Link Report for Games of Wednesday, April 12th

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

desmoinesregister.com/app...003/SPORTS

 

I-Cubs are unable to carry tune, but Sounds make noise

RANDY PETERSON

DES MOINES REGISTER STAFF WRITER

 

That crisp, cracking sound of baseball bats Wednesday night came from someone other than the Iowa Cubs.

 

Talk about a quiet evening on the edge of downtown Des Moines - Nashville pitching checked the Cubs on two hits in a 2-0 victory for the Sounds before a paid crowd of 5,309 at Principal Park.

 

There was no noise ordinance violation for these Cubs - second baseman Mike Fontenot got the only hits, singles in the first and fourth innings.

 

"Every time we hit the ball hard, it seems like it went right at someone," said Fontenot, who lined out to shortstop Chris Barnwell for the final out of the game.

 

The Cubs hit five balls to the outfield against three Sounds pitchers - Michael Restovich flied to right in the first inning, Ryan Theriot flied to right in the third and ninth innings, and Fontenot had singles to center and right.

 

Both hits were allowed by starter Ben Hendrickson, who went six innings. Brett Evert and Jason Kershner combined for three innings of hitless relief.

 

There were just a few scoring chances - the only Cub to attempt to run to third base was gunned down in the third inning.

 

Geovany Soto walked, was bunted to second, then tried to tag to third on Theriot's fly to right. But right fielder Nelson Cruz threw him out with a perfect throw.

 

Theriot's six-game hitting streak ended. Soto was the only Cub to advance past first.

 

"It was just one of those nights," Fontenot said.

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

Joe Davis Stadium is a neutral ballpark, meaning it favors neither hitter nor pitcher. If anything, it leans slightly to the hitter according to figures provided by the 2006 Baseball Prospectus. Early on, though, it looked liked it was going to be bombs away. Three home runs were hit between the two teams before the 5th inning, but the big blast came from Huntsville's Greg Sain.

 

No one since Brandon Gemoll on May 10, 2004 had hit a grand-slam HR for the Stars and no one since David Gibralter on May 19, 2001 had done it against Birmingham........ Sain blasted a Larry Broadway 3-and-2 fastball that soared toward left-center field close to 400 feet beyond the top wall of the ballpark, nearly clearing the star-shaped advertisement to the left of the scoreboard, which got the sparsely scattered 1,000+ fans up out of their seats cheering wildly....... Sain had just erased a Birmingham 4-0 lead and tied the ballgame, one night after being blanked 8-0.

 

The joy was only temporary though......... 17 of the Stars next 24 batters were retired. Two double plays and a nice stop by 3rd baseman Micah Schurrstein in the 5th inning froze any attempt to rally back........In the 7th, Fraser Dizard came out of the bullpen for Larry Little, a former independent league pitcher, with the bases full and nobody out, and got Callix Crabbe on a pop up just beyond the grass on the infield, then got Drew Anderson to swing at a first pitch sinker and hit into an easy 4-6-3 double play.

 

Other than Sain's home run, it's hard to find anything positive to say. Tonight's crowd adds up to a two-day attendance total of 2,856 -- the lowest figure in Stars history for the first two home dates of the season. Tim Dillard, our ace, was shelled for 11 hits and six runs in just 3 2/3 innings with his grandparents watching. But for the 2nd day in a row, I saw some dazzling defense from Ozzie Chavez, who certainly looked better than the Ozzie Chavez I saw in 2004, and he is hitting a decent .259 to start the year........ There was also an eye-popping diving catch made by Kennard Bibbs in right field in the top of the 6th off Robert Valido...... Valido looked like he would be exiting from the game after being hit solidly on the elbow by a Dillard fastball in the 4th inning. As it turned out, Valido was on base when Mark Quinn, the former Kansas City Royals outfielder who played in 135 big league games and hit .294 in 2000, launched a home run to left to unlock the 4-4 game.

 

Well that's it....... There's a lot more I could say, but I'm really tired and I'm going to bed. Stars fans, the few who show up and care anyway, will see Corey Thurman, the former Texas League All-Star for the first time against the new-look Barons' Tyler Lumsden, who missed all of last year after January surgery to remove a bone spur........ No one in the Barons lineup tonight played against the Stars last year, and yet they're showing the same kind of power left behind by Casey Rogowski, Jeremy Owens, Chris Stewart, et. al....... The Stars have now lost 11 of their last 13 games against Birmingham, going back to last year.

[brewmann04]

starting to feel sorry for Poor Don Money.

think he got the worst of the brewers affilates

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1

 

Barons dim Stars' light

Grand slam gives Stars lead, but Barons rally

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

Greg Sain pulled a beautiful rescue job. It was like Dudley Do-Right rescuing a damsel in distress from the railroad tracks.

 

Trouble was, they didn't see the train coming the other direction at the same time.

 

Sain, the Stars' designated hitter and 2004 Southern League home run champ, belted a third-inning grand slam to erase a four-run deficit, only to see Huntsville hand the game back over to Birmingham in an 8-4 loss.

 

The Stars have dropped two in a row to Birmingham to fall to 3-4 on the season. They'll host the Barons again tonight and Friday in 7:05 games, then close the series at 2:05 Saturday. Corey Thurman pitches tonight for Huntsville against Tyler Lumsden.

 

From the Stars' perspective, it's been an inopportune time for the Barons to heat up. After the Barons scored only seven runs in their 1-4 opening series against West Tenn, they have racked up 16 runs and 27 hits in two nights here.

 

Even one of the Barons players, in an aside to Stars manager Don Money said, "Man, we couldn't get a base hit (against West Tenn).''

 

"Now,'' Money said, "they're getting all the base hits. It's one of the things of baseball. It's a cycle.''

 

It's also the inherent danger - or benefit - of the new five-game series the Southern League has instituted.

 

"Five games is a long time to play against one team,'' Money said. "It works both ways. But they beat us twice now. They saying, 'We're going to score eight, 10 runs on them.' That's probably the way they feel and I don't blame them.''

 

The Barons opened with four consecutive hits off Tim Dillard, producing a pair of runs. Gustavo Molina homered in the second, then Birmingham made it 4-zip on three straight singles in the third. Dillard, who allowed only two hits in his season debut last week at Mississippi, gave up 11 hits and six runs in 32/3 innings.

 

Sain's slam, coming after an Ozzie Chavez single, Kennard Bibbs double and Callix Crabbe hit-by-pitch, tied the game at 4-all. It was only the third homer of the year for Huntsville in seven games.

 

It was the first Stars grand slam since Brandon Gemoll belted one May 10, 2004.

 

The tie lasted only a matter of minutes. Robert Valido was hit with a pitch to begin the fourth, then Mark Quinn belted a Birmingham homer off a Dillard changeup. A Christopher Amador triple keyed a two-run seventh.

 

"It seems like every time we made a mistake, the ball is up and they hit it,'' said Money. "And they hit it hard.''

 

Before there could be a deja vu grand slam moment, after the Stars loaded the bases again trailing by four, Birmingham reliever Fraser Dizard got Crabbe to pop up and Drew Anderson to hit into a double play to end the Huntsville seventh.

 

"That took the wind out of us,'' Money said. "We have to score when we get the opportunity.''