Link Report Sat. 7/28 -- Helena in Playoffs; Sarfate Injured

[LouisEly]

Robert Hinton's miserable season continues -- has any top prospect taken a harder tumble in 2007?

 

He was a 40th round pick in '03, had barely more than a K per inning in A+ and A ball, a mediocre 1.28 WHIP last year for a very pitching-friendly park and league, and did nothing in Helena. He had a very good WHIP in WV, but that's low A ball - nothing to get excited about.

 

Taking everything into consideration... was he ever really a "top prospect" to begin with?

[And That]

Hinton throws in the low 90's, with possibly the best slider in the system. Yes, he has been (and IMO continues to be) a "hot" prospect.

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

LOOKOUTS' NEW VIEW

STARS LOSE 4th STRAIGHT, LOSE 1st PLACE

After winning 12 in a row, the Stars, at one time enjoying a three-game lead, came back home Saturday night after a long 10-hour bus trip from Jacksonville, to face a resurgent Chattanooga team (winners now of six straight), tied with the Stars for 1st place....... Taking advantage of opportunities is what got the Stars to the top. But that stopped at The Baseball Grounds........ And so did the victories.

 

In Jacksonville, the Stars lost three games by a single run. In two of them, the Suns scored in the 8th inning to win, and Friday, they lost in the 10th, and in each case, they squandered multiple opportunities along the way....... Monday night, behind 2-1 in the top of the 9th, the Stars had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, but Michael Brantley struck out swinging and Steve Sollmann flied out to end the game, ending the 12-game streak..........

 

Wednesday, the Stars scored early, showed off a 4-0 lead, then lost, 5-4, leaving 14 runners on base........ Brendan Katin's 1st inning grand-slam HR, his 2nd against Jacksonville this season, gave the Stars another 4-0 lead on Thursday, but four of the five pitchers used by Don Money got a shellacking, and they lost, 14-4........ Then in the 10th inning Friday, tied 1-1, the Stars' Ryan Crew was thrown out scoring from 2nd on Hernan Iribarren's double (how does that happen?), then failed to get another runner in from scoring position with one out. They also squandered a chance to rally big, loading the bases with none out in the 6th, coming away with just one run.

 

Saturday's contest, at first glance of the score, looked like a runaway, but the Stars took themselves out of opportunities to score early and take some control. Steve Sollmann hit into a double play in the 1st and Alcides Escobar hit into one in the 2nd (after Adam Heether and Brendan Katin led off with a single and a walk, respectively)....... In the 3rd, Hernan walked and Michael Brantley singled with one out, but all the Stars could get out of their golden opportunity was a sacrifice fly that slimmed Chattanooga's lead to 4-1.

 

While pitchers Corey Thurman and Robert Hinton were giving out walks Lookout hitters were taking advantage of, the Stars could not take the same advantage of Chattanooga starter James Avery's wildness. Avery threw only 12 of his first 29 pitches for strikes, 12 of 21 in the 3rd, and 10 of 18 in the 4th........ Avery walked four, but only one of those walked scored.

 

Chattanooga, unlike the Stars, took advantage of every opportunity given them. Three of the seven batters walked by Thurman and Hinton scored....... The Lookouts also had an unusual night of long ball. All five hits were divided between triples and home runs, so Chattanooga ended with eight runs on five hits. It's been a long time since I've seen a line as quirky as that, but on July 6, 1994, Birmingham scored six runs on two hits, all of which came in the 9th inning, as the Stars lost, 6-5. Michael Jordan's two-out bases-loaded grounder in the 9th was booted by 3rd baseman Jason Giambi, who allowed all those runners to score.

 

Chattanooga got what they needed in the 2nd........ Tyrell Godwin hit a one-out homer off the middle wall in right, approximately 348' from the plate, on the first pitch from Thurman. Craig Tatum tripled deep to center after Steve Moss lost a fly ball in the lights........ Alcides Escobar then booted an easy grounder hit by Caonabo Cosme, a former A's prospect when the Stars were affiliated with Oakland, scoring Tatum....... A walk and a sacrifice moved Cosme to third, but he was able to walk in on a triple in front of the track in left-center by Adam Rosales.......... After another sacrifice fly by the Stars made it 4-2, Cosme changed the game for good with a three-run HR just over the wall in right in the 6th, making it 7-3........ Hinton, in his return to Huntsville since being sent to Brevard County on July 5, retired the top of the order on just six pitches, until he fell apart in the 6th, throwing only 12 of his 27 pitches for strikes.

 

The Stars are on a four-game losing streak for the first time this season...... Derek Miller, who came up when Hinton originally went down, will make his 5th start of the season, Sunday. Don't look at his 4.18 ERA. Look closer at the fact that he's won his last two starts and has an ERA of 2.84........ Chattanooga will send right-hander Carlos Fisher (4-5, 3.52), who has been just as good on the road (3.47) as he has at home (3.57). Watch the 3rd inning. Fisher has given up 17 hits and walked 10 in 14 innings this season, and owns a 5.79 ERA for that inning.

 

Prior to the game, and the anthem, a moment of silence was observed for Mike Coolbaugh, the 3rd baseman for the Stars' Western Division Championship team of 1997, who helped carry the team to their greatest offensive season ever. Fans are being encouraged to make donations to the Mike Coolbaugh Memorial Fund at the advance ticket office anytime before and during each game of this series.

 

MIKE COOLBAUGH MEMORIAL FUND

c/o SPIRIT BANK

1800 S. BALTIMORE AVE.

TULSA, OKLAHOMA 74119

Yovani Gallardo will be looking for his 3rd consecutive win, Sunday afternoon, when the Brewers go after the Cardinals. Gallardo beat the Reds in his last outing, and is 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in his five starts since a promotion from Nashville. He has exited with the lead in all five of those games....... Saturday, Manny Parra was three outs away from his first major league victory, but closer Francisco Cordero surrendered three runs in the 9th as the Brewers fell, 7-6, in the first game of a double-header at Busch. Parra lasted six innings and gave up three runs, only one earned, leaving with a 6-3 lead. Ryan Braun hit his 18th home run of the year and drove in three........ Last year, Braun hit 15 HRs in 231 at-bats for the Stars. He's taken 229 at-bats this year for Milwaukee to hit 18 out..

 

The four triples hit in Saturday's game was the most since the Diamond Jaxx and the Stars combined for five on April 20, 2004 in a 7-6 win for the Stars........ Chris Saenz was released by the Angels on July 11. Saenz was 5-5, 4.15 for the Stars in 2004, prior to making his only major league appearance a successful one with a win over the Cardinals, shutting them out for six innings on two hits..... Saenz was 1-7 with an 8.41 ERA for the Arkansas Travelers in 19 appearances, and was battered by Texas League hitters for a .341 average.......

 

The Stars are hitting .259 this month. Our rotation is 10-3 with a 3.29 ERA. The bullpen is 5-5 with eight saves and a 4.46 ERA......... Hernan Iribarren was the Stars' leading hitter during the Jacksonville series, going 10-for-20 with three doubles...... Adam Heether has cooled off since his nine-game hitting streak ended, going 6-for-33 (.182), dropping his average from .306 to .293. He has driven in 17 runs this month, but just four in his last nine games....... Carlos Corporan (.176) has played sporadically, but his hit safely in three straight after an 0-for-23 slump........ Lou Palmisano is hitting just .145 this month ( 9-for-62). His nine hits include four HRs. ....... Steve Sollmann is also having a rough July, hitting just .219 (16-for-73).