Link Report for Thurs. 6/5 -- Draft, what draft? There's Games to Play!

[Mass Haas]

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Bell's big night lifts Stars

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

Regardless of the stakes, Tim and Cher Bell would have stood and cheered for their son from Section F of Joe Davis Stadium.

 

The fact that second baseman Michael Bell was the catalyst in the Huntsville Stars' biggest game to date this season gave them even more reason to after traveling from Santa Rosa, Calif.

 

Bell was 3-for-4 with the go-ahead homer, scored Huntsville's insurance run and started the game-ending double play as the Stars beat West Tenn 3-1 in front of 2,878 on Thursday.

 

Huntsville broke a deadlock with the Diamond Jaxx atop the Southern League North Division with nine games left - the next four against West Tenn.

 

"I've been swinging the bat good on the road, but the balls were not falling - a lot of line-outs," Bell said. "It's a great feeling to do this in front of my parents their first day here.

 

"Also my little brother (Timmy) was here, so it was nice to show him how to play the game."

 

Bell got some extra hitting work in before the game - "I've always told him hard work pays off," Tim Bell said - and young Timmy saw a blueprint baseball game from his brother and his teammates.

 

After the Stars (37-24) opened with a first-inning run, West Tenn tied it with an unearned run in the second - all that Huntsville starter Steve Hammond allowed.

 

Huntsville's big-game pitcher, with 6 2/3 innings of four-hit work, ended a three-game swoon that saw his earned run average jump from 2.61 to 3.88. It was reminiscent of the pitcher who started the year 5-1, and he got a win, thanks to Bell's blast.

 

"This is what I play for," Hammond said. "That seems to be when I do my best; when we're playing an important game or need to get a win.

 

"Everybody knows this is important. This is a chance for us to get our fourth-consecutive half division title. Everybody knows it's time to take care of business."

 

That includes Huntsville's bullpen, which put a dreadful stretch behind it at least for a night. Joe Bateman came on in the seventh with the tying run on second base and got out of the situation.

 

After he worked another hitless inning, new closer Omar Aguilar came on and got a double play to close out his second save of the year. The clubhouse was rocking after the game - a far cry from the dismal atmosphere on the recent road trip.

 

"I know over in Chattanooga a couple of games, it was like a morgue in there," Stars manager Don Money said. "They know what's on the line.

 

"If you can't get up for this, you're in the wrong game."

[Mass Haas]

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Turnbow finds mark during Sounds victory

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Derrick Turnbow's earned run average continues to drop.

 

And while that's a good thing for any pitcher to say, it's particularly so for Turnbow, who now has put together four consecutive scoreless innings for the Sounds.

 

Turnbow made his third start Thursday and allowed just three runners over two hitless innings against Albuquerque. That set the tone in an eventual 2-0 Sounds victory.

 

"I was just trying to have another good game, trying to carry something over from Sunday's start," said Turnbow, who allowed one hit in a two-inning start in that game.

 

The former Franklin High standout struggled with the Milwaukee Brewers to open the season before being re-assigned to Nashville on May 12. Then he allowed at least as many earned runs as innings pitched in five of his first seven appearances with the Sounds - with 21 walks in six innings.

 

In his past two outings, though, he's issued just five walks while striking out seven.

 

Along with reducing his walks, Turnbow's ERA, which was 54.00 following his first Sounds appearance and was 14.54 two weeks ago, has fallen to 8.10.

 

"We're going to have to eventually get him out of that role," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "But he did some things that were good to see. He was aware of base runners, and he was also able to make some pitches."

 

Lindsay Gulin followed Turnbow and left the bases full of Isotopes in both the fifth and sixth innings. Gulin earned the victory with 4 2/3 shutout innings.

 

The Sounds, meanwhile, took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Tony Gwynn's one-out single and Brad Nelson's two-out RBI base hit. They picked up an insurance run in the eighth when pinch-hitter Mel Stocker drew a leadoff walk, moved up on a pair of infield outs and scored on an error by first baseman Tagg Bozied.

 

The shutout victory was the second of the season for the Sounds, and their first since defeating New Orleans 4-0 on April 6. Nashville has also been shut out twice.

 

What they said: "I think we needed the day off; that was a tough series for us." - Kremblas, whose team won just one of four against visiting Iowa before Wednesday's offday.

 

***

 

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Rottino keeps streak intact

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Vinny Rottino's fifth-inning single Thursday in a 2-0 win over Albuquerque extended his hitting streak to 15 games -the longest of the year by a Sounds player and the longest current streak in the Pacific Coast League.

 

Iowa outfielder Andres Torres has the PCL's longest streak of the season, hitting in 24 straight games from April 14 to May 9. Rottino's streak is tied for the fifth-longest in the league this year.

 

Nashville's longest streak in 2007 season was a 15-gamer by Brad Nelson (June 27-July 15).

 

Rottino finished 1-for-3 Thursday. He is hitting .339 (20-for-59) over the life of the streak.

 

Nix nixed: Following his inning-ending strikeout in the sixth, Laynce Nix is hitless in his past 18 at-bats - his longest skid of the season, surpassing an 0-for-17 string April 8-12.

 

Nix hit a long fly ball in the fourth inning that looked like an extra-base hit. However, with the wind blowing in for most of the game, the ball died for an inning-ending out.

 

"It's hard here with the wind blowing in," Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas said. "You've got to hit it really hard."

 

Unannounced flyover: In the third inning Thursday, four military fighter planes flew just to the east of Greer Stadium.

 

Alumni update: Former Sounds infielder Abraham Nunez, who was released May 18 and immediately signed to a minor league contract by the New York Mets, had his contract purchased Thursday by that team.

 

In 15 games with New Orleans, Nunez was hitting .133 (6-for-45). To make room for Nunez, the Mets optioned infielder/outfielder Nick Evans to Class AA Binghamton.

 

In 33 games with the Sounds, Nunez batted .210 (22-for-105) with 14 runs, two doubles and five stolen bases.

[bork]

Second straight outing for Pena without a walk. Hopefully the start of a trend.