J.Raburn 3B 3 0 1 1 .280 D.Uggla 3B 4 0 2 0 .325 F.Villanueva 1B 4 0 2 0 .333 D.Richar 2B 4 0 0 0 .297 R.Santana 2B 3 0 0 0 .294 M.Henrie PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Hall PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Wechsler PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Stavros PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 F.Trejo PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Bystrowski PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Biggs PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 34 3 7 3 TOTALS 34 8 14 8 LANCASTER 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2- 3 HIGH DESERT 2 0 0 1 1 0 3 1 X- 8 E--R.Santana. DP--LANCASTER 0, HIGH DESERT 0. LOB--LANCASTER 6, HIGH DESERT 9. 2B--D.Uggla 2 (3), C.Morris (2), K.Johnson (4). 3B--B.Foster (1). HR--J.Garthwaite (4), K.Nichols (3), D.Clark (5). SB--M.Williams (4), C.Morris 2 (7), T.West 2 (2), J.Raburn (4). CS--J.Belcher, F.Villanueva. SF--D.Clark, J.Belcher. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA LANCASTER M.Henrie (L,1-1) 5.0 8 4 4 0 4 1 4.60 J.Wechsler 1.0 1 2 2 5 1 0 8.59 F.Trejo 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 1.42 B.Biggs 1.0 3 1 1 0 2 0 2.25 HIGH DESERT D.Hall (W,2-0) 5.0 2 0 0 1 7 0 3.21 T.Stavros 3.0 2 1 1 1 2 1 2.45 B.Bystrowski 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 1 5.00 SO--M.Williams 2, J.Stanek 2, J.Kroeger, C.Snyder, J.Garthwaite, K.Nichols 2, T.West, K.Johnson, J.Belcher, B.Foster 2, F.Villanueva, R.Santana. BB--J.Kroeger, C.Snyder, T.West, D.Clark, J.Belcher, J.Raburn, R.Santana. T--2:39. A--1097

Beloit Box Score: In two starts, RHP Calvin Carpenter's very unique pitching line: 9 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 10 BB, 11 K, 1 HBP Perhaps even more open for discussion than Mike Jones' assignment to Huntsville is that of 2002 2nd rounder Josh Murray to Beloit. The very young 18-year-old is at .167 (5-for-30) with five errors in nine games at SS. It's early, but here's hoping Josh toughs it out... GAME DATE: 4/17/03 WISCONSIN 4 AT BELOIT 8 YTD YTD WISCONSIN AB R H BI AVG BELOIT AB R H BI AVG G.Harris CF 2 2 0 0 .311 S.Moss RF 3 2 1 2 .387 C.Harrington 2B 4 0 1 2 .318 K.Bibbs CF 5 0 3 2 .333 M.Hagen 3B 3 0 1 1 .268 C.Crabbe 2B 4 1 2 1 .222 J.Nelson 1B 5 0 1 0 .311 P.Fielder 1B 4 1 0 0 .405 T.Bohn RF 5 1 1 0 .195 J.Eure 3B 4 0 2 2 .268 R.Rivera DH 3 0 0 0 .250 T.Hinton LF 3 0 0 0 .182 J.McNulty PH 1 0 0 0 .083 N.Carter LF 0 0 0 0 .161 D.Delucchi LF 3 0 2 1 .250 M.Mendez DH 4 1 0 0 .280 C.Phillips CAT 4 1 0 0 .200 P.Esparragz CAT 5 2 2 0 .278 M.Garciaparr SS 3 0 1 0 .139 J.Murray SS 2 1 0 0 .167 T.Watson PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Carpenter PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Rwlnd-Smth PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 J.Gabriel PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Cortez PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 G.Mendoza PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 33 4 7 4 TOTALS 34 8 10 7 WISCONSIN 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0- 4 BELOIT 1 0 2 3 1 0 1 0 X- 8 E--C.Harrington, C.Phillips, T.Watson, P.Esparragz, J.Murray. DP-- WISCONSIN 0, BELOIT 1. LOB--WISCONSIN 10, BELOIT 12. 2B--M.Hagen (2), T.Bohn (2), J.Eure (2), P.Esparragz (1). SB--S.Moss (4), K.Bibbs (4), P.Esparragz (1). HBP--G.Harris, J.Eure, J.Murray. SF--S.Moss. SH-- J.Murray. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA WISCONSIN T.Watson (L,0-1) 3.0 7 6 5 3 4 0 7.71 R.Rwlnd-Smth 4.0 2 2 2 2 4 0 1.93 R.Cortez 1.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 1.08 BELOIT C.Carpenter 4.0 0 2 1 5 4 0 1.00 J.Gabriel (W,1-0) 3.1 6 2 2 2 2 0 9.35 G.Mendoza 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.57 HB--T.Watson, R.Rwlnd-Smth, C.Carpenter. WP--T.Watson. PB--C.Phillips. SO--G.Harris, J.Nelson, T.Bohn 3, R.Rivera 2, S.Moss, K.Bibbs, J.Eure, T.Hinton 3, M.Mendez, P.Esparragz 2, J.Murray 2. BB--G.Harris 2, C.Harrington, M.Hagen 2, D.Delucchi, M.Garciaparr, S.Moss, C.Crabbe, P.Fielder, T.Hinton 2, M.Mendez. T--2:42. A--387

Huntsville Site Game Summary: www.huntsvillestars.com/n...?newsid=37 David Weiser's Huntsville Perspective: ...DAYS LIKE THISMama said there was gonna be days like this....... Mike Jones and Tim Crabtree took the force of Orlando's 13-4 Thursday morning pounding, which started at around 10 o'clock CDT --- too early for me to listen as I have to get some sleep sometime and choose to make it the early morning, so excuse the meager details....... Robert Portnoy, who always gives us a good recap on the web site and e-mails me as well, was on the bus for the long 10-hour drive home to Huntsville, so I don't have much to offer. I'll be at the Joe tomorrow to see the boys play arch-rival Birmingham, so there'll be plenty here after the game. All that I can say is that I'm glad we've seen the last of Jonny Gomes...... In seven games, he hit 4 HRs, drove in 7 runs, and hit .296. His parting shot went out to the hillside beyond right-center field in the 4th inning. He added RBI singles in the 5th and 7th innings...... Amado German, who came into this game 3-for-23 against Stars pitching, went 4-for-5 and scored twice........ I suspect the ERA lead this staff had 24 hours ago is gone --- for now. And I'm sure Mike, whose 20th birthday comes this Wednesday, will have better days ahead....... As for Tim Crabtree, who had 5 2/3 scoreless innings in relief before this, maybe the Brewers will look past this nightmarish outing before they make a decision at the end of the month......... That's just baseball. Good teams don't let this happen often, and we'll see just how good it is as the season progresses. This was the last game between the Orlando Rays and the Huntsville Stars going back to the Stars first season in 1985........ Overall, the Stars won 128 and lost 125. They're best years against Orlando was 1997 and 1998 when they were 24-8. Next year, as I have mentioned many times already, the franchise moves to Montgomery........ The last pitcher to face Orlando was a catcher....... Giving the bullpen a rest in a lost ballgame, manager Frank Kremblas let his younger brother close out the game........ Mike Kremblas, making his first professional pitching appearance, junk-balled his way through the 9th, even sidearming the ball and getting it over the plate for a strike........ He was the first catcher to pitch in a Stars game since Jared Mathis closed out the 2000 season by playing all 9 positions against Mobile. Crabtree's endless inning brought his ERA up from 3.00 to 10.29....... Jones saw his go from 1.86 to 5.52........ Brandon Gemoll is hitting .346 in his last 7 games. He's making contact, striking out 12 times in 52 ABs (.231), but drawing only 6 walks........ Ryan Gripp is 2-for-14 in his last 5 games......... Corey Hart hit safely in his 5th straight game, hitting .318 and driving in 4 runs........ Ryan Knox is working on a 6-game, going 7-for-27 (.259), but driving in 4 runs while batting lead-off.......... The Stars hit .220 on this road trip. Scott Krause, who hit .321 in 28 at-bats for the 2000 Stars, led the Tennessee Smokies to a 6-3 victory over Jacksonville with a 2-for-4 night, driving in 3 runs.

Indy Site Game Summary: FORT MILL, South Carolina -- The Indianapolis Indians (6-7) continued to struggle on the road Thursday night, losing 7-1 to the Charlotte Knights (7-5). The Tribe's bats were held quiet by a trio of Charlotte pitchers as the Indians managed just four hits on the game. Dan Wright, pitching on an injury rehabilitation assignment for the Chicago White Sox, dominated the Indians in his three innings of work to start the game. Wright, who was on a three inning or 60-pitch limit, faced 10 batters allowing no hits while striking out five batters and walking one before being taken out of the game following the third inning. Pascaul Coco (1-2) started for the Tribe and lasted only four innings giving up six hits and six runs, four earned, walking three. Charlotte jumped on Coco right from the start as second baseman Willie Harris led off the game for the Knights with his third home run of the season. Charlotte then added three more runs in the second inning, two coming on a Harris single, the other on an RBI groundout by catcher Jamie Burke. Harris singled twice more later in the game to finish 4-for-4 with 3 RBI. Charlotte added to their lead in the third as Coco committed a costly error when his pickoff throw to first base with the bases loaded was wide of the mark, allowing two runners to score. The Indians lone run came in the top of the fourth inning when Felix Diaz, a 22-year-old righthander, entered the game for Charlotte and quickly allowed three straight singles to Mark Budzinski, Bill Hall, and Lee Stevens, back in the lineup for the first time since April 11. With no outs and the bases loaded Diaz got the Tribe's hottest hitter coming into the ballgame, Mark Smith, to fly out to center, scoring Budzinski from third. From there, Diaz (1-0) slammed the door shut by retiring the next 10 batters the Indians sent to the plate before Joe Lawrence broke the string with a two-out walk in the seventh. Smith, who went 0-for-4, saw his hitting streak snapped at six games. The two teams will play again Friday evening at Knight Stadium, gametime is set for 6:15. Jamey Wright (1-2) will start for Indianapolis, and Jon Rauch (1-0) will pitch for Charlotte.

Beloit 8, Wisconsin (Mariners) 4 Beloit Site Linescore, Game Blurb and Player of the Game Winner: www.snappersbaseball.com/...2b51a4fe82 Wisconsin Site Game Summary: OF Steve Moss seems to be everywhere in these highlights... www.timberrattlers.com/pr...x?recid=49 Can the Snappers sweep a six-game series with a doubleheader victory on Friday? It'll be huge if RHP's Jason Baker and Ryan Trytten can provide quality starts and save the bullpen, as each is being asked to move from the pen for their respective start. Nice opportunity for each kid...

Charlotte (White Sox) 7, Indianapolis 1 Pascual must have been throwing Coco "puffs" up there in this one... Indianapolis Box Score: We've avoided mentioning it thus far, but we can hold off no more: SS Steve Scarborough now 3-for-33; C Cocy McKay 4-for-40 -- double "ugh"... GAME DATE: 4/17/03 INDIANAPOLIS 1 AT CHARLOTTE 7 YTD YTD INDIANAPOLIS AB R H BI AVG CHARLOTTE AB R H BI AVG J.Conti CF 3 0 0 0 .250 W.Harris 2B 4 1 4 3 .386 M.Budzinski RF 4 1 1 0 .289 T.Nicholson 3B 3 0 0 0 .125 B.Hall 2B 4 0 1 0 .178 R.Gload 1B 4 0 1 0 .308 L.Stevens DH 3 0 1 0 .333 M.Valenzuela DH 4 0 0 0 .293 M.Smith LF 3 0 0 1 .357 C.Brumbaugh LF 3 2 0 0 .361 C.McKay CAT 4 0 0 0 .100 A.Sanders CF 4 2 2 0 .379 J.Lawrence 3B 2 0 0 0 .226 S.Morgan RF 2 1 0 0 .375 W.Veras 1B 4 0 1 0 .189 J.Burke CAT 4 1 1 2 .179 S.Scarboroug SS 3 0 0 0 .091 J.Nunez SS 3 0 0 0 .158 P.Coco PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Wright PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Buddie PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 F.Diaz PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Manning PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 G.Majewski PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 R.Giron PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 30 1 4 1 TOTALS 31 7 8 5 INDIANAPOLIS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0- 1 CHARLOTTE 1 3 2 0 0 1 0 0 X- 7 E--P.Coco. DP--INDIANAPOLIS 1, CHARLOTTE 0. LOB--INDIANAPOLIS 7, CHARLOTTE 4. HR--W.Harris (3), J.Burke (1). SB--W.Harris (4). HBP-- J.Conti. SF--M.Smith. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA INDIANAPOLIS P.Coco (L,1-2) 4.0 6 6 4 3 0 1 4.50 M.Buddie 2.0 1 1 1 0 3 1 1.93 D.Manning 1.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0.00 R.Giron 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 CHARLOTTE D.Wright 3.0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0.00 F.Diaz (W,1-0) 4.0 4 1 1 1 3 0 6.30 G.Majewski 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 3.00 HB--G.Majewski. SO--M.Budzinski 2, B.Hall 2, L.Stevens, C.McKay, J.Lawrence, S.Scarboroug 3, R.Gload 2, M.Valenzuela, C.Brumbaugh, J.Burke, J.Nunez. BB--L.Stevens, J.Lawrence 2, T.Nicholson, C.Brumbaugh, S.Morgan 2. T--2:21. A--2591.

Beloit management was kind enough to fill us in as to RHP Jon Steitz' injury. Apparently, it's a shoulder injury that doesn't appear to be too serious, with the Brewers being cautious with it to start the season.

Brief Game Summary from ESPN: ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- Jace Brewer drove in three runs and J.J. Gomes homered as the Orlando Rays topped the Huntsville Stars, 13-4. Brewer, who scored two runs, had RBI singles in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings for Orlando. Gomes, who entered the game tied for the league lead in home runs, hit his fifth homer in the fourth inning and doubled in a run in the seventh for the Rays, who had six players score twice. Doug Waechter (1-1) worked six strong innings, allowing four hits and two runs to earn the win. Dave Krynzel had an RBI double and scored for Huntsville, which has lost three of its last five contests. Mike Jones (1-1), who pitched six scoreless frames in his last outing, gave up seven runs and nine hits and hit two batters over five innings for the loss. Huntsville Box Score: Real ugly outing for Mike Jones today...RHP Tim Crabtree has an "evaluation" date at the end of the month as well -- ugh, check out his line here. Remember, all teams at the AAA and AA level must drop from 24 to 23 players 30 days into the season -- it appears that this coincides with decisions on Jamey Wright and Crabtree. GAME DATE: 4/17/03 HUNTSVILLE 4 AT ORLANDO 13 YTD YTD HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI AVG ORLANDO AB R H BI AVG R.Knox LF 4 1 1 1 .250 G.Martinez DH 4 1 1 2 .364 D.Krynzel CF 4 1 1 1 .227 C.Isenia PH 1 0 0 0 .160 C.Guerrero RF 3 0 0 0 .179 F.Escalona 3B 4 0 0 1 .275 C.Hart 3B 4 0 1 1 .241 F.Moore 1B 5 0 0 1 .270 B.Gemoll 1B 3 0 1 0 .250 M.Diaz RF 4 2 2 1 .418 R.Gripp DH 3 0 0 0 .231 J.Gomes LF 4 2 2 2 .239 J.Alvarado CAT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Perez 2B 5 2 2 0 .260 R.Paz 2B 3 1 0 0 .281 J.Brewer SS 5 2 3 3 .195 M.Kremblas PIT 1 0 0 0 .167 A.German CF 5 2 4 0 .265 M.Kremblas CAT 3 1 1 0 .167 G.Merritt CAT 3 2 2 2 .500 C.Barnwell SS 4 0 0 1 .143 D.Waechter PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Jones PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Santos PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 T.Crabtree PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 E.Rust PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 M.Parker PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 32 4 5 4 TOTALS 40 13 16 12 HUNTSVILLE 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0- 4 ORLANDO 0 0 3 3 1 0 6 0 X-13 E--B.Gemoll. DP--HUNTSVILLE 0, ORLANDO 0. LOB--HUNTSVILLE 6, ORLANDO 9. 2B--D.Krynzel (1), M.Kremblas (2), G.Martinez (3), J.Gomes (1), A.Perez (3). HR--J.Gomes (5). SB--R.Knox (5), M.Diaz 2 (5), A.German (2). HBP--F.Escalona, M.Diaz. SF--R.Knox. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HUNTSVILLE M.Jones (L,1-1) 5.0 9 7 7 1 2 1 5.52 T.Crabtree 1.0 6 6 6 0 0 0 10.29 M.Parker 1.0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0.82 M.Kremblas 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 ORLANDO D.Waechter (W,1-1) 6.0 4 2 2 1 3 0 3.94 A.Santos 1.0 1 2 2 1 0 0 5.06 E.Rust 2.0 0 0 0 2 5 0 2.25 HB--M.Jones 2. WP--M.Jones, D.Waechter. SO--R.Knox 2, C.Hart 2, B.Gemoll, R.Paz, M.Kremblas, C.Barnwell, F.Escalona, J.Gomes, A.Perez. BB--C.Guerrero, B.Gemoll, R.Gripp, R.Paz, G.Martinez, J.Gomes, G.Merritt 2. T--2:53. A--1234

Orlando (Devil Rays) 13, Huntsville 4 I thought they dropped Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney... FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Huntsville 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 5 1 Orlando 0 0 3 3 1 0 6 0 x 13 16 0 WP - Doug Waechter (1-1) LP - Mike Jones (1-1) HOME RUNS: Orl - Jonny Gomes (5) off Mike Jones in the 4thThat baseball complex is right on Disney property as you enter the vast Disney Orlando empire -- as David Weiser notes, the club is moving to Montgomery, Alabama for 2004. Simply not a logical option for the tourist crowd, nor apparently the locals. Thanks to brewerfan.net poster "bork" for the heads up on the final score... Game details later on...

Beloit Daily News Game Story: Nasty conditions, quotes from pitchers Khalid Ballouli and Josh Alliston, pitching coach Rich Sauveur... www.beloitdailynews.com/403/snap17.htm

From BA's Daily Highlights: High Desert C KADE JOHNSON finished 4-for-4 with four RBI in a losing effort. The Texas native ripped an RBI double in the first inning, singled home a run in the third and delivered a two-run base hit in the eighth to account for all of the offense for High Desert. The 24-year-old has hit safely in 11 straight games and homered in four of his last seven contests. HUNTSVILLE LHP LUIS MARTINEZ recorded another scoreless outing, hurling six strong innings in the Stars? 1-0 triumph over the Orlando Rays. Martinez yielded three hits and two walks, striking out five and hitting a pair of batters to improve to 2-0. In his 17 innings this season, the southpaw has allowed just five hits and recorded 25 strikeouts without being scored upon. Struggling with his control at times, the 23-year-old has also issued eight walks and hit four batters. So far, Huntsville?s pitching staff has proven to be the class of the Southern League, recording four shutouts in 13 games this season.

Your Daily Menu includes a Southern League breakfast today! All times Central, pitchers subject to change, and tune in approx. 15 minutes earlier to the listed game times for pre-game audio! INDIANAPOLIS: RHP Pascual Coco at Charlotte (White Sox), 6:15 PM HUNTSVILLE: RHP Mike Jones at Orlando (Devil Rays), 10:05 AM HIGH DESERT: RHP Dan Hall and the Mavs host Lancaster (Diamondbacks) starting at 9:05 PM -- flip over to the Mavs after the Brewer game! BELOIT: RHP Calvin Carpenter vs. Wisconsin at home, 6:30 PM, audio is available via www.timberrattlers.com

David Weiser's Huntsville Notes: From Allen Levrault to Ben Hendrickson and company, every year since the Milwaukee Brewers began their affiliation in Huntsville, I'd marvel at how much better our pitching looked each year compared to the last......... I could never say that during the Oakland years........ "The best we've ever had"......... I'd hate to use these contrite superlatives again, but the numbers so far back them up....... Look at the league leaders, and you'll see the Stars on top of the ERA leaderboard with a 2.35 ERA.......... Look who leads the league --- and it's Luis Martinez, but we'll get to him later........ And look who leads the league in shutouts, as well. The most amazing thing about this is the unprecedented fact that the Stars last four victories have come by shutouts...... And for the first time in Stars history, they've done them all on a single road trip. The best they've ever done was two, and most recently, last year (July 25-26 vs. Jacksonville)........ The pitching, since 1999, has of course had its ups and downs. In 2000, despite a 4.04 ERA, they were 9th, but in the last two years, they were 2nd and 3rd in ERA........ During the Oakland years, Huntsville's pitching was 8th, 9th, or 10th in ERA in 8 out of 14 seasons....... So you see, no matter how it looks to outsiders, to this Stars fan, the improvement in pitching has been the most significant difference in the change in affiliation more than five years ago. Hopefully, the hitting will come around...... With a .230 average, they're near the customary bottom, safely held in 8th for now by Jacksonville's .210 and Mobile's .204 mark........ But watch out when it does. Already, I like the signs........ Corey Hart is 6-for-18 in his last four games. His RBI double down the 3rd base line on a 2-2 pitch from Brian Stokes, scored Dave Krynzel with the only run the Stars needed tonight......... Brandon Gemoll is 8-for-23 (.348) in his last six games. He's coming around, while we wait for Brad Nelson........ Ryan Knox, at .250, is one of the most improved players this season. According to Robert Portnoy, he's worked hard during the off-season and it's paid off. If he could only draw some walks (four, so far), but he's on a 5-game hit streak. I mentioned Knox as one of the most improved players. This is the other........ No one has scored on Luis Martinez (2-0, 0.00) in 17 innings....... That's the best April start by any Stars pitcher since Joe Klink, who was the Stars closer in 1988. He threw 16 innings without allowing a run to start the season........ Luis had a hangnail tonight that "nullified his curveball" according to pitching coach Stan Kyles, "but he used his change-up beautifully and moved his fastball in and out."........ We'll see if Luis can come up with the consistency that Paul Stewart had last year after the first month......... Martinez, however for the 2nd time this season, hit two batters, and only Orlando manager Charlie Montoyo kept a fight between he and Jonny Gomes from happening at the end of the 6th inning........ Martinez plunked Gomes on the numbers with two out to load the bases. Gomes stared at Luis and threw the bat in ire in the opposite direction. When Martinez fanned Jorge Cantu to end the inning, Martinez gave Gomes a cold stare and the two started advancing toward each other and jawing. Montoyo came out of the dugout and got between Gomes and backed him off. The Rays were a picture of frustration tonight. As if two hit batters wasn't enough to set them off, they left the bases loaded again in the 8th inning --- but Matt Hammons made a fool out of Jorge Cantu again and struck him out on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning......... In all, the Rays left 10 runners on without scoring a run, as Huntsville pitchers came through repeatedly in the clutch, as they've done consistently this season........... Overshadowed by Martinez, Ryan Miller picked up the save and ran his string to 9 1/3 innings without an earned run (four unearned) in relief........ He gave up a leadoff hit in the 9th to Jace Brewer. Catcher Chairon Isenia then sacrificed him over to 2nd, but a great play by J.J. Hardy probably saved the game from going to extra innings......... Hardy had to charge a ball hit by Amado German on the short hop, sweeping it up like a vacuum, and awkwardly firing to Gemoll, who made a fine pick-up on the short hop to get German....... Miller recorded his 11th strikeout on Antonio Perez to end the game with a runner on third. Tomorrow, Mike Jones (1-0, 1.86) will make his 3rd start of the season as the Stars play the Orlando Rays for the final time in their history......... Next year, Montgomery comes into the league......... Doug Waechter (0-1, 4.50) will start for the other side........ The Diamond Jaxx beat Greenville on a two-out single in the 9th, so the Stars, 7-6, are still 1½ behind first......... Set your alarm. Broadcast time is 9:50 a.m. for the pre-game show. The Stars have to leave after the game for a 10-hour ride back home. With the Florida teams out of the way, the Stars can now test themselves against teams in their own division. Now it gets interesting. Starting with Birmingham. Former Star Al Hawkins, pitching for independent Newark this year, says his fastball is back in the mid-90s........ If that's the case, some team needs to give him a shot and get him back in the minors. Catcher Joel Alvarado, looking good defensively, is still hitless after 16 at-bats. A disgraceful incident happened in Chicago as another sick fan came out onto the playing field during the Royals-White Sox game and attacked an umpire......... The ump was Laz Diaz, who was part of the crew that worked the Southern League Championship Series between the Carolina Mudcats and the Huntsville Stars in 1994......... Laz is a Marine Reservist who can handle himself I'm sure, but it's morons and garbage like this who give baseball publicity it doesn't need. This has to stop. In every city. Major league stadiums used to be a safe place for a fan to go. Are we going to spend money going to fortresses instead because of "idiots" like this? It looks like the price we're going to have to pay.

Daily Press High Desert Game Story: Quotes from Kade Johnson, Tim Blackwell... www.vvdailypress.com/cgi-...325,53922,

Daily Menu, David Weiser from Huntsville, newspaper accounts from High Desert and Beloit all later this morning -- aren't you lucky? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif