TheCrew07

Ha that's exactly what I thought, DM is like a politician... if he's says not motivated or going to do something then that's exactly what happens. Maybe a left coaster will step up and volunteer to cover AAA for the LRs next year. I do however refuse to give up all hope until it's actually a done deal that the Brewers are leaving Nashville, maybe I'm just in bitter denial.

ITS ALL RRR FAULT What no lame CC @ jsonline comment?... slipping...

Beloit beats Wisconsin 6-2 Rattlers lose game and ground in Wild Card chase By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers BELOIT, WI - Oakland Athletics first baseman Nate Freiman went 3-for-3 with a homer, a double, and two RBI to help the Beloit Snappers defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-2 on Saturday night at Pohlman Field. Wisconsin's loss, coupled with wins by Peoria and Quad Cities, sliced the Timber Rattlers lead in the chase for the final Western Division playoff spot to a single game. Beloit (54-83 overall, 24-43 second half) grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Freiman, who was sent down to Beloit to make room on Oakland's major league roster for starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz, started the inning with a broken-bat bloop hit just inside the left field line on an 0-2 pitch against Wisconsin starter Javier Salas. Salas got the first out, but Michael Soto lined a two-run home run over the wall in left-center for a 2-0 lead. Freiman was sent down to Beloit instead of Oakland's Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento because the Snappers season ends on Monday and he can rejoin the A's on Tuesday instead of waiting ten days to return to Oakland. Wisconsin (71-66, 35-34) threatened to score in the top of the fourth inning. Beloit starter Joey Wagman retired the first ten batters he faced before Chris McFarland singled with one out in the fourth. Wagman hit Clint Coulter with a pitch. Then, David Denson singled sharply to right to load the bases. But, Wagman struck out the next two hitters to maintain the 2-0 advantage for the Snappers. Phil Pohl reached on a one out single in the bottom of the fourth inning. Branden Cogswell was next and sent a grounder to short, but a slight bobble took the force play at second out of play and Cogswell was thrown out at first to allow Pohl into scoring position. Melvin Mercedes lined the next pitch into right field for a single to drive in Pohl for a 3-0 lead. Omar Garcia reached on an infield single with two outs in the top of the fifth and Johnny Davis followed with a single to right. Davis sent Garcia to third and extended his current hitting streak to nine games with that single. But, Chris McFarland's line drive to right-center hung up for Justin Higley to run down and catch for the final out. Freiman, who had doubled in the third inning, stepped up in the bottom of the fifth inning after a leadoff single by Matt Chapman and sent a towering drive to left for a two-run home run and the Snappers were up 5-0. The Timber Rattlers got on the board in the top of the sixth inning. Wagman left with two outs and Michael Ratterree at second base. Taylor Brennan greeted reliever Sam Roberts with a line drive home run to center field to bring the Rattlers to within 5-2. Beloit added a run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cogswell reached on a two out single against reliever Chris Razo. Cogswell stole second to get into scoring position. Mercedes came through with another single to score Cogswell for a 6-2 lead. The Snappers would load the bases on a single and a hit batsman to bring Freiman back to the plate, but Razo would get a strikeout to end the inning. The Rattlers could not rally back against the Snappers. Wisconsin didn't have a base runner after the Brennan home run in the sixth inning. Roberts retired the final seven batters he faced. Joel Seddon came on and worked a perfect ninth inning to close out the game. The Western Division Wild Card is considerably tighter after the action on Saturday night. The Peoria Chiefs defeated the Kane County Cougars 4-2 in Kane County. The Quad Cities River Bandits also won on the road with a 5-1 victory at Burlington. Wisconsin still leads the Wild Card standings with a 35-33 record. The Chiefs and River Bandits are both just one game back at 34-34. There are two games left in the regular season. Game two of the series is Sunday afternoon at Pohlman Field. Tristan Archer (6-6, 3.62) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Snappers will send Hunter Adkins (1-5, 4.47) to the mound. Game time is 2:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. HOME RUNS: WIS: Taylor Brennan (15th, 1 on in 6th inning off Sam Roberts, 2 out) BEL: Michael Soto (6th, 1 on in 2nd inning off Javier Salas, 1 out) Nate Freiman (1st, 1 on in 5th inning off Javier Salas, 0 out) WP: Joey Wagman (2-2) LP: Javier Salas (1-2) TIME: 2:31 ATTN: 2,712 Wisconsin Boxscore First I have no idea where the Kane County stuff came from yesterday's LR, I apologize, I knew better... Brandon Moore pitched well, the other 2 guys not so much. David Denson (2-4) posted the only multi-hit game as the Rattlers managed just 6 hits. The Rattlers have been struggling to regularly capitalize on opportunities lately and this was a big one: Wisconsin Top of the 4th Johnny Davis bunt pops out to first baseman Nate Freiman. Christopher McFarland singles on a ground ball to center fielder B. J. Boyd. Clint Coulter hit by pitch. Christopher McFarland to 2nd. David Denson singles on a line drive to right fielder Justin Higley. Christopher McFarland to 3rd. Clint Coulter to 2nd. Michael Ratterree strikes out swinging. Taylor Brennan called out on strikes. Wisconsin Recap

Sounds Eliminated From Playoff Contention With 3-1 Loss Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/3/8/89027838/cuts/Jason_Rogers_723_Large_u8pgxwq0_w8v8kgd8.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Nashville Sounds were eliminated from playoff contention as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Round Rock Express in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday evening at The Dell Diamond. Facing an elimination number of one, the Sounds' loss resulted in the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds winning the PCL American Conference Southern Division. Round Rock snapped a 1-1 tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to hang a defeat on the Sounds (76-66). The teams were quiet in the early going before Round Rock broke through for a run in the bottom of the fourth against Eric Marzec, who was called up from Double-A Huntsville to make a spot start for the Sounds. Jared Hoying blooped a one-out single to center then raced around to score when Brett Nicholas followed with a line-drive RBI double into the right field corner to give the Express a 1-0 lead. Nashville stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first three frames but finally got a run across in the fifth by taking advantage of a fielding error by Express third baseman Josh Wilson. After Eugenio Velez reached on a single and stole second, Wilson was unable to handle a Jason Rogers one-out grounder, allowing Velez to race home in unearned fashion to knot the score at 1-1. Marzec, who took a no-decision, turned in a solid outing, limiting Round Rock to one run on three hits over five innings of work. Jose De La Torre took over on the Nashville hill in the sixth and was immediately touched up by the Round Rock offense. Hoying led off with an infield single before hustling to third on a Nicholas single to right, which put runners on the corners with no outs. After fanning Jason Donald for the first out, Drew Robinson lofted a soft floater to shallow left field that plated both runners to give the Express a 3-1 lead. Round Rock closer Spencer Patton allowed a leadoff single to Pete Orr in the seventh, which extended the infielder's hitting streak to a season-best seven games, before striking out Velez, Hermida, and Rogers in succession to close out the win. The teams continue the series with a 6:05 p.m. contest on Sunday evening, the penultimate game of the 2014 season. Right-hander Taylor Jungmann (8-6, 4.10) will toe the slab for the Sounds and face Round Rock southpaw Lisalverto Bonilla (3-2, 4.39). Nashville Game 2 Boxscore Eric Marzec has pitched well in his limited AAA opportunities, most of which came today. Taylor Jungmann looks to close out the season on a high note tomorrow. Nashville Game 2 Recap Nashville Game 2 Gameday

Buckner, Gomez Lead Sounds To 5-2 Win In Twinbill Opener Clark Homers Again For Nashville In Victory Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/4/6/78466946/cuts/Hector_Gomez_519_1_Large_fpnfh2vr_mziy8nhz.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) ROUND ROCK, Texas - Shortstop Hector Gomez returned from the disabled list and went 3-for-4 to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 5-2 victory over the Round Rock Express in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday evening at The Dell Diamond. Billy Buckner (1-1) twirled a quality start to pick up his first victory in four outings since joining the Sounds. The right-hander held Round Rock to two runs on three hits in six frames of action. Matt Clark (2-for-4) homered for the second straight game to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. The blast, off Express starter Edwar Cabrera, was Clark's 15th of the year, which ties the slugger with Gomez and Jeremy Hermida for the team lead. Round Rock rallied to grab a 2-1 lead in the fourth against Buckner when Luis Sardinas delivered a two-out, two-run single to center to plate J.R. Towles (walk) and Corey Patton (single). The Sounds tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth but missed a chance at a bigger output after loading the bases with no outs. With the bags full following a pair of walks and a Gomez bunt single, Cabrera retired the next two batters before Logan Schafer delivered a game-tying, two-out single to center. Gomez, who was activated from the disabled list prior to the game, continued his solid contest in the fifth when he pushed the visitors back in front by a 3-2 margin with a two-out flare to center that plated Sean Halton. Nashville padded its lead in the sixth against Round Rock reliever Nate Adcock. After the right-hander hit a batter, the Sounds drew consecutive walks to load the bases for Jason Rogers (2-for-4), who made it a 4-2 game with an RBI single to center. Halton later contributed a sacrifice fly to up the lead to three. Rob Wooten closed out the win with a scoreless seventh to nail down his 14th save of the year. Nashville Game 1 Boxscore Nashville Game 1 Recap Nashville Game 1 Boxscore

Rattlers fall to Bees in regular season home finale Burlington beats Wisconsin 4-2 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/8/4/92184484/cuts/Brennan_8_29_z9bjz1uu_53naqpa0.jpg Taylor Brennan rounds third and heads for home in the third inning to score Wisconsin's first run of the game on Friday night against the Burlington Bees. (Ann Mollica/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers missed early opportunities on Friday night against the Burlington Bees and a 4-2 loss to the Bees at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium cost the Rattlers an opportunity to close in on a playoff spot. Eric Aguilera put the Bees (67-69 overall, 29-28 second half) up 1-0 in the top of the first inning with a two-out ground rule double to right center field to score Bo Way from second base. The run was unearned. Way had singled to start the game and moved to second on a passed ball. He was still at second with two outs when Aguilera hit his ground rule double. Way singled with one out in the top of the third inning. Kody Eaves followed with a home run to deep right-center and Burlington was up 3-0. The Rattlers (71-65, 35-31) clawed their way back to within a run with single runs in the third and fifth innings. Clint Coulter singled with two outs in the bottom of the third inning to drive Taylor Brennan home from second base for the first Wisconsin run off Burlington starter Victor Alcantara. In the fifth, the David Denson was at third and Coulter was at first with one out. Coulter took off early to draw a throw from pitcher Victor Alcantara. But, the Bees starter went into his delivery and stopped before turning to throw for a balk to let Denson score. The Rattlers had pulled to within 3-2 on the play and had Coulter in scoring position, but Alcantara got out of the inning with a strikeout and a grounder to third. Rafael Neda drew a leadoff walk, the fifth free pass of game issued by Alcantara, in the bottom of the sixth. Alcantara got the first out before turning the game over to the Bees bullpen. Brian Loconsole entered and got a double play on the first pitch he threw to end the inning. Alcantara allowed six hits, walked five, and threw two wild pitches in his 5-1/3 innings, but only allowed two runs. He left with a chance for his seventh win of the season. Johnny Davis singled with one out in the seventh inning, but was left stranded at second base. Burlington tacked on an insurance run in the top of the eighth and it was an unearned run, too. Way reached on a single with one out. Eaves was next and his grounder to first was missed for an error to put runners at the corners. Brandon Bayardi's fly ball to right field was deep enough to score Way from third base for a 4-2 lead. Loconsole struck out the side in order in the eighth and left in favor of Burlington closer Alan Busenitz for the bottom of the ninth. Busenitz, who retired all six batters he faced in a two-inning save of a 1-0 Burlington win over the Rattlers on Wednesday, set down the first two batters he faced in the ninth on Friday. Taylor Brennan drew a two-out walk to keep the game going, but Busenitz got the final out with a strikeout. The Bees won the season series from the Timber Rattlers with ten wins in the nineteen meetings between the teams this season. Wisconsin went just 4-7 against the Bees at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium this season. In the Western Division Wild Card race, the two teams behind the Timber Rattlers were playing doubleheaders on Friday night. The Quad Cities River Bandits split a twinbill at home with the Clinton LumberKings. Quad Cities lost game one 1-0 and won game two 6-4. The Chiefs won game one of their doubleheader at home with the Beloit Snappers 10-4. There was a rain delay of over two hours between the end of game one and the start of game two at Dozer Park. The Chiefs were trailing 4-0 early in game two when this story was published. The River Bandits are 33-34 and two games behind the Timber Rattlers. If Peoria comes back to win the nightcap of their doubleheader, they will be 34-33 and one game behind the Rattlers. If the Chiefs does not come back to win the second game of the doubleheader, they will be 33-34 and two games behind the Rattlers. There are three games remaining in the regular season. Peoria will hit the road for their final three games of the regular season to face the 90-47 Kane County Cougars on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. The River Bandits final three games of the regular season will also be on the road as they head to Burlington for a series against the Bees, who made the playoffs as the first half Wild Card in the Western Division. The Rattlers are on to Beloit for a series with the Snappers at Pohlman Field. The Timber Rattlers hold the tie-breaker over both Quad Cities and Peoria if there is a tie with either team at the end of the regular season. If there is a three way tie between the teams at the end of the regular season, Peoria holds the tie-breaker. Game one of Wisconsin's three-game set at Beloit is Friday night. Javier Salas (1-1, 2.89) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Joey Wagman (1-2, 6.10) is set to start for the Snappers. Game time at Pohlman Field is 7:00pm. Tune in for the action on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm. HOME RUN: BUR: Kody Eaves (9th, 1 on in 3rd inning off Preston Gainey, 1 out) WP: Victor Alcantara (7-6) LP: Preston Gainey (5-9) TIME: 3:19 ATTN: 5,920 Wisconsin Boxscore I wanted this one, closing out the season at Kane County is a tall order as they are far and away the best team in the league with a 90-47 record coming into the final series. The pitching as a whole was good enough to win but the bats just couldn't push enough runs across. It hasn't matter who's caught lately, they've all had a PB or E, Rafael Neda had a PB tonight which cost the T-Rats a run in the 1st and a David Denson error cost the T-Rats another run in the 8th... those 2 gifted runs were the difference in the ball game. Taylor Brennan (2-4,BB), Johnny Davis (2-4), and Clint Coulter (2-4) accounted for 6 of the 7 Ratter hits. Wisconsin Recap Wisconsin Gameday

I don't know why I turned the sound on, first thing I hear is BA making excuses for Estrada's poor performance as the long man. *sigh*

Sounds Use Longball To Defeat Express, 7-4 Nashville Snaps Four-Game Skid, Stays Alive In Playoff Race Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/8/2/85814482/cuts/Jason_Rogers_627_3_z19d4h17_r7bqhtsh.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Nashville Sounds snapped a four-game skid with a 7-4 victory over the Round Rock Express on Friday evening at The Dell Diamond. With the victory, Nashville (75-65) stayed alive in the PCL American Conference Southern Division race. First-place Memphis held a late lead in its contest at New Orleans; with a win, the Redbirds would move their magic number to one to clinch the title. All seven Sounds runs on the night came via the longball, as Matt Clark, Logan Schafer, and Jason Rogers each went yard. Rogers paced the Sounds' offense with a 3-for-4 evening .The third baseman is batting .351 (34-for-97) with eight longballs during the month of August. The red-hot Clark spotted the Sounds a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he turned a Luke Jackson fastball into a two-run homer to right, the slugger's 14th big fly in 50 games with the club. Rogers, who had opened the frame with a single, also scored on the blast. Schafer tacked on a three-run blast of his own later in the frame, his third roundtripper in the last five games, to increase the visitors' lead to 5-0. Michael Blazek worked into and out of a bases-loaded jam in the home half of the second, striking out Josh Wilson looking for the third out to escape the inning unscathed. The longball show continued for the Sounds in the third when Rogers launched a massive two-run bomb to left off Jackson that cleared the upper deck seats. The third baseman's blast, which also plated Jeremy Hermida following a leadoff walk, was his 11th of the year and upped the Nashville advantage to 7-0. Jackson (1-3) was saddled with the loss after the Sounds touched him for seven runs on seven hits in his four frames of action. Round Rock left fielder Drew Robinson put the home team on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when he launched his first home run of the year, a two-run shot to right off Blazek that cut the lead to 7-2. The Express got another run back in the fifth when Jared Hoying (3-for-5) led off with a triple and later scored on a sacrifice fly to make it a 7-3 contest. Blazek, who finished one out shy of earning wins in back-to-back outings for the first time this season, held the Express to three runs in 4 2/3 innings. v Hoying struck again for Round Rock in the seventh, leading off the frame with a towering homer to right off Dustin Molleken. The outfielder's 26th blast of the year, and second in two nights against the Sounds, cut the Nashville lead to 7-4. Molleken (4-2) picked up the win with two innings of relief behind Blazek. Rob Wooten recorded the final four outs of the contest to notch his 13th save of the season for the Sounds. The teams continue the series with a 4:05 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday that will consist of a pair of seven-inning games. Right-hander Billy Buckner (4-6, 6.07) will start the opener for the Sounds to face left-hander Edwar Cabrera (2-2, 4.36). Nashville has not yet announced its starter for the nightcap, when the Express will start former Sound Zach Segovia (0-1, 19.64). Nashville Boxscore Logan Schafer (2-5,HR) has hit .300 in August, Jason Rogers (3-4,HR) continues his stellar season, and finally Hunter Morris (2-4,2B) had a nice day at the plate as well. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

Espinal's big night fuels Power comeback Pirates infielder goes 3-for-6 with homer, career-high seven RBIs

I never understand these stories... sad really that anyone would think about getting out of control with a bat yet there is 1 or 2 of these every single year, but it's sad for Seattle all the way around. Mariners' Montero involved in altercation Seattle farmhand restrained during confrontation with crosschecker edit. Spelling.

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet Chat (Aug. 29) With Josh Norris

Prospect Hot Sheet (Aug. 29): Flurry Of Power From Franco In The Team Photo

No I didn't it take it personally at all, I think criticism of the pick was justified at the time and remains as such and spun my personal experience into to try and appropriately frame my comments. I watched Jungmann pitch 3 times prior to his Brewer career which was an extremely small sample but in those 3 games he never threw a 4 seam FB above 94, his 2 seamer which he didn't locate well was 88-92, and he featured the curve that you feel was plus and I felt was fringe average as it wasn't a swing and miss pitch at all. I know we've discussed this in the past and you agree that I've been very consistent in my assessment Taylor from the start so it's not worth really debating a subjective rating of his curve. He's just not the type of pitcher I'm looking for in the 1st round but I'm risk taker, I think it's necessary, and I can understand where other people would want more of a sure thing. As to the rest of the comments: People can post what they want and choose to believe scouting reports, and while I'm as big on scouting reports as anyone, I don't like to use any single scouting report as my bible, I trust what I see, and that's what I saw. That's why I have access to my own Stalker gun, so I can go to games and get unfiltered information on my own, and that's also why I'm so big on video. The only prospect evaluator that thought Jungmann had plus stuff was Mayo from MLB.com and as I've said numerous times MLB.com and to a certain extent PG are coming at prospects from an entirely different perspective than I am. Both of those sites have a vested interest in selling any particular prospect's best attributes but for different reasons while I'm interested in the overall big picture for a player, I care about the minuses as much as the pluses. I don't hold Mayo in much regard as a prospect evaluator at all, over the years I've come to view him as a smoke blower. Similarly I'm not huge on Bernie Pleskoff from MLBPipeline, I've never written such glowing reviews of any player I've coached as he does for prospects he has no attachment to. My point is here is that the source is as an important to me as the information... I read it all, I'll even link it all, but I'm more interested in forming a consensus opinion and in my personal observations of players than using any player's most glowing scouting report as an accurate representation or baseline of who they are. Taylor Jungmann never profiled as a top of the rotation pitcher and still doesn't... I'm not going to use outliers as proof of anything, as in this 5' 9" position player became a HOF player or this pitcher took years to master his stuff so there's always chance. Of course there's always a chance, but what's actually realistic? Especially in this age of specialization? That's why I like 3 sport guys who flash the 3 things I'm looking for, because they likely have room to grow. A pitcher whom specializes, still doesn't have stuff, clean mechanics, and doesn't show any ascension as a pitcher coming out of college doesn't excite me at all. Look at Taylor's college career, he was the same guy all 3 years. I'm interested in both where a player came from and where they are going which is why I was so big on Aiken over the winter and then latched onto Freeland, Holmes, and Newcomb as the spring progressed. I've literally addressed the Jungmann topic dozens of times as well as my thoughts on the draft, a simple search will reveal all of those posts across the various forums here. I'm not going to rehash all of that again nor do I have any desire to get into another lengthy circular debate on subjective opinions so I'm going to respectfully step away from the conversation at this time.

Sounds Fall 10-7 In Series Opener Nashville Clubs Three Home Runs In Fourth Straight Defeat Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/2/4/75734824/cuts/Jeremy_Hermida_430_5_Large_s8h8vwn9_0m0nmlcd.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Nashville Sounds (74-65) had their losing streak extended to four games after a 10-7 loss to the Round Rock Express at the Dell Diamond on Thursday night. Matt Pagnozzi, Jeremy Hermida and Jason Rogers all homered in the contest to give the Sounds 27 homers in the last 18 games, but not enough to pick up the win. Hermida's solo blast, which erased an early 1-0 deficit in the top of the second, was his 15th of the season, tying him with Hector Gomez for the team lead. Round Rock responded immediately by scoring three runs off of Sounds starter Donovan Hand (4-8) in the bottom of the third. Hand finished the game by going three innings and allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits. After a slow start against Express starter Derek Holland, who was making a Major League rehab appearance, the Sounds offense came to life in the top of the fifth when Eugenio Velez knocked in Adam Weisenburger on a groundout. The Sounds then cut the deficit to 5-4 in the top of the sixth after Pagnozzi's homer brought home a pair of runs. The long ball hurt the Sounds bullpen in the late innings, as Tim Dillard allowed a solo shot to Jared Hoying to stretch the Round Rock lead to 6-4. Although Brent Leach came on to prevent further damage in the inning, the Express put the game away with a two-run dinger by Josh Wilson in the bottom of the eighth off of Jose De La Torre. Nashville had one last rally in the top of the ninth, when Hermida knocked in Velez on a double before Rogers hit a towering home run to left with two outs. But the Sounds could not complete the comeback, as Matt Clark struck out to end the game. The Sounds will look to end their losing streak Friday night against Round Rock, with RHP Michael Blazek (4-4, 4.05) scheduled to start for Nashville opposite Express RHP Luke Jackson (1-2, 9.17). Jeff Hem will have the call on 102.5 The GAME. Nashville Boxscore So that's pretty much that from a playoff perspective. Caleb Gindl has only gotten 1 start since 8/15, he's been relegated to pinch hitting duties of late. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

Brennan belts Bees in 9-5 Wisconsin win Rattlers third baseman hits third grand slam of season By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/8/0/92012380/cuts/Brennan_8_28_yzxcapr2_cflpm837.jpg Taylor Brennan is greeted at home plate after his seventh inning grand slam put the Timber Rattlers up 9-5 over the Burlington Bees on Thursday night. (Ann Mollica/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - Taylor Brennan got a second chance with the bases loaded on Thursday night and made it count. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers third baseman hit a bases loaded home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to snap a 5-5 tie and lead Wisconsin to a 9-5 victory over the Burlington Bees Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Brennan drove in five runs in the game as the Rattlers picked up a much-needed win in their push for a playoff spot. But, it wasn't easy. Burlington leadoff hitter Bo Way walked on four pitches to start the game. He would steal second to get into scoring position. Brandon Bayardi singled to right with two outs to drive in Way for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (70-64 overall, 35-31 second half) answered in the bottom of the first. Chris McFarland and Johnny Davis singled to start the inning. Clint Coulter stepped to the plate with one out and sent a grounder to third. Zach Houchins bobbled the ball, but still managed to step on third for the force on McFarland. However, Houchins made an ill-advised throw to first and the ball sailed into the stands behind first base. This allowed Davis to score the tying run and move Coulter to second base. Michael Ratterree followed with a single to center on a 3-2 pitch and Coulter scored on the play to put Wisconsin up 2-1. Then, Taylor Brennan hit a sinking line drive to right. Bayardi tried to make a diving catch but the ball glanced off his glove for an RBI triple and a 3-1 lead. Paul Eshleman added to Wisconsin's lead with a solo home run to center in the bottom of the fourth. Coulter tacked on another run for the Rattlers with a two-out RBI single to drive in McFarland in the bottom of the fifth for a 5-1 lead. Wisconsin had a chance to bust the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth as they loaded the bases with two outs and Brennan was at the plate. Burlington went to reliever Cole Swanson, who struck out Brennan to keep the Bees down by four. Burlington (66-69, 28-38) started their comeback when they loaded the bases against Wisconsin starter Chad Thompson with no outs in the top of the sixth inning on two walks and a bloop single to right. The Rattlers called Zach Quintana out of the bullpen to take over for Thompson. A weak grounder to third off the bat of Stephen McGee allowed a run as the only play was to first base. Then, Ismael Dionicio smacked a singled up the middle on an 0-2 pitch to drive in two runs to cut Wisconsin's lead to a single run. The Bees tied the game in the top of the seventh. Way singled to start the inning and went from first to third on a wild pitch with Kody Eaves at the plate. Quintana threw a wild pitch on a 1-2 offering to Eaves and that allowed Way to score the tying runs. Eaves would ground out for the first out, but the next two batters singled to put runners on first and second. Quintana got out of the inning when he got Zach Houchins to ground into an inning-ending 6-3 double play. Swanson, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning, got the first out of the seventh inning. Then, he walked David Denson, Coulter, and Ratterree to load the bases. Ben Carlson was summoned from the Burlington bullpen to face Brennan with the bases loaded in a tie game. Brennan fell behind in the 1-2 in the count. He lined the next pitch over the wall in left for a grand slam to put the Rattlers up 9-5. The slam was the third of the season by Brennan, who is now 7-for-16 with 26 RBI when he bats with the bases loaded this season. Brennan is the first Timber Rattlers player to hit three bases loaded homers in a single season. The Midwest League record is four and was set by Peter Koegel of the Burlington Bees in 1966. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have hit seven grand slams as a team this season. The record in the league is ten and was set by the Wisconsin Rapids Twins in 1981. Seth Harvey pitched a scoreless eighth and a scoreless ninth to close out the Bees. Wisconsin added a half game to their lead in the second half Western Division Wild Card race. The Peoria Chiefs and the Quad Cities River Bandits were both rained out on Thursday night. Wisconsin leads both teams by 2-1/2 games. The Rattlers have four games remaining in the season. The Chiefs and River Bandits both host doubleheaders on Friday and both have five games remaining in the season. The final home game of the regular season is set for Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Preston Gainey (5-8, 4.20) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Burlington has named Victor Alcantara (6-6, 3.83) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 7:05pm. If you have enjoyed the 1995 uniforms the Timber Rattlers have been wearing on Appvion Throwback Nights as part of the 20th Anniversary Season presented by Bergstrom Automotive, this game will be your opportunity to take one home. The Timber Rattlers are holding a silent auction during the game and if you have the high bid, you take home the jersey and the pants. Proceeds from the auction will go to assist the family of former Timber Rattlers pitcher Jorge Lopez. The first 1,000 fans to attend the game will receive a tree sapling from Boldt. Friday is a North Shore Bank Family Night which means all children 12 and under will receive a free hot dog and soda. Stick around after the game for the final fireworks display of the season. Then, kids 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases thanks to Molina Healthcare after the fireworks. Plus, Potawatomi Bingo Casino presents Baseball Bingo for the final time this season. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Friday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. HOME RUNS: WIS: Paul Eshleman (2nd, 0 on in 4th inning off Ryan Etsell, 2 out) Taylor Brennan (14th, GRAND SLAM in 7th inning off Ben Carlson, 1 out) WP: Zach Quintana (4-5) LP: Cole Swanson (1-3) TIME: 3:08 ATTN: 3,961 Wisconsin Boxscore This game certainly had it's momentum swings, it was kind of like basketball game in that regard, but the final result was exactly what the doctor ordered. Chris McFarland (3-5) and Taylor Brennan (2-4,2B,HR) had the multi-hit games for the T-Rats this evening. David Denson walked 3 times and it was the second time this season he's done that, the last was on April 6th. Wisconsin Recap Wisconsin Gameday

Who is actually worthy of coming up and helping?

I'm not sure how you can say the criticism of that draft pick was unfair when Taylor has turned out to be exactly what those of us who criticized the pick said he would be? He was and continues to be solid yet unspectacular in any way. The criticism didn't stem from Melvin's silly comments, nor was Melvin the only one who mentioned Jungmann was a fast track pick as it was a fairly common assessment of the selection, the criticism came from the fact that Jungmann never profiled like the young top of the rotation arm the organization so desperately needs. He was the very definition of a workhorse pitcher, a high floor but lower ceiling pick and while I have no doubt he'll be a MLB pitcher I would have preferred the upside of the HS kids that were taken after him. I'm extremely encouraged by his uptick in SOs this season, he has good value as a player and prospect, but he just wasn't the type of player that I've been harping about for years on draft day. Last year he was looking to be in that #4/#5 range as a pitcher, now I'm hoping he can continue to progress and be a #3. I'm not opposed to drafting a Jungmann type pitcher, I just didn't want to target that kind of player in the first round, let alone 2 of them in the first round of the same draft. I don't see how Jungmann or Bradley are better pitching prospects than Tyler Wagner or Taylor Williams who I view similarly from an upside standpoint but were taken much later? I wasn't thrilled with this year's #1 either and it's not that the player selected is a low ceiling prospect, it's just that I have very finite criteria when it comes to Brewer first round selections which I explained in depth in those threads on the draft forum earlier this year. I want FB velocity, stuff, and a reasonable ability to locate in the first round, if a pitcher doesn't have that I'm moving on. I'm very wary of low arm slot guys because there just aren't many of them who can locate their pitches well in a MLB sense. It seems that people have taken my comments about Jungmann over the years like I have some silly personal dislike of him which was never the case. I think the general perception of Jungmann as a pitcher was vastly overstated, especially early in his professional career, and I was simply willing to reiterate on numerous occasions the type of pitcher that I think Taylor actually is. I'm not big on sugar coating, I give my honest opinion as straightforward as I can. He simply didn't have any "wow" factor when I watched him pitch, there was no pitch that made me take notice, not like a Peralta slider or even a Scarpetta curve when they were in WI, and this was a young man pitching in college without a plus pitch. If a player in college or the minors doesn't stand out relative to his peers when you're watching then there's very little chance of him being an impact talent, especially a pitcher as "seasoned" as Jungmann was coming out of college.

Some days I wish Taylor Brennan was family and today is one of those days. He just hit his 3rd Grand Slam this season which is a Rattler record.

Winter ball is the devil. That is all.

Baez isn't the best hitter in the bunch, I don't know even know if his power will translate the best. I think Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo will the Cubs' Braun & Fielder. Baez will be a good 5 or 6 hitter but he's not a middle of the order type bat. Schwarber might be a guy they look to package to get an arm otherwise they could have some serious RH/LH power by alternating Soler, Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber, and Baez in late 2015 going into 2016. Not that they would bat in that order, but Bryant has 43 HRs already this season, for comparison sake Braun only hit 22 in his only full MiLB season. Not to mention they still have Almora and Russell and plethora of second tier guys whom I didn't mention above. They don't have a legit C coming, but if they get Bryant to hit and be a star to go with Rizzo then everyone else can be above average or average as a hitter and they will be just fine. Right now they also have the depth to cover a prospect who might completely flop, though they may trade some of that depth for pitching as I mentioned earlier. If they can land 1 impact pitcher for 2015 and another 2016 they will be legit contenders. Pierce Johnson and CJ Edwards aren't on the same level as Jameson Taillon or Gerritt Cole from the Pirates, they more like #3s, but it won't take much for the Cubs to become a very formidable team in short order. Honestly, I've always been a Mike Olt fan as well, it's too bad for him that he went down and played winter ball taking that pitch to the head. His career has been in a downward spiral since but I have a hard time giving up on him, I guess I feel bad for him given how promising he was. I wouldn't mind seeing him come into the Brewer organization if the Cubs part ways with him to clear some space, it's not like we have a legit 3B prospect in the upper minors since I'm not sure Jason Rogers will cut it defensively, so I'd be willing to take a flier and see if he can turn it back around.

Sounds Lose Tough Battle In Greer Stadium Finale Greer Stadium Hosts Sellout Crowd of 11,067 For Its Last Cheer Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/7/8/91856078/cuts/last_cheer_x1u27ols_v15y54tu.jpg NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds (74-64) celebrated the team's final regular season game in Greer Stadium history before a sellout crowd of 11,067 fans Wednesday night, but took an 8-5 loss to the visiting Sacramento River Cats. The attendance of 11,067 marks the first sellout at Greer since 2010 and the largest Greer Stadium crowd since 2007. Sacramento spoiled the Sounds' party with a six-run eighth inning, in which the River Cats batted around with seven hits and a sacrifice fly, to take an 8-5 lead over Nashville. Nashville had scored five unanswered runs to take a 5-2 lead over the River Cats, which began with when shortstop Pete Orr was hit by an 0-2 pitch from Sacramento starting pitcher Arnold Leon with two outs and the bases loaded in the home half of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fifth inning, outfielder Logan Schafer crushed a home run into the Twice Daily Fan Zone beyond the wall in right field to knot the game at two runs apiece. The Sounds took the lead on Jeremy Hermida's two-run home run over the right-field wall in the sixth inning. The rocket, his 14th of the year, scored Sean Halton, who reached base on an error. Nashville extended its lead to three runs when Eugenio Velez grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded. Orr scored from third on the play, sliding past catcher Bryan Anderson, to avoid the double play. But the Cats rallied to win the four-game series, 3-1, and hand Nashville only its second losing home series this season. The Sounds loaded the bases to bring the game-winning run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Lucas May struck out swinging in the last at-bat at Greer. Sounds reliever Rob Wooten (0-2) was charged the loss and blown save, after allowing four runs on five hits and one walk in 1/3 innings of work. Figaro pitched two scoreless frames before Wooten, but . Dustin Molleken also saw work from the Sounds bullpen and served up 1 2/3 scoreless frames for Nashville with two strikeouts. The loss, coupled with Memphis' 5-4 win over Fresno, puts Nashville three games back of the Redbirds for first place in the division with six games to go. Prior to the game the Sounds announced their team awards, naming Jimmy Nelson Sounds MVP, Dustin Molleken Community MVP, and Jason Rogers the Fan Favorite. The Sounds will wrap up their regular season on the road in Round Rock with a six-game series against the Express (AAA-Rangers). The Sounds will send RHP Donovan Hand (4-7, 5.85) to the hill opposite the rehabbing Rangers LHP Derek Holland (1-1, 6.52). First pitch at 7:05 p.m. CT. Nashville Boxscore Rob Wooten and Donovan Hand were 2 pitchers that for years looked like they could be legit BP options in Milwaukee but have completely fallen apart and might not even be with the organization next year. Hand has been better of late as a starter but his season numbers are just awful and Wooten hasn't pitched well since returning from Milwaukee. This Nashville pitching staff has been loaded with veterans from the start and with losses of Fiers, Mills, Jeffress, and Nelson has become even more nondescript than it was in April when we were debating the roster construction of the AA & AAA clubs. The bullpen implosion which torpedoed the last regular season game at Greer was detailed above, no reason to cover it again. Not that I'm nostalgic about Greer as I never attended a game there and with the reports of Nashville latching onto a different organization I care even less about the franchise, but it would have been nice for the fans to close it down with a W. Don't get me wrong, Jeff and the front office staff in Nashville have been great, in fact everything we could have asked for, but I'm admittedly bitter about getting punted when they finally get a modern facility. I know the Brewer AAA teams haven't been interesting in years as the Brewers began storing nothing more than MLB depth there, making the "win now" trades for the MLB team meant that there just weren't going to be many prospects coming through Nashville. I do see both sides, but I'm unhappy about the situation none the less. I really don't want a west coast affiliation at AAA, I was happy to be out of that region entirely when the Brewers ditched High Desert. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

Bees stop Rattlers 1-0 Wisconsin hitters strike out 17 times By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/0/2/91842502/cuts/CrowdAug27_qt0q8rye_jwf643vz.jpg There were 5,345 fans on hand for Wednesday's game at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. (Ann Mollica/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a game chopped off their lead in the second half Western Division Wild Card as they lost 1-0 to the Burlington Bees Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Bees scored their run on a fortunate bounce in the fourth inning and three of their pitchers combined to strikeout seventeen Timber Rattlers batters. Erick Aguilera singled with one out in the top of the fourth inning for Burlington's first hit. Wisconsin starter Clint Terry walked the next batter. Terry was ahead of Zach Houchins 1-2 and got Houchins to send a bouncer up the third base line. The ball hit the corner of the third base bag and bounded over Sthervin Matos into left field for a double to score Aguilera for a 1-0 lead. Burlington starting pitcher Sean Newcomb, the #1 pick of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 2014 draft, pitched just four innings in the game, but allowed two hits and struck out ten without walking a batter. Wisconsin (70-64 overall, 34-31 second half) got a man to second base against reliever Ronnie Muck in the fifth inning. Rafael Neda doubled with one out, but was left stranded there as Muck retired the next two batters. Neda was the only Wisconsin runner to reach scoring position in the game. The first Timber Rattlers batter to reach to leadoff an inning in the game was Clint Coulter, who drew a walk to start the seventh inning. But, Muck got a 5-4-3 double play and a ground out to end the inning. Muck struck out four in his three innings of work. Burlington (66-68, 28-37) threatened to pad their lead twice. In the top of the eighth, they loaded the bases with one out. Brandon Moore came on in relief for the Rattlers and got a strikeout and a fly ball to center to end the inning. In the ninth, they had runners at the corners with two outs before Moore got the popout to second to end the inning. But, the Rattlers went down against Bees closer Alan Busenitz in order in both the eighth and ninth innings. Busenitz struck out three in his two innings of work. The Rattlers lead in the Western Division Wild Card is now at two games over both the Peoria Chiefs and the Quad Cities River Bandits. Peoria defeated the Beloit Snappers 4-2 at home and Quad Cities beat Clinton 11-2 at home. There are five games remaining in the regular season. Game two of the series with the Bees is Thursday night. Chad Thompson (2-2, 4.50) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Burlington sends Ryan Etsell (5-4, 3.69) to the mound. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a bobblehead of the former Timber Rattlers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo courtesy of U.S. Foods. This is the final bobblehead of nine from the 20thAnniversary Season Series. It's a Thirsty Thursday presented by Arty's Old Fashioned and 95.9 KISS FM, too. There will be 21-oz Pepsi products, 16-oz Miller products, and Arty's Old Fashioned drinks available for just $2. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, catch all the action on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Thursday's game is also available to MiLB.TV subscribers. WP: Ronnie Muck (2-3) LP: Clint Terry (3-5) SAVE: Alan Busenitz (16) TIME: 2:42 ATTN: 5,345 Wisconsin Boxscore From yesterday's game story: So I was shocked when 1 of the 2 players I was hyping prior to the draft in Sean Newcomb was on the hill today against my favorite team. He hadn't gotten off to a fast start in A ball as he had given up more runs than IP coming into today's action. However the T-Rats couldn't solve him tonight as he had 10 strike outs in just 4 IP. A Johnny Davis infield single in the 1st and Clint Coulter line drive single to CF in the 4th were the only 2 base runners in those 4 innings.. He was working away and up, regularly hitting 95, I don't recall him throwing anything offspeed until the 4th. Even though he threw hittable pitches for whatever reason our boys just couldn't square him up when he missed back over the plate. Clint Terry tried to match him pitch for pitch and came up just short, Clint doesn't have anywhere near Sean's velocity, but he's getting results in A ball. I'll take 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 8 SO every time out... Bees' pitchers struck out 17 Rattlers in total and with just 3 hits and 1 walk this was a very quiet game from the Wisconsin perspective. Wisconsin Recap Wisconsin Gameday

Pipeline Perspectives: Bryant ready to help Cubs Third-base prospect's performance in Triple-A worthy of September callup to Chicago By Jonathan Mayo 8/27/2014 10:00 A.M. ET

I agree 100%, there are multiple organizations which own many of the teams in their minor league chain, I would like to see the Brewers move in that direction as well. The T-Rats seem like a good fit being in state, I wouldn't mind seeing the AA and AAA relationships made permanent as well.

Sounds Silenced By River Cats, 2-0 Nashville's Jungmann Records Another Quality Start In Defeat Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/9/6/91603396/cuts/JungmannWhite_7ge7ujkc_b3g2zfuz.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Despite Taylor Jungmann's fourth straight quality start, the Nashville Sounds (74-63) could not find their offensive stride in a 2-0 loss to the Sacramento River Cats (77-61) at Greer Stadium on Tuesday night. Jungmann (8-6), who took a hard-luck loss, allowed just two runs in seven innings of work on six hits while also striking out six. The outing brought his ERA for August to a miniscule mark of 1.80 in five starts. The River Cats did all of their damage in the top of the third when Tyler Ladendorf brought home Ryan Ortiz and Billy Burns on a two-out single. The Sounds offense struggled to find a rhythm against Sacramento starter and former Vanderbilt Commodore Matt Buschmann (9-6), who faced one batter over the limit limited Nashville to just three hits in a complete-game shutout victory while racking up 10 strikeouts. Buschmann faced the minimum through six innings, and the Sounds failed to have a runner reach second base until the bottom of the seventh. Despite the quiet night at the plate for Nashville, Pete Orr recorded two hits, bringing his average in the last 29 games to .381. Brent Leach helped the Sounds bullpen rebound from a rough outing a night ago by twirling two innings of no-hit ball in relief. Leach continues to be a steady presence in the Sounds 'pen as of late, allowing only one run in his last six outings. The Sounds and River Cats will conclude their series on Wednesday in what will be the final regular season game in the 37-year history of Greer Stadium. RHP Jay Jackson (0-3, 5.82) will be on the bump for Nashville opposite Sacramento RHP Arnold Leon (10-7, 5.17). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. A special season-ending fireworks show will follow the on-field action. Nashville Boxscore Taylor Jungmann is having a fantastic close to the season but nothing else is worth mentioning. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday