Link Report for Games of Sunday, April 20th

[Mass Haas]

Question for the Huntsville crowd how has Gamel Fielding been so far?

 

Be sure to listen to the Mat Gamel audio interview in Saturday's Link Report for your answer, discusiion about his progress, etc.

[hsvstarsfan]

The Stars have dominated the Mississippi Braves lately like no other team in their history -- a record 12 straight wins going back to last year, starting with a 5-1 victory on April 9, the last game of the opening series of 2007....... The Stars have now outscored the Braves 40-16 this season, socking Mississippi pitchers for a .299 average....... I had to go back to the early years of Stars baseball to find a run like this....... 12 straight wins over the Chattanooga Lookouts from August 7, 1985 to May 14, 1986...... Side-by-side, here are the two streaks. (www.starsboxscore.com)

Oddly, they came almost at the same point in their respective seasons.

The Mississippi Braves have now lost 9 straight and are off to their worst start (2-15) since moving from Greenville to Trustmark Park. They have he worst batting average in the league (.214) and scored the fewest runs -- 45. (By comparison, the Stars have scored a league-leading 93) -- and, of course as if things aren't bad enough, the Braves lost Van Pope and Carl Loadenthal, two of their best players from last year....... Pope, their 3rd baseman who was 3rd on the team in doubles last year, had been on the DL with a strained hamstring until he was activated Saturday night. On his 2nd at-bat in the 4th inning, he pulled up on a grounder back to Steve Hammond, clutching the back of his thigh. Loadenthal, who hit .300 last year and was an All-Star, also after two at-bats, took himself out after striking out, clutching his mid-section. I suspect it was an abdominal strain........ Both players were struggling, Pope hitting .241 and Loadenthal, their speedy centerfielder, just .210.

The Stars, who scored four times in the 2nd inning Saturday night, did the same in 1st inning Sunday, sending 7 men to the plate...... Michael Brantley walked on a 3-2 pitch, his team-leading 12th of the season. Alcides Escobar, who twice hit into a double play Saturday for the 3rd time in 7 games, roped a line drive double to left, moving Brantley to third. It was Escobar's first double this year in 62 at-bats. Alcides had as many triples and home runs last year (5) as doubles, and curiously, seems to be repeating that trend. He has 2 triples and 2 HRs this year...... With two out, Cole Gillespie, who has finally raised his batting average above the Mendoza line by going 7-for-15 in his last 6 games, walked to load the bases. That set up Michael Bell's grand salami into the Braves' bullpen in left on a 2-2 fast ball...... It was Bell's 1st home run of the year, and the 2nd grand slam hit by the Stars, both coming against the Braves.

From that point, the M'Braves never caught up, although they had half of their six hits off starter Derek Miller in the bottom of the 1st ........ After back-to-back one out walks to Javier Guzman and Diory Hernandez, Jason Perry, added to the Braves roster today, looped a fly ball to right-center that dropped in in front of Freddy Parejo, scoring Guzman, and sending Hernandez to third........Perry, now in his 7th year in the minors, spent last year in the Oakland A's and Detroit Tigers organization, spending most of his time at Class AAA-Sacramento (PCL), where he hit .268.

The Stars, for the first time this year, hit three home runs in a game....... They added two more runs in the 3rd to make it 6-1....... Mat Gamel, with a new, more closed stance that seems to be paying off, led off the 3rd with a triple....... Matt LaPorta, playing in left field for the second straight day, the first time we've seen him out there this year, followed with a home run that went not just over the picnic area in left, but into the parking lot where it hit a parked car...... In the 9th, Cole Gillepie made it 10-3 with a 2-run home run that left the yard in left-center.

David Welch (2-0, 3.24) will try to give the Stars their unprecedented 13th straight victory against a single opponent on Monday night. That game will start at 7:05. Right-hander Todd Redmond, who lasted four innings the last time he faced the Stars, will go to the hill for hapless Mississippi.

The Carolina Mudcats (13-4) remain two games in front in the Northern Division after they beat the Smokies, 4-1. The Smokies have lost four in a row...... Michael Brantley, who has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, is 4th among batting leaders with a .357 average and 2nd in hits (20)...... The Stars, themselves, lead the Southern League in batting with a .276 average. Haven't seen that in April very often. In fact, it's the best since 1986, when they finished April with a .291 mark, although they had a .274 April in 1998........ Matt LaPorta is 2nd in the league in RBIs. He's driven in 10 of his 14 runs against Mississippi...... On the mound, the Stars' pitching staff has given up 17 home runs, tying them with Montgomery for the most gopher balls. Still, with a 3.65 ERA, they are doing a fine job. It's Carolina's formidable pitching rotation and 2.52 team ERA that's making them the team to beat this first half....... The Stars made Dan Smith the league's first 4-game loser this year...... Despite the success of his grand-slam today, Mike Bell is 2-for-14 in his last four games....... Ryan Crew is 0-for-7 after his 4-for-4 game (his first 4-hit game as a Star), April 9...... Cole Gillespie got his 2nd start this year in right field today, and Michael Brantley was moved to 1st base, giving Freddy Parejo, the Stars' hottest hitter, some playing time....... Chris Errecart, lugging a .208 average, got the day off - his first since April 12...... Parejo is on pace to become the hottest April hitter in Stars' history, outpacing Marcos Armas, the Stars' 1992 All-Star outfielder, who hit .415 in April, en route to a .283 season. Even after a 1-for-5 day, Parejo is hitting .472. He would have to have qt least 50 ABs to qualify and he has 36 so far....... Who would have thought it would come from a 5th outfielder who hit .219 at Brevard County last year? Here are the top 10 April hitters in Stars' history: (www.starsboxscore.com)

Mat Gamel is 9-for-26 (.346) in his last six games, raising his average to .292. Even better news -- he hasn't made an error at 3rd base in his last 8 games and has 4 so far. Last year, he committed 11 in April, on his way to a ridiculous total of 53 at Brevard County last year.

With the victory, Don Money has tied Casey Parsons as the 2nd winningest manager in Stars history. Both now have 213 victories under their belt...... Parsons managed the Stars from 1991-1993, taking the team to the Western Division Playoffs in 1992, losing to Chattanooga in four games.

Adam Heether hit his 1st home run of the year for Nashville in the Sounds' 11-8 loss in Albuquerque, home of former voice of the Stars, Robert Portnoy. Brendan Katin (.262) went 2-for-5 and drove in 3 runs in that game. Heether is off to a slow start, hitting .213.

With the success of "3Rs for the Stars" GM Buck Rogers wants to take this a step further in Huntsville next year...... Taking an idea he implemented at Brevard County, Rogers wants to incorporate baseball with the students' education at every grade level but high school (and he's not averse to that idea)....... As he did at Brevard, Rogers wants to solicit the ideas and suggestions of teachers and school board members for a teachers' guide, similar to one used successfully at Brevard........ Students would learn, of course, how math is applied to baseball, but also geometry, geography, science, social studies, and language arts, as well....... For instance one of the tasks Buck described to me is how the kids would have to identify the places the Stars are from on an outlined map...... It would presumably be called Education Day at Joe Davis Stadium. Buck told me he plans to present his ideas as early as September.

REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO has a feature on Mike Coolbaugh this week. Check your listings...... Some of the scenes show Coolbaugh in a Stars uniform during the 1997 season.