TheCrew07

Final: Wisconsin 10, Cedar Rapids 2 Big first inning paves the way to victory By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CEDAR RAPIDS, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers shook off Tuesday's 14-inning loss at Peoria with a 10-2 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Wednesday night at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Wisconsin sent ten men to the plate in the first inning and scored five runs on the way to their sixth win in the first eight games of their thirteen game road trip. The Timber Rattlers (34-19) wasted no time in grabbing a lead in the game. Max Walla walked and Jason Rogers singled with one out. Nick Ramirez followed with a single to right and Walla scored. Greg Hopkins continued his hot streak with a single to center to score Rogers for a 2-0 lead. Then, Rafael Neda singled to load the bases. Kernels starting pitcher Austin Wood walked John Dishon to force in a run and he was taken out of the game after that. Adrian Williams greeted Cedar Rapids reliever Frank DiJiulio with a sharp single to center to score a pair of runs for a 5-0 lead. The Kernels (23-30) got on the board in the second on a two out RBI single by Wendell Soto. Wisconsin pushed back with a solo home run from Walla in the fourth inning and a pair of runs in the fifth. Rafael Neda scored on a balk and Dishon drove in Carlos George with a sacrifice fly. Thompson cruised with the big lead. He allowed one unearned run on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out two while setting a professional high for innings pitched in a game. Dishon drove in his third run of the night with a two-out single to right in the top of the seventh to put the Rattlers up 9-1. Mark Williams had a rough eighth inning and allowed a two-out RBI single to Abel Baker, but Hopkins more than made up for that run. The Rattlers second baseman led off the ninth with a home run to left that left the stadium. The homer, the seventh of the season for Hopkins, made it 10-2. The home run was the fourth in the last five games for Hopkins, who is 16-for-35 with 13 RBI in the first eight games of the road trip. Mark Williams would allow a pair of two out hits in the ninth inning, but he finished off his second save of the season with his fourth strikeout of the game. Game two of the series in Cedar Rapids is Thursday night. David Goforth (4-3, 5.59) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Kernels have slated Eswarlin Jimenez (1-3, 5.53) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:35pm. Tune in for the action on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. HOME RUNS: WIS: Max Walla (2nd, 0 on in 4th inning off Frank DiJiulio, 1 out) Greg Hopkins (7th, 0 on in 9th inning off Ty Kelley,0 out) WP: Chad Thompson (2-1) LP: Austin Wood (2-4) SAVE: Mark Williams (2) TIME: 2:57 ATTN: 2,445 Nine after 9 for May 30, 2012 Wisconsin Box Score It's too bad I missed this game as I was out of town, it would have been a fun one to listen to. I'm not sure what to make of Hopkins, Rogers, and McMahan, but they should have been in my top 50 someplace as well, I put that list together in a very hasty manner and I'm regretting even posting it at this point. Nick Ramirez (3-5), Gregory Hopkins (3-5, HR), Carlos George (2-5, 2B), and Adrian Williams (2-5) all had multi-hit games as the T-Rats pounded out 14 hits. Wisconsin Play By Play Lots to digest if you are willing.

Final: Huntsville 6, Tennessee 4 Huntsville Box Score My first thought when opening up the box score was the Stars pitchers gave up 4 runs on only 5 hits? Upon closer inspection that's what happens when you give up 2HRs through 5 innings and then a walk and 2 wild pitches in the 7th. Tyler Thornburg was the starter and allowed both HRs plus a double, his control just hasn't been as sharp through May as it was in April, the XBHs and walk totals have skyrocketed, though his season line is still very good. Tyler went 5IP allowing 4H, 3ER, 2HR, and 2BB against only 1SO throwing 50 of 79 pitches for strikes and posting a 5:4 ratio. In Dan Merklinger's 1.1IP he walked 3, had a WP, allowed a hit, and gave up a run on a Mitch Stetter WP. Brandon Kintzler pitched the final 2 innings and should be nearing the end of his rehab assignment with the Stars. Scooter Gennett remains red hot at the plate as he extended his hit streak with a 2-5 effort tonight. Josh Prince and Anderson De La Rosa also went 2-5 while Tommy Manzella and Lee Haydel both went 2-4. Thornburg also collected a hit pushing his AVE to .214 which is higher than a bunch of our position players from MLB down through WI. Haydel and Domnit Bolivar successfully swiped a bag each while Manzella was caught stealing and finally the Stars played clean defense for the duration of this contest. Huntsville Play By Play The Stars jumped out early plating 3 in the 2nd and would not relinquish the lead. Huntsville Top of the 2nd Kentrail Davis grounds out, second baseman Logan Watkins to first baseman Justin Bour. Anderson De La Rosa singles on a ground ball to shortstop Junior Lake. Lee Haydel flies out to center fielder James Adduci. Tyler Thornburg singles on a line drive to center fielder James Adduci. Anderson De La Rosa to 2nd. Josh Prince singles on a line drive to left fielder Rebel Ridling. Anderson De La Rosa scores. Tyler Thornburg to 2nd. Tommy Manzella singles on a ground ball to right fielder Michael Burgess. Tyler Thornburg scores. Josh Prince to 2nd. Scooter Gennett singles on a line drive to center fielder James Adduci. Josh Prince scores. Tommy Manzella to 3rd. Hunter Morris flies out sharply to right fielder Michael Burgess. I'm not sure why Domnit Bolivar would be batting 5th, but it's pretty rare when your #5 hitter is asked to lay down a bunt in the 5th inning with your team already ahead. Huntsville Top of the 5th Scooter Gennett singles on a ground ball to right fielder Michael Burgess. Hunter Morris walks. Scooter Gennett to 2nd. Domnit Bolivar out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Dallas Beeler to second baseman Logan Watkins. Scooter Gennett to 3rd. Hunter Morris to 2nd. Kentrail Davis reaches on a fielder's choice out, shortstop Junior Lake to third baseman Matthew Cerda. Scooter Gennett scores. Hunter Morris out at 3rd. Anderson De La Rosa reaches on throwing error by third baseman Matthew Cerda. Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Anderson De La Rosa to 2nd. Lee Haydel singles on a fly ball to left fielder Rebel Ridling. Kentrail Davis scores. Anderson De La Rosa to 3rd. Pitcher Change: Ty'Relle Harris replaces Dallas Beeler, batting 7th. Defensive Substitution: Nate Samson replaces pitcher Dallas Beeler, batting 9th, playing third base. Tyler Thornburg flies out to right fielder Michael Burgess. Scoring a run with only a single during the frame, boo. Tennessee Bottom of the 7th Michael Brenly walks. Nate Samson strikes out on foul tip. With Junior Lake batting, wild pitch by Dan Merklinger, Michael Brenly to 2nd. Junior Lake singles on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. Michael Brenly to 3rd. Logan Watkins walks. Junior Lake to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Mitch Stetter replaces Dan Merklinger, batting 9th. James Adduci strikes out on foul tip. With Justin Bour batting, wild pitch by Mitch Stetter, Michael Brenly scores. Junior Lake to 3rd. Logan Watkins to 2nd. Justin Bour strikes out swinging.

I also forgot Burgos... I shouldn't have worked off of my original list and just went through the rosters like I usually do, Hiram certainly deserved to be mentioned someplace.

Final: Peoria 4, Wisconsin 3 (14 Innings) Chiefs avoid the sweep, beat Rattlers in 14 innings By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a lot of chances, but it was the Peoria Chiefs who picked up a 4-3 win in 14 innings at Peoria Chiefs Stadium on Tuesday night. Oliver Zapata singled with two outs to score Pin-Chieh Chen with the winning run in the bottom of the fourteenth. The Rattlers had won the first three games of the four game series in Peoria, but the Chiefs avoided the sweep with the Tuesday's win. Greg Hopkins put the Rattlers (33-19) in front with a leadoff home run in the top of the second inning. Later in the inning, Cameron Garfield scored on a Yadiel Rivera fielder's choice. Peoria (23-29) responded with a pair of two out runs of Rattlers starting pitcher Drew Gagnon. Yasiel Balaguert doubled in a run with two away in the second. Then, Ryan Cuneo blasted a two-out solo homer in the third to tie the game 2-2. The Chiefs took the lead in the fourth inning. Javier Baez drew a walk with one out and stole second. He scored on a single to right by Anthony Giansanti. Gagnon would not allow another runner. He retired the final eleven batters he faced. Wisconsin rallied to tie the game in the seventh. Peoria reliever Larry Suarez retired the first two batters of the frame, but back-to-back infield singles by John Dishon and Chadwin Stang and a walk to Brandon Macias loaded the bases. Jason Rogers singled off the glove of Suarez to get Dishon home with the tying run. Wisconsin put the leadoff batter on base to lead off the eighth, ninth, and twelfth but could not score. The Rattlers also put a runner on base with one out in the tenth and eleventh innings, but could not score. Kenny Socorro, a position player for the Chiefs, entered the game in the top of the thirteenth. Socorro had been on the Peoria roster all season long, but had not appeared in a game until Tuesday night. He retired the Rattlers in order. In the bottom of the thirteenth, Zeke DeVoss doubled to start the inning against reliever Tommy Toledo. One out later, the right-handed Toledo walked the left-hand batting Cuneo to face right-hand hitting Paul Hoilman for a potential double play ball. Toledo walked him to load the bases. But, Toledo escaped by getting a force out at the play at the plate on a chopper to third and striking out Javier Baez on a 3-2 pitch. Socorro retired the Rattlers in order again in the top of the fourteenth. Tyler Cravy relieved Toledo in the fourteenth inning and gave up a single to Giansanti to start the inning. But, Balaguert bunted into a 1-6-3 double play. However, Cravy walked Chen on a 3-2 pitch. Chen would steal second and DeVoss would draw another walk on a 3-2 pitch. Zapata lined the first pitch of the at bat to left field and Dishon fielded it on one hop. His throw to the plate appeared to be in time, but Chen's slide knocked the ball free and the Chiefs celebrated the marathon win. The Beloit Snappers probably celebrated the Peoria win as well. The second place Snappers defeated Kane County 5-4 in eleven innings earlier in the day. That win and the Rattlers loss moved Beloit to within two games of the first place Rattlers in the Western Division of the Midwest League with eighteen games remaining in the first half. The Timber Rattlers continue their 13-game road trip in Cedar Rapids when they play the Kernels on Wednesday night. Chad Thompson (1-1, 6.53) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Cedar Rapids has Austin Wood (2-3, 3.78) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 6:35pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. HOME RUNS: WIS: Greg Hopkins (6th, 0 on in 2nd inning off Kyler Burke, 0 out) PEO: Ryan Cuneo (4th, 0 on in 3rd off Drew Gagnon, 2 out) WP: Kenny Socorro (1-0) LP: Tyler Cravy (1-2) TIME: 4:18 ATTN: 1,382 Wisconsin Box Score Well the Rattler pitchers only allowed 8 hits over 14 innings but didn't limit the damage enough to secure a victory. Drew Gagnon didn't pitch all that bad, it was like 1 bad pitch here, another there, and suddenly the Chiefs have 3 runs on the board. Drew went 7IP allowing 4H, 3ER, 2BB, and 1WP against 5SO posting a 11:5 ratio. I believe Chris had his unofficial tally at 85 pitches with 51 for strikes, but I'm a bit a fuzzy. Stephen Peterson pitched 2 excellent innings of relief and Tommy Toledo came up clutch picking up the next 4, including that Houdini act in the 13th. Tyler Cravy actually had Chen down 1-2 in the count before walking him (my pet peeve right there) but should have gotten out of the inning if not for the dropped ball at the plate. The Rattlers didn't manage their opportunities very well and who knows why a position player was able to retire 6 hitters in a row to end the game. Gregory Hopkins continues to kill the ball, he went 3-6 including the HR mentioned above and a stolen base on a delayed steal. Unfortunately after playing 14 innings no other T-Rat had an XBH and only John Dishon had another multi-hit game going 2-4 with 2 walks and a SB. Brandon Macias was productive even though he went 1-4 as he walked 3 times in the contest. Nick Ramirez (fielding) and Cameron Garfield (throwing) both committed errors. Wisconsin Play By Play With the way the game ended Chris breezed over the runs Drew allowed. Peoria Bottom of the 2nd Wes Darvill walks. Javier Baez flies out to left fielder John Dishon. Anthony Giansanti called out on strikes. With Yasiel Balaguert batting, wild pitch by Drew Gagnon, Wes Darvill to 2nd. Yasiel Balaguert doubles (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Max Walla. Wes Darvill scores. Pin-Chieh Chen flies out to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Peoria Bottom of the 3rd Zeke DeVoss flies out to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Oliver Zapata grounds out, pitcher Drew Gagnon to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Ryan Cuneo homers (4) on a fly ball to right field. Paul Hoilman flies out to right fielder Max Walla. Peoria Bottom of the 4th Wes Darvill grounds out, pitcher Drew Gagnon to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Javier Baez walks. With Anthony Giansanti batting, Javier Baez steals (1) 2nd base. Anthony Giansanti singles on a fly ball to right fielder Max Walla. Javier Baez scores. Yasiel Balaguert singles on a fly ball to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Anthony Giansanti to 2nd. Pin-Chieh Chen grounds into a force out, second baseman Gregory Hopkins to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Anthony Giansanti to 3rd. Yasiel Balaguert out at 2nd. Pin-Chieh Chen to 1st. Zeke DeVoss strikes out swinging.

Cripes I can't believe I forgot Harvey

1 Thornburg 2 Nelson 3 Green 4 Peralta 5 Gennett 6 Jungmann 7 Lopez 8 Arcia 9 Bradley 10 Schafer 11 Gindl 12 Heckathorn 13 Ozuna 14 Manzanillo 15 Rivera 16 Bucci 17 Moye 18 Fiers 19 Gagnon 20 Khris Davis 21 Hall 22 Walla 23 Rizzo 24 Rivas 25 Ramirez 26 Perez 27 Morris 28 Kintzler 29 McClendon 30 Kentrail Davis 31 Garfield 32 Reed 33 Meadows 34 Haydel 35 Toledo 36 Farris 37 Roberts 38 Prince 39 Mittelstaedt 40 Mondesi 41 McFarland 42 GoForth 43 Mark Williams 44 R.J. Seidel 45 Barnes 46 Jenkins 47 Strong 48 Keller 49 Peterson 50 Milton Gomez I pulled D'Vo as I don't know if he's ever going to play baseball again.

Well I was certain the T-Rats were going to lose after they went down in order to a position player in the top of the 13th and then Toledo loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom but he got out of it with a grounder to 3rd and a strike out of Baez on a pitch that would have been ball 4... wow. Chris was understandably very excited, too bad the Rattlers are on the road, I'd like that call in the highlights.

The T-Rat audio always dumps at the worst time, patiently waiting for it to return as the Rattlers and Chiefs go to the bottom of the 12th.

Final: Tennessee 3, Huntsville 2 Huntsville Box Score Evan Anundsen was effective tonight going 5 innings allowing 6H, 3R, 2ER, and 3BB against 3SO while throwing 61 of 96 pitches for strikes. Evan hurt himself with an error on a pick-off attempt in the 5th, which led to 2 runs scoring, the difference in the game. Mitch Stetter, RJ Seidel, and Santo Manzanillo all pitched 1 clean inning of relief a piece. The Stars only managed 6 hits and Scooter Gennett managed the only multi-hit going 3-4 with a double and extending his hit streak to 12 games. At least half of the hits were of the XBH variety as both Hunter Morris and Kentrail Davis each added a double. Tommy Manzella committed his 3rd error in his short time with Huntsville, a fielding error, and that's about it. Huntsville Play By Play 3 of the 6 hits against Evan came in the 5th. Tennessee Bottom of the 5th Junior Lake doubles (6) on a fly ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Logan Watkins singles on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. Junior Lake to 3rd. With Jae-Hoon Ha batting, throwing error by Evan Anundsen on the pickoff attempt, Junior Lake scores. Logan Watkins to 2nd. Jae-Hoon Ha called out on strikes. Justin Bour singles on a line drive to center fielder Josh Prince. Logan Watkins scores. Rebel Ridling flies out to left fielder Lee Haydel. Matthew Cerda called out on strikes. The Stars had the tying run at 2nd in the 9th and couldn't get it done Huntsville Top of the 9th Lee Haydel singles on a line drive to left fielder Jae-Hoon Ha. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Matt Cline replaces Santo Manzanillo. Matt Cline out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Kevin Rhoderick to first baseman Justin Bour. Lee Haydel to 2nd. Josh Prince flies out to right fielder James Adduci. Tommy Manzella grounds out, shortstop Junior Lake to first baseman Justin Bour.

T-Rats and Chiefs going to extras.

I wonder how many people have caught because I only did it for parts of one season (a left handed catchers mitt baby!) and I jammed a finger very early in a game sliding into second base, every single pitch after it was like re injuring that finger again, and that was with a guy on the mound throwing low 60s at best. I couldn't imagine catching a major league pitcher with a broken hand and not having an idea that something was terribly wrong right away even with the extra padding.

Nope, nothing to do with your post. I certainly hope you don't think I've been dogging you as it's pretty clear we are on opposite sides of the team building spectrum, that was just an observation. Actually the number had in my head when I made the post was 67% which is why I should always go back and double check before I post, I was comfortable rounding up to 70% because I'm extremely confident he'll succeed, my bad though for getting the numbers wrong. However, as I'm thinking about it I'd stand by my 70% right now even though that's tacking on 7%. I don't really take the positional breakdowns into consideration at all, there's too little sample and too diverse talent to try to draw any conclusions on that data other than pitchers flame out at a higher rate, which we already knew. My point is simply that Profar isn't a top prospect, he's an elite prospect, and sometimes people around here to get caught up treating all prospects like they are an equal commodity when they aren't. Once again I'll say that if anyone has a specific reason why they don't think Profar will succeed I'd love to discuss it as I've already posted the facets of his game that I'm really excited about. However generic smack about prospects doesn't get very far with me RockCoCougars I think your expectations are pretty unrealistic in terms of his production at the plate. Here's the Texas league batting leaders, sort by OPS, then look at position, then look at age. He's put up an .874 OPS through his first 2 months of AA as a 19 year old, we only had one position player on track to possibly be in AA by the time he was 19, that was Arcia who's done for the season after getting injured in EST. Profar has the 12th highest OPS in the league competing against 1B and OFs, the guy at 11 is a 26 year old SS beating him by .003, his batting line is elite. Will MLB pitchers find a hole in his swing and by able to continually exploit it? Maybe, that's the only part about hitters that's very difficult to project, you just really never "know". I will say that his career path to this point suggests that he's a quick study and is able to make adjustments. I still unsure Profar is a realistic target as I pointed out in the SS thread, if the situation is reversed there is simply no way I would trade the #1 or #2 prospect in all of baseball for half a season or less of starts from anyone. However if a couple of teams got into a bidding war and then a team like Baltimore would start talking to his agent and get a verbal agreement in place prior to a trade then maybe it would work out. Texas doesn't need Greinke long-term, Baltimore is a better fit in that regard. In the end I honestly don't care what position, I care about getting potential impact talent back. I firmly believe that competitive window of any small market team is based entirely on the depth of impact talent within that organization. The competitive window has almost nothing to do with any contracts at the MLB level. Every player eventually has to be replaced and most players should be replaced prior to their mid 30s, so we should never plan to hang onto a player longer than 8-9 years. Personally I'm looking to move on from a guy in that 31-33 year old range... next man up. One last thought, I'm not sure why some are equating selling to rebuilding, not necessarily in this specific thread, but across the transaction and MLB forums, the concepts aren't the same thing at all, they are completely different ideas. Selling is about flipping specific players to cycle young talent back into your organization, rebuilding is about blowing the whole thing up and starting over. Selling is more like a step back to take 2 steps forward, rebuilding you just quit and go back to the beginning. We were extremely fortunate last year to be healthy, and no a trio of 3 week injuries to start the season didn't constitute bad luck with injuries, but from where I'm sitting this season may already be torpedoed. If it's just not in the cards for 2012 what do you lose as an organization by looking to cycle some fresh young talent back into the organization? I'm not convinced that Melvin is capable of making those kinds of moves and I fear that we'll end up with Overbay type moves where we get high floor players back whom are likely to contribute at MLB but don't have to the potential to be difference makers. edit. Clarified my post a bit.

Heckathorn's ceiling is probably that of a #3, Anundsen a #4/#5 unless he's picked up significant velocity that's gone unreported. A middle ground projection would be a 4/5 for Heckathorn and Anundsen in the BP. Anundsen's K rate is pretty weak as far as projecting him for MLB success, especially with fringe average velocity. Heckathorn is a tough one to project as he's up and down performance wise but he's made nice strides with his BB and K rates so far this season. His draft report had him regularly working 94-97 and touching 99, he's never thrown that hard though for the Brewers. With that kind of velocity he could be a top of the rotation guy, we'll see. It's not even mid season yet, I'd honestly want more time to follow Heckathorn before forming a definitive opinion but I'd say his worst case is as a BP arm for the big club.

Oh man, Andy Marte. Around the time I discovered Brewerfan, the love for him here was Profar x 10. I'd debate that, there were some who liked him, but what does one prospect's success or failure have to do with any other prospect? Aren't they all different people? For the record, Profar is x5 the prospect that Marte ever was. There's projection in his frame, he's tearing up AA as a 19 year old, and the talk is that Texas will move Andrus for him, he's that good. There's top prospects, then there are elite prospects, and then there once in a generation prospects. I don't think we'll see another Harper or Strasburg for awhile but Profar is definitely in the elite category of prospects, there are simply not many players his age that perform like he has at a premium defensive position... they are extremely rare. I doubt Greinke is enough to pull Profar, as I said previously if Dylan Bundy doesn't jump past him he'll be the #1 prospect according to BA, and if/when Bundy jumps past him it will have absoutely nothing to do with Profar's performance this season which has been extraordinary, Bundy is just that good and pitching is at a premium. What team is going to trade the top prospect in all of baseball for half a season worth of starts? It's almost comical that prospects are viewed by some as bigger risks than veteran players who flame out at a similar rate with much larger monetary commitments at stake. I already posted the failure rates for prospects earlier in the SS thread, if you scroll down to the bottom of that link you'll find analysis by prospect ranking and while those rankings aren't absolute it's actually more like a 70% chance that Profar turns out to be as valuable as his talent would suggest. Melvin's success rate in FA is no where near 50% and we're splitting hairs about how good of a prospect Profar is? Yes there will always be Delmon Young type flame outs but there are also Ryan Brauns, Corey Harts, Prince Fielders, Yovani Gallardos... Where's the greater risk... taking a chance on players at league minimum or taking chances on players with 8 digit salaries?

I'm not much of stolen base guy, but geez...remember when Farris ignited debate with his 70 for the season in 2009? Blaze's Hamilton runs theft total to 52 Cincy's top prospect on pace to have over 100 steals in 2012 By Danny Wild / MLB.com 05/28/2012 8:56 PM ET http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/28/PIZFC9tA.jpg Billy Hamilton has not gone more than three straight games without a steal. (Ricky Bassman) Billy Hamilton enters each season with the goal of doubling his stolen-base total from the previous year. Last year, he swiped 103. Is 200 really a feasible goal? "I mean, it's possible," the shortstop said. "I think 144 is possible, but I'm not saying I'm going to go out and get 144. I knew [103] would be tough to double, but I didn't set any goals. I just want to get better, come work on my jump, and whatever happens, happens." So far, it's happening. Quickly. Hamilton, the Reds' top prospect, stole three more bases Monday -- his 50th, 51st and 52nd thefts of the season -- as Class A Advanced Bakersfield got past Inland Empire, 6-2. Can Hamilton really challenge Donnell Nixon's "crime wave" of 1983, when the former Major Leaguer stole 144 in 135 games for that same Bakersfield team? Hamilton would end up dashing two-and-a-half miles if he makes a run at that mark. And that hinges on if the Reds can resist the urge to promote Hamilton this summer. "Every couple days I look back and see, compare how I'm doing compared to last year, and you can see it's a real big jump," said Hamilton, who is ranked No. 30 among MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects. "It gives me a bunch of confidence in knowing I'm improving every year and getting better." Hamilton currently leads all of professional baseball in steals. He has over twice as many as Major League steals leader Emilio Bonifacio (20) and seems to be on pace to challenge Nixon's mark. Nixon, whose brother Otis also played in the Majors, spent parts of four seasons in the bigs with Seattle, San Francisco and Baltimore but never came close to replicating the speed he showed in the summer of '83. Hamilton's really been on the move lately. He's stolen 10 bases in his last six games, had a streak of 15 steals in seven games from April 22-29, swiped four on April 26 and hasn't gone more than three consecutive games all season without a swipe. Getting the milestone 50th steal wasn't exactly hanging over Hamilton's head, but coming into Monday's game, he knew he was close. "It was on my mind, but I mean, it wasn't like, 'OK, I need to get to 50,'" he said. "I just go out there, do what you gotta do, get bases." Hamilton singled and stole second in the first inning, hit a two-out single and swiped second again in the fourth and plated Theo Bowe with a base hit before taking second in the eighth. His Blaze teams have enjoyed watching the show too. "It's the confidence, it hasn't gone. I get thrown out a couple times, more times than I want, so I know I have to get better on the jumps," said the Mississippi native, who's been thrown out 11 times. "But my teammates love it, it helps me out, and it's cool to have the confidence behind me from my teammates. They boost me to steal, they're still behind me." What's it like stealing three or four bases in a game? "It feels good, knowing I can steal bases like that," said Hamilton, who was encouraged to run during previous Spring Trainings spent with former big leaguers Delino DeShields and Joe Morgan. "Most times guys don't like to draw walks, and I'm walking more this year, so I know if I can get on base, I can steal a bag. The main thing is trying to get on base." Last season in the Midwest League, Hamilton had 133 strikeouts and 52 walks in 135 games. This year, in 47 contests, he's struck out 37 times while drawing 22 walks. When he hears or reads about people saying he whiffs too much or isn't the ideal leadoff man, it only makes him more determined. "Every day I'm just hearing how I can't hit or stuff like that, and it motivates me to get my hitting better," said Hamilton, who is batting .316. "I'm shortening up more than I did last year, putting the ball in play and not striking out so much. Shortening up is helping me out." As far as the record goes, Nixon will probably retain his mark as Hamilton's numbers -- he's got a .384 on-base percentage -- will probably prompt the Reds to move him to Double-A Pensacola before the season is over. Some Reds fans wouldn't mind seeing the speedster up in the Majors later this year too. "I have no idea, I don't talk to [the Reds] like that. I keep coming out, showing them here every day that I'm working," Hamilton said of a potential promotion. "They want to see if I can adjust, how I get through this season. I'm not going to worry about when I'm struggling or playing well, they want to see if I can do it every day. That's the main key to moving up." So far, Hamilton has been as advertised and more.

Final: Huntsville 8, Tennessee 4 Huntsville Box Score Well it's too bad Nashville isn't playing Iowa or else we could have went for the organization sweep against the Cubs today. I have a soft spot for pitchers that can hit so obviously Josh Stinson has grown on me quickly. Josh went 5IP today allowing 3H, 3BB, and 1ER against 3SO while throwing 47 of 88 pitches for strikes and posting a 8:0 ratio (everyone should know I'm referring to GO:FO by now). 2 of the 3 hits came in the first inning when a single and then a ground rule double put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, but Josh limited the damage to a single run. Danial Meadows hasn't been sharp in his return to AA, he allowed another run today during his 1 inning appearance. Darren Byrd allowed 2 runs, both unearned, in his 1.2IP and Jesus Sanchez bailed out Byrd in the 8th and then sat the Smokies down in order in the 9th. The box score lists him with a save but that seems to be an error unless the tying run being on-deck in the 8th matters? I thought that was just the 9th? Why do I care? The Stars pumped out 13 hits and posted a 5 run 2nd which was all they would need to secure the victory. Lee Haydel continued his excellent 2012 campaign going 4-5 this evening, Lee doesn't have the power of your typical LF but his contact skills are intriguing. Jason Jaramillo went 2-5 as did Kentrail Davis, with Davis adding a double. Josh Prince and Scooter Gennett both doubled, the double extended Scooter's hit streak to 11 games, he's batted .417 over that span. Unfortunately Gennett also committed his 7th error on a missed catch, the errors have come much more frequently here in May for Scooter. Prince stole his 14th base of the season and I would have never guessed prior to the season that he'd be out OPSing Kentrail Davis through the first 2 months, .686 vs .665. Huntsville Play By Play The 5 run 2nd. Huntsville Top of the 2nd Domnit Bolivar singles on a line drive to left fielder Rebel Ridling. Jason Jaramillo grounds out, second baseman Matthew Cerda to first baseman Justin Bour. Domnit Bolivar to 2nd. Kentrail Davis doubles (10) on a fly ball to center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha. Domnit Bolivar scores. Lee Haydel singles on a fly ball to left fielder Rebel Ridling. Kentrail Davis scores. Josh Stinson out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Dae-Eun Rhee to second baseman Matthew Cerda. Lee Haydel to 2nd. With Josh Prince batting, wild pitch by Dae-Eun Rhee, Lee Haydel to 3rd. Josh Prince walks. With Tommy Manzella batting, Josh Prince steals (14) 2nd base. Tommy Manzella singles on a ground ball to shortstop Logan Watkins. Lee Haydel scores. Josh Prince to 3rd. Scooter Gennett doubles (10) on a fly ball to center fielder Jae-Hoon Ha. Josh Prince scores. Tommy Manzella scores. Hunter Morris grounds out, first baseman Justin Bour to second baseman Matthew Cerda to pitcher Dae-Eun Rhee. Darren Byrd's 8th, he certainly didn't help his own cause after the error. Tennessee Bottom of the 8th Junior Lake pops out to second baseman Scooter Gennett. Justin Bour walks. Rebel Ridling reaches on force attempt, missed catch error by second baseman Scooter Gennett, assist to third baseman Domnit Bolivar. Justin Bour to 2nd. With Matthew Cerda batting, wild pitch by Darren Byrd, Justin Bour to 3rd. Rebel Ridling to 2nd. Matthew Cerda strikes out swinging. Luis Flores singles on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. Justin Bour scores. Rebel Ridling scores. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Elliot Soto replaces Brian Schlitter. Elliot Soto singles on a line drive to center fielder Josh Prince. Luis Flores to 2nd. With Michael Burgess batting, wild pitch by Darren Byrd, Luis Flores to 3rd. Elliot Soto to 2nd. Michael Burgess walks. Pitcher Change: Jesus Sanchez replaces Darren Byrd, batting 9th. Jae-Hoon Ha strikes out swinging.

I sure hope YG is around for the DSL, I don't recall a post from him in over a month? In fact I just checked the member page and he hasn't logged into the site since 4/28.

Marte hits first Minor League slam Pirates prospect continues resurgence in Indy's 9-4 romp By Sam Dykstra / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/27/Av6ICJjS.jpg Starling Marte leads the International League with five triples. (Carl Kline/MiLB.com) Starling Marte has achieved a lot in his six-year Minor League career. He set a single-season franchise record for Double-A Altoona with 178 hits last year. He led the Eastern League in batting (.332), hits, doubles (38) and outfield assists (18). And he was named MLB.com's No. 35 overall prospect heading into this season. But he had never hit a grand slam. That changed Sunday. Marte slugged a grand slam to cap a seven-run ninth inning as the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians rallied for a 9-4 victory over the Louisville Bats. Trailing, 4-2, the Indians had six straight batters reach base to start the ninth. Jordy Mercer hit a two-run homer before Marte slugged his third longball of the season and first since April 29. "He's got unbelievable power," Mercer said. "You saw a glimpse of it right there. That ball still hasn't landed yet. We strung together four, five, six at-bats in a row, and I think that's what it takes to come back. Then you get a big knock like Marte does and it puts the game out of reach." The slam gave Marte his fourth multi-hit effort in five games, a span during which the 23-year-old center fielder is 9-for-23 to raise his batting average 22 points to .261. That streak follows a week-long stretch in which Marte hit .115 (3-for-26) with eight strikeouts in seven games. The Pirates' No. 3 prospect also missed four games with a hand injury after getting hit by a pitch on May 6. The ninth-inning rally got Indians starter Jeff Locke off the hook. The Bucs' No. 9 prospect recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. Reds' No. 6 prospect Neftali Soto went 2-for-3 with a solo homer for the Bats.

Cubs' Rizzo exits with sore right wrist PCL home run leader replaced by pinch-hitter in sixth inning By Daren Smith / MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/27/J5HFv4ol.jpg Anthony Rizzo has 10 homers and 23 RBIs in 26 games this month. (Allison Rhoades/MiLB.com) Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs' top prospect who leads the Pacific Coast League in homers and slugging percentage, left Sunday's game due to a sore right wrist. Rizzo delivered a two-run double in the first inning of Triple-A Iowa's 5-1 win at Memphis, then grounded out to end the second and took a called third strike in the fourth. He left for a pinch-hitter in the sixth, fueling speculation he might be promoted to the Major Leagues. But the Chicago Cubs later issued a statement that said Rizzo is listed as day-to-day with a sore wrist. The 22-year-old first baseman has been abusing PCL pitching for the second season in a row. He leads the league with 17 homers, a .713 slugging percentage, 30 extra-base hits, 129 total bases and shares the top spot with 46 RBIs. He also ranks fifth with a .354 batting average. On Tuesday, MLB.com's No. 32 prospect tied an Iowa team record by scoring five runs. He also collected three hits and three RBIs in an 18-8 rout of Tacoma. Even Chicago manager Dale Sveum conceded Rizzo has little left to prove in the Minor Leagues. "He's done everything he can down there, but once again, when you bring somebody up like that, he has to play every day. That's the million-dollar question. How do we get that playing time?" Sveum told MLB.com earlier this month.

Final:Wisconsin 3, Peoria 1 Rattlers win third straight in Peoria Wisconsin is 5-1 in first six games of 13-game road trip By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers beat the Peoria Chiefs 3-1 on Memorial Day at Peoria Chiefs Stadium. It was the third win in a row for the Rattlers, who are 5-1 in the first six games of their current 13-game road trip. Max Walla broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the eighth inning and Seth Harvey escaped jams in the eighth and ninth innings to get the Rattlers to fifteen games over the .500 mark. Rafael Neda gave the Rattlers (33-18) a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Peoria starting pitcher Jose Rosario struck out the first two batters he faced in the inning. Carlos George kept the inning going by dropping in a bloop single to center. Neda followed with a line drive to the gap in left-center. George scored easily from first base on the double by Neda. The Chiefs (22-29) tied the game by scoring a run without a hit in the bottom of the sixth. Rattlers starting pitcher Matt Miller walked Zeke DeVoss with one out. Miller threw wildly to first on a pickoff throw and allowed DeVoss to go to second. DeVoss would steal third and score the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Wes Darvill. Neda started a rally in the top of the eighth inning when he was hit by a pitch from Peoria reliever Austin Reed hit him to lead off the inning. Adrian Williams dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt to move pinch runner John Dishon to second base. Walla grounded a single through the right side of the infield with two outs and Dishon scored without a play to make it 2-1 Wisconsin. Peoria threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning as reliever Michael Strong walked a pair of runners with one out. Closer Seth Harvey came on and got a strikeout and a fly ball to left to get out of the jam and keep the Rattlers up by a run. Nick Ramirez padded Wisconsin's lead with a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth. The tape-measure shot by Ramirez cleared the batter's eye in center field and made the score 3-1. Harvey allowed a pair of singles to start the ninth inning and a sacrifice bunt moved the tying runs into scoring position. Pin-Chien Chen looked like he would tie the game with a sinking line drive to right, but Walla made a spectacular diving catch to deny Chen and record the second out of the inning. Then, Harvey got the final out on a routine grounder to shortstop for his eleventh save of the season. The final game of the four game series at Peoria is Tuesday night. Drew Gagnon (3-1, 3.08) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria has Kyler Burke (1-2, 2.31) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. HOME RUN: WIS: Nick Ramirez (2nd, 0 on in 9th inning off Austin Reed, 0 out) WP: Michael Strong (1-0) LP: Austin Reed (2-3) SAVE: Seth Harvey (11) TIME: 2:26 ATTN: 1,287 Wisconsin Box Score Matt Miller's last 10 games looks like a rollercoaster if you plot it on a graph but he put up his second consecutive good outing in a row. His peripherals were upside down giving up 4BB while only getting 2SO, but it's tough nitpick 6 innings without an earned run. Michael Strong also had upside down secondary numbers, in fact the Rattler pitchers walked 7 and only struck out 4 on the day, but this team just finds a way to keep on winning. Seth Harvey pulled out his best Bob Wickman intimation getting into and out of the jam with the help of the excellent defense described above to preserve the victory. In addition to his diving catch Max Walla also had an OF assist and went 2-4 with a double at the plate. He is knocking on the door of the .270 barrier and his OBP is currenly .377, over 100 points higher than his average. The only problem in his entire line is his .338 SLG, once his power comes around prospect guru's will start to take notice. Carlos George had the other multi hit game putting up a 2-4 effort. Gregory Hopkins stole his 5th base and other than Miller's error the Rattlers played clean defense. This team has a been a joy to follow this season. One last note, the opposing starter pitcher Cubs prospect Jose Rosario is kind of an interesting guy. He has a big arm and is already in his 5th professional season so I'm not sure he's prospect worth following today, but he is the kind of guy that could break out and turn heads in the future. Here is BA's take on him from the winter when they had him rated the #22 prospect in the Cubs system: Wisconsin Play By Play The T-Rats missed a chance out of the gate. Wisconsin Top of the 1st Chadwin Stang grounds out, third baseman Wes Darvill to first baseman Ryan Cuneo. Max Walla doubles (6) on a line drive to left fielder Oliver Zapata. Jason Rogers grounds out, shortstop Javier Baez to first baseman Ryan Cuneo. Max Walla to 3rd. Nick Ramirez grounds out, second baseman Zeke DeVoss to first baseman Ryan Cuneo. Miller did a nice job working around a lead off double in the 4th. Peoria Bottom of the 4th Zeke DeVoss doubles (9) on a fly ball to left fielder Jason Rogers. Taiwan Easterling strikes out swinging. Wes Darvill walks. Paul Hoilman pops out to shortstop Yadiel Rivera on the infield fly rule. Ryan Cuneo grounds into a force out, second baseman Adrian Williams to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Wes Darvill out at 2nd.

Final: Wisconsin 3, Peoria 2 Rivera's ninth inning homer stuns Peoria Rattlers rally to beat Chiefs 3-2 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were 0-12 in games that they trailed after eight innings. Yadiel Rivera made sure that record didn't reach 0-13. The Milwaukee Brewers shortstop prospect hit a long, two-run homer with one out in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday at Peoria Chiefs Stadium to turn a 2-1 Chiefs lead into a 3-2 Timber Rattlers victory. Jacob Barnes tossed solid relief to keep the Rattlers within striking distance and Seth Harvey picked up save number ten as Wisconsin reached 14 games over .500 with the comeback win. The teams traded runs in the early innings. Peoria (22-28) scored first. Zeke DeVoss started the Chiefs half of the third inning with a double. Taiwan Easterling followed with a triple to right-center to score DeVoss. Peoria was primed for a bigger inning, but Rattlers pitcher Will West struck out the next two batters and left Easterling stranded at third by getting the final out on a groundball. Wisconsin (32-18) responded in the top of the fourth. Greg Hopkins doubled to left-center with one out and took third on an error. Cameron Garfield singled through the drawn-in infield to get Hopkins home with the tying run. Easterling would double to start the Peoria fifth inning. He scored the run that put the Chiefs up 2-1 on a one out single by Ryan Cuneo. Barnes relieved West after the single by Cuneo and got a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Barnes would toss 3-2/3 scoreless innings in relief, allow one hit, and strike out three to keep the Rattlers down a run. Wisconsin had an opportunity to at least tie the game in the top of the eighth inning. Chadwin Stang reached on an error and Brandon Macias was hit by a pitch to start the inning. But, Jason Rogers grounded into a double play and a fly ball of the bat of Greg Hopkins was run down at the wall to keep Peoria up 2-1. Yao-Lin Wang took over for Peoria in the bottom of the ninth inning and struck out the first batter of the inning. Max Walla was next and he lined single to left. The base hit by Walla extended his hitting streak to seven games and brought Rivera to the plate. Wang missed with the first pitch to the Rattlers shortstop. His next pitch was right in Rivera's wheelhouse. Rivera hit a deep, towering drive to left that went out of the stadium, hit in the middle of the street, and came to rest just short of a building across the street. The two-run blast was the sixth homer of the season for Rivera and it put the Rattlers up 3-2. Harvey, Wisconsin's closer, entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and set down the Chiefs in order to collect his tenth save of the season. Game three of the series between the Timber Rattlers and Chiefs in a Memorial Day matinee. Wisconsin has Matt Miller (3-4, 4.24) as their scheduled starting pitcher. Peoria have Jose Rosario (3-5, 5.65) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 2:00pm at Peoria Chiefs Stadium. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. HOME RUN: WIS: Yadiel Rivera (6th, 1 on in 9th inning off Yao-Lin Wang, 1 out) WP: Jacob Barnes (2-1) LP: Yao-Lin Wang (2-2) SAVE: Seth Harvey (10) TIME: 2:45 ATTN: 1,094 Nine after 9 for May 27, 2012 Wisconsin Box Score Wisconsin Play By Play

Nine after 9 for May 26, 2012

Final: Huntsville 12, Birmingham 4 Huntsville Box Score Hiram Burgos had fantastic game going through 6 innings when it looked like he ran out of gas in the 7th giving up a walk and 2 singles to start the inning before being lifted for Brandon Kintzler who then allowed all of Hiram's inherited runners to score. His line of 6IP, 6H, 1ER, 2BB, and 8SO entering the 7th looks a heck of a lot better than the 6IP, 8H, 4ER, 3BB, and 8SO line after those 3 batters in the 7th. Hiram threw 102 pitches, 61 for strikes, and posted a 4:5 GO:FO ratio. Santo Manzanillo loaded the bases in the 8th giving up a single and 2 walks after he had 2 out but got out of the inning unscathed with a strike out. Jesus Sanchez pitched a clean 9th to close out the victory. The real story of this game was the offensive explosion in the 3rd and the Stars pounded out 14 hits over the course of the game. Every Huntsville batter recorded a hit and the top of the order was fantastic: Josh Prince went 1-3 with a HR and a walk, Tommy Manzella 2-3 with a 2B and 2BB, Scooter Gennett extended his hit streak going 1-3 with 2BB, and Hunter Morris went 2-5 with a 3B. At the bottom of the order Kentrail Davis went 2-5 and Juan Sanchez 2-4, the 8-4 hitters were on base consistently all night long. Manzella had his 2nd error (fielding), Anderson De La Rosa his 4th passed ball, but Gennett did collect an unassisted DP. Huntsville Play By Play After scoring 1 in the first and 2 in the 2nd, the 8 run 3rd put the game away. Enjoy! Huntsville Bottom of the 3rd Domnit Bolivar singles on a soft fly ball to right fielder Jon Gaston. Jay Gibbons singles on a ground ball to right fielder Jon Gaston. Domnit Bolivar to 3rd. Anderson De La Rosa singles on a line drive to center fielder Jared Mitchell. Domnit Bolivar scores. Jay Gibbons to 2nd. Kentrail Davis singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jared Mitchell. Jay Gibbons scores. Anderson De La Rosa to 3rd. Kentrail Davis to 2nd on the throw. Pitcher Change: Nevin Griffith replaces Matt Wickswat. With Juan Sanchez batting, wild pitch by Nevin Griffith, Anderson De La Rosa scores. Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Juan Sanchez singles on a soft fly ball to center fielder Jared Mitchell. Kentrail Davis scores. Josh Prince grounds into a force out, second baseman Tyler Saladino to shortstop Erik Morrison. Juan Sanchez out at 2nd. Josh Prince to 1st. Tommy Manzella walks. Josh Prince to 2nd. Scooter Gennett walks. Josh Prince to 3rd. Tommy Manzella to 2nd. Hunter Morris triples (2) on a fly ball to center fielder Jared Mitchell. Josh Prince scores. Tommy Manzella scores. Scooter Gennett scores. Domnit Bolivar grounds out, third baseman Corey Smith to first baseman Seth Loman. Hunter Morris scores. Jay Gibbons pops out to third baseman Corey Smith.

Final: Wisconsin 11, Peoria 3 Hopkins and Rogers go on rampage in Rattlers win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - Greg Hopkins, Jason Rogers, and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers seemed a little perturbed that their six-game winning streak ended in a walkoff loss at Quad Cities on Friday night. The Timber Rattlers banged out 16 hits and defeated the Peoria Chiefs 11-3 Saturday night at Peoria Chiefs Stadium. Hopkins and Rogers led the onslaught for Wisconsin. Hopkins homered twice, doubled, and drove in six runs. and Rogers had four hits, including a home run, and three RBI to move Wisconsin to 3-1 in the first four games of their 13-game road trip. Hopkins gave the Timber Rattlers (31-18) a 1-0 lead in the second inning. His double drove in Nick Ramirez from second base. Later in the inning, Yadiel Rivera knocked in Hopkins with an infield grounder. Wisconsin went up 3-0 in the third on an RBI single by Rogers. One out later, Hopkins hit his first home run of the night, a two-run shot to left, and the Rattlers pushed their advantage to 5-0. Peoria (22-27) got to starting pitcher David Goforth for a run in the bottom of the third on a two-out solo homer by Marco Hernandez. Hopkins struck again in the Rattlers half of the fifth inning. Brandon Macias singled and Rogers doubled to set the table. Hopkins drilled the three-run homer to left to put Wisconsin up 8-1. Rogers got his turn to go deep in the sixth inning. Macias walked with one out and Rogers crushed his sixth homer of the season. The deep drive to left-center put the Rattlers up 10-1. Goforth gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Zeke DeVoss and an RBI grounder by Wes Darvill. Goforth didn't walk a batter and struck out four over six innings before turning the game over to reliever Chad Pierce. Chadwin Stang made it 11-3 for the Rattlers with an RBI single in the top of the seventh. Pierce pitched three scoreless innings and struck out three to pick up his first professional save. Game two of the four game series is Sunday afternoon. Will West (1-0, 3.60) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Michael Jensen (4-2, 2.92) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time at Peoria Chiefs Stadium is 2:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. HOME RUNS: WIS: Greg Hopkins (4th, 1 on in 3rd inning off Gerardo Concepcion, 2 outs) Greg Hopkins (5th, 2 on in 5th inning off Gerardo Concepcion, 1 out) Jason Rogers (6th, 1 on in 6th inning off Felix Pena, 1 out) PEO: Marco Hernandez (2nd, 0 on in 3rd inning off David Goforth, 2 out) WP: David Goforth (4-3) LP: Gerardo Concepcion (1-4) SAVE: Chad Pierce (1) TIME: 2:46 ATTN: 3,501 Wisconsin Box Score Just. Whup. The. Cubs! HOOAH! This game was a pleasure to listen to, the Rattlers just kept scoring runs. David Goforth might be the streakiest pitcher I recall covering and while he gave up 3 runs, he was basically on cruise all the way until the 6th inning when he then gives up triple, single, WP all right in a row to start the inning and you're left thinking "here we go again". Fortunately tonight he settled down and got out of it allowing just the 2 runs ending up with a final line of 6IP, 5H, 3R, 0BB, 2WP, 1HBP, 1HR, and 4SO while posting an 8:2 GO:FO ratio. Chad Pierce pitched the final 3 innings to earn his first save allowing a hit and a walk against 3 strike outs. Chris usually covers the offense in great detail so I'll just provide the lines while I wait on the game story. Chadwin Stang went 3-6, Gregory Hopkins finished 3-5 with the 2HRs and a double, Jason Rogers went 4-5 with a 2B and HR, and Yadiel Rivera went 2-5. Every T-Rat had a hit except for poor Rafael Neda who's having an extremely tough season as he seems to just get pounded by deflections and bad hops every time he catches in addition to his offensive struggles. Stang was caught stealing for the 4th time, Max Walla was picked off 1st, and John Dishon stole his 7th base of the season. The opposing pitcher Gerardo Concepcion is a guy whom I've highlighted in past LRs as pretty much everyone is continually bashing the Cubs for his signing. For those that didn't read those previous articles the Cubs gave him a 5 year MLB deal (yes a major league contract) for $6 million despite his very average stuff. A situation like this paints the Arnett drama from a couple of a years ago in a completely different light. Wisconsin Play By Play David Goforth's night. Peoria Bottom of the 1st Zeke DeVoss hit by pitch. Taiwan Easterling grounds into double play, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to second baseman Gregory Hopkins to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Zeke DeVoss out at 2nd. Wes Darvill strikes out swinging. Peoria Bottom of the 2nd Paul Hoilman called out on strikes. Ryan Cuneo flies out to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Yasiel Balaguert grounds out, third baseman Brandon Macias to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Peoria Bottom of the 3rd Oliver Zapata grounds out, pitcher David Goforth to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Yaniel Cabezas pops out to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Marco Hernandez homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Zeke DeVoss singles on a line drive to left fielder John Dishon. With Taiwan Easterling batting, wild pitch by David Goforth, . Zeke DeVoss out at 3rd, catcher Rafael Neda to third baseman Brandon Macias. Peoria Bottom of the 4th Taiwan Easterling flies out to right fielder Max Walla. Wes Darvill grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Paul Hoilman strikes out swinging. Peoria Bottom of the 5th Ryan Cuneo grounds out, second baseman Gregory Hopkins to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Yasiel Balaguert strikes out swinging. Oliver Zapata singles on a ground ball to left fielder John Dishon. Yaniel Cabezas lines out to right fielder Max Walla. Peoria Bottom of the 6th Marco Hernandez triples (3) on a line drive to right fielder Max Walla. Zeke DeVoss singles on a ground ball to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Marco Hernandez scores. With Taiwan Easterling batting, wild pitch by David Goforth, Zeke DeVoss to 2nd. Taiwan Easterling grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Zeke DeVoss to 3rd. Wes Darvill grounds out, second baseman Gregory Hopkins to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Zeke DeVoss scores. Paul Hoilman grounds out, third baseman Brandon Macias to first baseman Nick Ramirez.

I second this notion, he's been too good of a player not to earn a bench role on a MLB roster someplace and I've always admired his perseverance. He just keeps chasing his dream and that's about all you can ask of any ball player.