Before anything else … it’s harder on the body to forget a routine than to establish one.

First, tonight’s lineups from Great Falls …

MIS starting lineup:
1. Fidel Pena (DH)
2. Tom Belza (RF)
3. Eric Groff (2B)
4. Jon Griffin (1B)
5. Ryan Court (3B)
6. Stephen Cardullo (SS)
7. Roidany Aguila (C)
8. Ty Linton (LF)
9. Breland Brown (CF)
Enrique Burgos (RHP)
GF starting lineup:
1. Randall Thorpe (CF)
2. Kyle Eveland (3B)
3. Joe De Pinto (2B)
4. Mark Haddow (RF)
5. Jimmy Jacquot (1B)
6. Kevan Smith (C)
7. David Herbek (SS)
8. Michael Earley (LF)
9. Andrew Douglas (DH)
Blair Walters (LHP)

Now, some news and notes …
– Chris Jarrett (2010) has opted to retire. The former Osprey outfielder was hitting .198 in 83 games with the South Bend Silver Hawks this season.
– Over a two-day span, right-handed pitcher Blake Cooper (2010) was promoted to Class A Advanced Visalia and right-hander Randy Hamrick (2010) was promoted to South Bend.
–  C Raywilly Gomez (2009) was also removed from the 7-day DL and reactivated on the South Bend roster.

Osprey updates:
– OF Jeremia Gomez was activated off of the 7-day DL by the D-backs on Sunday. He is resuming normal activity at a quick pace it seems, so we shall see when he gets back into the lineup.
– OF Chris Ellison is being worked back in to normal activity, and may be available to play during the upcoming homestand.

Also, one more thing … guess who has a 13-game hit streak? Fidel Pena, who extended his streak with a three-hit game on Sunday. He and Eric Groff (24 games) have the two longest current streaks in the Pioneer League.

Here’s your entry for the latest information relating to tonight’s Osprey game against the Billings Mustangs. First, the starting lineups:

Billings Mustangs
Second Half: 1-3 Overall: 21-21 Manager: Pat Kelly
Spencer Dickinson CF
Juan Silva LF
Ryan Wright 2B
Robert Maddox 1B
Sean Buckley DH
Kyle Waldrop RF
Junior Arias 3B
Yovan Gonzalez C
Cristobal Rodriguez SS
Tony Cingrani  LHP

Missoula Osprey
Second Half: 2-2 Overall: 27-15 Manager: Hector De La Cruz
Fidel Pena DH
Tom Belza RF
Ryan Court 3B
Jon Griffin 1B
Eric Groff 2B
Stephen Cardullo SS
Roidany Aguila C
Ty Linton LF
Breland Brown CF
Conrad Flynn RHP

The Skinny: The Osprey, winners of the Pioneer League North Division First-Half title, continue their three-game series with the Billings Mustangs tonight. The Osprey have the edge in the season series, 6-5, after taking home a 6-2 win on Wednesday.Last Time Out: Eric Groff waited exactly nine outs and one pitch to extend his current hit streak on Wednesday, hitting a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the second inning as the Missoula Osprey beat the Billings Mustangs, 6-2, in front of 2,448 onlookers at Ogren Park Allegiance Field. Ryan Court added a two-run home run, while Tom Belza and Stephen Cardullo added two hits and a RBI each as the Osprey collected 10 hits in the contest. Ty Linton added a RBI single, snapping a 2-2 tie with his run-scoring safety in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Osprey the lead for good. Enrique Burgos (4-3) pitched six solid innings, allowing two runs on five hits, to pick up the win. Seth Simmons pitched into the eighth, while DJ Johnson nailed down the final five outs for his fourth save in five chances. Court homered to right field, his fourth roundtripper of the season, with a man on in the seventh to extend the lead to 5-2. Cardullo doubled home Groff in the home half of the eighth, after Johnson induced the second of three double plays the Mustangs would hit into on the night in the top half of the inning to get out of a jam and preserve the lead. The streak continues … : Eric Groff extended his current hitting streak to 20 straight games with a 2-for-4 night at home on Wednesday. That ties the club record, set by Will Crouch in 2005. During the 20-game streak, Groff is 34-for-82 at the plate (.415), with 11 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 21 RBIs. Groff has also collected 10 multi-hit games during what is now his longest career hitting streak. Groff put together a 10-game streak from June 23-July 6 earlier this season, and has hit in 32 of the 36 games he has played in this season. By the way, the Pioneer League record is 30, which was set in 2004 by Ricardo Nanita of Great Falls. Groff improved his season batting average to .358, which is currently second in the Pioneer League, and he leads the league in total bases (98), doubles (15), extra-base hits (25) and slugging percentage (.662), while he is also second in total hits (53). On the Mound Today: Missoula will send out right-hander Conrad Flynn to the mound in search of his fourth win of the season. Flynn (3-1, 4.66) will be making his third start of the season tonight, a role in which he has struggled … to the tune of a 0-1 mark with a 12.92 ERA. The bullpen suits him just fine – he’s 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in seven relief outings. He has allowed just two hits since coming off his roughest outing in the season. Flynn also likes pitching at home – he’s 3-0 with an 1.88 ERA. The Mustangs counter tonight with left-hander Tony Cingrani, who is potentially going to pitch into the fifth inning for the first time this season tonight. The Mustangs have watched as Cingrani (0-1, 2.08) has built up his innings over time – only 17 1/3 innings pitched entering his seventh start of the season. He was very solid against the Osprey, striking out four in 2 2/3 innings pitched in his only outing against the Osprey on July 11, a game in which the Mustangs picked up a 5-2 win. Pitching Probables Friday, August 5 MIS RHP Dexter Price (1-0, 5.52) vs. BIL RHP Radhames Quezada (1-2, 4.35) Saturday, August 6 MIS RHP Raymond Hernandez (5-0, 3.15) vs. HEL TBA Sunday, August 7 MIS RHP Robby Rowland (2-3, 6.41) vs. HEL TBA Stat of the Day: Only three Osprey players have had a pair of hit streaks of 10 or more games during a season, with Eric Groff at the top of the heap (20 games, 10 games) in the longest streak. The others – Lyle Overbay (1999, 12-game and 10-game) and Andrew Fie (2006, 12-game and 10-game). By The Numbers: Current Streak: W1 Extra Innings: 1-4 Team Hitting: .284 First Half: 25-13 Lead After 5: 22-3 PL Rank: 3rd Second Half: 2-2 Tied After 5: 2-3 Team Pitching: 4.54 June: 4-7 Trail After 5: 3-9 PL Rank: 2nd July: 21-7 One-run games: 8-7 Longest W Streak: 7 games August: 2-1 Two-run games: 3-0 Longest L Streak 3 games September: 0-0 Three-run games: 6-3 HR total at home: 23 Coming Soon: Friday – Jersey Pillow Giveaway, Fly Away Friday. Saturday – T-shirt Giveaway, Missoula Independent Pre-Game Concert Series (Box Elder), Launch-A-Ball. Sunday – Kids Day/Kids Club Membership Day, with kids running the bases and playing catch on the field post-game. Osprey Alumni Update/Minor League Report: The rookie AZL D-backs (11-24) dropped a 9-0 decision to the AZL Cubs on Wednesday. Victor Acosta (2010) pitched a shutout inning of relief, allowing just a hit while collecting a strikeout. The outing lowered his ERA to 1.96. Next: vs. AZL Athletics. The rookie DSL D-backs (20-34) had their game with the DSL Padres rained out. Next: at DSL White Sox. Short-Season A Yakima (3-5, 16-30) picked up a 4-3 win over Everett on Wednesday. Westley Moss (2011) went 2-for-4 with a run, improving his batting average to .279, while Randy Hamrick (2010) notched his first save of the season.  Next: vs. Everett. Class A South Bend (17-21, 51-56) dropped a 6-1 setback at Lansing on Wednesday. Matt Helm (2009-10) drove in Ender Inciarte (2009) for the lone Silver Hawks’ run.  Inciarte went 1-for-4 on the night. Next: at Lansing. Class A Advanced Visalia (17-22, 48-61) fell at Stockton on Wednesday, 7-1. Bobby Borchering (2009) was 2-for-4 at the plate for the Rawhide, while David Holmberg (2010) pitched six innings of effective baseball, but received no run support as he took the loss. Next: at Stockton. Double-A Mobile (28-11, 66-43) managed to get tripped up by Chattanooga, 10-7, on Wednesday. Kyle Greene (2008)  – the last Osprey player to make a run and get close to Crouch’s streak before Groff tied it on Wednesday – went 3-for-3 at the plate, with two runs scored, a home run and two RBIs, while teammate Ollie Linton (2008) posted a 3-for-5 night with a run and a RBI. Next: vs. Chattanooga. Triple-A Reno (64-47) won a wild game on Wednesday, knocking off Memphis in 13 innings, 8-7. Esmerling Vasquez (2004) pitched a scoreless inning of relief, allowing just a walk but also collected a strikeout. Next: vs. Memphis.

Somehow, Take 1 did not include anything … except a headline. Let’s try this again …

– First, former Osprey pitcher Kevin Eichhorn (2008-10) tossed his first-ever nine-inning complete game against … the South Bend Silver Hawks … on Monday. Eichhorn should have been in South Bend this season, but a trade sent him to the Detroit Tigers organization instead.

– Former Osprey first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (2009) went 1-for-4 in his debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. The D-backs won the game, 5-2, while Goldy collected a single in his first MLB at-bat, which came against Matt Cain. Tuesday, it will not get any easier, as the D-backs will face … Tin Lincecum.

Now on to Hit Streaks … Eric Groff is currently at 18 games, which is the third-best in Osprey history. The list of the top streaks:
20 – Will Crouch (8/13-9/4/2005)
19 – Scott Hairston (8/14-9/2/2001)
19 – Kyle Greene (6/21-8/1/2008)
18 – Eric Groff (7/13/11-current)
17 – Tyler Jones (6/28-7/19/2006)
16 – Ricardo Cruz (8/2-8/23/2005)
15 – RayWilly Gomez (7/1-17/2009)
13 – Pedro Ciriaco (8/10-8/24/2005)
13 – Rusty Ryal (8/6-8/21/2005)
13 – Jeramy Janz (6/17-7/3/2001)
13 – Corey Myers (6/18-7/1/1999)
13 – Richie Rowland (6/24-7/6/2010)

Groff also joins Lyle Overbay (1999) and Andrew Fie (2006) as the only Osprey players to have at least two 10-game hitting streaks in the same season. Overbay and Fie each had hit streaks of 12, 10 and 9 games in their first seasons. Fie played again in Missoula in 2007.

Good reads from Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic on the first base situation with the Arizona Diamondbacks. To the point that Paul Goldschmidt (2009) is headed to San Francisco. The chances have been given often to other guys, as described here, but it’s now apparently time to bring the future to the forefront.

There will apparently be several moves made by the D-backs tomorrow – two to make way for new pitchers Jason Marquis and Brad Ziegler, as well as internal moves to fill out other situations.

So tomorrow may be a fun day.

First, tonight’s starting lineups in Great Falls:

Missoula (24-12)
Ellison RF
Parr SS
Court 3B
Griffin 1B
Groff 2B
Cardullo DH
Linton LF
Bianco CF
Henry C
Burgos RHP

Great Falls (16-20)
Millender CF
Herbek SS
De Pinto 2B
Haddow RF
Earley DH
Smith C
Medina 1B
Patino 3B
Thorpe LF
Walters LHP

Josh Parr is the pre-game show guest. We’re on the air at 6:40 tonight.

Now to the notes of the day:
– Jeremia Gomez has been placed on the 7-day Disabled List with an injured left hand. There is something more to the injury than what was originally thought, so the D-backs’ training staff wanted to take a closer look at the situation.

Looking at the minor league leaders in the top stat categories, you’ll find the following current/former Osprey:
– Paul Goldschmidt (2009) leads the minors in not only home runs, but entering tonight’s games, he also leads in RBIs (93).
– Eric Groff is tied for the lead in all of rookie ball with a .689 slugging percentage.
– Raymond Hernandez is in the top 5 in all of rookie ball in both WHIP and Average Allowed.