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Final: Billings (Reds) 11, Helena 3

Helena Box Score
There's a new 3TO (OK, Three True Outcomes -- HR, BB, K) on the horizon, folks, and as noted above, it's Chris Dennis, the 19-year-old drafted in the 13th round last year out of Ontario, Canada, eh; Dennis hit five Arizona League home runs last season in 99 AB's, and now has seven bombs in only 66 Pioneer League AB's -- 27 walks and 61 K's over those two years, and yes, he's a LH bat; RHP Michael Bowman shined in his first three starts, but faltered here; 19-year-old RHP and bonus baby Rolando Pascual has done nothing over four relief stints to show that he can cope with Pioneer League batters -- 8 IP, 11 H, 12 BB, only 3 K's, 16 R (18.00 ERA), he's a switch-hitter, can we just convert him already? Just joshing, good luck, Rolando. How hot was OF Erik Komatsu's start? He's 0-for-9 in his last two games and still hitting .322; speaking of heat, 100 degrees in Helena for this one, and these kids thought they were escaping that fleeing from Maryvale; over 3,100 in the new Billings ballpark, which opened earlier this week...

Helena Game Log

Final: Brevard County 4, Daytona (Cubs) 1

Brevard County Site Game Summary:


(Viera, FL) Stephen Chapman blasted a solo home run, his eleventh home run of the season, to tie the game, then delivered a sacrifice fly late in the game to help seal a 4-1 victory for the Manatees Friday night. His leadoff home run ignited the crowd of 4,609, and led to a big fifth inning for Brevard County, as they scored three runs to take the lead, 3-1. Taylor Green also contributed with a two-out, two-run single, scoring Darren Ford and Lorenzo Cain to put the Manatees ahead for good. The lone run for Daytona came on a solo home run by Yusuf Carter to start the third inning.

Chapman's sacrifice fly in the 8th scored Charlie Fermaint, who had doubled and was then moved to third when Chuckie Caufield sacrificed him over.

Chris Cody (1-3) earned his first win since being called up to the Manatees, holding the Cubs to just one run and three hits over seven innings. He kept the Daytona lineup off-balance all day with a lethal mix of pitches, and was helped by a few key plays by the Manatee defense. Marcos Mateo (1-2) suffered the loss for Daytona, allowing all three of his runs in the fifth inning. Josh Wahpepah and Casey Baron each pitched a scoreless inning to close things out, with Baron earning his third save of the season.

The Manatees have now won three straight, and look to continue their strong play at Space Coast Stadium during this seven-game homestand. Josh Butler (2-6, 5.77) will take the mound for Brevard County Saturday, facing Grant Johnson (0-1, 7.00) of Daytona. Game time is 7:00 PM (6:00 Central).

Brevard County Box Score
Jonathan Lucroy on base three times and gunned down the only Cub runner who tried to steal -- Lucroy's OPS is 1.006 in his 14 Florida State League games and is .919 in 286 at-bats overall; Lorenzo Cain also reached three times and has significantly bumped his offensive game each month this season -- nice; Taylor Green with his two-run single, he just contributes near-every night, ridiculously steady; kudos to Chris Cody and to the Cub prospect who managed to take him deep for his 9th home run (see our Brevard County thread for more on Space Coast Stadium, where fly balls, especially those off right-handed bats, rarely see the bleachers)...

Brevard County Game Log

Final: Round Rock (Astros) 4, Nashville 3

Nashville Site Game Summary:
Link for Tony Gwynn, Jr. photo, text follows --

NASHVILLE - The Rounds Rock Express edged the Nashville Sounds, 4-3, on Friday evening in front of 9,525 fans at Greer Stadium in the opener of a three-game series.

Centerfielder Tony Gwynn (3-for-4) had three of the five hits in the contest for the Sounds (34-54), who fell to a season-low 20 games below .500 with the loss.

Former Sound J.R. House gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when he belted a two-out solo homer to left off Chris Narveson. The blast was his eighth of the year.

Round Rock increased its lead to 3-0 in the fifth when Tommy Manzella led off with a double to left-center and moved to third on Yordany Ramirez's fielder's choice grounder. Manzella scored on a two-out Narveson wild pitch before Sounds third baseman Adam Heether misplayed a House grounder to allow the second Express run to come plateward in the frame.

Nashville got on the board in the sixth when pinch-hitter Mel Stocker led off with a walk then stole second and third on consecutive pitches before making it a 3-1 contest when he scored on a Hernan Iribarren sacrifice fly to right.

The Express added an insurance run in the top of the ninth against Sounds reliever Luis Pena, extending the lead to 4-1. Lou Santangelo drew an inning-opening walk, was sacrificed to second, and scored on a Ramirez RBI single to center.

The Sounds kept it interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Gwynn opened the frame with a single off Express reliever Fernando Nieve and Vinny Rottino drew a walk before Brad Nelson delivered a two-run, opposite-field double to left-center, his team-leading 20th two-bagger of the year, to make it a 4-3 game.

AUDIO: Brad Nelson Two-Run Double

After Brendan Katin flew out and Heether drew a walk to put the potential go-ahead run on base, Express reliever Nick Regilio took over on the hill with two on and one out. The right-hander retired Carlos Corporan and Ozzie Chavez on consecutive first-pitch groundouts to first base to preserve the victory and notch his seventh save.

Round Rock starter Chad Reineke (5-8) turned in a solid outing to earn the victory, allowing one run on two hits while striking out six batters over seven innings of work.

Narveson (2-11) took his PCL-leading 11th loss of the year for Nashville after allowing three runs (two hits) on five hits over six innings of action, his fourth quality start of the year.

A pair of Sounds outfielders had the club's two longest active hitting streaks snapped in the contest. Katin went 0-for-4 to bring a close to his season-best eight-gamer, while Laynce Nix struck out as a pinch-hitter to end his streak at seven games.

The teams continue the series with a 6 p.m. meeting on Saturday night. Right-hander Richie Gardner (6-2, 3.98) will man the bump for the Sounds to face Round Rock right-hander Kyle Middleton (1-1, 2.59).

Nashville Box Score
The Corporan-Chavez combo wasn't the ideal pair for the tail end of the 9th, tough loss; disappointing not-so-meaningless run surrendered by Luis Pena in the top of the 9th -- 22 walks in 32.2 IP stinks, to be honest, and is much worse than his 2007 ratio; Mel Stocker can punch his ticket to Milwaukee for September 1st again this season -- 14-for-15 in SB attempts and he'll be useful off the bench in that final month; Carlos Corporan, THE man defensively behind the plate, two-for-two cutting would-be basestealers down...

Nashville Game Log

Final: Huntsville 2, Birmingham (White Sox) 1, ten innings

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Stars Celebrate Independence with 10th Inning Fireworks

Cole Gillespie belted a walk-off home run leading off the bottom of the tenth inning to lift Huntsville to a dramatic 2-1 win over Birmingham Friday night in front of a season-high 9,444 at Joe Davis Stadium. The Stars won their second straight to improve to 9-8 in the second half and move to within two games of North Division-leading Tennessee, while the Barons slipped to 10-7 in the second half. The Stars won their 50th game of the season to match the Barons for the most wins of any team in the league.

Barons' reliever Fernando Hernandez had retired the first six batters he faced before Gillespie drove an 0-1 offering over the wall to the right of straight away center field for his second home run in as many nights, his 12th of the season and his first at home since May 16 against Carolina. It was the Stars' third walk-off win of the season and just their second victory in eight extra innings games.

Freddy Parejo led off the home first with a bunt base hit and advanced to third base on a throwing error by pitcher Justin Cassel but was thrown out trying to score on a tapper back to the mound by Alcides Escobar, the next hitter. Angel Salome led off the second inning with a double, stayed put when Matt LaPorta walked and was thrown out trying to advance to third on a Gillespie fly out to right field.

Birmingham finally broke through in a scoreless game with a leadoff home run from Stefan Gartrell in the fourth against Troy Cate. Huntsville tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when LaPorta singled, move to third on a one-out double by J.R. Hopf and dashed home on a passed ball that also moved Hopf to third. Again, the Stars could not cash in, as Cassell fanned Mike Bell and Martin Maldonado to end the frame. The Birmingham right-hander allowed six hits, walked one and struck out five over seven innings in his second no-decision against Huntsville.

Cate was taken out with a runner at third and two outs in the eighth and replaced by David Johnson, who struck out Javier Colina to end the inning. Cate yielded four hits, walked three and struck out three in his second turn with the Stars. Johnson was replaced by Juan Sandoval with runners at the corners and two outs in the tenth and the right-hander got Colina to ground out with his first and only pitch. Sandoval, who gave up the Doug Deeds walk-off homer on Wednesday, grabbed his second win of the year.

The series continues Saturday night with right-hander Mike Jones taking the hill against Barons' right-hander Dewon Day. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 pm central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com and www.730ump.com.

Huntsville Box Score
Wow, that's a heck of a game; we're waiting for the audio archive -- Chris Errecart, as noted above, left the game in the 5th -- he's battled back spasms, wonder if they flared up again...

Huntsville Game Log

Brett Pollock wasn't privy to any news on why Chris Errecart left the game (listened to the 5th and 6th), but you can listen to Brett's call of Cole Gillespie's game-winning home run at the 02:58:00 hour / minute mark; use the same audio link as the Chris Hook interview above.

Link while active, text follows:

Sounds stay stuck in cellar with loss to Round Rock
Ninth-inning rally comes up short
By JOSHUA TAYLOR
Tennessean Staff Writer

The Sounds have yet to find their way out of the basement of the Pacific Coast League. They continued to cement that position Friday night at Greer Stadium, losing 4-3 to a surging Round Rock team in front of a near-capacity crowd.

The Sounds stirred the fans with two runs in the ninth inning, but that was one run too few.

"(We're down) 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth, then it's 4-3 with no outs," said Tony Gwynn, whose third single of the night started the late push.

The Express have moved from last to second in the Southern Division thanks to a four-game win streak.

The Sounds remain 19 games out of first in the Northern Division.

Round Rock first baseman J.R. House smashed a third-inning home run over the left field wall to open the scoring.

House spent the 2004 season in Nashville (.288, 15 homers, 49 RBIs), where he became one of only two players in Sounds history to hit for the cycle.

The Sounds' couldn't end their batting slump at Greer Stadium, being held to three runs on five hits.

Nashville's home batting average is .232, second-worst in the PCL. The Sounds have fared much better on the road, hitting .277.

Manager Frank Kremblas cited batters' consistent complaints about the glare from Greer Stadium's center field wall.

"You can't see here," he said. "When it's sunny, it's hard as heck to see the ball."

Starting right-hander Chris Narveson gave up two earned runs in six innings to take the loss. Fielding errors, a wild pitch and lack of offense dropped Narveson to 0-7 in his past 10 starts.

"It's consistency," Narveson said. "If we can eliminate some of the errors and mental mistakes then I think we can turn it around. It's a matter of figuring out what we need to do to win."

Stealing Thunder: Pinch-hitter Mel Stocker stole second and third on back-to-back pitches before scoring Nashville's first run.

Stocker is tied for sixth in the league with 16 stolen bases.

Hernan Iribarren is fourth with 17.

The Sounds lead the PCL in stolen bases with 102.

"We've got a couple of guys that can run pretty good," Kremblas said.

"When you're not swinging the bats well, you've got to put your runners in scoring position somehow."

Home debut: Carlos Corporan and Joe Bateman made their first appearances at Greer Stadium, having been called up from Double-A Huntsville late last month. Corporan is hitless in nine plate appearances, and Bateman has posted a 1.80 ERA through five innings of relief work.

Extra pair of eyes: A PCL evaluation of umpires around the league scheduled for July means games Friday and tonight were to be officiated by four-man teams, instead of the usual three.

Friday night lights: Despite the loss, the Sounds are 3-2 on Fridays at Greer Stadium -their best mark on a given day. They are 3-3 on Saturdays at home.

Packed house: There were 9,525 fans in attendance for the game and fireworks display, making it the fourth-biggest crowd of the season.

Transactions: J.R. Hopf was sent to Double-A Huntsville.

What they said: "We've been out-executed so far this year. That's the problem. Obviously guys aren't performing as well as they'd like to, but there's always the second half of the season." - Kremblas

Link while active, text follows:

Mustangs trample Brewers
By MIKE SCHERTING - Billings Gazette

Tony Brown's video mug on the Dehler Park scoreboard was a perfect target.

For himself.

Brown launched a 400-foot drive to right field, hitting the image of himself square on the chin, propelling the Billings Mustangs to an 11-3 win over the Helena Brewers Friday afternoon.

The win was the Mustangs' fourth straight to open the new ballpark and fifth overall, but the buzz from the 3,143 Fourth of July fans came when Brown connected off Helena starter Michael Bowman. Brown's homer, his fourth of the season, knocked a protective panel off the scoreboard and gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

"When I hit it, I knew it was gone," Brown said. "But I didn't really get to look at it, because my manager would kill me if I started trotting it too early."

Many believe Dehler Park will be a pitcher's park, but it didn't prove to be Friday. Dehler - or rather the game's pitchers - yielded five home runs, including two from Helena's Chris Dennis, whose sixth and seventh home runs gave him the lead in the Pioneer League.

Andrew Means and David Sappelt also connected for the Mustangs, who knocked 17 hits, their second-highest total of the season. Neftali Soto and Sappelt had three hits, while Means, Alex Buchholz, Brown, Byron Wiley and Miguel Rojas all finished with two.

Bowman (1-1), who entered the game tied for the league lead in ERA at 1.80 with the Mustangs' Leonardo Astorga, gave up nine hits and six runs in four innings.

"We played well all the way around," Mustangs manager Julio Garcia said. "(Bowman) is one of the better pitchers I've seen, and we were able to get something going early and get hot and get him out of the game."

Mustangs starter Lance Janke (1-0) picked up his first win with a three-hit effort and left with an 8-1 lead after five innings. Following a lead-off single to Cutter Dykstra to start the game, Janke retired 11 of the next 12 Brewers hitters before Dennis led off the fifth with his first homer.

"It was really hot and tough conditions, but my arm felt alive and I felt like I was hitting my spots and had good command," said Janke, who struck out five and walked one. "I was just fortunate to get the hitters out."

Since losing three in a row in Great Falls and Helena June 21-23, the Mustangs (12-6) have won 8 of 11 and will look tonight to stay perfect at Dehler, which is quickly proving to be friendly digs for the Mustangs after a 14-day road trip to start the season.

"The fans are unbelievable, the stadium is really beautiful and this whole town is just a great place to be at," said Brown, who drove in three runs on the day. "It's really fun to play somewhere where it's really great to be at."

NOTES: Weather.com listed a first-pitch temperature of 100 degrees. … Friday's attendance pushed the total for the first four games of the first homestand at Dehler to 13,480.