Notebook

The latest Midwest League Notebook is available.

Here is the scoop on the two opponents this week:

Cedar Rapids Kernels (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)

PLAYOFF HOPES: The magic number is seven for Cedar Rapids to clinch a playoff spot after losing to Peoria 5-2 Saturday. Any combination of Kernels' victories and losses by Quad Cities and Beloit totaling seven would give the Kernels the Western Division wild card spot. (Rattler Radio: Magic # is now 5 after Sunday's games)

WHO'S HOT: 1B Gabe Jacobo extended his hitting streak to 10 games, going 1-4 with a double and RBI Saturday. In 25 games with the Kernels Jacobo is batting .333 (31-for-93) with 11 doubles, 12 runs scored, two home runs and 21 RBIs.

WHO'S NOT: C Alberto Rosario is hitting .200 (4-for-20) with one RBI over the last 10 games.

ROSTER MOVES: INF Gordie Gronkowski was granted his unconditional release from the Angels organization Tuesday. In 56 games for the Kernels, he batted .219 with 12 doubles, two home runs and 18 RBIs and had been on the disabled list since July 4th with a lower back strain.

Quad Cities River Bandits (St. Louis Cardinals)

WHO'S HOT: RHP Richard Castillo tossed seven shutout innings Saturday, allowing three hits, walking two and striking out eight in a 4-0 victory over Wisconsin. Castillo ended a personal three-game losing streak and improved to 7-4 with a 2.92 ERA in 71 innings, the best ERA among Quad Cities' starters. ... OF Tommy Pham hit his team-leading 17th homer Saturday, a two-run shot to cap the River Bandits' scoring in the fifth inning.

WHO'S NOT: LF Andron Chambers is hitting .179 (6-for-26) with 13 strikeouts in his last 10 games.

ROSTER MOVE: 3B Brett Wallace, St. Louis' first-round pick in the 2008 Draft, was promoted to Double-A Springfield Tuesday. ... St. Louis promoted its third-round pick, SS Niko Vasquez, and the Appalachian League batting leader, 1B Curt Smith, to join the River Bandits Thursday. To make room on the roster, 1B Carlos Pupo was placed on the disabled list with a back injury.

MORE ON WALLACE: Wallace, the 13th overall pick, earned a quick promotion after batting .327 with five home runs, 25 RBIs and a .490 slugging percentage in 153 at-bats against Midwest League pitching.

MWL Notebook

The latest MWL Notebook is available.

Here are the entries on the next two Timber Rattler opponents:
Peoria:

WHO'S HOT: SS Nate Samson ranked ninth in the league last week in hitting .385 (10-for-26) with a home run, four RBIs and seven runs scored in six games. ... 1B Luis Bautista is batting .375 (12-for-32) with four home runs, six runs scored and eight RBIs over his last nine games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Chiefs had played 34 1/3 errorless innings before committing a miscue in the fifth inning of Saturday's 11-inning 3-2 win over Kane County. ... SS Nate Samson leads all Minor Leaguers with 15 sacrifice bunts.

ROSTER MOVES: RHP Hung-Wen Chen was promoted to Class A Advanced Daytona. ... OF Dylan Johnston was placed on the disabled list retroactive to June 25 with a hamstring injury. ... OF Drew Rundle and RHP Jake Muyco joined the Chiefs from short-season Boise.

A LITTLE HELP HERE: RHP Blake Parker was promoted to Triple-A last weekend with the Iowa Cubs in need of extra pitchers for back-to-back doubleheaders Friday and Saturday. Parker has been the Chiefs' most reliable reliever this season with a 3-0 record, three saves and a 1.33 ERA in 23 appearances. He allowed his first run in 19 innings Tuesday night in Burlington while picking up another hold in the Chiefs' 5-4 win. Parker leads the Chiefs staff in strikeouts with 51 while walking 18 in 47 1/3 innings. Midwest League opponents are batting just .193 against him.

Beloit:

WHO'S HOT: RHP Santos Arias scattered three hits, struck out four and retired the final 13 batters he faced in his first career shutout Thursday as the Snappers blanked Clinton, 2-0, to cap a successful 7-1 road trip. Arias (4-3, 2.39 ERA) did not allow a player to reach base after yielding a two-out double in the fifth inning.

WHO'S NOT: SS Chris Cates is batting .175 (7-for-40) over his last 10 games, lowering his season average to .244 (51-for-209) in 64 games.

REVERE'S RIDING: OF Ben Revere's hitting streak has reached 22 games, a hot stretch that has raised his batting average to a Minor League-leading .411 (34-for-78) with 13 doubles, seven triples, a home run, 27 RBIs and 32 runs scored in 48 games.

DID YOU KNOW: Thursday's shutout was Beloit's fifth this season, but the first of the complete-game variety for Arias.

Notebook

Midwest League Notebook is available.

Here is the bit on the Burlington Bees, the next opponent for the Timber Rattlers

THE SEASON SO FAR: The Bees finished the first half in eighth place in the Western Division with a 30-39 record, 12 games behind first-half champion Clinton.

WHERE THEY RANKED: The Bees finished second to last in hitting with a .235 team batting average, while the pitching staff's ERA of 3.48 ranked fifth.

WHO'S HOT: 1B Clint Robinson tied for first in the league last week with four doubles, raising his season total to 10. In 43 games this season, Robinson is batting .263 (40-for-152) with two triples, seven home runs, 22 RBIs and 23 runs scored. ... OF Adrian Ortiz tied for the league lead in triples last week with two, raising his season total to five. In 69 games Ortiz is batting .301 (87-for-289) with seven doubles, two home runs, 19 RBIs and 35 runs scored.

DID YOU KNOW: IF Kyle Martin led the league last week in slugging percentage (.826) and extra-base hits (six) while raising his season batting average to .338 (26-for-77). He has seven doubles, a triple, four home runs, 10 runs scored and 14 RBIs in 23 games.

Check out the whole thing.

Notebook

The Midwest League Notebook is up at the Midwest League home page.

Click the link for the whole thing. Here is the bit about the Clinton LumberKings, the next opponents for the Timber Rattlers.

THE SEASON SO FAR: The LumberKings are 39-19 and in first place in the Western Division.

WHO'S HOT: SS Renny Osuna led the league with six doubles last week, was second in extra-base hits with six and tied for third with 11 hits. Over his last 10 games he's batting .333 (14-for-42) with nine runs scored and five RBIs.

HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR: Clinton paced the All-Star field with nine berths -- C Jose Felix (.302, 1 HR, 11 RBIs), 1B Ian Gac (.329, 16 HRs, 48 RBIs), Osuna (.351, 3 HRs, 34 RBIs), OF Mitch Moreland (.335, 5 HRs, 28 RBIs), RHP Neftali Feliz (5-1, 2.05), who was acquired in the Mark Teixeira trade with Atlanta last year, RHP Kennil Gomez (8-1, 2.76), 3B Jonathan Greene (.246, 6 HRs, 35 RBIs), DH Tim Smith (.290, 2 HRs, 37 RBIs) and LHP Derek Holland (5-0, 3.20 ERA).

DID YOU KNOW: Gac is a top candidate to win the Home Run Derby contest as he leads the league in both homers (16) and RBIs (48). ... The nine All-Stars are one better than the franchise record for a Clinton club, set last year. The 2007 LumberKings had eight All-Star representatives.

Notebook

The Midwest League Notebook is available. Here is the latest on Quad Cities, the next Rattler opponent.

WHO'S HOT: OF Charles Kingrey ranked second in the league in batting last week, hitting .500 (12-for-24) with two home runs and five RBIs. Over his last 10 games he's batting .410 (16-for-39) with two home runs, five RBIs and seven runs scored. ... C Paul Vazquez is batting .375 (6-for-16) with seven RBIs and two runs scored over his last four games, raising his season average to .294 (20-for-68) with five doubles, two triples and 11 RBIs.

WHO'S NOT: OF Thomas Pham is batting just .147 (5-for-34) over his last nine games, lowering his season average to .224 (17-for-76) with 28 strikeouts in 20 games.

DID YOU KNOW: Half the River Bandits' 10 hits went for home runs in a 7-4 win over Burlington on Friday, including OF Matt Arburr's eighth-inning inside-the-park homer.

Notebook

The latest Midwest League Notebook is available.

Click on the link for the whole league. Here is the bit about Peoria, the next opponent for the Rattlers.

THE SEASON SO FAR: The Chiefs are 14-29 and in last place in the Western Division.

WHO'S HOT: OFs Cliff Anderson and Dylan Johnston ranked fourth and tied for seventh, respectively, among league batting leaders last week. Anderson batted .429 (12-for-28) with a home run and two RBIs while Johnston hit .385 (10-for-26) with two home runs and four RBIs. On the season, Anderson is hitting .262 (34-for-130) with seven doubles, a triple, three home runs and 10 RBIs in 38 games. Johnston is batting .243 (27-for-111) with six doubles, five home runs and 14 RBIs in 32 games.

WHO'S NOT: SS/2B Nate Samson is batting a mere .194 (7-for-36) over his last nine games, lowering his season average to .236 (34-for-144) with 11 errors in 40 games.

ROSTER MOVES: A series of roster moves were made on Friday as IFs Marwin Gonzalez and Jose Made, along with OF Kyler Burke, returned to extended Spring Training in Mesa, Arizona. Taking their places on the roster were OF Brandon Guyer, IF Jeffery Rea and C/1B Luis Bautista.

Notebook

Yes, it's a bit late here, but the Midwest League Notebook has been up for awhile...

Here is the bit about the Kane County Cougars, who are in town this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

WHO'S HOT: RHP Craig Italiano combined with reliever Scott Moore on a two-hitter with 14 strikeouts in a dominating 11-1 victory over Quad Cities Friday. Italiano allowed just one hit over five scoreless frames while fanning seven to improve to 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA that ranks second among league pitchers.

WHO'S NOT: SS Walter Correa is batting just .170 (15-for-88) on the season with 19 strikeouts and eight errors in 26 games.

DID YOU KNOW: Italiano combined with teammate Branden Dewing for a seven-inning no-hitter against Burlington on April 29. ... OF Shane Keough led the league with 11 runs scored last week to give him 17 on the season.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Everybody knows about Craig's fastball, but he's done a tremendous job of throwing off-speed pitches behind in the count," Cougars pitching coach Don Schulze told MLB.com.

Notebook

Stephanie Storm's Midwest League Notebook for the week is up at MidwestLeague.com.

The link takes you to the whole thing. Here is a bit about the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the team the Rattlers face in a four-game series starting on Thursday.

Cedar Rapids Kernels
THE SEASON SO FAR: The Kernels are 14-13 and in fourth place in the Western Division.

WHO'S HOT: C Anel De Los Santos ranked fifth among league batting leaders last week with a .471 average that included three runs scored, three RBIs and a home run. In 20 games this season he's hitting .263 (20-for-78) with five doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs. ... 3B Jay Brossman hit .444 last week with three runs scored and four RBIs in four games. In 25 games this season he's hitting .293 (29-for-99) with a team-high 11 doubles, a home run and team-high-tying 16 RBIs.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Ismael Carmona is 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA in 10 appearances. Over 9 2/3 innings he has given up 13 runs (seven earned) on eight hits and 12 walks.

DID YOU KNOW: OF Clay Fuller's first home run of the season couldn't have come at a better time. His solo shot in the top of the 14th inning Tuesday broke a 5-5 tie, propelling Cedar Rapids over Burlington, 7-5.

ROSTER MOVES: RHP Sammy Leon was promoted to Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga of the California League and RHP Milan Dinga was reassigned to Cedar Rapids from Triple-A Salt Lake of the Pacific Coast League on April 28.

MWL Notebook

Stephanie Storm's Midwest League Notebook was up yesterday.

Here are the entries for Lansing and Great Lakes, the next two opponents for the Rattlers.

Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto Blue Jays)

WHO'S HOT: RHP Kyle Ginley earned his fourth victory of the season in a 6-1 win over Clinton Saturday, lowering his ERA to a stingy 0.89 ERA. The 7 2/3 outing, in which he gave up just one unearned run while scattering five hits, marked his third consecutive start without allowing an earned run.

WHO'S NOT: LHP Luis Perez is 0-2 with a 9.22 ERA. In 13 2/3 innings, he has given up 16 runs -- 14 earned -- on 23 hits and 15 walks and three hit batters.

DID YOU KNOW: C Jonathan Jaspe was suspended 50 games Friday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. The 23-year old was batting .341 with a home run and 12 RBIs in 12 games.

Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers)

WHO'S HOT: RHP Justin Miller combined with a pair of relievers on a two-hitter in a 2-0 shutout of Peoria April 20. In five starts he is 2-2 with a measly 1.11 ERA, having limited his opposition to three earned runs while striking out 19 in 24 1/3 innings.

WHO'S NOT: 1B Jamie Ortiz is batting just .146 (6-for-41) with 14 strikeouts in 12 games.

DID YOU KNOW: In a 1-0 win over Kane County Tuesday, the Loons stranded 14 baserunners -- including leaving the bases loaded in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings.