TheCrew07

Top Batting Performances Over The Weekend, July 20-22 Our own Khris Davis and the a fore mentioned Gregory Polanco from the Pirates. Miguel Sano has gone into some kind of slump since I handed off the T-Rats and quit following the MWL as closely.

2 articles on Pirates prospects, the second is behind the pay wall. Alen Hanson's Breakout Season At The Plate Has Him Focused On Glovework Pirates' Gregory Polanco Finds The Spotlight Suits Him

Boise's Dickson hurls six no-hit frames Cubs prospect able to repay organization that had faith in him By Ashley Marshall / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/24/CCCeJA6v.jpg Ian Dickson was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 35th round in 2011. (Boise Hawks) When Ian Dickson blew out his knee going into his junior year of college, he thought his chances of going pro the following summer went with it. Then the Cubs took a chance on the 6-foot-5 right-hander on Day 3 of the 2011 Draft and he knew he had been thrown a lifeline. On Tuesday, Dickson turned in the finest outing of his young Minor League career. The New York native fired six no-hit innings and the short-season Boise Hawks carried the bid into the eighth frame en route to a 2-1 win over the Yakima Bears. "It went according to plan," Dickson said. "I threw my fastball and my breaking ball for strikes and I kept my changeup down in the zone. "First time through the lineup, I threw primarily fastballs to get ahead. Then the second and third times through, my off-speed was working. I could throw my slider for first-pitch strikes and my changeup as a swing-through." Only two batters got on base against Dickson, who was perfect through the first five innings. Ronnie Freeman reached on shortstop Stephen Bruno's fielding error to begin the sixth, the only ball Dickson said was hit hard all evening against him. Two batters later, Bruno misplayed Josh Parr's ground ball. But Dickson set down Daniel Poma for the second out of the inning and he struck out his final batter of the night, Kevin Medrano, before placing the no-hitter in the hands of the bullpen. "It was Aug. 2, 2010. It was the final start I had in the Virginia Baseball League," the 6-foot-5 right-hander said of the last no-hitter he was involved in. "It was my last start I made before pro ball. "Guys say they aren't aware of [no-hitters and perfect games], but it was in the back of my mind tonight. I just tried to focus on my pitches on the mound. My catcher, Carlos Escobar, called a great game. I kept a good tempo and started my delivery as soon as possible once the umpire said play." Dickson said he would "have been delighted" to come back out for the seventh, but he knew he was on a pitch limit of 75 pitches or six frames, depending on how things were working out. He exited after throwing 71 pitches through six. Hunter Ackerman took the no-no bid into the eighth, but Ronnie Freeman broke it up with a leadoff single to center field. Michael Lang followed with a base hit to left, and both runners advanced on Parr's groundout. Daniel Poma then shattered the shutout with a run-scoring ground ball to first base. Michael Hamann retired the final two batters in the ninth to earn his first save. Dickson (2-3) lowered his ERA more than a run to 5.06 with the win. He tore the ACL meniscus in his left knee going into his junior season at Lafayette College in 2010. He underwent surgery in the middle of December that year and the Cubs -- fully aware of the injury -- took a chance on him in the 35th round of the following June's Draft. Dickson signed above slot at the deadline in August, and a month later, he went to the instructional league, where he started pitching in competitive games again. "It was reassuring to know they were willing to invest the time in me," said Dickson, who throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a changeup and two variations of slider -- one of which he says is like a curveball, the other more like a cut-fastball. "It gave me confidence and allowed me to do what I'm doing now. It's nice to know they had that confidence in me even though I hadn't pitched in nearly a year. I was fortunate enough to be drafted anyway." Yakima starter Daniel Watts took the hard-luck loss Tuesday. He allowed two runs -- one earned -- on six hits over six innings. He walked two batters and fanned a pair in the loss.

In Helena sure...

Sounds Open Homestand With 4-1 Win Over Memphis Lucroy Goes 3-For-4 With One RBI And Three Runs Scored NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds topped the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds, 4-1, on Tuesday night at Greer Stadium in the opener of a four-game series. In his first game with the Sounds and fifth overall during his rehab appearance, catcher Jonathan Lucroy went 3-for-4 with and RBI and three runs scored. The three runs scored matched a season-high by a Sounds player this season. The backstop popped out to first in the first, singled up the middle in the fourth, ripped an RBI single to center in the sixth, and knocked an opposite-field base hit to right in the eighth. First baseman Sean Halton doubled twice and drove in a run. Second baseman Eric Farris singled to extend his hitting streak to six games. Juan Sanchez also had a pinch-hit single for his first Triple-A hit of his career. Memphis quickly jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but failed to score the rest of the game. Eugenio Velez doubled down the right field line and proceeded to score as Mark Hamilton singled to right. Nashville knotted the game at 1-1 in the home half of the fourth. Lucroy singled to left, moved to third on a double from first baseman Sean Halton, and scored on an infield groundout from right fielder Jordan Brown. The Sounds added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead for good. Farris worked an inning-opening walk, moved to second on a sacrifice from center fielder Caleb Gindl, and scored as Lucroy lined a single to center. Halton then tacked on an RBI double to score the rehabbing catcher from first base. · AUDIO: Jonathan Lucroy RBI Single · AUDIO: Sean Halton RBI Double Nashville added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as Lucroy led off the frame with a single, moved to second and third on groundouts, and scored on a wild pitch. In a no-decision, Seth McClung allowed one first-inning run on five hits while striking out six in five innings. Donovan Hand (2-1) followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings while fanning four for the victory. Jesus Sanchez worked around a hit for scoreless eighth before Jim Henderson shut the door with his team-leading 15th save. Memphis starter Tyler Lyons (1-6) pitched his second quality start of the season against the Sounds in a losing effort. The left-hander surrendered three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in six innings. The Sounds and division-rival Redbirds continue their four-game series at 7:05 p.m. CT on Wednesday night. Nashville will send right-hander Claudio Vargas (3-1, 4.66) to the mound to face Cardinals top prospect RHP Shelby Miller (5-8, 5.40). Nashville Box Score Big Seth with perhaps his best outing of the season while Sean Halton continues to rake. I'm really intrigued by Jesus Sanchez, especially if he truly has the mid 90s heat that's been reported. He threw 24 pitches in his inning, but 17 were for strikes. Tomorrow's pitching match up is interesting, in case you missed it from an earlier LR Shelby Miller thinks he found and fixed a mechanical problem with his delivery before his last start, which was one of his better outings of the season. The Sounds will put that theory to the test... Nashville Play By Play

Final: DSL Brewers 7, DSL Braves 4 DSL Brewers Box Score The extremely interesting Jorge Ortega was your starting pitcher today and while he wasn't dominant, he didn't struggle either, it was just one of those starts kind of right in the middle. He went 5 innings allowing 3 runs, 1 earned, on 8 hits and 1 walk with just 1 strike out. Marcos Padilla walked 3 and struck out 1 in .2 innings, Melvin Tejada allowed a run on 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 3 over 2 innings, Junior Flores pitched the final 1.1 scoreless to close it out. The youngsters pounded out 11 hits but didn't manage a single XBH. Francisco Castillo (2-4,SB), Juan De Leon (2-4), and Raphachel Colatosti (2-4) posted the multi-hit games. An aside, but for some reason I just cannot spell Colatosti's name right and always end up cutting and pasting it... Carlos Belonis returned and made an appearance as a PR, stole his 20th base, and scored a run. Juan Ortiz stole his 12 base and Alejandro Mendoza stole his his 7th base but was caught stealing for the 6th time. He hasn't really been caught stealing that many times, he's been picked off quite a bit. I guess I understand the logic of crediting the the pitcher with a pickoff and the runner with a caught stealing, it's still an out on the bases. Carlos Pena singled in the 2nd and then was lifted defensively at the start of the 3rd, something to keep an eye on. His replacement Natanael Mejia has struggled defensively as he has 4 errors and 4 passed balls in very limited action, including 1 of each in this game, but Mejia has been productive at the plate in those limited opportunities. DSL Brewers Play By Play The young Brewers put up crooked numbers in the 2nd, 4th, and 7th innings. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 2nd Jose Dicent pops out to catcher Carlos Castro. Juan De Leon singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Yunior De La Cruz singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Juan De Leon to 2nd. Raphachel Colatosti singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Juan De Leon to 3rd. Yunior De La Cruz to 2nd. Francisco Castillo singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Juan De Leon scores. Yunior De La Cruz to 3rd. Raphachel Colatosti to 2nd. Alejandro Mendoza flies out to center fielder Jose Morel. Carlos Pena singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Yunior De La Cruz scores. Raphachel Colatosti to 3rd. Francisco Castillo to 2nd. Juan Ortiz grounds out, second baseman Gerald Chin to first baseman Ibrahim McKenzie. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 4th Yunior De La Cruz grounds out, second baseman Gerald Chin to first baseman Ibrahim McKenzie. Raphachel Colatosti singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Francisco Castillo singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Raphachel Colatosti to 2nd. With Alejandro Mendoza batting, wild pitch by Francisco Gonzalez, Raphachel Colatosti to 3rd. With Alejandro Mendoza batting, Francisco Castillo steals (22) 2nd base. Alejandro Mendoza singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Raphachel Colatosti scores. Francisco Castillo scores. With Natanael Mejia batting, Alejandro Mendoza caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Carlos Castro to shortstop Omar Obregon. Pitching Change: Jesus Jones replaces Francisco Gonzalez. Natanael Mejia flies out to left fielder Iosif Bernal. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 7th Pitching Change: Enrique Medina replaces Jesus Saldeno. Juan De Leon strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Enrique Medina. Juan De Leon to 1st. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Carlos Belonis replaces Juan De Leon. With Yunior De La Cruz batting, Carlos Belonis steals (20) 2nd base. Yunior De La Cruz strikes out swinging. Raphachel Colatosti reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Omar Obregon. Carlos Belonis to 3rd. Raphachel Colatosti to 2nd. Francisco Castillo out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Iosif Bernal. Carlos Belonis scores. Alejandro Mendoza reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Johan Camargo. Raphachel Colatosti scores. Alejandro Mendoza to 2nd. Natanael Mejia strikes out swinging. edit. Fixed my typo, Ortega only gave up 1 ER.

Some players never ascend are the same guy at 27 as they were at 23, some regress, but other young players actually do get better. Trying to apply any kind of statistical comparison between any minor league players is a waste of time because the bottom line is that no one knows what exactly is going on in their head. It's really a disservice to the players when people trying to apply advanced metrics to them, many of these guys are different players one year to the next. Personally I think the way a prospect is trending is and what his ceiling as a player would be are more important than any statistical analysis of the prospect. Certainly as they start to climb the system you'd want to see potential turn into results but just because a player only SLGs for say .425 as a 21 or 22 year old in AA doesn't mean that's all the player will ever be, most men aren't even physically mature until age 24 or 25 much less how much the approach at the plate will progress as a player approaches his statistical peak. A player can always get in the weight room and add more power as well, more and more baseball teams are getting into athlete building like the other sports. Certainly some guys will always just be what they are, like Carlos Gomez, and certainly some prospects will regress like Manny Parra, but how we can say what Mike Olt or any other prospect will be without giving him and extended chance to prove something? Olt may fail and isn't exactly fleet of foot, but there's more to athleticism than speed, over the years some of the best all athletes I've coached ran pretty poor 40 times in football, in the 5 flat range. He's as athletic as Rameriz, if not more so, projects as a plus defender, and is a better hitter than anyone we currently have playing between Wisconsin and Nashville. Even if you want to take away 75 points of OPS because of the TX league (which is very extreme) he's still had a better season than our best hitters and has more positional flexibility. My gut feeling is that Olt would OPS in the upper .800s and in his peak years surpass .900, I'll take 6+ years of that production for 2 months of Greinke every single time. (Khris Davis has just surpassed 100 ABs on the season as is currently posting a .985 OPS, both Olt and Morris are over 300 ABs, as such I didn't think it was fair to include Davis above. However I think he'd make a decent LF which would slide Braun to RF, both Davis and Morris are very limited defensively.)

Someone posted the details earlier on that 3rd year for Ramirez saying most of it was deferred. Has anyone else come across that breakdown anywhere else? I understand that deferring money is good value for the team because typically the dollar is worth less each successive year, but I just hate to be being paying players that are no longer part of the organization. I'm not sure why I dislike the concept exactly considering it's good business, I just don't like the idea of being on the hook to players who are no longer part of the organization for some reason. Regardless, if the deferred money angle is true, then the Brewers would have more payroll flexibility in 2014 than it appears looking at that $16M.

Lance Roenicke might end up being more than just a courtesy pick, he's been impressive since he was drafted. I, like many I'm sure thought he was going to be another Yost, but he looks to have a legitimate future.

Five-Run Eighth Inning Sinks Sounds In New Orleans, 7-4 Halton Homers Twice And Drives In Three In A Losing Effort METARIE, La. - A late five-run rally by the New Orleans Zephyrs gave the visiting Nashville Sounds a 7-4 defeat on Monday evening at Zephyr Field in the finale of a four-game set. With the Sounds leading 4-2 in the eighth with two outs, the Zephyrs batted around against three Sounds pitchers, highlighted by a Nick Green two-run single and Kevin Mattison two-run double against pitcher Tim Dillard (0-1). With the loss, Nashville (45-57) split the series with New Orleans and lost the season series between the clubs by a 9-7 margin. First baseman Sean Halton homered twice while driving in three runs in a losing effort. His two-homer performance was the second multiple-homer effort of the season and fifth by a Sound this season. Five of Halton's 11 homers this season have come against New Orleans. Left fielder Jordan Brown also had two hits while Eric Farris recorded a late infield single to extend his hitting streak to six games. New Orleans jumped out to an early 1-0 advantage as leadoff hitter Mattison jacked his 10th homer of the season. Halton returned the favor in the net frame, going yard on the third pitch from Omar Poveda to knot the contest at 1-1. · AUDIO: Halton's First Homer The Zephyrs went back ahead in the home half of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Mike Cervenak belted Brian Baker's first pitch of the frame over the left field wall, his 10th of the season. After Farris worked an inning-opening walk, Nashville took their only lead at 3-2 with Halton's second blast of the contest, which was initially ruled a double, but changed to a homer by the third base umpire. · AUDIO: Halton Goes Deep Again The Sounds added their last run in the next inning for a 4-2 lead, thanks to doubles from Brown and center fielder Logan Schafer. · AUDIO: Schafer RBI Double Both starters earned no-decisions. Baker gave up to runs on two solo homers while striking out four in five innings. Poveda gave up two homers for three runs in five innings of work. Mike McClendon tossed two scoreless innings. Juan Perez was charged with one run. Dillard took the loss with four runs allowed in 1/3 of an inning. Robert Wooten collected the final out of the eighth inning. Ryan Webb (1-0) pitched two scoreless frames for the win before Chris Hatcher notched his seventh save of the year. The Sounds return to Music City tomorrow to begin an eight-day, nine-game homestand with the first of four games against the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds (AAA-Cardinals). Right-hander Seth McClung (2-12, 5.97) will make the start in the series opener against Memphis southpaw Tyler Lyons (1-5, 5.09). Nashville Box Score If Sean Halton keeps up this pace a while longer more posters than just JB12 will be calling for him to be part of the 1B competition. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the Brewers discussing converting Tim Dillard from a sinkerballer to a submariner. His velocity was sapped and the change essentially turned him into a RH specialist. He might have had more success just featuring that sinker in the bigs as a short reliever. I love extra movement on pitches as much as anyone, but I find this particular transformation troubling, though maybe he would have ended up a similar pitcher to Loe. Gotta give it up for him though, he just keeps pluggin away. Caleb Gindl broke the .250 barrier, that's good to see, he still has enough games left he could climb to a respectable BA and he could also conceivably reach a .450ish SLG but there's just no way he'll reach his usual 60ish BBs per season. Nashville Play By Play The New Orleans 8th in all it's craptitude. New Orleans Bottom of the 8th Pitching Change: Juan Perez replaces Mike McClendon, batting 9th. Chris Coghlan walks. Mike Cervenak strikes out swinging. Pitching Change: Tim Dillard replaces Juan Perez, batting 9th. Chris Aguila strikes out swinging. Gaby Sanchez doubles (6) on a fly ball to right fielder Caleb Gindl. Chris Coghlan to 3rd. Nick Green singles on a ground ball to center fielder Logan Schafer. Chris Coghlan scores. Gaby Sanchez scores. Nick Green to 2nd on the throw. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy replaces Ryan Webb. Donnie Murphy walks. Luke Montz singles on a ground ball to third baseman Taylor Green. Nick Green to 3rd. Donnie Murphy to 2nd. Kevin Mattison doubles (22) on a fly ball to center fielder Logan Schafer. Nick Green scores. Donnie Murphy scores. Luke Montz to 3rd. Gil Velazquez hit by pitch. Chris Coghlan walks. Luke Montz scores. Kevin Mattison to 3rd. Gil Velazquez to 2nd. Pitching Change: Robert Wooten replaces Tim Dillard, batting 9th. Mike Cervenak flies out to left fielder Jordan Brown.

LaPorta was in the top 25 at the time of the trade, he didn't fall out of the top 25 until after the 2008 season (came in at 27). He didn't hit very well in AA after the trade but he destroyed AAA in 2009 and spent enough time in the majors that he lost his prospect status but I bet he would have broken back into the top 25 had he not gotten enough MLB ABs. I like where people are going targeting Olt, the only problem is that when has Melvin ever made a domino effect trade where he acquired a great young player via one trade and moved the existing MLB player to make room(or the reverse, trading the vet first)? He just plays "whack-a-mole" putting bodies into the holes in the MLB roster, I think he'll be looking to fill a specific hole on the MLB roster today. Melvin has many positive qualities, but he's not playing chess setting up a domino effect which in the end makes the organization stronger, he's playing checkers and just patching whatever hole he sees from year to year.

Final: DSL Brewers 8, DSL Tigers 3 DSL Brewers Box Score Holy biscuits, an offensive explosion in the Dominican with the babiest Brewers scoring 8 runs on only 8 hits. Francisco Castillo(2-3,HR,BB,SB) put up the only multi-hit effort and stole his 21st base, Carlos Pena added a HR and Juan De Leon a double. Milton Gomez and Victor Diaz combined for 8 innings allowing just 4 hits, 4 walks, and 1 run on a solo HR against 7 strike outs. Felix Paulino gave up 2 runs and threw away a pickoff attempt during mop up duty in the 9th. How many teams have a player hitting .191 on the season batting 3rd? Pena made it payoff big time today. DSL Brewers Play By Play The Brewers jumped out early with a single run in the 1st and then added single tallies again in the 6th and 8th, but the 5 run 5th was the game. DSL Brewers Top of the 5th Yunior De La Cruz singles on a ground ball to third baseman Francisco Contreras. Yunior De La Cruz advances to 2nd, on a throwing error by third baseman Francisco Contreras. Juan De Leon doubles (1) on a fly ball to center fielder Samuel Crafort. Yunior De La Cruz scores. Yunior Santana pops out to second baseman Yerison Pena. Raphachel Colatosti flies out to left fielder Omar Oses. Francisco Castillo singles on a fly ball to center fielder Samuel Crafort. Juan De Leon scores. With Alejandro Mendoza batting, Francisco Castillo steals (21) 2nd base. Alejandro Mendoza singles on a fly ball to center fielder Samuel Crafort. Francisco Castillo scores. Carlos Pena homers (2) on a fly ball to center field. Alejandro Mendoza scores. Juan Ortiz flies out to left fielder Omar Oses.

It's meaningless because it's impossible to neutralize fielding through backwards calculations at this point in time.

Any time on the MLB roster, Sept or otherwise, counts towards a player's service time. However, from a service standpoint DHonks is correct, it doesn't matter because he won't have accrued a full year of service time by year's end regardless if he stays up, so the only concern here is the extra cost of arby. He's also not young, in fact he's rather old to be in his first professional season. As such, I'm fine with him staying up and potentially being a Super 2, this is one case where I'm not going to quibble over $2-3M in a 4th arby year because the truth is we need Mike next season and I'm fine with him getting all the experience he can this season. Thornburg should go back down immediately, he has work to do with his command, but I'm cool with Fiers staying up. That's simply not true. For one, there is a window in a player's first season that he must be called up after in order to not have that first year count as a full season, I believe it's 20 days but that most definitely matters. That's the whole reason behind the JJ Hardy controversy in 2009, they gained a full extra year service from that. Unfortunately you are confused and are rolling a couple of different issues into service time. Fiers had .02 of a year of service time coming into the season, he didn't get called up until the end of May appearing for the first time on May 29th. He's likely right on the border of being a super 2, but that's the only concern. You should probably go back and do some more research as I'm unsure where you got mixed up but Hardy actually started 2005 on the opening day roster, which is why the 20 days gipped him out of a year of service time. Since Fiers spent the first 2 months of the season in AAA, there's no parallel at all between the situations.

Sounds Edge Zephyrs, 3-2 Gindl Drives In Pair, Buller Homers In Winning Effort METAIRIE, La. - The Nashville Sounds edged the New Orleans Zephyrs by a 3-2 margin on Sunday evening at Zephyr Field. The win was the league-leading 22nd one-run victory of the year for the Sounds (45-56). Second baseman Eric Farris paced the Nashville offense with a 3-for-4 effort to extend the Sounds' longest active hitting streak to five games, the infielder's sixth hit streak of five games or greater this season. Farris, who also stole a pair of bases in the contest, is batting .347 (33-for-95) over his last 28 contests. Outfielder Caleb Gindl drove in two of the Sounds' three runs on the evening. Catcher Dayton Buller slugged a solo homer to account for the third Nashville run. The Sounds jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning against New Orleans starter Brad Hand. Corey Patterson drew a game-opening walk and moved to second on a Farris bunt single. After the two runners executed a double steal, Patterson raced home with the night's first run on a Gindl sacrifice fly. Nashville starter Mark Rogers retired the first six batters in order before running into control issues in the third, issuing three walks to load the bases with two outs before punching out Chris Coghlan to escape the jam unscathed. The right-hander tossed 65 pitches over those first three frames. Buller doubled the Sounds' lead to 2-0 in the fifth with a one-out solo homer to left-center that just cleared the glove of a leaping Kevin Mattison. The blast off Hand was the backstop's third roundtripper of the year. · AUDIO: Dayton Buller HR After Rogers successfully worked around a pair of Z's baserunners in the fourth, New Orleans finally broke through for a run against him in the fifth. With one out, Mattison tripled off the base of the right field wall and scored on a Gil Velazquez groundout to make it a 2-1 contest. Gindl tacked on an important insurance run in the eighth when his stroked a two-out RBI double into the right field corner to plate Farris for a 3-1 advantage. · AUDIO: Gindl Doubles In Insurance Run Rogers (6-6) picked up the win after tossing a season-high 104 pitches and matching a season best with seven strikeouts during his five innings of action. He allowed one run on two hits while also issuing four walks. Rob Wooten followed Rogers to the hill for the Sounds and turned in a solid outing, retiring all six batters faced. Tim Dillard was next to the bump for Nashville and was greeted by a solo homer off the bat of Mattison (2-for-4), who fouled off three two-strike offerings before belting his ninth longball of the year to right to reduce the Sounds' lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth. After Dillard allowed a subsequent single, the Nashville defense turned an outstanding 6-4-3, inning-ending double play to keep the lead intact. Jim Henderson came on for the ninth and allowed a leadoff single before inducing a double-play grounder from Gaby Sanchez. With two down, Henderson struck out Donnie Murphy but the batter reached first as Buller was unable to glove the baseball and was charged with a passed ball. Henderson recovered by popping up Brad Davis for the final out to nail down his 14th save of the year. · AUDIO: Sounds Turn Two In The 9th Hand (7-5) took a hard-luck loss after he worked a quality start for the Z's, allowing two runs on four hits in six innings. The Sounds will look to lock up their fourth winning road series of the year when the teams wrap up the four-game set with a 7:00 p.m. finale on Monday evening. Right-hander Brian Baker (2-3, 5.02) will toe the rubber for the Sounds to face New Orleans right-hander Omar Poveda (0-1, 3.63). Nashville Box Score An interesting scoring line in the box... the teams traded runs in both the 5th and 8th. You know, well you don't but I'm going to tell you anyway, about the only thing I care about right now when I look at a Mark Rogers pitching is the walks. He was very effective today but he did walk too many batters, maybe someday he'll turn into Verlander and we'll rejoice. Corey Patterson's hot streak is over, which is a good thing for those you worried about Melvin calling him up instead of Schafer or Gindl and/or possibly blocking one of the AA OFs from a promotion. I'm pretty indifferent about him being Nashville but the Sounds were better when he was hot, he hasn't had a hit in 4 games now. On the other hand Caleb Gindl has almost recovered to a .250 batting average, he's at .249 after tonight, he's hitting .324 and SLG .568 over his last 10, he's done what most of us were hoping Weeks would do after his horrendous start. Nashville Play By Play Only 11 hits in the entire contest, not much excitement in the log.

Final: DSL Angels 3, DSL Brewers 0 DSL Brewers Box Score So the Brewers played clean defense, pitched well, but then only managed 2 hits, curse the all-star break! Once again a man among boys in Juan Santiago was extremely effective going 7 innings allowing 2 earned runs on 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 wild pitch, and 1 balk against 7 strike outs. Miguel Diaz pitched the final 2 innings allowed an earned run on 2 hits and walk. Going up against Santiago was 19 year old Jorge Contreras who certainly doesn't wow you from a peripherals perspective but he's been extremely effective to this point. Still no Belonis and the only other noteworthy item from the game was that Francisco Castillo got picked off again from 1st. DSL Brewers Play By Play bleh.

The only way anyone would think Greinke is an equal or better pitcher is if they are big believers in FIP or xFIP which I am not. If we can't normalize defense for a fielder for a given season, how we can we claim to be able to neutralize defense for a pitcher when we can't adequately define the defense behind him? Greinke's FIP numbers will always be excellent because he has high strike out totals, but it's a backwards calculated largely meaningless metric which almost completely ignores the outcome in the field of play. As such I don't think Greinke is worth Cain money, but all it takes is one organization out there who's desperate to fill a rotation slot and he'll get his due. He certainly has the talent to be every bit as good as any other pitcher in baseball but he has enough MLB seasons under his belt now that I think he's on that next step down from the elite pitchers in the game. He's still very good, but he's not Sabathia or even Cain. I think the Brewer's $112M offer is an overpay. However if salaries escalate this off season like they did last year, then he probably is worth that money and maybe more, it's all relative.

Miller records first win since May 15 Cards top prospect allows four hits over six shutout innings By David Heck / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/21/ER3wnKfN.jpg Shelby Miller has not allowed a run in his last 11 innings. (Allison Rhoades/Memphis Redbirds) After analyzing his delivery on video, Shelby Miller made a change to his mechanics. So far, so good. The Cardinals' top prospect allowed four hits over six scoreless innings Friday, registering his first win since May 15, as the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds clipped the Oklahoma City RedHawks, 8-1. Miller (5-8) struck out three and did not issue a walk for the third time this season. He has not given up a run in his last two starts, spanning 11 innings. "I feel like my fasball command has been better," Miller said. "We've been really working -- my pitching coach Blaise Ilsley and I -- on my mechanics. I finally got them down to where I'm a little more comfortable. I want to say a lot more comfortable, but I don't want to exaggerate. "Everything's been working better for me: My fastball command is better, my curveball command is better, my changeup is better. Now that I'm using all my pitches, I hope it stays this way and I can continue to get wins." Against the RedHawks, Miller did not allow a hit until Brandon Barnes led off the fourth with a single. The 21-year-old right-hander scattered three more singles over his final two frames but never allowed a runner past second base. Drafted 19th overall in 2009, Miller had little trouble climbing the Minor League ladder until this year. After posting a 2.77 ERA across two levels in 2011, he compiled a 6.17 ERA through his first 17 Pacific Coast League starts. Miller and the Memphis coaching staff knew he couldn't continue with what he'd been doing. With his last two starts, MLB.com's No. 2 overall prospect has lowered his ERA to 5.40. "It kind of got to a point where I needed to change something," Miller said. "Our pitching coach came in and brought video. We all kind of looked over it. We got a feel for what I needed to do, and I threw a bullpen and everything felt better. "Really, I was throwing across my body. It was taking away from my velocity, my fastball command and really everything in general. I straightened out my foot more towards home plate and it makes me throw not so much across my body. Just keep a good tempo and get in a good rhythm and keep going." Miller has had issues with the longball this season, surrendering 17 over 88 1/3 innings pitched -- already 10 more than he's allowed in any other season. He has not given up any homers in his last three outings, however. The Texas native knows that if he's going to carry over the success of his last two starts, he'll have to remain stingy with both homers and walks. "I know what I've got to do. I know that this league is definitely not easy to pitch in," Miller said. "There are going to be times when things don't go your way, but the only thing I can do is keep the walks and the home runs down, and I think everything is potentially going to fall into place." Cards No. 6 prospect Zack Cox ripped a two-run homer and Ryan Jackson, Steven Hill and pinch-hitter Mark Hamilton also went deep in support of Miller.

Final Game 2: Huntsville 7, Jackson 1 (7 Innings) Huntsville Game 2 Box Score Dan Meadows was downright dominant in his 3 innings allowing just 1 hit and striking out 4. Kyle Heckathorn followed pitching 3 scoreless innings of his own allowing 2 hits, a wild pitch, a HBP, and a walk against 1 strike out. Mitch Stetter struggled in the 7th costing the Stars the shutout but Brian Garman came on and mopped it up to finish the victory. The Stars once again beat around a prospect having a nice season, this time it was Anthony Fernandez who's not ranked in Seattle's top 30 but has been fairly successful at every single level he's pitched. Khris Davis was the story here going 4-4 with a HR and a 2B, he's treated AA this season like he did the other levels in year's past, he's going to make the OF depth situation interesting. Josh Prince (2-4), Kentrail Davis (2-4, 2B), and Anderson De La Rosa (2-4, 3B) had the other multi-hit/XBH games. Huntsville Game 2 Play By Play The Stars scored at least 1 run in every inning from the 4th through the 7th.

Sounds Score Two Late Runs For 3-1 Victory In Twinbill Finale Win News Sounds Sixth Doubleheader Split Of 2012 METARIE, La. - The Nashville Sounds scored two runs in the top of the 7th inning to hand the New Orleans a 3-1 defeat in the second-game of a doubleheader on Saturday night at Zephyr Field. The last-at-bat victory was the Nashville's 14th of the season and gave the club a doubleheader split with New Orleans. Nashville moved to 6-8 overall in doubleheader action in their PCL-leading seven doubleheaders this season. Second baseman Eric Farris put the Sounds on the board in the third with a solo homer over the left field wall. The home run was his third of the year and second in his last six games. · AUDIO: Eric Farris Solo Homer New Orleans knotted the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth. Chris Coglan led off the frame with a triple, which removed Juan Perez from the game. Jesus Sanchez came into the game and for the first two outs before allowing an RBI single on the first pitch to Chase Lambin. The Sounds rallied to go back ahead at 3-1 in the next inning, starting with runners on second and third with no outs. After first baseman Taylor Green worked an inning-opening walk and third baseman Andy Gonzalez doubled, pinch hitter Sean Halton singled past the drawn-in infield. The next run came home as catcher Jason Jaramillo grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. · AUDIO: Sean Halton Go-Ahead RBI In his second spot of the season, Amaury Rivas tossed three hitless innings. His only two baserunners reached via hit by pitch and never reached second base. Mike McClendon worked around two hits while fanning one in 1 1/3 innings. Perez was charged for a run in 2/3 of an inning. Sanchez (1-0) picked up his first Triple-A victory with a scoreless inning. Jim Henderson struck out two for his 13th save of the season. Zephyrs starter J.D. Martin gave up one run on two hits while striking out a season-high seven in five innings. Dan Jennings was charged with the loss. · AUDIO: Jim Henderson Records Final Out The Sounds and Zephyrs continue their series at 6:00 pm CT on Sunday night at Zephyr Field. Nashville right-hander Mark Rogers (5-6, 4.88) will take the mound against Zephyrs southpaw Brad Hand (7-4, 3.85). Nashville Game 2 Box Score No Sounds hitter had a multiple game, both XBHs were noted in the summary. Eric Farris has been on some kind of tear lately, he's hitting .324 over his last 10 and SLG a monstrous (for him) .514 over that same span. Same same for Sean Halton who's hitting .318 over his last 10 and SLG .500, unfortunately his OBP is only .320. The .320 OBP is actually 40 points lower than his season OBP (.362) but he's still having himself a nice season. Nashville Game 2 Play By Play

Sounds Drop Twinbill Opener, 4-2 New Orleans Scores Early On Wily Peralta METARIE, La. - The Nashville Sounds were held to four hits in a 4-2 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday night at Zephyr Field. New Orleans starter Tom Koehler (10-8) picked up the victory after surrendering two runs on three hits with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Closer Chris Hatcher followed with 1 1/3 shutout innings for his sixth save. New Orleans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first against Nashville starter Wily Peralta(5-9). After a two-out walk by Chris Coglan and single by Mike Cervenek, Bryan Petersen crushed an RBI double to center field. Coglan scored easily on the play before Cevenek was tagged out at home to end the inning. First baseman Sean Halton tied the game at 1-1 in the next frame with a solo homer to center. The big fly was Halton's ninth of the season. · AUDIO: Sean Halton Goes Deep The Zephyrs struck back to score three runs before making an out for a 4-1 lead against the struggling Peralta. Gaby Sanchez and Nick Green both singled to reach before Luke Montz blasted a towering three-run homer over the left field wall. The Sounds scored their other run in the visiting half of the fourth inning to cut the lead in half at 4-2. Eric Farris singled on a sharp line drive to left to lead off the inning, moved to second on a walk to Logan Schafer, advanced to third on an infield groundout, and scored as Jordan Brown looped a single to left field. · AUDIO: Jordan Brown RBI Single After surrendering the four early runs in the first two innings, Peralta settled down to retire 14 of the next 18 hitters over four scoreless frames, including the last five in a row. Overall, the right-hander pitched six innings while allowing four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in the loss. Nashville threatened in the seventh as Edwin Maysonet doubled, but Hatcher got Andy Gonzalez to pop up and end the game. Nashville Game 1 Box Score Wily Peralta's final line ended up being a complete game 6 innings, 8 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, and 1 HR against 5 strike outs throwing 63 of 99 pitches for strikes and posting a 5:3 ratio. Nashville Game 1 Play By Play The sounds did very little outside of the 2nd and 4th... a Taylor Green walk in the 6th and an Edwin Maysonet double in the 7th.

I'm not sure I got the paragraph marks correct, Chris uploaded the story without formatting. Final: Lansing 5, Wisconsin 3 Lansing scores five in the fifth inning to beat Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Lansing Lugnuts surged in front of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers with five runs in the fifth inning on Saturday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. A three-run double by Gustavo Pierre was the key hit of the inning. Lansing would keep the Rattlers off the board for the rest of the game for a 5-3 win. Wisconsin outhit the Lugnuts ten to six, but dropped their third game in a row. Nick Ramirez doubled to lead off the Timber Rattlers half of the second inning. Ben McMahan would single to get Ramirez to third, but McMahan was thrown out trying to go to second as it appeared he thought Ramirez would try to score and McMahan was attempting to draw a throw. But, Ramirez held at third. An RBI grounder by Yadiel Rivera got Ramirez home for the 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (57-40 overall, 13-15 second half) went up 3-0 in the third inning. Max Wallla drilled a two-run home run to right field with one out. The homer was Walla's fifth of the season. Timber Rattlers starting pitcher David Goforth was cruising through 4-1/3 innings. But, he ran into a lot of trouble after the first out was recorded. A single, walk, and single loaded the bases for Kenny Wilson. The speedy centerfielder sent a grounder to short, the ball was mishandled for an error. One run scored and the bases were still loaded. Goforth got ahead of Pierre with two quick strikes, but Pierre looped a double just inside the left field line for a three-run double to put the Lugnuts (64-33, 17-11) up 4-3. K.C. Hobson capped the inning with a two-out RBI single to get Pierre home for a 5-3 advantage. Lansing starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani left after allowing nine hits over six innings, but was in line for the win. Lugnuts reliever Kramer Champlin entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Rattlers greeted him by loading the bases with no outs. McMahan singled, Rivera walked on four pitches, and Rafael Neda singled to fill the sacks. Wisconsin went to the bench for a pinch hitter for just the second time this season, but Champlin struck out Greg Hopkins for the first out. A strikeout of Chadwin Stang and a popout by Walla ended the Rattlers threat. Ajay Meyer, the Midwest League leader in saves, entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and retired the side in order for his 26th save of the season. Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy was the designated hitter for the Timber Rattlers for the game. He went 0-for-3 with a walk. Game two of the series between Wisconsin and Lansing is Sunday afternoon. Mark Williams (5-7, 3.91) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Justin Nicolino (5-2, 2.68) is set to start for the Lugnuts. Game time is 1:05pm. Sunday is the final day of Jonathan Lucroy's rehabilitation assignment for the Timber Rattlers. He is scheduled to start at catcher and play the whole game. Sunday is also Military Appreciation Day at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium sponsored by American National Bank Fox Cities, Boxkar, the Fox Valley Veterans Council & 99.5, The Wolf. All military personnel - active duty and veterans - receive free admission to the game with proof of service. Family members of military personnel may receive discounted admission. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a camouflage can coozie compliments of American National Bank Fox Cities. Rattlers players will wear special camouflage jerseys during the game. The jerseys will be up for bid via silent auction throughout the game with proceeds benefitting the SAVE4VETS Veterans Emergency Fund in the Fox Valley. Boxkar will hold a special tribute concert outside the stadium after the game with a live performance of their original song American Game, a single inspired by Military Appreciation Day. Additional event details include: Play catch on-field before the game courtesy of American Eagle and a Timber Rattlers autograph session after the game. If you can't make it out to the game on Sunday, 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 to subscribers of MiLB.TV. HOME RUN: WIS: Max Walla (5th, 1 on in 3rd inning off Anthony DeSclafani, 1 out) WP: Anthony DeSclafani (8-3) LP: David Goforth (7-5) SAVE: Ajay Meyer (26) TIME: 2:35 ATTN: 6,211 Wisconsin Box Score Kevin Shackelford pitched a wonderful 4 innings to close it out allowing 1 and 2 walks against 4 strike outs. The T-Rats outhit the Lugnuts 10-6 but still lost. Max Walla (2-4, HR), Brandon Macias (2-4), Nick Ramirez (2-4, 2B), and Ben McMahan (2-4) had the multi hit games. The error was Yadiel Rivera's 14th of the season, his defense is eerily similar to where Escobar was much of his minor league career... make the great plays and occasionally boot the routine. I was hoping Walla would hit for Ramirez' power with McMahan's average, but it just hasn't happened. Wisconsin Play By Play

Final Game 1: Huntsville 5, Jackson 4 (11 Innings) Huntsville Game 1 Box Score I'm sure neither team wanted to play 11 innings for a 7 inning contest on a day when they were playing a double header but I'll definitely take the win. Kudos to Brandon Kintzler and Dan Merklinger who pitched 5 scoreless innings to close out game 1. Johnnie Lowe was the starter and he got beat around allowing 4 runs in 4.2 innings and then 3 relievers combined to pitch the next 1.1 innings. Mitch Stetter finished the 5th, Philippe Valiquette came on for the 6th and only managed to retire 1 batter before getting himself into a huge jam that R.J. Seidel got him out of with a strike out and a ground out which was the biggest pitching sequence in the game. The Stars beat around a tremendous pitching prospect in James Paxton to the tune of 4 runs during game 1, that's nice to see. Tommy Manzella (3-5), Scooter Gennett (2-5), and Khris Davis (3-4) all had multi-hit games, Kentrail Davis added the Stars only XBH, a triple. Huntsville Game 1 Play By Play Jackson scored all their runs in the 3rd and 5th. Jackson Bottom of the 3rd Gabriel Noriega grounds out, third baseman Hainley Statia to first baseman Hunter Morris. Nate Tenbrink singles on a line drive to right fielder Kentrail Davis. With Stefen Romero batting, passed ball by Adam Weisenburger, Nate Tenbrink to 2nd. Stefen Romero singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Nate Tenbrink to 3rd. With Denny Almonte batting, wild pitch by Johnnie Lowe, Stefen Romero to 2nd. Denny Almonte doubles (16) on a line drive to center fielder Josh Prince. Nate Tenbrink scores. Stefen Romero scores. Joseph Dunigan grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. Denny Almonte to 3rd. Rich Poythress walks. With Chih-Hsien Chiang batting, wild pitch by Johnnie Lowe, Rich Poythress to 2nd. Chih-Hsien Chiang grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. Jackson Bottom of the 5th Nate Tenbrink strikes out swinging. Stefen Romero grounds out, third baseman Hainley Statia to first baseman Hunter Morris. Denny Almonte walks. With Joseph Dunigan batting, Denny Almonte steals (20) 2nd base. Joseph Dunigan doubles (19) on a line drive to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Denny Almonte scores. Rich Poythress doubles (16) on a line drive to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Joseph Dunigan scores. Pitching Change: Mitch Stetter replaces Johnnie Lowe. Chih-Hsien Chiang grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. The Stars tied it in the 7th Huntsville Top of the 7th Hainley Statia walks. Kentrail Davis walks. Hainley Statia to 2nd. Pitching Change: Yoervis Medina replaces James Paxton. Domnit Bolivar out on a sacrifice bunt, catcher Jesus Sucre to second baseman Stefen Romero. Hainley Statia to 3rd. Kentrail Davis to 2nd. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter T. J. Mittelstaedt replaces Adam Weisenburger. T. J. Mittelstaedt singles on a ground ball to right fielder Johermyn Chavez. Hainley Statia scores. Kentrail Davis scores. T. Mittelstaedt to 2nd on the throw. Josh Prince walks. Tommy Manzella grounds into a double play, shortstop Gabriel Noriega to second baseman Stefen Romero to first baseman Rich Poythress. Josh Prince out at 2nd. And won it in the 11th on a wild pitch. Huntsville Top of the 11th Hainley Statia grounds out, shortstop Gabriel Noriega to first baseman Rich Poythress. Kentrail Davis triples (6) on a fly ball to center fielder Denny Almonte. Domnit Bolivar pops out to first baseman Rich Poythress in foul territory. With Anderson De La Rosa batting, wild pitch by Mauricio Robles, Kentrail Davis scores. Anderson De La Rosa flies out to center fielder Denny Almonte.

Final: DSL Angels 3, DSL Brewers 1 DSL Brewers Box Score For as good of defense as this team played in the first half, it's been that bad in the second half, every game looks like this: FIELDING E: Reyes, E 2 (4, pickoff, pickoff), Mejia, N (3, throw), Colatosti (9, fielding). DP: 3 (Mendoza, A-Colatosti-De La Cruz, Y 2, Colatosti-Mendoza, A-De La Cruz, Y). Usually the pitchers don't have 2 errors on pickoff attempts, but 1 isn't uncommon. Eduard Reyes was the starter and fortunately or maybe unfortunately his teammates' errors actually cost him runs. He went 7 innings allowing 2 runs, none earned, on only 3 hits and 1 walk against 8 strike outs. Junior Flores hasn't had a good season and gave up another run tonight but Angel Ventura had his best outing that I can recall striking out the side in the 9th lowering his ERA to 11.3 and no that's not a typo or a small sample for the league at this point. This line-up is really missing Belonis, they scraped together 5 hits today and Juan Ortiz had the only line worth mentioning going 1-3 with a 2B, a BB, and he stole his 11th base of the season. DSL Brewers Play By Play Plenty of errors on both sides led to a plethora of opportunities to score runs but for the most part the pitchers worked around the miscues and didn't allow a single crooked number in the contest.

Apparently you're underestimating the veteran grittiness/presence that he brings to the Nashville club!