Link Report for Mon. 6/9 -- Biggest Game of the Year Tonight (Huntsville)

[Mass Haas]

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Feeling all wrong at home

8-5 loss sends Power to 8-19 at Appalachian Power Park

By Nick Scala

Charleston Gazette Staff writer

 

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like ...

 

The road.

 

Home may be where the heart is, but for the West Virginia Power, Appalachian Power Park has been a house of horrors this season.

 

Fresh off a successful trip that improved its record in road games to a respectable 19-17, the Power opened its first-half-ending seven-game home stand with an ugly 8-5 loss Monday night to the Kannapolis Intimidators.

 

The Power, which has won nine of its last 11 road games, fell to an unseemly 8-19 in games at The App. Could Dorothy have been wrong when she clicked her heels in the "Wizard of Oz?"

 

"I don't have an answer to what it is," Power manager Jeff Isom said. "We do very well on the road, we're [two] games over .500 there, and we've won eight games at home all season long.

 

"My philosophy has always been that to make the playoffs, you've got to win two out of three at home and go .500 on the road. We've got to figure it out, what the difference is between home and the road."

 

The difference was made apparent early Monday night, when two Power errors and two wild pitches led to four Kannapolis runs in the top of the first off West Virginia ace Amaury Rivas (5-2). The Intimidators' lead was 8-0 by the top of the fourth, and that was enough to hold off the Power the rest of the way.

 

The Power, which finished the night with a season-high five errors, has lost six of its last seven home games.

 

"We're all aware of it," Power outfielder Caleb Gindl said of the home-road discrepancy. "We just can't figure it out. We don't know what to do."

 

A cleaner start might help. The first inning began when Power shortstop Matt Cline made the first of his two errors on a leadoff grounder by Sergio Morales, and the inning didn't end until after another boot by second baseman Eric Farris gave Kannapolis a 4-0 lead.

 

"Obviously tonight, when you come out here and make two errors in the first inning and you have two pitches that we don't block and we give them a couple of runs ... We made it tough on ourselves," Isom said. "Rivas didn't have his best stuff tonight by any means, but we certainly didn't help him out with our defense, either."

 

Rivas, who came in with a sparkling 2.50 ERA, hadn't suffered a loss since April 24, but he was gone before he could record an out in the third inning. In two-plus innings, he allowed seven hits and seven runs (four earned) and had two wild pitches. Relievers Curtis Pasma (four innings, one run) and Corey Frerichs (three shutout innings) stopped the bleeding, but the damage had been done.

 

Kannapolis starter Jason Rice (2-5) retired the first nine batters he faced before the Power made its move. Consecutive singles to start the fourth inning by Lee Haydel, David Fonseca, Jonathan Lucroy and Zelous Wheeler led to four runs, but the Power was able to add just one run the rest of the way off the Kannapolis bullpen.

 

Jim Gallagher led the Intimidators' 13-hit attack by going 3-for-5 with two runs. Wheeler and Eric Fryer had two hits apiece for the Power, and Steffan Wilson drove in two West Virginia runs on a ground out and a sacrifice fly.

 

Isom pointed out that the Power isn't the only South Atlantic League team having trouble on the home front.

 

"Looking at other teams and what they're doing, it seems like the majority of teams are doing much better on the road," he said. "I have no idea why that is. It's very unusual to me."

 

Indeed, 12 of the Sally League's 16 teams are faring better (in terms of winning percentage) in road games than they are at home.

 

The Power, though, has the fewest home wins in the league. More bad news: The final six games on the Power's first-half schedule will be played at Appalachian Power Park.

 

Don't look for any changes in approach, though.

 

"We're playing every game to win. We're not doing anything different," Isom said. "We've got a batch of new players in here and we're seeing guys playing much better. We're a much more competitive team now than we were at the start of the season."

 

If they could only take the show on the road ...

 

POWER POINTS: Wheeler extended his hitting streak to nine games, while Haydel has hit safely in six in a row. ... Kannapolis manager Chris Jones and right fielder Lyndon Estill were ejected in the top of the eighth for arguing a call at third base, where Dale Mollenhauer was nailed trying to steal third. ... The three-game series resumes tonight with lefty Dan Merklinger (0-5, 7.82 ERA) taking the mound for the Power. Righty Charlie Shirek (1-2, 2.81) will go for Kannapolis. ... Monday's attendance was announced at 1,809.

 

Photo by Chip Ellis

West Virginia Power catcher Jonathan Lucroy tags out Kannapolis Intimidators runner John Curtis in the third inning Monday, following a strong relay throw from second baseman Eric Farris.

 

http://www.wvgazette.com/images/thumbs275/Power2_G0806093d3wyy.jpg

[Mass Haas]

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Stars win rubber game, leave town one game up

LaPorta's two HRs fuel 8-6 win over rival West Tenn

By BRAD SHEPARD

For The Huntsville Times

 

The Huntsville Stars are leaving town and headed to their personal house of horrors, but at least they packed an extra cushion Monday night.

 

With an 8-6 win over West Tenn at Joe Davis Stadium, the Stars are on their way to Jacksonville's Baseball Grounds with a one-game advantage over the Diamond Jaxx and five games left in the first half.

 

They may need it. In the past two seasons, Huntsville is 1-9 against the Suns in Florida.

 

West Tenn goes home to play Chattanooga.

 

"This is a huge win for us," right fielder Matt LaPorta said. "West Tenn is a good ball club, and this was five great games we played. Hopefully, we'll go into Jacksonville and do our best and see what happens."

 

With West Tenn and Huntsville deadlocked heading into the rubber game of the five-game series, the Stars needed to win for the 2,193 fans.

They built just enough of a lead for an up-and-down bullpen.

 

A half-inning after Huntsville starter Donovan Hand blew a 3-0 lead in the sixth, the Stars made sure the relievers had a decisive advantage to work with, and West Tenn provided assistance.

 

LaPorta launched his second solo home run to give the Stars a 4-3 lead. It was his league-leading 18th homer of the year.

 

After Michael Bell followed with a single, the Diamond Jaxx self-destructed defensively.

 

Cole Gillespie reached on an error by third baseman Matt Mangini, and when Chris Errecart tried to sacrifice the runners over, relief pitcher Craig James threw wide of third for the Jaxx's second consecutive error. Two Stars scored to make it 6-3, and Michael Brantley and Mat Gamel followed with RBI hits to make it a five-run advantage.

 

Robert Hinton walked two in his 1/3 of an inning, and both scored to close the gap to 8-5. Joe Bateman allowed Hinton's runners to score and gave up another before settling down and going 2 2/3 innings for the save.

 

"I just got amped up and really wanted to do the job," Bateman said. "I was really focused tonight."

 

Hand was cruising until the sixth when he allowed three singles and a walk before getting an out. Patrick Ryan (2-2) gave up a single and an RBI groundout to tie the game, but got out of a big jam without any further damage.

 

With one out, Mangini was thrown out by catcher Carlos Corporan trying to steal second, and Ryan struck out Valbuena as the Jaxx helped Huntsville get out of the trouble.

 

Along with the offense and Bateman, Corporan turned in two brilliant defensive plays when every aspect of the game was magnified. Besides throwing out the runner during the sixth, he also blocked the plate and applied the tag on a brilliant throw from Brantley to gun down a runner at the plate early in the game.

 

"I had it on my mind to win this game and do whatever it takes," Corporan said. "It's our goal to win the first half."

 

Now, the Stars travel to Florida trying to get that done. They'll take a one-game cushion with them.

 

"It was getting interesting again, wasn't it," Stars manager Don Money said. "I brought in Hinton in an 8-3 game, and he walks two guys, and I'd seen enough. (Bateman) came in and did a good job, though.

 

"We control our own destiny now. If we go down there and win five, there's nothing they can do."

[Mass Haas]

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Error-prone Power loses at home again

by Jacob Messer

Charleston Daily Mail sportswriter

 

For reasons unbeknownst to their manager, the West Virginia Power players couldn't catch, field or throw the baseball as well as they normally do Monday night.

 

West Virginia committed a season-high five errors in an 8-5 loss to visiting Kannapolis (N.C.) in front of an Appalachian Power Park crowd of 1,809.

 

To make matters worse, Power pitchers Amaury Rivas, Curtis Pasma and Corey Frerichs surrendered 13 hits, issued four walks, uncorked two wild pitches and committed one balk.

 

"We didn't give ourselves a chance," West Virginia Manager Jeff Isom said. "That's the bottom line."

 

Murphy's law plagued Isom's team.

 

"We made it tough on ourselves," he said. "That's what happened tonight.

 

"I can't remember the last time we had two or three errors in a game, let alone five. That's one thing that irks me a little bit."

 

Although he allowed five runs on six hits in five innings, Kannapolis starter Jason Rice (2-5) got the victory. He fanned three and walked one.

 

Kannapolis relievers Santo Luis, Tyson Corley and Henry Mabee combined to throw four scoreless innings, allowing only one hit each. Mabee pitched the ninth to earn his 14th save.

 

Rivas (5-2) took the loss, which was his first since April 24. The South Atlantic League All-Star allowed seven runs (four earned) on seven hits and one walk in two innings.

 

Isom had a hunch his team was in for a long night after the first at-bat. After nine pitches, Kannapolis leadoff hitter Sergio Morales reached on the first of West Virginia shortstop Matt Cline's two errors.

 

"I knew he didn't have his best stuff," Isom said of Rivas. "I knew we were going to have to do some things behind him to help him out, and we didn't do that."

 

The Power committed another error (this one by second baseman Eric Farris) and Rivas unleashed two wild pitches in the top of the first inning. The Intimidators used those miscues and two singles from Jim Gallagher and Mark Fleisher to score four runs (two unearned).

 

The first four batters in the third reached on three singles and one walk, prompting Isom to yank Rivas. Pasma induced a run-scoring, 6-4-3 double play from the next batter, Lyndon Estill.

 

Already trailing 6-0, the Power could have escaped the inning without suffering any more damage. But Cline committed another error (his sixth in 11 games this season), allowing the Intimidators to add another run.

 

Kannapolis scored again in the fourth when Gallagher hit a two-out double, stole third and scored on a Pasma pitch that got away from West Virginia catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

 

The Power cut the lead in half with four runs in the home half of the same frame.

 

Lee Haydel, David Fonseca, Lucroy and Zelous Wheeler started the inning with four consecutive singles. West Virginia combined those hits with a Kannapolis error, a fielder's choice by Caleb Gindl, a sacrifice fly from Steffan Wilson, a single by Curt Rindal and a double by Eric Fryer to manufacture its runs.

 

The Power added its final run in the sixth when Wheeler was hit by a pitch, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Wilson's RBI groundout.

 

"I told the guys we had to go out there and show a little life," Isom said. "I like the way the guys responded."

 

Wheeler and Haydel extended their hitting streaks to nine and six games, respectively. Lucroy has collected a hit and scored a run in seven consecutive games.

 

The teams will continue their three-game tonight. The Power (27-36) will start left-hander Dan Merklinger (0-5, 7.82). The Intimidators (28-36) will counter with right-hander Charlie Shirek (1-2, 2.81).

 

* * *

 

WEST VIRGINIA pitcher Chris Cody is this week's South Atlantic League Player of the Week.

 

He is the first Power player to earn that honor this season.

 

Cody was 1-0 with one no-decision in two starts during the first week of June. The southpaw allowed only one earned run and six hits in 15 innings while striking out 15 batters during that stretch.

 

Cody has a 2-0 record and 1.08 earned run average in four appearances, including three starts, since the Milwaukee Brewers demoted him from high Class A Brevard County (Fla.) on May 20.

[Cmnder37]

Mass Haas wrote:

Cody has a 2-0 record and 1.08 earned run average in four appearances, including three starts, since the Milwaukee Brewers demoted him from high Class A Brevard County (Fla.) on May 20.

Does anyone know or speculate as to why Cody hasn't already been moved up? At this point, his time spent at the "A" level in West Virginia seems excessive for being a "rehab-stop."