Link Report for Games of Thursday, July 8th

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Times Game Story:

A quote or two...

 

Huntsville does almost everything right in 8-3 victory

By MIKE EASTERLING

Times Sports Staff mikee@htimes.com

 

Outfielder Jamie Gann hit the club's first inside-the-park home run in at least four seasons.

 

Prince Fielder, a 6-foot, 260-pound first baseman, legged out his first triple of the season and had two shots at becoming the first player in team history to hit for the cycle.

 

Pitcher Jeff Housman tossed five shutout innings to whittle an earned run average that already ranked among the Southern League's top 10 down from 3.43 to 3.23.

 

Third baseman Chris Barnwell made a dazzling stop to start a double play that at the time preserved a shutout.

 

It all added up to a solid 8-3 win by the Huntsville Stars over the Mobile BayBears on Thursday night at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

An announced crowd of 1,254 looked on as Huntsville pieced together what had to be one of its more thorough wins of the season, a victory that moved the Stars into a first-place tie with Birmingham in the West Division.

 

"Not a bad game,'' Huntsville manager Frank Kremblas said. "There were a couple of things we could've done better, but we were aggressive and we hit the ball pretty good.''

 

The Stars pounded out 13 hits, allowed just five and led 8-0 before Mobile scored three runs in the eighth inning long after the issue was settled.

 

"We played good defense, threw strikes and hit the ball,'' said Gann, who has now hit safely in seven of his eight games with Huntsville. "When this team puts it together, we're a pretty tough team.''

 

Housman walked the game's leadoff batter, coaxed two outs and - after an error and an infield single - got out of a bases-loaded jam. He didn't allow another hit over the next four innings before giving way to reliever Paul Stewart.

 

Housman (3-5) struck out four and walked three. He left the game early because he was battling sickness.

 

"He worked out of (the first) and after that controlled his fastball better and mixed in his off-speed pitches,'' Kremblas said.

 

Huntsville improved to 40-44 overall and 9-6 in the second half.

 

Brian Whitaker (5-7) took the loss for Mobile (45-40, 5-9).

 

The Stars, leading 1-0 behind Fielder's first-inning home run, broke the game open with the four-run third to take a 5-0 lead. Housman singled to lead off, and two outs later scored when Fielder tripled into the right-field corner. Brad Nelson followed with an RBI single and Gann hit his third home run with the Stars and first that didn't leave the park.

 

He hit a line drive to center field, where the BayBears' Kennard Jones dove for the ball and missed. Gann only had to keep from falling as the ball rolled to the warning track.

 

"Just keep stride and make sure to touch the bases,'' Gann said of his round trip.

 

Fielder, who singled in the fifth after the homer and triple, had two more at-bats in an attempt to get the first cycle in the Stars' 20-year history.

 

"I knew if I hit the ball hard I had a chance,'' he said.

 

Instead, he grounded into a double play and flied out.

 

In a pair of roster moves, Huntsville placed pitcher Chris Saenz (forearm) on the disabled list Thursday and activated outfielder Ryan Knox.