Link Report for Sun. 5/30 -- Odorizzi Strong Again, but Rattlers Fall

[battlekow]

I guess I misread that the DSL Brewers were in action today; their game against the DSL A's is actually tomorrow.

[battlekow]

Stars beat the rain and the Barons

Aaron Morse/Huntsville Stars

 

A wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth scored Brett Lawrie and the rains came right after that as the Huntsville Stars (24-26) beat the Birmingham Barons (17-32) by a final score of 6-5 in six innings Sunday afternoon.

 

On a cloudy day at “The Joe”, the Stars took the early lead in the bottom of the first against Barons’ starter Charles Shirek. Lawrie, batting lead-off, singled to start the game. A Caleb Gindl ground-out moved Lawrie to second and with two away Mat Gamel singled him home for the 1-0 advantage.

 

Lawrie would be in the thick of things in the second inning. With one away Lee Haydel drew a walk. After Martin Maldonado singled, Lawrie crushed his league-leading eighth triple of the year to clear the bases (audio). Lorenzo Cain followed that up with a RBI single and the Stars grabbed a 4-0 lead (audio).

 

Josh Butler, on a rehab assignment from the Brewers, pitched four shutout innings to start the game. He scattered four hits, walked one, and struck-out three.

 

Chris Cody, normally a starter, was called upon to pitch the fifth inning. It did not go well as the Barons loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. With two away and the bases juiced, Christian Marrero singled to right to drive in two and chase Cody from the game (audio). Jim Henderson entered and got the final out of the frame.

 

The Stars extended the lead to 5-2 on a Haydel RBI single in the bottom of the fifth (audio).

 

But in the top of the sixth Henderson could not find the strike zone as he walked the first two hitters of the inning. Robert Hinton relieved him and walked the first man he faced to load the bases. A fielder’s choice got the runner at second, but allowed a run to score. Back-to-back singles off the bats of Jim Gallagher (audio) and Brent Morel (audio) tied the game at five. Hinton got a fly-out and a ground-out to end the inning with no further damage.

 

With the rains threatening in the bottom of the sixth, Maldonado was hit by a pitch by new pitcher Tyson Corley. Lawrie reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second base as Cain struck-out. Gindl drew a walk and Corley uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Lawrie to advance to third. Then another wild pitch from Corley brought Lawrie home and gave the Stars a 6-5 lead (audio).

 

The inning would end without any further runs crossing the plate, but at that point the skies opened and the rain forced them to go into a delay. After awhile, the game was declared over and the Stars got a much-needed win.

 

Hinton (1-2) got the win while Corley (0-3) suffered the loss. Lawrie had a huge day, going 2-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. The Stars gain ½ a game on the Smokies, who were rained out, so Huntsville is now 5.5 games out of first.

 

Huntsville hosts Mobile Monday in a 4:00 PM start. Alex Periard will take the mound.

[Mass Haas]

The prior post in this thread has been updated with audio.

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

Guerrero looks for some consistency

Stars (24-26) haven't often excelled in all facets of game

By Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times Sports Staff

 

Fifty games into the season, the Huntsville Stars have managed to win or lose in almost every fashion. On Sunday, they found a new one: a passed ball and a frog-choking rain.

 

The Stars escaped with a 6-5 win when Brett Lawrie hustled home after catcher Jared Price failed to handle a Tyson Corley pitch with two outs in the sixth. Rain and lightning soon struck and the game was called after six innings.

 

Fifty games into the season, the Stars are 24-26 as they await a five-game series with Mobile, beginning today at 4:00 PM at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

They are 5 1/2 games behind first place Tennessee in the Southern League North with three weeks remaining in the first half.

 

Fifty games into the season, it seemed appropriate for Stars manager Mike Guerrero to take stock of the team's progress as he sat in his office late Sunday afternoon with sons Michael and Daniel.

 

His frustration was a common one in baseball, the inability for all facets to click at the same time.

 

"(Saturday night) we had good pitching, but our offense was off. Today, we had a good offense but pitching was off," Guerrero said. "We need to be able to put it together (in the same game)."

 

Guerrero noted that "the teams that execute better pitching-wise and make less mistakes defensively are going to win."

 

The Southern League stats bear that out. Jacksonville has the best team ERA and best WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) and the best record in the league. Division-leading Tennessee is second in WHIP and fourth in ERA. Montgomery, with the third-best record, is third in ERA.

 

While closer Brandon Kintzler is nine-for-nine in save chances with a 0.47 ERA, the team has four blown saves. The current relievers have a combined 4.80 ERA; the combined team ERA is 4.17.

 

"People coming out of the bullpen need to do their job. We have a lead after the sixth or seventh inning, and it evaporates."

 

Josh Butler, a Milwaukee Brewers pitcher making his first rehab start, allowed only four hits in four innings, striking out three, a "pretty convincing start" in Guerrero's words.

 

He was ahead 4-0 after two innings, with Lawrie tripling in a pair of runs in a three-run second. Lawrie has a league-leading eight triples, on pace to top Alan Trammell's 33-year-old league record of 19.

 

Once Butler was removed, relievers Chris Cody, Jim Henderson and Robert Hinton combined to allow five runs in two innings on five hits and five walks.

 

Fifty games into the season, Guerrero is pleased that "we have a lot of guys that are willing to go out there and compete. I would like to see the same thing on the pitching side ... somebody to take the bull by the horns and say 'Let's go.' "