Link Report for Games of Sunday, April 6th

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com

 

Best Start in 13 Years

 

I have a second job which prevented me from seeing Saturday's double-header, but if I had to miss a game, that was the one to miss. Sitting through 14 innings of baseball when the temperature starts out at 53° doesn't sound like fun. I would have been home listening to it.

Today was much nicer, however. The sun was out for this 2:05 game, and while it wasn't the 75° they were predicting, it was still pleasant and comfortable with a light jacket. It started out at 63° with mostly sunny skies, the wind blowly briskly to left.

 

It felt like, and was, a swift ballgame, and it was decided in the 2nd inning....... Chris Errecart lined a 3-1 pitch from Jairo Cuevas, taking its first hop just beyond the infield and skipping into left for a hit. Then with two out, Carlos Corporan hit Cuevas' first pitch hard to the wall in left-center, bringing in Errecart with the deciding run....... Brae Wright, from my friend Jamey Tucker's former hometown of Southhaven, Mississippi, held the M'Braves to just two hits over 5 2/3 innings, running out of steam in the 6th after walking three hitters. Wright threw just 30 pitches throught the first three innings (20 for strikes), 51 pitches after five (11 of 21 for strikes in innings 4 and 5). After throwing just six of his 15 pitches for strikes in the 6th, manager Don Money gave the call to E.J. Shanks.... With the bases loaded, Shanks, who had awful luck pitching at the Joe last year, retired Kala Ka'aihue on an 0-1 liner to Michael Brantley, who made a running catch for the 3rd out........

Rusty Tucker encountered some trouble as well in the 8th in relief of Shanks, when he gave up a two-out double to Carl Loadenthal down the line to left, and then walked Diory Hernandez on a full count. But Tucker, who I remember once being pounded by the Stars two years ago when he was with Birmingham, retired highly touted prospect Jordan Schafer on a fly ball to left....... Schafer, the Braves' top minor league prospect, is starting out the season 0-for-7 with a pair of walks.

 

The Stars left all eight of their left on base in the first five innings. After Matt LaPorta's hot liner off the glove of Diory Hernandez in the 5th with one out, the Stars were held hitless by Brad Nelson, Jerome Gamble, and Sung Ki Jung. Former Huntsville Star Gamble did walk a batter -- Mat Gamel -- on four straight balls in the 8th, but Gamel was erased trying to steal..... The Stars left the bases loaded with two out in the 4th. After Chris Errecart struck out, Cole Gillespie reached first when Hernandez, who has committed four errors in this series so far, bungled an easy grounder right to him in the middle of the infield...... Michael Bell (3-for-11 this season) lined a double hard to left off the fence, sending Gillespie to third. Carlos Corporan then got an unintenional intentional walk (he's starting out 3-for-8 with a HR and two RBIs) to fill the bases. Brantley, however, flied out to center on a 1-2 pitch to end the threat...... The Stars also left a runner on third in the 5th after Hernandez threw away an Alcides Escobar grounder, putting him at second to lead off the inning. He was stranded at third on LaPorta's single off the glove of Hernandez.

 

After the game, the players and Stars Booster Club members got together at the nearby Jaycees building for the annual welcome banquet...... I can't think of a player who didn't make it. I didn't see pitcher Ben Stanczyk. Manager Don Money showed up after everyone ate the food. Nearly every member of the Stars' front office made it, including GM Buck Rogers, who told me he once worked for a team that started the season on a record 15-game winning streak...... We've won four straight -- the longest streak to start a season since 1995, when the Stars swept Chattanooga by impressive scores of 10-0, 13-5, 4-3, and 11-2. And you know, despite their 9-2 start, they never made the playoffs?...... No Huntsville Stars team has ever won their first five at the start of a season, so we'll see whether Sam Narron can make up for last April's horrid start (0-2, 6.30 in four starts)...... Opposing him for Mississippi will be right-hander Dustin Evans (2-10, 4.70 last year at Class A-Myrtle Beach (Carolina)...... The Stars are making the most of a rotation that, on paper, doesn't look that impressive. The top prospect is Steve Hammond, ranked 27th. But through the first four games, the Stars are not only leading the league's Northern Division at 4-0, but they're leading in ERA (1.13) and batting (.250).

 

Pitcher Thomas Atlee and catcher Angel Salome were at the welcome banquet, despite the fact that neither have played yet in a game because of off-the-field circumstances...... Atlee started the season on the DL with a shoulder problem, but he is ready to go and Salome had to serve the remainder of a suspension for a PED........ I met Salome, who is as tall as I am (just barely 5'8") and very friendly, and wider than me, except Angel is all muscle....... It was also nice to meet David Welch, who is from Sydney, Australia, and the 2nd Australian to play for the Stars (after Grant Balfour). I'd talk to him about the contents of the phone book just to hear his accent. He was accompanied by his wife, whose name if I remember was Kelli....... Brae Wright was sitting a table away. He is the cousin of former major leaguer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell, who hailed from Vinegar Bend, Alabama in Washington County. Mizell pitched from 1952-1962, ending with a 90-88 record. He wrapped up his career with the woeful '62 Mets.

 

On the farm, former Carolina Mudcat Nic Ungs held New Orleans to three hits over five scoreless innings and Steve Bray and Tim Dillard followed with three no-hit innings in relief as the Sounds won their first game, 4-0........ The Manatees had 10 hits Sunday, but left eight as they lost to Palm Beach, 5-3. Mike Jones started and pitched two innings...... West Virginia was shutout by Hickory (doesn't that remind you of "Hoosiers"?), 1-0. R.J. Seidel held the Crawdads to two hits over five scoreless innings for the Power.

 

I want to take this moment to thank brewerfan.net and Mass Haas for his exceptional work on that web site, and archiving my reports, for which I am so grateful....... As it says on the bottom of my site, brewerfan.net is truly the best organizational site I know and a lot of the info I pick up on this site, such as player movements, come from this site...... I don't always credit them every time, but there is so much information from them I use to keep you Stars fans informed....... Speaking of which, brewerfan reports that former Stars outfielder Cristian Guerrero has signed to play for Gary in the independent Northern League this year...... Cristian, the younger and less-talented cousin of Vladimir, was released by the Washington Nationals' organization last year, and started his indy league career last year with Camden (Atlantic)...... Will Inman, who flopped with Huntsville after an amazing season at Brevard County, is in the rotation for the San Antonio Missions, the Padres' AA farm club in the Texas League....... Two former Stars were released -- pitcher Chris Michalak by the Reds and outfielder Jim Rushford by the White Sox, and if you hadn't already known, Ben Hendrickson, 7-6 with a 3.45 ERA for the Stars in 2003 and the International League MVP in 2004, was released by the Kansas City Royals.

 

And David, thank you for your efforts -- what a lovefest -- Jim