colbyjack

The top AA tools are up. Lorenzo Cain is the only Brewers player on the list, named the Southern League's best defensive outfielder. I'm a little surprised not to see Brett Lawrie somewhere on the list, but as usual it's a league loaded with prospects, including the likes of Mike Stanton, Dustin Ackley and Dee Gordon. http://www.baseballameric...-tools/2010/2610504.html

BA has a story on Caleb Gindl, courtesy of Tom Haudricourt, up at Baseball America today (subscribers): http://www.baseballameric...uble-a/2010/2610495.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/cgindl10428309dp.jpg

BA has kicked off their annual polling of the top tools at each level, starting with AAA. As reference in another thread, Luis Cruz took top honors as the best defensive shortstop in the PCL (link for subscribers): http://www.baseballameric...-tools/2010/2610496.html I'm guessing we'll see a few other names when the other leagues are announced, thus the separate thread.

I don't feel strongly about the Covey situation, but I sort of wonder why they're asking for the extra $300k. Not "why" in a moral sense, but in a sense of value, bargaining power, and/or logic. The Commissioner's Office sets the slot prices. (Of course that's anticompetitive, but MLB still has its antitrust exemption.) What's the basis for the departure? Do draftees' agents/reps argue about comparable players, like in arbitration? It can't just be "Heck, 1.7 is close to two; let's just ask for an even two million," can it? How is the market operating here to set prices? I don't know if it's that they're asking for an extra $300k or if it's simply a matter of the Covey's wanting $2M going into draft day. Many players and their parents will have a number in mind that they want to get going into draft day. Some will stick by that figure, some will meet in the middle, etc. Covey is committed to San Diego, which is a very strong academic/private institution, as these types of demands aren't uncommon for players with these types of college commitments. I think all of the other hubbub is funny. If Covey doesn't end up signing, I'll be shocked, and as already noted, it's not the worst thing in the world that he didn't take the mound this summer. It would have been nice to get his feet wet, but at least he'll have instrux next month.

BA's scouting report of Dickerson from last year was pretty glowing. He received positive reports on his defense in CF along with his ability to play all 3 OF spots. There was some concern then about his ability to hit LHP, but hitting RHP is a bigger priority for the Brewers given their RH heavy hitting lineup. They also said he has 25-30 stolen base potential if he plays regularly, although that doesn't seem likely now. Basically he could be the next Podsednik/McGehee diamond in the rough that just needs to be given a chance. Inglett can be the utility infielder and wouldn't cost all that much. Al already mentioned this, but Inglett can't play SS.

Colby, I can't believe they'll offer Gerut arby, he might get a couple mil. Dickerson and Inglett will be cheaper and just as effective. I agree, I just have always liked Gerut and was happy the day they acquired him. I feel better about the OF having him as the 4th guy than Dickerson and/or Inglett, but also agree that financially he's not worth going out of your way to keep around.

Dickerson would seem to be a solid piece as a 5th OF and needed LH bat off the bench moving forward, especially if the team decides to let Gerut walk this offseason (although I hope they don't). It would be nice if the Brewers could make a similar deal for a utility infielder (trade Counsell for his successor).

I don't think there is anything this team can do for the season not to be considered disappointing. Not being in the playoff race for pretty much the entire year has been tough to swallow. Finishing .500 or better is nice, but doesn't make up for what has been an uncompetitive season. It didn't help that Uecker hasn't been behind the mic for much of that time. I'm happy to see the crowds as big as they are at Miller Park, because it's clear that the community recognizes that the Brewers are still in better position now than they were 3-5 years ago. So, anything the team can do to better position itself for next year is key. Even if Gomez comes off the DL, get Cain as much regular playing time as possible in CF. Same goes for Lucroy behind the plate, although he's been the regular pretty much since Zaun went down anyway. Get Gamel up in September and find as many ways to get him into the lineup as possible. I too would like to see Rogers, Rivas and Butler given a spot start or two in September. I might do the same with Scarpetta since he too is on the 40-man, but would be more protective of his psyche as to not damage his confidence since he should struggle. Get creative, stretch out the starting staff to give some taxed arms (like Gallardo's) some more rest in between starts, or set up a piggy-back system. Hopefully that would place less pressure on the bullpen as well if you're able to consistently get 4-8 innings from a proposed piggy-back system. I like the idea of giving as many arms as possible a chance to show what they can do, including Jeffress, although I recognize that finding a 40-man spot for guys like Kintlzer, Hand and/or McClendon is easier said than done. As much as I would like to see Jeffress return to starting, part of me is intrigued by the Brewers having their own 'nasty boys' trio of Axford, Braddock and Jeffress moving forward. Someone already mentioned this, but by far the biggest thing the Brewers need to happen between now and the end of the year is Prince needs to go on a tear and finish the year with some big numbers. Push that average to the .280-.290 range and get the RBI up. These may be shallow statistics, but they are still numbers you can point to in trade negotiations, since you know Scott Boras isn't going to do the Brewers any favors the next time he decides to open his yap to the media. Fielder's trade value needs to be as high as possible heading into the offseason.

I just don't see how you can feel this way. I asked this earlier and you haven't responded yet, but I'd like to know if the approach was quality over quantity. Then why did Pascual and Peralta not appear until 2006 in the Brewers Arizona league team, when the academy was shut down in 2003? From what you're saying they chose to shut down the academy so they could make these signings and yet it took them 3 years to find their way to camp? They really missed out on only one year. They closed mid-way to late in 2003 and started signing prominent players at the end of 2005. The beginning of the signing period for Latin American free agents is early July, and you have to wait until a player turns 16 to sign them, so technically the Brewers only missed out in 2004. Without looking I don't know who they signed during that time (or why they didn't), although I do know the draft-and-follow process was still alive and well that year, when the Brewers were spending good chunks of money on players such as Lorenzo Cain. I do agree with your stance that the team should have tried to fix what they had going prior to 2003 then to simply shut it down. However, that's in hindsight, as I also remember thinking at the time that what they intended to do seemed like a pretty good idea, so just because it didn't work as well as they hoped (and again, I stress that it's not as bad as being suggested given the emergence of three prominent Latin American players during that time) doesn't mean they failed necessarily. Again, I have my own reasons to question Melvin's direction at this point in time, but overall it's hard not to be pleased with the team's vastly improved player development efforts. Yes, it sucks that the team doesn't have more pitching right now, but it's also pretty impressive that they have an almost entirely homegrown starting lineup that is currently 3rd in the NL in runs scored. If you haven't read them already, these two stories give some background to the team's efforts in the Dominican: http://milwaukee.brewers....s_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil http://milwaukee.brewers....ffiliateId=CommentWidget

Final: @Great Falls (White Sox) 9, Helena 4 Helena box score I'll be happy to turn the reins back over to battlekow in the next day or two, as I haven't had much luck reporting happy news down on the farm the past few days. As noted above, Brandon Sizemore at least made things interesting providing the big hit, a 2-run home run, as part of a 4-run 7th. That made the game 5-4, but Great Falls scored a run in the bottom of the frame, and added 3 more the next. Overall the H-Crew mustered only 3 hits and didn't draw a single free pass. Helena game log Helena went quietly and quickly, 1-2-3, in 6 of the 9 innings. Rob Currie cruised through the 5th and 6th innings...

Did you catch how homegrown the Brewer lineup was today? Weeks Hart Fielder Braun McGehee Cain Escobar Lucroy Gallardo Keep plugging away on the farm, young men. You will get rewarded down the road. That's a good call Mass. It was particularly encouraging to see Cain, Escobar and Lucroy have success. On Friday at MP, I was really impressed with Cain's arm strength in CF, and his overall energy and intensity he brings to the game.

Final: @Tennessee (Cubs) 13, Huntsville 3 Huntsville box score Mark Rogers continues to tease us. Coming off two of his best starts of his career, he reverts to his career self. He only gave up 2 hits in 2 innings of work, but both hits were home runs and he walked 4, leading to 6 runs. Uncharacteristically, he only struck out one batter. Jeremy Jeffress continued his success this year, tossing two scoreless innings, giving up a hit and striking out 1. Caleb Gindl and Brett Lawrie, hitting 1-2 at the top of the lineup, both went 2-for-4 with a run scored, although Lawrie was caught stealing and was picked off first. Huntsville box score Things looked promising after the top of the first, but got mighty ugly after that. Rogers walked the bases loaded, and a run in, in the first, allowed another run on a passed ball and then gave up a 3-run blast.

Final: @Clinton (Mariners) 4, Wisconsin 3 Rattlers fall just short in Clinton By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The long wait was almost worth it. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers dropped a 4-3 decision to the Clinton LumberKings on Sunday afternoon at Alliant Energy Field. The game was delayed for over two and a half hours due to a heavy rain shower and wet field conditions. Clinton erased an early Wisconsin lead to take a 4-1 lead. The Rattlers rallied and had chance, but could not cash in the opportunities to keep Clinton from winning their seventh straight game. D'Vontrey Richardson did not let the long wait slow him down. The Rattlers leadoff batter smacked a double down the left field line to start the game. One out later, Hunter Morris doubled off the top of the wall in center and Richardson scored for a 1-0 lead. Clinton (60-50 overall, 23-18 second half) got on the board in the bottom of the third. A leadoff walk, a single, and a bunt single loaded the bases against Rattlers starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi. Luis Nunez followed with a single to tie the game. Then, James Jones singled to knock in two runs and Clinton had a 3-1 lead. The LumberKings extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Vinnie Catricala singled with two outs. Mickey Wiswall followed with a double to right that scored Catricala for a 4-1 advantage. Clinton centerfielder Matt Cerione single-handedly prevented a Rattlers rally in the top of the seventh inning. Michael Marseco sent a slicing line drive to left-center to start the inning. But, Cerione closed on the ball and made a diving catch. There was a lot of baseball showing out of the top o the web of his glove, but Cerione held on for the catch. He topped himself for the final out of the frame. Scooter Gennett hit a line drive over the head of Cerione. The Clinton centerfielder charged back and made a leaping catch. Then, he fell backwards onto the muddy warning track and tumbled over once and held onto the ball for the final out of the inning. Wisconsin (44-66, 18-24) managed a run in the top of the eighth inning. Kentrail Davis doubled and Cutter Dykstra singled to put runners at the corners. A Chris Dennis RBI grounder got Davis home and made the score 4-2. The Timber Rattlers made it interesting in the top of the ninth inning against Clinton closer Brandon Josselyn. Marseco singled to start the inning. One out later, Gennett doubled to put the tying runs in scoring position. Morris knocked in his second run of the game with an infield ground out. Josselyn got Davis to ground back to the mound to end the game. Game three of the series is Monday night. Hiram Burgos (3-5, 3.50) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton will counter with Nick Czyz (3-2, 5.09). Game time is 7:00pm. You may tune into the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm. Wisconsin box score Odorizzi of course has had much better games, but its not like he was terrible today. He probably read the link report during the rain delay and felt the pressure...Hunter Morris goes 2-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Cutter Dykstra and Joey Paciorek each go 2-for-4, with D'Vontrey Richardson, Scooter Gennett and Kentrail Davis all hitting doubles. With 12 hits in total, the T-Rats should have scored more than 3 runs, although only Dennis drew a walk in this one. Wisconsin game log The T-Rats did a nice job making this game close, late, scoring single runs in both the 8th and 9th innings. Unfortunately they couldn't scratch across one more.

I've always thought of Gamel as somewhat of a Lyle Overbay hitter, one that works the count, gets on base, drives in runs, but likely will hit a lot more doubles than home runs over the course of his career, and yet still have the power potential to hit 20-25 a season. I know Overbay's career started pretty late, as he was first called up when he was 24 but didn't play full-time until he was 27. He was a college draftee, so his career in relationship to Gamel's was roughly 2-3 years off since Gamel attended junior college. Anyway, here are Overbay's numbers at AAA and AA, as he spent quite a bit of time in the upper levels of the minors before finally sticking at the MLB level, getting his chance to do so with the Brewers replacing Richie Sexson: AAA, 2 seasons, 644 total AB: .332/.400/.519 AA, 2 seasons, 776 AB: .350/.422/.530 And here are Gamel's across those two levels, up to yesterday's performance: AAA, 3 seasons, 523 AB: .289/.370/.474 AA, 2 seasons, 536 AB: .332/.399/.539 Gamel's AAA numbers are down from Overbay's, but he has also been dealing with injury earlier this year. Overbay also played at for two teams, El Paso (AA) and Tucson (AAA) that have always been known for inflated offensive numbers. Of course how the numbers finally translate has nothing to do with how similar they are to Overbay's, I just bring it up as some solace to the likelihood of losing Prince, particularly since Overbay is a player we're all familiar with. Hopefully moving forward we'll see an increase in production in CF, SS and C due to the progression of Cain, Escobar and Lucroy to help make up for the loss in Fielder's productivity, not to mention the improvement in pitching that we're all expecting to receive in return.

I don't want to be redundant so I won't go into detail, but I just disagree with the DR academy. I'm curious about Rolando Pascual and Wily Peralta, baseball reference has them both appearing in their first games for the Brewers Arizona Fall league team in 2006. The academy was shut down in 2003. You stated the money saved was used to sign these prominent players. I'm wondering why the delay or if I'm missing something else? With all due respect, it seems as though your background with the Brewers' recent presence in Latin America is a little misguided. Here is one of your previous comments: You HAVE TO scout Latin America to be a successful organization in baseball these days. If the academy is lousy you make it better. Disbanding it is a self imposed death sentence, and among Doug "Get By" Melvin's many sins this is by far the most egregious. It's not like they just dropped scouting in Latin America completely, and since they closed the academy they have signed and are currently developing talented young players such as Alcides Escobar, Wily Peralta and Amaury Rivas. That's a solid trio of Latin American talent. Sure, I'd like them to have more, but I'd like them to have more of just about everything. They also have had a few high profile/big money Latin American signees fail, or at least seemingly plateau, such as Pascual and Hitaniel Arias. As I noted before, they stopped their training in the Dominican and Venezuela and decided to go with more quality and less quantity. Instead of filling out rosters for a Dominican and/or Venezuelan team, they decided to take the money that was used to run those camps, and sign all of those players, and try to get more competitive signing some of the more sought-after Latin American free agents. Then, these players reported directly to the Arizona rookie club. Also as noted, the additional resources went into hiring more Canadian area scouts, and area they obviously felt was somewhat untapped relative to other teams' focus. And the idea is somewhat related to Moneyball. The overlying premise in Moneyball is to make the best of an under appreciated and/or untapped resource. OBP of course became a bigger phenomena, but since those years many of the statistical-minded teams have placed a greater emphasis on defense. Doug Melvin and co. were trying to do something similar, doing things differently from what everyone else was in an attempt to take advantage of that situation. It may not have worked out (yet) as much as we would like, but it was an interesting approach. One thing about Melvin that he has proven over the years, he definitely thinks outside of the box (he has been involved with some rule changes such as how waiver claims are made and the alternation of draft picks between leagues in both the Rule 4 and 5 drafts). There are reasons to be disappointed with the Brewers and Melvin, but I don't think how the team approaches Latin America is one of them.

There are rounds other than round one in the draft. That is where Gallardo was picked and according to people on this board he was not a Jack pick but a Melvin pick. Gallardo was a 2nd round pick. Without pasting the comment, I think from X, if I remember correctly, and this is usually true for most organizations, but Jack Z didn't oversee the Latin American scouting for the Brewers. That is a separate scouting operation from the domestic/amateur ones. There were stories of him going to see some of the players first-hand to provide his own opinion, but the same was true of Dick Groch. Ok so Wendy Selig got her panties in a bunch and demanded costs were cut and the mlb team was improved so it could be sold. So Melvin had to close the DR academy. My only problem absolving him of that is Attanasio bought the team in Sept '04. Melvin didn't re-establish the academy until 2009. How does it take you 5 years to realize that mistake? Again, IIRC, that's not how it went down. The Brewers re-evaluated their Latin American approach and decided to shut-down their DR academy when they recognized it wasn't doing much. They decided to take the money from the DR academy and put it into some more prominent signings (such as Rolando Pascual and Wily Peralta), enticing such prospects by sending a few of them directly to Arizona, since they had no academy to bridge the gap. In the meantime they increased their presence in Canada. And I wouldn't diminish the fact that Jack Z as scouting director procured much of the team's current lineup. Without Jack, the team doesn't have Prince, Braun and Hart. Taking Fielder and Braun where he did took some courage since most didn't consider them that good of prospects, and as much flack as he gets for not procuring pitchers (much of which is deserved) he did provide the team with 2 of their current 5 starters (regardless of what you think of Parra), Zach Braddock and many of the pieces that allowed Melvin to acquire players such as CC Sabathia, if by reputation only. I am frustrated with Melvin in that he hasn't been able to take his teams to the next level historically. I don't know what to think of his future, but at the same time, I'm not sure what to think of Paul DePodesta. As someone else mentioned, he, like Melvin, has been fired before, and I think I would prefer to find the younger diamond in the rough (or Terry Ryan as suggested) to help get the Brewers over the hump.

Final: @Great Falls (White Sox) 15, Helena 2 Helena box score I don't think I've ever had much link report luck over the years, and now I've got a hankering for Howard's Pizza. The H-Crew managed only 5 hits this evening, with Mike Walker scoring both runs, one coming on his fourth home run of the summer in the second. Starter Tyler Thornburg had another brief and solid start, his second since missing nearly a month. If you look at his collective numbers this summer we might be more excited about the Brewers third-round pick had that came over a span of 1 or 2 games in mid-July. It went downhill fast and hard after Thornburg, as Tyler Cravy, Ryan Bernal and Thomas Keeling gave up 6, 5 and 4 runs respectively in relief. Helena play-by-play I won't bother with the rest of the game, as it got ugly as soon as Thornburg left the game, although he didn't make it easy on himself. Ross Wilson and Andy Wilkins were fairly prominent college draftees this past year that put up big numbers at Alabama and Arkansas respectively. Great Falls Bottom 1st • Dusty Harvard walks. • With Ross Wilson batting, wild pitch by Tyler Thornburg, Dusty Harvard to 2nd. • Ross Wilson strikes out swinging. • Andy Wilkins strikes out swinging. • Michael Blanke hit by pitch. • Ryan Hamme flies out to center fielder Robert Garvey.

Final: @Clinton (Mariners) 8, Wisconsin 3 LumberKings club Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers ran into the buzzsaw that is the Clinton LumberKings on Saturday night at Alliant Energy Field. Clinton collected three homers among their ten hits and beat the Rattlers 8-3 on the way to their sixth consecutive win. James Jones was the second batter of the bottom of the first inning. The Clinton outfielder followed Luis Nunez, who had reached on a single. Jones lined a two-run homer to right field and the LumberKings were up 2-0. In the bottom of the second inning, Clinton (59-50 overall, 22-18 second half) loaded the bases with one out. Rattlers starting pitcher Damon Krestalude got Nunez to send a slow grounder to short. The Rattlers got the force at second, but Nunez beat the throw to first to avert the inning ending double play and to let the run from third score for a 3-0 Clinton advantage. The Rattlers (44-65, 18-23) got on the board in the top of the fourth inning. A two-out single by Cutter Dykstra plated a pair of runs and the Rattlers were within a run. But, Nunez singled in a run in the bottom of the fourth and the LumberKings were back up 4-2. Scooter Gennett delivered a two-out RBI double in the top of the fifth and the Rattlers cut the deficit to one run again. However, the LumberKings went to the long ball again to extend their lead. Krestalude walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth. Then, Catricala launched a homer over the grass seats in left field. The two-run blast put Clinton up 6-3. Clinton starting pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen had to escape one more jam before he was done for the night. Kentrail Davis drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and Dykstra followed with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. But the next three Rattlers hitters were retired on a strikeout, a fielder's choice, and a strikeout to keep the score at 6-3. Wilhelmsen turned the game over to the LumberKings bullpen after the sixth. The Clinton hitters weren't done. Cerione lined a two-out, two-run homer to right in the bottom of the seventh off Wisconsin reliever Efrain Nieves and the LumberKings were up 8-3. Daniel Cooper worked the final three innings, walked one, struck out two, and picked up his first save of the season. Meanwhile the Rattlers dropped to a season low 21 games below .500 and fell 4.5 games off the pace set by the LumberKings for the second half wild card in the Western Division of the Midwest League. Game two of the series is Sunday afternoon. Jake Odorizzi (6-2, 3.04) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Clinton has Taylor Stanton (8-5, 4.03) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 2:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. Wisconsin box scoreFormer Brewers prospect Tom Wilhelmsen got his chance to stick it to the Brewers twice this past week, in pretty impressive fashion. Damon Krestalude continues to get knocked around more often than not, Efrain Nieves wasn't any better after him, and Andrew Sauter was the only T-Rats hurler that didn't give up any runs. Scooter Gennett continues to pace the offense, going 2-for-4 in this game with his 36th double of the year (the only extra-base hit for Wisconsin). Cutter Dykstra also went 2-for-4, include a 2-run single in the fourth off of Wilhelmsen, but he also committed his 16th error of the year which started a bad inning in the 7th to put the game out of reach. Dykstra really put himself back on the prospect map this year, but I'm really interested to see what the Brewers do with him moving forward position-wise. Wisconsin play-by-playThe T-Rats went in order each of the first three innings, doing so again in the 7th and 8th innings.

Final: Brevard County 5, @Bradenton (Pirates) 4 Brevard County box score Nice job by the 'Tees tieing this game up in the 8th and winning it in the 9th. Maybe they were inspired by the parent club's efforts on Friday night. Angel Salome was 2-for-4 in this game, belting his 3rd home run of the year, a 3-run job in the fourth. Brock Kjeldgaard added his 13th of the year, a solo shot in the 8th that knotted the game at 4. Erik Komatsu doing his usual, drawing a pair of walks and scoring a pair of runs despite going hitless. Mike Ramlow continues a very strong, yet quiet, campaign with two scoreless innings in relief. Brevard County play-by-play Komatsu's leadoff walk in the 9th opened the door for this victory. Corey Frerichs closed the door in the bottom of the inning to pick up his 8th save.

Final: @Tennessee (Cubs) 9, Huntsville 2 Huntsville box score Caleb Gindl provided the offense with a 2-run home run in the seventh inning. Zelous Wheeler hit his 18th double of the year and drew a pair of walks, and Lee Haydel was on base twice (single, walk). Michael Bowman was responsible for all 9 runs, and somewhat surprisingly was allowed to continue to pitch through the fourth inning. Lucas Luetge pitched two strong innings in relief, and even Chuckie Caufield tossed a frame. Huntsville play-by-play Even if you take away the 6-run first inning for the Smokies, the Stars still lose this game, but at least it would have seemed like more competitive. Outside of Gindl's 2-run home run, the Stars never really put anything together that resembled a rally.

Bates, being the high school kid, is probably the toughest sign with a college commitment and obvious potential for improvement. I don't know their situations individually, but I'm guessing Morris' and White's are roughly the same, both with a couple of years of juco ball under their belt.

The Brewers haven't had a top 10 pick go unsigned since Jemile Weeks in 2005. Before that it was Jarrad Page and Steve Kahn in '02, the year they gave Parra $1.6M or so and gave Prince $2M+ as the #7 overall pick. Their first unsigned pick the last four years have been in rounds 21, 23, 21 and 17. The Brewers do a good job signing the players they select, meaning if Michael White (13), Chris Bates (15), Andrew Morris (16) or even Rowan Wick (19) don't sign by the 16th, it will be somewhat of a rarity given the team's recent talent procurement efforts.

Final: @Huntsville 5, Carolina (Reds) 3 Huntsville box score What a great game, starting with a good pitching matchup between Andre Lamontagne and Carolina's Scott Carroll. The scoring started after Lamontagne was removed from the game, and journeyman Dayton Buller provided the final heroics with the walk-off, two-run home run in the 13th. Brett Lawrie had a big hit of his own, an RBI triple in the 12th that tied the game back up. The triple was Lawrie's 15th, and he also added his 28th double earlier in the game. Zelous Wheeler was also 2-for-6, while Lucas Luetge, Eddie Morlan and Chris Cody were strong in relief. Huntsville play-by-play Robert Hinton may have been too efficient throwing strikes, as of the eight he threw (of eight pitches) one was a single and one was a two-run blast to force extra innings. Buller had a few opportunities before the 13th...

Final: Helena 5, @Billings (Reds) 0 Helena box scoreThe H-Crew tandem of Matt Miller and Jimmy Nelson continues to get better and better, combining on a 1-hitter over Billings. Miller may be auditioning for a late season call-up to Wisconsin, if they have any room for him, while Nelson enjoyed his best outing as a professional. He set down all six batters he faced in order, including a strikeout of Billy Hamilton, one of the Pioneer League's better positional prospects, on a slider that caused Helena radio voice Steve Wendt to emphatically say, "Good gracious was that a violent breaking ball!" Cody Hawn goes hitless, but draws a pair of walks, Greg Hopkins and Mike Walker each went 2-for-4, Rob Garvey went 3-for-4 and Brandon Sizemore had two RBI. Helena play-by-playNelson's sinker-slider combo seems to have been working for him tonight. Overall a clean, and quick game with the good guys coming out on top.

Final: @Wisconsin 1, Peoria (Cubs) 13 Rattlers get Bour-ed[/url] By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - Peoria Chiefs first baseman Justin Bour drove in six runs Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers offense managed just four hits in Thursday's game. The Chiefs beat the Rattlers 13-1. Peoria (56-50 overall, 18-19 second half) started their scoring binge early. Leadoff batter Hak-Ju Lee doubled to start the game against Wisconsin starting pitcher Eric Arnett. One out later Matt Cedar singled to drive in Lee. In the second, Arnett got the first two outs. But, Luis Flores doubled to keep the inning alive. Then, Anthony Giansanti singled and Flores scored. In the third, Bour picked up his first RBI of the night with a run scoring ground out. Later in the inning, DJ Fitzgerald and Jae-Hoon Ha had RBI singles to make the score 5-0. Bour added an RBI single in the top of the fourth to put the Chiefs up 6-0. Arnett allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits over four innings and was tagged with the loss. Wisconsin (44-63, 18-21) did not have much success against Peoria starting pitcher Su-Min Jung. The right-hander out of South Korea struck out eight and allowed just two hits over five scoreless innings. Peoria's offense was halted for three innings by Rattlers reliever Adrian Rosario, who allowed two hits from the fifth through the seventh. But, in the eighth, the Chiefs erupted for six runs. Tony Butler allowed a double and two walks to load the bases. Then, a single by Logan Watkins and a walk to Cerda let the first two runs of the inning score and chased Butler from the game. Bour greeted reliever [/b]Santo Manzanillo[/b] with a grand slam to left-center and the Chiefs were up 12-0. Wisconsin did get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-out single by Hunter Morris. But, the Chiefs got that run back in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Watkins. The final game of the series is Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field. Wisconsin is sending Del Howell (2-4, 4.76) to the mound. Peoria has Marcus Hatley (0-0, 40.50) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 7:05pm. Friday is a North Shore Bank Family Night. Children 12 and under eat free as part of North Shore Bank Family Night in conjunction with momslikeme.com. Plus, the Amazing Spider-Man will be on hand for an appearance. The Marvel ® Superhero will be at the game to meet fans for pictures and autographs. Additionally, the first 1,000 fans into the stadium receive a poster of Midwest League home run derby champion Khris Davis courtesy of Express Convenience Centers. It is also a Fritos ® Family Friday. Bring in a bag of FRITOS ® corn chips and receive ten percent off Timber Rattler merchandise at the stadium store. After the game, there is a fireworks display sponsored by 95.9 KISS-FM. After the fireworks, ThedaCare Orthopedics presents Kids Run the Bases for children 14 and under. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Wisconsin box scoreI know this may be hard to take right now, but Eric Arnett didn't look as bad as his line (4 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, 6:2 GO:FO) may indicate, as only two of the nine hits he allowed went for extra bases, and his fastball-slider combo looked pretty good. If you could excuse me adding some of my opinion to the link report, it seems as though he has some Manny Parra in him, albeit at the low-A ball level, in that it seems he may have some issues to deal with upstairs, as his stuff is legit and his control was decent. Arnett's counterpart Su-Min Jung shut-down the T-Rats hitters, and overall the team had only four hits on the day. Chris Dennis with an ugly 0-4 collar, and Wisconsin native Tony Butler didn't provide any feel-good stories in the eighth. Wisconsin play-by-playRead through each of the first four innings. Obviously Arnett has problems having a clean inning, which is a problem, but in his defense he wasn't hit hard, and he could have had better support behind (or in front of) him in the third.