TheCrew07

Barrett Astin by inning. 1st 87 89 91 90 87 90 91 85 90 90 81 88 2nd 88 87 87 87 81 87 81 83 90 89 89 88 90 85 88 91 - HR 88 79 91 3rd 87 76 82 73 82 89 89 89 80 89 4th 90 88 79 87 83 90 82 83 76 90 88 86 92 85 5th 87 86 82 88 87 80 83 78 83 89 89 6th 88 83 89 88 81 88 87 82 -- 87 87 82 79 84 7th 86 74 88 82 84 78 85 82 87 73 89 81 82 88 86 89 75 76 82 89 - HR 87 86 90 88 87 Rain came and put the gun away. Edit. His max FB was at 92, worked mostly upper 80s, he also threw a slider, change, and curve.

Rattlers Rock River Bandits 8-4 Coulter hits grand slam, Brennan adds homer By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/9/0/84693890/cuts/Coulter_Slam_7_14_14_fqe9ulb8_rmilfo9c.jpg Clint Coulter is greeted at the plate after his fourth inning grand slam against the Quad Cities River Bandits on Monday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. (Ann Mollica/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers got a grand slam from Clint Coulter and defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits 8-4 on Monday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The win was the third straight for the Rattlers and gave them their first season series win over the River Bandits since 2008. Quad Cities (47-46 overall, 12-12 second half) scored first. Chase McDonald hit a two-out, solo home run to right-center in the top of the second inning for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (49-44, 13-11) came right back in the bottom of the second. Paul Eshleman doubled to right to drive in Rafael Neda from second base to tie the game. Johnny Davis started the bottom of the third inning with a single. A balk moved him to second base and a slow grounder to short allowed him to take third base. Michael Ratterree lined a pitch through the drawn-in infield for an RBI single and a 2-1 lead. The Timber Rattlers padded their lead in the bottom of the fourth against left-handed knuckleballer Blaine Sims. Eshleman, Steve Halcomb, and Davis had consecutive singles with one out to load the bases. Ratterree allowed a 3-2 knuckler to go by for ball four to force in Eshleman for a 3-1 lead. Coulter also worked the count to 3-2 and launched another knuckler to left for a grand slam and a 7-1 lead. The slam was the second of the season for Coulter, who also hit one at South Bend on April 12. Coulter is the third Rattler to hit two grand slams in a season. The other two were Chris Snelling (2000) and Michael Cox (2004). Wisconsin has hit four grand slams this season to tie the franchise record. Wisconsin also hit four grand slams in 1997, 2000, 2002, and 2004. In the sixth, Taylor Brennan hit his eleventh home run of the season, a solo shot off the video board in left-center field. That put the Rattlers up 8-1. Barrett Astin was cruising after the home run by McDonald. But in the seventh inning Quad Cities had runners at first and third with two outs. Brett Booth hit what appeared to be a routine fly ball to right on a 1-2 pitch from Astin. The ball kept carrying in a sudden gust of wind and blew out of the ballpark for a three-run homer to cut the lead to 8-4. Astin would get out of the inning as a sudden rain shower fell on the stadium. He tossed seven innings to match his professional career high for a single game, walked three, and struck out five to be in line for the win. Clint Terry took over in the top of the eighth in the rain and pitched two scoreless innings, allowed one hit, and struck out four to close out the River Bandits. The Sun was shining again by the time the final out was recorded. Davis went 4-for-5 with a stolen base and two runs scored to pace Wisconsin's 13-hit attack. Wisconsin won the season series from the River Bandits with nine wins out of the sixteen games played. The Timber Rattlers now own the tiebreaker over Quad Cities in case the teams tie for a second half Western Division playoff spot. The Timber Rattlers are off on Tuesday before returning to action on Wednesday at home against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Tyler Alexander (5-4, 4.22) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Ben Griset (0-5, 4.23) is set to start for the Hot Rods. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 1,000 fans to attend the game will receive an Oyo mini figure of former Timber Rattler and current Milwaukee Brewer Scooter Gennett from Principal Financial Dreams Tour. The Principal Financial Dreams Tour will also be out front to meet fans and give the tour. Plus, Wednesday is a WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night. Enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs, Pepsi products, and Miller beer for $1 as the Rattlers take on the Bowling Green Hot Rods. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are many ways to follow the action. The television broadcast is on MyNew32's Sports Showdown starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and IHeartRadio beginning with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The game is also available for subscribers to MiLB.TV. HOME RUNS: QC: Chase McDonald (6th, 0 on in 2nd inning off Barrett Astin, 2 out) Brett Booth (3rd, 2 on in 7th inning off Barrett Astin, 2 out) WIS: Clint Coulter (14th, GRAND SLAM in 4th inning off Blaine Sims, 2 out) Taylor Brennan (11th, 0 on in 6th inning off Chris Lee, 2 out) WP: Barrett Astin (6-4) LP: Blaine Sims (1-2) TIME: 2:34 ATTN: 2,863 Wisconsin Boxscore Barrett Astin looked pretty decent, he was around the plate much of the day. He was at 81 pitches when he came back out for the 7th and gave up the 3HR. He threw the most pitches of any inning in the 7th and got burned leaving the ball up. I would have thought the call to the bullpen would have been made after the 6th. I'll put Astin's inning by inning velocities in another post. We left when the rain started to come down so I didn't see Clint Terry pitch in person. Johnny Davis had 4 legitimate hits, no bunt base hits, 3 were line drives through the infield. Paul Eshlemen (3-4, 2B) had a nice day at the plate and a CS as well. Taylor Brennan (2-3,2B,HR,2 BB) also had a monster day, his HR hit half way up the score board, it was a no doubter off the bat. Clint Coulter made the best contact he's made in a while, every ball he hit in play he hit well, his HR was actually the least well struck HR I've seen from him. It creeped over the LF wall by the foul pole, normally his HRs are no doubters, but it was a huge hit for him, hopefully it gets him back on track. The opposing lefty, the knucklballer Blaine Sims, threw 1 pitch at 80, everything else was 74 or below. Wisconsin Recap Wisconsin Gameday

Alcantara, Arrieta signs of bright future for Cubs By Phil Rogers

Handing Out Futures Game Superlatives July 13, 2014 by Ben Badler

WATCH IT: Javier Baez Futures Game Batting Practice July 13, 2014 by Josh Norris

McKinney hits first homer as D-Cub Outfielder goes deep in eighth game following Samardzija trade

Mahle keeps going and going and going Billings righty holds Ogden to three hits in complete-game shutout

Healthy Soler powers Smokies with blasts Cubs' No. 6 prospect goes yard twice, drives in career-high five runs

Sounds Fall 6-4 In Series Finale Nashville's Rogers Goes 3-for-4 With Home Run and Three RBIs Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/5/8/84636658/cuts/Jason_Rogers_627_3_Large_diupab34_09ig5xs1.jpg NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The first-place Nashville Sounds (51-47) failed to complete a three-game series sweep over the Round Rock Express Sunday night, losing the finale 6-4 at Greer Stadium. Infielder Jason Rogers powered the Sounds' offense, going 3-for-4 and delivering the game-tying three-run home run in the 5th inning, but the Sounds would not score again. Sounds reliever Donovan Hand (1-6) surrendered three consecutive singles in the 8th inning to allow Round Rock to break the 4-4 tie. Later in the inning, Luis Sardinas hit a sacrifice fly to the wall in left field for a two-run lead that proved to be the difference. The Sounds scored first in the contest when shortstop Hector Gomez's hit an RBI single down the right-field line to score Eugenio Velez, who reached base on balls and moved into scoring position with his 17th stolen base of the season. In the 4th inning, the Express belted a pair of home runs to take a 3-1 lead on Nashville. Express outfielder Bryan Petersen drove a two-run homer over the left-field wall and catcher Brett Nicholas followed later in the frame with his seventh dinger of the year. Round Rock added one more run in the inning on Michael Choice's RBI double into left field to chase Sounds starting pitcher Taylor Jungmann out of the game after 3 2/3 innings of work. Sounds relievers Alfredo Figaro and Dustin Molleken combined to pitch 3 1/3 scoreless innings for Nashville, allowing just two hits prior to Hand's entry in the 8th. Brent Leach and Jeremy Jeffress each saw time out of the bullpen, working a spotless 9th inning. Outfielder Jeremy Hermida extended his PCL-best on-base streak to 31 consecutive home games, going 2-for-4 at the plate. The Sounds will take a three-day break as the Pacific Coast League All-Stars head to Durham, North Carolina for the Triple-A All-Star Game. Representing the Sounds at the event will be pitchers Mike Fiers and Donovan Hand, and coach Bob Skube. Nashville continues league play on Thursday, July 17, at Oklahoma City. Nashville Boxscore Not exactly the way the pitching staff wanted to go into the break... Taylor Jungmann hasn't gotten his feet under him yet and Donovan Hand's season to forget continues, this has been far and away the worst season of Donovan's career. Jason Rogers' best day in AAA bumped his AVE up to .281 and bumped his OPS to .843. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

I just noticed that Newcomb didn't sign yet. Holmes signed for $2.5 mil, the exact same bonus as Medeiros, selecting him wouldn't have impacted Gatewood or Harrison. Obviously I'll be watching the trio of Medeiros, Holmes, and Newcomb to see who turns out to be the better player. At this point I'd obviously rather be wrong and have Medeiros turn out the best since I never gave him any consideration because of his low arm slot but was super high on the other 2.

Rattlers score 13 to beat Bandits McFarland collects four hits and Ratterree hits homer #15 for Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Ann takes pretty awesome pictures. - TC07 http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/2/0/84572820/cuts/July13BrennanSafe_WEB_msv43780_vjzdbtoh.jpg Taylor Brennan slides in safely to score on an RBI single by Rafael Neda during Wisconsin's seven-run third inning on Sunday. (Ann Mollica/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers used a seven-run third inning to build an 8-0 lead on the way to a 13-4 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Chris McFarland went 4-for-5 with a triple, two runs, and two RBI to pace Wisconsin's 14-hit attack. Michael Ratterree added hit fifteenth home run of the season for the Timber Rattlers. Steve Halcomb put the Timber Rattlers (48-44 overall, 12-11 second half) in front with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the second inning. Wisconsin poured it on in the third inning as they sent eleven men to the plate and scored seven runs. McFarland started the inning with a triple. Ratterree drew a walk against Bandits starting pitcher Edison Frias. Clint Coulter knocked in McFarland with a sacrifice fly to center for a 2-0 lead. Taylor Brennan doubled to get Ratterree around to third base. Rafael Neda delivered a single to center that plated both runners for a 4-0 lead. Neda took second on the throw home to get Brennan and took third on a passed ball. Omar Garcia followed with an RBI single and it was 5-0. Jose Pena was next and he was hit by a pitch. Frias got the second out of the inning on a strikeout, but an error on a grounder off the bat of Johnny Davis allowed Garcia to score, the inning to continue, and end the day for Frias. Davis would steal second when Tyler Brunnemann took over on the hill for Quad Cities. That set up McFarland with two runners in scoring position. McFarland came through with his second hit of the inning, an RBI single to score Pena and Davis for a seven-run frame and an 8-0 lead. The teams would trade runs for the next few turns at the plate. Quad Cities (47-45, 12-11) got a run off Wisconsin starter Zach Quintana in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Chase McDonald. Garcia knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth. Ronnie Mitchell doubled in a run in the top of the fifth inning. McFarland singled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to bring Ratterree to the plate. Then, Ratterree drilled his fifteenth home run of the season. The two-run shot put the Rattlers up 11-2. Quintana left after giving up a one-out double in the top of the sixth. He scattered nine hits over 5-1/3 innings, walked two, and struck out two. Tyler Spurlin took over for Quintana and stranded the runner he inherited in the sixth and tossed a scoreless seventh. The River Bandits got a pair of runs off Tristan Archer in the top of the eighth inning. Brett Phillips doubled in the first run. Jake Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch by Archer and the score was 11-4. The Rattlers got those runs back in the bottom of the eighth. Brennan singled to start the inning for his third hit of the game. An error and a hit batter loaded the bases. Jose Pena's sacrifice fly got one run home. Halcomb plated the final run of the game with a single. Archer would walk two batters with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, but he closed out the game by getting McDonald to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Wisconsin matched their season high for runs in an inning, runs in a game, and hits in a game with their offensive output on Sunday. The Timber Rattlers have taken an 8-7 lead in the season series from the River Bandits with one more game left between the teams in the regular season. Wisconsin has also outscored the River Bandits 80-75 in the season series. The first playoff tie-breaker in case the teams end the regular season with identical records is the goes to the team that wins the season series. The second tie-breaker is the team with the better run differential in the series between the teams. Monday is a Qdoba Q*Monday with KRUZ 106.7 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. You can pick up a free ticket to this game - or any other Monday home game remaining in the regular season - by purchasing a lunch entrée at either Qdoba location in Appleton (3813 E. Calumet Street or 4343 W. Wisconsin Avenue). The first 500 fans to attend this game will receive set of mini maracas from 106.7 KRUZ. Monday is also a day for a Baker Tilly Business Person Special. Show your business card when you purchase a ticket and for $13.50 you will receive a box seat ticket, a beverage, and your choice of brat or hot dog. The offer is also available to senior citizens (55 & older) courtesy of WVBO and AM1280 WNAM. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 11:45am. Monday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. HOME RUN: WIS: Michael Ratterree (15th, 1 on in 5th inning off Tyler Brunnemann, 2 out) WP: Zach Quintana (3-4) LP: Edison Frias (5-5) TIME: 3:01 ATTN: 3,668 Postgame Post – July 13, 2014 The usual assortment of awesomeness: Pregame interview with Jim Slaton, Postgame interviews with McFarland, Ratterree, and Erickson, more photos from Ann, plus the highlights as always. Wisconsin Boxscore I was watching amateur baseball this afternoon so I didn't get to see the game but it appears Zach Quintana is starting to make some incremental improvements with his control. I don't think he's ever going to be a huge strike out pitcher or top of the rotation type, but if he continues to improve he slot in that 3-5 range. Tyler Spurlin has only pitched 2 full innings (including today) since his tough outing on June 6th, it was good to see him back in the fold. After being lifted from C yesterday Clint Coulter was back behind the dish today with no errors or PBs. I looked at this yesterday but posting it seemed like piling on after his tough day: [pre]Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB Total 81 342 274 54 71 19 2 13 53 51 68 .259 .398 .485 .883 133 April 22 92 74 11 24 7 1 4 17 15 12 .324 .457 .608 1.065 45 May 28 122 98 21 25 3 1 6 22 17 25 .255 .393 .490 .883 48 June 22 91 70 18 17 8 0 3 13 15 20 .243 .396 .486 .881 34 July 9 37 32 4 5 1 0 0 1 4 11 .156 .270 .188 .458 6[/pre] For some reason I was thinking about the T-Rat HR output while reading the game story and it occurred to me that Jose Pena hadn't one in some time, so I went looking and sure enough he hasn't hit one since May 28th. He's been at 5 HR on the season forever. Have a day Chris McFarland! His transformation continues, his only major weakness at this time is his backhand defensively at 2nd, but he's improved both defensively and at the plate from last year. 7 more walks and he eclipses last year's total. Michael Ratterree (2-4,2B,HR,BB), Taylor Brennan (3-5,2B), and Steven Halcomb (2-5) had the other multi-hit games for the T-Rats. Wisconsin Recap Too good not to post again... Wisconsin Bottom of the 3rd Defensive Substitution: Thomas Lindauer replaces second baseman Jose Fernandez, batting 6th, playing shortstop. Defensive switch from shortstop to second base for Dayne Parker. Christopher McFarland triples (3) on a line drive to center fielder Brett Phillips. Michael Ratterree walks. Clint Coulter out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Brett Phillips. Christopher McFarland scores. Taylor Brennan doubles (11) on a fly ball to right fielder Ronnie Mitchell, deflected by center fielder Brett Phillips. Michael Ratterree to 3rd. Rafael Neda singles on a line drive to center fielder Brett Phillips. Michael Ratterree scores. Taylor Brennan scores. Rafael Neda to 2nd on the throw. With Omar Garcia batting, passed ball by Jake Rodriguez, Rafael Neda to 3rd. Omar Garcia singles on a line drive to center fielder Brett Phillips. Rafael Neda scores. With Jose Pena batting, Omar Garcia steals (33) 2nd base, . Omar Garcia advances to 3rd, on a throwing error by catcher Jake Rodriguez. Jose Pena hit by pitch. Steven Halcomb strikes out swinging. Jose Pena steals (1) 2nd base. Johnny Davis reaches on a fielding error by second baseman Dayne Parker. Omar Garcia scores. Jose Pena to 3rd. Pitching Change: Tyler Brunnemann replaces Edison Frias. With Christopher McFarland batting, Johnny Davis steals (25) 2nd base. Christopher McFarland singles on a line drive to center fielder Brett Phillips. Jose Pena scores. Johnny Davis scores. Michael Ratterree called out on strikes. Wisconsin Gameday

Didn't get to see the game but was following it on my phone, was nice to see Peralta put a strong outing after his recent struggles.

Pretty much what he showed last year then, he's probably making strides with his command and consistency.

Sounds Stifle Express, 5-3 Nashville's Gindl and Rogers Go Deep; De La Torre Strikes Out Seven Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/0/0/84441200/cuts/MPS_3825_Large_rhjw75c1_2iec7hmb.jpg NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Fueled by Caleb Gindl's go-ahead home run in the bottom of the third and 6 1/3 scoreless innings from the Sounds bullpen, the first-place Nashville Sounds (51-46) took down the Round Rock Express, 5-3, at Greer Stadium in front of 8,441 fans on Saturday night. Sounds pitchers overwhelmed opposing hitters throughout the evening, tying a season high with 15 strikeouts. Down 3-1 with one out in the third, Gindl took an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for his seventh homer of the year, giving Nashville its first lead of the night. The Sounds got their first run of the night when the previous batter, Eugenio Velez, knocked in Hector Gomez with an RBI single. The Express jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top half of the third on Sounds starter Johnnie Lowe. Helped by a pair of errors and four hits, Round Rock knocked Lowe out of the game after just 2 2/3 innings, but reliever Jose De La Torre (1-0) got control of the game shortly after. In his longest relief outing of the year, De La Torre went 3 1/3 innings, striking out seven and allowing just one hit to earn his first win with Nashville. Arcenio Leon continued the good vibes out of the bullpen with two clean innings and striking out three. Closer Jeremy Jeffress then took over in the ninth and held Round Rock scoreless to pick up his fourth save of the season. Jason Rogers gave the Sounds an important insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with his second home run of the year. Round Rock starter Justin Germano (3-9) went the distance despite the loss, pitching an eight-inning complete game and allowing five earned runs on seven hits. The Sounds will go for their second series sweep of the season Sunday at 6:35 p.m. RHP Taylor Jungmann (4-5, 5.37) get the start for Nashville against RHP Jerome Williams, who is making his debut with the Express. Jeff Hem will have the call on 102.5 The GAME. Nashville Boxscore Jose De La Torre was absolutely on fire, what a performance. One would think that Jeremy Jeffress is going to get the call at some point, maybe this time he can stick. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

Ratter Postgame Post – July 12, 2014 No pictures, the usual highlights and audio. Manager Matt Erickson drops the quote of the year.

Rattlers win a wild one over the River Bandits Wisconsin led 8-1, wins 9-8 with run in bottom of the eighth By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers squandered a big lead, but managed to defeat the Quad Cities River Bandits 9-8 on Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Taylor Brennan went 2-for-2 and drove in four runs for the Timber Rattlers, who won despite being outhit 9-6 in the game. Wisconsin (47-44 overall, 11-11 second half) took advantage of three walks by Quad Cities starting pitcher Jandel Gustave in the bottom of the first inning to score three runs. Johnny Davis drew a walk to start the inning. Michael Ratterree and Clint Coulter each drew walks with one out to load the bases. Gustave got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but threw a wild pitch to let Davis score. Taylor Brennan followed with a bloop single to right that drove in two runs for a 3-0 lead. The Timber Rattlers added to their lead in the third inning. Ratterree drew a one out walk and Coulter singled to right on a hit-and-run to put runners on the corners. Brennan doubled to left to drive in two more runs. Then, Brennan stole third and scored when the throw sailed into left field and the Rattlers were up 6-0. Quad Cities (47-44, 12-10) got their first run in the fourth inning. Chase McDonald singled to drive in Tyler White from second with one out, but was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double. Rattlers starter Anthony Banda escaped the inning without allowing more damage. Chris McFarland and Michael Ratterree had back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the fourth inning to push the Wisconsin lead out to 8-1. Banda walked Jake Rodriguez, the leadoff batter, in the top of the fifth, a passed ball sent him to second and an errant pickoff throw by Banda to second allowed Rodriguez to take third base. Brett Phillips and Thomas Lindauer had back-to-back RBI doubles with one out to make it 8-3 and drive Banda out of the game. Chris Razo came out of the bullpen and got the final two outs of the inning. Razo went back out for the sixth and gave up a double to McDonald on a routine fly ball to medium right-center that dropped in for a hit. A passed ball with the next batter up sent McDonald to third, but Razo got the next two outs on strikeouts. Razo struck out James Ramsay to end the inning, but the ball eluded Coulter for his third passed ball of the game. The dropped third strike allowed McDonald to score and Ramsay to reach to keep the inning going. Phillips doubled again to put runners on second and third with two outs. Razo threw a wild pitch to let Ramsay score. Then, an error on a grounder to second allowed Phillips to score and the Rattlers lead was down to 8-6. Wisconsin had two on with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn't add any insurance. It would cost them. Victor Diaz, who had tossed a scoreless seventh, walked Phillips with one out in the eighth. Two errors on one play off a grounder to third by Thomas Lindauer put runners at the corners with one out. Diaz struck out Ronnie Mitchell for the second out. Tyler White worked the count to 3-2 against Diaz and lined a double to right-center. Phillips and Lindauer scored to tie the game 8-8. Quad Cities brought in knuckleball pitcher Blaine Sims in the bottom of the eighth inning. McFarland reached on an error, the fifth of the night on the River Bandits, with one out. McFarland stole second and the River Bandits walked Ratterree intentionally. Paul Eshleman's grounder to second wasn't handled cleanly and all the River Bandits could get was the second out of the inning at first base. McFarland scored the go-ahead run when a knuckler from Sims got back to the screen with Dustin DeMuth at the plate and the Rattlers were up 9-8. Diaz didn't allow the River Bandits any chances in the ninth as he retired them 1-2-3 to close out the game. Both defenses committed five errors. The five runs scored against Wisconsin's bullpen were unearned. There were five wild pitches - three by Bandits pitchers and two by Rattlers pitchers. The pitchers combined for 14 walks and 19 strikeouts in the game. Quad Cities went 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position while the Rattlers were 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Game three of the series is Sunday afternoon. Zach Quintana (2-4, 5.69) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Edison Frias (5-4, 5.92) is scheduled to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 1:05pm. The Tour de France just started and you can get the feeling and get active on 'Bike to the Ballpark' Day presented by Affinity Health System. If you ride your bicycle to the game, you won't have to pay for parking and you will receive $1 off your ticket. Plus, the first 500 fans ages 2 and up to attend the game will receive a free bike helmet and Affinity will also be there to help get your helmet to fit properly with a professional helmet fitting. Fans can play catch on-field courtesy of Rasmussen College before the game. Jim Slaton, the Milwaukee Brewers career leader in wins, innings pitched, and shutouts, will be at the game and available for autographs during the game. Follow the game closely as you play Potawatomi Baseball Bingo and be the first to yell, "BINGO!" Timber Rattlers players and coaches will be wearing gold Rattlers jerseys based on the design of the Milwaukee Brewers and all Timber Rattlers players will be available for a postgame autograph session. 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 12:45pm. Sunday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. WP: Victor Diaz (3-3) LP: Blaine Sims (1-1) TIME: 3:26 ATTN: 4,461 Wisconsin Boxscore I watched this game on the DVR and it was literally like watching a high school game, the T-Rats even won in a high school manner. Anthony Banda didn't get ahead of many hitters but it didn't hurt him until the 4th. Chris Razo was really solid, in case you missed it above the defense gave Cedar Rapids 6 outs in the 6th, it was awful. Razo hung in there and kept throwing strikes though. Victor Diaz is going to be a player to watch with Taylor Williams down the road. His command isn't great, but his stuff is above average and there's always a chance Diaz will locate better as he matures. Clint Coulter was awful defensively, so bad that Erickson replaced him for the 7th. Paul Eshleman isn't a great defensive catcher either, between them they let 2 strike 3s get right through them for PBs which extended the innings, but I thought Matt was correct to pull Coulter. I really liked the approach at the plate from Michael Ratterree and Taylor Brennan in this game. Opposing starter Jandel Gustave is actually fairly nasty he just has no idea where the ball is going. His FB was 94-97 and his off speed was pretty decent. Wisconsin Recap Wisconsin Gameday

Sure because it's easy to excuse poor behavior from our guys and easy to crack on Molina which is why so many will point the finger at the other team when Carlos gets into altercations with the opposition. It was McCann's or Cole's fault cause they started it... Gomez is an adult and he does things that I'd be embarrassed if one of the HS kids I coached did, I was actually hoping he hurt himself when the bat didn't break to teach him a lesson. It's not Latin flair, it's not playing the game hard, it's a complete loss of composure and there's no excusing it away... He's the one swinging himself in a circle when he misses, he only has one person to blame... himself. I get this has been an incredibly trying 10 days, especially with the horrible situation Segura and the rest of the team is dealing with now, but none of that excuses classless behavior. He looked like a complete putz repeatedly ramming that bat into his leg and if he ended up with a deep thigh bruise what that display have proven? It wouldn't have helped the team, it would have put him on the shelf for at least a week (yes I know the all-star break starts after this series), nothing good comes from that sort of thing. People generally are going to see what they want to see and while I've always been impressed with Gomez' physical gifts and he surprised me with his high level of play over the last 2 seasons, his attitude in my opinion has always sucked. He's always been about himself and it doesn't matter if he's on a rehab assignment, giving an interview, or playing with the big club. I've said it before but I think he'd be a very easy guy to mess with because he seemingly flies off the handle every single time his pride is challenged a little bit. I readily admit he's not the type of guy I'm going to gravitate towards as a fan, I prefer understated rather than overstated athletes, the "look at me" guys tend to draw my ire, but I stand by my opinion that his display was childish and unnecessary. He's a fantastic talent, he plays hard, but I'm not a fan because of his attitude. I'll miss his production when he's gone but I won't miss him.

You mean he *tried* to snap his bat in half and then threw a tantrum. i understand the loss of Segura's son could be devastating for the team here in the short term but it doesn't take much to set Gomez off either. This has been a tough game to watch.

Sounds Open Homestand With 7-3 Win Nashville Rips Eight Of 11 Hits For Extra Bases To Back Pena's Best Start Of Year Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/1/6/84298016/cuts/Velez_0711_o75f0e9l_i2m9imqj.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds scored a 7-3 victory over Round Rock in front of 7,810 fans on Friday evening at Greer Stadium in the opener of a three-game series. With the win, Nashville (50-46) extended its lead over the second-place Express to a game and a half in the PCL American Conference Southern Division. The Sounds, who improved to 25-1 at home when scoring the first run of the contest, pounded eight of their 11 hits for extra bases on the night, including home runs by Matt Clark and Kevin Mattison, who drove in three of the Nashville runs. Ariel Pena (6-6) twirled his sixth quality start of the year to pick up his sixth win for Nashville. The right-hander held the Express to one unearned run on two hits while striking out seven over seven innings, his longest outing of the year. The Sounds grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning by posting three straight two-out doubles against Express starter Scott Richmond. Eugenio Velez (2-for-5) got things started when he bounced a ground-rule two-bagger over the wall in left-center before Elian Herrera and Jason Rogers (2-for-4)ripped back-to-back RBI doubles. Round Rock halved the Sounds' lead to 2-1 in the fifth inning with an unearned run stemming from right fielder Jeremy Hermida's dropped fly ball. Former big leaguer Brent Lillibridge did the damage with a two-out single to left off Pena, which plated Ryan Rua. Nashville got the run back in the home half of the frame when Velez legged out a stand-up triple and scored on a Herrera groundout to up the advantage to 3-1. Richmond (1-4) took the loss for the Express after giving up three runs on six hits over five innings of work. Clark belted his first home run as a Sound to make it a 4-1 game in the home half of the sixth, smacking a two-out solo shot to right off Round Rock reliever Lisalverto Bonilla. The big fly extended the first baseman's hitting streak to six games (8-for-22, .364). Mattison (2-for-4) got into the longball act an inning later, cranking the first offering he saw from Bonilla over the right field wall for a two-run home that stretched the lead to 6-1. Hector Gomez, who preceded Mattison with a single, also scored on the outfielder's seventh roundtripper of the year. Mattison added to the Sounds' scoring output in the eighth with a two-out RBI double to left-center that brought in Clark, who had been hit by a pitch. After Dustin Molleken worked a scoreless eighth for Nashville, Round Rock first baseman J.P. Arencibia closed out the evening's scoring by belting a two-run homer to left off Brent Leach, his 14th tater of the season. The teams continue the series with a 6:35 p.m. matchup on Saturday. Right-hander Johnnie Lowe (1-3, 5.67) will make a spot start for Nashville, filling in for recently-promoted top prospect Jimmy Nelson. Round Rock will counter with right-hander Justin Germano (3-8, 4.19). Nashville Boxscore Ariel Pena allowed just 4 legit baserunners in the game, 2 hits and 2 walks. Jason Rogers (2-4,2B) returned to action and was the only prospect with a multi-hit game. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

River Bandits score late to beat Wisconsin Quad Cities takes game one of a four game series By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/9/8/84317498/cuts/Garcia_Catch_7_11_g585vs9l_4ologkhd.jpg Omar Garcia tracks down a line drive for the final out of the top of the third inning on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Quad Cities River Bandits and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers began an important four-game series on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The River Bandits scored eight times in the final two innings to defeat the Timber Rattlers 10-5. Chris McFarland gave the Timber Rattlers (46-44 overall, 10-11 second half) a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. His two-out single drove in Rafael Neda from third. In the fifth, Angel Ortega doubled to open the frame and was at third with two outs. Bandits starting pitcher Andrew Thurman threw ball four to Michael Ratterree and it was wild. That allowed Ortega to score for a 2-0 lead. Quad Cities (47-43, 12-9) loaded the bases against Wisconsin starter Preston Gainey in the top of the sixth inning with two outs. Rodriguez, who had struck out his first two times to bat against Gainey in the game, lined a single to left to drive in two runs to tie the game 2-2. Gainey struck out seven over six innings, but had a no decision in the game. Wisconsin went back in front in the bottom of the seventh with a two out rally against Chris Lee. Johnny Davis reached on a bunt single. McFarland singled to put runners at first and second. Ratterree launched a 2-1 pitch from Lee to right-center. The ball hit on the warning track and bounced over the wall for a ground rule double. Davis scored the go ahead run, but McFarland - who would have scored easily - had to return to third base. Lee walked Clint Coulter intentionally to load the bases and allow the left-handed pitcher to face left-hand hitting Dustin DeMuth. The strategy worked as Lee got DeMuth to ground out to short to end the inning with the Rattlers up 3-2. Harvey Martin, who had pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Timber Rattlers, got into trouble in the top of the eighth. Brian Holberton singled off Martin's glove to start the inning. Jose Fernandez followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Marc Wik was next and his single to left plated Holberton with the tying run. That was all for Harvey. Reliever Luke Curtis entered the game to make his home debut for the Timber Rattlers. He struck out Rodriguez for the first out. James Ramsay dropped a safety squeeze bunt. The flip to the plate by Curtis was late and Fernandez scored the run to make it 4-3. Brett Phillips added to the lead with a two-run triple to right-center. Dayne Parker capped the inning with a sacrifice fly and the Bandits were up 7-3. Wisconsin had back-to-back singles by Omar Garcia and Neda with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Lee got out of the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. The River Bandits padded their lead in the top of the ninth. Holberton was at third with two outs and a single by Wik got him home. Rodriguez was down 0-2 in the count when he lifted a two-run homer to left. The homer was the first of the season by Rodriguez and it gave Quad Cities a 10-3 lead. Wisconsin did put together a rally in the top of the ninth. McFarland singled with one out for his third hit of the game. Ratterree drew a walk. Coulter singled. The bases were loaded and that was all for Lee. DeMuth greeted Chris Cotton with a single up the middle to drive in two runs and the Rattlers were down 10-5. Cotton retired the next two batters to close out the game. This series is the final meeting of the regular season between the Timber Rattlers and River Bandits. Both teams missed the playoffs in the first half and are fighting for one of two spots in the second half. Quad Cities is now up two games on the Rattlers in the Wild Card standings. Additionally, Quad Cities now leads the season series 7-6 and has outscored the Timber Rattlers 63-58. The first tie-breaker is the team that wins the season series. The second tie-breaker is run differential. Wisconsin has lost five of their last six games to see their second half record fall below .500 for the first time. Game two of the series is Saturday night. Anthony Banda (4-6, 4.34) has been named the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Quad Cities calls on Jandel Gustave (5-4, 4.87) as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm. The ballpark transforms into a fairy tale castle for Storybook Princess Night presented by Fox River Mall on Saturday night. The first 500 children to attend this game will receive a tiara from Fox River Mall. Plus, some of your favorite storybook princesses will be on hand to meet fans for photos throughout the game. Plus, there is Baseball Bingo from Potawatomi and a postgame fireworks display presented by FOX 11 that will be up to the standards of our royal guests. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown has the television broadcast starting at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast may be heard on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio beginning with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. Subscribers to MiLB.TV can catch the game, too. HOME RUN: QC: Jake Rodriguez (1st, 1 on in 9th inning off Luke Curtis, 2 out) WP: Chris Lee (5-5) LP: Harvey Martin (2-5) TIME: 3:12 ATTN: 3,234 Wisconsin Boxscore Preston Gainey got into trouble with walks, Harvey Martin and Luke Curtis(just 2 appearances) both have more than they've shown in WI. Watching them live you would expect better results... The game was pretty fun to watch until the 8th. Johnny Davis (2-4), Chris McFarland (3-5), and Rafael Neda (2-5,2B) had the multi-hit games for the T-Rats. Wisconsin Recap

reillymcshane was right per this quote: That's all she wrote then... I sincerely hope they advance players as they usually would and find a different way to backfill those roster positions.

Penalty wise that's true, the penalty is enforced regardless. I'm alright with the penalty, but I didn't think that would stop them from then going out and getting more space to sign a handful of players to $50kish contracts. I'll have to go back and reread the articles again.

Of course the problem here and which TH glossed over is that they can't sign anyone else to any kind of realistic bonus without getting taxed unless they trade for more space. I just don't want this to be a 1 and done type thing, I'm greedy, gimme more talent! The other thought which occurred to me is that I wouldn't want any kid held back in the DSL just because the Brewers need to field a team if he's capable of having success in AZ or MT. What kind of player can you seriously sign for <$10K? Off the top of my head I'm unable to recall 1 Latin player of note signing for that little. I hope they get more space and bring in a couple of decent under the radar types so no players have their progression held up simply due to roster concerns. I guess the Brewers could could always back fill those slots with players whom have already washed out of other organizations to keep the progression of legit prospects moving forward. I just hope they do the right thing, for example I wouldn't want Joantgel Segovia to stick around in the DSL for a second season simply because they didn't have another capable OF on the roster. Speaking of Segovia, I would love to know what his bonus was as we didn't even find out about his signing until this post by MH. The 2 higher profile signings last year in Mallen and Pierre have been solid yet unspectacular in their debuts thus far.

MLBPipelines' take... Jimmy Nelson makes the list Bryant, Betts highlight First-Half All-Prospect team Cubs 2013 first-rounder, trio of Red Sox among young players who have shined

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