battlekow

Final: @Dunedin 12, Brevard County 5 Manatees swept by Blue Jays By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Brevard County Manatees dropped their third game in the row and were swept by the Dunedin Blue Jays after losing 12-5 on Sunday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Park. Brevard is now 1-8 against the North Division leading Blue Jays this season. Manatees starting pitcher and 2011 first round draft pick Taylor Jungmann (3-4, 4.02) had the shortest start of his professional career as he went just three plus innings and allowed nine runs (all earned). He allowed ten hits, while walking three and striking out three. Brevard (19-29) had a 3-2 lead heading into the fourth, thanks to a two-run double by Nick Shaw and a RBI single by Shea Vucinich in the third inning. That lead would be short lived as Dunedin (33-17) plated eight runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jungmann faced seven batters in the inning and did not record an out as he allowed four runs on five hits and a walk before departing the game with the bases loaded. Eric Marzec came in to try and clean up the mess but it got even worse as he allowed a grand slam on his second pitch of the afternoon to John Talley as Dunedin took a 10-3 lead. Seven of the eight runs in the inning were charged to Jungmann. Nine-time All-Star and 2004 AL MVP Vladimir Guerrero was 2-for-5 with a home run off of Stosh Wawrzasek in the eighth inning for Dunedin. It was Guerrero's first game since signing a minor league contract with the Blue Jays on May 10. Offensively, the Manatees recorded ten hits as Cody Hawn and Parker Berberet had two each. Since joining Brevard County from Class-A Wisconsin, Berberet has four hits in his first three games with the 'Tees. After an off day on Monday, the 'Tees will be back home on Tuesday for a doubleheader against the Daytona Cubs (19-28). The twin bill will be the first two games in a four-game set between the two rivals. For Brevard County, Jimmy Nelson (3-4, 2.13) will take the hill for the first game while the Manatees' starter for the second game has yet to be determined. Nelson is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against the Cubs this season. Daytona will send P.J. Francescon (0-0, 1.50) to the mound for game one, while Hayden Simpson (1-3, 6.96) will toe the rubber for the Cubs in game two. Brevard County box score Taylor Jungmann also had a great 2011. I detailed his, uh, exploits above; I got one thing wrong though--Marzec gave up the grand slam on his second pitch. Ah, much better. Jungmann was 91-92 with his fastball per the D-Jays broadcast. TJ Mittelstaedt went deep for the 'Tees for the fifth time this year. I learned that I've been saying Marcus Knecht's name wrong--it's like the Xbox Kinect, rather than having a silent K. Brevard County play-by-play Dunedin Bottom of the 2nd Marcus Knecht strikes out swinging. Ryan Schimpf walks. Kevin Ahrens called out on strikes. Jack Murphy doubles (5) on a line drive to center fielder Reggie Keen. Ryan Schimpf scores. Jonathan Jones singles on a line drive to right fielder Franklin Romero Jr. Jack Murphy out at home on the throw, right fielder Franklin Romero Jr. to catcher Parker Berberet. According to the Dunedin broadcaster, it took a great throw from Franklin Romero and a great catch/tag from Berberet to get Murphy at home. Dunedin Bottom of the 4th Ryan Schimpf walks. Kevin Ahrens singles on a line drive to right fielder Franklin Romero Jr. Ryan Schimpf to 2nd. Jack Murphy walks. Ryan Schimpf to 3rd. Kevin Ahrens to 2nd. Jonathan Jones doubles (3) on a line drive to left fielder Scott Krieger. Ryan Schimpf scores. Kevin Ahrens scores. Jack Murphy scores. Gabe Jacobo singles on a line drive to center fielder Reggie Keen. Jonathan Jones scores. Vladimir Guerrero singles on a ground ball to left fielder Scott Krieger. Gabe Jacobo to 2nd. Kevin Nolan singles on a line drive to left fielder Scott Krieger. Gabe Jacobo to 3rd. Vladimir Guerrero to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Eric Marzec replaces Taylor Jungmann. Jon Talley hits a grand slam (3) to right field. Gabe Jacobo scores. Vladimir Guerrero scores. Kevin Nolan scores. Marcus Knecht singles on a line drive to left fielder Scott Krieger. Ryan Schimpf flies out to left fielder Scott Krieger. Kevin Ahrens grounds into double play, third baseman T. J. Mittelstaedt to second baseman Shea Vucinich to first baseman Mike Walker. Marcus Knecht out at 2nd. Jungmann was struggling with his fastball command, and after two of the first three batters worked walks out of protracted plate appearances, Jones smelled blood in the water and hammered Jungmann's get-me-over first offering.

The Dunedin broadcast was awful with reverb when I tried it earlier; when I checked back in, it was crystal clear and the bottom of the 4th was just beginning, with the Sea Cows clinging to a 3-2 lead. So much for that. Jungmann allowed the first seven batters to reach to begin the inning before being yanked with the bases loaded in favor of Eric Marzec, who promptly allowed a grand slam on his first pitch. 9 R, 10 H, 3 BB for Jungmann. Ye gods. After Greinke's performance last night, I'm done listening to this game, I think, but I will write it up later.

At BC, C Shawn Zarraga--he of a .405/.465/.622 line in his last ten games--goes on the DL, with C Joey Paciorek coming over from "Helena" to fill the spot. This will be Paciorek's first action of the season after hitting .257/.318/.361 for the Rattlers last year in his first year as a catcher.

I got Sunday.

Final: Colorado Springs 6, @Nashville 2 Sounds Split Series With Sky Sox With 6-2 Loss Nashville Sounds NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds lost to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 6-2, on Friday night at Greer Stadium in the finale of a four-game set. With the loss, Nashville (11-23) split the four-game series with Colorado Springs for the second straight year. The Sounds were held to five hits and one for extra-bases on the evening, a two-run home run from Logan Schafer. Andy Gonzalez added two singles for his first two Triple-A hits his season. Nashville starting pitcher Wily Peralta retired the first 10 batters of the game before allowing consecutive singles to DJ LeMahieu and Matt McBride in the fourth inning. The 23-year-old then walked Brendan Harris and Andrew Brown to give Colorado Spring its first run. Peralta ran into some trouble after getting the first two Sky Sox out in the top of the sixth. McBride doubled to right and then scored as Harris singled. In the ensuing at-bat, Brown hit a ground-rule double down the right field line to plate McBride for the third run. The Sounds trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the home half of the sixth. After pinch hitter Hailey Statia worked a walk from reliever Jordan Wells to open the inning, Schafer blasted a two-run homer over the right field wall (audio). The long ball was his team-leading fourth of the season. The Sky Sox extended their lead to 4-2 in the top of the seventh inning, which included three pitches. Amaury Rivas got the first out of the inning and then walked former Sound Wil Nieves before leaving the game. Juan Perez then proceeded to walk Brandon Roberts and allow an RBI single to former Sound Hernan Iribarren. Donovan Hand finished the inning by inducing a double play on one pitch. Brandon Wood's opposite field two-run homer pushed the Sky Sox lead to 6-2 in the top of the eighth. In his team-leading fourth quality start of the season, Peralta (1-3) surrendered three runs on five hits and two walks in six innings for the loss. Coming into the game leading the PCL in ground out to air our ratio, Peralta induced 11 groundouts (nine to shortstop) and zero fly outs while striking out four. Rivas was charged with a run in 1/3 of an inning. Hand gave up two runs on two hits in 1 2/3 frames. Dan Meadows allowed a hit and a walk while fanning three in an inning. Sky So starter Edgar Gonzalez (2-1) pitched five scoreless frames while fanning five for the victory. The Sounds begin a four-game series with the Reno Aces (AAA-Diamondbacks) at 6:35 pm CT on Saturday night at Greer Stadium. Right-hander Brian Baker (1-2, 6.65) will toe the rubber for Nashville against Reno righty Joe Martinez (0-2, 5.59). Nashville box score Peralta's kinda been doing a Jungmann impersonation so far this year, eh? Maybe he's only truly dominant in odd years--or maybe the Brewers just gave him orders to help them find out what Jeff Bianchi is made of. Sean Halton was 0-3 with two strikeouts. What we thought was a standard double switch last night may not have been--no Caleb Gindl tonight. Nashville play-by-play Bianchi got an assist on six of the first ten outs of the game. Look alive, kid.

Final: St. Lucie 11, @Brevard County 2 'Tees thumped by Mets, 11-2 By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees VIERA, Fla. - The Brevard County Manatees were pounded 11-2 by the St. Lucie Mets on Friday night at Space Coast Stadium. The loss is Brevard's third in a row and gives the 'Tees their fourth losing streak of the season of three or more games. Manatees starting pitcher Taylor Jungmann (2-3, 2.79) struggled with his command as he scattered six hits in 5 1/3 innings, while allowing two runs (one earned). He walked three, fanned four and hit two St. Lucie batters. The 2011 first round draft pick did not factor into the decision and has not won a game since April 10. The wheels came off for Brevard County (14-21) in the eighth inning. With the game tied 2-2, the Mets scored three, two-out runs on four consecutive singles and a throwing error. The three runs were charged to Greg Holle as he was eventually saddled with the loss. Things didn't get any better in the top of the ninth as St. Lucie (28-7) pushed six runs across in the inning on four hits and an error off of Casey Medlen and Thomas Keeling. In total, Brevard County's bullpen threw 3 2/3 innings and allowed nine runs - five earned - on eight hits. Brevard County's only runs came in the form of a pair of RBI singles by Adam Weisenburger in the second inning and Nick Shaw in the fifth inning. Shaw was 2-for-3 on the night with a double. The Manatees will look to end their slide as they travel to Daytona Beach on Saturday night to take on the Daytona Cubs (12-22) at 7:05 p.m. Jimmy Nelson (2-2, 2.45) will toe the rubber for the 'Tees. In his last start this past Monday against Palm Beach; Nelson had his shortest outing of the year as he went just four innings. The Cubs are scheduled to send southpaw Austin Kirk (1-0, 1.83) to the hill. http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/11/tfTpXUqR.jpg Jungmann (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography) Brevard County box score Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast! Jungmann has been fine. He's also yet to have a really eye-popping game, or even strike out more batters than innings pitched. He's not doing a lot to allay my fears that the Brewers drafted a #4 starter with the 12th-overall pick. He was uncharacteristically wild tonight, with two hit batters to go along with the three walks. He did characteristically burn worms, posting an 8/2 GO/FO. I'm trying to read the hitters' lines but my eyes are bleeding. Well, that's not fair--Shaw was on three times and is essentially having a carbon copy of his 2011 campaign for the Rattlers. He's also already halfway to last season's total of 16 doubles (though he also had six triples). Greg Vaughn's son, Cory, went 0-5 with a walk for the Mets. Brevard County play-by-play Jungmann did not have a clean inning. He wriggled out of trouble in the 1st: St. Lucie Top of the 1st Daniel Muno strikes out swinging. Robbie Shields grounds out, third baseman Michael Walker to first baseman Cody Hawn. Cory Vaughn walks. Wilmer Flores singles on a line drive to right fielder Franklin Romero Jr. Cory Vaughn to 3rd. Cesar Puello hit by pitch. Wilmer Flores to 2nd. Richard Lucas grounds into a force out, shortstop Nick Shaw to second baseman T. J. Mittelstaedt. Cesar Puello out at 2nd.

Boone Logan made the White Sox out of spring training in 2006 despite having just 5.1 innings of experience above Rookie ball.

Ross apparently had Tommy John surgery. Huge bummer.

He was breathing through his eyelids.

Khris Davis back in the starting lineup for the Stars.

Hot Rods stop the Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Bowling Green Hot Rods broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning Saturday night against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Bowling Green went on to hand the Rattlers a 6-0 loss at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Hot Rods used three pitchers to hold the Rattlers scoreless on four hits. Both teams had chances to score early. But each time pitching and defense held the opponents off the board. Bowling Green (14-9) had runners at the corners with no outs in the first inning. Rattlers starting pitcher Mark Williams recorded a strikeout and got a double play to get out of the inning. Wisconsin (12-11) had the same situation in the bottom of the second inning and Bowling Green starter Trevor Shull got the same result as his defense turned an inning ending double play. In the fourth, the Rattlers had the bases loaded the bases with one out on a single and two walks. But, Shull dodged the bullet. Greg Hopkins sent a fly ball to shallow center and Max Walla tagged from third to try to score. The throw from Drew Vettleson beat Walla to the plate and catcher Alejandro Segovia held on for the third out after Walla crashed into him in an attempt to jar the ball loose. Williams had retired ten straight from the start of the fourth through the first out of the seventh inning. But, a throwing error on Yadiel Rivera allowed Todd Glaesmann to reach. Jeff Malm was next and he sent a sinking liner to right field. Walla made a diving try for the ball, but could not make the catch and the ball scooted to the wall for an RBI triple. Tyler Cravy relieved Williams after the triple and allowed an RBI double to Taylor Motter and Bowling Green was up 2-0. Hot Rods reliever Jake Partridge, who took over in the bottom of the fifth inning, allowed one hit and faced the minimum over four innings of scoreless relief for his third win of the season. The Hot Rods added four runs in the top of the ninth. Cravy walked the first two batters and - after a bunt moved both runners up - walked a third intentionally to load the bases. Kevin Shackelford took over for Cravy and gave up an RBI single to Alejandro Segovia, a two run single to Jake Hager, and an RBI single to Tyler Goeddel and the Hot Rods extended their lead to 6-0. Chadwin Stang had a leadoff triple in the bottom of the ninth against Austin Hubbard, but he was left stranded. Saturday's shutout loss was the first for the Rattlers in 2012. The last time Wisconsin did not score in a game was August 13, 2011, a stretch of 43 games. Game two of the series is Sunday afternoon. David Goforth (2-1, 6.27) is scheduled to start and Fond du Lac native Chad Pierce is set to come in relief for Wisconsin. Bowling Green will send Ryan Carpenter (3-1, 3.13) to the hill. Game time is 1:05pm. Sunday is a Brewers Sunday courtesy of 107.5, The Fan with a special appearance by Milwaukee Brewers mascot Bernie Brewer. Timber Rattlers players will be wearing Brewers-themed jerseys during the game. Time Warner Cable customers can receive up to four half-priced reserved bleacher tickets when showing their TWC bill at time of ticket purchase. There is catch on the field before the game and a player autograph session after the game. If you can't make it to the game, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 12:45pm. Sunday's game is also available on MiLB.TV. Wisconsin box score Check out Chris's Nine after 9 for details on the interesting double plays mentioned above, plus the Rivera and Walla fielding misadventures. He also points out that, when Williams made it into the 7th without allowing a run, Wisconsin starting pitchers had a 20.3 scoreless-innings streak over the last three games--two of which they ended up losing. Williams has thrown surprisingly well for the Rattlers, given that he was basically an anonymous guy who pitched in only six games, all of them in relief, for Helena last year; he wasn't even the best Williams in on the H-Crew. Still waiting on Cravy to come around as a reliever. The Rattlers had four hits, so...yeah. They did walk four times, three of them by Jason Rogers and the fourth by Yadiel Rivera--his third walk of the year. Well, better three than two, and he's hitting better than he did at Wisconsin last year, albeit still pretty poorly. Wisconsin play-by-play

Final: Huntsville 2, @Mississippi 1 (10 innings) Stars Capitalize On Braves Error PEARL, Miss.- For the third game in a row, the Stars got a strong performance by their pitching staff to lead them to a victory, beating the Mississippi Braves by a score of 2-1 in ten innings on Saturday night. While the two teams would only combine for ten hits total, the Stars got the offense started in the second inning with three hits. One of those being a RBI-single by shortstop Matt Cline to make the score 1-0. After an RBI single by Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning, the pitching staffs from each team would take over. For the Stars, starting pitcher Kyle Heckathorn put together another strong start, going 5.0 innings while giving up just one run on three hits while striking out four batters. After Heckathorn exited before the sixth inning, the combination of RHP Bradley Blanks and RHP Jesus Sanchez held the Braves without a hit through the ninth inning. In the top of the tenth inning, after Lee Haydel led off the inning with a pinch-hit single and then stole a base to get into scoring position, second basemen Scooter Gennett came up to the plate with two outs. On the ninth pitch of his at-bat with Mississippi RHP Billy Bullock, Gennett sent a groundball that would somehow find its way under the glove of Braves 1B Ian Gac and into right field, allowing Haydel to score the eventual game-winning run. Stars RHP Robert Wooten shut down the door for the Stars in the bottom half of the inning, notching his fifth save of the season. Sanchez went on to earn the win in relief, improving to 2-0 on the season. With the victory, the Stars have now won three straight and are a season-high two games over .500 at 13-11. The win also gives Huntsville its second series win of the season. The finale of a five-game series between the two teams will begin on Sunday as Huntsville will send RHP Josh Stinson (3-1, 3.57 ERA) to the mound to square off against the Braves’ Gary Moran. First pitch is at 1:00 PM. Huntsville box score 13-11, wheeeeeee! Does it ever feel to you like every game is either a one-run, extra-innings squeaker--which our team wins maybe 25% of the time--or a blowout loss? Anyway, Heckathorn walked just one and threw 52 of his 81 pitches for strikes while posting a 10/1 GO/FO. His improvement has flown under the radar with the years some other pitchers are having, but his strikeout and walk rates are both going in the right directions relative to his disastrous stint at Huntsville last year, and he continues to be a ground-ball machine. Kentrail Davis had two hits, but also struck out three times. Khris Davis again did not start, but pinch hit and struck out. Cline and Andy Gonzalez were both on twice. Huntsville play-by-play Hunter Morris indeed has 11 doubles in April, yet his line sits at a relatively pedestrian .298/.333/.447, dragged down by just one home run and four walks (against 18 strikeouts) in 99 plate appearances. His double today came on a fly ball; I'd be interested to know how many of the 11 were near-homers and how many were just gappers. The recap doesn't make it clear, but Gennett's grounder was ruled an error; he went 0-5.

I got the Stars and T-Rats, but probably not until the wee hours.

I got it. Robert Loftin's stats, for those curious.

Quite the precociously philosophical niece you've got there.

The Brewers have signed LHP Philippe Valiquette, a 25-year-old reliever formerly with the Reds (stats) who was out of baseball last year. He'll go to extended spring for now to get back into the swing of things.

Lots of news today. First of all, OF Jay Gibbons is back, again, and has been assigned to Huntsville. OF Kentrail Davis is back too, activated off the Stars' DL, which is great to see. Keep those hammies healthy, Kentrail. Also healthy is LHP Dan Merklinger. Two of the three spots necessary were created with Kjeldgaard and Bianchi going on the DL, and the third comes from utilityman Juan Sanchez going east again, back to Brevard County. Making room for him, C Brent Dean goes on the BC DL. Finally, we have a Nick Bucci sighting! The RHP hasn't been seen all year, and won't be again quite yet, but the fact that he was transferred to Huntsville, albeit only to be put on their DL, has to be a good sign. Young master Bucci is actually making a return trip to the Rocket City; he made a memorable cameo there as an 18-year-old in 2009.

Yeah, but from what I recall of his radar gun readings when he was at Wisconsin, even "tops out in the low-90s" is overstating it. He was mid-80s, I think.

I think Burgos has a sub-fringy fastball.

Unfortunately, these two things turn out to be related.

OF Brock Kjeldgaard hits the DL at Huntsville with a torn ligament in his thumb; he'll have surgery and miss 6-8 weeks. He injured it on a play at the plate the other day. From the same link, Nashville RHP Josh Butler and Huntsville SS Jeff Bianchi were also placed on their respective team's DLs. Butler left his start early today and has an elbow injury, extent unknown. Bianchi has a hamstring strain.

Haha, very nice.

So many exciting teams to choose from lately.

Does the PBP say "With [x] batting..." for wild pitches and passed balls? EDIT: Survey says "yes".