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Tuesday night into Wednesday morning's Major League All-Star Game (AL 4, NL 3 in 15 innings) from a Salem Avalanche point of view:

Matt Holliday (Avalanche 2000, first half 2001) hit a home run in the fifth inning to score the first run of the game.

Aaron Cook (Avs 2000, 2001) pitched three of the gutsiest shutout innings ever, in the 10th, 11th and 12th. Particularly the 10th when Dan Uggla committed back-to-back brutal errors at second to put the first two runners on base. The AL had runners in scoring position in each of those innings, but Cook (and the rest of the NL defense with the exception of Uggla) wouldn't let them score -- thus sending the game into the wee hours of Wednesday.

Former Virginia Tech pitcher Joe Saunders, now the Los Angeles Angels ace, pitched a scoreless third inning for the victorious American League, giving up a single but nothing else.

Former Ferrum star Billy Wagner was on the mound when the National League blew its second lead in regulation, thus forcing the game into the record-tying 15 inning marathon.

-- katrina waugh

Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman doubled on the first pitch he saw in his first rehab game against the Salem Avalanche on Monday, and doubled a second time in the fifth inning.

Through 6 1-2 innings he is 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Zimmerman is scheduled to play today and Tuesday for the Potomac Nationals as he works his way back from a torn labrum suffered on May 18. He's been on the disabled list since June 3.

Former Avalanche pitcher Polin Trinidad pitched a scoreless second inning for the World team in the Futures game on Sunday at Yankees Stadium.

Trinidad, from the Dominican Republic, dominated competition in the Carolina League in the first half of this season and is now toiling for the double-A Corpus Chrisi Hooks in the Texas League.

He gave up one hit but struck out one in the World's 3-0 win over U.S. born prospects.

-- katrina waugh

Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, a former Virginia star, will be playing for the Potomac Nationals against the Salem Avalanche on Monday and Tuesday in Salem.

Zimmerman is rehabbing from a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an injury suffered when he slid into second base against the Baltimore Orioles on May 18.

-- katrina waugh

The Avalanche activated reliever Chad Wagler from the disabled list and sent starter Casey Hudspeth up to double-A.

Hudspeth, a right-hander, went 4-7 with a 3.96 ERA in 17 starts for Salem. He replaces former Avalanche starter Brad James in Corpus Christi. James injured his arm in his last start.

Wagler, a right-hander, went 2-0 and didn’t allow a run in 5.2 innings in two relief appearances after joining Salem from extended spring training in late May. But a strained oblique muscle has sidelined him since.

-- katrina waugh

Brian Bogusevic is coming back to Salem, but not as a pitcher and not for long if all goes as planned.

The Houston Astros' first-round pick in 2005, Bogusevic is switching from the mound to the outfield and is coming back to Salem from double-A Corpus Christi to make the transition.

According to Corpus Christi media relations man Matt Hicks, the plan is for Bogusevic to play only a few games with the Avalanche -- a week or two -- to build up his conditioning.

Bogesevic was both a pitcher and outfielder at Tulane, but was drafted as a pitcher. The lefty went 9-7 with a 4.01 for the Avalanche last season and 2-6 with a 5.50 ERA in Corpus Christi this year.

Pitchers get to hit when two National League affiliates play in the Texas League, so Bogusevic has been to the plate a few times this season. In 10 games, he went 2-for-10 with a double, a triple, three sacrfice bunts and a RBI.

-- katrina waugh

Saturday's Avalanche game at Potomac wasn't delayed by rain, it was delayed because the Avalanche's bus broke down and couldn't get the team from the hotel to the ballpark.

Potomac Nationals GM Jon Griffith came to the rescue, sending his employees with SUVs and the like and even calling cabs to get the Avalanche to the field.

He also pushed game time back from 6:35 to 7:05 to give the team a chance to warm up and settle down from the hectice rush.

The payoff? An 8-7 Avalanche victory.

That's what you get for picking up hitchhikers.

-- katrina waugh

Salem and Lynchburg's radio broadcasting teams are joining together for Thursday's game, putting the game on both team's stations -- WFIR in Roanoke and KD Country in Lynchburg.

The two play-by-play crews -- Jason Benetti and Joel Godett for Salem and
Scott Bacon and Alex Vispoli of Lynchburg -- will rotate throughout the
broadcast, with a representative from each pairing in the booth at all
times.

The broadcast can be heard via milb.com’s Gameday Audio and will begin at
6:45 p.m. WFIR will join in Salem at 7 p.m.

-- katrina waugh

Winston-Salem's Paulo Orlando led off Sunday's game with his 10th triple of the season.

The Carolina League record for triples is 17, held by Mike Cameron (Prince William 1994) and David Arrington (Salem 1968).

Arrington's triples came at the old Salem Memorial, now Kiwanis Field, better known for homers than triples.

Chone Figgins, now with the Los Angeles Angels, had an-Avalanche record 14 triples at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium in 2000.

-- Katrina Waugh

It turns out Frederick Keys manager Tommy Thompson is a fan of the Roanoke Times. Or at least a fan of one particular page --- last summer's Time's sport's page with the picture of Wladimir Sutil slamming his batting helmet to the ground as the Keys beat the Salem Avalanche for the Carolina League championship.

Keys broadcaster Adam Pohl (formerly the voice of the Avalanche) reports Thompson has the page posted on the wall of his office in the clubhouse at Frederick's Harry Grove Stadium.

-- katrina waugh