Link Report for Games of Saturday, April 23rd

[brewmann04]

i think if both dana and deis are still throwing the fo needs to make room

[colbyjack]

i think if both dana and deis are still throwing the fo needs to make room

 

Without a doubt, the fo' does need to make room for Dana and Deis. Good thing they're still throwing.

[Brian the Automator]

[ The good news is that tonight's start by Eveland probably was his worst at the AA level, if that makes sense. That BB to K ratio is outstanding. The guy just keeps on dealing. With his polish, at what point do we see him bumped up to AAA? ]

 

I think that's gotta happen pretty quick, with Helling and Pratt performing the way they were. Maybe it will coincide with a Carlos Villanueva promotion. I'd say he's got about 3 more Huntsville starts left in him.

 

Great job, Dana!

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com Huntsville update:

 

Vinny and the vind cool down D'Jaxx

 

It may as well been Mars........ A cold 49° game-time temperature, made colder by a 20 mph wind blowing to right, cut Friday's meager West Tenn crowd of over 2,200 to just more than half on Saturday. Those who were present were as silent as space........ Football weather........ The funny part is, announcer Brett Pollock asked the press in the media booth, who were just as silent, if this weather would have kept the fans from a football game....... The quick response was no....... Still, I don't blame the fans for not coming out. I don't think I would have either, and if I had, it wouldn't be for more than three innings........ One of the reasons I enjoy attending baseball games so much is that I expect to enjoy it in baseball weather. Enuf said.

 

Nelson Cruz was out of the lineup for the first time since the season began...... Friday night, he ran full gear on an RBI grounder to first in his 2nd at-bat when he felt a twinge in his hamstring. He's tight and sore back there. No word on how much of the roadtrip he'll miss, but I do believe he'll be back soon........ The update on Brandon Gemoll is good. He wound up with a laceration on his chin, a wrist sprain, a slight quad injury, and a mild concussion --- all that in a collision last Wednesday with Mobile's Greg Sain....... As far as the concussion, the laceration, and the quad, he's doing very well, according to Stars trainer David Yeager....... The wrist is still holding him back. There's some limitation to the motion, but the strength is slowly coming back. He will probably be out for the remainder of this roadtrip.

 

It was Vinny Rottino's coming out night and it's nice to see him out of his shell. His contribution in this night's victory was huge...... The Midwest League slugger who broke Prince Fielder's RBI record last year, started off the season 4-for-34, but after last night, his average is up above .200........ Rottino, 5-for-10 now in his last three games with three doubles, hit two of them tonight and drove in an insurance run in the 5th inning, putting the Stars back at .500, but still two games behind the Diamond Jaxx in the SL North....... The Stars also got key hits tonight from Kennard Bibbs and Jeff Winchester.

 

Bibbs led off the 1st with a double, his 5th of the year, on a 2-1 pitch which came off the top of the wall. Bibbs is 3rd among club leaders in doubles....... With two out, Tony Zuniga, batting in the clean-up spot for the first time this season, hit a 2-and-0 pitch to the opposite field for a line drive single to right to score Bibbs........ Rottino, batting .154 at the time, picked up his first extra-base hit of the season Friday night. In his first at-bat Saturday, he sharply bounced a well-placed 1-0 pitch down the third base line past a diving Casey McGehee, into foul territory. Zuniga coasted into third safely, but the ball was juggled in left field by Matt Murton. His throw to the cut-off man was dropped, allowing Zuniga to score and Rottino to reach second. The Stars took a 2-0 lead. Rottino was given credit, of course, for the double...... Jae Kuk-Ryu's first pitch to Jeff Winchester was lined into left for an RBI single, scoring Rottino, and the Stars were off to a 3-0 lead, their biggest first inning so far this season....... Ryu, ranked 28th among the Cubs' top 30 prospects, was primarily a reliever last year for the Diamond Jaxx, spending most of the season coming back from elbow tendinitis and weakness in his lower back.

 

The pesky Diamond Jaxx, 2nd in batting in the league (.318) , came back, however, with four consecutive extra-base hits to tie the game --- all after Dana Eveland got two quick outs in the bottom of the inning....... Matt Murton, 2nd leading hitter in the league, and 11th among the Cubs' top 30 prospects, went ahead on the count from Eveland, 2-and-0, then lifted a breaking ball high in the air to the opposite field. It sliced away from the scoreboard, where it would have gone over had there been no wind, and landed over the double-decker signs in right-center for his 3rd home run of the season, the Diamond Jaxx' 13th homer of the season, and the 11th allowed by Stars pitching this year....... It was the first allowed by Eveland this season and his first since he's been with the Stars...... Brandon Sing quickly followed with a double down the left field line. Casey McGehee, who drove in three runs Friday night, knocked Eveland's fastball for a double down the first base line past John Vanden Berg. Rottino had to play it near the bullpen, and Brandon Sing scored easily making it 3-2....... Finally Buck Coats finished the string of extra-base hits with a double on a 3-2 pitch, lined back through the middle by Enrique Cruz to left-center. Tony Gwynn Jr. overruns the ball, and McGehee scores to tie the game. Gwynn was given an error ....... Adam Greenberg struck out to end the inning, but six runs on eight hits in just the first inning looked like this was going to be a long and interesting game.

 

But things quieted down for the next three innings. After giving up a leadoff single to returning Diamond Jaxx catcher Casey Kopitzke, Eveland retired 12 in a row....... Ryu (the "R" is not pronounced) was touched for a one-out single and a stolen base by Callix Crabbe in the 3rd inning, and a leadoff single by Winchester in the 4th, his 2nd hit that would help raise his average to .286 after the night....... In the 5th, Ryu's control disintegrated.

 

Tony Gwynn, Jr. slapped a one-out 1-0 pitch to right-center for a line drive hit....... Gwynn now has hits in nine of his last 12 games. Gwynn is also a much better hitter out of the # 2 hole in the lineup, hitting .364 there, as opposed to .167 this year in the leadoff spot, where he was installed early in the season........ On the first pitch to Crabbe, Ryu uncorks a wild pitch in the dirt, skipping in back of Kopitzke to the screen, advancing Gwynn to second........ Ryu's 1-1 offering went between Kopitzke's legs back to the screen, advancing Gwynn to third...... With the tie-breaking run on third, Ryu walks Crabbe on 3-and-1....... Now the Diamond Jaxx have a double-play situation......... Zuniga swings and misses at his first pitch, fouls off the next, takes one outside, then Ryu bounces his third wild pitch of the inning, away from Kopitzke toward the dugout! Gwynn scores and the Stars take a 4-3 lead........ Zuniga strikes out for the 2nd out, but Rottino takes out some insurance with a line drive double down the third base line, scoring Crabbe......... Four of the five runs the Stars scored tonight were with two out.

 

Eveland got out of a 6th inning jam, striking out McGehee and Coats after giving up back-to-back hits by Murton and Sing that put runners on the corners, then finished his evening by getting Adam Greenberg to ground out....... Matt Ford worked a scoreless 7th, giving up a hit to Felix Pie, and Mitch Stetter worked two scoreless for his 1st save....... Stetter becomes the 3rd member of the Stars relief corps to chalk up a save this month, joining Matt DeWitt and Jerome Gamble....... Stetter has allowed only one run in 10 2/3 innings and recorded at least one strikeout in six straight appearances.

 

Sunday afternoon, the Stars will send Dennis Sarfate (1-1, 3.41) to the hill against Ricky Nolasco, whose brother David you may remember, pitched for the Stars two years ago, and was released from the organization before the season...... Ricky is the Cubs' #19 prospect. Nolasco beat the Stars three times last year.

 

I've added a couple of new features to my Standings link....... God grant me the discipline, but I'll try to keep up with the team home-road splits, with particular attention to club batting averages and club ERAs. Also, there's a breakdown of each player's batting averages per starting lineup position (except for pitchers), and I am emphasizing just starting players in the game. These stats should prove to be pretty interesting as the season winds along.

[Mass Haas]

Link to David's "bonus" Huntsville page:

 

www.starsboxscore.com/standing.html