TheCrew07

Thinking about Gian Rizzo reminded me of Nick Bucci who hasn't made any kind of appearance since hurting his arm in that spring training game. At least Lasker has started to rehab but we're already into the second half without a mention of Bucci anywhere, it's looking like a lost season for him, which is too bad given the track he was on.

Final: DSL Brewers 7, DSL Braves 3 DSL Brewers Box Score The young Brewers continued their first place ways and while Jorge Ortega wasn't as good as last time out, he was still very solid going 7IP allowing 8H, 1BB, 3R, 2ER, and 1WP against 4SO while posting a 10:4 ratio. Joshua Torres and Victor Diaz both pitched a scoreless inning of relief and both have yet to allow a run on the season though this was just Torres' 2nd and Diaz' 3rd appearance of the season respectively. Jose Dicent went 2-3 with a walk and continues his climb towards respectability, after a slow start he's hitting .294 through his last 10. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that maybe catching prospect Natanael Mejia should play more, he's only played in 3 games, his first on July 29th, but he went 3-4 with a HR tonight, has a hit in all 3 games, and is currently sporting a .500 BA, though he did have the Brewers only error on an errant pick off attempt. Elvis Rubio also homered and went 1-3 in the contest. Alejandro Mendoza stole his 4th base and Juan Ortiz stole his 5th base but was also picked off first. As Sessile noted the other day Gian Rizzo hasn't shown up in a box score for some time, here's hoping it's just a reporting/box score issue and there's not anything wrong with him. DSL Brewers Play By play The WP pitch hurt Ortega in this frame. DSL Braves Top of the 3rd Jesus Heredia strikes out swinging. Omar Obregon doubles (1) on a line drive to right fielder Elvis Rubio. Luis Monasterio singles on a line drive to left fielder Juan Ortiz. Omar Obregon scores. With Johan Camargo batting, wild pitch by Jorge Ortega, Luis Monasterio to 2nd. Johan Camargo grounds out to first baseman Jose Dicent. Luis Monasterio to 3rd. Alejandro Piloto singles on a line drive to right fielder Elvis Rubio. Luis Monasterio scores. Alejandro Piloto out at 2nd, first baseman Jose Dicent. This was all the offense the pitchers would need. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 3rd Natanael Mejia singles on a line drive to first baseman Ibrahim McKenzie. With Alejandro Mendoza batting, Natanael Mejia advances to 2nd on a balk. Alejandro Mendoza walks. Francisco Castillo grounds into a force out, pitcher Nelson Leon to third baseman Johan Camargo. Natanael Mejia out at 3rd. Alejandro Mendoza to 2nd. Francisco Castillo to 1st. Raphachel Colatosti walks. Alejandro Mendoza to 3rd. Francisco Castillo to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Darrel Leiva replaces Nelson Leon. Carlos Belonis grounds into a force out, third baseman Johan Camargo to catcher Alexander De La Cruz. Alejandro Mendoza out at home. Francisco Castillo to 3rd. Raphachel Colatosti to 2nd. Carlos Belonis to 1st. Elvis Rubio hit by pitch. Francisco Castillo scores. Raphachel Colatosti to 3rd. Carlos Belonis to 2nd. Juan Ortiz hit by pitch. Raphachel Colatosti scores. Carlos Belonis to 3rd. Elvis Rubio to 2nd. Jose Dicent singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Carlos Belonis scores. Elvis Rubio scores. Juan Ortiz advances to 3rd, on fielding error by center fielder Jose Morel. Jose Dicent out at 2nd, center fielder Jose Morel to second baseman Luis Monasterio. Another crooked number in the 5th sealed the deal. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 5th Carlos Belonis pops out to second baseman Luis Monasterio. Elvis Rubio homers (2) on a fly ball to right center field. Juan Ortiz walks. With Jose Dicent batting, Juan Ortiz steals (5) 2nd base. Jose Dicent singles on a line drive to right fielder Jesus Heredia. Juan Ortiz to 3rd. Yunior Santana grounds into a force out, fielded by second baseman Luis Monasterio. Juan Ortiz scores. Jose Dicent out at 2nd. Yunior Santana to 1st. Natanael Mejia singles on a line drive to right fielder Jesus Heredia. Yunior Santana to 3rd. Natanael Mejia to 2nd on the throw. Pitcher Change: Ahmed Caballero replaces Darrel Leiva. Alejandro Mendoza lines out to shortstop Omar Obregon.

Peralta Stellar As Sounds Defeat I-Cubs, 4-1 Nashville Extends Winning Streak To Season-High Four NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Starting pitcher Wily Peralta tossed seven scoreless frames and Nashville plated four seventh-inning runs en route to a 4-1 victory over the division-rival Iowa Cubs on Monday evening at Greer Stadium. With the victory, the Sounds (36-49) extended their winning streak to four games, matching the club's longest of the year (third occurrence). Peralta (4-8) recorded his third win in his last four outings and matched a Sounds and personal season high with his seven scoreless innings, scattering five hits and striking out six in his 87-pitch effort. The 23-year-old allowed only one Cubs baserunner to reach second base during his outing. Peralta, who entered the contest with a PCL-high 48 walks, did not issue a free pass for the first time all season. Iowa starter Chris Rusin matched Peralta's quality start with one of his own, working six scoreless frames, allowing four hits, and striking out five. The southpaw took a no-decision for his efforts, though. The Sounds finally broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh inning with four runs against Cubs reliever Jeff Beliveau. Edwin Maysonet drew a one-out walk and lumbered around to score the night's first run on catcher Dayton Buller's RBI double into the left field corner. The rally continued as pinch-hitter Corey Patterson followed with a run-scoring single to center before Logan Schafer tripled off the right field wall to bring him home for a 3-0 Nashville advantage. Schafer scored the fourth and final run two batters later when Jeff Bianchi ripped an RBI single through the left side of the infield. AUDIO: Buller Go-Ahead Double AUDIO: Schafer RBI Triple Iowa finally got on the scoreboard with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. After Adrian Cardenas reached on a fielder's choice, Josh Vitters smashed an RBI double to the gap in right-center off Sounds reliever Juan Perez to make it a 4-1 contest. Perez recovered to strike out Blake DeWitt to end the contest. Beliveau (2-5) was saddled with the loss after surrendering four runs in just one-third of an inning of work, retiring only one of his five batters faced in the contest. The teams wrap up the series with a 7:05 p.m. finale on Tuesday evening. Right-hander Mark Rogers (3-5, 5.68) will man the bump to face Iowa right-hander Randy Wells (2-2, 7.71). After the on-field action, the Sounds' annual Independence Day fireworks spectacular will light up the sky. Nashville Box Score I listened to this game in it's entirety and Wily Peralta sounded as good as his final line looked, hopefully he's straightened himself out and finishes the year like he pitched all of last year. He threw 58 of 87 pitches for strikes and posted a 7:3 ratio in the game. Yes that really was Edwin Maysonet playing LF, feel the power baby! Nashville Play By Play

Well when evaluating pitching it's much tougher to do from TV angles and much easier to do from behind home plate for many reasons... arm slot, pitching motion, pitch type, pitch break, body language (health), pace, etc... They could probably get the pitch charts and such from PITCHf/x, though many times pitches are mislabeled. Personally I'd much rather watch someone than read about them. Stick a good scout out there with his own gun and and let him do his job. That's like saying why is advanced scouting necessary when one could just look at spray charts and hot zones to come up with a pitching strategy for every batter. It's part of the puzzle, but not the entire picture, the spray charts are definitely more valuable for defensive positioning rather than a specific pitching strategy. How is the batter being setup? What kind of swing does he put on the ball as the count changes? How well does his swing cover the plate? Those concerns are just as valuable as the raw statistical data.

Bottom line, if we are talking about trading a guy like for talent that will be 'ready soon' and you allow teams to hold back their best players, you are basically trading quality for quantity. Sounds like a Dean Taylor special to me. You may be happy taking an organization's scraps because BA rated them #6 in the organization or something, but that doesn't do it for me (guys like Pastornicky, etc.). I want the elite prospects or I'm not trading a Greinke. I'll trade the other guys to take a flyer on someone, but mostly to try young talent out and as salary relief if you have no plans on keeping them or offering arby Of course the value of the return depends entirely on the prospects received and I've never ever lobbied for a quantity over quality deal. Where a prospect is ranked within the organization is largely irrelevant, the ultimate result comes down to talent. Neftali Feliz wasn't ranked when the Braves traded him to Texas, was the #18 after 2006 for Texas, and was their #1 prospect by the end of 2008. Typically though the players with the most talent performing at the higher levels are going to be ranked rather highly so if you want players who can contribute next year or the year after you're looking at guys in AA for the most part. Furthermore there is major difference in talent at any given rank between the various organizations. Coming into 2012 the Angels #1 Mike Trout had (and still has) a much higher ceiling as a player than our #1 Wily Peralta. So to use your example there is a wide gulf between the Brewers #6 prospect coming into 2012 who was Logan Schafer (best case an above average CF) and KC's #6 John Lamb (a LHP who tops out at 95 and profiles as #2 best case), or Texas #6 Neil Ramirez (RHP who reaches 96 and profiles as #2 best case). I realize of course that Lamb is still recovering from TJ and hasn't pitched in 2012 and Ramirez stunk in AAA this season but I'm highlighting the disparity in talent between various organizations at a given spot. Since it's impossible to evaluate the merits of any trade without knowing who is available why are you assuming the prospects are the high floor low ceiling type that I personally despise? I'm sure that I made it clear that I want Greinke kept, and I think that it's foolish to trade him unless you are blown away with something. I wouldn't hold back on moving them but I certainly wouldn't expect to replenish Nashville with the guys that you get back. It follows that if guys like this are moved, yes, part of the motivation will be to perhaps add a few fringe prospects, but also to trim salary, so I'd say that it is a firesale. I completely agree about a certain SS from Atlanta, but why are you zeroing in on him? Regardless, what you describe is not a fire sale, we are not looking to dump everyone and start over from scratch. Again you use the assumption of fringe prospects, I can certainly see that for K-Rod and/or Ramirez, but again what exactly do we have to lose dumping those guys? We have a $20 million commitment to an aging 3B for 2014 and neither player should have been signed to their contracts, take what you can get and move on. However Greinke, Marcum, and Hart could bring back a legitimate return in prospects. It all depends on the number teams of bidding and the length of the return. If you want an organization's best prospect for 3 months of Greinke I think you've set the bar way too high since that team no longer gets draft pick compensation as part of the deal, unless the team was positive they could also extend Greinke prior to the end of the season. As soon as you start putting finite conditions on a scenario, you limit your options. The longer Melvin waits, the more he limits his options. As I said if Greinke is viewed as the only solution and it doesn't work out with him, then the idea that we need Greinke compete becomes a self fulfilling prophecy... no other moves are made because we're "hoping" to turn around 2012 and resign Greinke, then we get outbid for his services... then of course we tank because we've done absolutely nothing to address the pitching situation and we're right back to 2009 except this time we're hoping young pitchers ascend incredibly quickly and make up the difference. The 3 best pitchers that look to be available are Greinke, Hamels, and Garza, if we wait until both Hamels and Garza are dumped what kind of a return can we expect with 2 buyers already removed from the market? We have more options than Greinke available to us today, and the pitching situation in 2013 and beyond is of much greater importance than if Hart stays or goes, or any other positional issue including SS. I firmly believe that whatever else happens the team needs to be built from the rotation up. 1 or 2 more young impact pitchers and I'd feel pretty good about next season, and really good about 2014. I don't want to get into an in-depth breakdown of our divisional opponents for 2013 and their farm systems, I do enough of that each day in the link report. I will say that everyone has some very exciting players coming in the near future, the only team that really doesn't have impact pitching on the verge is the Cubs, but they will also have the money to sign impact pitching in free agency if they choose. Very quickly... The Cubs just moved Rizzo up and they still have Jackson and Vitters progressing in AAA, that's a core of Castro, Rizzo, Jackson, and Vitters plus whatever they might get for Garza. 2 FA pitchers and suddenly they are very dangerous team, maybe not in 2013 as the players grow into their roles, but certainly in 2014. The Pirates have Cole, Tallion, and Marte not to mention Appel who they may or may not sign. The Reds already have a potent line-up and 2 very good pitchers in AA (Corcino and Cingrani) plus Hamilton who will get bumped to AA before the end of the year. The Cards have Miller, Martinez, Taveras, and Wong on the way. Objectively I just can't put Peralta and Thornburg combined into that same level as the top 2 pitchers from our divisional rivals, and we have no impact hitting close to Milwaukee. Simply put we don't have don't have the same level of prospects as any of the teams in our division today, we're arguably deeper, but we don't have better talent at the top. If we can't sustain our MLB roster and don't have the prospects to cycle into MLB, how do we maintain our success? Outside of Braun our position players are no longer peaking, they are just getting older and more expensive by the year, plus we only have 1 impact pitcher signed for next year's rotation. I'm not sure how a legitimate argument can be made that Greinke or bust is the best or only course of action the Brewers should take. The move would certainly plug a rotation hole but the signing wouldn't address any of the other issues facing the team long-term, and would only make the payroll situation more dire as a greater percentage of payroll gets tied into fewer players. I'm not convinced the Brewers can win a bidding war for Greinke even if they wanted to, including making Cain type offer to him. Larger markets can just continually tack on years which is more guaranteed money until the Brewers fall out of the bidding.

Player links on the main page Players of the Week AAA - Starling Marte - Pirates AA - Tony Cingrani - Reds AA - Chris Swauger - Cards A+ - Jason Rogers - see stories linked previously.

Here's the report from 2010 on Bianchi:

The Cardinals and Cubs have jumped into the fray, the Cards signed 3 players not in the top 20 and the Cubs signed the #19 prospect. The signings are being updated with stories on the prospect blog and also on BA's main page on the right hand side under Top Stories. My only commentary here would be that it's disappointing to see a cash strapped teams like the Rays and Twins doing more to invest on the front of end of the talent spectrum than the Brewers are. Investing that $2.9 million wisely on the front side can have the potential to save 10s of millions on the back end signing expensive FAs, the same impact as making the proper selections and signings on draft day. edit. Twitter users can follow Ben Badler for more up to date information.

This is going to be long, please bear with me. This isn't fire sale, I'm not sure why you keep spinning it as such. The idea here is to try to get back better value than you would get out of draft picks. It's sound business considering the Brewer's future needs, they don't have the money to resign all these guys even if they wanted to so the question becomes to how to get the most value possible out of each guy. Why would the Brewers even offer someone like K-Rod a qualifying arbitration contract to hopefully get draft picks when no one is going to pay him that much money and he'd just accept again? Instead why not flip him and see if you can some kind of return on your investment? How did riding out Sheets into FA work out? What kind of draft picks did we get for Sabathia? Hart is being tossed around because he's the most valuable trading chip the Brewers have outside of Braun and Gallardo considering he's not a rental. If you don't have enough pitching to compete why does it matter if you have Hart in RF or 1B for 1 more season? Ramirez is being tossed around by Monty because that last year + buyout carries significant risk of being an albatross. We aren't talking about Ramirez in 2012, we're talking about him in 2014 when he's 36 years old with a $16 million contract and a $4 million buyout. Just in case what exactly? The entire central division collapses and the Brewers make the playoffs? To what end? Currently Milwaukee would have to jump 3 teams to win the division and 6 teams to get a Wild Card. Is that a realistic target? Once again I'm personally not content just getting to the playoffs, the only thing I care about is being able to compete for a World Series. Yes you can't reach the World Series without getting into the playoffs, but there's also the question of being able to adequately compete in the playoffs. We don't have starting pitching that regularly will get you deep into a game nor do we have a bullpen that will lock down the game. Of the teams below .500 we do have the best run differential at -11 but as team we have the 13th best ERA in the NL even though we've scored the 6th most runs in the NL. To put this a different way, the Brewers have allowed the 5th most runs in the NL at 355, the next closest tean we're chasing in the division is STL at 328, CIN and PIT are the 2nd and 4th best teams in the NL at 298 and 291 respectively. I've always felt the post season was about impact pitching and defense, because just about every team that gets there is going to be able to score runs. I think we have a pretty decent defensive club outside of 3B, but our pitching doesn't stack up with any of the top teams in the NL or AL. If Yo and Greinke don't pitch a complete game then what happens? What are the odds that everyone in the pen gets hot at the same time at the end of the season? Furthermore, once we decide that we only have 1 solution to the problem, we eliminate every other alternative and back ourselves into a corner, which is what Melvin seems to do, we always seem to end up with limited options. Losing Greinke doesn't have to be the death blow to 2013 and 2014 that is being predicted, there are many different ways the Brewers could acquire enough impact pitching and/or talent to remain competitive. Making Greinke the focal point is a self fulfilling prophecy because then you don't try to do anything else and if you can't resign him then you're left with nothing but middling FAs because you haven't made any other moves. We have more options than that but I found the following quote from Shortstop key for Brewers if Greinke’s dealt pretty infuriating: Not yet!?!?! Queue the, "that's just GM speak" responses... I know. However, what has Melvin said on the air during the telecasts or in print that leads anyone to believe he's capable of being a good seller at the deadline? His one deadline deal as a seller in the past wasn't exactly awe inspiring (Carlos Lee). Last time I saw him in the booth he was talking about just needing a hot streak of "8 or 9 out of 10 games" to get back in the race, TH obviously took the "not yet" directly from someone in the front office for his story. The problem here is timing, every deal that gets made reduces Melvin's options and every day that passes makes the players with expiring contracts less valuable.

International signing is underway and the Brewers haven't surprised thus far by jumping in on any of the top prospects, in fact the division has been pretty quiet thus far. Here's the Top 20 International Prospects Tracker In a related subscriber piece Team By Team International Forecast Ben Badler had this to say about the Brewers:

Top Batting Performances Over The Weekend, June 29-July 1 2 divisional mentions: Brett Jackson is also listed though there were no comments regarding him.

Top Pitching Performances Over The Weekend, June 29-July 1 The Reds top pitching prospect coming into the 2012 season Daniel Corcino makes the list.

Marte's multi-hit streak reaches seven Pirates prospect goes 2-for-4, homers, hikes average to .287 By Sam Dykstra / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/01/UXyUhFH9.jpg Starling Marte batted .325 with 28 RBIs in 29 games last month. (Carl Kline/MiLB.com) Starling Marte got hot in June and he's showing no signs of cooling off in July. The Pirates' No. 3 prospect went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs on Sunday as Triple-A Indianapolis posted a rain-shortened 8-3 victory at Louisville. It was Marte's seventh consecutive multi-hit game and eighth in his last nine contests. Over that seven-game stretch, he's batting .484 (15-for-31) with three homers, two triples, two doubles, 13 RBIs and nine runs scored. No Minor Leaguer has as many total bases as Marte's 30 during that span. It didn't take long for the 23-year-old outfielder to extend his run Sunday. He lined a single to center field off Bats starter Tim Gustafson in the opening inning to score Gorkys Hernandez with the game's first run. Two innings later, Marte smacked a solo homer to center off Gustafson. He popped out and grounded out in his final two at-bats. The effort came a day after Marte was 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored against Louisville. Marte's .287 average is at its highest point since April 28, when it stood at .288. After batting .236 in May, he hit .325 with four homers and 28 RBIs in June. The native of the Dominican Republic and reigning Eastern League batting champion, he told MiLB.com last week that he needed some time to adjust to Triple-A. "I feel more comfortable here now," said MLB.com's No. 32 overall prospect. "I've been putting in a lot of hard work, especially with my strike-zone discipline and my ability to pick up breaking pitches. I was nervous at the beginning of the year, but I definitely feel more comfortable at the plate." Chase d'Arnaud added a solo homer and stole two bases out of the leadoff spot for Indianapolis. The older brother of top Blue Jays prospect Travis d'Arnaud is a perfect 22-for-22 on the basepaths and has not been caught stealing since Sept. 26, when he was with the Pirates. Rudy Owens (7-3), Pittsburgh's No. 12 prospect, allowed two runs -- one earned -- on four hits and two walks while striking out five to get the win.

Final: DSL Tigers 12, DSL Brewers 10 DSL Brewers Box Score As the score would suggest there wasn't much quality pitching in this one, the only Brewer hurler with a clean day was Miguel Diaz who only pitched the final 3rd of an inning. The Brewers actually were leading 8-7 going into the bottom of the 8th before a 5 run frame sunk their hopes. Jose Dicent went 2-3 with a 3B and HR, the only other multi-hit game came from 19yo C Natanael Mejia who posted a 2-4 effort. Carlos Belonis stole his 15th base and was caught stealing for the 5th time, Juan Ortiz also stole his 4th base of the season. Unfortunately the Brewers played their worst defensive game of the year as Belonis committed 3 errors (2 fielding, 1 throwing) and Ortiz committed his first error (fielding) though Ortiz did tally an outfield assist. DSL Brewers Play By Play A very busy game log if you dare.

Sounds Win 13-12 Slugfest Over Iowa Nashville Claims Sole Possession Of Second Place With Victory NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds edged the division-rival Iowa Cubs in a 13-12, slugfest marathon on Sunday night at Greer Stadium to gain sole possession of second place in the PCL American Conference Northern Division. The 13 runs scored was the highest run-output by the Sounds (35-49) in 2012 and third double-digit scoring output, which have come against all three of the Sounds' divisional opponents. Nashville scored all 13 of its runs in the first five innings, highlighted by an eight-run fifth inning, which was a season-high. The Cubs scored the final eight unanswered runs to trim the Nashville lead to one before Jim Henderson threw a scoreless ninth inning for his team-leading eighth save. Shortstop Jeff Bianchi collected three hits for the second straight contest. Outfielder Caleb Gindl also had three hits to extend his hitting streak to a season-high six games while also matching a team-high with three runs scored. First baseman Jordan Brown and first baseman outfielder Jay Gibbons added two hits, including his sixth homer of the season. Every positional player on both teams recorded a hit, excluding Sounds catcher Jason Jaramillo. Both teams traded runs in the first frame as consecutive two-out doubles from Adrian Cardenas and Josh Vitters gave Iowa a 1-0 lead. Nashville outfielder Jay Gibbons tied it up with a sacrifice fly after Gindl and Bianchi reached on hits. Iowa scored three more runs in the second for a 4-1 advantage, beginning Dave Sappelt solo homer over the left field wall. The Cubs followed with four more hits in the frame, highlighted by Brett Jackson RBI double and Matt Tolbert RBI single. Nashville answered by scoring two runs with two-outs to trim the lead to one run at 4-3. Third baseman Edwin Maysonet worked a two-out walk and was followed by a single from pitcher Claudio Vargas. Both runners advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch and scored as outfielder Logan Schafer hit a lazy fly ball to left field, which was dropped by Blake DeWitt. Gibbons went yard over the right field wall in the next frame to tie the game at 4-4. Nashville took their first lead of the game in the next inning as second baseman Eric Farris led off with a single. The speedster proceeded to steal second base, moved to third on a groundout, and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. The Sounds opened the flood gates in the fifth, sending 13 batters to the dish to plate eight runs. Gindl had two hits in the inning, who was the first Sound to collect two hits in a frame since Erick Almonte on August 10, 2011 at Reno. Gindl scored the first run on a wild pitch and was followed by an RBI base hit by Brown to score Gibbons. On the ensuing at-bat when Farris hit a deep fly ball to center, Iowa centerfielder Brett Jackson committed his first error of the season to allow the next run to score. Third basemen Edwin Maysonet recorded a two-run double and was followed by outfielder Logan Schafer knocking an RBI two-bagger to score Maysonet. Gindl scored the final run of the frame on a throwing error after previously reaching on his second hit of the inning. Iowa chipped away at the lead, starting by plating two runs in the sixth, as Jackson tripled in the first run and scored the next on a sacrifice fly. The Cubs scored another run in the next inning as Josh Vitters doubled and scored on a Welington Castillo single. The Cubs batted around to score five more runs to trim the lead to one at 12-13 in the visiting half of the eighth, beginning with two straight doubles from Tolbert and Cardenas. Blake De Witt then drove in Vitters on an infield groundout. After a walk and hit by pitch by to load the bases, Henderson entered the game and offered up a three-run double on the first pitch to Blake Lalli. Brett Jackson made and last out of the inning. Vargas scattered eight hits for four runs while striking out five in four innings of work. Reliever Victor Garate backed into the win after giving up two runs in 2 1/3 innings before departing due to an injury. Amaury Rivas surrendered five runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings. Henderson allowed all three inherited runners to score in his 1 1/3 innings. Former Sound Frankie De La Cruz (1-4) allowed a season-high nine runs (seven earned) on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. The Sounds and Iowa Cubs continue their series at 7:05 pm CT on Monday evening at Greer Stadium. Right-hander Wily Peralta (3-8, 5.94) will take the mound against Iowa left-hander Chris Rusin (6-6, 5.01). Nashville Box Score Prior to 2011 the last time Amaury Rivas posted an ERA over 4 was as a 19 year old in Arizona but his last 2 seasons have been forgettable at best. In fact every Sounds pitcher aside from Jim Henderson who appeared in the game sports a season ERA over 5. Henderson shares equally in the blame though, every Sounds pitcher who appeared gave up runs. Vitters and Jackson combined to go 5-10 with 3 doubles and triple, unfortunately Vitters' (he's still only 22) ascension in play at AAA is making it very difficult to continue to slap the overrated tag on him. Next year the Cubs will have Rizzo, Jackson, Vitters, and Castro... that's a nice young core to build around. Nashville Play By Play

Final: DSL Brewers 9, DSL Blue Jays 2 DSL Brewers Box Score If Eduardo Reyes wasn't 21 still pitching in the DSL I would get excited about him... what a line he put up this afternoon. 6IP, 6H, 1BB, and 1ER against 11SO! Victor Diaz and Melvin Tejada pitched clean frames, Felix Paulino gave up the other run on a walk and a double in the 8th. The Brewers pounded out 17 hits, this was a jam packed box score. Carlos Belonis (2-5), Juan Ortiz (3-5, 2 doubles), Elvis Rubio (3-5, 2B), Yunior Santana (2-4, BB), Yunior De La Cruz (2-4, 2 doubles), and Carlos Pena (2-3, 2 doubles) all had multiple hit games. Belonis also stole his 13th base and Santana was picked off. The Brewers played clean defense which is just tremendous to see in the DSL, they've been a solid defensive club all year. Somewhat stunning is that Rubio was the only hitter approaching a .300 BA who played today, he's currently at .291, Francisco Castillo is leading the every day players hitting .316 and the next closest batter is Alejandro Mendoza at .254. DSL Brewers Play By Play The 6 run 4th was all the pitchers needed. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 4th Juan Ortiz doubles (7) on a fly ball to right fielder Juan Tejada. With Elvis Rubio batting, wild pitch by Jesus Tinoco, Juan Ortiz to 3rd. Elvis Rubio singles on a ground ball to center fielder Luis Martin. Juan Ortiz scores. Jose Dicent hit by pitch. Elvis Rubio to 2nd. Yunior Santana reaches on fielding error by third baseman Gustavo Perinan. Elvis Rubio to 3rd. Jose Dicent to 2nd. Yunior De La Cruz doubles (1) on a fly ball to left fielder Cesar Barazarte. Elvis Rubio scores. Jose Dicent scores. Yunior Santana to 3rd. Pitcher Change: Simon Paulino replaces Jesus Tinoco. Carlos Pena doubles (5) on a fly ball to left fielder Cesar Barazarte. Yunior Santana scores. Yunior De La Cruz scores. Kevin Martinez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Luis Martin. Carlos Pena scores. Fielding error by center fielder Luis Martin. Carlos Belonis strikes out swinging. Alejandro Mendoza strikes out swinging. Juan Ortiz pops out to shortstop Edwin Fuentes.

Rattlers top Chiefs 9-5 to complete sweep Rivera and Macias homer and knock in three for Wisconsin's fifth straight win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers closed out their six game homestand with a 9-5 win over the Peoria Chiefs. Brandon Macias and Yadiel Rivera each homered and drove in three runs to help the Rattlers complete a three-game sweep of the Chiefs at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Peoria (38-40 overall, 3-6 second half) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Rattlers starting pitcher Mark Williams allowed a single, a walk, and a wild pitch to put runners at second and third with no outs. An RBI grounder by Yasiel Balaguert and an RBI single by Oliver Zapata put the Chiefs in front. There was a scary start to the Rattlers half of the second inning. All-Star second baseman Greg Hopkins was hit in the head by a pitch from Peoria starter Zach Cates. Hopkins would get up after a few moments on the ground and walk off the field on his own power. Carlos George entered the game as a pinch runner for Hopkins. Nick Ramirez lined the next pitch from Cates to the left field corner for a double and George motored home. One out later Max Walla doubled in Ramirez to tie the game. Rafael Neda reached base on a dropped third strike, but Walla was out at the plate as he was running from second on the pitch and tried to score. Rivera was next and he drove a 3-1 pitch over the wall in left for his eighth home run of the season. That homer by the Rattlers shortstop put Wisconsin up 4-2. Chadwin Stang kept the inning going with a single and a stolen base. Macias knocked in Stang with a single to complete the five-run inning. The Chiefs chipped away at Williams with single runs in the third and sixth innings to pull to within 5-4. In the seventh, Williams retired the first batter. But, the next two batters reached on singles. Reliever Michael Strong took over on the mound and retired the next two batters to keep the Rattlers (49-29, 5-4) up by a run. Wisconsin padded their lead with three runs in the seventh inning. Rafael Neda singled and went to second on a wild pitch with no outs. Chad Pierce, the starting pitcher on Friday night for Wisconsin, entered the game to pinch run for Neda. Pierce would score from third later in the inning on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Macias gave the Rattlers an 8-4 lead with a two-run homer. Rivera made it 9-4 in the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the night. Peoria would get a run off Kevin Shackelford in the ninth inning, but he would close out the game for Wisconsin's fifth straight victory. The Timber Rattlers being a six-game road trip with a game on Sunday at Quad Cities. Chad Thompson (3-1, 4.82) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Dail Villanueva (4-4, 3.76) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 5:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 4:40pm. HOME RUN: WIS: Yadiel Rivera (8th, 1 on in 2nd inning off Zach Cates, 2 outs) Brandon Macias (4th, 1 on in 7th inning off Austin Reed, 1 out) WP: Mark Williams (5-6) LP: Zach Cates (0-1) TIME: 2:55 ATTN: 4,034 Highlights for June 30, 2012 The 9 After 9 will return tomorrow. Wisconsin Box Score Well first and foremost I hope Gregory Hopkins is okay, though if he was in BC it wouldn't have happened... just saying. 2nd, Just whup up on and sweep the Cubs! Mark Williams posted another one of those weird lines going 6.1IP allowing 7H, 4BB, 4ER, and 1WP against only a single strike out throwing 59 of 96 pitches for strikes and posting an 8:6 ratio. Michael Strong was... well strong and Kevin Shackelford's night was covered above. In case you weren't counting while reading the game story Brandon Macias was 2-4 with his HR and Max Walla (batting 7th) went 2-3 with a 2B. Yadiel Rivera (batting 9th) went 1-2 with a BB in addition to his HR. Carlos George and Nick Ramirez added the other XBHs, they both doubled in the contest. Walla stole his 8th base, Chadwin Stang his 15th, and Macias was caught stealing for the 9th time. The T-Rats played clean defense once again, just love to see that. Wisconsin Play By Play Crooked numbers are fun! Wisconsin Bottom of the 2nd Gregory Hopkins hit by pitch. Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Carlos George replaces Gregory Hopkins. Nick Ramirez doubles (11) on a fly ball to left fielder Anthony Giansanti. Carlos George scores. Ben McMahan called out on strikes. Max Walla doubles (8) on a line drive to right fielder Oliver Zapata. Nick Ramirez scores. Rafael Neda strikes out swinging. Max Walla steals (8) 3rd base. Rafael Neda to 1st. Passed ball by catcher Sergio Burruel. Yadiel Rivera homers (8) on a fly ball to left field. Rafael Neda scores. Chadwin Stang singles on a line drive to left fielder Anthony Giansanti. With Brandon Macias batting, Chadwin Stang steals (15) 2nd base. Brandon Macias singles on a fly ball to left fielder Anthony Giansanti. Chadwin Stang scores. With Mitch Haniger batting, Brandon Macias caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Sergio Burruel to second baseman Wes Darvill. Wisconsin Bottom of the 7th Pitcher Change: Austin Reed replaces Zachary Rosscup. Rafael Neda singles on a soft line drive to right fielder Oliver Zapata. With Yadiel Rivera batting, wild pitch by Austin Reed, Rafael Neda to 2nd. Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Chad Pierce replaces Rafael Neda. Yadiel Rivera walks. Chadwin Stang grounds into a force out, shortstop Javier Baez to second baseman Wes Darvill. Chad Pierce to 3rd. Yadiel Rivera out at 2nd. Chadwin Stang advances to 1st, on throwing error by second baseman Wes Darvill. With Brandon Macias batting, wild pitch by Austin Reed, Chad Pierce scores. Chadwin Stang to 2nd. Brandon Macias homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Chadwin Stang scores. Mitch Haniger strikes out swinging, catcher Sergio Burruel to first baseman Paul Hoilman. Carlos George doubles (6) on a fly ball to center fielder Pin-Chieh Chen. With Nick Ramirez batting, wild pitch by Austin Reed, Carlos George to 3rd. Nick Ramirez grounds out, second baseman Wes Darvill to first baseman Paul Hoilman.

Final: Mobile 2, Huntsville 0 Huntsville Box Score As Mass point out earlier Jimmy Nelson had his best AA start thus far going 5IP allowing 5H, 2BB, 0R, and 1HBP against 5 strike outs throwing 55 of 90 pitches for strikes and posting a 4:3 ratio. Dan Meadows pitched a 1,2,3 6th but ran into trouble in the 7th allowing the 2 run HR which was the difference in the game. He was relieved by Brandon Kintzler who posted 1.2 scoreless. Mitch Stetter and R.J. Seidel combined for a scoreless 9th. The Stars managed just 5 hits against opposing pitcher Brett Lorin but don't that prototypical power pitcher size fool you, he's pretty much just a finesse pitcher who stymied the Stars offense through 6 innings. No Star batter had a multi-hit game or an XBH though Josh Prince stole his 26th base. Unfortunately both Kentrail Davis and Domnit Bolivar were erased on the base paths trying to steal 2nd. Huntsville Play By Play A walk and 2 singles in the first but the Stars came up empty. They wouldn't record another hit until Dan Meadows singled in the 6th. Huntsville Bottom of the 1st Lee Haydel walks. Josh Prince grounds into double play, shortstop Chris Owings to second baseman David Nick to first baseman Yazy Arbelo. Lee Haydel out at 2nd. Scooter Gennett singles on a line drive to left fielder Daniel Kaczrowski. Hunter Morris singles on a line drive to center fielder Evan Frey. Scooter Gennett to 2nd. Hainley Statia grounds out to first baseman Yazy Arbelo. This was the game. Mobile Top of the 7th Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Wladimir Sutil replaces Brett Lorin. Wladimir Sutil walks. Evan Frey grounds into a force out, catcher Anderson De La Rosa to shortstop Domnit Bolivar. Wladimir Sutil out at 2nd. Evan Frey to 1st. Chris Owings homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Evan Frey scores. Marc Krauss doubles (24) on a fly ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Pitcher Change: Brandon Kintzler replaces Daniel Meadows, batting 9th. Matt Davidson singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Marc Krauss to 3rd. David Nick grounds into double play, shortstop Domnit Bolivar to second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. Matt Davidson out at 2nd. After both Davis and Bolivar ran the Stars out of the 8th inning, the only legit scoring opportunity after the 1st came in the 9th. Huntsville Bottom of the 9th Pitcher Change: Evan Marshall replaces Matt Gorgen, batting 9th. Lee Haydel grounds out to first baseman Yazy Arbelo. Josh Prince singles on a fly ball to right fielder Marc Krauss. Scooter Gennett flies out to center fielder Evan Frey. With Hunter Morris batting, Josh Prince steals (26) 2nd base. Hunter Morris grounds out, pitcher Evan Marshall to first baseman Yazy Arbelo.

Sounds Open Homestand With 4-3 Win Over I-Cubs McClung Authors Solid Start, Farris Belts First Homer Of Year In Victory NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Right-hander Seth McClung worked his team-leading sixth quality start and Eric Farris belted his first home run of the year to lead the Sounds to a 4-3 win over division-rival Iowa on a sweltering Saturday evening at Greer Stadium, where game time temperature was 104 degrees. With the victory, Nashville (34-49) pulled even with Iowa into a second-place tie in the PCL American Conference Northern Division, the Sounds' highest point in the standings all season. Both clubs trail first-place Omaha by 17.5 games, however. The win was Nashville's league-leading 18th one-run victory of the season. McClung (2-9) snapped a personal five-game losing streak by hurling six scoreless frames, scattering five hits, for his second victory of the year. Nashville held a comfortable 4-0 lead entering the ninth, but Iowa made a game of it with a pair of late homers off Rob Wooten before Mike McClendon closed out the victory. The Sounds broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth when McClung was hit by a Brooks Raley pitch to open the inning then lumbered around to score when Jeff Bianchi followed with a double to the wall in left-center. The red-hot Bianchi went 3-for-4 on the night, his sixth multi-hit effort in his last 10 games. AUDIO: Bianchi RBI Double Nashville missed an opportunity to extend the advantage later in the frame. With runners on second and third and one out, Jordan Brown struck out and Raley induced an inning-ending popout from Andy Gonzalez to escape the jam with only a 1-0 deficit. Farris doubled the Sounds' lead to 2-0 in the sixth when he smashed a one-out solo homer to left off Iowa reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith, the infielder's first longball in 364 at-bats. AUDIO: Farris Solo HR Nashville extended the lead to 3-0 later in the inning when Corey Patterson (2-for-4) reached on an infield single, moved to second on a passed ball, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch. The Sounds loaded the bases with no outs against Mike MacDougal in the seventh but only managed to get one run across the plate in the frame. With the sacks full, Jay Gibbons ripped an RBI single to right to plate Jason Jaramillo, who had drawn an inning-opening walk. Farris followed with a grounder to second that resulted in a forceout at the plate for the first out. After Jeff Beliveau relieved MacDougal, the left-hander struck out Patterson and retired pinch-hitter Edwin Maysonet to leave the bags jammed. After Juan Perez blanked Iowa in the seventh, Donovan Hand closed out his scoreless month of June with a perfect eighth for the Sounds. The right-hander worked 17.0 scoreless innings in his nine appearances in the month for Nashville. Iowa finally got onto the scoreboard in the ninth against Wooten. After Dave Sappelt reached on an infield single, I-Cubs first baseman Blake Lalli belted a two-run homer to right, his sixth roundtripper of the year. Following a strikeout of pinch-hitter Matt Tolbert, Wooten served up an opposite-field solo homer to Brett Jackson that drew the visitors within a run at 4-3. McClendon took over on the hill for the Sounds and issued a walk to Alfredo Amezaga before inducing a game-ending groundout from Adrian Cardenas to earn his fifth save of the year. Raley (4-3) absorbed the loss for the I-Cubs after allowing one run on four hits over five innings of work. The teams continue the series with another 6:35 p.m. matchup on Sunday evening. Right-hander Claudio Vargas (2-1, 5.25) will make the start for the Sounds and face former Nashville hurler Frankie De La Cruz (1-3, 2.90). Nashville Box Score Just. Beat. The. Cubs! With Rizzo up in Chicago the Iowa line-up is down to Jackson and Vitters for legitimate prospect power threats but Jackson did hit that HR tonight. Nashville Play By Play

The only promotions Melvin has anything to do with are the promotions to MLB. Reid Nichols and his staff control the rest and if i had to guess to Lee Tunnell is in charge of the pitching promotions and he's such a wonderful resource for our pitchers I'm willing to defer to his judgement.

Triple-A roundup: Adams blasts pair Myers smacks three-run homer; Gwinnett's skid hits 14 games MiLB.com Staff http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/30/fqHg4de4.jpg Matt Adams has 13 home runs and 36 RBIs for the Redbirds this season. (Memphis Redbirds) In the Pacific Coast League, No. 8 Cardinals prospect Matt Adams fell a triple short of the cycle, homering twice with five RBIs and three runs scored as Memphis topped Albuquerque, 9-5. No. 6 St. Louis prospect Zack Cox added three hits for the Redbirds and Trent Oeltjen homered and plated two runs for the Isotopes. Brian Baker fired off six clean innings and Edwin Maysonet drove in both Nashville runs in a 2-0 victory over Round Rock. Johnnie Lowe and Mike McClendon followed with a scoreless inning apiece and Jim Henderson shut the door for his seventh save. Luis Hernandez went 4-for-4 for the Express. No. 2 Royals prospect Wil Myers went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and David Lough added three hits as Omaha beat New Orleans, 8-3. Anthony Seratelli provided three RBIs for the Storm Chasers. No. 2 Marlins prospect Matt Dominguez led the Zephyrs, going 2-for-3 with a three-run shot of his own. Rodrigo Lopez scattered three hits and three walks over six innings in Iowa's 7-0 blanking of Oklahoma City. No. 10 Cubs prospect Josh Vitters homered and drove in three runs for the Cubs, while Jimmy Paredes led the RedHawks with a pair of hits, including a triple. No. 18 Blue Jays prospect Moises Sierra went 2-for-4 with a two-run shot and David Cooper provided another home run in Las Vegas' 4-0 win over Tacoma. Sean O'Sullivan scattered just two hits and three walks while striking out five over six innings to earn the win for the 51s. Brian Sweeney surrendered four runs -- three earned -- over seven innings in the loss for the Rainiers. Eric Sogard hit a walk-off single to bring home Adam Rosales in the 10th inning as Sacramento edged Salt Lake, 1-0. Travis Banwart hurled seven shutout innings for the River Cats, scattering four hits and a walk and striking out eight. Matt Shoemaker fired eight scoreless frames, allowing six hits and two walks while fanning five for the Bees. Cole Gillespie busted out for three home runs and eight RBIs -- a grand slam, a three-run homer and a solo shot -- to lead Reno in an 11-3 rout of Fresno. No. 2 Giants prospect Francisco Peguero led the Grizzlies in the loss, going 3-for-5 with a triple, a double and two RBIs. Brendan Harris went 4-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs and both Andrew Brown and Tommy Field added home runs as Colorado Springs handled Tucson, 9-3. Jimmy Cesario collected two RBIs for the Sky Sox, and No. 4 San Diego prospect Jedd Gyorko went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer for the Padres. In the International League, Mets' No. 2 prospect Matt Harvey set down the first 14 batters of the game before allowing a two-out single to Paul Janish in the fifth inning as Buffalo routed Louisville, 8-0. Harvey finished with nine strikeouts and allowed two hits over seven innings while Josh Rodriguez was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and finished a triple shy of the cycle for the Bisons. Kris Negron was 1-for-4 in a losing effort for the Bats. Russ Canzler was 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs to help Columbus defeat Norfolk, 9-4. Second baseman Cord Phelps slugged a three-run homer and Jason Donald had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored for the Clippers. Veteran Lew Ford was 4-for-5 with a stolen base, raising his batting average to .347 for the Tides. Corey Brown slugged his 19th homer of the season and drove in two runs as Syracuse outlasted Durham, 11-7. Jarrett Hoffpauir had three hits and scored three runs while Seth Bynum contributed three RBIs for the Chiefs. Tim Beckham, the Rays' No. 5 prospect, was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and finished a triple shy of the cycle for the Bulls. Jeff Locke earned his sixth win, fanning six while allowing four hits over six shutout innings as Indianapolis bested Toledo, 4-2. Pirates' No. 3 prospect Starling Marte had two hits and scored a run while Tim Wood allowed a hit over 1 1/3 innings to earn his 11th save for the first-place Indians. Justin Henry tripled and scored once for the Mud Hens. Tuffy Gosewisch smacked a walk-off double with one out in the 10th to lead first-place Lehigh Valley over Rochester, 6-5. Gosewisch finished with two RBIs and Phillippe Aumont earned his second win with two hitless innings of relief for the IronPigs. Veteran infielder Sean Burroughs was 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Red Wings. Major League veteran Dan Johnson homered, reached base four times and scored three runs as Charlotte defeated Pawtucket, 5-2. Gregory Infante improved to 4-0 after allowing one hit and fanning three over three scoreless innings of relief while Drew Garcia slugged a solo homer. Andy LaRoche had three hits and scored a run for the Red Sox. Former big leaguer Jack Cust went yard for the second straight game and drove in three runs as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre routed Gwinnett, 11-4. Russell Branyan was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs while Chris Dickerson scored three runs out of the leadoff spot as the Yankees won their fourth straight game. Jose Constanza had three hits as the Braves dropped their 14th consecutive contest.

Pirates' Grossman finds his swing Curve outfielder goes 4-for-6, scores three times in rout of Sens By Jonathan Raymond / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/29/uwTsKhDJ.jpg Robbie Grossman is hitting .380 over his last 13 games for Altoona. (Will Bentzel/MiLB.com) Last year, Robbie Grossman became the first Minor Leaguer since Nick Swisher in 2004 to walk 100 times and score 100 runs in a season, and led to him earning the distinction of Pirates' Minor League Player of the Year. That form did not automatically carry over into this season, though. At the end of April, the outfielder was staring at a batting average south of .200. But over the past few weeks, he's started finding that stroke again. Pittsburgh's No. 7 prospect went 4-for-6 with two doubles, three runs and an RBI as Double-A Altoona pounded Harrisburg, 11-3. The effort also extended his hitting streak to 13 games, a stretch during which he's hit .380 (19-for-50). "It was nice to put some hits together, put some good quality at-bats together," said the San Diego native. "I'm figuring out my swing. I kind of lost it at the beginning of the season, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. You take a good approach and things go your way." Grossman has had no trouble continuing to draw walks and get on base out of the leadoff spot for the Curve. He sports a .347 on-base percentage, with 39 walks -- third in the Eastern League -- against 62 strikeouts in 269 at-bats with 48 runs scored, most in the league. He's also slugged at a .398 clip. The switch-hitter said that, as the leadoff man, that remained his primary focus as he's worked on finding his swing through the first half of the season. "I just try to get up there and get in scoring position however I can," he noted. "I try to be on base for the guys behind me." Last season, Grossman averaged .294 for Class A Advanced Bradenton in 134 games with the Marauders. In his second go-round of the Florida State League, the 22-year-old got on base at a .418 rate, with nearly as many walks (104) as strikeouts (111). He also scored 127 runs. His transition to Double-A got off to a rocky start, though, as he ended the first month of the year with a .195 average. Since then, he's slowly progressed, hitting .230 in May and .324 so far through 19 games in June. In all, the 2008 sixth-rounder is hitting .245 after Friday's effort. "Definitely put in a lot of hard work, and it's finally coming to fruition and paying off," said Grossman. "The [bounces] are starting to fall my way, I'm putting some good swings on some pitches. "Baseball's a tough game. You just have to go out there every night with a good approach. Sometimes it'll go your way and sometimes not, but if you go out there and have fun, that's the important thing." On Friday, Oscar Tejeda also made his debut with Altoona after Pittsburgh claimed the 22-year-old from Boston off waivers Wednesday. Starting in left field, the Red Sox's former No. 14 prospect homered and scored twice. No. 19 Pirates prospect Jarek Cunningham also went 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs. Phil Irwin (1-5) scattered one run on six hits without any walks, striking out six over seven innings to earn the win for the Curve.

Blaze's Hamilton speeds toward 100 Reds prospect swipes two bags, doubles three times Friday By Sam Dykstra / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/30/Mrtuougx.jpg Billy Hamilton is second in the California League with a .421 OBP. (Ricky Bassman/MiLB.com) Billy Hamilton is stealing bases at one of the best clips in Minor League Baseball history, and the shortstop is well aware of that fact. But he's also proving he can use his speed in other ways. The Reds' top prospect set a career high with three doubles Friday in Class A Advanced Bakersfield's 4-3 win over Modesto. He also added two RBIs, two runs scored and -- of course -- two stolen bases. He now has 96 swipes in 75 games for the Blaze. With the 3-for-4 performance at the plate, Hamilton extended his hitting streak to a career-long 14 games dating back to June 12, besting his previous high of 13 games established from May 21-June 3 earlier this season. His batting average sits at .330, a full 52 points higher than his .278 mark for Class A Dayton last season. "I'm definitely feeling very comfortable," he said. "Everything's going pretty well for me. I'm just making solid contact and trying to get on base, and it's working out." But his skipper thinks it's a little more than just good wood that has Hamilton thriving at the dish. "He's doing what he's always done," said Bakersfield manager Ken Griffey Sr. "He's been a good hitter for us all year long, but recently, he's just hitting the ball harder. He had three doubles tonight. That shows something about what he can do. "With the speed he has, he can do anything when he's hitting, and we all knew that coming in." That being said, all anyone in baseball circles seems to want to discuss is Hamilton's ever-climbing stolen-base total. Following doubles in the first and third innings Friday, the 21-year-old swiped third base each time. (He was picked off second after his third double in the seventh.) He stands four away from the century mark in that category. As the triple digits loom over him, the Mississippi native won't deny he's thinking about becoming the first California League player with 100 steals since Donell Nixon (144) in 1983. The Minor League record is 145 set by Vince Coleman in the South Atlantic League that same year. "Of course I'm paying attention," he said. "Everybody's getting behind me, and you've got everybody in the stands talking about it. It's definitely something I'm aware of, and I'm aiming to get it soon." In fact, he's gunning for No. 100 more or less to just get it over with. "It'll be nice for sure because like I said, it'll be a good thing not to have the pressure of 100 over me anymore," he added. Even those around him are preparing for that day. "It'll be an exciting day for him, and an exciting day for the rest of the team," Griffey said. "Like I've said, he's the catalyst for this team. Everything we do offensively comes from him or through him, so it'll be a big day for everyone." As for when that day will specifically come, Hamilton said he doesn't have any exact expectations. "There's no predictions, no predictions," he said. "It'll happen eventually, but I'm not too worried about that right now."

I'm sorry, I had drinks tonight and I'm fading fast, if the DSL box and recap don't pop soon I'll just get them in the morning.

Nashville Takes Series With 2-0 Shutout In Round Rock Sounds Blank Express Twice In Three Games ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Nashville Sounds blanked the Round Round Express, 2-0, on Friday night at The Dell Diamond in the finale of a three-game series. The shutout was Nashville's PCL-leading eighth of the season and second in three games over the Express. With the win, Nashville (33-49) picked up only their second winning series on the road this season and finished 3-4 overall on the seven-game road trip through Albuquerque and Round Rock. Nashville starter Brian Baker (2-3) authored his best pitching performance of the season to pick up the win. The 29-year-old threw six scoreless innings on six hits and no walks while striking out six. Baker is record a 0.79 ERA (1er/11.1ip) in his last three outings (two starts). Relievers Johnnie Lowe, Mike McClendon, and Jim Henderson followed with scoreless frames to collect the combination shutout. First baseman Sean Halton accounted for two of Nashville's five hits and also scored a run. Second baseman Eric Farris went 0-for-3 to snap a nine-game hitting streak, which matches his best effort of the year. The game remained scoreless until the Sounds scored their first run in the visiting half of the fifth inning. After one-out base hits from Halton and outfielder Corey Patterson, shortstop Edwin Maysonet hit a fly ball to right field to score Halton on a sacrifice fly. · AUDIO: Maysonet Sacrifice Fly Nashville scored their other run in the seventh as Round Rock committed two costly fielding errors. Oufielder Jay Gibbons reached on a fielder's choice and was followed by another hit from Halton. Patterson then loaded the bases after reaching on a fielding error by the pitcher. On the ensuing at-bat against reliever Johan Yan, Maysonet grounded to shortstop Luis Hernandez, who made the second fielding gaff of the frame to allow Gibbons to score. · AUDIO: Second Run With runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth, Henderson struck out Round Rock's Michael Bianucci to end the game and pick up his seventh save. · AUDIO: Final Strikeout Former Sound Zach Jackson took the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. The Sounds travel home to welcome the division-rival Iowa Cubs (AAA-Cubs) to Music City for a four game series for the first time this season. Nashville right-hander Seth McClung (1-9, 5.19) will toe the rubber against Iowa southpaw Brooks Raley (4-2, 4.14) Nashville Box Score Nashville Play By Play