TheCrew07

Oh my I hope an audio clip of Coulter's double here in the 11th makes it out on the net someplace.

Sounds Defeat Fresno, 6-2, In Front Of Packed House Nashville Reclaims Share Of First Place, Splits Four-Game Set With Grizzlies Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/9/4/91118994/cuts/Weisenburger_StarWars_z478qzjt_dnrhf1ro.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds defeated the Fresno Grizzlies, 6-2, in front of a packed house of 9,025 fans on Saturday evening at Greer Stadium to gain a split of the four-game series. With the victory, the Sounds (73-61) pulled back into a tie for the division lead with Memphis, which lost to Sacramento. Donovan Hand (4-7) won his third consecutive outing for the Sounds by working his first quality start of the year. The right-hander held Fresno to two runs on six hits over six innings while striking out a career-high seven batters. Matt Clark paced the Nashville offense with a 2-for-4 evening that extended the slugger's longest hitting streak of the season to 13 games. He is batting .481 (25-for-52) over that stretch. Sean Halton also went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles for the Sounds. Fresno jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Gary Brown and Juan Perez opened the contest with back-to-back doubles to plate the first run, and Chris Dominguez later added an RBI single. The Sounds got a run back in the home half of the opening frame. Eugenio Velez drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a Clark single, and scored on a fielding error by Dominguez, the Fresno third baseman. Nashville rallied to take a 3-2 lead with a trio of doubles in the fourth against Grizzlies starter Kelvin Marte. Halton and Hunter Morris led off the frame with consecutive two-baggers to knot the score, then Morris later scored when catcher Adam Weisenburger ripped a go-ahead double into the left field corner. The Sounds added another run in the fifth when Velez singled and scored on Halton's two-out double off Marte. Pinch-hitter Lucas May stretched the Nashville lead to 5-2 in the fifth when his one-out RBI single plated Irving Falu and chased Marte from the contest. Marte (1-2) absorbed the loss for Fresno after giving up five runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings of work. Logan Schafer (2-for-5) wrapped up the Nashville scoring in the eighth with a two-out RBI double off Fresno reliever Sandy Rosario. Longtime fan favorite Tim Dillard closed out the Nashville victory with a scoreless ninth inning, the right-hander's first appearance with the Sounds this season. The veteran has now appeared for the Sounds in each of the past eight seasons, ranking 2nd in club history with 206 appearances. The Sounds continue their final homestand of the year on Sunday, when they welcome the Sacramento River Cats (AAA-A's) in the 6:35 p.m. opener of a four-game series. Right-hander Michael Blazek (3-4, 4.14) will make the start for Nashville and face Sacramento right-hander Angel Castro (9-7, 4.19). Nashville Boxscore This was Donovan Hand's best performance since 7-26, both he and the Sounds needed this one. As noted Tim Dillard has now pitched in Nashville 8 different years... Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

I'll say this about Brewer draft picks going back to Jack Z; The Brewers sure do draft fine young men, Brett Lawrie and Matt LaPorta are about as douchey as Brewer prospects get and that ain't bad. The system continues to have drug related suspensions and while those are disappointing it's a far cry from the problems other teams have had with their prospects.

Sounds Bested By Grizzlies, 3-0 Nashville's Clark Extends Hit Streak Nashville Sounds NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jay Jackson (0-3) rebounded from a pair of rocky outings by allowing just one run in five innings on three hits while striking out six. He exited the game after issuing a leadoff walk to begin the top of the sixth, which would come around to score after Jose De La Torre allowed an RBI single to Jarrett Parker. Fresno added one more run off of De La Torre in the inning add to its lead. The Grizzlies would get a final insurance run in the top of the seventh off of Dustin Molleken, snapping his string of six consecutive appearances without allowing a run. Grizzlies starter Chris Heston (11-8) stymied the Sounds offense that has been rolling in recent games, limiting Nashville to just four hits in a complete game shutout while striking out four. The Sounds were only able to put runners in scoring on two occurrences, with neither runner getting past second base. Despite the loss, Matt Clark was able to continue his hot hitting at the plate, going 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. During his streak, he's posted a .489 average with multiple hits in 9 contests. Reliever Brent Leach continued his recent stretch of stellar work out of the bullpen, pitching 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to keep the score close. Leach has allowed only one run in his last eight games pitched. The Sounds and Grizzlies will conclude their four-game series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Sounds RHP Donovan Hand (3-7, 5.22) will take to the hill opposite LHP Kelvin Marte (1-1, 5:04). Nashville Boxscore Both of my games were offense deficient on the evening... blah. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

Peoria's walkoff win over Rattlers tightens Wild Card race Chiefs beat Wisconsin 3-2 with two runs in ninth, pull to within a game of Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers needed two more outs to grab control of the Midwest League's second half Western Division Wild Card race on Friday night at Dozer Park, but the Peoria Chiefs scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 3-2 win. Peoria's win spoiled a strong start by Rattlers pitcher Wei-Chung Wang and allowed them to pull to within a game of the Rattlers with ten games remaining in the season. Michael Ratterree drew a one out walk in the second inning. He moved to second on an infield single by Taylor Brennan. Rafael Neda was next and he singled through the middle to knock in Ratterree and the Rattlers (67-62 overall, 31-29 second half) had a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin had chances to add to that lead against Peoria starter Arturo Reyes. They had runners at first and second with one out after the Neda single in the second and didn't score. Wisconsin also had runners at first and second with one out in the third and fourth innings, but didn't pad their lead. Wang, who was making his third rehabilitation start for the Timber Rattlers, retired the first ten batters he faced before walking Richy Pedroza with one out in the fourth. Carson Kelly was at the plate when Pedroza took off for second. Wang's pitch was wild and Pedroza wound up at third base on the play. Kelly chopped a single over the drawn-in infield to tie the game. Clint Coulter drew a walk with two outs in the top of the fifth to get the inning to Ratterree, who lined a double to left-center. The ball was bobbled in left-center and that was the only opening that Coulter needed to race home with the go-ahead run. That double by Ratterree would be the final hit of the game for the Rattlers. Wang went 6-1/3 innings in the game for his longest outing as a professional. He allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out three before turning the ball over to Clint Terry with one out in the seventh inning. Wang tossed 74 pitches with 52 for strikes and was in position for the win. Terry got the final two outs in the bottom of the seventh and worked a 1-2-3 eighth to bring the Rattlers to the brink. CJ McElroy, Jr singled to start the bottom of the ninth for Peoria (67-62, 30-30). Pedroza would sacrifice the tying run to second base and Terry walked Kelly on a 3-2 pitch. Terry got ahead of Justin Ringo and jammed the Chiefs first baseman on a 1-2 pitch. But, Ringo's blooper dropped into shallow center to load the bases. Ronald Castillo lined out to center to knock in McElroy with a sacrifice fly and the score was 2-2. Left-hand hitting slugger Rowan Wick fell behind Terry 0-2. He lined the next pitch off the wall in left-center for a game-winning double to score pinch-runner Michael Schulze from second base. Instead of being up three games on the Chiefs, Wisconsin's Wild Card lead has been cut to one game with the loss on Friday. The win also gave the Chiefs a 9-8 edge in the season series and the tie-breaker between the teams. Wisconsin can still leave town up two games and with the tie-breaker over Peoria if the win the final game of the season between the teams. The final game of the season between the teams is Saturday night at Dozer Park. Zach Quintana (3-5, 5.12) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Kyle Helisek (1-0, 6.57) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280 or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. WP: Robert Stock (1-2) LP: Clint Terry (3-4) TIME: 2:47 ATTN: 3,277 Wisconsin Boxscore Wei-Chung Wang was filling the zone with 91-92 MPH FBs, I would have liked him to have more strike outs and the 1 run he did give up was completely unnecessary; a walk to a .225 hitter, a WP on a steal, and then the chopper over Brennan to score the run. Clint Terry kept getting ahead of hitters in the 9th but it didn't work ount and was a pretty deflating loss in the end, at least for me personally. As Chris noted the game story the batters didn't do anything after the 5th and missed plenty of opportunities early but Rafeal Neda (2-4) did manage a multi-hit game. Wisconsin Recap Wisconsin Gameday

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet Chat (Aug. 22) With Josh Norris

Taylor Jungmann makes this week's hot sheet.

Prospect Hot Sheet (Aug. 22): A Jays Prospect Flies High In The Team Photo

Seven Reasons Why MLB’s New International Rules Are Backward August 21, 2014 by Ben Badler

If you're going to trade Gallardo you don't wait for the trading deadline next year, you move him when he's at his peak value.

Sounds Two-Hit Fresno In Nightcap Shutout Nashville's Jungmann Deals; Rogers and Weisenburger Go Yard Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/9/4/90837194/cuts/MPS_4164_Large_798iiqkp_0hqxwx43.jpeg NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds (72-60) shut out the Fresno Grizzlies in the nightcap of Thursday evening's doubleheader at Greer Stadium, winning 7-0 guided by a stellar night on the hill by Taylor Jungmann. Jungmann held the Grizzlies to two hits in the shutout and fanned seven batters en route to his eighth win of the year. The 24-year-old fired set down his final 15 batters to improve his August ERA from 2.12 to 1.57 (4er/23.0ip). After three and a half scoreless innings, Sounds third baseman Jason Rogers launched a solo home run over the left-field wall to give Nashville the 1-0 lead. The homer was his 12th long ball of the season. The Sounds tacked on two more runs in the inning with a pair of two-out singles to first base. Pete Orr hustled to the bag after grounding the ball to first, but Chris Dominguez was unable to step on first to record the out, allowing Matt Clark to score from third. Second baseman Eugenio Velez followed with a chopper to first base to plate Hunter Morris, who made his first start as a Sound since being placed on the D.L. on July 4. Sounds catcher Adam Weisenburger doubled up the Sounds' lead with his three-run home run in the home half of the fifth inning. The homer scored Morris, who hit a ground-rule double to get aboard, and Caleb Gindl. Nashville held on to improve their record when scoring first at Greer Stadium to an impressive 35-2. Nashville pitchers kept Fresno's two hits in the park to break their streak of 11 consecutive games having allowed a home run. With hits in both games, including a broken-bat single to plate Nashville's final run of the night in the sixth, Clark extended his season-best hit streak to 11 games. The Sounds remain a half-game ahead of Memphis for first place in the division. The teams continue the series with a 7:05 p.m. contest on Friday. Right-hander Jay Jackson (0-2, 7.50) will toe the slab for the Sounds and face Fresno right-hander Chris Heston (10-8, 3.50). Nashville Game 2 Boxscore Nashville Game 2 Recap

Grizzlies Double Up Sounds In Twinbill Opener, 8-4 Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/0/4/84286904/cuts/Clark_0711_lyyhbke3_ea3phv6l.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Fresno Grizzlies doubled up the Nashville Sounds, 8-4, in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium. The defeat, which dropped the Sounds (71-60) into a tie with Memphis for the division lead, marked the first time in nine contests that Nashville had lost in doubleheader action at Greer this season. Fresno left fielder Juan Perez (3-for-3) spotted the visitors a 1-0 lead with a one-out solo homer off Ariel Pena in the top of the first inning, the outfielder's seventh big fly of the season. Logan Schafer led off the bottom of the first with a single to left to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by a Sound this season, and later tied the game when he scored on a Jason Rogers groundout. The Grizzlies blew the game open with a five-run outburst in the top of the second. Following an inning-opening walk to Jarrett Parker, Pena served up a two-run tater to Tony Abreu, the second-sacker's seventh of the year. Fresno tacked on the final three runs in the frame after reliever Alfredo Figaro took over for Pena on the hill. Perez lifted a sacrifice fly before Mark Minicozzi drilled a two-run double to the wall in left-center to make it a 5-1 contest. Pena (9-8) lasted only 1 1/3 innings for the Sounds, his shortest start of the season. The right-hander took the loss after giving up six runs on three hits while walking three batters. All four of his outs recorded were strikeouts during his 57-pitch effort. Irving Falu slugged his second home run of the year in the second inning for the Sounds, a one-out line drive to left off Grizzlies starter Mike Kickham. The Sounds got another run back in the fourth when Nashville loaded the bases with one out on a Sean Halton walk sandwiched between singles by Matt Clark and Falu. Pinch-hitter Lucas May followed with an RBI single to center that brought in Clark to halve the Fresno lead to 6-3. Halton was thrown out at home while also attempting to score on the play. Clark, who has been red-hot for the Sounds of late, made it a 6-4 game in the home half of the sixth when he launched a leadoff solo homer to right off Kickham, his 12th homer of the year. The infielder extended his best hitting streak of the year to 10 games with a 2-for-3 night; he is hitting .475 (19-for-40) over that 10-game stretch. Fresno added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh against Arcenio Leon when Perez doubled home Gary Brown and later scored on a Chris Dominguez sac fly. Kickham (8-8) twirled a quality start to pick up the win for the Grizzlies. The southpaw held the Sounds to four runs (three earned) on six hits while fanning five over his six frames of action. The Sounds didn't go down without a fight against Grizzlies reliever Erik Cordier in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs. However, the Fresno right-hander induced a game-ending popout from Halton to end the threat. Nashville Game 2 Boxscore Alfredo Figaro didn't do Ariel Pena any favors but wow... Billy Buckner pitched 2 scoreless at least. Nashville Game 2 Recap Nashville Game 2 Gameday

Chiefs beat Rattlers 3-1 to tighten playoff race Coulter hits 20th homer of season for Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had opportunities against the Peoria Chiefs on Thursday night at Dozer Park. But, the Chiefs held the Rattlers in check for a 3-1 victory that allowed them to creep closer to the Rattlers in the second half playoff race. The Chiefs (65-63 overall, 29-30 overall) struck first. Rowan Wick smacked a triple off the wall in center for a triple to start the bottom of the second. Luis Perez put Peoria up 1-0 with an RBI grounder to second. Wisconsin had some early opportunities against Chiefs starter Rob Kaminsky. Jose Pena and Omar Garcia both singled with one out in the third, but were left stranded. Clint Coulter and Taylor Brennan singled to lead off the Rattlers fourth inning, but both were left on base. Peoria added to their lead in the fifth inning. CJ McElroy, Jr. sent a grounder through the middle of the diamond to start the frame and stretched the routine single into a double. A sacrifice bunt moved McElroy to third base. Justin Ringo singled through the drawn-in infield to knock in McElroy for a 2-0 lead. Then, the defense let Rattlers starting pitcher Tristan Archer down. A grounder to second that should have at least got one out was misplayed for an error. Wick was next and his high fly to center field was lost off the bat and wound up dropping in for a double to score Ringo for a 3-0 lead. Coulter got the Timber Rattlers on the scoreboard against Kaminsky in the sixth inning. The Wisconsin catcher drilled a one-out home run to left-center. The homer, Coulter's 20th of the season, pulled the Rattlers to within 3-1. Kaminsky left the game after retiring the next two batters in the sixth. The lefty struck out eight, walked one, and scattered five hits over his six innings. Wisconsin would threaten again in the seventh inning against reliever Blake McKnight as Rafael Neda walked to start the inning and Pena singled with one out. But, McKnight got a popup and a flyout to end the inning. The last chance for the Rattlers came in the top of the ninth. Pinch-hitter David Denson reached on an infield single of Tyler Bray with two outs. The Chiefs brought closer Kyle Barraclough into the game and he struck out Pena on three pitches to end the game. Coulter becomes the sixth Timber Rattlers hitter in twenty seasons to hit at least twenty home runs in a season. The franchise record for home runs in a season is 22. It was set by Khris Davis in 2010 and matched by Victor Roache in 2013. Peoria's win moved them to within two games of the Timber Rattlers for the second half Western Division Wild Card with eleven games left in the season. The season series between the teams, which is the first tie-breaker, is now even 8-8 with two games left between Wisconsin and Peoria in this series and in this season. Game two of the series is Friday night at Dozer Park. Wei-Chung Wang (0-2, 4.91) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria plans to send Arturo Reyes (6-7, 3.86) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 7:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40 HOME RUN: WIS: Clint Coulter (20th, 0 on in 6th inning off Rob Kaminsky, 1 out) WP: Rob Kaminsky (7-2) LP: Tristan Archer (6-6) SAVE: Kyle Barraclough (8) TIME: 2:33 ATTN: 1,797 Wisconsin Boxscore Reyes and Kaminsky back to back is a tough series... I talked about Kaminsky at length after watching him pitch last month and MH detailed him above so I'll leave that be. Tristan Archer gave up 9 hits but just 1 walk in his eventful 6 innings and kept it close. Barrett Astin was fantastic with no hits, no walks, and 4 strikeouts in his 2 innings. I've said it before but Clint Coulter (2-4, HR) is not a .250 hitter, if he'll stay within himself and be patient he's an easy .270 guy, he's been hot here to close out the season hitting .385 over his last ten. Jose Pena had the other multi-hit game for the T-Rats. Wisconsin Recap Wisconsin Gameday

Salas sails Rattlers to 8-3 win at Clinton Coulter drives in three as Wisconsin wins second straight game By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers needed a strong start from Javier Salas on Wednesday night against the Clinton LumberKings. The got one as the Rattlers beat Clinton 8-3 at Ashford University Field. Salas set new single game highs as a professional for innings pitched and strikeouts to help the Rattlers get a much needed victory in their playoff push. The Timber Rattlers (67-60 overall, 31-27 second half) scored first, something they had not done in their previous six games. Omar Garcia started the game with a single and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Chris McFarland. Michael Ratterree followed with a single to put runners at the corners. David Denson hit a high chopper to first off home plate. Denson was out at first, but the high bounce allowed Garcia to score and Ratterree to take second. Clint Coulter followed with a line drive double to the wall in left to drive in Ratterree for a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin doubled their lead with two runs in the top of the second. Rafael Neda walked and Angel Ortega reached on a bunt single. Jose Pena moved the runners into scoring position. Then, Garcia singled to score Neda. An errant pickoff throw to by Jose Flores allowed Ortega to score for the 4-0 advantage. The Rattlers added a run in the top of the third as Denson and Coulter both singled to start the inning. Flores was injured on a pitch to Matos and left the game. Reliever Ricardo Pereira took over and Matos bunted both runners into scoring position. Neda hit a fly ball to left that was deep enough to score Denson for a sacrifice fly and a 5-0 lead. Clinton (56-70, 26-32) got to Salas in the bottom of the third. Luis Caballero reached on a double with one out. Brett Thomas singled with two outs to knock in Caballero to make it 5-1. But, the Rattlers came back with a run in the fifth. Ratterree started the inning with a double and went to third on a grounder to the right side by Denson. The LumberKings brought the infield in with Coulter at the plate and Caballero made a diving stop at short on a hard grounder. However, Caballero's only play was to first as Ratterree scored and Wisconsin was up 6-1. That run in the third inning was the only run the LumberKings would get off Salas in the game. The right-hander, a tenth round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2014 draft out of the University of Miami, allowed five hits, walked one, and struck out six to earn his first professional win. Clinton would score twice in the bottom of the eighth inning against Chris Razo, who walked the first two batters of the inning before giving up a two-out, two-run double to Joe DeCarlo. The Rattlers tacked on a couple of runs in the top of the ninth. McFarland drove in Pena with a single after Garcia had bunted Pena to third with Wisconsin's fourth sacrifice bunt of the night. Coulter earned his third RBI of the evening with a two-out single to knock in McFarland. Razo pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to close out Clinton. In the second half Western Division Wild Card chase, the Rattlers maintained their three game lead over the Peoria Chiefs and their four game lead over the Quad Cities River Bandits. Both the Chiefs and the River Bandits won on Wednesday night. Wisconsin pushed the LumberKings five games back in the Wild Card standings with twelve games to play. The Timber Rattlers continue their road trip with game one of a huge series with playoff implications at Peoria on Thursday night. Tristan Archer (6-5, 3.67) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria has named Rob Kaminsky (6-2, 1.83) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:30pm at Dozer Park. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. WP: Javier Salas (1-1) LP: Jose Flores (3-5) TIME: 2:56 ATTN: 663 Wisconsin Boxscore So Mehring beat me to the punch, with the sacrifices in today's game I was going post "#bunttowin", predictably he read my mind and busted that out in defense of Erickson during the broadcast. Dammit man! But I posted it anyway cause that's the way I am. Congrats to Javier Salas on his best day as a professional, hopefully even better days are ahead. Chris was critical of Sthervin Matos's defense after his miscue in today's game which was originally scored a single and an error, but apparently changed to a double after the game. Mehring described the play as Matos going for the highlight reel play on one of the poorer infields in the ML and having it backfire as he tried to barehead a ball heading down line and whiffed it. Chris went to say something to the effect that "Matos offensive abilities will help the club and hopefully offset his defense". The Rattlers dropped double digit hits for the second consecutive day but only Omar Garcia (2-4) and Clint Coulter (3-5,2B) had multi-hit games, though Rafael Neda and Matos were the only T-Rats in the line-up without a hit. David Denson's CS was on the backside of a double steal. Wisconsin Recap

Here's the latest on the T-Rats benefit for the Lopez family. I put a link to the GoFundMe site at the bottom, please contribute something if your financial situation allows. Timber Rattlers Throwback Jersey Auction to benefit family of former player By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/5/2/87237252/cuts/JorgeLopez_eclaxk6w_oraej47c.jpg Jorge Lopez pitched for the Timber Rattlers in 2013. His son is fighting a serious is fighting serious medical problems and the proceeds from the Timber Rattlers Throwback Jersey Auction will go to help. GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are holding a silent auction for their 20th Anniversary Throwback Jerseys on Friday, August 29. The team will be donating the proceeds from that auction to assist former Rattlers pitcher Jorge Lopez and his family, who are dealing with the serious illness of Mikael, his one-year old son. Lopez, a Milwaukee Brewers pitching prospect, spent the 2013 season with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. During last season, Lopez and his wife became parents to Mikael, who was born prematurely. Mikael's story is told in this FloridaToday.com article by John A. Torres: "They told us these were just complications from him being born premature," the 21-year-old Lopez said this week from Space Coast Stadium, where he is helping anchor one of the best pitching staffs in the Florida State League. More doctors and two more hospitals followed, including the leading children's hospital in Puerto Rico where Lopez is from. They stayed at the children's hospital for five months as doctors ran batteries of tests to find out what was wrong with the boy. "He was getting sick a lot, and he wasn't gaining any weight. He had bronchitis and pneumonia and was very bad," Lopez said. "Finally we brought him to a hospital in Miami." That's where they discovered that the little boy's intestines had never worked a day in his young life. An unknown autoimmune disease has necessitated an intestinal transplant. "Now we are waiting to see if the transplant is the answer," Lopez said, realizing all too well that he is a key player in a story about faith, baseball, a rare disease and the need for a miracle. The financial hardships are not just medical for the Lopez family. The costs of transporting Mikael from Puerto Rico to Miami were $8,000 alone. The silent auction for their pinstriped throwback uniforms will be held from 5:30pm until the end of the seventh inning when the Timber Rattlers host the Burlington Bees on Friday, August 29 in Wisconsin's final regular season home game of the season. The Brevard County Manatees, Milwaukee's Florida State league affiliate and Lopez's current team, have started a GoFundMe site to assist the Lopez family with their expenses. All proceeds from the Timber Rattlers silent auction of their Throwback Jerseys will go to that fund. Tickets for that game - or any of the remaining Timber Rattlers home games this season - are available online, over the phone at (920) 733-4152 or (800) WI-TIMBER, or in person. The Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium Box Office is open from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm Monday through Friday and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 3:00pm. GoFundMe Help Jorge Lopez & His Family

Wednesday's Sounds Game At Greer Postponed Game To Be Made Up In Thursday Doubleheader at 5:35 p.m. NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Wednesday night's game at Greer Stadium, which was scheduled to be the first game of a four-game series between the first-place Nashville Sounds (71-59) and the Fresno Grizzlies (63-68) has been postponed due to unplayable field conditions. The outing has been rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Thursday, August 21, at 5:35 p.m. Both games will be seven-inning contests. Nashville will send RHP Ariel Pena (9-7, 4.18) to the hill against the Grizzlies' LHP Mike Kickham (7-8, 4.21) in game one of the doubleheader. RHP Taylor Jungmann (7-5, 4.52) will get the start in the nightcap. Jeff Hem has the call via internet stream on nashvillesounds.com and 102.5-FM "The GAME" will join in progress beginning at 5:55 p.m. Fans that purchased tickets for Wednesday's rainout may exchange them at the Greer Stadium Box Office for a future ticket to a Sounds game this season, subject to availability.

Ahh me neither... thanks.

Devastating is a relative term, $19 million is still 15.8% of the $120 million payroll which was postulated... For comparison sake the majority of us thought Bill Hall's $6.925 million in 2009 was too much dead weight and that was 8.63% of the Brewers' $80,182,502 2009 payroll. Braun's first extension was perfect, the second extension not so much, and if in fact Braun misses a year or completely falls apart at the end of his contract $19 million is an avalanche of dead money, there's no excusing it away.

Wow... this an article to go read. MLB Makes Significant Rule Changes For International Players August 20, 2014 by Ben Badler

Or how about let them just talk about something baseball fans like to talk about? How about letting posters post what they want to post? Doesn't it work both ways? Personally I don't listen to TV games anymore because of Rock, I have the game on with the volume down. I find he offers nothing insightful about baseball and his continual "spike it in the dirt!" makes me want to strangle him. In general for a hitter to swing at a pitch it needs to initially look like a strike which a very high percentage of balls in the dirt don't, so it's just wasting a pitch for wasting a pitch sake which is dumb, especially in the pitch count era. Maybe that's why so many 0-2 and 1-2 counts with Brewer pitchers end up going full? Yea I get the fact that he caught the only no hitter in Brewer history but I could honestly care less, he's an apologist who like many former players are hung up on how things were rather than how they are now. I'd rather he just go away, and I much prefer Hamilton's insightful comments on the radio broadcasts to the continual nonsense Rock spouts on TV. I thought that Cirillo was pretty insightful when he covered TV for that Colorado series a couple of years ago as well so it's not that I'm opposed to former players, just players who have a very limited baseball framework like Rock as commentators. And now a return to discussing the actual game on the field...

In general I cringe when anyone brings up "ground ball" as a reason or justification of anything when talking about pitching, I'd much rather take "stuff" over a GO/FO rate. Kameron Loe was a ground ball pitcher with average stuff, I get that ground balls are a trendy topic over the last 10 years, but seriously getting ground balls isn't anything new... all of us grew up believing that baseball teams needed to be strong up the middle, or put another way have great defense at C, SS, 2B, and CF... The object has always been to have vacuums on the IF to suck up anything on the ground and a CF who could run down anything in the gaps. In the obsession around baseball with chasing ground balls pitchers have forgotten how to work hitters, pitching inside and strike outs up in the zone are largely forgotten about these days. Hitters aren't attacked horizontally and vertically anymore; there's more to getting ground balls than throwing sinkers at the knees, and why are pop ups on the infield or foul territory rated negatively? Those are easier outs to convert than GBs... The object of a pitcher should be to induce as weak of contact as possible in whatever form that takes. Jungmann may have improved his stuff, his strike out rates suggests he has, but I doubt he's "nasty". I haven't seen him pitch in years though, so I'm unable to say for sure. However I want the relievers at the back of the bullpen to be flat out nasty, I want the top 3 pitchers in the bullpen to have at least 2 plus pitches. I don't care if they are slider, change, or curve guys to go with their FB, but I want the offspeed to be filthy. On that note I think Ariel Pena is much more likely to end up a dominant reliever than Jungmann is... maybe Taylor's stuff will play up in the pen but I just don't see it right now, I think he's better suited to be a back end starting pitcher or middle relief guy.

Well done sir and thank you!

Good, bad, or in the middle?

Yes, he'll already be 30 years old in 2015, how much more are we exactly expecting to get out of him? If he's the odd man out, so be it. Of the pitchers with the least experience in Peralta, Nelson, and Fiers (I'm not sure Thornburg pitches next year) he's clearly the least talented of the 3 and if they are all going to post similar results over a large sample why wouldn't you stick the oldest and least talented player in the pen and build around the other 2? Fiers' curve has come a long way, it's above average now, but he throws 89-90... the college kid I've spent the summer working with throws that hard... Fiers' command and pitchability are special so when he's locating he can be extremely effective, if he loses his location at all he's going to get lit up similar to every other pitcher we've had with that kind of stuff like Marcum, Suppan, and so on. Fiers' curve isn't on the same level as Marcum's change was either... Mike is going to be up and down, he's not going to continually dominate, he has a large enough MLB sample now to know that he'll fall in that high 3 range on average which is what I expect of Nelson and may be on the low side for Peralta.

There are too many off days in the playoffs to use a 5 man rotation, it's completely unnecessary. I don't like the idea of a 6 man rotation at all unless it's something the Brewers are going to adopt full time. It doesn't matter how many starters you throw out there, none of our guys are going to give us a complete game on any kind of regular basis. Having a 6th starter limits your BP options more than having Wang on the roster did, I'd rather shift an arm to the pen such a Nelson to save on innings and provide some depth there where it's needed. I don't think the # of innings was the issue with either Sheets or Marcum... Greinke was awful in the playoffs as well and missed the start of the season. Sheets was injured, that was the accumulative effect of his career, not what transpired during the 2008 season, and I never trusted Marcum to stay healthy which is why I railed so vehemently against that trade in the first place. I've long argued that the post season is an entirely different animal than the regular season, depth isn't as important as matching up best on best. As such, you roll your 4 best starting pitching options, and put everyone else in the pen so you load up as much talent into each game as possible. In the post season the hot hand matters as there isn't time for regression to mean in either a positive or negative sense. We need to let go of our 162 game perception of baseball once the regular season ends; with the continual off days in each playoff series the relievers get the rest they need by default so managers have the ability to be much more aggressive with their pitching/line-up changes through the course of the game. That's where our managers have gotten out maneuvered in the playoffs, they manage like it's the regular season sticking with guys because he's "proven" even though he's clearly slumping... Suppan in '08 and Marcum in '11.