Link Report for Sat 6/24: Power Walk-off Again on Yost Slam

[Mass Haas]

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Stars notebook (through Friday's games)

Covering the bases

Paul Gattis, Huntsville Times

 

With the Stars struggling through a most forgettable season, a highlight was perhaps a moment Chris Barnwell will never forget. Barnwell, who spent parts of three seasons with the Stars, is a testimony that hard work pays off. Never one of those can't-miss prospects, the 27-year-old Barnwell nevertheless plays the game doggedly and was a good guy in the clubhouse and now is a major leaguer. He was a surprising call-up by the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday and admitted to getting "emotional" about the news. "It was more than exciting," Barnwell told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "I got a little emotional." Barnwell got his first major league hit as a pinch-hitter on Wednesday and eventually scored. "He deserves the chance," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "There's something to be said for a kid who works hard. He doesn't have a huge bunch of talent, but he knows how to play the game."

 

The future, literally, is with the Stars. Third baseman Ryan Braun, barely a year after being drafted out of Miami, this week has been promoted to the Double-A Stars. Also, Braun and pitcher Yovani Gallardo, promoted to Huntsville from Brevard County on Saturday, have been named to play in the All-Star Futures Game for top minor league prospects.

 

After hitting .274 with seven homers and 37 RBIs in 59 games at Single-A Brevard County, Braun was hitless in his first six at-bats with the Stars. Gallardo made 13 starts for the Manatees and went 6-3 with a 2.09 ERA. The Brewers also promoted Steve Hammond (6-5, 2.53 ERA) from the Manatees to Huntsville. ...

 

Former Stars pitching coach Stan Kyles, now handling the pitchers at Triple-A Nashville for manager Frank Kremblas, has also been named to the Futures Game coaching staff that will be headed by Gary Carter. ... While it's perhaps too much to expect for the Stars to find a spot in the Southern League playoffs, the schedule is at least somewhat friendly right now. The Stars opened the second half going 2-3 at Mobile and returned home Saturday night for a 10-game homestand against Chattanooga and West Tenn. Then the Stars head to Birmingham to face the slumping Barons before the three-day break for the Southern League all-star game. And then the Stars have five more games at home against the Mississippi Braves. Add it all up and beginning today the Stars play 14 of their next 19 games at Joe Davis Stadium. Of course, the down side to that schedule is that the Stars entered Saturday's game just 10-24 at home and 15-24 on the road. And the Stars haven't won consecutive games at home since April 24.

 

Left fielder Drew Anderson might be the Star to keep an eye on in the second half. After driving in three runs in a 8-1 win over Mobile on Friday, Anderson led the team in RBIs with 30 and was second on the team with a .261 batting average. But the strikeouts remain a concern with 53 through 69 games. Then again, that's an improvement over last season when he struck out 109 times in 118 games at the Single-A level.

 

Around the league

 

After the first week of the second half, the standings already had a familiar look. Jacksonville, the first-half champ in the Southern League South, was tied for first with Birmingham and Mobile. Chattanooga, the first-half champ in the North, was one game behind front-running West Tenn. ... Florence native and former Carolina Mudcat Josh Willingham is back off the disabled list with the Florida Marlins. ... For the trivia buffs, do you remember Joey Gathright? He was the first batter in the first game for the new Montgomery Biscuits in 2003 against the Stars at Joe Davis Stadium. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the parent club of the Biscuits, traded Gathright last week to the Royals. ... Six other Southern League players will join Braun and Gallardo in the Futures Game. On the U.S. team is Chattanooga pitcher Homer Bailey. On the World Team are catcher George Kottaras of Mobile and infielders Luis Cruz of Mobile, Yunel Escobar of Mississippi, Ching Lung Hu of Jacksonville and Joey Votto of Chattanooga.

 

Brewings

 

Triple-A Nashville Sounds (40-33, first place in Pacific Coast League's American North): P Dennis Sarfate struggled in getting the loss Friday to Round Rock but he is still 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA.

 

Single-A Brevard County Manatees (1-1, tied for second in second half of Florida State League's East): The Manatees finished third in the first half, three games behind champ St. Lucie.

 

Single-A West Virginia Power (2-0, first place in second half of South Atlantic League's North): Michael Brantley, the son of former major league Mickey Brantley, was 4-for-6 and drove in five runs Friday as the Power whipped Kannapolis 17-2.

 

On deck

 

The Stars continue their 10-game homestand Sunday night at 6:05 against Chattanooga. West Tenn comes to town Thursday for a five-game series.

[Mass Haas]

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Stars hit better but still defeated

Braun gets first two Double-A hits in loss

By JOHN FERRY

Times Sports Staff, jferry@htimes.com

 

Don Money wasn't surprised at the roster changes that came this weekend.

 

"Look at the record," the Huntsville Stars manager said before Saturday night's home game against Chattanooga. "We weren't getting the job done in a lot of areas."

 

The additions may have invigorated the Stars - they got 13 hits for the third straight game Saturday - but they weren't enough to keep them from losing 4-3 to to the Lookouts. Huntsville has now lost two of those three 13-hit games and is 2-4 for the season's second half.

 

One of the Stars' newcomers, infielder Ryan Braun, played in his third game since coming up from Single-A Brevard County and got his first Double-A hits. He had a double and single in four tries and drove in a run.

 

"A lot of guys are swinging the bats better now," Braun said. "I hope that will translate into some wins down the road."

 

The Stars had their chances against Chattanooga. They were hurt by 10 runners left on base. They left the bases loaded in the seventh and stranded Braun on third as the potential tying run in the eighth.

 

Huntsville never led in the game, falling behind in the second on a two-run homer by Anderson Machado. Chattanooga used an error and a wild pitch in scoring two unearned runs in the third.

 

The Stars got a run-scoring double from Braun in the second and a homer from Callix Crabbe in the third. Then in the seventh Drew Anderson singled in a run to narrow the gap to what turned out to be the final score.

 

Still, the hitting upswing has been encouraging - Anderson had three hits and Steve Moss added two Saturday.

 

Catcher Lou Palmisano also had two hits with a double and single.

 

"It's a new start, a new half of the season," Palmisano explained. "It's like hitting the reset button on a video game. We are not 12 games out of first place now."

 

Palmisano struck out with bases loaded to end the seventh. Moss grounded out with Braun on third to finish the eighth.

 

Chattanooga brought in left-hander Jon Coutlangus for the ninth, and he set Huntsville down in order.

 

Lookouts starter Josh Hall (3-1) went six innings to get the win. Brock Till came in for two innings before Coutlangus finished up.

 

Machado produced three of Chattanooga's nine hits.

 

Reliever Chris Mabeus - assigned from Triple-A Nashville to take the place of Jeff Housman, who is on the disabled list - pitched the seventh and eighth in relief of starter and loser Travis Phelps. Mabeus allowed two hits, walked two and struck out two.

 

Two other new players are pitchers Steve Hammond and Yovani Gallardo, called up Saturday from Brevard County, Fla.

 

Hammond, who went 6-5 with a 2.53 earned run average for the Manatees, is scheduled to pitch in a 6:05 p.m. game today.

 

Gallardo, 6-3 with a 2.09 ERA at Brevard County, will start for Huntsville on Monday night.

 

Chattanooga, the Southern League North Division first half winner, improved to 4-2 in the second half.

 

Huntsville lost its 18th game in the last 19 tries at Joe Davis Stadium.

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

STARS LEAVE 10... LOSE BY 1

MORE HELP ON THE WAY

Good crowd tonight, despite thunderstorms most of the day, but the game started on time, the showers ending about an hour before gametime....... Giving away something always helps, and tonight it was good-looking, scaled down wooden bats for the kiddies........ Ah, the value of promotions -- the lifeblood of minor league baseball.

 

And speaking of lifeblood, Stars fans have reason to be a little more optimistic, despite a 2-4 start to the 2nd half of the season...... For one thing, they are hitting .319 in their last three games after their 3rd straight game with 10+ hits........ For another, the Stars now have pitchers Yovani Gallardo and Steve Hammond (#18 prospect in the minor league organization according to Baseball America), just promoted from Class A-Brevard County (Fla. St.)........ Gallardo and Hammond leave the Florida State League 5th and 9th respectively among ERA leaders and Gallardo leads the league in strikeouts (103 in 77 2/3 innings)...... The Stars now have the # 1 pick from last year's amateur draft (Ryan Braun) and the # 2 draft pick from 2004 (Gallardo). Hammond was a 6th round pick from last year....... Gallardo is already penciled in to start Monday's game against the Lookouts........

 

The Stars also welcomed back pitcher Chris Mabeus, who threw 33 pitches tonight in two innings of relief, 18 for strikes (54.5%), and was saved a run by the arm of Ron Acuna in the 8th inning........ Ron's arm has been a valuable asset for the Stars this year........ To make room for the changes, the Stars released pitchers Matt Smith and Russ Rohlicek, both former Southern Leaguers who had been with the Birmingham Barons and West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in past seasons........ Smith was unscored upon in only two of his 12 appearances with the Stars and finished with a 6.84 ERA, an 0-4 mark, and one cheap save protecting an 8-2 lead on June 4 vs. the Barons...... Rohlicek silenced the Stars in 2003 pitching for the Diamond Jaxx, holding them scoreless in 15 innings over a dozen appearances that year....... He did that to opponents in the first month this year, holding them scoreless in seven innings, and his ERA was an inscrutable 1.52 as late as May 29. Since that appearance, he gave up 13 runs in 10 1/3 innings over eight appearances, but take away two games, both against his former team on May 31 and June 15, and his ERA is 3.38....... Jeff Housman was placed on the disabled list. He was taken out after going four innings vs. Mobile, Thursday, experiencing pain in his left shoulder (his throwing arm) for the second time this season. Mabeus was sent down from Nashville to fill his spot.

 

Corey Thurman was scheduled to start tonight, but with the new additions to the staff, I assume the rotation was shuffled, and Travis Phelps, after pitching two innings Wednesday, got the start, and for so short a rest, and after giving up six runs in two innings vs. Mobile that night, he did a rather good job.

 

On paper, he gets a loss, but four of the six hits he gave up came in two innings, as well as the four runs....... Take that away, and he holds the Lookouts scoreless over four innings on three hits, but box scores don't always tell the whole story....... Travis couldn't find the key to shutting down shortstop Anderson Machado, a minor league vet with 68 at-bats in the major leagues with the Reds and Rockies. With two out in the 2nd, Machado lifted a long fly ball that dropped just over the first fence in right field, about 346 feet. That brought in former Star Noochie Varner, who lined a one-out single to left-center........

 

The Lookouts then scored two unearned runs off Phelps in the 3rd......... Losing Adam Heether's oft-times sparkling defense at third base may have been the difference in this game. With one out, Javier Colina hit a 2-1 hard grounder to Ryan Braun who was positioned perfectly, but let the ball go right through him and into shallow left field for an error........ Joey Votto, the Southern League's RBI leader and 3rd leading hitter at .318, followed by lining a 1-0 pitch to the right field wall for a double sending Colina to 3rd......... Aaron Herr, son of former St. Louis Cardinal 2nd baseman Tommy, then hit Phelps' first pitch to Callix Crabbe, who had to field the ball on the edge of the grass near 2nd base, thus allowing a speedy Colina to score........ Phelps was then sieged by a burst of wildness, hitting Varner with a 2-0 pitch, and then throwing a ball to Chris Dickerson before a wild pitch brought Votto home.

 

The Stars stayed close, but missed so many opportunities, a frequent problem this year. They left at least one runner on base in every inning but the 5th and the 9th, when Chattanooga pitchers Josh Hall and Jon Coutalangus faced the minimum........ Braun followed Lou Palmisano's one-out double in the 2nd with a smash of his own that hopped all the way to the left field wall, his first hit as a Huntsville Star........ I have to say one thing for Braun -- he knows how to swing that bat. His swing is very fluid and he has impressive line-drive power. I hope some clutch hits will make up for the defensive shortcomings I've seen and heard........ Braun, however, was stranded on second with one out by Travis Ezi, who moved him to third, and Milko Jaramillo.

 

Steve Moss nearly missed an extra-base hit when he sent Javon Moran all the way to the warning track in right field in the 3rd inning for the 2nd out....... Had he got on base, Crabbe would have knocked him in, for he followed with his 2nd home run of the year that much like Machado's HR, dropped just over the wall on a hard-hit fly to right. That made it 4-2........ Singles by Drew Anderson and Brad Nelson put runners on the corners, but Palmisano struck out on Josh Hall's 8th pitch to him.

 

Jaramillo was stranded on first with two out in the 4th and Palmisano's one-out single in the 6th was wasted, but the biggest opportunity to take the lead was in the 7th when Lou struck out with the bases loaded........ In his defense, he tried to check his swing on an 0-2 pitch that was low and outside, but home plate ump Scott Childers (brother of former Stars Matt and Jason) was liberally ringing up hitters on checked swings or calling them strikes........ Only one run scored, that on Anderson's single to right that brought in Ron Acuna, who came in on a double-switch in the top of the inning. Anderson has driven in five runs in his last three games, making the most of a .250 average over those games. That's clutch hitting.........

 

Finally in the 8th, Braun led off with a hard grounder past the glove of Machado and into left for a single. Pinch-hitter Guilder Rodriguez was up there to bunt and fouled off a 1-0 pitch, but the next one he dropped in front of the plate, moving Braun to 2nd. Jaramillo sent a fly ball deep enough to right, just a few feet in front of the track, to move him to 3rd, but after Acuna walked to put runners on the corners, Moss grounded out to short to end the inning and the Stars' last opportunity....... Of the 10 runners the Stars left on base, five were left in scoring position......... The Stars have now lost 18 of their last 19 games at home.

 

Left-hander Steve Hammond will make his Stars debut tomorrow as he gets the start against Tyler Pelland (4-2, 3.70)....... Pelland, also a southpaw, has a 3.46 ERA in his last five starts. So far, he's been tough as nails with no one on base (0.89 ERA), but it really escalates after that: 5.70 ERA with runners on and 8.06 ERA w/runners in scoring position........ Hammond was 2-3 in his last five starts for the Manatees, but with an ERA of 1.35. He held Lakeland and Vero Beach scoreless over 14 1/3 innings in two consecutive starts and he held FSL hitters to a .215 batting average during the season....... Gametime is 6 pm and "Blooper", who I think is some kind of big baseball monkey, will be the entertainment for Family Fun night at the stadium. This will be his first appearance at the Joe....... I sure hope he's entertaining because seeing the Stars lose night after night sure isn't.

 

The Arizona Rookie League opened up Friday...... The Brewers lost last night to the AZL Padres, 6-2. The Padres are managed by former Stars manager Carlos Lezcano, who led the Stars in 2000........ The Diamond Jaxx, who come into the stadium next, promoted their closer Clay Rapada to Class AAA - Iowa (PCL). Much appreciated. Rapada held the Stars to two runs in nine innings of relief....... D'Angelo Jimenez, the major league vet who hit .278 in 90 games for the Lookouts last year, was signed by the Oakland A's and assigned to Class AAA-Sacramento (PCL).......

 

David Gates, a former star with the UAH Chargers, has been released by the Los Angeles Angels. Gates, who was drafted in the 21st round by the Angels in 2001, got all the way to Double-A, and hit .245 in 117 games last year for the Arkansas Travelers. In 2004, he hit 20 HRs and drove in 86 runs for Rancho Cucamonga in the hitter haven that is known as the California League, but he was hitting just .207 when he was let go on Wednesday....... The Birmingham Barons released pitcher Rusty Tucker, June 15 (I could see that coming) and outfielder Darren Blakely last Tuesday. Blakely had been hitting .211 this month. He played for the Mobile Bay Bears in 2001-02 before the White Sox signed him on October 27, 2003........ Carlos Valderrama, who was signed by the Brewers as a free agent outfielder and spent the entire season on the Stars roster on the disabled list, was released Wednesday.