Link Report for Mon. 5/8 - Morning Game in Nashville

[Mass Haas]

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: LHP Zach Jackson at home vs. New Orleans (Nationals), 10:10 AM pre-game, 10:30 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: RHP Tim Dillard at home vs. Montgomery (Devil Rays), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: TBD at Tampa (Yankees), 6:00 PM; sorry, no audio for this series

 

West Virginia: RHP Kevin Roberts at Hickory (Pirates) 6:20 PM pre-game, 6:30 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Activate the Nashville Gameday. For the other links, choose "Log". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. It's sweet!

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_tbyafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1

[Mass Haas]

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds and/or Huntsville Stars are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated an hour or two prior to gametime:

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

 

Following Nashville's lead, Huntsville now makes its media notes available as well, nice:

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Sunday's action:

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 20 10 .667 - 11-4 9-6 L1[/b] Omaha 14 15 .483 5.5 8-6 6-9 L4 Iowa 12 16 .429 7.0 6-7 6-9 W3 Memphis 9 19 .321 10.0 7-8 2-11 L4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 21 10 .677 - 12-4 9-6 W2 West Tenn 18 13 .581 3.0 8-7 10-6 W1 [b]Huntsville 17 14 .548 4.0 9-7 8-7 W2[/b] Carolina 14 17 .452 7.0 8-7 6-10 W3 Tennessee 14 17 .452 7.0 7-4 7-13 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 19 10 .655 - 8-7 11-3 W1 Palm Beach 17 12 .586 2.0 7-7 10-5 L1 [b]Brevard County 16 14 .533 3.5 5-7 11-7 W1[/b] Daytona 13 17 .433 6.5 8-9 5-8 W1 Jupiter 12 18 .400 7.5 5-11 7-7 W1 Vero Beach 11 19 .367 8.5 7-8 4-11 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lake County 17 13 .567 - 8-8 9-5 W1 Greensboro 16 13 .552 0.5 11-6 5-7 W3 Lexington 16 13 .552 0.5 10-5 6-8 W1 Delmarva 15 13 .536 1.0 6-7 9-6 L1 [b]West Virginia 14 14 .500 2.0 7-8 7-6 L1[/b] Lakewood 14 15 .483 2.5 10-5 4-10 W4 Hagerstown 12 17 .414 4.5 7-6 5-11 L2 Hickory 11 17 .393 5.0 4-7 7-10 L3

[wibadgers23]

So-so outing today for Jackson. Hasn't given up a lot of runs yet this season (3.00 ERA), but seems to be walking too many batters. Same problem Sarfate is having.

[And That]

Jackson has walked 15 guys now in 33 IP. Not great, not horrible. I like that he's only allowed 1 HR amongst the 32 hits he's given up.

[wibadgers23]

Quote:

---

Jackson has walked 15 guys now in 33 IP. Not great, not horrible. I like that he's only allowed 1 HR amongst the 32 hits he's given up.

---

 

That's not as bad as I thought. For some reason I thought it was more. And you're right about the homeruns. Only 3 homeruns given up between Eveland, Sarfate, and Jackson. Pretty impressive.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Former Sound Rickie Weeks:

Yes, that's right...

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...%205-8.wma

[Mass Haas]

Final: New Orleans (Nationals) 5, Nashville 0

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

Link for Chris Barnwell photo, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1940

 

Sounds Blanked By Z's In Homestand Finale

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Two New Orleans pitchers combined to shut out the Nashville Sounds in a 5-0 victory on Monday morning at Greer Stadium in front of a standing room only crowd of 12,894 fans, most of whom were area schoolchildren attending the game as a reward for reaching their goals in the Nashville Sounds Reading Club program.

 

With its second shutout loss of the year, Nashville (20-11) has suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since opening the year with three straight losses and lost the series to New Orleans, 3-1. It was the Sounds' first non-winning series in the club's last six series.

 

New Orleans left-hander Billy Traber (1-1) allowed five hits over the first seven frames to pick up his first win of the season. Saul Rivera came on to work the final two innings in scoreless fashion for the Z's to complete the shutout and record his first save.

 

Five Sounds hitters combined to record the team?s eight hits in the loss with Vinny Rottino (2-for-4) one of only two Sounds to have a multi-hit day. Rottino has 11 hits in his last 24 at-bats (.458).

 

In the top of the third, the Zephyrs would supply the game with its first offensive push. With two outs and the bases loaded, New Orleans first baseman Larry Broadway hit a bases-clearing double to the right-center wall. All three runs were unearned after shortstop Chris Barnwell was charged with an error when a ground ball went off the heel of his glove, allowing the inning to continue.

 

After the visitors' brief burst of offense, the pitchers took control of the game. Starting with the last out of the fourth inning, Sounds starter Zach Jackson (0-2) retired 10 Zephyrs batters in a row and struck out two batters during that stretch.

 

Jackson took the loss but was not tagged with an earned run in his seven innings to lower his seasonal ERA to 3.00. He walked a season-high five batters and struck out six in his 109-pitch outing, the most pitches thrown by a Nashville hurler this season.

 

Traber matched Jackson pitch for pitch as he retired nine batters in a row, starting with the last out in the fourth.

 

Sounds reliever Mitch Stetter pitched the eighth inning in relief of Jackson and continued to send Zephyrs batters back to the bench, striking out two batters while going three up, three down.

 

The Sounds threatened in the bottom of the eighth with pinch-hitter Jermaine Clark on second and Barnwell on first with only one out after both players singled. Neither runner was able to score when Corey Hart grounded into a double play to end the inning.

 

Barnwell's eighth-inning single extended the infielder's season-best hitting streak to 11 games and pushed his consecutive games on-base streak to 24 in a row.

 

Mike Adams came in to pitch the top of the ninth for Nashville and allowed two runs on two hits. Zephyrs shortstop Josh Labandeira contributed an RBI single before the second run came plateward on an Adams wild pitch.

 

With the loss Monday, the Sounds closed out their second homestand of the year at an even 4-4. The week-long stanza included a 24-inning game and the largest crowd to see a Sounds game this year. Nashville's record at Greer Stadium now stands at 11-4.

 

The Sounds travel west tomorrow to open an eight-game road trip that includes four-game stops in Tucson and Las Vegas. Tuesday's 7:30 p.m. CDT contest marks the opener of a four-game set against the Tucson Sidewinders (AAA-Diamondbacks), the teams? lone meeting during the 2006 regular season. The clubs split the 2005 season series, 2-2.

 

Sounds left-hander Dana Eveland (3-0, 0.87) will take the hill in Tuesday's series opener and face Tucson right-hander Enrique Gonzalez (2-3, 3.25).

 

Nashville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

By the way, and sorry if this was discussed on the Major League Forum, how many of you heard Jim Powell ask Ben Hendrickson during Sunday's pre-game show about working with catcher Mike Rivera?

 

Read between-the-lines http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif , but no, we don't know about any such forthcoming move...

[brewmann04]

adams probally won"t see milwaukee again this season

[bork]

Read between-the-lines , but no, we don't know about any such forthcoming move...

 

There was a quote by Yost in the notes a few days ago. Basically saying how his defensive shortcomings have been overstated and that he blocks balls with the best of them.

[DKM4Boston]

Yovani Gallardo is #3 and Dana Eveland is #6 on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet this week.

 

www.baseballamerica.com/t...61243.html

[molitor fan]

From the article linked above - interesting Delmon Young - like stuff regarding uber prospect Matt Kemp of the Dodgers

 

As usual, we'd like to throw out some props to a player not mentioned in the rankings below and this time around it's Double-A Jacksonville center fielder Matt Kemp.

 

Kemp has been a dominant player on the field, making the Hot Sheet in each of the last two weeks, but after an ugly outburst in a game against Birmingham on Saturday in which several Barons officials and White Sox farm director David Wilder said that Kemp punched Barons manager Chris Cron in the face, he comes off the list.

[colbyjack]

Nice picture of Brad Nelson (from familiar Brewerfan friend Bill Mitchell) from BA's AAA report (subscribers only):

 

www.baseballamerica.com/o...61242.html

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/bnelson06428309bm.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Final: Montgomery (Devil Rays) 3, Huntsville 1

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=817

 

Peguero and Bullpen Lead Biscuits to Win

 

Tony Peguero worked six strong innings and Montgomery took advantage of two errors to score twice in a 3-1 victory over Huntsville Monday night in the second game of a five-game set at Joe Davis Stadium. The Biscuits improved to 19-13, squared the series at a game apiece and maintained a one game lead over Jacksonville in the South Division, while the Stars dropped to 17-15 and fell five games behind victorious, front-running Chattanooga in the Southern League North Division.

 

Anuedi Cuevas led off the third inning of a scoreless game with a double and Josh Johnson followed by dropping down a sacrifice bunt attempt. Stars? starting pitcher Tim Dillard fielded the bunt and threw wildly past third, allowing Cuevas to score and Johnson to advance to second. Elliot Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt to push Josh Johnson to third but Dillard fanned Matthew Maniscalco and retired Jason Pridie on a ground ball to keep it 1-0 Montgomery.

 

The Biscuits added a run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Pridie and capitalized on another error in the sixth to push their lead to 3-0. Gabriel Martinez reached first base to open the inning on a throwing error by shortstop Ozzie Chavez on a routine ground ball, moved to second base when Chairon Isenia walked, advanced to third on a Francisco Leandro sacrifice bunt and scored on a fly ball by Cuevas, who knocked in his fourth run of the year. Dillard suffered his third loss of the year after allowing all three runs, one earned, on three hits and three walks over six innings. He struck out a season-high six but remained winless in four starts at home.

 

Peguero gave up a leadoff single to Kennard Bibbs in the first inning and set down the next 13 batters before a Drew Anderson single in the fifth ended a streak of 33 out of 35 batters retired over two starts by the Montgomery right-hander. Huntsville pushed across its lone run in the sixth when Callix Crabbe led off with a single and scored one out later on an Ozzie Chavez triple, his second of the year. Peguero struck out Steve Moss and set down Greg Sain on a fly ball to end the inning and his night. He earned his fourth win of the year and has gone at least six innings in all seven starts.

 

Jeff Ridgway retired the side in order in the seventh inning on three ground ball outs and Juan Salas tossed two scoreless frames to earn his ninth save of the season. The Stars were held to five hits by the Biscuits? threesome and have totaled only 43 in their last seven games.

 

The series continues Tuesday night with right-hander Corey Thurman taking the mound against Montgomery right-hander Jim Magrane. Coverage of the game begins at 6:50 p.m. central time and can be heard locally on ESPN Radio 1450 AM and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Just six Stars baserunners all night -- yawn; truly horrific numbers from the middle of this order; 22 K's, zero walks for reliever Steve Bray in 25 IP...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

Ugly strikeout as mentioned above for Steve Moss in the 6th...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

[Mass Haas]

Scroll to the bottom of David Weiser's "Standings" page here to see that the Stars' 3-4-5 hitters were hitting .195 after 30 games (Steve Moss, Greg Sain, and Adam Heether were in those spots in Game # 32 Monday and went 1-for-12):

 

www.starsboxscore.com/standing.htm

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 8, Tampa (Yankees) 6

 

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Ezi lifts Manatees over Yanks

 

Travis Ezi's two-out, three-run triple higlighted a six-run sixth inning as Brevard County rallied past Tampa, 8-6, on Monday.

 

Ezi's only hit of the night snapped a 3-3 tie and put the Manatees (18-14) ahead for good. He scored on Josh Murray's single to give Brevard County a 7-3 lead.

 

Murray had three hits and two RBIs and Hernan Iribarren also drove in two runs for the Manatees, who have won two straight since a six-game losing streak.

 

Bo Hall (2-1) picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief, and Robert Hinton recorded his first save by retiring the final two batters.

 

P. J. Pilittere went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Tampa (13-19), which has dropped two in a row.

 

Brett Smith (4-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings. -- Jeannine Rippa/MLB.com

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Manny Parra stretched to four innings; Ryan Braun two singles, a walk, but two more errors; Hernan Iribarren at a .722 OPS, a bit pedestrian for him...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_tbyafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

Josh Murray twice knocked in runs with two-out base hits...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_tbyafa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Hickory (Pirates) 11, West Virginia 2

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Power road trip begins with a loss

 

The Hickory Crawdads scored five times in the first two innings of Monday night?s game against the West Virginia Power, and pulled away with a five-run seventh inning to win the first game of a two-game series by the final of 11-2.

 

Steve Pearce hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to start the scoring for the Crawdads. The Power answered in the top of the second on Ryan Crew?s run-scoring single. Pearce struck again in the bottom of the second inning, knocking in two runs on a bases loaded single. The Power scored their final run of the game in the fifth inning when Ned Yost scored after Darren Ford reached on a fielder?s choice.

 

Eddie Prasch ripped an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 6-2 Hickory lead. The Crawdads scored five times in the seventh to pull away. Prasch knocked in the first run on a sacrifice fly, Cameron Blair followed with a two-run single, and Andrew McCutcheon drove in the final two runs of the inning on a base hit.

 

Joe Bauserman (2-2) earned the victory, and Kevin Roberts (2-4) obtained the loss. The Power are 14-15 after the loss and the Crawdads improved to 12-17 with the win.

 

The Power will finish the two game series against Hickory at L.P. Frans Stadium on Tuesday night. Hickory will start right hander Kyle Pearson (2-0, 2.14) and West Virginia will counter with left hander Derek Miller (2-1, 2.89). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 PM (5:30 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Angel Salome three passed balls, six on the season; Ned Yost 3-for-4; Ryan Marion's best outing of the year, but Brandon Parillo still scuffling...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

A Ryan Crew error (his 7th) cost Kevin Roberts two 2nd inning runs; trailing 6-2 in the 7th, Nate Yoho caught trying to steal second base; a Mat Gamel error (his 11th) cost Brandon Parillo two 7th inning runs; all three passed balls came in the 7th as Angel Salome caught for the lefty Parillo...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Sounds falter early against Zephyrs

Morning game draws largest crowd since 2003

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Nashville Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas hopes his team didn't miss its wake-up call Monday.

 

Playing a 10:30 a.m. game with a season's-best crowd of 12,894 on hand, the Sounds allowed three unearned runs early and had only three baserunners in scoring position before losing their first Greer Stadium shutout of the season, a 5-0 decision to New Orleans.

 

"We had a bad mental effort today," Kremblas said. "Some of the mistakes we made were mistakes we can't make. They were mental errors that can't happen.

 

"There's no excuse. (New Orleans) had to come out early, too. If they can't play early, they're not going to be able to play in the big leagues. There are a lot of early games in the big leagues. I don't think that was it. It was just a bad day."

 

The attendance ? more than 2,700 above the Greer Stadium capacity of 10,139 and the biggest figure at Greer since 13,423 showed up on July 4, 2003 ? was due in large part to the attendance of students from a number of area schools that participate in the Sounds' Reading Club program.

 

Nashville starter Zach Jackson worked seven innings, allowing just four hits and striking out six batters.

 

However, he was victimized in the third inning by a two-out error by shortstop Chris Barnwell, followed by a walk and a bases-loaded double by Larry Broadway that gave the Zephyrs a 3-0 lead.

 

Offensively, the Sounds never recovered.

 

"Their guy (New Orleans starter Billy Traber) was making some decent pitches," Nashville third baseman Vinny Rottino said. "I think we hit the ball pretty hard ? just right at people. That happens. But we'll bounce back."

 

Monday's loss, following Sunday's 10-7 decision, gives Nashville back-to-back defeats for the first time this season since suffering three straight losses at Omaha to open the season.

 

"We keep it loose; we keep it light," Rottino said.

 

"That's why we're so consistent at playing good baseball. We'll get back at it and get back in the win column on this road trip."

 

***

Link for Ozzie photo while active, text follows:

 

tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....328/SPORTS

 

Playing early doesn't suit Barnwell

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

If the Nashville Sounds players ever get to vote on the early start times, the decision for Chris Barnwell will probably be a no-brainer.

 

Barnwell, the second-best fielding shortstop in the Pacific Coast League coming into Monday's 10:30 a.m. contest with visiting New Orleans, committed errors on a pair of fairly routine groundballs in the first three innings. His second error led to three unearned runs for the Zephyrs.

 

Through his first 28 games, Barnwell had been charged with just three errors.

 

He's been equally solid with the bat, coming into Monday with a .369 average that ranked him fourth in the PCL and with his second 10-game hitting streak of the season. His 38 hits through his first 28 games were the fifth-best total in the league.

 

Going 1-for-4 Monday, Barnwell's average fell to .365 but his hitting streak now stands at 11 games. He has reached base, via either a hit or a walk, in 24 straight games.

 

Setting the pace: Sounds infielder Jermaine Clark leads the PCL with 12 stolen bases, while Dana Eveland ? set to start tonight at Tucson ? has the league's best earned run average at 0.87. Nelson Cruz has a PCL-high 11 doubles, and Mike Rivera leads with a .680 slugging percentage. Rivera's .447 on-base percentage is also fifth in the league.

 

Going deep: Zach Jackson's 109 pitches through seven full innings were the most thrown by a Sounds starter this season. Jackson, who has yet to win a game in six starts, issued five walks; only Dennis Sarfate (six, vs. Omaha on April 20) has walked more batters in a game for Nashville.

 

Despite taking the loss, Jackson's earned run average dropped from 3.81 to 3.00.

 

Rare series: Monday's loss, following a 10-7 defeat on Sunday and the epic 5-4, 24-inning loss that began on Friday and ended on Saturday, resulted in the Sounds' first series loss since the season-opening four-game set at Omaha.

 

Nashville had won five straight series since splitting four games at Iowa. Additionally, the Sounds fell to 11-5 at Greer Stadium with the defeat.

 

What they said: "I thought we hit some balls fairly well that they made plays on. When that's all you're getting, you're going to have a tough time scoring." ? Sounds Manager Frank Kremblas, after his team's eight-hit effort that saw just three runners reach scoring position.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=49694

 

Sounds sleepwalk through sold-out shutout

By Terry McCormick, tmccormick@nashvillecitypaper.com

 

The wake-up call never came for the Nashville Sounds Monday.

 

After a weekend that included a 24-inning game that stretched over two days, the Sounds and New Orleans Zephyrs were out early Monday for a 10:30 a.m. start, thanks to a special reading program day that many schools used to bring students to a sold-out Greer Stadium.

 

Unfortunately for them, Nashville?s bats were still sound asleep in a 5-0 loss to the Zephyrs before 12,894 fans, mostly youngsters.

 

Nashville managed to string eight hits together, but never really mounted a threat against New Orleans starter Billy Traber, who allowed just five hits in seven shutout innings. Saul Rivera then finished up for the Zephyrs, recording a two-inning save for New Orleans.

 

Sounds manager Frank Kremblas offered a tip of the cap to Traber (1-1), who managed to keep Nashville hitters off-balance and also did not walk a batter.

 

?He moved it around. He mixed up his pitches and threw some off-speed stuff for strikes early in the count,? Kremblas said.

 

However, Kremblas was more disappointed by his own team?s approach in the early start than what the Zephyrs? starter managed to accomplish.

 

?We didn?t play well overall and not very smart in my opinion. Mentally, it wasn?t a good effort,? Kremblas said.

 

New Orleans broke a scoreless tie in the top of the third inning, scoring three unearned runs off Sounds starter Zach Jackson (0-2). It appeared Jackson would wriggle out of the inning unscathed, until a Brendan Harris grounder was misplayed by shortstop Chris Barnwell, putting two on with two outs in the inning. Mike Vento walked to load the bases before Larry Broadway delivered a three-run double into right center field for the Zephyrs.

 

?I gave him a cookie. I left it up over the middle, and I?ve got to make a better pitch than that. I?ve got to bear down,? Jackson said. ?Barney has made so many unbelievable plays for us and helped me out so many times already. That shouldn?t have had any effect on me really, on the way I threw. I had to bear down and get that last out, and I didn?t get the job done.?

 

The Zephyrs tacked on two more runs against reliever Mike Adams in the top of the ninth for the final margin.

 

In the end, Kremblas was just disappointed with the overall performance.

 

?We had a few guys on early, but never really could do anything. We couldn?t string anything together,? Kremblas said. ?It was just not a good effort.?

 

Asked if the early start presented a problem, he replied, ?It doesn?t matter. That?s no excuse.?

 

The Sounds now begin a road trip with the first stop in Tucson tonight.

 

Around the bases: Barnwell, despite a tough day in the field with two errors, managed to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and now has reached base in 24 consecutive games. ? Monday?s shutout marked the first one at Greer Stadium this season and just the second time the Sounds have been blanked this year. ? Sounds catcher Mike Rivera, who came into the game tied with New Orleans outfielder Mike Vento for the Pacific Coast League batting lead at .387, took the lead by going 2-for-4 and raising his average to .392. Vento went 0-for-4 and dropped to .373.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...amp;coll=1

 

Stars' bats don't rack up in loss

Huntsville lives up to its stats, gets five hits in 3-1 loss to Montgomery

By MARK McCARTER

Huntsville Times Sports Staff, markcolumn@aol.com

 

Maybe the only answer is "if we knew, we'd do something about it." Nonetheless, the question was lobbed at Stars manager Don Money late Monday night, after a 3-1 loss to Montgomery.

 

"What can you do to hit better?''

 

Money rocked back in his chair. He plopped his glasses on his keyboard laptop. "Pheww!'' he exclaimed. And, for emphasis, "Pheww!"

 

There is, indeed, little answer for the Stars' offense, which sits solidly in last place in the Southern League in hitting, despite a 17-15 record. They did nothing to help their average in this latest game, amassing only five hits.

 

"We work at it and we can throw batting practice to them, but some time, they have to take it out there in the game and start executing," Money said. "We've got some decent hitters, but they're struggling."

 

It has become as much mental as fundamental. Some of it has to do with how they approach their trips to the plate. "It's 30-something games now, and they're still doing what they did 25 games ago," Money said.

 

Struggling at the plate "works with their minds," he added. And that becomes a dangerous proposition.

 

"You have to play this game on an even keel," Money said. "If you let it get to you mentally, it will beat you up. It will swallow you up and spit you out.''

 

The visitors managed only five hits as well, and the worst pitch Huntsville starter Tim Dillard made all night wasn't even to the plate.

 

After Aneudi Cuevas doubled to lead off the third - taking second only after a moment's hesitation in the Stars' outfield - Joshua Johnson plopped down a bunt. Dillard fielded the ball and threw to third, the ball sailing past Adam Heether. Cuevas scored and Johnson landed on second.

 

Another Biscuits bunt put Johnson on third, but Dillard wriggled out of the mess with a strikeout and grounder.

 

Sacrifice flies by Jason Pridie, in the fifth, and Cuevas, in the sixth, made it 3-zip.

 

"He was not too bad," Money said. "He threw the ball a lot better than the last couple of times.'' And though he was in trouble of his own doing, Money was pleased with how Dillard worked out of a jam.

 

The Stars were handcuffed by Montgomery starter Tony Peguero, who came in with an ERA too small to be seen by the naked eye. He allowed only four hits and in one stretch retired 15 of 16 batters.

 

In a previous meeting, Peguero allowed first-inning homers to Callix Crabbe and Greg Sain, then sat down 21 of 22, including 17 in a row.

 

"We knew we wouldn't hit a lot off this guy," Money said.

 

Huntsville did nick him in the sixth on a Crabbe single and slicing triple by Ozzie Chavez. But the Biscuits bullpen retired the Stars with two hits in three innings, with three strikeouts.

 

It was the Biscuits' first win at Joe W. Davis Stadium since Aug. 12, 2004, and only the third in 17 games; despite the geographical proximity, Montgomery is in a different division and seldom visits Huntsville.

 

The series continues tonight with Corey Thurman (1-3, despite a brilliant 2.20 ERA) pitching for the Stars against Jim Magrane (4-2.) Wednesday's game is a 12:05 Businesspersons' Special and Thursday's finale begins at 10:05 a.m.

[hsvstarsfan]

... the Stars' 3-4-5 hitters were hitting .195 after 30 games (Steve Moss, Greg Sain, and Adam Heether were in those spots in Game # 32 Monday and went 1-for-12):

 

Actually, it's the 4-5-6 hitters. But that caught my curiosity, and it turns out the 3-4-5 hitters after 30 games, even figuring in Steve Moss's 14-game hit streak, were hitting just .212.